Chapter 1: My Little Wyrmling
Chapter Text
Izuku Midoriya was not a good kid. It’s not that he didn’t want to be, it was just hard.
Since his birth, little bony protrusions poked out of his messy green hair right above his eyes, a small, green ridge grew out of the back of his neck and his canines were sharper than most kids. It wasn’t until Izuku turned four that the power behind those mutations began to eagerly let itself be known. This wasn’t surprising for the son of the number six hero: The Bronze Dragon Hero, Stormclaw. Hisashi Midoriya had gone through a similar process.
Hisashi lived a happy life. He had graduated from UA and quickly risen through the ranks once he went independent. He met his lovely wife, Inko, at a hero gala near Musutafu. She was halfway through college, working part time for the catering company at the event. The kind-hearted woman caught his eye and he was immediately intrigued, but what really made him take notice was when he dropped his wine glass. Before the glass could spill over his expensive suit, she had quickly yanked it away from him with her quirk. The wine had, of course, then spilled all over her. Feeling guilty, he helped clean up the mess. They got to talking and, as they say, the rest was history.
It was only a few years later when they married, and a few more after that when they had their son, Izuku. He was a perfectly happy boy and grew up well. Inko was careful to make sure that her son was well-socialized. She had attended many hero events with her husband over the years and noticed that, much to her dismay, many children of hero families were socially stunted. She made a concerted effort to organize play dates with her son and other kids his age; some from hero families, but Inko also kept in touch with her friends from high school. Thanks to her efforts, Izuku was a friendly and charming young boy, with an award-winning smile.
It wasn’t until a little later that Inko started noticing something was... off with her son. Two months after his 4th birthday was the first time she caught Izuku manipulating her. It wasn’t anything drastic, he had just convinced her to stop for ice cream after she had firmly told him no. She didn’t think much of it at the time, but looking back, it was a warning sign. Izuku had never been an argumentative child. In fact, it was the opposite. Izuku was a sweet boy, always eager to please and happy to just be alive. He was a quiet and emotional child, taking after his mother in that regard. He pouted a little when she put him to bed sometimes, as all toddlers do, but he had never won before. As time went on, it kept happening. Izuku kept getting his way. It was subtle, sinister even, but it seemed to be harmless, so Inko didn’t worry too much about it.
Then, things got weirder. Inko watched her son play with the other children and, over time, noticed that he was acting strange. At first, it just seemed that he was a little more intelligent than the other children, but that wasn’t it. The Iida boy seemed to be just as quick-witted as her child, but there was a difference. Izuku seemed to be more...cunning. The child found loopholes in most of the games they played and was able to talk his way into getting what he wanted almost all the time. More than once, Inko caught Izuku outright lying to the other children.
Now, most children lied, of course, but usually they were fairly innocent. ‘White lies’, like claiming they brushed their teeth even though you know better. Izuku’s lies were complex. They were disturbingly well put together for a four-year-old, having enough truth to be believable, and told with no doubt in the boy’s voice. Inko listened to him tell the same lie in slightly different ways to different kids, each playing off their particular personality. Inko wasn’t exactly sure how to react. Her baby was intelligent, that was clear, but it was so out of character for him. The lies seemed to come naturally to Izuku.
On the ride home, Inko asked him about it. “Why did you lie to the other children, Izuku?”
Izuku sat there for a moment, thinking. He always put his hand to his chin when he was deep in thought, and sometimes muttered under his breath, like he was doing now. She couldn’t hear what exactly he was saying over the noise around them, but she could tell he was thinking a mile a minute. “I don’t know” was the answer he settled on.
That was not what Inko was expecting to hear. “What do you mean?” She wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily.
“I just did it. I didn’t think about it, it just happened. I won in the end though, right? So, it’s okay.” Izuku said, not realizing the disturbing implications of his words.
“No, it’s not okay.” Izuku looked at her, confused by her statement. “Are those other children your friends?”
“Of course!” Izuku said, no doubt in his voice, but confusion still on his face. “They’re all my friends.”
“You shouldn’t lie to your friends. Part of friendship is honesty and trust,” Inko lectured him. “If they found out you lied, it would hurt them. They would lose trust in you and they might not want to be your friends anymore.” She didn’t really believe she was having to explain this to a boy as smart as Izuku.
The boy’s eyes widened, and then teared up slightly. “I didn’t mean to! I don’t wanna hurt my friends! I won’t do it again, mom, I promise!”
Inko gave her boy a consoling hug. “I’m not mad at you, Izuku. I just want you to know that lying to a friend isn’t a good thing to do. It’s okay to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them.” The boy nodded in her arms, and the rest of the ride home was uneventful.
It was Hisashi who first identified what the issue was. At first, he was overjoyed when his son had inherited his quirk. He was one of the top heroes in the country, a titan of a man who had saved thousands of people. With his transformation quirk, he was a force to be reckoned with on land, in the skies, and in the seas. There was more than one person in Japan who thanked the powers that be that Stormclaw was a hero, and not a villain. Hisashi’s quirk turned him into a western dragon: a swimming, flying, lightning breathing lizard from the story books. It didn’t make sense to some people that a hero could have a quirk seemingly straight out of an old book, but this was a world where people grew firearms inside their arms and hands, so nobody really worried that much about it.
Of course, Hisashi’s quirk extended beyond pure physical transformation. The power running through his veins influenced his emotions and thoughts. Fortunately, his ‘instincts’, as he called them, mostly affected him in a positive way. Some of the ways were subtle, such as his love for beaches and oceans. It made sense to him, he was amphibious in his dragon form, and it led him to focus on disasters and attacks in and around water. He had a strong sense of justice and a drive to personally stop any injustice he saw. From his earliest memories, he only ever wanted to be a hero, how could he not when his own quirk was driving him to pursue heroics? He sometimes mused to himself that he was fortunate to live in a hero society, or he might have wound up a vigilante.
That isn’t to say that every aspect of his quirk was beneficial. Unfortunately, he suffered from the same flaw that his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and all his relatives that manifested an aspect of the dragon quirk all suffered from. Ever since the dragon quirk line began, the same issue always arose: they were greedy. This instinct wasn’t just the desire to acquire wealth, but to accumulate it, to hoard it. It manifested in different ways for each of them, but it was always there. Most of them could be appeased by possessing moderate displays of physical wealth. They would buy gems and jewelry and keep them safe. For the most part, they managed to come off simply as eccentric, not greedy.
His uncle had it the worst of anyone he had heard of in the family. He had manifested his quirk as a fearsome red dragon with fiery breath and ferocious arrogance. His lust for wealth was insatiable, and his hoard grew every day. As his wealth grew, he only became greedier. Eventually, his drive overcame his reason, and he resorted to villainy. The supervillain Terrorflame had wreaked havoc across Japan for months before he was finally defeated by All Might ten years ago.
Once again, Hisashi was fortunate on that front. His draconic drive to hoard wealth was less intense than many of his predecessors and relatives. He indulged it, of course, it was the only way for him to stay sane. However, his rewards from the government for being a pro hero were usually enough to satiate him. As long as he received something for his work, he was happy. For more reason than one, hero society was perfect for him.
This isn’t to say that he kept strictly to his government paycheck. Often when he had time off, he would go diving deep into the ocean in search of sunken ships and forgotten treasures. He would drag back what he found and arrange them in a sort of gallery under the surface of the bay outside his home. If someone were to scuba dive down there, they would be in for quite the dazzling display.
His family home was modest for someone with the resources he had. It was by no means small, but with only his wife and son living there with him, they had no need of a mansion. The house was furnished well and had all the modern conveniences and technologies they could want, but it was much smaller than the home one might expect a top-ten hero to have. Sure, he had bought a sizeable chunk of land to build the house on, and beachfront property at that, but he was by no means stretching himself thin. The biggest expense he had each month was the collection of rare books and historical artifacts that he kept in his vault downstairs. His penchant for collecting irritated his wife sometimes, but she was understanding.
He was stingy when it came to most things and he was a compulsive haggler, although he spared no expense in making sure his family was cared for. The income of a top ten hero and modest expenses led to him owning a very healthy bank account. It wasn’t the traditional dragon hoard of yore, but it worked for him. It allowed him to focus on what was truly important in his life, such as taking his son outside for a day on the beach.
Hisashi had taken Izuku out onto the sands behind their home one lazy summerday when he had the day off. There was a slight breeze over the sea and the sun was shining bright. Izuku had been his biggest fan since the day he could say the word ‘hero’ and the boy couldn’t have been more excited to have inherited his father’s quirk. The child begged his father to train him and teach him every opportunity he got. Hisashi was a busy man, being a top ten hero, but he made a special effort to be there for his family as often as he could. Izuku was basically vibrating with excitement as Inko helped him to put on his shoes so he could go outside.
Izuku ran down the path outside his backdoor towards the beach. Standing there, smiling and waiting for him was his father. The tan-skinned man stood around 6’4” and was packed with dense muscle. His bronze hair, messy like Izuku’s, laid on his head, disturbed further by the two sharp, jet-black horns that stuck out on top of his head, pointing back and a little upwards. He had a small, green crest that descended down the back of his head and neck, and a slightly wider face, indicative of his facial fins when he transformed. His slitted, draconic eyes were a deep bronze and were filled with affection as he watched Izuku ran past him giggling, hoping to beat him to the water.
They spent most of the morning strolling along the beach, looking at seashells and racing across the sands. However, one of Izuku’s favorite things was to go on rides around the bay. Hisashi took off his shirt and transformed into a full bronze dragon.
When fully draconic, he was a bit longer than thirty feet long from nose to tail tip, and the points of his horns stood about twenty feet from the ground. He was covered, of course, in heavy bronze scales, with stripes and spots of green scales scattered intermittently. His green and bronze ridge extended from the back of his head, down to the base of his neck, and then reappeared along the full length of his tail, the crest on his tail acting like a rudder while he was swimming. An armored plate with three small black horns flared off each side of his short snout, swept back to allow him to better glide through air and water.
Izuku quickly scrambled up his father’s tail, climbed between the two massive wings, up his ridge, and then perched himself on his head, between his two sets of horns. Hisashi swam around the bay, keeping his head above water as his son laughed and yelled the whole time.
It was nearly lunchtime when they came back to land. Hisashi lowered his head and allowed Izuku to slide onto solid ground. The boy’s grin was stretched wide across his face, but not as wide as it normally was. Hisashi could tell that he was thinking about something. He let the transformation end, quickly shrinking back to his normal size, but before he could pry, the boy spoke.
“Dad, can you teach me how to make a claw?” Izuku had asked, wonder in his voice.
Hisashi smiled at the boy. He pretended to think for a second before coyly responding. “You mean… like this?” His fingertips morphed into jet-black claws as his hand grew dull bronze scales for a moment before he let go of his transformation. The look on the boy’s face was priceless.
“Yeah!” Izuku yelled, jumping up and down. No matter how many times Izuku saw his dad’s quirk, it was still one of ‘the coolest things ever!’ Izuku got a look of determination in his big, green eyes. “I wanna do that! Kacchan keeps showing me new tricks with his quirk and I wanna show him something that I can do too!”
Hisashi smiled wider, he couldn’t help it; his son’s passion was infectious. “Alright, but you have to promise me not to use it inside. Your mother will mount my head above the fireplace if you start tearing up her house.”
“I promise! I’ll make you proud, dad!” Izuku jumped as he answered.
Hisashi put one knee in the sand as he lowered himself closer to his son. “Do you feel that buzzing, electric feeling below your skin? You have to find that feeling, grab it, and pull it out.” His skin grew scales once more. “Once you have it, you have to hold onto it for as long as you can.” Hisashi let the scales fade away as he saw his little boy’s brain start firing on all cylinders, the boy cupping his chin with his left hand. “Does that make sense?”
“Uh, I think so, dad. I don’t think it’s buzzy, but I feel something.” Izuku said, still thinking hard.
“Oh?” Hisashi was intrigued. “What does it feel like then?”
“Hmmm. Sort of like water or something, it’s all flowy and drippy, but at the same time it’s all floaty and light. Is that what you meant?” Izuku looked up hopefully.
“Really?” Hisashi didn’t even try to hide the curiosity in his voice. He didn’t really expect Izuku to inherit a carbon copy of his quirk, his horns were different after all, but father can dream, can’t he? He thought for a moment about how his son described the feeling. Izuku’s vocabulary was limited, but Hisashi felt like he had a good idea of what his son meant. ‘Drippy and flowy, eh? Perhaps he’s copper like his cousin. I’ll have to ask her how it feels to her sometime.’ He brought himself out of his thoughts. “That’s probably it. Can you take hold of it? Grab it in your mind and in your body.”
Izuku closed his eyes, straining with the concentration. His right hand was held up in front of him. “I uh, I think so... it’s really hard, dad... but I think I... have it.”
“Next you need to pull it out of you,” Hisashi continued his explanation. “Focus on your hand and arm, and pull it out, like you’re flexing your big muscles for your mother.” Would he truly be a father if he didn’t take opportunities to embarrass his son?
Izuku was too focused to react, unfortunately. His eyes had opened again, this time staring at his hand like he was trying to burn holes through it. Tears welled up in the corners of the boy’s eyes as he strained. He grunted with effort, before a small patch of scales appeared on his hands. Partially in surprise and partially due to the strain, he fell back onto the sand with a gasp.
“I did it, dad!” Izuku stared at his hand, tears of joy welling up in his green eyes. “I can be a hero like you now!”
The transformation was too quick for him to get a good look at it, but Hisashi saw the scales. His son inherited had his smile from his father in addition to his quirk, and that Midoriya grin beamed across Hisashi’s face. “I’m so proud of you son, but we can’t stop here.” Izuku stopped crying and looked up with momentary confusion. “You know the feeling now, let’s see if you can’t bring it out fully.”
“Yes, sir!” The boy sprung up off the sand with a wide grin and focused on his hand again. Hisashi was always impressed with the boundless energy kids seemed to have. This time it seemed to come easier to the boy. It took much less time for him to pull the energy out the second go around. It happened slowly, and then all at once. The scales formed on the back of his hand and spread out from there. Before long, his entire hand was covered in scales, and his fingertips had elongated into short, relatively blunt claws.
“Dad….” Izuku was staring at his hand, the excitement had given way to pure awe. Hisashi could hear his son’s voice cracking slightly “I did it, dad…” Tears were welling up again in the boy’s eyes as he stared at his draconic hand.
Hisashi was overjoyed at first. Seeing those scales spread out and the claws form made his heart swell proudly. Then he looked again. On his son’s hand was not the yellowish scales tinged with green, but incredibly dark scales. Hisashi thought they were black at first, but the sunlight shone off them, exposing their true nature. Izuku’s scales were green.
At first, Hisashi tried to reason this away. He had green scales too. He was mostly bronze, but he had small stripes and markings of green across his scales. His ridge was mostly green, his eyes were green; this was nothing to worry about. The longer he stared at his son’s hand, the more that flimsy reasoning fell away. There was no yellow or bronze to be seen. The scales weren't the lighter, sea green color that he had, but dark green. There was no questioning it: his son’s scales were green. His son’s quirk had manifested in the form of a green dragon. He hoped that he was wrong. Hisashi remembered his father’s words. He was right about Hisashi, he was right about his niece, he was right about Terrorflame, but perhaps he was wrong about his son.
He quickly hid the doubt and small amount of fear on his face and let himself smile at his son’s accomplishment. His son stared at his hand, turning it over and flexing his clawed fingers. After just a few more seconds, he started shaking with the strain, and then the transformation snapped away, quickly melting back into his normal hand.
His son turned up to look at him with a dopey, sleepy look on his face, his one eye open slightly more than the other. “How long was that, dad?”
Hisashi smiled widely, only having to force it a bit, “About 15 seconds, Izuku. That was longer than me the first time I did it.”
His son’s eyes widened a bit before he yawned. “I’m sleepy, dad.” Izuku rubbed his eyes.
Hisashi let out a small chuckle. “I’m not surprised. It takes a lot of stamina to keep up a transformation like that.” Hisashi said as he scooped his son up in his arms. “Let’s get you into bed. A nap will make it all better.”
Izuku was asleep before the two of them had made it back to the house. Hisashi gave Inko a small smile and carried Izuku to his room. He opened the door into a small hero shrine. Izuku had merchandise of All Might, Endeavor and more all over the room, but no hero was more prominently featured than Stormclaw. It always was a little weird for Hisashi to see the action figures and posters of himself, but it made his son happy, so it made him happy.
Anything that wasn’t hero-themed in his room was colored green. Ever since he turned 4, it unequivocally became his favorite color. The small emerald that Hisashi had given him a few weeks ago was put in a place of honor on one of his shelves. He smiled at it, a bit more sadly than he usually did. He placed the sleeping boy in the bed, underneath the All Might covers. He gave the boy a small kiss on the forehead. Izuku smiled softly in his sleep.
“Sleep well, my little wyrmling.”
Chapter 2: Two Fathers
Summary:
Hisashi has a talk with his father, while Izuku has a play date with his best friend.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Hisashi quietly closed Izuku’s door behind him and walked slowly down the hallway to the kitchen, where Inko was beginning to prepare lunch. Seeing him enter, she put the food aside and went to greet him. Her smile quickly fell as she saw the worried look on her husband’s face.
“What’s wrong? Did Izuku hurt himself?” She was a natural worrier.
“No, nothing like that. Our boy did great, in fact.” A small smile broke through his worry as he recalled the event. He pulled out a stool and sat down at the counter. “I was so proud of him, you would have been too. I’m sure once he wakes up, he’ll want to show you.”
“Then what has you so worried?” She sat down next to him at the kitchen counter.
“His scales, Inko. They weren’t bronze. They weren’t gold or silver or anything metallic.” He looked up at her with a strained expression. “They were green. Chromatic.”
Inko didn’t fully understand everything related to the dragon quirk, but she knew that Hisashi had told her that chromatic dragons were bad news. “I’ve never heard of a green dragon in your family. What should we do?”
“I don’t know.” Hisashi leaned back in his chair. “Izuku is a good boy, we know that. He’s kind and caring and the most precious thing in our lives.” He looked like he was arguing in his head. “I need to go talk to dad.”
Inko put a hand on his shoulder. “Do what you need to do. I’ll start making lunch.” She smiled softly.
Hisashi smiled back wearily, before standing up, giving her a kiss on the forehead and leaving as quickly as he came. He walked out of the kitchen and downstairs, into the basement, towards to the large metal vault door in the wall. After he entered a code, a fingerprint scan, a retinal scan and a blood sample, the vault hissed open.
He slowly walked to the back of the vault, past display cases full of gems, ancient coins and priceless artifacts. Well, not that priceless. Hisashi had bought them, after all. Behind a further vault door, opened by him charging the lock with a small puff of his lightning breath, sat an ornate shrine, honoring and remembering his ancestors. He walked into the sub-vault and knelt in front of the shrine. There were statues and other tokens of respect, but one in particular was the subject of his visit. Sitting in a place of honor was an intricate and exquisite statue of a bronze dragon. It stood about six inches tall and could have been mistaken for Hisashi if the markings weren’t slightly different. The base of the statue read ‘Gaku Midoriya’.
“Hey, dad.” Hisashi said somberly to the statue of the Bronze Dragon Hero, Thunderwing. His father had died, no, had been killed , years ago, before he had met Inko. He’d died a hero, protecting a small country village from Terrorflame. His sacrifice had allowed the villagers to escape from the red dragon, and the town still honored his father on the anniversary of the attack.
He remembered the heartbreak he’d felt that day. Hisashi had been back home, celebrating his brother Hatsuo’s graduation from UA. His father got a call that Terrorflame had been spotted in the countryside nearby. Gaku was the only hero in the area capable of handling a threat like the red dragon. His father simply told his family that there was an emergency and left without saying goodbye. He was a severe man; he cared, but was never much one for sentimentality. Hasashi didn’t think his brother ever forgave him for never coming back.
They hadn’t heard from their father for a couple hours, but the news was reporting that Terrorflame had been turned back. They both flew off towards the village and found it a smoldering wreck. Hisashi checked to make sure that there were no victims still in danger, while Hatsuo had made a beeline straight for the ravaged battlefield that used to be the rice paddies in front of the village.
Minutes later, Hisashi had found Hatsuo crying next to the lifeless body of their father. Hisashi had learned basic forensics and crime scene procedure, but never thought that he would have to use them like this. It appeared that he had lived for a while after the battle ended. Judging from the marks in the ground and the pooled blood, his father had dragged himself along the ground and propped himself up, leaning on a rock. He’d bled out there, but not before pulling out a picture of his family, which was clutched in his cold hand, covered in burns and blood...and the wetness of tears.
Hisashi had visited the town again, a few months before Izuku was born; he wanted to make peace with what had happened before his son came into the world. The people there still honored his father, and they were more than kind to him. They had even erected a small statue in his honor. Once they found out who he was, they threw him a spontaneous feast. He talked and laughed with the people, forgetting his sorrow thanks to their generosity. Getting to know the people who would not be alive if not for his father had helped him gain closure.
Hatsuo, however, was never the same after that day. It was only a few days after the funeral when he left to take a sidekick offer on the other side of Japan. He had mostly disconnected from Hisashi, they only spoke once or twice a year. Hisashi had tried many a time to reach out and connect more with his brother, but he was always rebuffed. Excuses of work and obligations always kept him at an arm’s length. Hisashi knew how Inko felt when he gave her excuses about why he couldn’t come home more.
“Dad, I’m worried about what you told me all those years ago. I’m worried about what it means for my son.”
Hisashi thought back to a summer day twenty years ago, not too different than the current day, when he was 11 years old. His father had been sitting next to Hisashi, the two of them resting after a training session on the beach near their home. Thunderwing was never as well known as Stormclaw was, but he was still a great hero, and Hisashi’s idol.
“I always thought that Izuku would follow in my footsteps, and I could follow in yours. I would teach him as you taught me. I know he idolizes me like I idolized you, but he isn’t like me. He isn’t like you.”
“Hisashi,” his father had said to him, seriousness in his tone. “I’m going to be going on a mission tomorrow. It’s dangerous, but nobody is better equipped to handle it than me.” The boy looked up at his father. “I’ll be going after one of my cousins. She’s embraced her destiny and started using our family’s quirk for villainy.”
“Her destiny?” Hisashi asked quietly.
“She’s named herself Fulgurite. She was ‘gifted’ with the full manifestation of the dragon quirk, in her case, as a blue dragon. She wields lightning, same as us.”
“What makes a blue dragon different than us?” Hisashi thought that only bronze dragons could breathe lightning.
“Blue dragons are chromatic.” Hisashi didn’t know what that word meant. Seeing his confusion, Gaku explained. “There are ten types of dragons we have seen since the family quirk manifested with my grandfather. My father identified and separated them into two categories: chromatic and metallic. You and I manifested the dragon quirk as metallic dragons. Amongst the metallic subtypes we have seen, there is brass, bronze, copper, gold and silver. The chromatic subtype manifests as black, blue, green, red and white. In simpler terms, we are named for metals, them for colors. At first it might seem arbitrary, but there is a very good reason for it.”
Hisashi didn’t dare to interrupt his father when he was talking. “Every type of dragon type is different, of course, but my father saw the primary difference between metallics and chromatics. During his lifetime, his theory was just that: a theory. But in my life, in my time being a hero... I’ve confirmed it. Metallic dragons are naturally disposed towards what society considers justice and goodness. Chromatic dragons are evil. Their quirks twist their minds and emotions, taking them down a dark path. Some resist their destiny, but it’s inevitable. All chromatic dragons are villains in the making. Remember that, Hisashi.”
“I know what you said, and I will never forget how you died, father.” Hisashi’s shoulders dropped. “But I cannot believe that it’s my son’s destiny to be a villain.” He placed his forehead on the ground, prostrating himself before his father’s statue, small tears falling from his eyes. “I’ve come here to ask for your forgiveness.”
“I am going to teach my son. He will be a great hero and defy the destiny you placed on his shoulders. I swear this.”
About 45 minutes later, Inko heard the vault door closing downstairs, signaling that her husband had finished his talk with his father. She kept preparing the katsudon, a special surprise for Izuku when he woke up, to celebrate his success. Hisashi came back into the kitchen and slumped down in the same chair as earlier. He still looked stressed, but there was no longer an air of defeat about him.
“Feeling better?” Inko asked gently.
“I am. I’ve decided that nothing will prevent Izuku from becoming a hero, especially not me.” Hisashi had the same determined look on his face that Izuku often did. “I will train our son and continue teaching him how to be a good person and a great hero.”
Inko chuckled slightly. “You must have had a good talk. It’s been years since I’ve seen you fired up like this.”
“It’s been a… stressful day.” He chuckled a bit too. “And it’s barely even noon. What I’m most worried about now is how the others might react. Especially Hatsuo.”
“He’s barely spoken to you in years. If he wants to sever all ties with you because of Izuku, then I say let him go.” Inko said sternly. “Our son is more important than that and deserves to have people around him who will support him.”
“He’s not your brother, Inko.” Hisashi said, a little incensed. “Saori and I are determined to patch our relationship with him. We can’t give up; it would disgrace our father.”
“You’re right. Sorry, dear.” Inko quickly apologized.
“No, no, it’s fine. I understand. I agree with you; Izuku is our top priority.” Hisashi assured his wife. “We should discuss how we want to move forward.”
“Izuku will find out soon enough that he’s chromatic. We can’t exactly hide it from him.” Inko stepped through the door as it closed behind her. “He might not understand what it means; there haven’t been any high-profile green dragons in your family, at least as far as I know. We should encourage him to talk to us about it, to ask us questions.”
“Agreed.” Hisashi was too focused to even appreciate the heavenly smell coming from Inko’s cooking. “There haven’t been any green dragons around recently that I know of, which is ironic, considering our name.” He let out a single, airy laugh. “It’s important to keep him socialized. You’ve been doing a wonderful job organizing those play dates, although with him entering preschool, there won’t be as much time for that.”
“Oh!” Inko just remembered. “Speaking of play dates, Katsuki is coming over at 1.”
Hisashi smiled and hummed in approval, absentmindedly staring at a spot on the counter as he kept thinking. A silence hung over the kitchen for a minute or two, but he could feel a tension in the air that was growing steadily. The source became clear as his wife broke the silence.
“If we want to raise him as best we can, his father needs to be home more often.” Inko said, a degree of bitterness in her voice as she continued to prepare lunch, not looking up. “He needs you to train his quirk and to be a positive role model in his life. You’re his father
and
his favorite hero.”
His shoulders slumped a bit. “I… you’re right. Especially now. I’ve considered moving my agency here so many times since Izuku was born, but I never made the leap. I’ll start the paperwork as soon as possible.”
She looked up stunned, and briefly entertained the possibility that she was dreaming. “After all these years?”
“Yes.” He sounded regretful. “I should have moved the agency when Izuku was born, but I felt too useful where I am now. I’m out of excuses, and my son needs me more than ever. I’ll have less work, but we have enough in reserve that I could retire tomorrow and we would be comfortable for several lifetimes.”
“Oh, Hisashi, that’s great news!” The shorter woman ran around the counter and quickly threw her arms around his waist. “Izuku will be so happy.” She gave him a great squeeze before letting go and ran back to the food she was preparing. “Lunch is almost ready. You should go wake him up.”
Hisashi peeked into his son’s room and saw the boy stirring slightly. He pushed the door open and walked over to the bed. He got down on one knee and rubbed his son’s mop of messy hair. Slowly, Izuku’s eyes opened a tiny amount. He took a deep breath and stretched his arms and legs out. “Mmm….” He said sleepily. “Katsudon…”
“That’s right, your mom made you your favorite meal to celebrate your first transformation.” Hisashi said softly, coaxing the boy out of his sleep. “Don’t you want to show her?”
Izuku’s eyes snapped open immediately. He threw his covers off and jumped out of bed. He ran out of his room and down the hallway, yelling “Mom! Mom!”, leaving his chuckling father in his dust.
Hisashi made his way back to the kitchen as Izuku was telling his mother all about their time on the beach. He was talking so fast that he was worried his son was going to pass out from a lack of oxygen. He managed to get him to take a breath by interrupting him. “Aren’t you gonna show your mom what you learned today?”
“I was getting to that, dad!” Izuku huffed. “You have to set up a story to make it good! You can’t just skip straight to the end!”
Both of his parents laughed out loud. “I apologize, storyteller,” Hisashi said through his big grin. “Don’t let me stop you, then.”
“And then when we got back to land, I asked dad to teach me how to make a claw! He told me to reach inside and grab the weird feeling in me and pull it out, so I tried but it was really hard, but then I got it!” Inko was half-worried her son was going to actually start bouncing off the walls. “Only a little bit at first, but then dad told me to try it again! It was easier that time, and I made my hand into a claw!” Izuku raised his hand up.
“Like this!” His hand grew a patch of scales, quickly growing until his entire hand was covered. It was slightly elongated and enlarged, with dark claws on his fingertips. He held up his claw proudly. Inko saw the dark green scales, but she didn’t react like Hisashi had. His mother just kept smiling at him, pride and joy swelling in her heart. He quickly let the transformation end, not wanting to tire himself out again.
“I’m so proud of you, Izuku. You’re going to be a great hero, just like your father.” Inko smiled warmly.
“No, he’ll be even better.” Hisashi ruffled his son’s hair again, causing the boy’s smile to widen further. “I actually have
another
surprise for you, son.” He looked down at the big, green eyes staring at him in wonder. “Your mom and I have been talking...and I’ll be moving my agency nearby. I’ll be home almost every day once it gets finalized.”
If any more excitement was dumped on Izuku that day, he might have actually exploded. The boy let out a loud “Woah! Really!?!” and threw his arms around his dad’s legs. The boy barely came up to his father’s waist. Tears of happiness were pouring from his eyes.
“Yes, really.” Hisashi clamped his hand on his son’s back, returning the hug. “Now, eat up, son. You don’t want your mother’s hard work to get cold.
After inhaling his food in a way that Inko usually only saw Hisashi do after a particularly tough day of work, her son was asking for seconds, and then thirds. The woman wasn’t exactly sure where he was keeping all that food, but she figured it had to do with how exhausted the boy was. Before Izuku could ask for a fourth serving, the door rang.
“I’ll get it!” The boy was streaking across the kitchen towards the front door before his parents could react. He skidded to a stop in front of the door and flung it open. “Auntie!” Izuku beamed up as Mitsuki Bakugou looked down at him.
“Heya, kiddo.” She ruffled his hair. Why did people like doing that so much?
Katsuki stepped out from behind her, his confident smile on his face. Red eyes met green as Izuku smiled. “Kacchan!” Mitsuki smiled at the excitable boy. He had been calling her son that since he could talk. His quirk caused some unusual tooth growth, and he had kept biting his tongue whenever he tried to say ‘Katsuki’. She figured he would have figured out the teething situation by now, but maybe Izuku just liked the nickname.
“Hey, Izuku.” Katsuki responded. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, come on!” He gestured to the boy to come inside. He ran through the house to the backdoor, Katsuki on his heels. “I got something I wanna show you!”
“No running in the house!” Inko called after the boys, but they were too far gone to listen. She had come to the door to properly greet her high school friend. “Come on in, Mitsuki. I’ll put some tea on.”
The two boys ran outside to play on the beach. They ran around and climbed up the rocks around the beach, laughing and competing to see who could run the fastest and jump the farthest. Katsuki was naturally competitive and his drive was contagious, stoking that same drive in Izuku.
“Come on, Izuku!” Katsuki yelled behind him. “How are you gonna be a hero if you can’t keep up!” Izuku put a determined look on his face and started to catch up, causing Katsuki to try harder too. Eventually the two boys collapsed into the sand right in view of the house, panting.
“You’re slower than usual. What’s up?” Katsuki was an observant one, just as quick-witted as Izuku.
“I’ve actually already ran around a lot today…” Izuku paused for dramatic effect. “And I learned how to do something new with my quirk!”
Katsuki’s eyes got an excited glint in them upon hearing those words. “Oh yeah, you said you had something to show me, right? Don’t keep me waiting!”
Izuku concentrated on his hand and held it up so Kacchan could see him. The scales were easier to pull on every time he tried, and they quickly formed along his hand. The blonde stared at the claw in moderate amazement. He reached out and grabbed his friend’s hand, examining the claw.
“Woah, green scales.” Katsuki kept turning the hand over. “Those look cool. What’s with these claws, though? They’re not very pointy.” He poked the claws with his finger to confirm.
“I don’t know, I’ve only done this a couple times.” Izuku responded.
“It’s your quirk, try to sharpen them!” Katsuki encouraged him.
“Okay, I’ll try.” Izuku always worked better with friends than by himself. He focused on maintaining the transformation, but also on trying to sharpen the claws. Slowly, they started to elongate slightly, sharpening. With a gasp, he released both the breath he was holding and his transformation.
“You got closer.” Katsuki observed. “You’ll get it. Then we gotta see what you can cut with it.”
Izuku caught his breath. “Yeah, that sounds cool! But there is one other thing I wanted to check out.” He looked into his friend’s red eyes. “Do you trust me?”
“What are you thinking?” Katsuki responded, intrigued.
“Hit me in the arm with an explosion.” Izuku saw the blonde begin to hesitate. “Come on, you won’t hurt me. I promise! It’s for science.”
“Fine, but if I get in trouble for this, you’re giving me the candy in your lunchbox for a week.” He held up his hand a few inches away from Izuku and let out a small blast. Izuku recoiled slightly in pain, a red mark showing up on his arm.
“Ouch!” Izuku said, waving his arm around, but quickly regaining his composure. “Yeah, that hurt.” He held his other arm up to the boy, before focusing on his quirk. He focused the pull down further from his hand. His forearm was quickly covered in his dark green scales. “Now hit me again.”
Katsuki saw what Izuku was getting at and quickly obliged. He let out another explosion on the boy’s arm, trying to keep the blast the same strength. Izuku recoiled instinctually from the loud noise, but then quickly began smiling. He held up the hand, letting the transformation end. There was no mark on his arm at all. “I barely felt that!”
The boys began to excitedly chat about the possibilities of both of their quirks. They fantasized about being heroes and all the cool things they would do once they were the best heroes in the world. They ran around for a couple more hours, laughing and generally enjoying life. Neither of the boys noticed the worried look that Mitsuki was giving them out the porch window as she conversed with Hisashi and Inko.
Notes:
I am absolutely blown away with the support this story has received. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as you enjoyed the first.
Chapter 3: Daydreamers
Summary:
A turning point and a new discovery.
Notes:
I had an agonizingly slow day at work today and wound up with basically nothing to do except write most of the time. Unfortunately, I have to say that you won't be able to expect the absurd rate that I've been writing these chapters to continue. I'll try to stay regular, but putting out 3 chapters in as many days is a little much.
That being said, I hope you all enjoy.
Thanks to my beta readers epicderpybro2 and AzureFirehawk for all their hard work that they've put in to make this story the best it can be.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The next two years passed and the boys grew up, but never grew apart. If anything, they grew closer. Hisashi smiled out his front door as his son ran to jump into the car in their driveway. Since they started elementary school a few months ago, Inko and Mitsuki had alternated taking the boys to and from their school each day. The boys, now six, were basically inseparable.
Hisashi took a sip of his coffee and looked out at the sun shining on the waves lapping at the sands. He smiled to himself, feeling honestly glad that Katsuki was his son’s best friend. Most kids treated him differently when they found out he was the son of the number eight hero, but Katsuki didn’t.
He reminded Izuku to keep his eyes forward, to focus on their goal of getting into UA and becoming the best heroes in the world. Everything the two boys did together was towards that end. Sure, the blonde was a little gruff sometimes, but even he was worn down by the relentless tide of happiness that was Izuku. They gradually pushed each other closer to a happy medium, Izuku becoming more confident, while Katsuki mellowed out.
Later that day, Katsuki was sitting on that same beach behind the Midoriya household. He was also happy he was friends with Izuku, although he didn’t say it often. He was never good at that sort of thing, preferring to speak with his actions, rather than his words. They would usually see each other at least six days a week, barring when Izuku would go on trips with his father, and he couldn’t have been happier about it.
Katsuki knew that to be the best, you had to have a rival. Anybody who had ever watched a show or read a book knew that. There were lots of stories where the characters had to search long and hard for their rival, but Katsuki was lucky. He didn’t even have to look for his rival, he was basically born into having one. It was an added bonus that his perfect rival was also his best friend.
However, it wasn’t always like that. There was a time when the boys were playing at a park that it almost all came crashing down. A couple days after Izuku’s fourth birthday, the two boys were playing together with a couple other kids in the woods, when they had tried crossing a log that was suspended over a small stream.
Katsuki had lost his footing and had fallen into the water below. The other kids looked over the log, waiting for him to come back up, but Izuku did something else. So quickly that he had no idea how he did it, Izuku was down in the water with him, hand outstretched to help pull him up with a look of genuine concern in his eyes.
“Are you alright? Are you hurt?” Izuku asked, concern in his voice as well. “I was afraid you might’ve hit your head or something.”
Katsuki’s vision went red. He didn’t need help, he didn’t ask for help, so that meant that Izuku was looking down on him by assuming he needed or wanted his help. With a roar of anger, he tried to push the offending child back into the water himself for daring to patronize him. Halfway through the motion, he caught a change in Izuku’s eyes. His eyes flashed a bright green for a moment and were filled with a look of anger. Instead of falling backwards, Izuku had caught his hand by the wrist. Izuku stared at the boy with fury in his face.
“What was that?” Izuku asked, glaring at him.
Katsuki was stunned. After a few seconds, he half-heartedly tried to wrest his hand free, but his attention was still on Izuku. “Let me go! You don’t get to look down on me.” He growled in response.
“Look down?” Izuku’s voice seethed with anger, much deeper than normal; Katsuki noticed that some dark green scales had appeared on his neck. “I wanted to make sure that my friend was okay. How is that looking down on you?”
“I want to be the strongest hero! Being the strongest means never needing help,” Katsuki spat back at him.
“Are you stupid?” If he wasn’t so furious, Izuku might have started laughing. “I thought you were smart... My mom says you’re smart, is she lying to me?”
“I am smart-” Katsuki tried to continue but was cut off.
“I thought you were strong!”
“I am-” Katsuki was cut off again.
“Then why did you do that?”
“I told you that I don’t want anyone’s help!” Izuku’s grip on his arm was only tightening, scales slowly spreading over his hand. It was starting to get a little painful.
“Is that what you think strength is!? I thought you told me that you were smart! Do you think heroes don’t need help sometimes!?” Izuku didn’t give him a chance to respond as he continued to yell. “Heroes need help all the time! You watch the hero news as much as I do; I can’t believe you think that! My dad needs help all the time! Even All Might has a sidekick!”
Katsuki tried to speak, but words didn’t come out of his mouth. Instead, it just hung open slightly. The anger in his eyes was fading into something more akin to shock.
“Asking for help isn’t weakness. It takes someone who is strong -not simply physically strong, but someone truly strong- to ask for help. We’re only human, and it’s the weak and foolish ones who can’t admit that.” Izuku threw Katsuki’s arm back, knocking the blonde down into the water again. “My dad told me that. Are you calling both my mom and my dad liars?”
Katsuki could only stare up at him in shock and a little fear. The deeper voice coming out of Izuku’s throat was causing his fight-or-flight instincts to start flaring in the back of his mind.
“People need people; it’s others that make us stronger. He said that too.” Izuku threw his arm forward once again, extending his open hand to help the boy up. “So, let’s try this again. Let me help you up, so we can keep going. I pull you up, you’ll pull me up some other time: we’ll both become strong that way.”
Izuku’s voice raised back up to his normal, high pitched tone during the last few sentences. His eyes lost that strange glow and his furious expression had vanished, replaced by his normal wide smile. Katsuki could only stare for a few moments, as he tried to deal with what had just happened. He eventually raised his arm shakily and grasped the outstretched hand. Izuku seemed to have almost forgotten the interaction had even happened, simply pulling the blonde up and running off with a smile, but Katsuki couldn’t stop thinking about what he had said.
That was the day that Katsuki understood that Izuku was something else. There was something instinctually unsettling with the way he talked and the way his eyes moved during that conversation, and what he had said didn’t sound like it came out of the mind of a four-year-old.
Katsuki knew that he had found his rival; it was right in front of his face the entire time. The other kids kept telling him how great his quirk was and how he was going to be the greatest hero, but Izuku didn’t talk like that. He called him out when he did something dumb, and he wasn’t afraid to let his displeasure be known. Katsuki was always pushing, be it himself or others, and he had found the right person to push back.
He never thanked Izuku for pulling him up; he wasn’t great at talking about his feelings. So he expressed his gratitude in the best way he knew: pushing Izuku harder. In response, Izuku returned the favor. The two of them would train nearly every day. They weren’t old enough to lift real weights or anything, but they did what they could. Izuku was nearly as competitive as him, and every playground game of tag or hide-and-seek would cause both boys to give it their all, much to the dismay of many of the other kids.
That wasn’t to say their relationship was suddenly perfect, or that they always got along. Izuku was almost too friendly for his own good, in his opinion. He was friends with almost every single kid in their grade, not just their own class. It annoyed him a little, but he knew that getting angry about it was dumb. He used to get frustrated when his friend would get distracted, but that didn’t help. He learned to just smirk and let it happen; there was no use in trying to stop Izuku when he had his mind set on something, and he was determined to be friends with everyone.
That wasn’t what really got to him, no, it was the unsettling way he went about it. It seemed like it was a game to him. Just about every day, he would go up to someone he didn’t really know or wasn’t really friends with and just start talking to them. He would start asking them questions or talking to them about seemingly random stuff, but as Katsuki listened, he quickly realized that Izuku’s words were anything but random.
Every topic he talked to them about was carefully selected to make them the most comfortable and open. With some kids he talked about heroes, others he asked them about their families, others he talked about homework or their hobbies. With one kid he had just talked about flowers. This convinced Katsuki; this absolutely was a game for Izuku. One he was very invested in winning, as the prize was friends.
By the end of the second month of their first year of elementary, everyone in their class was his ‘friend’. They weren’t really friends, in the sense that Katsuki was his friend, but they were people who seemed to be open to talking with him and maybe playing games on the playground with him. Katsuki kept it to himself that he thought most of these kids only liked him because of his dad. Which to be fair, while Izuku was great at talking to people about what they liked, it was basically impossible to get him to talk about himself. So, for the other kids in the class, there was nothing else to like him for, because they didn’t really know him. Tough luck for those kids, since Izuku was a fantastic person to have as your friend.
Katsuki knew he irritated his friend, too. “Kacchan, be nice!” was uttered at least once a day. He said it a lot less than he used to, so that was progress. He couldn’t help it, he just wasn’t as outgoing as Izuku. He spoke to a few people in class, but he couldn’t keep up with his friend when it came to talking. That was another part of their friendship that worked so well. When they hung out to train or talk heroes, Izuku loved to talk, and would do so nearly the entire time and Katsuki would speak when he had something to say. He wasn’t introverted per se, but he was more than willing to keep his thoughts to himself. Nearly everyone except Izuku wasn’t really worth his time.
He tried to catch himself whenever a thought like that crossed his mind. Thinking like that was arrogant, and Uncle Hisashi said that arrogance wasn’t an attribute a hero should have. Katsuki always listened to him, especially when he talked about being a hero. He would have had to truly been an idiot to ignore hero advice from someone in the top ten. Uncle Hisashi was a great hero, and his second favorite, after All Might, of course, but he was also just a good guy. He was smart enough to know that some heroes put on a friendly charade when dealing with the press or fans, but Stormclaw was the real thing. It made sense, Izuku had to have learned that smile from someone.
Auntie Inko was no slouch, either. She was shrewd and perceptive and a lot brighter than most adults he knew. His father often told him that Izuku had gotten his brains from his mother. She also had a natural talent for empathy and a drive to help people that rivalled any hero. She was the one who got him to finally stop crying when Izuku had accidentally broken his finger when they got a little too into their training.
He didn’t cry much, but he felt like his first broken bone was a good excuse. He was panicking, not only from the pain, but from the way his finger was bending in a way it shouldn’t. Izuku did his best to help him, of course, but the dragon boy was almost freaking out more than he was. She had swept him up in her arms as soon as she could reach them and managed to calm him down nearly instantly with her kind words and reassuring hug.
Auntie Inko’s ability to tell what people were feeling and how to help them was something he didn’t think he would ever understand, but he was even more grateful because of that. Maybe if she was born with a more powerful quirk or a more adventurous personality, both of Izuku’s parents would have been pro heroes.
He smirked to himself. He was really glad that he had all three of the Midoriyas looking out for him. Who knows what kind of person he would be if Auntie and Uncle weren’t there to help him, and Izuku wasn’t there to keep him honest.
“Kacchan?” Izuku’s voice pulled him out of his reverie. “It’s not like you to be caught up in your thoughts like that. Am I rubbing off on you?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” His response to the teasing was half-hearted at best. His competitive smirk grew across his face. “You ready to show your dad how far we’ve come?”
“You better be!” Hisashi was walking down the path behind his house towards the two six-year-olds on the beach. Hisashi knew how to nurture their competitive nature without inflating their egos, something that could have been quite dangerous if left unchecked. About once a month he got the boys together on a Sunday afternoon to benchmark their progress. The boys loved it: it meant they got to hang out and see how much they improved all at once. “Which one of you is going first this time?”
Katsuki threw his hand up. “Izuku went first last month. It’s my turn.”
“Alright. Let’s see here…” Hisashi was flipping through the notebook in his hand. “You’ve both done your warm-ups, right?” Seeing both boys nod, he continued. “Let’s start with the basics then. Katsuki, let off the biggest one-handed explosion you can do safely. You know the drill; no hurting yourself. A hero who hurts himself has no place on the battlefield.” He pulled out a small device as he lectured.
“Yes, Uncle,” Katsuki droned before jogging several meters away from his friend. He planted his feet and let out a long breath, centering himself. He raised his hand up to the sky and let his quirk go. With a grunt, an explosion ripped from his palm, kicking up the sand around him and scaring the gulls further down the beach.
The device beeped a couple times in Hisashi’s hand. “That was an 8% improvement in raw force produced, and a 5% increase in explosion size. Good results.” He wrote down the data from the device. “Alright Izuku, same thing. Remember how I taught you to use your diaphragm.”
“Yes, sir!” Izuku traded places with his friend, both exchanging playful jabs at each other as they passed. He planted his feet like Katsuki had and took a deep breath. He focused on pulling out his power like he had learned to on this very beach two years prior, centering it in the center of his chest. He leaned forward into his breath as he opened his mouth and let his attack flow forward. Green smoke poured from the boy’s mouth, shooting forward several meters before billowing outward and dispersing in the air.
Hisashi smiled proudly, recalling with a chuckle the first time they had found out exactly what Izuku’s breath was. It was only a few weeks after the first time he had shown him how to create his claw that he had taught his son how to use the signature attack of the dragon quirk.
“Focus your power in the center of your chest, as the base of your lungs. You should feel it pooling, coalescing.” He shot a glance at his son, “Uh, do you know what that word means?” Izuku nodded quickly, prompting him to continue with a small chuckle. “Of course you do.”
“Where was I? Right, feel the sensation in your chest, but don’t pull it out like you do for your scales. Instead, breathe deep and fill your lungs. You should be able to breathe much deeper than normal.” He demonstrated by taking a great breath of air himself. “Once you are ready, release it. Remember what I said, don’t try to pull it out; let your breath push it out.” He showed by letting a great storm of lighting erupt from his throat and into the sky, crackling with power.
Izuku’s eyes sparkled in awe at the display before he caught himself staring. He widened his feet slightly, ready to try. Hisashi saw his son begin to strain, attempting to pool his quirk in his chest. The boy took a deep breath after a few seconds, gulping down air. “Okay, here I go!” He opened his mouth and pushed with all his might.
What came out wasn’t what Hisashi had expected. He truthfully didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t this. A pathetic puff of dark green gas escaped from the boy’s mouth, dissipating quickly in the sea breeze. Hisashi stared, marveling at what he had seen. He had seen lightning, fire, frost and even acid breath, but never...gas? What exactly was it?
“How was that, dad?” Izuku asked hopefully, panting slightly.
Hisashi smelled a faint acrid scent on the breeze, crinkling his nose slightly. “Good, son. That wasn’t much, but that’s to be expected of your first time. Let’s continue other training for now, we can come back to the breath weapon later.” His son nodded, ready to keep pushing himself.
A few weeks later Hisashi had organized a doctor’s appointment for his son to find out exactly what his breath was. After several tests, it became clear that Izuku breath was a poisonous one. Functionally useless against non-living targets, but potentially deadly against living ones. That wasn’t a damning statement, all the breath attacks of the dragon quirk were deadly when used recklessly.
Izuku was worried about the results. “Poison doesn’t sound very heroic,” he had lamented on the ride home. “It’s just good for hurting people.”
“Izuku, I don’t know what kind of humanitarian applications for fire or acid that you’re thinking about, but I assure you that those situations don’t come up very often.” Hisashi had laughed a little at his boy’s whining. “Part of being a hero is stopping bad people. Do you want to know what I think? I think you’re pretty lucky.”
His son has looked up at him when he said that, silently asking him to elaborate. “Well you see, there are a lot of quirks out there that make their owner tougher, and a lot of people who are just plain tough. Some bigger villains don’t go down even after a blast of my lightning. There’s not a whole lot of gas-based quirks out there in my experience, being able to assault people’s breathing can be very useful.” He put his finger up emphasize his point. “No matter how tough someone’s skin is or how dense their musculature, they still have to breathe.”
Hisashi knew the look on his son’s face well. He had placed his hand on his chin and was staring intently at the ground. The muttering that soon began only confirmed that Izuku had entered deep thought. It broke quicker than he expected it to and Izuku looked straight at him again. “Dad, you can control the output of your breath, right?”
“Well sure, not every attack is my strongest.” He was pleased that his son had figured out where he was trying to lead him. “Once you get a handle on it, you’ll be able to adjust the potency to what you need.” This led to Izuku resuming his muttering with an intensity usually only reserved for when he was analyzing heroes. Hisashi chuckled a bit to himself. He supposed that’s what he was doing.
“-ad! Dad!” Izuku was raising his voice slightly to get his attention, pulling his father out of his memories. “First Kacchan and now you, what is going on today? Why is everybody spacing out?”
“Oh, uh, sorry boys, I was just reminiscing.” Hisashi said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He looked at the device in his hand, never losing his proud smile. “Great job, son. That was about 9% more volume than last month. Let’s keep going with the other tests.”
At the end of the day, the boys were exhausted, but proud. They were moving forward, like always. To them, their futures were bright and there was nothing that could stop them.
Notes:
I've been absolutely floored by the reaction this has gotten. So many of you have been leaving comments and kudos, and I'm grateful for each one of you. Unfortunately, I can't respond to many of the comments for risk of spoilers, but I hope you'll all enjoy what I have in store.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to the next one. Leave a comment below if you want to make me feel special :)
Chapter 4: Family Legacy
Summary:
Izuku learns part of what it means to be a Midoriya.
Notes:
Thanks to my beta reader, AzureFirehawk for his help.
This is the first time I've written an action sequence. Let me know what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku was eight when everything changed.
His cousin Ryuko was a great person and loved it whenever she came over with his aunt and uncle for family dinners. She wasn’t his only cousin, but she was the only one he knew personally. Izuku knew that Ryuko had an older brother, but he didn’t know anything about him other than his name, Raizou. He had never met the man, and he always wondered why nobody ever talked about him, but he never got anywhere when he tried to ask about him. On one fateful spring day, Izuku found out why.
He was woken up early on a Saturday morning by his father’s shout of “Love you, Son!” followed by the sound of the door slamming. Izuku had raced out of bed and to one of the front windows in time to see great, bronze wings sprout from his father’s back as he raced in the direction of downtown. Izuku knew what that meant: a villain, and judging by how fast his father had ran out of the house, it was a particularly dangerous one.
Izuku was always worried, of course, but he trusted his dad. Sure, he wasn’t number one in the charts, but anyone in the top ten was a massive powerhouse. He quickly ran back to his room and turned his computer on, scanning the internet for news on the attack. He found a news site that had a live stream of the scene and with a gasp he realized why his father had been called.
A dragon stood in the middle of downtown, fires and street lights illuminating the black scales of the beast. The flashes of its face that Izuku could see created a terrifying image. The dragon’s eyes glowed with an eerie yellow, sunk deep into its sockets, it’s face was gaunt, and its nostrils were wide, creating a visage of a skull filled with sharp teeth. Green liquid dripped from its mouth as it made threatening motions with its two bone-white horns which curved forward, ready to gore anyone who came within its reach. It roared, causing the nearby ground to tremble and windows to crack. All things considered, to Izuku, it didn’t look fully grown. It was clearly smaller than his father, but it was still a fearsome creature.
The dragon reared back and opened its mouth, a powerful torrent of viscous green liquid shot straight towards one of the other heroes already on site. The hero dodged, but the car behind him caught the brunt of the attack. The car was quickly dissolved to scrap as the potent acid went to work. Anyone hit by that attack would certainly have been killed, or at least maimed. The heroes there had no chance of even approaching the black dragon, but there was someone coming that did.
Stormclaw smashed down onto the street in front of the other dragon in his fully draconic form. Everyone could immediately see the difference in size between the two. However, even a smaller dragon was still a dragon. Stormclaw roared at the black dragon, lightning crackling from his mouth. The entire street shook and some nearby windows shattered, showing just how much more powerful he was than the villain. An intimidation effort, Izuku noted; an attempt to end the conflict without any more combat. The other dragon recoiled slightly, before lowering its head.
Izuku recalled his father's lessons on fighting other dragons. The height and length of dragons was an advantage in most situation, but against other dragons, it was best to keep low, to avoid exposing the underbelly. While still armored, the underbelly was much more vulnerable to other dragons, for it lacked scales.
His father had told him that their scales, in addition to being incredibly tough, provide ‘natural’ protection against other dragons, as they are resistant to breath attacks from other dragon quirk users. It made sense; everyone in his family did possess a vastly similar quirk, after all, and a dragon was immune to its own breath. Dragons of the same type, or those that possessed the same type of breath, like red and gold dragons, were borderline immune to each other as well.
The dragon dropped into an aggressive stance, clearly wanting to fight. Stormclaw lowered himself as well, before letting a concentrated blast of lightning shoot towards the other dragon. The black dragon tried to dodge, but the lightning blast was too fast; the beast was sent skidding backwards as electricity crackled and danced over its body.
The black dragon regained its footing and turned back to face Stormclaw. Not to be outdone, the beast roared and let out another torrent of acid towards the hero. Instead of dodging, Stormclaw simply turned into the blast, letting the tough scales of his shoulder and back take the attack. The acid dripped harmlessly off him, burning the pavement below. Izuku noted that this was a second intimidation attempt: Stormclaw was sending the message that the dragon was severely outclassed and had no hope of victory.
This, once again, did not deter the villain. It roared in anger before flapping its wings, kicking up dust and debris. With its powerful legs, it surged towards Stormclaw, head low to the ground, attempting to get a hit on the larger dragon’s underbelly. His father was much too experienced to let a simple attack like that work, and struck the dragon in the head with a mighty swipe of his claw, knocking it off its feet and crashing into the ground. The dragon quickly recovered, black blood dripping from its head and melting the road where it dripped. It bared its teeth and came at Stormclaw from the side. The bronze dragon turned harshly, whipping his powerful tail into the villain.
The black dragon was thrown back, smashing limply into one of the cars along the street. Stormclaw was on him in an instant, moving with speed that no creature that large had any right to possess. Before the black dragon could recover, the hero had his jaw wrapped around its neck. Lightning crackled menacingly off his fangs, causing the other dragon to flinch in pain. A third, and final, intimidation effort.
The dragon’s wings slumped in submission, and it began to release their quirk’s transformation. Stormclaw let the rapidly shrinking villain out of his deadly jaws, but placed a strong claw on top of them, pinning them to the ground and they reverted. As the dust settled, something had been made very clear once again: the best way to combat a dragon is with another dragon.
With a nod of affirmation, the hero let the police and the other heroes know that it was safe to approach. The gathered crowd began to cheer, and it was only a few minutes later that the villain, a black-haired man in his early twenties, was packed up into a police van and taken away. Izuku caught the man’s face, and felt like he recognized him, but couldn’t place it.
It wasn’t until a few hours later, once his father had come home and endured the deluge of questions that his son had prepared for him, that the mystery was solved. Izuku was eating breakfast, watching the news on his phone. The villain’s name was released, and Izuku dropped his spoon. The black-haired man’s picture stared at him through the screen, with the words ‘Raizou Tatsuma’ underneath. This man was his cousin. Izuku knew that he was obviously related to him, but to find out that he was someone so closely related was a little unsettling. His father looked at him solemnly, wordlessly communicating with his son.
The news report continued. Apparently, Raizou was a lowlife with a large criminal record. The reporter on site said that, according to their sources, the rampage started when a back-alley deal went south. Raizou was angered and lashed out. The bodies of seven other criminals were found in a nearby alleyway, but thanks to the quick actions of the other nearby heroes, there were no other deaths. Many civilians were harmed, and the property damage was immense, but it was much better than it could have been if Stormclaw hadn’t shown up.
Raizou had turned out so differently than his sister; they could hardly have been more different. Was it all due to the influence of their quirks? Regardless, Izuku put the thoughts away for now. He had a busy day ahead of him and he couldn’t afford to be distracted thinking about his estranged cousin.
On Monday, Izuku went to school as normal. He walked into class, was greeted by most of the other students, asked a few questions about people’s weekends then sat down in his seat. The school day continued without interruption. He took diligent notes, although he didn’t really need to. He already knew the material, after all. Ever since he started elementary school, Izuku and Katsuki had been receiving private tutoring.
Obviously, his father wanted to send him to a prestigious private academy; a place where Izuku could receive the best education available to him. However, Izuku didn’t want to be separated from Kacchan. While his father had no problem paying for him to attend with Izuku, the blonde’s parents refused to accept that kind of charity. Izuku thought that they were being foolish, but he knew that people’s pride was important.
Faced with the threat of not being able to see Kacchan nearly as often, Izuku came up with a solution.
Izuku proposed that Kacchan and he attend their local public school. This would allow Izuku to maintain normal social interactions, which he knew his parents were interested in him doing, and keep in contact with is best friend. So that he would not suffer from a potentially lower-quality education, his parents would hire a private tutor to give him lessons, and Kacchan could join him. This would appease Kacchan’s parents, his parents, and would teach him better study habits and discipline.
His sales pitch was a success. For the past two years, the two boys had spent nearly every Saturday with their private tutor, alternating sessions between their houses.
She ran them through all the subjects at an intense pace, cramming what seemed like entire weeks of schooling into a single day. She assigned them homework for every other day of the week, more than doubling their homework load. She was a ruthless taskmaster, but the boys were always up for a challenge. The end result was that they received an education that might have even been superior to the private academy that his father had in mind.
This helped Izuku make more of his ‘friends’ as well. He was always willing to help give advice or tutor the other kids. He never did so at lunch, however. Lunch was his personal time, just for him and his best friend.
Later that same day at lunch, Katsuki looked over at his friend at their table, spotting the notebook in his hand. Izuku was always writing in one of those during his free time. The cover of this one read ‘Hero Analysis for the Future No. 4’, causing him to raise his eyebrows.
“New notebook already?”
“Yep!” Izuku responded happily, taking a deep breath. “I always love the smell of a brand-new notebook. Number 3 lasted me a while, but with that villain attack over the weekend, I filled up the last pages pretty quick.” He didn't say ‘my cousin’ because he wanted to distance himself from the event. Katsuki understood.
“Yeah, I’m not surprised,” he responded after swallowing his food. “It’s not often we get to see your dad in action like that. Uncle ‘Sashi is a force of nature when he wants to be.”
Katsuki returned to his meal, thinking quietly as he ate. Izuku kept writing hurriedly in his notebook, muttering under his breath. Katsuki smirked as he caught the sketch of Stormclaw on the first page; Izuku always made his dad the first entry of every notebook. The rest of their lunch time continued as it often did, uneventful and relaxing.
It was the walk back to class that was eventful.
Lunch had ended, and the two boys were walking side by side when they heard a voice behind them. “Oi. Are you Midoriya?” Both boys looked back to see two taller kids approaching them. They were at least two or three grades older than them.
“Yes, that’s me,” Izuku responded with a smile, turning to face them. “Can I help you?”
“Yeah, you can tell me when you’re going to go nuts and start attacking us,” the taller of the two older students said, a distinct note of frustration in his voice.
Izuku and Katsuki both froze.
“I, uh, what?” It wasn’t often that Izuku was left speechless, but he certainly wasn’t expecting to be asked a question like that.
“He asked when you’re going to stop pretending that you’re a normal kid and start trying to kill us all.” The other boy took an aggressive step forward.
“I- I- I wouldn’t-” Izuku had taken a step back. Several students had stopped to watch the conflict.
“Cause that’s what your family does, right? Or do you think that everyone has forgotten about Terrorflame?” The shorter one continued his accusations.
Katsuki knew that none of these kids had memories of Terrorflame. Izuku could give you the date, time and location that he was finally brought to justice, and it was years before any of the students at this school were born. These kids were mad about something and were taking it out on Izuku. Sure, he was related to Terrorflame, but he was also related to Stormclaw, and Thunderwing, and Gallant. Izuku could claim just as many heroes as his ancestors as he could villains.
He wasn't really listening to what the kids were saying at this point. He was more concerned with how his friend was reacting. The boy was trying to shrink down, trying not to further anger the larger, already angry students. He had taken a step back, let his head drop, and otherwise looking like he was submitting. Or at least that’s what he appeared to be doing, but Katsuki knew better.
Izuku did this whenever he was put into a corner. He pretended to back down, pretended to submit, but it was all a ploy. Katsuki looked at his green eyes, looking past the fake fear inside of them and saw them analyzing and calculating. He needed to diffuse this situation before it escalated, for the sake of both parties. That’s what a hero would do. He knew Izuku didn’t need to be protected, but just because someone doesn’t need something doesn’t mean they don’t deserve something.
“Leave him alone.” Katsuki took a step forward, putting himself between the wolf-playing-sheep and the older boys.
“Why are you protecting him? You know he’s just gonna kill you first when he finally snaps,” the taller boy sneered.
Katsuki didn’t acknowledge the boy’s words. “I said, leave him alone. Go to class. Let’s not get in trouble. Come on, Izuku, we don’t want to be late.” He half turned, trying to get his friend to move.
The older students apparently had a lot of pent up emotions; frustration, anger, indignation, just to name a few. The spikey-haired blonde boy tried to defuse the situation, but instead, his cold dismissal just set the boys off. The smaller one took a swing at Katsuki.
The punch may have actually hit him if he hadn’t been sparring with Izuku under the supervision of a top-ten hero for half of his life. Katsuki had great reflexes, and easily dodged the punch. He stared back at the boy, his anger overruling his judgement. He was getting heated now, and squared up to the two of them, putting Izuku behind him.
The shorter boy took another swing, then another. Katsuki dodged them both easily, but then the taller boy joined in. The students surrounding the spectacle started cheering as the blonde avoided the punches from the taller students. However, in the end, they were bigger, and he was outnumbered.
A punch from the taller boy hit Katsuki straight in the jaw. He’d been hit harder, a lot harder, but it was still a solid hit. His vision went blurry for a second and he stumbled back. Before he could regain his footing, he felt something shoot past him at dizzying speed.
He got his bearings back as a crash echoed through the hallway. He looked through the stars in his vision to see that Izuku had flown past him and tackled the boy who had punched him. Izuku was sitting on the larger boy’s chest, pinning him to the ground. Katsuki could only see the back of his friend’s head, but he could imagine the expression on his face.
“YOU DO NOT HIT KACCHAN!” Izuku screamed at the top of his lungs, voice deepened with the unconscious activation of his quirk.
Izuku reared his right arm back, clenched in a fist, and brought it down on the boy’s face with furious, burning anger. With a loud, dull noise, the boy was knocked out. The punch was solid, but judging from the sound, Katsuki doubted any bones were broken. Izuku whipped his head towards the other aggressor, allowing Katsuki to see his eyes.
They were glowing with the tell-tale energy of his quirk. They moved unnaturally, turning and focusing on the older student in a distinctly reptilian fashion. The other boy took a terrified step backwards, before turning and running down the hallway. The rest of the students followed suit, leaving the two friends with the unconscious student.
The older students were suspended for three days for the fight, while Izuku was suspended for a week. Due to the testimonies of other students that he only dodged and tried to help, Katsuki was spared any formal punishment.
His parents had come rushing to the school when they received the call. They met with the principal and after a brief meeting, they were on their way home. Izuku had barely spoken a word since the event, and he was still clearly fuming. Inko, in her wisdom, knew that Izuku needed to confront what he was feeling. She started gently.
“Izuku, honey? Why did you hit that boy?”
Izuku thought for a moment. He was still angry, furious even, but not at her. He continued to glare out the window while he finally spoke. “He hurt Kacchan.”
“You hit Katsuki all the time, and so does your father.” She was playing devil’s advocate to help encourage her son to think .
“That’s different. We are training, helping each other,” Izuku huffed.
“That's why you're not angry at your father when he hits Katsuki, but what about them hitting him made you so angry? You know he's tough enough to handle himself. Defending your friend is fine, but your anger went past that. Why?” She was moving in for the metaphorical kill.
That may have seemed like a harsh line of questioning for an eight year old, but Inko knew what she had to do to push her son to think. “Because they were trying to hurt Kacchan. They hit him. They…” He trailed off for a moment as he considered what he wanted to say, thinking like his mother wanted him to.
“They hurt what’s mine.”
Hisashi took the week of Izuku’s suspension as vacation. Inko believed that he should be the one to oversee his punishment, as the incident was clearly quirk-related. Early on Wednesday, the second full day of Izuku’s suspension, he got a notification from his home security system that there was a car approaching down the driveway.
Hisashi raised an eyebrow, moving over to the screen on the wall to view the security camera feed. He hadn’t expected anybody that day until much later, after all. He flipped the screen on, watching the car come to a stop. He saw the man that stepped out of the car and his eyes widened. Then his brow furrowed. He made his way to the door, opening it as the man approached.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Hisashi asked, a forced politeness in his voice.
“I was in the neighborhood and decided to drop by,” the man responded in kind.
“I don’t believe that for a second.”
“Fine. I came to talk about your son, in light of Raizou.”
Hisashi sighed. He had expected as much. “Alright, come on in then.”
Izuku had woken up early that morning to finish his homework. Kacchan had been coming over after school to bring it to him, which he was grateful for. It was mostly just busy work for him, of course, but he didn’t want his grades to slip. He was already missing a week of school, falling further behind was unacceptable.
He sighed. He felt bad for hitting that boy, especially as hard as he did; he really didn’t know what had come over him. Izuku remembered doing it, but his memory felt like he was watching someone else do that, not himself. It was honestly mostly a blur. One moment he was pretending to be scared, letting those bullies think they had him where they wanted him, and the next he felt something snap.
Seeing those jerks hit Kacchan had made him so unreasonably angry. Kacchan was tough, he didn’t need to be protected. But...Izuku didn’t need to be protected either, but Kacchan stepped out anyway. He was just returning the favor to his friend. They protected each other like friends are supposed to do, right?
That wasn’t what it felt like, though. It felt… natural to lash out at them. The moment that they hit his friend, they had made a mistake. They dared to hurt something of his, to disrespect him like that. It was an insult he could not stomach. But as soon as his rage had left him, he had felt disgusted. His anger on that ride home with his parents had been directed at himself, not the bullies.
Those thoughts weren’t heroic, his actions weren’t heroic. His actions were past merely protective, they were possessive. He became angry at himself again, frustrated with his thoughts. He needed to talk to his dad about these feelings. His dad wouldn’t judge him, and nobody could be better suited to help him.
Izuku left his room and went to find his dad, but to his surprise, he heard his father talking to someone. His tone was a little heated, and the man he was talking to didn't sound much happier. He debated just going back to his room, but his curiosity got the better of him. He walked towards the back porch, pretending he didn’t hear the voice and just walked right in. He planned on acting surprised as an excuse, but it turned out he didn't need to act.
Sitting there next to his father was another man who looked quite similar to him, although a few years younger. His hair was pulled back in a small bun and was a golden blonde instead of his father’s bronze. Two golden horns swept back across his head, starting right above his eyes, and two smaller horns stuck out on each side of his head. He had a long, wispy moustache and beard, and a shrewd look in his eyes. Izuku knew this man. This was the Gold Dragon hero, Purifier. He stared at the man, the man stared back. They both blinked.
“Uncle Hatsuo?”
“Why is he home? Isn’t it a school day?” Hatsuo asked his brother after Izuku had been sent away to go play downstairs.
Hisashi sighed. “He got suspended.”
“For what?” Eyebrow raised in vindication.
“He got in a fight. He wasn’t the instigator.” Hisashi defended his son.
“This is what I’m talking about, Hisashi.” He pointed his finger at the table in emphasis. “He’s dangerous, it’s not his fault, but it is his fate.”
“You know, he isn’t an actual dragon.” Hisashi said firmly. “He’s a boy with a quirk. We are just a family with a quirk.”
“You know he has dangerous instincts. I can’t believe you’re still training him.” Hatsuo folded his arms. “You’re training a future villain. You know that. You know how strong our instincts become.”
“You don’t know my son.” Hisashi was officially angry.
“There has never been a chromatic hero. The closest a chromatic can get to being a hero is not being a villain.” Hatsuo was heating up too.
Hisashi internally rolled his eyes. His brother had probably been sitting on that line for a while.
Hisashi had lost enough of his temper to go for the throat. “What would dad say if he saw you now, wanting to throw your own nephew to the wolves.”
“At least you might know!” Hatsuo was reacting as he expected: violently. “I never got to know the man. It was all ‘Hisashi this’, ‘Hisashi that’! I was finally successful. I was finally worthy of his attention. And then on the day of my success, he was cut down.” His voice lowered as he hissed through his clenched teeth. “
By. His. Own. Brother.
Blood doesn’t mean a damn thing to these monsters.”
“What, are you suggesting that I let you detain my son right now? To toss him in prison like the criminal he is?” He asked sarcastically.
“Of course not. Just because Purifier isn’t as high in the rankings as Stormclaw doesn’t mean that I’ve suddenly forgotten how the law works.” Hatsuo had stood up, his visit clearly coming to an end. “I’ve come here to ask, no,
beg
you to stop training a chromatic dragon. You can’t think that it’s a good idea.”
“No, I think it’s a fantastic idea.” Hisashi stood up as well. “Izuku is a strong boy in more way than one. No amount of instinct is going to change his desire to be a hero. He wants nothing more than to protect, help and befriend people.”
“You say that after he got suspended for fighting?” Hatsuo retorted.
“He was accosted, bullied by other students who just saw his family, and not him. He didn’t react until they hit his friend. They attacked him and his friend because of who he was related to, and who they feared he would become, and not for who he is.” Hisashi pointed an accusing finger. “Exactly like what is happening right now.”
Hatsuo had made his way to the door. “Fine. Disgrace our father’s memory and train a chromatic. Just know that I’ll always be looking out for you, brother. ” He said the word sardonically. “When your son finally embraces his destiny and turns on you, I just hope I’ll make it in time to stop him before he kills you.”
He slammed the door on his way out, leaving an angry and exasperated Hisashi behind him.
Hisashi sighed and rubbed his forehead before letting out a small, tired chuckle. “Well. That was melodramatic.”
Notes:
Thanks to all of you for your support. I'll see you all next chapter!
Chapter 5: A Price Paid Willingly
Summary:
A sacrifice and an important conversation.
Notes:
Thanks to my beta for this chapter, Toony for help.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku was 12 when his father didn’t come home from work one night.
Sure, his father came home a little late sometimes, but Izuku was getting worried. His mother had started helping behind the scenes at the agency once it moved nearby, so she wasn’t home either. He would have been home alone, but Uncle Masaru was over to babysit. His father told him that they were going to be home late tonight, but it was nearly midnight and they still hadn’t even heard from them.
Katsuki and he were both trying not to fall asleep. Izuku didn’t want to sleep while his parents were still gone, and Katsuki wasn’t going to fall asleep while his friend stayed up, while Masaru tried to hide his own worry, reading a book to calm his nerves. All three of them nearly jumped out of their skin when Masaru’s phone rang.
“Inko? Where are you?” Masaru hastily asked when he finally answered. The two boys noticed the color quickly drain from his face, causing them to shoot a concerned glance at each other. “A-All right. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
This definitely had the boys worried. He stood up, looking grim. “Izuku, your father is in the hospital. Your mother didn’t tell me how he’s doing, but he’s going into emergency surgery soon. Now, I’m sure he’ll be fine, but you boys need to get ready, we’re leaving right now.”
The boys sprang into action, not speaking a word. Truth be told, Izuku had expected something like this. His father was a top ten hero, and the slight nervousness he detected when they left that morning let him know that something was happening. He knew how dangerous being a hero could be, but no child is ever truly ready for their parent to be hurt.
The car ride over to the hospital was silent. Izuku doubted he would have heard them if either Bakugou said anything, anyway. He was too deep in thought and worry. He was scanning through every news app he had on his phone, looking for any report of Stormclaw, but he found nothing, not even a sighting. That was his second clue.
They arrived at the emergency department entrance and Masaru couldn’t stop the boys before they jumped out of the car and dashed inside. They skidded to a stop once they got inside, looking frantically around for anyone they knew or any way to find Izuku’s father.
“Boys!” The boys whipped around just in time to get crushed in a great hug from Inko. After a few seconds she let them go, before looking around. “Did you run off without Masaru?”
“W-well, we were worried!” Izuku responded. He looked at his mother, the traces of dried tears were still present on her face, although it looked like she had tried to clean them off. He knew his mother was just as emotional as he was, if not more so. He guessed that she wasn’t crying now simply because she was out of tears for the moment.
They waited a few seconds for an out-of-breath Masaru to jog into the building. He looked around quickly for the boys, calming down when he spotted them standing next to Inko.
“Masaru,” Inko stood up to greet him properly, “thank you for bringing them so quickly. Let’s head up.” A smile attempted to make its way across her face, but failed.
“He’s doing okay. He’ll be okay.” She sounded like she was reassuring herself just as much as them.
They stepped inside and let the doors close as Inko selected the 4th floor button. The elevator ride was silent other than the odd sniffle from Inko. They stepped out of the elevator and began walking down a hallway. The hospital was eerily quiet and had a faint chemical smell that permeated everything.
“One more thing, before we go in.” She seemed to be uncomfortable with her words, as if she was coming to terms with them herself. She turned to face the three boys, stopping them in their tracks. “They did what they could, and he’s doing great, all things considered, but they-” She took a deep breath, preparing herself, “They couldn’t save his left arm.”
The three gasped. Katsuki recovered first and turned to look at his friend, who was still stunned, eyes wide and staring into space. After a few more seconds he jostled the boy, bringing him back to earth. “Hey. Nothing like that is gonna keep him down. Uncle ‘Sashi is tough as hell.”
Izuku slowly nodded his head and the four of them continued walking. The only reason he wasn’t crying is that he was still too shocked to properly process what was going on.
“So, we’re clear on the story?” The man wearing a light suit asked, peering through his spectacles.
“We are. But I’m telling you, he won’t buy it.” Hisashi laughed, which hurt. He was laying in a hospital bed, his chest covered in bandages. He was trying not to think about the limb he was now missing.
“Just let me do the talking, then. I’m sure you understand why we were told to keep this secret.”
“I understand completely, but I’m telling you that it’s gonna be hard to try and trick him like this.”
The thin man sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose. “And what do you suggest instead?”
“He’ll understand if we tell him it’s a secret. Give him a little bite, something that will satisfy his worry, but not endanger what we did today.” Hisashi coughed a bit; he was exhausted.
“I’ll take it under consideration. Forgive me if I doubt the intuition of a twelve-year-old.”
Hisashi laughed once, then hissed from the pain. “Just remember, I warned you.”
Inko knocked on the door and led her son into the room. He waved a short goodbye to Katsuki and his father as he left them to wait outside. Izuku immediately noted the tall, thin man sitting in the corner of the room, but ran over to his father first.
“Dad!” Izuku was crying, finally. Seeing his father in person brought him back to reality, and it brought his emotions back with him. He flew forward into his father’s arm, careful not to touch his chest.
“Hey, kiddo.” His father’s voice was a little raspy, and a lot exhausted.
“Are you going to be okay Mom told me you were fine but I want to hear it from you I was so worried and there was nothing on the news please tell me you're okay.” Hisashi tried not to laugh a bit as his son’s worried words flew from his mouth. If he hadn’t gotten used to it over the years, he probably wouldn’t have been able to understand him.
“I’ll be okay after a few days’ rest, I’d imagine.” Hisashi caught his son stealing a glance at his left side and knew what question Izuku wanted to ask. “Your old man isn’t done yet.”
“You m-mean…” Izuku had wanted to ask, but he thought it wasn’t the time.
“I’m not retiring, no. I’ll have to take it easier, but Stormclaw isn’t finished.” He smiled as much as he could, causing his son to bury his face in his remaining arm and really begin to cry.
His tears and shaking shoulders gradually slowed over the next few minutes as Izuku cried himself out and calmed down.
He finally pulled his head back, wiping tears from his face. “Okay…” He said shakily. He glanced at the man with the spotted tie in the corner and then at the missing arm. He took a deep breath and took a few seconds to collect his thoughts. “What happened?”
Before anyone else could speak up, Izuku began to speak with a speed that was only rivaled by his deepest muttering sprees. “And don’t tell me that it was an accident or anything like that. I know that Sir Nighteye - hello Sir, by the way,” He bowed politely. “I would love to have your autograph if you can find the time- I know that Sir Nighteye wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t something big. Sir being here means All Might was probably involved, and if All Might was involved and you were involved, then that means that it was something really big.”
Sir Nighteye raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised that this child knew who he was. Izuku kept his satisfaction at that reaction to himself.
“And if it was something big enough for both Stormclaw and All Might to be involved, and I assume other top heroes as well, and if Sir Nighteye is here to, I assume, lie to me to help cover it up, then I know it’s probably bigger than anything else that I’ve ever heard of, bigger than Terrorflame or anything else.”
Inko was half-mortified and half-proud with her son. She put a hand to her face, trying to contain her nervous laughter.
“And if it’s that big and that important to have all those heroes involved and to keep it so secret that there’s not even a mention of it on any of the news outlets, then it’s obviously too important to let me know about it.” Izuku finally took a breath. “So, I guess I answered my own question, unless I'm wrong?”
He turned to Sir Nighteye as he finished his rapid speech. Sir stared at him for a few seconds and blinked once. The boy hadn’t even given him a chance to speak yet. “Very astute, young man.”
He put his hand to his chin as he made a sound that sounded a little like a chuckle. He turned and looked at Hisashi, who was just grinning.
“Hey, I didn’t say anything.”
“Indeed.”
Hisashi turned back to his son, placing his hand on his head. “Son, you know there are things we can’t tell you. It’s for your own safety.”
“I know, Dad.” He nodded softly. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I won’t say anything.”
“What I
can
tell you,” Izuku noticed Sir Nighteye tense up slightly, “is that I know you would be proud of what I did. And for what it’s worth, I would do it again.”
Izuku’s eyes shook with emotion as he buried his head into his father’s arm again.
Sir Nighteye relaxed, then stood up, causing Izuku to look at him. “As long as you understand that we cannot speak at all about the matter, then I am no longer needed here.” He shot a glance at the boy as he walked towards the door.
Izuku understood the glance and backed out of his father’s arm. He pulled out a notebook from, well, none of the adults in the room were quite sure from where, holding a blank page up to Sir Nighteye. The stoic man quickly penned his signature and left, giving a small bow to Inko as he did so.
The boy ran outside to let the other visitors into the room. As he waved them in, Katsuki noticed a much happier look on his friend’s face. “Was that Sir Nighteye?” He asked, curious and hoping to raise Izuku’s mood.
“Yeah!” Izuku held up the signature. “I got his autograph, too!”
“Woah… that’s like, super rare.” Katsuki was in awe. It helped that his enthusiasm cheered up his friend as well.
After Masaru spoke to Hisashi for a while (“Sorry, Masaru, I guess I'll have to cancel next week's round of golf.”) and Katsuki was also assured that he was okay and that Stormclaw was not going to be retiring, the boys and Inko went home. As soon as their adrenaline died down, the boys’ bodies abruptly reminded them that it was nearly two in the morning. They had barely started the drive home before they both fell asleep.
Once home, Inko carried her sleeping boy inside, silently waving as Masaru drove away. She took him to his bedroom and laid him down, running her hand through his messy hair and giving him a loving kiss on the forehead before leaving him to sleep. She looked back at him as she left the room, worrying about the future like she often did. She took a deep breath and closed the door quietly behind her.
‘No matter how big you get, you’ll always be my baby boy, Izuku.’
Hisashi stared out the window of the porch, thinking about the past few days, and what the future held.
He wound up taking a couple months off to recuperate. The damage he received to his chest was bad enough without him also losing an arm, so Inko forced him to rest for longer than he hoped. He knew that when he finally did go back to work, he was going to have to take it easier. He was only 40, he thought, it’s a shame that he was on the decline already.
On the other hand, he figured his injury was a blessing in disguise in some ways. It would allow him to spend more time with his son, for starters. He still had seven good years to train and teach his son before he got shipped off to UA, after all, and he was going to use them. Izuku had made great strides in the recent years with his quirk physically and he hadn’t had another ‘incident’ since he knocked that kid out four years ago.
However, Hisashi knew that things were about to start changing. Izuku was starting puberty, which meant that his instincts were going to get stronger. He was hoping to put this off for a little bit longer, to let Izuku keep his innocence as long as he could, but especially with him having a brush with death, he couldn’t justify that any longer.
It was time for the talk.
Hisashi guessed that most fathers didn’t have to have this kind of talk.
Instead of waiting any longer, Hisashi decided to tear the bandage off right that moment. He called for Izuku, who came quickly.
“Yeah, dad?” Izuku was attentive, but cautious. He was expecting to be asked for help from his newly-handicapped father but didn’t want to assume his father needed more assistance than what he asked for. He didn’t want to insult him, after all.
“We’re going out to the beach. It’s time we have a talk about our quirks.” Hisashi said, his nerves made him sound grimmer than he had intended.
Izuku looked understandably worried, but quickly followed his father outside. They walked along the beach in silence for a few minutes until they arrived at a rocky outcropping that they had often used as natural chairs. They sat down and listened to the waves lapping at the beach for a while, breathing in the fresh sea air. Finally, after Izuku looked like he was about to fidget out of his skin, Hisashi spoke.
“Do you remember the talk we had four years ago? Right after you got suspended?”
Izuku cringed slightly at the memory, but then nodded. “You told me that it was my quirk that gives me those weird impulses, like the one that made me lash out when those students hit Kacchan.”
“Exactly. And I can’t tell you enough how proud I am that you’ve been able to keep in control since then.” His son smiled at the praise. “But I’m afraid there is a change going on in your life right now.”
Izuku blanched and his eyes went wide. “Uhhh, Dad if this is about the birds and the bees then it’s okay you don’t have to-”
“No, no! It’s about your quirk!” Hisashi interrupted his son before he melted down.
“Oh.” He sighed, relieved.
“Well, you were partially right,” he held up a hand to stop Izuku from sputtering more, “our quirks become more...assertive during puberty.”
Izuku quieted down and thought for a moment before speaking, “So, what does that mean for me?”
“I’m not sure, honestly. My father was the same type of dragon as me, so he could help me quite a bit, but there hasn’t been a green dragon in our family for a long time.” Hisashi cleared his throat. “But I have some idea. Izuku, we’ve talked about this before, about the difference between chromatic and metallic dragons, right?”
Izuku nodded, fear in his eyes.
“I suspect it will be something like that. Look at Terrorflame, or Fulgurite, or even Frostheart. You’re a smart kid, extrapolate.”
Hisashi saw his son’s brain go to work. He began to mutter, eyes darting along the ground as he considered what his father said. Then Izuku’s face fell and Hisashi realized that he had messed up. Izuku started to tear up, a note of betrayal in his voice. “Ar-Are you s-saying you think I’m gonna be a v-v-villain?”
Hisashi’s eyes went wide, mentally slapping himself for being an idiot. “No! No, no, no, no, nothing like that.” Izuku sniffled. “Izuku. Son. I don’t think I could stop you from being a hero if I tried.” He reached out with his remaining arm and placed it on his son’s shaking shoulder. “I would never say that. I’m sorry that I let you even think that for a moment.”
His son breathed deep, trying to calm himself. “S-so, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying that it’s not going to be easy.” He gave him a kind, reassuring smirk. “Think of it as a challenge. Nobody is going to have to try harder than you, which means when you finally succeed, you’re going to be better than everyone else.”
Izuku laughed a bit; a victory for his father. “Kacchan isn’t going to take that lying down.”
“I’m counting on it.” Hisashi gave his son a reassuring jostle before releasing his shoulder. “But I didn’t just bring you out here to accidentally devastate and then encourage you.” Another small laugh from Izuku. “We are here to talk about your plan to deal with these things. We call them instincts, if you remember.”
“I just have to ignore them, right? That’s what I’ve been doing.” Izuku began counting something on his fingers, his father didn’t know what. “Whenever I’ve felt something weird like that time I knocked that kid out, I reason it away or remove myself from the situation. You want me to keep doing that?”
“Well, that might work for a while, but now that you’re getting older, it’s going to be much harder.” Izuku looked fearful again, so Hisashi quickly continued. “We have a little trick that we’ve picked up to help us out whenever our quirk acts up like that. You have to give it what it wants, but in a way that works for you.”
Izuku was a little upset he’d never thought of that before. He just stared back at his father.
“Let me give you an example. Your old man isn’t as much of a saint as you might think. Whenever I do a job, such as saving someone or defeating a villain, my instincts demand that I be compensated for it.” Izuku kept thinking, not reacting in horror as his father feared. “So, instead of demanding or taking payment from the people I save, what do I do?”
“You take a paycheck from the government.” Izuku was catching on. “So, instead of letting your desire make you a villain, you use it to keep yourself in line and be the best hero you can be, to keep from losing that paycheck and to try and get a bigger one.”
“Exactly!” he said proudly. Even after all these years, Izuku often impressed him.
“So, whenever you feel something start to pull at you, think about how you can make it work
for
you, rather than
against
you.” Hisashi was a little proud of his adlib adage. “What’s something you feel sometimes? Let’s work on what you can do.”
Izuku thought for only a moment, rubbing his chin once. “How about the basic one; the first one I remember. I really like to manipulate people. It feels really satisfying when I get someone to change their mind or actions.”
“So, as I said earlier, ignoring that desire will only cause you suffering once you can’t contain it any longer.” Hisashi pointed at him. “So how can you make that work for you?”
“Well, what if I convince them of something good? Like I can talk down criminals or calm victims.” Izuku postulated.
“That’s it. Find positive outlets!” He tried to slam his fist into the open palm of his left hand but found it impossible. “There’s nothing that’s
inherently
evil. Everything is about intent. The difference between a hero and a villain is a matter of perspective.” Izuku nodded along to his father’s words. “I’m sure that I’m the villain in the stories of the people I defeat. If you play your cards right and use that big brain of yours,” Hisashi poked his son in the forehead, “you can be the hero in a lot of stories.”
He moved his hand down to hold the boy’s shoulder again. “You’re the smartest boy I know, and I
know
that you can and will figure this out. Nothing’s gonna stop you unless you let it. Remember that.”
Izuku smiled wide. “I will. Thanks, Dad.” He paused, before throwing his arms around his father’s chest. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Son. You make me so damn proud every day.” Hisashi said softly into his son’s hair, smile growing on his face. “Hey, how about I teach you something new today? I think you’re ready for it.”
Izuku’s happy tears dried instantly as they were replaced with a look of excitement. He jumped off the rock and into a wide, ready stance. “Yes, sir!”
Notes:
Thanks for reading, and let me know what you thought in the comments.
See you all next chapter!
Chapter 6: A Chance Encounter
Summary:
One of the worst, and then best days of Izuku's life.
Notes:
Thanks to my betas for this chapter, epicderpybro2 and AzureFirehawk!
Enjoy the chapter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku was 17 when he almost died.
In the past five years, Katsuki and Izuku had both grown up to be strong, fine young men. While Katsuki had been taller for all of their lives, in the past two years, Izuku caught up, and then passed him. It wasn’t that surprising, his father was huge, while Katsuki’s parents were pretty average height.
More importantly for the two, they had both filled out with muscle. Especially since Stormclaw started taking it easier, the man was using his newfound free time to push his two charges even harder. It wasn’t a strange thing for them to show up to school in the morning already exhausted physically.
Not that Izuku minded being worn out at school. They were still being tutored privately, so he didn’t worry about falling behind. No, he enjoyed being exhausted because it made it easier to get through the day. Ever since the incident nine years ago, the other students had been much more wary of him. As he grew older, they only became more cautious around him.
No longer was he greeted by every student when he entered a room, nor did he go out of his ways to befriend everyone. They other students knew that he was the son of a former top-ten hero, owned a powerful quirk, and didn't take crap from anybody. But he was nice enough, and would help people with their homework if they asked him and always did his part on group assignments.
Perhaps they were intimidated. He was one of the taller kids in the class, and certainly the most well-built, along with Katsuki. It didn’t help that Izuku had green horns poking out of his hair above his eyes and that green ridge with black spikes that came down his neck. In addition, Izuku’s demeanor was much more downcast than it used to be. He wouldn’t talk much at school, and would be content going through the day speaking to nobody but his best friend. He was almost a completely different person compared to his normal, outgoing self that Katsuki knew so well.
All those years ago, right when Izuku came back from suspension, Katsuki was worried about his friend. He didn’t know how the other students would treat him. He was right to be worried, because as it turned out, they all gave him a wide berth. He couldn’t blame them too much; It made sense to give space to the guy who knocked out a kid half-again his size with a single, rage-fueled punch.
Katsuki was worried, but he wasn’t good at expressing it. He hid it pretty well, or at least he thought he did. That day at lunch, when the two had been sitting on their own, Izuku spoke up.
“You’re worried about me now that I’ve lost all my friends.” It was less of a question and more of a statement.
Katsuki just looked over, Izuku was quietly writing in his notebook about a fight he saw on the way to school.
“Don’t be. I didn’t lose anything of value. They weren’t real friends. Not like you.”
So Katsuki didn’t worry; who could he trust if he couldn’t trust his best friend? He let it go, and they continued in their school careers, through elementary, middle and junior high. They came to high school and nothing changed. Kids who didn’t know just thought that Izuku was the quiet, smart kid with the muscular body and intimidating quirk. Kids who did know just didn’t want to deal with it.
Like he said, Izuku was content with Katsuki, at least for now. He felt that desire, his ‘instinct’ to socialize with more people, but it just wasn't worth it to try at school. So, he found other outlets. He would spend time at his father’s agency, and he would try to get over to his cousin’s agency once a month as well. He would talk with the interns and sidekicks there, and the occasional pro hero that had stopped by. Otherwise, he spent nearly all of his time with his parents, Katsuki, and Katsuki’s parents. It was a small group, but it was enough for now.
Sometimes, especially when he was busy with homework, he couldn’t find a good outlet for his instincts. He would try anything to get them to quiet down for a bit, including socializing with random people he met on the street or in stores. Izuku didn’t make any new friends that way, but just the act of socializing helped him to think straight; his father wasn’t joking when he said that his family’s instincts were powerful. He found new respect for his father, which was an impressive feat all on its own.
When it got too bad, Izuku couldn’t resist indulging himself. He would try to hold himself back as much as he could, but he remembered his father’s words, that keeping this inside would only hurt him worse. So he let them out in amusing ways when he could. Well, amusing to himself, anyway.
He had a game he would play where he would place anonymous notes around the room to cause chaos, with each note having different handwriting on it so nobody could trace it back to him. Once he got the class to believe that two of the students were secretly twins, another time he got the entire class to plan a surprise birthday party for their homeroom teacher, when it was certainly not their birthday. Then there was the one time he got two of the students who had been rude to him to get into a fight. He felt a little guilty for that one.
Which is why Izuku was so grateful that his father ran him ragged. When he was exhausted, he didn’t have the energy to have his instincts bother him. Quirks are physical abilities, after all, and being tired caused them to quiet down for a while. Sometimes though, even his father’s persistent boot camp wasn’t enough, so he and his best friend came up with a new plan.
There was a beach in town that they decided to adopt. Dagobah beach used to be beautiful, but was now covered in mountains of garbage and scrap piled dozens of feet high. The plan they hatched was a solid one, and it kept them busy when Stormclaw was working and had the afternoons off.
“Dagobah is such an eyesore.” Katsuki had said as they were driving past the beach on their way to his house from school.
“Yeah,” Izuku sighed. “It’s a shame that the city seems to have just forgotten about it. Nobody even attempts to clean it up.”
“We could.”
Izuku stared at him for a second, he was so tired that he needed to make sure that he heard correctly.
“Us? A whole beach?”
“Sure,” Katsuki shrugged, “All Might is always going on about being a hero to your community by doing service like that. He said it in an interview last night, did you not watch it?”
“I fell asleep as soon as we got done training. I was gonna watch it when I got home.”
“Well, what do you think?”
Izuku thought for a moment. “I bet I can clear more trash than you can, Kacchan.”
Katsuki put his competitive smirk on. “Oh you’re on. We’ll have that beach clean in no time.”
“Besides, carrying all that junk will be good training. I’m glad I thought of it.”
“You thought of it, huh?”
Izuku smirked. “Yeah. See, I was watching this All Might interview yester-”
Izuku was interrupted by a backpack flying at his head, and then Auntie Mitsuki yelling at them to calm down.
In the end, they decided to go to Dagobah after school when they could and clean it up. They couldn’t go every day, but a couple times a week let them make swift progress, especially with two of them working. Izuku’s father proudly supported their initiative, and contracted a local company to take the trash off once the boys loaded it onto trucks.
Today was one of the days that they had free to go to Dagobah, as it turned out. The final bell rang and the two boys walked out a bit behind the rest of their classmates, as Izuku was finishing up some notes in his notebook. Katsuki stretched his arms as they walked, still sore from their morning training. The boys left the school grounds and suddenly were walking in different directions. They both stopped.
“Kacchan, this way is faster.” Izuku sighed; he couldn't believe they were having this conversation again.
“Your ‘shortcuts’ are dumb, this way is way more direct.”
“But that way is-” He sighed. “How about we settle this? We race. Whoever loses has to admit defeat and go the other way until we’ve cleared the beach.”
“Deal.” Katsuki immediately took off running.
“I didn’t say ‘go’ yet!” Izuku’s words fell on deaf ears. He grumbled as he bolted off in his chosen direction.
Izuku’s path was more winding than Katsuki’s, that’s for sure, but it avoided the high traffic areas and major villain hotspots. On a perfect day, Katsuki’s was faster, but Izuku’s was more consistent. He would just have to run fast and hope that Katsuki got caught in a crowd.
He was so focused on keeping up his speed that he didn’t notice the manhole cover in front of him oozing slowly with slime. He ran right over it, accidentally stomping into the sludge. His foot was immediately snagged, tripping him and slamming him face-down onto the concrete path. His backpack flung off of him and scattered everywhere and the sludge started oozing up his leg, engulfing him.
Izuku began freaking out, which wasn’t unexpected. He looked down in horror as the sludge covered his other leg and creeped up toward his waist. Struggle as he might, he couldn’t break free. He quickly turned his hand into a green claw with deadly-sharp points, and slashed at the sludge. It cut through, but the sludge just reformed and kept moving, unabated.
Just when he thought he couldn’t get any more horrified, an eyeball popped out of the manhole, followed by another, and then a sinister looking, tooth-filled grin as well. The twisted face of the villain came into view, grinning wide with malice.
Izuku reached up and tore his shirt off, then managed to lift himself upright. He strained as two dappled green wings sprouted from his exposed back. He tried with all his might, but even with his wings, he couldn’t pull himself free.
“I like it when my invisibility cloaks have a lot of fight in them,” the villain sneered as he engulfed the rest of his body, beginning to suffocate the teen, “and it looks like you’ve got a hell of a quirk, kid. Thanks .”
Izuku let his wings fade back into his body, wanting to conserve energy. The sludge was forcing its way down his throat, but he was fighting back. His body strained and struggled the entire time, never submitting. Izuku let his power well in his chest, and exhaled mightily, forcing the sludge out of his throat as a roar of thick, green gas poured from his mouth.
He took a great gasp of air, coughing and hacking. The poison flew into the sky, away from the villain and dispersed.The villain seemed angered, but amused. “Just stop fighting. It’ll make it easier for the both of us.”
Izuku glared into the villain’s sadistic eyes with defiance, his own eyes were glowing a bright shade of green, irises entirely invisible. Scales were forming and vanishing all along his body as he struggled and fought. Rending claws split the villain open but proved futile in the end as the sludge just flowed back together.
‘Funny how things work,’ Izuku thought as his vision blurred, ‘The first villain I encounter and he’s basically immune to my quirk. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up…’
He tried to use his breath attack again, but the villain was ready for it this time and didn’t give him the opportunity.
‘It feels like I’ve been struggling for a while, it must have at least been several minutes!’ He was struggling to stay conscious. ‘Why isn’t anybody helping me? I think… I’m... dying…’
Suddenly, Izuku found himself flying into the air. His blurred vision could make out the roofs of the surrounding buildings shrinking below him.
‘Oh, I’m dead. I guess I’m going to Heaven, though. That’s good.’ He was too delirious to think clearly.
A large hand grabbed him by the arm and wrenched him free from the sludge. He vaguely comprehended that none of his other sense were working, as even his vision had stopped responding. He only remembered the faint sensation of being held when consciousness left him.
Izuku slowly awoke, his head pounding. ‘This doesn’t feel like heaven. This hurts. Oh, I must have gone to Hell instead. Mom’s gonna be so mad.’
A faint noise entering his barely-functional ears made him open his eyes groggily. Above him, a little close for comfort, was the wide, confident grin of... ‘All Might ?!’
Izuku shot up and began to hack violently, coughing up pieces of sludge as his brain and senses roared back to full capacity.
“Young man, I’m glad you’re okay. I thought I lost you there for a bit,” All Might spoke loudly, “What’s your name, do you know who you are?” All Might was checking for signs of concussion.
Izuku hacked up a few more pieces of sludge. “C-ca-,” another cough, “Can I have your autograph?”
“That’s a strange na- huh?” All Might’s smile fell slightly for only a moment, before returning, brighter than ever as he began laughing uproariously.
Izuku took several deep breaths, making sure his lungs were fully clear. He stumbled to his feet shakily. “I’m serious! Y-you’re my second favorite hero of all time! Right after my dad, sorry.”
This caused All Might to laugh again. “And who is your father, young man? He raised a strong kid.”
“Stormclaw, A-All Might, sir.”
“You’re Hisashi’s boy?!” The surprise was evident on the hero’s face. “I know him well!”
Izuku threw his arms wide in frustration.“I know you do! I keep trying to get him to get your autograph, but he always forgot to do it!”
All Might’s voice faltered as he rubbed the back of his head. “Well, we are busy men... sometimes you, uh, forget things.”
Izuku took a centering breath and then bowed deeply. “Thank you for saving me, All Might. Can I ask you what happened?”
“You are welcome, Young Midoriya,” All Might gave a big thumbs up, “and certainly! Let me regale you with the tale!” All Might stood tall and gestured as he recounted the events.
“I encountered this villain earlier, but he slipped into the sewers. It turns out that this city’s sewer system is rather confusing to navigate!” he laughed once, “It seems that in his effort to escape me, he attacked you. So, you have my apologies, Young Midoriya. I am thankful that you are alright.”
“Thank you for your concern, All Might,” Midoriya bowed politely again, not believing that
All Might
was apologizing to him, “b-but what happened next? I kinda blacked out. Where’s the v-villain that attacked me?”
“Well, you were engaged with the villain on top of the manhole. Once I located the villain, I jumped into action! You two were blown into the sky... along with the manhole cover.” He pointed over his shoulder to where Izuku saw the cover embedded halfway in the side of a building. “Once airborne, I pulled you free and blew the villain away!” He flexed impressively, and threw a punch to illustrate his point.
“After I got you safely to the ground, I collected the villain in these handy bottles!” He proudly held two soda bottles aloft, both filled with green sludge.
“Woah, that’s so cool!” Midoriya’s eyes were wide in admiration and awe. He came back to earth as he remembered his earlier question. “Oh! Uh, about that autograph…”
All Might smiled and tossed him his notebook labeled ‘Hero Analysis for the Future No. 15’. Izuku quickly opened it, flipping through to find a blank page. Once he was about halfway through, he was stunned to see a giant ‘ALL MIGHT’ signature covering two pages.
“Finally!” He literally jumped for joy. “Thank you, All Might!”
“Not a problem, Young Midoriya,” All Might’s said with his smile shining in the sunlight. “Always happy to meet a fan, especially if he’s Stormclaw’s son!”
“Oh, I should let Kacchan know where I am. He’s probably most of the way to the beach by now.” Izuku pulled out his phone and sent a text, followed by his location.
“Well, if there’s nothing else,” All Might asked, “then I’ll be off.”
“Wait!” Izuku held out his hand to stop the man. “I have something I need to ask you!”
All Might stopped and thought for a second. “Sure, I have time. But only if you put a shirt on.”
Izuku blanched. In his excitement, he forgot that he had ripped his shirt off. “S-Sure!” He pulled out a spare shirt from his backpack as All Might sat down on the curb.
Katsuki was almost to the beach when he heard Izuku’s notification sound go off on his phone. He was initially furious that he had somehow lost the race, and whipped out the phone to see what taunt his friend had sent. To his surprise, the message read ‘Villain attack delayed me, trust me, you NEED to be here!’ The message was followed with Izuku’s location, barely five minutes away from where their race began.
He turned around and started jogging back. Katsuki let out a short sound of exasperation. Knowing Izuku, it was probably some small-time thug that got taken down by one of the local heroes. They knew Izuku by name at this point, with how often he found himself at crime scenes. If nothing else, Katsuki needed to go back and drag his friend by the ankle away from the hero or they would never get to the beach today.
“So,” Izuku began nervously, “I uh, um.”
“Come, Young Midoriya, spit it out.”
“You…” he took a deep breath, “youfoughtTerrorflameallthoseyearsagoandIwanted-”
“Woah, woah!” All Might held his hands up to stop the boy. “Slow down! I don’t have super hearing. Halfway between those two speeds would be great.”
He took another deep breath. “Sorry, All Might, sir. I wanted to ask you about Terroflame.”
“Oh.” All Might’s smile faltered for a second, “He’s related to you, is he not?”
“Yeah. He’s my father’s uncle. My great uncle. And…” Midoriya was hesitating. This was All Might, the number one hero. He was the greatest. He wouldn’t judge him, right?
Midoriya sighed and braced himself. He held his arm up and let it grow his green scales. Over the years, they had changed from a dark, nearly black color to a vibrant green the same color as his hair. He sometimes admired them; he liked to think they were beautiful, but what they represented cast a dark shadow over him “And I’m like him.” He sounded defeated, ready to have the hero rebuke him.
All Might didn’t react with fear or hesitation, nor anger. He barely reacted at all. “What do you mean by that, Young Midoriya. I see you have your father’s quirk, and he is a great man.”
‘Oh,’ Izuku thought, ‘He doesn’t know. That’s why he didn’t react.’
“I have the dragon quirk, yes, b-but I don’t have my father’s quirk.” Midoriya considered stopping while he was ahead, but figured that he was already committed. “My family quirk is divided into two categories.”
He held up one hand. “Metallic dragons are people like my father, and his father. Heroes like Silverlight. The other half is called chromatic.” He held up his other hand, the one covered in green scales. “Those are people like Fulgurite, Terrorflame… and me.”
“And you’re worried that you’re going to end up like them?”
“Yes!” Izuku exclaimed, “I am trying my hardest but sometimes…” He sighed again. “You knew Terrorflame, right?”
“Er, In a sense. We did battle three times before I finally brought him in. But that was over twenty years ago, young man.”
“What was he like?”
“What was he like?” All Might repeated the question, confused. “Well, he was- is- exceedingly arrogant and full of himself. He refused to submit, even when beaten. He was cruel and terrifying; even those poor souls that he cowed into his service were nothing more than expendable pawns to him.” Regret and revulsion was palpable in his voice.
“He was a fearsome foe, and fought with a fury and a spitefulness that is rarely matched. He is one of the most truly evil men I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting.”
“All Might,” Izuku said, voice cracking, “I… I have a villain’s quirk, like Terrorflame. Nobody alive knows him better than you, and I’m just… I’m trying my hardest, and all of my friends and family have done nothing but support me, but-”
“Young Midoriya,” All Might interrupted, “you seem to be dancing around your point. What are you asking me?”
A single tear escaped his eye. “...Can I still be a hero if my quirk wants me to be a v-villain? If I have a quirk like Terrorflame’s?”
All Might paused for a moment, then asked, “Do you want to be a hero?”
“Yes! More than anything!” Izuku’s voice was full of teary-eyed conviction.
“Then of course you can!” All Might started laughing his triumphant laugh. “Young man, being a hero comes from the heart. I know that your family’s quirk is... unique in many ways, but it is still just a quirk. You make the choices in your life, not it. So, yes. You can be a hero.”
Izuku knew it wasn’t that simple. The dragon quirk affected his mind and emotions, how could he ever truly be free of it? He had once thought it was that simple, but over the past five years, his instincts have done nothing but get stronger. Every day he doubted himself more, every day it was harder to resist.
All Might saw that doubt in his face and spoke again. “Nothing can change the desires of your heart, Young Midoriya. As long as you stay true to that, nothing will keep you from your dream.”
He had been told things like that before, but hearing it from someone that wasn’t his family, someone like All Might, someone who knew Terrorflame… it made all the difference in the world.
Izuku started to cry. He had really hoped to keep that from happening around All Might, but he’s his mother’s son in the end. All Might was right. He wanted nothing more in his heart than to be a hero, and nothing would change that. He would take this damn quirk, and do as his father told him. He would bend it to his will, and make it work for him , and not the other way around.
“T-thank you, All M-Might.”
It took Katsuki a good ten minutes to jog back, and by the time he arrived, he was confused again. If there was a villain attack, where was the crowd? He was almost to the street corner that Izuku had sent in his message and there wasn’t a single person around. He wheeled around the corner, seeing his friend casually sitting on the sidewalk.
“Oi, Izuku! What the hell are you do-”
Katsuki stopped. Izuku wasn’t sitting alone. In fact, he was sitting next to someone that he recognized.
“Oh hey, Kacchan!” Izuku called out to him, “Come meet All Might!”
This was probably a dream, Katsuki reasoned. Why else would he come around the corner into some forgotten walking path to find his best friend casually sitting next to the number one hero and his idol, All Might.
“So, I figured out that the villain was hiding on the third floor...” All Might was apparently telling Izuku stories, because sure, why not?
“Oh! Hello, young man!” All Might called out to him. Him . “You must be Young Bakugou.”
‘Okay Katsuki, act cool.’
“Yeah.”
‘Nailed it.’
“Young Midoriya here was telling me that you two are hoping to become heroes! It’s always good to meet the aspiring champions of our future.”
“Come on, Kacchan, don’t just stand there!” Izuku waved him over. Katsuki looked at his friend, and noticed that it looked like he had been crying.
This got Katsuki to finally move his feet. He slowly walked over to the two, doing his best to look aloof. He was pretty sure All Might would be fooled, but he had doubts about his friend.
“Come on, sit down! All Might was just telling me about that ice villain he took down last month.” Izuku’s smile was in danger of coming off of his face.
Katsuki plopped down next to his friend. He tried to keep his scowl on, but his face wasn’t having it. Eventually he just gave in to the smile.
“Right, where was I?”
In the end, they spent almost an hour talking to All Might. Eventually the hero had to go and turn the sludge villain in to the police, so he stood up to leave.
“It was a pleasure talking to you young men,” All Might gave them his big thumbs up, “I’m sure I’ll be hearing great things about you very soon. I assume you two are aiming to attend UA?”
“Yes, sir!” Izuku responded with eagerness.
“You went there,” Katsuki said, smirking, “so there’s no better place for the next top two heroes to go.”
“Oh?” All Might raised an eyebrow. “Those are lofty goals. You boys better be ready to try your hardest.”
“Every day of our lives.” Katsuki said confidently, punching his hands together to set of a small puff of smoke.
“Oh, one more thing before you go, All Might,” Izuku knew he was pushing it, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, “Why are you here in Musutafu? Your agency is in Minato, Tokyo and-”
“Young Midoriya,” All Might stopped him before he got started. “You know as well as anybody that there are some things you can’t tell others, especially when you’re a hero.”
“Yes, of course.” Izuku quickly bowed in apology. “I can’t thank you enough for what you told me and the time you spent with us.”
“It’s the least I could do, Young Midoriya. It was a pleasure meeting you as well, Young Bakugou.” He gave them a salute, before gripping the bottles with the villain in them firmly and leaping into the sky, soaring off over the skyline.
“Woah,” was all Katsuki could say. His smirk failed to contain his grin again.
“Yeah. Woah.” Izuku was also smiling like an idiot. Part of him was wondering why All Might had been so willing to spend time with him; perhaps it had to do to that mysterious event five years ago. But in the end, most of him was just glad to have met the man in person.
Izuku stood tall, remembering what he had said to him.
“Nothing can change the desires of your heart, Young Midoriya.”
Notes:
Whew, the longest chapter yet! Once again, I can't thank you guys enough for your support. I love all the comments that I receive, keep them coming!
Next chapter we finally get to UA, or at least the entrance exam. See you then!
Chapter 7: The Start of Something Grand
Summary:
The UA entrance exam!
Notes:
Thanks to AzureFirehawk and epicderpybro2 for being my betas for this chapter once again.
I hope you all enjoy the chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Suddenly, the boys were 18.
They were gathered in the Bakugou household, getting ready to have breakfast on a sunny late February morning. Specifically February 26th, the day of the UA entrance exam.
Izuku, Katsuki and each of their parents were there, enjoying each other’s company before the big event. Inko and Masaru were preparing the meal, chatting happily, while Hisashi and Mitsuki were sitting at the table talking about local politics. Izuku and Katsuki were both sitting quietly in the living room, nervous out of their minds.
Izuku showed it outwardly, but Katsuki kept it inside. Everyone in the room knew him well enough to not be fooled, however. The parents gave their children space, supporting them with their presence without drowning them and adding to to their stress.
Eventually, Masaru called the boys to breakfast. They began to de-stress as they ate, delicious food helping to calm their minds, and the steady, upbeat attitudes of their parents bolstering their hearts. They ate their fill, and all too soon, it was time for them to leave.
“I’m so proud of you, Izuku, I know you’ll do great.” Inko crushed her boy in a hug as she cried proud tears.
His father came up to him and put his arm on the boy’s shoulder. “Knock ‘em dead, son. Show UA who you are.”
“I will. Thanks Mom, Dad.” Izuku was starting to get emotional as well.
“I would say ‘try your hardest and do your best’, but I don’t have to worry about that, do I?” Masaru had his left hand on his son’s shoulder, and his right extended towards his son.
Katsuki gripped it in a firm handshake. “Damn straight.”
Mitsuki ruffled her son’s hair. “Kick ass, and take no prisoners.”
“I never do.” Katsuki smirked. He gave his parents a last goodbye then walked toward the door. “Come on, man, we’re gonna miss the train.”
“Coming, coming!” Izuku gave his parents one last big hug each and then ran after his friend who was already halfway to the street. “Wait up, Kacchan!”
The train ride was quiet, at least between the two. There were plenty of other commuters conversing to keep the volume up, but not loud enough to disturb them. Izuku was going over his study notes, while Katsuki looked like he was mentally preparing himself.
All too soon, they arrived at the gates of UA. They had seen them before, but never had they actually walked inside of them. The impressive, mostly windowed building towered overhead, and students of all shapes and sizes were walking into the building. The stood outside the gates, ready to take the step forward into the future.
“Well, Kacchan.” Izuku took a deep breath, smelling the air. “We’re here.”
“Finally... Time to show this school what real heroes look like.” Smoke popped from his right hand.
“You remember our deal, right?” Izuku flexed his own right hand, sending scales flashing across it.
“Course I do.” He grew a sadistic smile. “I’m looking forward to my prize.”
They had started walking towards the building entrance. “So confident! I hope you’re that confident once I win.”
“As if you have a chance!”
Izuku changed subjects. “Who do you think will b-”
Suddenly, Izuku was falling forward, tripping over his own feet.
Katsuki reached out to grab his arm. “Dammit, Deku!”
Deku.
A nickname that Katsuki had given him, based on an ‘alternative’ reading of his name. He had first called him that years ago, back when they were around four or five, Izuku couldn’t remember exactly.
Of course, that wasn’t the only nickname he gave to Izuku, but it was the one he used most often. It basically meant ‘useless’, and Katsuki used it whenever he wanted to scold or antagonize him. Izuku gave his friend guff right back, and the boys never took their insults to each other personally.
“Hurry... up… Deku...” Katsuki puffed, jogging with a rusted car door on his back. They were nearing the end of their day at Dagobah on a warm summer evening. They were both exhausted.
“Come up here… and say that… to my face…” Izuku was hauling a set of tires, lagging a few steps behind him.
“Go… to hell… you’re barely... taller...”
He would use it to goad Izuku into running one more lap, pushing a little farther on a set of weights, or sometimes just to elicit a reaction out of him. His parents had been worried when they first heard Katsuki call him that, thinking that he was being cruel, but then they saw the playful smiles on both of the children’s faces.
It was all good natured fun, and just like nearly everything else in their relationship, it was there to push them both to be stronger. Izuku had his own ways to antagonize his friend as well.
“Come on, is that all you got, Dandy?”
“Dandy? What the hell are you talking about?” The boys were about ten when this particular nickname came about. Izuku had beaten his friend in a spar, knocking him flat on his back. Katsuki was panting on the ground.
“Well, look at you, Kacchan. Look at that hair and tell me you don’t look like a dandelion.”
“Dandel- Oh, you’re a dead man!” Katsuki roared back to his feet, ready to go.
Izuku smiled and put his fists back up. Hisashi was on the sidelines, trying not to laugh.
Izuku stopped falling.
Katsuki had reached out to grab his arm, but it wasn’t him that stopped the fall. Izuku stared at the ground. It wasn’t coming closer to him. There was nothing preventing him from falling, but the ground wasn’t moving.
“Sorry, I stopped you with my quirk!”
Izuku slowly turned to his left, still keeping an eye on the ground to make sure he didn’t suddenly start falling like he should be. He looked up, at a girl standing next to him, hand outstretched to touch his backpack.
“I should have asked first, but I figured you wouldn’t mind. Bad luck and all that.” She smiled a blindingly cheery smile.
Katsuki pulled his friend back to his feet. The girl placed her fingers together, which glowed pink for a moment, and then with a faint flowing sensation, Izuku felt his weight return to him.
Izuku stood upright, still staring at the ground as if he didn’t trust it. He moved his vision up to look at the girl, and then he kept moving his eyes up. He met her eyes above his own. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.
Katsuki’s and his heights had both stabilized over the last year. They were basically fully physically mature and couldn’t expect to grow more. Katsuki stood about 5’10’’, same height as his father. Izuku was taller, and stood at six foot even. That put him about four inches shorter than his father, but his mother was a short woman.
This woman standing in front of him, however, was at least an inch or two taller than him. He was about eye-level with her lips, and as he looked up to see the rest of her face, his breath was taken away. Her face was slightly rounded, and big brown eyes looked at him happily. Her hair, the same color as her eyes, was in a bob cut, but seemed to be unnaturally voluminous, as if it were floating. She had two longer bangs hanging down, framing her face, which appeared to have a slight permanent blush.
She was beautiful.
“Anyway, sorry again. Good luck on the exam!” She walked off towards the building, leaving the two boys behind her.
“What the hell was that, Izuku?” Katsuki shoved his friend’s shoulder to snap him out of it. “You froze. You never freeze like that when you meet a new person.”
Izuku was still staring at the girl, watching her walk away. He noted her athletic build underneath her winter clothes and smiled dumbly. “...She’s real pretty, Kacchan.”
“...What the hell, man.”
Izuku came back to his senses as the girl left his vision. Katsuki rolled his eyes and the two made their way to the testing center. The picked up the exam and made their way to a great hall filled with desks and dividers, at least large enough to fit 500 students. They exchanged a silent fist-bump as they went to sit at their assigned seats.
The test itself wasn’t too difficult. It was challenging, sure... and long, but it wasn’t anything they weren’t prepared for. Looking over it, it seemed like it hadn’t changed much since his father took it, at least in structure. Izuku did great on the basic physics, chemistry and math segments, as well as the history, reading comprehension and hero law sections. He took a little longer than he would have liked on the ethics section, but he felt like he did well in the end.
After the grueling 2 hours it took for them to finish the test, he and Katsuki were sitting outside, eating the packed lunches and waiting for the practical to begin. They spent the time comparing answers on questions they struggled with, but overall it seemed like they had both done very well. Izuku hoped he did better; he didn’t want to lose their bet.
Near one o’clock, the two made their way to the assembly hall where they would be briefed about the upcoming practical portion of the exam. The UA entrance exam was a grueling marathon, but being a hero wasn’t easy. The boys found their spots next to each other and sat down.
The lights dimmed as the big screen behind the stage started displaying the famous, golden logo of UA. Present Mic took the stage and greeted the students with his trademark unflappable enthusiasm.
Izuku perhaps wasn’t listening as closely as he should have been. He heard something about robots, points and there was this one deafening silence that he registered. Instead of paying attention, he was too busy gushing under his breath.
“Holy crap its Present Mic I listen to his show every day of the week it’s so cool that all of the UA teachers are pro heroes I hope I can get all of their autographs before I graduate surely it can’t be that hard I’ll be here for four years but I still can’t wait I wonder who my homeroom teacher will be oh man I hope its Snipe or maybe Vlad King although I don’t even know if-”
“Shut the hell up, Izuku, damn.” Katsuki elbowed him in the side. “Your dad is a pro, and you met All Might last year, get a hold of yourself.”
Izuku apologized silently and turned to pay attention. It wasn’t to be, however. There was just too much excitement going on that day for him to keep focused. The muttering started again, but maybe a little quieter.
He was interrupted again, this time by an examinee asking some unnecessary question of Present Mic. Izuku faintly registered that the examinee was talking but what really got his attention was when he turned and pointed directly at Izuku.
“You, with the me-” The boy stopped, a flash of recognition on his face. “Midoriya. You are distracting the examinees around you. Please, silence yourself.”
Midoriya clapped his hands over his mouth, gesturing apologies.
“Warned you,” Katsuki whispered smugly.
Midoriya finally started listening to Present Mic as he finished up his explanation. “As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down, ‘A true hero is one who overcomes life’s misfortunes.’ So, get out there and don’t let nothin’ slow you down!”
“Come on, listeners, this is the first day of the rest of your lives! Let me hear you! Go Beyond!”
“PLUS ULTRA!” The students all cheered back as the pro hero’s grin shone.
Izuku and Katsuki were split up, of course. While they were disappointed that they wouldn’t get to show each other up in person, they still wished each other good luck and exchanged another fist-bump. They loaded onto their different buses and were shipped out to their assigned battle centers.
Izuku stepped out of the bus, leaving his backpack in his seat. He looked over the massive walls and gate and whistled. This ‘fake’ city was huge! He could see skyscrapers at least twenty stories tall over the walls.
This was going to be fun.
He began to theorize different strategies of attacks and ways to optimize damage while minimizing the strain on his body from using his quirk. He was muttering softly to himself and after a few minutes his eyes wandered over the crowd.
He saw the tall, brown haired girl that caught him outside the entrance. His mind stopped planning. It stopped doing much of anything. His entire mental processing capabilities were devoted to him staring at this woman.
He was snapped out of it by a hand grabbing his shoulder. “Midoriya.” He turned to see the boy from earlier staring down at him. Izuku was usually the tallest guy in the room when his father wasn’t here, but this guy had at least three inches on him.
“We both know that your father could, and would, get you into UA on recommendation. Why are you here?”
“I wouldn’t want that! I want to prove myself, Tenny!” Izuku smiled back at the stern boy.
“Midoriya!” The man recoiled in shock at the name. “It has been over a decade since we have seen each other. We hardly know each other anymore; that old name is hardly appropriate.”
“Okay, fine, Tenya Iida.” Izuku gave him a big smile as he reached for the bottom of his shirt. “I guess I’ll just have to earn your friendship back. Looking forward to seeing you in school!” He lifted his shirt over his head and took it off. He wrapped it up and tucked it into one of his pants pockets.
“That is hardly appropriate.” Many of the other examinees had turned to look at the tall, buff man taking his shirt off.
“Come on, Iida. You know my dad.”
“Yes, but it’s February.”
“I’ll be fine once we get moving.” Izuku focused as two great dappled green wings sprouted from his back, causing many onlookers to gasp slightly. Izuku closed his eyes, flexing and moving his wings. Getting the feel for them in this cold weather. It was like stretching out a limb that had fallen asleep.
“Right, let’s start!” Present Mic called out from on top of a tower. “There are no countdowns in real life! You’re wasting air time, people!”
Ochako Uraraka was having a hell of a day. She was at UA, after all! This was perhaps the most exciting day of her life. Things started off strangely, though. When she was walking in, this guy tripped and almost fell on his face, but she was there to stop him. It was basically reflex for her, she didn’t even register that his friend was reaching out to grab him.
She apologized for using her quirk, but he didn’t seem too upset. He did act a little strange, though. He stood up and just sort of stared at her. He was kinda cute, all things considered. His big green eyes were wide, looking at her with fascination, and those cute little horns were sticking out from his messy green hair. His face was attractive and he looked pretty cut under that tight shirt he was wearing.
But he didn’t say anything and she was starting to feel awkward, so she just wished them luck and walked off. Maybe he wasn’t used to seeing women taller than him. She got that a lot. She blamed her father’s genes and her quirk for that one.
She shook her mind of it and went in to take the test. It was here where she felt the drawbacks of her smaller-town education. She studied as hard as she could, and she was no slouch, but she was certainly not one of the first ones to finish. She looked around for the green-haired boy or his blonde friend, but didn’t see them.
It wasn’t until they packed onto the bus to ship off to Battle Center B that she saw the tripping guy again. His friend wasn’t with him, which she guessed was to keep them from working together. He sat on the bus and chatted up the boy who sat next to him, he seemed to be a genuinely nice guy, unlike the weird french guy who sat next to her and stared at himself in a mirror the entire time.
She was calming herself down outside of the fake city when she heard a commotion behind her. The green-haired man and the blue-haired one who interrupted Present Mic were talking. They seemed to know each other, but the taller one didn’t look like he knew how to relax. What really got her attention was when the boy she had helped started taking his shirt off.
Yeah. He was ripped.
She tried to keep the blush from her face. ‘Why is he takin’ his shirt off?!’ she thought to herself. ‘Not that I mind too much… Oh.’ Green wings sprouted from his back as he seemed to be focusing, like she should have been doing. That explained it. It wasn’t more than a few seconds after that when Present Mic unceremoniously declared that the exam had started.
The winged boy reacted before anyone else. He took a great leap into the air and with a beat from his wings, flew forward over all of their heads and into the city. She pushed the distraction from her mind and focused on the task at hand... She had one chance to make it into UA and she wasn’t going to mess it up.
The first several minutes of the exam passed in a blink of an eye. It was rhythmic for her, almost ritualistic. She found a robot, pressed one of her hands against it, felt the weight flow through her, toss it into the sky, then release it and let it crash back down. This same process repeated itself time after time. By the halfway point, she had already accumulated nearly 40 points.
She maybe could have had more, but she kept catching glances of that green-haired boy. ‘I should stop callin’ him that.’ she mused. ‘What did his friend call him? Deku? I like the sound of that.’ Deku was tearing the robots apart. She saw him throwing them into each other, she saw him tearing them to pieces and once she thought that she saw him spitting some pieces of metal out of his mouth.
‘He’s one to keep my eye on. If- no, Ochako, when I get in, I’ll make sure to ask him about his trainin’ regimen. He’s really fit.’ She watched him tear a robot’s head off with his bare hand while she dropped a piece of rubble on top of a pair of two-pointers in front of her. He never seemed to notice her, though.
“62!” she heard him say, a bit ahead of her own score. She would have to catch up. She turned to run towards another group of robots, hoping to take some for herself. She felt bad for some of the others who couldn’t keep up, but this was a competition and she couldn’t afford that luxury right now. Besides, this was a test to see who has what it takes to be a hero, they only accept the best.
Then, everyone stopped. What felt like an earthquake started shaking the city; people looked around in horror until the source was found. Towering well over the twenty story building next to it was a gigantic robot: the zero-pointer that Present Mic warned them about.
Time seemed to resume as people realized what was going on. The explanation they had received seemed woefully inadequate when compared to the behemoth in front of them. Everyone started running, Ochako included. Present Mic had even recommended as much, that they should avoid it instead of fighting.
The robot brought its mechanical fist down, sending debris and shockwaves through the whole city. The building next to her, already weak from nearby battles, shattered and crumbled. She caught one giant piece of rubble that was falling on her and tossed it to the side with her quirk. However, she wasn’t fast enough to catch the second one.
With a sickening crunch, Ochako was slammed into the ground, her foot and ankle pinned underneath a giant slab of concrete. Tears welled in her eyes as she screamed in pain. She recovered her senses after a few seconds and tried to reach down to lift the debris from her legs. Struggle as she might, she couldn’t reach her ankle in the position she was trapped in without dislocating or breaking her leg further, and even then she probably couldn't reach.
She felt the rumbling get closer and craned her neck over her shoulder to see the titanic robot rolling nearer and nearer. The monster stopped overhead, before turning its gaze down upon her. She felt her blood run cold as it seemed to stare into her soul with its giant red eyes. The robot reared its arm back... and began driving it down towards her, fist clenched.
She reached her arms up to meet the impending doom. There was almost certainly no way that she was going to be able to stop the fist, but she had worked too hard to go down without a fight. She prepared herself to throw the full weight of her quirk behind the attempt. Nobody would say that Ochako Uraraka died a coward’s death...
Death never came.
Instead, a great rush of dust and wind blew her hair around and made her close her eyes. When she was able to force them open, she saw that the fist had stopped moving. The robot had stopped.
No, that wasn’t it. Someone had stopped the robot. She blinked the dust out of her eyes and saw a strange, misshapen form in front of her. The zero-pointer’s fist was groaning under the pressure being put on it. She saw a green mop of hair and recognized her savior. His wings were gone, but what she saw made her mouth drop open.
His right arm was massive. Nearly the size of the rest of his body combined. It was covered in green scales and had a large black spike sticking out of the elbow. Down from his arm, green scales covered his back along with a green ridge down his spine. His razor-sharp black claws dug into the metal of the robot’s fist, but the robot surged forward with renewed effort, causing Deku to be pushed back.
It was then that she noticed his leg. It wasn’t massive like his arm was, but it was certainly different. It had burst out of his pants, leaving them tattered halfway up his thigh. The leg was covered in the same scales, green like his hair, but that wasn’t what was odd. The entire lower part of his leg was misshapen. His leg was digitigrade, his ankle joint having moved up his leg to form what resembled a second, inverse knee. His shoe was long gone; a giant green claw tipped with the same black claws had blown it to pieces.
His clawed foot dug into the ground, and his arm strained under the giant metal fist. He turned back and looked straight into her eyes. She gasped slightly. His eyes were no longer the cute green orbs, but intense, glowing spheres. She couldn’t even see his irises, only the bright green light. His little horns on his head and grown, now hanging over his eyes and sweeping back slightly to form a sort of ridge or crown.
“Can you...move?” Deku grunted as the metal above him craked. “You need to get out… before it... crushes me!”
‘Crushes him?! No, there’s no way I’m lettin’ that happen. I hafta do somethin’!’ She looked around for something she could use, and her eyes landed on the first chunk of concrete she had avoided.
Deku roared with effort as the robot attempted to push down again. His arm bulged slightly larger, and the spiked ridge along his spine grew longer. His leg dug deeper into the asphalt road. Despite all of his effort, he was losing the fight.
She reached out and touched the debris, all-in-all it was probably around a cubic yard of concrete and rebar. It would have to do. She felt the weight of the object flow down and out of her, and she picked up the nearly-massless object with ease. She wrenched herself around so she was almost facing the zero-pointer and threw it with all of her might.
Deku was nearly finished. She heard the groaning of his muscles and bones under the pressure of the mechanical monster. The chunk flew closer and closer to the chest of the titan and she could only hope it was fast enough. With a faint crack, she heard something in his back give way. He screamed in agony, but refused to quit.
Thanks to the near-weightlessness of the concrete, she was able to throw it with great speed. Now came the hard part. She took a deep breath and placed her fingers together. She felt the energy rush back through her and out towards the flying debris, but that wouldn’t be enough. She needed more. She strained and pushed harder, shoving more into the projectile so it wouldn’t lose speed.
The chunk hit the robot square in the chest like a meteor from space. A massive, blinding flash of light flashed across the city, followed by a roaring explosion. The chunk crushed into the zero-pointer and pushed it back. It staggered back from the impact, then began tipping. Explosions chained outward from the impact point, down its spine and up its neck, until it’s head exploded in a dazzling display.
The robot smashed into the earth with a force that caused several nearby buildings to collapse. Deku turned back to her, his face filled with awe, relief and maybe a bit of… fear? He smiled at her.
“I guess we make a good team.” His smile was wide, earnest and adorable. His giant arm slumped to the ground.
He passed out, his body snapping back to a normal, human form. She wished that she could have kept him from hitting the ground, but she was still trapped under the debris herself. With the danger passed and her adrenaline fading, the effort of using her quirk like that quickly hit her.
The last thing she remembered before passing out herself was the content look on Deku’s face.
Notes:
Some things are a little different! Let me know how you feel down below.
See you all next chapter.
Chapter 8: The End of Innocence
Summary:
The aftermath of the UA entrance exam leads to another father-son talk.
Notes:
Thanks to epicderpybro2 and AzureFirehawk on betaing this chapter above and beyond the call of duty.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku woke up in a strange place. He blinked and looked around, noticing quickly just how tired he felt. He was in a hospital bed of sorts, in what looked like a nurse’s office. Katsuki was asleep in a chair next to the bed, and no light was coming in through the window. He had been asleep for a while; glancing at the clock overhead told him it was past seven.
He stretched, feeling the tightness in his back. He thought that was strange until he remembered what he had done that day. He had thrown himself in front of that zero-pointer to save that beautiful woman. Originally, he had planned to flee like Present Mic suggested, but then he heard her scream in pain. After looking back and seeing her trapped beneath rubble with the robot closing in, the rest seemed to have been out of his control.
An uncontrollable desire to save had overwhelmed him and his body moved on its own. There was nothing that would have stopped him from saving that girl. What happened to himself had been entirely irrelevant.
He had rapidly grown his wings and beat them as hard as he could, streaking towards the nice girl like a missle. He remembered losing his wings and fortifying his back and right leg, then planting himself and pulling every bit of power that he could muster into his right arm. He had manifested the closest thing to a full draconic arm that he had ever managed in his life, and had reached up with it to intercept the zero-pointer. The robot’s fist had come down and he had thrown every last shred of strength he possessed into stopping it.
And he succeeded, at least for a little while. He remembered turning back to the girl and begging her to run away. He didn’t hear a response but she got this determined look in her eye that would have probably been really attractive if his arm wasn’t in danger of being crushed like a stepped-on soda can at the time.
He recalled his body failing. His arm had begun to buckle and he’d felt something in his spine start to give way, even with the fortification from a partial transformation. Then a chunk of concrete, moving faster than it had any right to, had shot past him. He’d watched as the chunk flew like a bullet into the robot’s chest and then seemingly detonated on impact.
His last memories were turning back and seeing the woman safe. It was obviously the girl that had done that; she was clearly powerful. With the roaring voice in his head screaming at him to protect gone, his ravaged body failed him, and the next thing he knew, he’d woken up here.
He sighed, content that he had accurately reconstructed the event. Analysis is always important. He managed to sit up, causing enough noise that he apparently alerted his caretaker. The curtain around his bed opened, revealing a short, old woman with a kind smile.
“Recovery Girl…” Izuku’s voice was filled with awe. “So cool…”
“Yes, yes, Sonny.” Recovery Girl laughed slightly. “You took a big risk out there today.”
Izuku recoiled a bit at the scolding. “I know, but I couldn’t help it. It’s like I wasn’t in control of my body.”
“Hmm.” She huffed at his cheap explanation. “You overused your quirk and pushed your body too hard. You’re fortunate that your quirk is what it is; it renders you almost immune to ligament damage.”
She pointed her cane at him. “That is not an invitation to do that again! Too many times and you will still have permanent damage to other parts of your body. You know as well as I do that broken bones and torn muscles remain. Scar tissue will do you no favors!”
Katsuki had woken up at her outburst and shook his head slightly.
“Oh good, you’re awake.” She smiled at the blonde. “He’s alright to go home now that he’s woken up.”
She turned back to Izuku. “No using your quirk for at least a day. Your body needs to rest.” Finally, she turned and left the boys alone.
The two were silent for a moment before Katsuki spoke. “What the hell did you do, Izuku?”
“Remember that pretty girl from out front?”
Katsuki groaned. “Yeah, she was in here, too.” Katsuki saw Izuku’s eyes grow wide. “She’s gone now! Calm down, damn. She left about an hour ago. I don’t think she even knew you were here.”
Izuku sighed and calmed down. “Well… she was about to be crushed by the zero-pointer, and my body sort of just… moved to protect her. I managed to get there just in time to stop the robot’s fist with a major arm transformation.” He flexed his right arm, which was also sore from Recovery Girl’s quirk.
“So you almost paralyzed yourself? You idiot.”
“How did you kno-”
“I overheard Recovery Girl talking to your mom on the phone. Cracked vertebrae in your spine. Much more and you might not be walking anymore.” Katsuki pointed an accusing finger at his friend. “You
had
to have known that those robots weren’t programmed to kill.”
Katsuki leaned back in the chair, throwing his arms wide. “It probably would’ve just stopped before it hit her. You nearly killed yourself for nothing.”
“I couldn’t have been sure! Besides, I wasn’t thinking about that!” Izuku defended himself. “I was only thinking about saving her…”
“Since when do you not think? I could see overthinking, but not thinking?”
“I… don’t know. It’s like I said; my body just moved.”
Katsuki sighed. “Fine. Come on, get up. Our folks are waiting back home. Your dad had to basically restrain Auntie to keep her from rushing here herself. It took Recovery Girl personally telling her that you were fine to stop her.”
“Yeah, alright.” Izuku leaned over and stood up out of bed. He changed into a UA gym uniform the school provided to replace his destroyed clothing and then headed for the station. He fell asleep on the train, something he almost never did. He was exhausted.
What a day.
The boys got to Izuku’s house at nearly eight. Once the others were able to pry Inko off of her son, they had a small party to celebrate the completion of the exam. Izuku was exhausted and could barely keep his eyes open, let alone celebrate, but told the story of his exam anyway. He left out the more gruesome parts, including the part about him not knowing why he ran forward. His father seemed immensely proud, but Izuku was still perceptive enough in his exhausted state to tell that his father was holding something back.
What that something was became clear the next day. Izuku woke up late, having slept in to recover his strength. He ate his breakfast that his mother made and found his father sitting on the porch, watching the waves out the window as he often did.
Izuku decided to attack the problem at its source. “Want to go out to the rocks?”
His father looked at him with slight surprise, then a proud, knowing smile. He nodded and finished his coffee in a single gulp.
They walked along the beach as they often did. Hisashi knew that these would be the memories he cherished most when he was old and gray. Izuku was his pride and joy, and these quiet moments didn’t come often enough.
After a while, the two Midoriya men found their way to the rocks where they often sat. Izuku remembered many important father-son talks on them, such as the one after his father lost his arm six years ago. The places where they always sat had been worn slightly smooth from use.
“I’m proud of you, Izuku.” Hisashi was staring stoically out over the waves. He took a deep smell of the sea air. It was almost a ritual for him.
“Thanks, Dad.” Izuku knew that this was just to start the conversation. He wouldn't have wanted to come out here for simple encouragement.
“You’ve taken the first step. You’re gonna go to UA and you’re gonna do great things.”
“The results won’t be here for a week, we don’t know that I got in.”
Hisashi looked at his son with a raised eyebrow and a sarcastic smirk. “We both know you’re getting in.”
A moment passed before his smile fell and he sighed. “Son, I need you to be honest with me. Why did you run out and throw yourself under that robot?”
Izuku looked down for a bit. “I felt this… uncontrollable desire to save her. I didn’t even think, I just acted. The only thing that mattered was protecting her.”
“Could you describe the ‘desire’? How it felt to you?”
“Hmm…” Izuku scratched his chin. “It was sort of like a voice shouting in my head. It screamed at me to save and protect her. The only things that seemed to exist were the girl and the deafening cacophony in my head. Like I said, I didn’t think about it, I just... did .”
His father smiled weakly. “I figured as much. Which confirms two things that I suspected. First, you’re going to be a damn good hero one day, and secondly, your quirk is maturing.”
“...I thought that’s what it had been doing?” Izuku was slightly nervous.
“Well yes, it has been... Let me explain.” Hisashi straightened himself out and held up his hand.
“We’ve noticed that there are four distinct ‘stages’ of our family quirk that correspond to the levels of our development. They correspond mostly to natural human development. What we call ‘Wyrmling’ was your childhood. The very basics of the quirk and a few, mostly harmless, oddities.” Hisashi smiled, reminiscing about his son’s childhood. He put a finger up.
“The next is what we call the ‘Young’ stage. This is your adolescence. That was when your instincts started kicking in. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you about the struggles you went though. You handled it well, and again, I’m proud of you for that.” He put a second finger up.
Hisashi looked at his son very seriously. “What you described to me, that undeniable command in your head? That’s the sign that you’ve reached the ‘Adult’ stage.” He put a third finger up, then dropped his hand.
Izuku looked curious. His father continued his explanation. “Everything I’ve done to help you in your life, all of the guidance and support your mother and I have given you… it was all leading up to this. This is what we were preparing you for. Everything before this was just a warm up.”
“So when you said that I couldn’t just suppress them and I had to find a way to let them out, it’s because you were preparing me for that …” The gravity of the situation was dawning on Izuku. “Those things I felt before… what I thought were real instincts, they were barely echoes.”
“Exactly.” Hisashi put his one arm on his son’s shoulder like he often did. His son leaned into the contact. “So, what I’m saying is this: Everything before was just practice. What comes next is the real thing. I never told you this before because this isn’t the type of thing you tell a child.” His tone let his son know just how serious he was.
“But you’re an adult now, and your quirk agrees with me. I won’t be around to guide you like I have been now that you’ll be living on UA campus, and as you train and grow, your instincts will only grow in strength.”
“You’re smarter than I am son, you’re smarter than your mother is, which is saying something.” This elicited a short, knowing chuckle from both of them. “You have a strong will and an indomitable drive to be a hero, so I know you can do this, but heed my words.” Hisashi took a steadying breath, preparing for what he would say next.
“You have to figure this out, or you will fall.”
Izuku and his father sat there in grim silence for several minutes. The only sound came from the waves crashing lazily against the beach. Izuku blinked back a few tears, but none fell.
He met his father’s eyes after a minute with a look of determination. “I won’t let this stop me. Nothing will change what my heart desires.”
Hisashi smiled. “Oh, I know. That’s why I said you’re going to make a damn good hero.” His son looked at him slightly confused, emotion still plain on his face. “Your first instinct in that situation, and I use instinct literally, is to rush in and save that girl... regardless of the consequences to yourself. That spirit of self-sacrifice is one of the most noble things in our profession.”
He pointed to the space where his left arm used to be and grinned. “I might be a bit biased.”
Izuku laughed a little, and then his father continued. “Let me be honest with you here, son. I doubt that that instinct was an entirely natural one. A lack of self-preservation is not a common quality in dragons, especially not chromatic ones. Which tells me that you, on your very first go , bent that instinct to your will. You took a natural reaction and made it your own.
“A natural reaction? What do you mean? From everything you’ve told me about chromatics, I don’t think that saving someone would be in their repertoire.”
“What is the common factor between all dragons, Izuku? Beyond scales and wings, of course.”
Izuku thought for a moment. “You told me we all have degrees of greed in us. But that it can be managed and if we find goo-”
Hisashi held up his hand. “Yes, that. Now, one of the many reasons that I’m proud to call you my son is that you’ve shown an impressive lack of that. At least in the general sense. But think about it, what have you always coveted? What have you always wanted?”
Izuku thought again. “...My hero merchandise? I don’t see how-”
“No, not that.” Hisashi interrupted him again. “Son, how are you so smart when it comes to everything but so naive when it comes to yourself? Come on, think! The only time you ever attacked another human being, what was it about?”
Realization dawned on the green dragon’s face. “...People? Friends? Is that what you’re getting at?”
“Yeah, yeah I am.” Hisashi laughed, his arm thrown wide. “A dragon that hoards people, who would have ever thought?” His laughter quickly stopped. “My guess is that the natural reaction of your quirk was to covet that person because you saw some value in them. Your willpower and drive to be a hero then twisted that reaction into an overwhelming desire to protect, even at the cost of your own body and life.”
Hisashi paused for a second with a slightly fearful expression on his face. “Don’t tell your mother I’m praising you for that,” he added quickly. After his son nodded, he returned to his lecture.
“So here’s the next question: What made that person someone you wanted to protect?”
Izuku thought for a small moment, and then started blushing furiously.
His father stared at him dumbly for a second, then began laughing uproariously. “My boy really is becoming a man! So, she was pretty, huh?”
“...the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t even speak the first time I saw her.”
“That sounds a lot like how I was the first time I saw your mother.”
Izuku looked up, blush leaving his face somewhat. “Really?”
“Yep. I dropped the wine I was holding and nearly spilled it all over my suit. Your mother pulled it away with her quirk, so it spilled all over her.” Hisashi leaned back a bit, laughing at the memory.
“My sister thinks it has something to do with our quirk, that it knows a good person when it sees one, but I don’t like to think that. I think that I was just lucky, and that your mother is an amazing woman that any man would want.”
Izuku laughed awkwardly, then stopped as a thought struck him. “So, what if that person wasn’t someone I… thought was pretty? I can’t be a hero if I have to know a person to protect them.”
“Izuku, do you think I always have an instinct telling me yes or no when I do hero work?”
“No… I guess not.”
“It wasn’t your instinct that made you go save that girl, but it… hmm. Actually, Izuku, tell me about the transformation you used.”
“Oh! Uh, okay.” Izuku held up his right arm. “Well, it was bigger than anything I’d ever done before. Way bigger. Uh, I would try to show you, but Recovery Girl said I’m not allowed to use my quirk today.”
“How big?”
“I would say about two meters long? It knocked me off balance pretty badly when I made it.”
“Wow, that is way bigger than anything you’ve done before.” Hisashi was impressed. “My point is that it wasn’t your quirk that made you want to save that girl, it was you . However, your instinct helped to push you further. You were working in sync with your quirk, instead of struggling against it.”
“That’s another reason why it’s important to bend your instincts to your will. You don’t need your instincts to be a hero, you didn’t need them to tell you to save that girl, but you needed them to save her like you did. You need them to be at your best. You’re always at your strongest when your body, mind, heart and quirk are working in unison.”
Hisashi looked proud, if a little somber. “I don’t want you to get the idea in your head that you’re going to be subjected to your instincts all the time. As I have to keep reminding your uncle, we are not actually dragons, Izuku.” He rolled his eyes slightly. “You will be free of them most of the time, especially when you’re younger. As you grow older and stronger, they will be stronger, but you will have learned to manage them better by then.”
“I thought you said I was an adult now?” Izuku’s mind was reeling from all this new information, and his father kept confusing him.
“Well, yes, you are. But your quirk isn’t done growing. I was honestly surprised that you had a powerful reaction like that so soon. I was planning on having this talk with you after the test, to prepare you for what was to come. I didn’t want to distract you before then.”
Hisashi sighed, then continued. “That worked out well, didn’t it?” He looked frustrated with himself. “Anyway, quirks don’t change overnight like that. I wasn’t expecting you to have a powerful impulse like that for months. You likely only had this reaction due to the extreme situation you were placed in. Don’t think that this is going to be a daily thing, not yet, at least.”
“So you’re saying that I will be able to save people and be a hero even with these instincts?”
“When have I ever said differently?” He placed his hand on his son’s shoulder. “You have time to figure this out, son. But the real test comes when you have your next reaction like you did yesterday. And then the next. And then the next. It will never stop, so you can’t afford to, either. You have time, but you can’t waste time.”
“You said my instincts will grow as my quirk grows, and by going to UA, where my quirk will be trained and strengthened rapidly…”
“Exactly.”
“...You’ve given me a lot to think about.” Izuku sighed. “I suppose I won’t know until it happens, yeah?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Hisashi stood up, followed by his son. “There’s nothing to do but try your hardest. Work with what you have and do what you can. You’re the first chromatic to ever do something like this. Nobody knows what will happen.”
“If anyone can do it,” he said, looking Izuku in the eyes, “it’s you.”
They walked back towards the house in a thoughtful silence. Usually they talked constantly, but today, there was too much on Izuku’s mind for him to even mutter like normally. Then, a thought struck him.
“Dad, you said that there are four stages of our quirk? You only mentioned three.”
“Right, well,” Hisashi said, holding his hand out, “the fourth stage is one that is called ‘Ancient’. It has nothing to do with age really, just how powerful the quirk is. An exceptionally powerful dragon exhibits size, strength and abilities that the rest of us can’t match.”
He held up two fingers. “There have only ever been two dragons that I know of that have made it to the Ancient stage. Silverlight, the very first of us, my great-grandfather, and…” He let out a long, regretful sigh. “And Terrorflame. But you’ll never have to worry about any of that. My uncle is locked up tight in Tartarus.”
The next week an envelope came, stamped with the official seal of UA. Inko and Hisashi were nearly as excited as their son was, but they understood when he wanted to open it in private. He went into his room and cleared off his computer desk. He made a single claw on his hand and quickly sliced it open.
Inside was a letter and a small metal disk. He looked the disk over, then placed it on the desk. It kicked to life, the image of President Nezu appeared and congratulated him for passing the written exam with a near-perfect score.
“And in the case of the practical exam, we are happy to inform you that you also passed. Izuku Midoriya, you earned 57 Villain Points and 40 Rescue Points for actions beyond the scope of the exam, for a total of 97 points. Welcome to UA!”
He had counted five more points than that, but he supposed that he may have miscounted during the heat of the moment. Regardless, he got in. That’s what mattered, right?
Izuku saw the great scoreboard on screen and quickly scanned it over. He saw his own score sitting third on the list. He looked up to see… “Oh no.” In second place, ‘Katsuki Bakugou: 78 Villain Points and 20 Rescue Points’. He had lost their bet by a single point.
Then he looked up to see who got first. Someone named ‘Ochako Uraraka’ managed to beat them both out with 54 Villain Points and 45 Rescue Points for a total score of 99 points.
“Wow. I wonder if she’s in my class... I wonder if Kacchan is in my class.” He turned to the paper letter and saw that he was in Class 1-A. A simple set of instructions gave him his move-in date and noted his teacher was one ‘Shouta Aizawa’. Izuku wondered which pro hero that was, but he guessed he would find out in time.
His parents were proud of him for getting third place, but his dad teased him for missing first by three points. “Maybe you shouldn't have been staring at that girl the whole time, then!”
“Dad, I wasn’t!”
“Oh, my baby is becoming a man!”
“Mom, not you too!”
The next two months seemed to fly by. Before he knew it, Izuku had finished high school and was preparing to move in to his dorm at UA. Heights Alliance was the name of the building, according to his information packet, and it would be the place where he would live for the next four years of his life.
Izuku and Katsuki were the first ones to arrive at the dorm, being locals and all. They had unloaded in front of the building and bid their parents farewell. Inko was crying, of course, but the other five managed to get her to leave eventually, although Izuku didn’t try very hard. Once they left, it was just the boys standing in front of the building with their giant stacks of boxes.
Well, Izuku’s giant stack of boxes. Katsuki packed rather light and only had the bare minimum, but Izuku had several more boxes than most sane people would ever bring to a dorm.
“Did you seriously have to bring all of that junk?”
“It’s not junk, Kacchan, they’re part of my prized collection! I feel better knowing that it’s close.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes. Izuku had brought about 5 boxes absolutely filled with hero merchandise. He had action figures, posters, comics and more in addition to the clothes, books and furniture he brought with him.
They made their way up to their pre-assigned dorm rooms. Izuku had room 202, while Katsuki had room 403. The rooms were unlocked and rather bare, with a set of keys on the simple table in the room. Izuku pocketed the keys and set to work. This was going to take him a while, to say the least.
As with everything, the boys competed to see who could haul the most boxes up to their room at a time. Izuku wound up winning, barely. He had Katsuki beat slightly in the strength department usually, but Katsuki had him beat in other ways. They were roughly equal, but in no way were they copies of each other.
While he unpacked his massive collection, he got to thinking. Things were going to be different here. He didn’t have the slew of rumors that followed him throughout his public school career. This could be a fresh start. He could just be himself and finally no longer be that one weird kid with horns.
Was he excited, or was he nervous? He was used to being the smartest kid in the class, and that likely wouldn’t be the case anymore. He was partnered with 19 of the top students in the whole country, after all. He was used to being the tallest kid in his class, and that probably wouldn’t be the case either, especially if that one girl is in his class.
The girl with the beautiful eyes and that gorgeous hair and her cute nose and that blush on- Izuku shook his head, he was getting off track. Maybe he didn’t want her in his class, especially if he couldn’t get over how distracted she made him. His quirk gave him an edge in many departments, and he valued his intellect as another weapon, but she had made him shut down just by talking to him.
He wasn’t upset at the prospect of not being the smartest, or the strongest or the tallest student anymore. If anything, he was excited, he did his best when he was challenged. That’s why he and Katsuki worked so well together. Katsuki always wanted to compete, and Izuku excelled when he was pushed.
So yeah, he was excited, but he was also nervous. There’s no telling what would happen tomorrow, or the next day, or the next four years of his life. He knew one thing: He would do his best to meet every day with a smile on his face and in his heart. Nothing could change the desires of his heart, like All Might said... and dammit, he wanted to be a hero.
Izuku placed a figurine of All Might on one of the shelves he had installed and grew a content smile.
“I wonder if any other students will have horns?”
Notes:
This is the final chapter of my 'prologue'. This is the foundation of the rest of the story.
Let me know what you think down below!
I'll see you next chapter, where we begin UA proper!
Chapter 9: New Game Plus
Summary:
Izuku's first day at the UA dorms.
Notes:
Special thanks to my betas for this chapter, Epsilon110 and AzureFirehawk.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It took Izuku a while to finish unpacking and setting up. All of his hero merchandise had to be properly organized and displayed, of course; anything less would be an insult to the great heroes that they represented. His meticulousness caused him to miss a text from Katsuki, and it was nearly an hour and a half later when he finally finished, a proud smile on his face, when he finally checked his phone. Apparently, the rest of the students that had moved in today were congregating in the common room.
He hurried out of his room, locking it behind him. He checked the lock several times just to make sure his collection was safe, and then headed towards the stairs. As he walked, he felt his previous excitement start to swell, as well as his nervousness. He would finally be able to play his ‘game’ again. The one he hadn’t been able to really play for ten long years. The other students had no reason to fear him, and he would have an entire room of people to meet.
He would start by observing the room, noting anything obvious: potential friend groups already forming, people who appear to be loners, people who seemed to be talkative and those who seemed to be more fond of listening. He would then look for more subtle things, such as clothing choices, body language and more. Once had this foundation, he would move to talk to them, subtly guiding the conversation so he could learn their likes, dislikes and mannerisms. Then, once he had everything he needed, he would move in for the kill.
He grinned widely.
Friendship was inevitable.
He reached the bottom of the stairwell and opened the door. He began to look around the room and noticed that a good number of people were alread-
“HORNS!”
That stopped Izuku in his tracks. That was one of the names that Katsuki called him sometimes, but that voice was most certainly not Katsuki. He blinked and turned to the source of the noise. What he saw, well, it wasn’t what he expected.
A girl was standing about twenty feet away from him, pointing accusingly at him. The first thing he noticed was her pink skin and the black sclera in her golden eyes. Her pink hair was messy like his and sticking out of it were a pair of curled yellow horns. She was also really pretty. ‘Are all the girls at UA like this?’
The girl stomped towards him and stopped just a few feet away. Izuku was keenly aware that most of the eyes in the room were on the two of them. She looked up at him and got a wide smile on her face. She leaned forward and pointed a thumb towards herself. “I’m Mina Ashido! I like your horns!”
Izuku blinked a couple of times. This was new. “H-hi. I’m Izuku Midoriya, it’s super nice to meet you! I, uh, I like your horns too?” He basically had no experience with women, at least none this forward. He probably would have frozen up if he hadn’t already had the experience at the entrance exam with that nice girl. Almost everyone at his old schools were too intimidated to talk to him, male and female alike, but at least he had Katsuki and the group of guys who hung around him sometimes.
She stood back upright and shouted behind her. “Kiri! Come here!” Izuku managed to tear his gaze away from the pink girl in front of him to look where she was yelling. A student with red eyes and a smile filled with razor-sharp teeth walked over. On her head was spiked red hair, styled up with two small horns on the front.
“Midoriya, this is Eiko Kirishima! Kiri, this is Izuku Midoriya.” The girl introduced them happily.
“Hey man, what’s up?” Kirishima smiled widely, and Izuku returned the gesture.
“We’re all horn buddies now!” Ashido stated this as fact and grinned wide as she pointed at her own horns with both hands. Her energy was infectious. “Come on, Midoriya, you’re late! I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
Izuku smiled dumbly. ‘Well...that was easy.’
Izuku finally got the good sense to look around the room and he counted 12 people, including himself. He already knew three of the others in the room, and he'd just met Kirishima and Ashido, which left six new people for him to get to know. He quickly looked around, noting that there were two girls and four boys.
Time to get to work.
Ashido took him around, as promised. She led him to a small circle of three guys first, the same group that Kirishima was standing in before she was called over.
“Hey dude, name’s Denki Kaminari. Sweet horns.” The blonde boy with a jagged black streak in his hair looked up at him and smirked.
“Thanks!” Izuku was getting back in the swing of things after being knocked off-balance by the pink girl. “Izuku Midoriya. Is that streak natural?” Izuku gestured at the lightning bolt in his hair. The boy seemed to be proud of it, so Izuku took it as an opportunity.
“Yeah!” He gestured proudly to it, just as Izuku predicted. “Pretty sweet, right? I have an electricity quirk, so it’s totally thematic!”
‘Boisterous personality, and very casual.’ Izuku made mental notes. ‘He’s not afraid to say what he thinks and he seems friendly.’ Izuku grew a genuine smile. “For sure! I assumed it was fake because it was too cool.”
Kaminari grinned back and looked at the other students. “I like this guy!”
“Name’s Hanta Sero.” The boy had a good few inches on Izuku, and a toothy smile. Izuku noted his strange elbows.
“How was your move-in, Midoriya?” Tenya Iida was standing with the other boys, chatting away in his stiff yet animated manner, chopping the air from time to time.
“Great, thanks! It took me a while to unpack, which is why I’m late. It’s really nice to meet all of you. I’m sure you’re all excited to start school on Monday.” Izuku tested the waters. As a precaution in Iida’s case; he was right about them not seeing each other for a long time, after all.
“I mean, yeah, but I’m more excited for the ‘hero’ part of ‘hero course’, you know? Schoolwork can be a drag.” Kaminari lamented.
Izuku talked to them for a bit longer. Sero and Kirishima seemed to be of a similar mind to Kaminari regarding schoolwork, although Iida lectured them all on the importance of good grades. All-in-all they all seemed like good people. Kaminari, Kirishima and Sero seemed to be fast friends, although they seemed a little wary of Iida’s intensity. Izuku understood that reaction completely.
“Come on, we’ve got more people to meet!” Ashido cheered, gripped Izuku by his shoulders and pushed him along, leaving the other four students to continue their conversation.
‘She got touchy awfully fast…’ Izuku thought as he blushed a bit. ‘Are all the girls going to be like this?’
Mina pushed her new horn buddy towards two students talking by the window, lost in her own thoughts. ‘Wow… his shoulders are firm...’ Her eyes drifted downwards, ‘ And he has a cute butt.’ She felt her cheeks warm up a little, tinting with the faintest dusting of lilac.
Ashido’s smile never left her face as she planted him in front of the two boys. Sero was taller than him, but the one on his right was taller than him. Taller than his dad, even. He was built, too. Not a sculpted physique like a bodybuilder, but a strong, thick core of real strength.
The giant of a man pointed a thumb towards his face, Izuku noting his rather thick lips. “I’m Rikidou Satou. You making the rounds?”
“Sure! I want to meet all my classmates. I’m Izuku Midoriya, I’m sure we’ll be fast friends.” He smiled and turned to the other boy. He was quite a bit shorter, about the same height as Ashido. The most obvious thing about him was his head, which was in the shape of a bird’s.
“You may call me Fumikage Tokoyami.” The boy’s red eyes stared stoically into Izuku’s green.
‘Serious, reserved. Not much to go on.’ Izuku wasn’t having the best luck so far, but it was only the first day.
After a much shorter conversation, Ashido dragged him off again, this time plopping him down next to the four girls who were sitting together: the three he noticed earlier, as well as Kirishima, who had made her way over. Ashido began introducing the girls eagerly.
“This is Kyouka Jirou...” she gestured towards a short, petite girl with purple hair and what looked like audio jacks hanging from her ears. Jirou gave him a slight wave.
“You already met Kiri, of course.” The red-haired woman flashed him another sharp smile. Izuku smiled back, noting for the first time her well-defined musculature: an indication she might have a passion for weightlifting.
“This is Tsuyu Asui...” Ashido gestured towards a girl with big eyes and dark green hair. She was slightly shorter than the rest, but no less full-bodied.
“This is Tooru Hagakure,” she pointed to… nothing? Izuku looked twice before he saw floating clothes sitting in the seat next to Asui. The girls giggled at his reaction.
Ashido extended her hands towards the taller woman with black hair and onyx eyes. Her body had certainly
developed
since the last time Izuku had seen her. “And this is-”
“Miss Yaoyorozu, it’s a pleasure to see you again.” Izuku interrupted Ashido’s exposition with a slight bow, eyes downcast.
Yaoyorozu laughed once, hand close to her mouth. “Midoriya, no need to be so formal. We are classmates now. Just ‘Yaoyorozu’ is fine.” Izuku smiled and nodded, but still didn’t meet her eyes.
“You two know each other?” Jirou asked, raising her eyebrows and smirking slightly.
“Our… parents travel in some of the same social circles,” Izuku explained, “so we’ve met a few times in the past.” Izuku was intentionally vague. People treated him differently once they knew he was the son of a pro hero, and doubly so when they found out his family was wealthy. He was sure that it was the same for Yaoyorozu.
‘It’s good to know that still makes her laugh. I’ve missed hearing it...’
Izuku noticed all the girls looking at him expectantly as the thought faded. “Oh! Sorry, my name is Izuku Midoriya. It’s great to meet all of you.” Izuku flashed his eager smile.
“Call me Tsu, by the way.” As- Tsu told him. Izuku smiled wider at this. She was making this game easy .
Izuku talked with the girls for a few more minutes, learning a little about them. Tsu seemed the strangest to him, like she was just a little emotionally different than most. Oh, and she croaked like a frog, that was a lot different. Jirou was relaxed, but eager to tease the other girls. Kirishima was boisterous and open. Hagakure seemed bubbly, much like Ashido was. Yaoyorozu was just as elegant and refined as he remembered, maybe a little bit happier too.
Eventually he glanced around for the last person he needed to talk to. He found him, sitting by himself on the other side of the room, staring at his phone, looking disinterested. Ashido saw him staring at the boy.
“Oh, careful with that one,” Ashido giggled a bit, “he’s a little prickly. Could hardly get a word out of him.”
Izuku gave her a knowing smile before turning back to the boy. “Hey, Kacchan! Come say hi!”
Everyone else in the room froze and looked at the blonde and the greenhead. The boy rolled his eyes and put his phone away before slowly sitting up and walking over to his friend. “This is Katsuki Bakugou. He doesn’t bite.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes again. “Hey Izuku, you forget about our bet?”
Izuku paled and his eyes went wide with fear. “N-no, of course not. R-right here? Now? ”
Katsuki grew an evil grin. “No, not now. Just be ready for it.”
Izuku gulped. This interaction got the rest of the room to release the tension in their bodies and return to what they were doing. Katsuki slumped down next to Izuku and the conversation continued. He didn’t participate, but at least he was being more social now.
After about twenty more minutes of socializing around the room, Izuku was getting frustrated. He wasn’t making acceptable progress. Sure, he was finding out more about these people and he already made friends with several people, at least in word, but that wasn’t good enough. All of these small circles around the room weren’t doing him any favors, either.
So he hatched a plan.
Izuku stood tall and waved his arm in the air. “Hey everyone!” He paused for a second as the other students turned to him. “We’re all going to be classmates for four years, so let’s gather around and get to know each other. Come on, grab a chair and circle up!”
Ashido was the first to react. She jumped up out of her seat and shouted in affirmation, before dragging Hagakure with her to grab more chairs. This got the rest of the students to move.
Soon all twelve of the students were circled up. They seemed to be waiting for Izuku to make a move, as it was his idea. Katsuki sat on his right, while Ashido had grabbed the seat on his left.
Once everyone was situated, he began. “I figured it would be good if we all go to know each other a little better, seeing how much time we’ll be spending together...” Izuku held up a finger. “I’ve found one of the best ways to break the ice is talk about our favorite heroes, and since we’re all here at UA, it seemed like an especially good plan.”
Several of the more reserved students grumbled at this seemingly grade-school icebreaker.
“So, let’s just go around and just tell us who’s your favorite hero. It’ll be easy, you’ll see. Oh! And to make things more fun, you can’t say All Might.” He looked to his right. “Kacchan, how about you start.”
Katsuki groaned. “You already know- Outside of All Might? Miruko. She kicks ass and doesn’t take crap from anyone.”
Kirishima had pulled up the seat next to Katsuki, and she was much more into it than some of the other students. “My favorite is Crimson Riot! He’s what inspired me to be a hero.”
‘Now we’re getting somewhere.’ Izuku thought to himself. “Crimson Riot? He was bold, I can see why you like him.”
Kirishima grew a proud smirk. “He said to live a life full of manliness, which means to live a life without regrets. That’s my motto, too!”
As they went around the circle, it became evident to all the other students that Izuku was a hero nerd, through and through. Whenever one of them would mention their favorite hero, he would immediately start spouting off facts and trivia about them. Once he even pulled out a notebook from who-knows-where and started listing off notes he had taken on them recently.
The other students found this interesting, to say the least. Their impressions ranged from slightly annoyed to intrigued to amused. What they didn’t realize that Izuku was using this as an excuse to gather information on them. He was eliciting reactions, watching body language and facial expressions. Nobody but Katsuki realized that this little circle had ulterior motives.
Things continued in the same way until Kaminari’s turn. “My favorite hero, eh? Probably Stormclaw.”
Izuku stopped reading his notebook. Everything seemed to freeze for him. That was not what he was expecting to hear, but it was something he could work with.
“Oh, he’s one of my favorites too.” Tsu added in. Izuku was doubly stunned.
“Why Stormclaw?” Izuku was too curious to not ask.
“Oh man, have you seen the way he throws around lightning?!” Kaminari pointed his finger and thumb like a gun, a little electricity crackling off his fingertip. “I’ve followed him since I got my quirk. I really wanna meet him someday.”
“He’s one of the few aquatic heroes, too.” Tsu said with her finger on her chin. “Besides Gang Orca and Stormclaw, there aren’t many prestigious ones. It’s a shame that he got injured and stopped doing as much work.”
Izuku sighed, half proud and half morose. “Yeah. He’s my favorite hero, too.” He realized he spoke aloud before he could stop himself.
“Really? Why’s that? Is it ‘cause of your horns?” Ashido hit him with a barrage of questions, but before he could respond, a noise came from outside. “Oh, was that a car door? Maybe someone new just arrived!”
“I’ll go see if I can help them carry stuff in.” Midoriya quickly took the opportunity to leave the circle and head outside. He saw the taxi in front of the dorm, the trunk was open and there was clearly someone back there unloading stuff. It was too dark out for him to get a good look at them.
“Need some help?”
“No, I’ve got it, thanks!”
Midoriya stopped.
He recognized that voice.
It seemed that the other person had the same revelation. The tall, nice girl from the entrance exam slowly righted herself, her bundle of luggage floating behind her.
Time seemed to stand still again as they both stared at each other, not more than a few feet away from each other. After what seemed like an eternity passed-
“Thank you for saving me!” They spoke simultaneously. They also bowed simultaneously. Their heads cracked together.
Both students quickly recoiled, rubbing their heads in pain. It was fortunate that she was taller than him, and impacted his skull a bit higher up than most would. Any lower and she might have hit her head on his horns, and he really didn’t want to give the girl who saved his life an injury like that.
“I-I’m really sorry! I didn’t mean to- are you okay?”
“Ow!” The girl rubbed her head furiously. “You’ve got a really hard head, Deku!”
“D-Deku?!”
“Yeah, isn’t that your name?” She stopped rubbing her head, her pain seemingly lost in her confusion. “That’s what your friend called you when you tripped back at the entrance exam.” She giggled lightly at the memory.
‘Wow, even her laugh is attrac-’ Midoriya brought his mind back. “Well, y-you see, Deku is what Kacchan calls me to tease me, m-my real name is Izuku Midoriya.”
“Oh, I didn’t know!” She seemed apologetic, but then quickly returned to her normal, bubbly self. “But you know what? I like ‘Deku’! It has a ‘You can do it!’ sorta vibe, you know? Plus, I think it sounds pretty cute!”
She screamed internally, but didn’t let her smile fall. ‘Why did I say that?!’
Midoriya’s brain shorted out for a second. “D-Deku it is!” He couldn’t move, he just stared into her eyes, unable to do anything but blush furiously.
‘Woah, is he blushin’ green?’
She blinked once at him, mesmerised by the unusual color spreading over his face for a moment, then her brain kicked back to gear. “Oh! Of course, I never told you my name. Sorry about that!” She straightened herself out to her impressive height, Midoriya’s eyes tracking her the whole way. “I’m Ochako Uraraka, thanks for holding that massive robot still!” She smiled so widely her eyes had squeezed closed.
This brought Midoriya roaring back to reality. “Uraraka?!” He gasped. “You got first place on the entrance exam! Of course! I should have known someone who blew that robot to pieces would get first!” He slapped himself on his forehead, wincing as he hit the sore spot from their previous headbutt. “How did I not see that?!”
It was Uraraka’s turn to blush. She began frantically waving her hands in front of her. “Oh, that was nothing, really! It was only because you ran in front of me and stopped that fist all by yourself!” She had recalled the memory often in the past two months, it was like something out of a movie. His muscular body, those eyes burning bright with passion and energy, him single-handedly stopping that robot… She sighed. Her blush redoubled once she realized she had sighed out loud.
“Oh, well, I couldn’t just let you get c-crushed, right?” He rubbed the back of his head. He was too distracted by his own furious blushing to notice her sigh.
“So you’re just that heroic, huh?” She teased him. ‘Why did I just t-tease him?!’
“W-well, it’s what anyone would’ve done, r-right?” His face turned to a deeper tone of green as he rubbed the back of his head faster.
‘Oh.’ She couldn’t help but feel satisfied with how flustered he got from her teasing.
“If you say so, Deku...” But nobody else had done anything. They were all running away. There was only one guy there who put his life on the line for her that day, and he was currently staring at her like a deer in headlights. ‘How was someone who is so heroic and strong also this adorable?’
They just stood there, staring at each other as the taxi drove off. After another minute or so, the door to the dorm opened up again. “Yo, Izuku, what’s taking you so long?” Bakugou was walking down the path towards them.
Midoriya didn’t react until Bakugou lightly punched his arm. He looked at the girl his friend was staring at. “Oh, Round Face, you’re in our class?”
“Round Face?!” Uraraka was startled.
Midoriya regained the use of his tongue and held up his hand to stop his friend. “Ah ah, no, Kacchan. This is Ochako Uraraka.”
“Oh yeah?” He raised his eyebrow, intrigued. “And why’s that?”
“Why’s- that’s my name?” She was more confused.
“She got first place on the entrance exam, ahead of
you,
in case that slipped your mind. Besides, I told you how she destroyed that zero-pointer by herself.”
“Well, only because you stopped it…” They didn’t really seem to be listening to her.
Bakugou thought for a moment. “Fine, fair enough. Uraraka it is.” He turned to the girl in question. “You better keep it up, then. I’m not having any slouches as rivals, you hear me?” He turned and walked away, heading back inside.
“Rivals?” Uraraka was thoroughly confused. She turned to Midoriya for some kind of explanation. “What just happened?”
“What? Oh!” Midoriya seemed to remember that she was there. ”Uh, Kacchan happened. Basically, he sees you as a rival because you proved your strength to him.” He was rubbing his neck in embarrassment again. “I-It’s a good thing, I promise.”
“If you say so, Deku...” She repeated herself, not knowing if she believed him. “Well, I need to get these to my room.” She gestured back at her luggage, still floating behind her. “I’ll talk to you later?”
“Uh, sure. Sounds good.” Midoriya stood still as she walked past him. He watched the woman walk across the sidewalk and up the stairs, staring at her the entire time, admiring her athletic legs under her leggings. The door closed behind her and he was left alone.
He sighed heavily.
He held his forehead in his hand, shaking his head slightly. “I need to learn how to focus around her. She’s gonna be in my class. I need to focus on being a hero, and not her face and legs and- no, stop that Izuku.” He threw his arms up in frustration. “Why do I go stupid around her?!”
He dragged his hands down his face in exasperation. “I think you know why.”
“Dammit…”
Ochako walked into the dorm, and was quickly greeted by the people inside. She was pleased to see that they were all friendly, especially the girls. But something struck her as odd. She was usually the tallest person in the room, but that wasn’t that strange for that not to be the case. However, she was absolutely always used to being the tallest woman in the room. When she greeted the black-haired girl who introduced herself as Momo Yaoyorozu, she was immediately taken aback slightly.
The girl was just as tall as she was, if not taller. Ochako’s permanent blush grew a bit at this realization, and she could see the slight surprise and a hint of a blush on her face as well. Red looked good on her.
The rest of the girls were also quite nice; the froggy girl even insisted that she already call her by her first name. Then, her eyes locked onto something familiar. Yellow irises, so intense they almost seemed to be glowing, stared back at her, keeping her mesmerized. Her brain got thrown for a loop, reliving Deku dashing to her aid.
But the eyes didn’t belong to him. They were a deeper, golden yellow compared to Deku’s bright, bright green, and they were accented by the black sclera surrounding them. As she noted the differences between their eyes, the rest of her face registered in Ochako’s mind and she took notice of her new classmates pink skin and hair.
Reality came crashing back.
Ochako continued to stare as she internally scolded herself for getting so lost in the moment. She couldn’t deny that it wasn’t just the color of her eyes that made her recall Deku so vividly. ‘Maybe the way she is… lookin’ back at me…’
“S-sorry, didn’t mean to stare!” She chuckled awkwardly, “I- uh, like your eyes!”
The woman she was staring at, who was still staring back, shook her head, dispelling her faint, lilac blush. Her smile grew wide, but was a little shaky. “Thanks!”
After she said a hurried goodbye to them all, she eventually made her way to room 405 and let her luggage and furniture fall gently to the ground. She sighed loudly and flopped onto her new bed. ‘I’ve been at UA for less than an hour and I’m already... why couldn’t Deku have been in the other class? There’s somethin’ about him that’s so... distractin’... I don’t have time to be distracted! I’m not a kid anymore, I’m 18! I should be past this!’ She hit her bed in frustration.
She sat up and sighed again, pulling herself to her feet to begin slowly unpacking. Even with the distraction of her luggage, her thoughts kept wandering to Deku. ‘He’s cute, sure, and totally heroic. And his quirk is super cool, and I kinda like how he looks at me… but he wouldn’t like me or anything. We just met. I’m sure I just intimidate him… them...’ Her mind went back to the girl that looked at her with the same expression.
She sighed once again. ‘Besides, guys just don’t like tall girls. That’s fine. I’m not here for anythin’ but being a hero. I can- need to learn to be one of the best while I’m here. Four years will be gone before I know it. I can’t get distracted thinkin’ about cute boys with horns and really muscular arms…or cute girls with horns....’
“...Do I have a thing for horns?” She slipped down to the ground, clutching her knees to her chest and feeling her permanent blush growing once again.
“Dammit…”
Notes:
Next chapter is already written, but needs revision and proof-reading, so it might be a few days.
Leave a comment down below and I'll see you next time!
Chapter 10: Opening Moves
Summary:
Izuku meets the rest of his class and the first day of UA proper begins.
Notes:
Thanks to my betas for this chapter, Epsilon110 and Azurefirehawk
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The next day was Sunday, the last day of move-in and the last day before school started. He was used to getting up early due to his years of conditioning with his father, and he had no intention of sleeping in now. At the crack of dawn, he and Katsuki met up to take a jog around the UA campus.
Izuku knew that UA was big, but he didn’t fully appreciate it until he took that jog. Katsuki and he ran their normal distance, which covered a healthy number of city blocks, and they had barely explored a corner of the property. There was the main building, of course, which was huge. Then there were two dorms for the hero course, three for general education, three for support course and three more for the business course. Four years of school meant 44 separate residential halls. Then there was the stadium, the USJ, the numerous training grounds and facilities, the mock cities and more.
“This place is more like its own city than a campus,” Izuku puffed as he ran alongside his friend.
“Imagine how much it cost to buy just the land for this, not to mention all the buildings,” Katsuki pointed out.
The boys returned to their hall a little bit after seven, sweating and satisfied from a successful workout. A few scorch marks on Izuku’s arms and a few traces of blood along Katsuki’s betrayed the fact that they had gone a few rounds as part of their exercise.
After a shower and a quick breakfast, the two left and caught the train back to Izuku’s house. Hisashi was leaving on a business trip the next morning to I-Island, so the Bakugous and Midoriyas were having a small get-together.
By the time the boys returned to UA in the late afternoon, all of the other students had arrived. Izuku set to work scouting out the six he hadn’t met the previous day. Five were boys, for a total of 12. The girl was a foreigner, American by the looks of it, by the name of Pony Tsunotori. She had a pair of impressive horns sticking straight up out of her head, which Ashido had already spotted with another shout of “Horns!” Izuku was later informed by Ashido that Tsunotori was his friend now as well.
Next, there was a student with a strange, pointed head that put him on par with Satou in terms of height. He had a muscular build, but seemed supremely shy and quiet, to the point that Izuku didn’t even hear him speak. It was only by pointing at a nametag on his luggage that he was able to tell Izuku that his name was Kouji Kouda.
Just in case Izuku still entertained the idea that he was one of the taller students, next he met a giant named Mezou Shouji. He had six arms, wore a mask and stood about two inches taller than Satou and Kouda. He also seemed reserved and stoic. Izuku noted that he would likely get along well with Tokoyami, but couldn’t get much of a read on him beyond that.
Yuuga Aoyama was a bit much for Izuku, but he could immediately tell that his dazzling outward persona was a shield. The boy seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve, but the heart was a decoy. Izuku quickly figured that, despite talking about himself all the time, he never truly said anything about himself.
Then there was the purple one. Minoru Mineta immediately set off red flags in Izuku’s mind. He noticed that the boy took every opportunity to stare at the women in the class. He was short, crude and completely shameless. Izuku had him pegged as trouble nearly as soon as he met him, which was something that didn’t often happen.
The last student he knew from name only. He had apparently gone up to his room as soon as he arrived and hadn’t come out. Ashido had told him that she saw the name ‘Todoroki’ on the backpack he was carrying, which immediately let Izuku know what he needed to.
Izuku had seen Endeavor many times at the hero events he attended with his father, but he had never seen his children. He knew that he had them, but Endeavor was not a family man. He was at those events purely for political reasons. If his son was anything like him, then he was one to watch out for. Endeavor left a sour taste in Izuku’s mouth, and while perhaps this boy was different, he would be cautious.
And with that, Izuku knew all the pieces on the board. Factors such as teachers were still unaccounted for, but he now knew the most important parts of what he was working with. Satisfied with his foundation, he made the first move in his game.
“Yo, Kirishima! Satou!” Izuku called out to the two who were sitting near each other next to the TV. “Kacchan and I are heading out to check out the gym. Wanna come?” This was an easy way to start the game strong, pun intended.
Both students grew wide smiles and immediately agreed. The four made their way across campus to the rather impressive weight room and set to work. Kirishima paired off with Katsuki, while Izuku and Satou spotted for each other.
Now, Izuku was stronger than the average person, thanks to his genes and his years of training, but he didn’t have much of anything on Satou. The man crushed all of Izuku’s personal records without even trying. Izuku couldn’t help but grin. He would make a point of training with Satou more in the future. No better person in class to help Izuku strength train than him.
Katsuki and Kirishima seemed to be getting along well enough, and he tolerated Satou. He had already given them both nicknames, which, Izuku noted, was a good step. ‘Weird Hair’ took all of Katsuki’s jabs in stride and accepted every challenge that he laid out. Izuku could tell by the look in his friend’s eyes that he was begrudgingly impressed with Kirishima’s spirit.
The workout didn’t last too long. “We don’t want to tire ourselves out too much for class tomorrow, who knows what crazy crap they’ll have us doing,” Katsuki wisely reminded Izuku on the way over. Besides, Izuku had the second move of his game already planned out.
Izuku encouraged the other three to jog back to the dorm with him as a ‘cool down’, but he really just wanted to get back as fast as he could to begin the next phase. A quick shower and a quick change of clothes brought Izuku back down to the kitchen as fast as he could manage. He pulled the notecards out of his pocket and set to work.
“Hey, mom?” Earlier that day Izuku had been helping his mother prepare the lunch for the party. The two of them often cooked together, and it was one of their most common bonding activities during his childhood. Especially when his father wasn’t home.
“Yes, Izuku?” Inko was a fantastic cook; she fed two dragons every day, so it wasn’t surprising. She was proud at how well Izuku had taken after her, and she secretly thought that Izuku would surpass her in a few years. Cooking with her son always brought a smile to her face, and it was one of the things she would miss most with him moving out.
“I want to cook dinner for all my new classmates tonight. Do you have some recipes I could use?”
Inko smiled widely. “Of course! It’s so nice of you to want to cook for your new friends. Here, I have a few you could use. Oh! And here’s one for dessert.” She was frantically writing down some of her favorites on some notecards as she gushed.
“Thanks, mom. I’ll be sure to try and do your recipes justice.”
“Oh, I’m not worried about that, sweetie. Just remember to make enough for everyone!”
Uraraka, Ashido and the other girls were making their way downstairs to make dinner later that evening. They had spent most of the day getting to know each other, talking about their high schools and parents, what heroes they liked (thanks, Midoriya), and what hobbies they enjoyed.
They were chatting about some of their favorite foods when they entered the common room and smelled something heavenly coming from the kitchen. Then they noticed everyone else in the dorm eating, sitting at the counter or around the couches.
“Oh, hey girls!” Midoriya called out from behind the stove, waving at them. “You’re just in time, dinner was just served. Come get it while it’s hot!”
“Did you cook for everyone?” Jirou asked incredulously.
“Yep!” Midoriya was cheerfully working on something in a pot. “I figured a big meal together to celebrate us all getting into UA before classes start tomorrow would be a good idea.”
“I won’t turn down free food!” Hagakure moved first out of the eight girls, which quickly caused the others to follow.
‘I really hope this food isn’t good,’ Uraraka thought desperately. ‘Please don’t be a good cook, I’m beggin’ ya’!’
“Midoriya, what is this?” Ashido looked like she was about to start salivating.
“Oh! That’s one of the new recipes my mom gave me today. It’s cold soba with natto and okra, it’s has a really interesting taste and texture. It’s one of my favorites that she makes.”
Ashido looked like she was about to start vibrating as she eagerly filled a bowl with the dish. ‘Holy crap, he can cook, too?!’
The girls all thanked Midoriya for his hard work and piled their bowls high with the soba and the other sides he made. They sat down in a eight-person circle off to the side of the room and ate together happily. After they finished, Ochako took the opportunity to look around the room. And by that, she meant look at the cook.
She noticed immediately that his eyes were glowing ever so slightly. If you didn’t know what they normally looked like, you might have missed it. His eyes seemed to be roaming the room, observing and studying all of the other students. She noted with a bit of disappointment that his eyes never met hers, as if he was intentionally avoiding her gaze.
She also noticed that everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Even that mysterious Todoroki boy was eating, seemingly enjoying the soba. Ashido and him had a stare-down over the last helping, which he eventually won, much to the pink girl’s dismay.
She also noticed that weird, short guy was staring over at her and the other girls nearly the entire time. He had already gotten an ear full of audio jack from Jirou earlier that day when he tried to get a little friendly with Yaoyorozu. He didn’t even meet her eyes when she looked at him, his gaze focused firmly a bit below her-
She shot him an angry look that he didn’t acknowledge and then turned back to the group of girls. ‘What a little scumbag.’
She tried to distract herself by talking with the other girls, trying to ignore Ashido’s incessant staring. ‘Why don’t I mind her starin’ at me?’ Despite all her efforts, her thoughts always returned to the green-haired boy behind the counter. ‘That meal was amazin’... it’s not fair. Are you just here to make things difficult for me?’
Ochako dared to glance at him again. Her eyes went wide. ‘No. No no no. No, please no.’
“Hey guys, don’t forget to leave room for dessert!” He was cheerily kneading something on the counter. “My mom gave me this great mochi recipe and I’m making enough for each of you.”
‘That’s… not fair…’ Ochako tried to keep her mouth from watering. ‘Maybe… maybe his mochi won’t be as good as his soba…?’
Izuku’s plan had been a resounding success. He grinned at the satisfied looks of his classmates. While everyone seemed to appreciate the meal, he had gained a few pieces of unexpected information.
Firstly, Ashido had seemed thrilled with his soba. ‘Was it the okra?’ She had seemed to shiver as she ate it. He made a note to cook something with it in the future to test his hypothesis. He smiled and looked over to her, noting to himself how enjoyable it was to see her so pleased. ‘That shirt is really low-cut and loose. She’s clearly very confident and comfortable with her body. I can see why, too; she’s pretty uh, gifted.’
Izuku quickly moved on before he blushed as green as the okra. Uraraka had a very peculiar reaction to the food. He had hoped to impress her, but she acted almost… resigned? She seemed to like the food; she had come back for seconds on the soba and she ate more of the mochi than anyone else but Satou, so that probably wasn’t it. ‘She looked almost… defeated? Weird… I liked watching her walk away from the counter a bunch, though.’
Izuku grew a single claw and jabbed himself hard in the leg. ‘Get your mind out of the gutter, Izuku. Ashido and Uraraka are beautiful women, yes, but they’re way out of your league. Just calm down and focus.’
He sighed. ‘Focus, right. Okay.’ The most surprising development of the night was his first interaction with Todoroki. Shouto, he learned, was stunted when it came to socializing. He seemed to almost lack emotion, and was quite blunt and tactless when he did speak. ‘Endeavor always gave me the creeps, maybe being around him that much affects you.’
The kicker, however, was how Todoroki had reacted to his meal. He ate more of the soba than anyone else, and even fought Ashido for the last bowl. That was something he could use. His mother always taught him that someone’s favorite food was a quick way into their heart.
Speaking of Ashido, the girl had come and offered to help him do the dishes after the meal. He wasn’t one to turn down help, especially when it came from a girl like her. He was surprised that he didn't turn into a stuttering mess with her, but perhaps it was because of everything else that was on his mind. “Horn buddies, right?”
Her wide, cheerful grin rivaled his own. “Yep! It’s the least I could do after you made such an amazing meal. Where did you learn to cook like that?”
Izuku chuckled as he scrubbed a plate. “My mom taught me. We spent a lot of time cooking together while I was growing up.” He smiled fondly as he reminisced.
“Aww, she seems like a nice lady.”
“She is. Maybe you can meet her one day.” He was too distracted with his memories to realize what he was saying.
“You sure move fast, huh?” Ashido winked at him as she giggled, which caused him to sputter and begin to apologize profusely. “Calm down, dude, I was just teasing!” His flustered state only caused her to giggle harder
In his panic, he accidentally ran the plate he was cleaning under the running sink in a way that sprayed both of the students with water. Izuku caught the worst of it, nearly soaking his entire shirt through. Ashido caught some of the spray, leaving a large splotch right on the front of her white shirt.
They stood there for a few seconds in shock before they both started laughing.
Izuku glanced over and watched her lose it, doubling over at the sheer nonsense of it all, relishing the moment. ‘It feels good to make her laugh, even if I made a fool of myself...’
Soon her giggles began to subside, and he noticed she was staring at him, eyes seemingly transfixed on the wet shirt hugging his chest tightly. He blushed a bit, but couldn’t stop his own eyes from drifting down to where the water had made her shirt see-through.
‘Oh wow, those are hug-’
A claw formed on his hand again as he mentally slapped himself and physically stabbed himself. Izuku hoped she didn’t notice the small trickle of green on his leg.
Izuku and Ashido collected themselves and finished the rest of the dishes in a slightly awkward silence. He did his best to keep his eyes from glancing over at the woman next to him, and once they finished, he thanked her and quickly left. He opted to go to bed early that night, partially due to the physical exhaustion from his two separate workouts, but more due to the mental and emotional exhaustion of being surrounded by so many new and confusing people.
He collapsed in his bed and fell asleep quickly, despite his excitement for class beginning the next day. In some deep part of his brain, he was thankful that his sleep was dreamless. He didn’t trust his mind right now. Hopefully, class would prove to be a good distraction from the two other distractions in his life right now.
He woke up at daybreak and for the first time in a while, he and Katsuki didn’t work out. They had no idea what UA had in store for them, so they wanted to conserve their energy. Instead, he used his extra time to write in his notebook about the hero news from the previous day. Before he could finish up, he heard a knock at his door.
“Hey, Third Place, you up?”
Izuku sighed and opened the door. “Morning, Kacchan.”
“Lips made breakfast. You’re the only one not down already, you sleep in? Slacking off already?”
“Satou? And uh, no, I was just catching up in my notebook. Haven’t had as much time the past two days.”
Katsuki nodded a bit then turned away. “Hurry the hell up or I’m eating your plate.”
Izuku shut his door and quickly changed out of his pajamas and into his new school uniform. He gazed at it for a while before he put it on, still not believing entirely that he was
finally
at UA. His uniform fit a bit snugly for his tastes. ‘Maybe I bulked up a bit since I took my measurements?’
He straightened his tie and headed downstairs. Katsuki had spoken the truth; the other 19 students were already eating. He quickly made his way over to the kitchen area and grabbed the plate that Satou had left out for him. He was so hungry that he took a bite before he even went to go sit down. It was heavenly.
“Satou, I didn’t know you could cook!” Izuku resisted cramming more pancake into his mouth before he spoke.
“Sure, I have a lot of practice because of how my quirk works.” Satou gave him a thumbs up. “You like it? I’m usually better at desserts than more traditional meals, so I figured pancakes would be a good one to start with.”
“Like it? It’s great!” Izuku’s willpower failed and he crammed another fluffy bite into his mouth and swallowed quickly. “I’m actually the opposite; I struggle with desserts and sweets. Maybe we could help each other out?” It was never too early to play the game.
Satou nodded. “Yeah, sounds like a plan. Thanks, Midoriya.”
Izuku sat down at one of the tables with some of the other students, including Kirishima and Ashido. They were apparently talking about their quirks, as he caught the end of Ashido cheerfully explaining that she can secrete acid.
“Woah, really?” Izuku loved talking about quirks, and it was an added bonus that people usually liked talking about their own quirks, too. They especially liked it when he talked about how cool they were. “That’s a great power. Can you control the potency?”
“Yep!” She was grinning widely at his interest, just as he suspected. “I can control the strength, viscosity and more.” Her eyes narrowed slightly, staring at his head. “But hey, what about you? You haven’t told me anything about you ! What’s with your horns? Do they have something to do with your quirk? I bet they do!”
Izuku was taken aback by the sudden change of subject and her intensity, but he quickly recovered. “Do yours?” He deflected, not ready to reveal his quirk and heritage yet.
“Well, no, bu-”
“Class begins in 15 minutes!” Iida was standing at his seat, hand outstretched in a chopping motion. “We should all make our way to the classroom!”
Izuku was grateful for this distraction and took it as an opportunity to throw the rest of his breakfast down his throat and start walking to class, leaving Ashido’s questions unanswered.
Izuku was over the moon. He was actually sitting in a classroom at UA, about to meet his homeroom teacher. He had dreamed about this moment for years and it was finally here. He was almost vibrating in his seat behind Katsuki. His friend found this irritating, judging from his glare, but Izuku didn’t care at the moment.
The door opened and the girls entered, they had left a bit later than everyone else, and had apparently already started moving together as a group. Izuku wasn’t surprised, it was always easier to socialize with people you had more in common with when you first met each other.
He watched as the girls took a look at the seating chart on the board at the front of the class and split up to their seats. Izuku almost chuckled at the seemingly-floating uniform of Hagakure as she sat down in front of Katsuki. He would get used to it, but for now, it was an amusing novelty. Yaoyorozu gave him a polite nod as she passed behind him to sit down. Mineta was between him and her, and Izuku felt himself tense up at the strange noise he made when Yaoyorozu passed by him.
Jirou took a seat just ahead and to the right of Midoriya, Tsunotori sat at the front of the row to her right, Kirishima sat two rows it Izuku’s left, while the other three girls all had seats on the far-right row. Izuku’s mind froze a bit as he glanced over them. In addition to the normal school uniform, Uraraka was wearing black leggings under her skirt. Izuku could only stare. ‘Those legs... I think UA might actually kill me.’
After a while, Izuku noticed that she was staring at him too. And so was Iida. And so was everyone. Katsuki hit him upside the head. “Wake up, idiot!” Izuku looked around in panic and noticed a scruffy looking man wearing a long, gray scarf standing at the front of the room. He was staring expectantly at Izuku.
“Thank you for finally joining us, Midoriya.” The man glared at him, voice sarcastic and bored. Apparently, Izuku had been staring for a long time. “As I was saying, my name is Shouta Aizawa. Your teacher.”
Izuku tried to will the green blush away from his cheeks as the rest of the class finally stopped staring at him. ‘Our teacher?’ Izuku’s mind began to race. ‘Then he’s a pro hero. I don’t recognize him, maybe he’s underground? Strange for him to be working at UA if that’s the case.’
The man didn’t wait for the murmuring to die down before he pulled out a blue and white gym uniform. “We’re wasting time. Go down to the changing rooms, put these on and meet me outside. You have five minutes.”
Uraraka raised her hand in protest. “But what about orien-”
“A waste of time.” Aizawa cut her off and left without another word.
After a desperate scramble, the class made it outside with seconds to spare. Aizawa was standing in front of them, holding a small electronic device. “Here at UA, I am free to run my class as I see fit. I have four years to teach you how to become the heroes of our future, which means we don’t have any time to waste on pointless ceremonies and traditions.”
Aizawa turned to Uraraka. “Uraraka, you got first place on the entrance practical.” The girl tensed up slightly at the attention. “What was your farthest softball throw in high school?”
“Um, I think it was about 72 meters, sir.” She seemed uncomfortable being singled out.
“The Ministry of Education is still pretending that we are all born equal, instead of letting those who are capable excel. If I am going to properly teach you, I need to know where you stand right now. A series of eight physical challenges will give me a good baseline so I know each of your potentials. Since the previous results you have are without your quirks, they are useless.”
He turned back to the girl. “Throw the ball as far as you can, using your quirk.” He tossed the ball to her.
She caught it with both hands. “Um, are- are you sure?”
“You’re wasting my time. Step into the circle and take your throw.” He sounded bored, but thanks to his scarf, nobody saw the smirk on his face. He knew what she was going to do, only a fool of a teacher wouldn’t read their forms and watch their performances at the entrance exam.
Uraraka walked up to the circle and turned back again, still unsure. Seeing Aizawa’s dispassionate expression, she looked back to the ball. She had been holding it with her pinky off, but let the finger touch. A small flash of pink light accompanied that familiar feeling of the weight moving through her body. Once she felt it was at an appropriate weight, she simply opened her hand.
The ball shot skyward, being pushed up by the now-denser air surrounding it. The class all gasped as the ball kept floating higher and leaving their vision. Aizawa turned to the rest of the class and held up the device, which read ‘infinity’. This caused further shouts and exclamations from the rest of the class.
“Wow…” Ashido was standing next to Midoriya, staring in awe at Uraraka’s feat.
“Yeah…” Midoriya had seen her in action before, but it was still incredible.
They looked at each other in surprise, hearing the fondness in each other’s voices. A slight lilac blush lit up Ashido’s face as she smiled. Midoriya’s green blush was more intense, and his smile was a little shakier.
Ashido blinked in surprise. ‘He blushes green?!’
‘She blushes blue?!’
“I am here to teach those who have the potential how to be a hero.” Aizawa’s eyes grew a crazed look in them. “I will be scoring and ranking each of your performances in the eight tests. I will declare the student with the lowest score to have no potential, and expel them on the spot.”
His sick grin appeared over his scarf. “You all made it into UA, but you still need to prove to me that you belong here.”
Aizawa outlined the eight events in order. A 50-meter dash, a grip-strength test, a standing long-jump, repeated side steps, the softball throw, sit-ups, sitting toe-touch and a long-distance run. The first event would be in pairs.
Just by luck, or by ‘luck’, Bakugou was paired up with Midoriya to go first. “You gonna hold back with all these extras around? Or are you gonna actually try and beat me?” Bakugou sneered as he spoke, challenging his friend.
Midoriya sighed, preparing himself. “No point hiding it anymore, I guess.” He reached up and began to pull his shirt off. “Wouldn’t want to give you too much of a handicap, Dandy.” He wished he could have kept the secret for a little longer, but there was no helping it.
“Midoriya, what are you doing?” Aizawa knew full well what he was doing, but he wanted to hear how the boy would respond.
“Oh! I uh, I just don’t want to destroy school property needlessly, sir.” Midoriya had frozen mid-shirt-removal and responded with a slight bow of his head.
Aizawa shrugged; that answer was good enough for him. “Carry on.”
Midoriya finished taking off his shirt and tossed it on the ground behind him, eliciting murmurs from the rest of the class watching. He turned half towards the students as he rotated and flexed his arms and shoulders, limbering himself up.
“Hey, Ashido!” He called back to the girl, who was staring at him, eyes wide. “Remember when you asked me why Stormclaw was my favorite hero?”
She nodded slowly. “...yeah?”
“Well, you see...” Midoriya’s eyes began to glow slightly as scales formed across his shoulder blades. His wings sprouted out of his back shortly afterwards, quickly growing to their full size. The class gasped again as they unfurled. Midoriya grinned wide with pride.
“He’s my dad.”
Notes:
See you guys next time, leave a comment if you enjoyed!
Chapter 11: According to Mina
Summary:
The quirk assessment test from a pink perspective.
Notes:
Special thanks to all four of my betas for their work on this chapter, no matter how big or small. Check out the end of chapter 9 for links to their fanfictions and give them a read!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mina Ashido was many things. Easygoing, self-confident, sociable, friendly, pink…
But one thing she wasn’t... was ready.
She wasn’t ready for Midoriya to turn around and say her name as he took his shirt off, revealing his toned and well-defined chest and back to her as he flexed his muscular arms.
Hey, Ashido!” He called back to the her. She could only stare dumbly, mouth slightly agape. “Remember when you asked me why Stormclaw was my favorite hero?”
Mina nodded slowly, gulping unconsciously as her eyes didn’t leave his toned torso. “... Yeah?”
“Well, you see...” Midoriya’s eyes began to glow slightly as scales formed across his shoulder blades. Mina’s mouth opened further as wings sprouted out of his back. She and the rest of the class gasped again as they unfurled. Midoriya grinned wide with pride.
“He’s my dad.”
A pause.
“What do you mean, ‘He’s my dad’?!” Kaminari shouted out. Many of the other students gasped again, some shouted, while others just stared.
“Uh, that my dad is Stormclaw?”
“What?! Why didn’t you tell us?!” Kaminari was pointing at him accusingly. Tsu was also staring in disbelief, confused finger on her face.
“You’re wasting our time,” Aizawa interrupted the students before Midoriya could respond. “You can socialize later. Heroes must be able to focus.” The students grumbled, none louder than Kaminari, but they quieted down.
Mina didn’t really have the mental capacity at the moment to process Midoriya’s statement or the conversations going on around her. All she could do was continue to stare at the man.
“Wow…” Mina was stunned for the second time in only a few minutes.
“Yeah…” Uraraka, who was standing beside her, sighed fondly.
Again, for the second time in only a few minutes, Mina turned to her side in surprise. She stared at Uraraka, who was staring back down at her, blush evident on her cheeks. Well, more blush than normal. They grinned at each other awkwardly.
‘She’s just as adorable as Midoriya is when he blushes.’ Her face twitched. ‘Wait do I have a thing for tall people?’
“Runners, on your mark!” A cheerful robotic voice cut through Mina’s thoughts. She turned and saw Bakugou and Midoriya lined up at the starting line. Midoriya’s wings were standing up, ready to propel him forward. “Ready?” The two boys tensed up.
A gunshot rang out, and the two shot off like rockets, one quite literally. Bakugou jumped forward and held his hands behind him, letting off controlled, continuous explosions to fly forward. Midoriya’s wings had kicked up a considerable dust storm as then hurled him towards the finish like. He shot through the air, wings back to make himself aerodynamic. The two reached their hands out at the last second, hoping to edge out the other. They were neck-and-neck as they crossed the line, and crashed down onto the ground afterwards.
“3.51 seconds! 3.54 seconds!” Midoriya had won by a fraction of a second. Mina watched as the two staggered to their feet, dusting themselves off. They both shot looks at each other, smirking and determined.
Mina gasped slightly. She was too busy staring at his chest and abs earlier, but now she saw his eyes. They were still big and filled with those cute forest green irises, but now they glowed faintly with a bright green light, so light that it almost appeared yellow.
“Woah… hey, are his horns longer?” She looked up at Uraraka.
“Yeah… I think it has to do with when he uses his quirk. You should see his eyes when he really gets going.” Uraraka was looking at him affectionately, a slight sigh in her voice.
“Oh, are they dreamy~?” Mina teased the girl, causing her to realize what she was saying and begin to blush again, but she had to admit that Uraraka’s words piqued her interest.
The tests continued, and Mina couldn’t help but be impressed by her classmates. Uraraka went against Tsunotori next. The foreigner got into place, her hooved feet up against the starting block. Uraraka did that thing with the pink light again, but this time she touched her own body as she got down into position on the starting line.
Mina tried to keep herself from staring at Uraraka’s backside.
She didn’t try that hard.
Her jaw dropped again as the gunshot went off. Tsunotori flew down the course quickly, but Uraraka was a blur. She had kicked off and shot down the course at incredible speeds, and she seemed to Mina to be actually flying. “2.36 seconds!” The robot declared as she passed the finish, and “6.25 seconds!” when Tsunotori followed up.
Uraraka’s landing was less than graceful. As she passed the finish line, Mina noted that she looked a little green, and not green like Midoriya’s cute blush. She clapped her hands together and Mina saw the faint pink glow again. She pulled her legs underneath her as she did so and crashed down, skidding several feet on her big, beautiful bu-
‘Mina, calm your gay. Focus on the tests.’
She looked elsewhere to try and clear her head, and her gaze fell onto Midoriya who, much to her disappointment, had put his shirt back on. She noticed that he was hastily scribbling in a notebook. He was intently watching all of the students as they took their turns, eyes glowing slightly as he focused.
‘Is he studying us? Wait, where was he keeping that notebook?’
Several more pairs took their turns, and near the end it was finally Mina’s turn. She took her shoes and socks off and put them to the side, letting some acid form on the bottom of her feet. She was up against Aoyama, who was standing backwards like a tool instead of getting down on the starting block.
The gunshot rang out, and Mina kicked off. ‘Focus, girl. Fluid, but cohesive. Skate forward and don’t dig into the dirt. You’ve done this a hundred times.’ She maintained her cool as Aoyama shot past her with a dazzling laser coming from his stomach, monologuing about something Mina didn’t care to listen to. The student crashed down on his back halfway down the course and Mina skated past him.
“4.86 seconds!” Mina was satisfied with that. “5.02 seconds!” Aoyama dusted himself off and told the class a little too much information about the downsides of his quirk. Mina could only stare in disbelief. She broke her gaze away and looked at Midoriya, who’s eyes were flitting back and forth between his notebook and her. He noticed that she caught him looking and he began to blush slightly, but he didn’t stop writing.
The next event was the grip-strength test, and she quickly learned that Midoriya’s quirk didn’t end with wings. She grabbed one of the devices and limbered her hand up; her quirk wouldn’t help her here. She squeezed as hard as she could, coming out with a total of a bit over 50 kilograms. She was satisfied with that, her training before UA was more focused on endurance and agility than raw strength.
She glanced over to take a look at the rest of her class. Sero and Mineta were fawning over Shouji, who had nearly broken the device. He had wrapped three of his six hands around the handle and crushed it with a pull of 642 kilograms. Mina was impressed, but then something else caught her eye.
Midoriya was standing on the other side of the group, staring at the grip-strength device in his right hand. He took a deep breath and then his hand and arm bulked up as they grew green scales. Her eyes went wide as his hand swelled to nearly twice its normal size and he squeezed the device. He let his arm return to normal and stared with satisfaction at the number displayed. Mina wished she could have seen what it was.
Mina did fine on the standing long-jump, but wasn’t surprised when she wasn’t in the same league as Midoriya, Bakugou or Uraraka. All three of them had cleared the pit entirely, earning them the maximum score. Uraraka looked a little queasy again after her jump. ‘Were those pancakes that Satou made bad? I ate them and I feel fine. I wonder what’s up with her?’
Much to Mina’s chagrin, the little creepy purple kid took the gold on the repeated side-steps. Apparently those balls on his head were bouncy, and he flew past everyone else’s score. She caught him staring at Uraraka lecherously as she did her test. Mina felt a pang of disgust and even the twisting sensation of jealousy in her stomach. Before she could think about the implications, something behind her caused the hairs on the back of her neck to rise.
Something with killing intent.
When she turned to check, the feeling was gone and she only saw Midoriya, clutching his head lightly.
‘Huh.’
Things got interesting at the fifth event, the softball throw. Nobody had any hopes of beating Uraraka, so they were all competing for a distant second place. Bakugou stepped up and threw a massive explosion behind the ball, kicking up a dust storm, causing the rest of the class to close their eyes.
Aizawa’s device read ‘758.5m’, and Mina gasped along with the rest of the class. Midoriya stepped up next, bumping arms with Bakugou as he passed. “I’ve got you beat, Horns.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.” Midoriya smiled back confidently. Mina couldn’t help but smile with him.
Her horn buddy walked to the circle with a ball. He pulled up his sleeve and began to rotate his shoulder, preparing for a throw. Just like before, his arm began to grow scales, green like his hair and eyes, but this time his entire arm up to the shoulder began to grow.
His arm continued to grow until Mina guessed it would hang down below his knee. His hand was so large that he had to grip the ball with three fingers. As he prepared to throw, Aizawa spoke up.
“Midoriya, you’re holding back. I watched your footage at the entrance exam.”
Mina’s eyes went slightly wide at the implication. ‘Holding back?’
Midoriya turned to their professor, eyes still glowing. “Well, sure, but this is as much a test of judgement and endurance as it is the limits of our quirks, right? That’s why you put the long-distance run as the final event. Those who exhausted themselves in the early events would do poorly on the later ones, especially that one. That’s why Kacchan has been holding back, too.”
Aizawa raised an eyebrow, then motioned for Midoriya to continue. The student reared his massive arm back and let the ball fly, shooting high into the sky. Mina watched it fly until it was only a spec in the distance, before losing track of it completely. Aizawa paused for a moment, and then held up his device, which read ‘757.9m’.
Midoriya stared in disbelief as Bakugou cheered in victory. Aizawa slowly moved his lazy gaze over the greenhead. “You were right, Midoriya, endurance is important. But so is knowing what it takes to get the job done. You are here to push yourself, not pace yourself. The world of heroes and villains isn’t fair. You only get one shot to do it right or people will die. Don’t hold back next time.”
Midoriya bowed his head in defeat and walked back to the rest of the students. Mina glanced back at him as he stood next to Bakugou and noticed that he had his notebook out again. Her eyes narrowed as she looked him all over, hoping to find where he had pulled it from.
Mina did great at the sit-ups and the seated toe-touch. Her passion for dancing kept her core strong and body flexible. She had hoped to partner with Midoriya for the events, but Uraraka got to him before her. The two of them looked to be fast friends, talking and helping each other even through the slight blush on each of their cheeks. ‘They look so cute together…’
Mina stopped, realizing something. ‘Huh, I wonder why I’m not feeling jealous this time?’
Mina caught herself staring when Midoriya did his sit-ups. She was hoping to catch a glimpse of his abs underneath his shirt as he moved, but no such luck. In the next event, she couldn’t help but laugh at Midoriya’s clever subversion of the toe-touch rules. He had grown both of his arms long enough to reach his toes, and simply reached out and grabbed them.
The final event was the long-distance run, and much like Midoriya predicted, many students were already exhausted from using their quirks. He did well, likely hoping to make up for his performance on the softball throw. Because this was the final test, nobody held back. Eventually, everyone tired out except for the last three. Bakugou and Midoriya were flagging, but their competitive nature pushed them beyond, plus ultra style.
Eventually, Bakugou collapsed onto the ground, panting. Midoriya got about four steps further before he threw in the towel as well. They panted on the ground as the first place student continued.
That first place student, of course, was Yaoyorozu. Her quirk had proved exceptionally useful and her application of it was incredibly intelligent. Mina had been keeping an eye on her, watching her excel at nearly every challenge. Her quirk seemed to have limitless potential, at least to the pink girl.
A hydraulic press allowed her to crush everyone else’s score on the grip-strength test, a cannon allowed her to blow even Bakugou’s softball throw out of the water, and on the final test, she was still happily making laps around the track in a bicycle she created. Mina watched with a giggle as the panting Midoriya gave her a big thumbs up as she lapped him again.
‘Smart, capable and sexy? You go, girl.’ Mina was truly impressed by her new friend.
Mina was exhausted, but she had a great time. Using her quirk at school was a blast, and seeing all the other students use their quirks was pretty entertaining. She could tell that university was going to be fun . She was confident she was safe from expulsion, but she did feel bad for whoever the last place student was.
The scores were posted, and to nobody’s surprise, Yaoyorozu came in first place. Todoroki followed her up and then third place was Midoriya, barely edging out Bakugou. The latter boy immediately swung his arm at his friend, who blocked it so their forearms were crossed. They pushed against each other, staring into each other’s eyes with a competitive glare. It was a truly bizarre ritual, but caused Mina to giggle.
The scores went down from there. The scores were impressively close together, and some were hardly different at all. This class looked like it was going to be a tough one. Uraraka took fifth place, and Mina settled for a comfortable 10th. She shrugged, she wasn’t at the top, but there was a reason she was going to school. She had a lot of room to grow, and a lot of time to do it in. Why rush it?
It was with a degree of guilt that Mina noticed that Mineta got last place. She felt a bad for him, ‘but if I had to pick someone to get last…’
“Also, I was lying. Nobody’s getting expelled.” Aizawa grew another sick smile. “That was just a rational deception to get you to push yourselves to your limits.”
The small purple boy looked like he was about to die.
Aizawa’s bored drone returned. “That’s it for today. Pick up a syllabus in the classroom then head back to the dorms, or wherever.” He walked away with a dismissive wave and without another word.
“Hey, Deku.” Bakugou spoke loudly, clearly wanting others to hear him.
Midoriya turned to look at him, then his face paled. Mina stopped walking to pay attention. “...No”
Bakugou gained an evil grin. “Yep. You lost the bet, and those were the rules. I choose the time, and I choose now.”
Midoriya stared at him for a few seconds, trying to determine if he was serious. Seeing that he was, he suddenly got down on one knee in front of Bakugou. This caused nearly everyone in the class to turn and watch.
Midoriya cleared his throat, and then suddenly his fearful, nervous look was replaced by a self-satisfied smirk and he placed his hand on his chest theatrically. He began to recite something, and judging from his intonation, it was poetry. However, Mina didn’t understand the language. The rest of the class was faring no better, most of them looking between Midoriya and each other, looking for an explanation. Mina saw a twinge of recognition on the faces of Yaoyorozu and Tsunotori.
Bakugou’s own smirk faltered as he grew a look of disbelief, and by the time Midoriya was finished with his performance, it was a look of rage.
“What the hell was that, dumbass?!”
Midoriya stood up and dusted himself off. “We never specified what language, Kacchan. I paid up fair and square by the terms of the bet.”
Bakugou’s rage peaked as he sputtered, having his victory so deftly snatched out from underneath him. His rage broke just as quickly. “Fine, you clever bastard. I’m gonna beat your ass for that one, though.” He turned and stomped off to the locker rooms.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Dandy.” Midoriya was grinning ear to ear.
“Sonnet 18?” Tsunotori spoke up.
Midoriya blanched and whipped his head around to face the girl. “How di-” He slapped his forehead. “How stupid of me. So, you read Shakespeare?”
The girl shrugged. “No, I had project in high school.”
“Your pronunciation could use some work, Midoriya.” Yaoyorozu chuckled behind her hand.
Mina was confused. “Midoriya, what the heck just happened?”
Midoriya rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, likely because Tsunotori and Yaoyorozu understood what he had said. “Kacchan and I had a bet to see who would come out on top at the entrance exam. Whoever lost had to recite a poem to the other at a time and place of their choosing. I lost by a single point.”
“Oh, Deku!” Uraraka looked worried. “I’m sorry! You would’ve won your bet if you hadn’t stopped to help me.”
“Uraraka, please!” Midoriya was turning green again. “I don’t regret anything, really! Besides, I won the bet in the end, in my own way.” He laughed awkwardly and quickly made a break for the locker room.
Mina had her eyebrow raised for the past several minutes and she finally just started giggling at the whole situation. The rest of the girls joined in too. They all made their way to their own locker room, ready to get out of their sweaty gym clothes.
“Hey, Uraraka,” Mina began, “what did you mean when you said Midoriya stopped to help you?” The girls were in their locker room changing. They were taking their time, as they had no place to be after this.
“Oh. Well, if you want to know…” Uraraka seemed embarrassed.
“Well, now I do.” Jirou raised an eyebrow, seeing her reaction.
“You remember the big zero-pointers?” They all nodded, except for Yaoyorozu, who looked confused.
“Wait, how did you miss them?” Hagakure asked the black-haired girl.
“I… didn’t take the practical exam,” she explained softly. “I was admitted on recommendation.”
The girls all gasped slightly. “No wonder you beat everyone’s butts out there, Yaoyorozu!” Mina praised the girl.
“The zero-pointer was a giant robot probably around fifteen or more stories tall. It was supposed to be the big obstacle, ribbit.” Tsuyu informed the recommended student.
“Right. So when the robot started rumbling towards me, a building nearby collapsed and fell on me, breaking my ankle and trapping me underneath,” Uraraka explained to the worried looks of the other girls. “It reared its big fist back, and started coming down to smash me.” She pantomimed the fist.
“Then, out of nowhere, Deku dashed between me and the robot and stopped it!” She blushed a bit at the memory.
“Woah, really?” Kiri was intrigued now. “How? Don’t get me wrong, the dude is jacked, but I can’t see him stopping that monster by himself.”
“If the robot was as big as you say,” Yaoyorozu mused, “then I have my doubts as well. His quirk is powerful, but nothing that impressive.”
“You should’ve seen it…” Uraraka’s blush deepened. “He threw so much power at that thing. You know how his arm got all big and stuff when he was throwing that softball?” The other girls nodded. “Well it was way bigger than that! His arm was probably bigger than the rest of his body combined.”
“Woah, that’s what Aizawa meant when he said he was holding back…” Jirou’s eyes were wide.
“Giving his all for someone he’s never met?” Kiri smacked her fist to her palm. “Now that’s manly.”
“I can see that,” Tsuyu spoke up, causing the other girls to look at her. “He’s the son of a former top-ten hero, after all.”
“Oh yeah!” Mina exclaimed. “I forgot about that with everything going on out there. Son of Stormclaw!”
“Wait, did you know that?” Jirou pointed one of her jacks at Yaoyorozu. “He said you knew each other.”
Yaoyorozu nodded. “If he didn’t tell you, then it wasn’t my place to say.”
“Ugh, that’s so noble.” Mina teased the girl. “Don’t you know gossip is more important than that?”
“Ashido!”
“I’m kidding! I get it.” Mina waved her hand in mock dismissal, ignoring the teasing grin Kiri was throwing at her. “Still, it’s pretty crazy, huh? He must be packing all sorts of power in that buff frame.”
“You have no idea,” Uraraka said quietly.
“I wonder if he could get me an autograph.” Tsuyu put her finger to her chin.
“Why not ask?” Tsunotori questioned.
“I will.”
“Oh hey, Uraraka.” Jirou got her attention. “What happened next? In the exam, I mean. Did he destroy the robot too? Was he your knight in shining armor?” Jirou teased.
“No…” Uraraka said something else, but so quietly that only Jirou could hear her.
“Woah.” Jirou looked shocked, then she smirked. “Come on, speak up and say that again.”
Uraraka sighed. “I destroyed it.”
Mina’s mouth dropped open. “By yourself?!” Uraraka nodded. “Damn, girl. I knew that body wasn’t just for looks, you kick ass!”
Uraraka blushed harder. “Ashido!”
Mine playfully stuck her tongue out at the girl.
“Hey, I have a great idea!” Hagakure piped up, the others turned to look at her, or at least where they thought she was. “We’re all gonna be in the same class for the next four years, right? Let’s follow Tsu’s example! You can all call me Tooru!”
“I love it!” Mina cheered. “Call me Mina.”
“Eiko,” the woman said with a bright smile.
“I’m still gonna call you Kiri.”
Momo hesitated for a second before she spoke. “You may call me Momo.”
“Ochako is fine.” Ochako smiled brightly. Mina cooed internally.
“Kyouka.” She twirled one of her jacks.
“Pony! This easier.” Pony sighed. “In America, everyone says first names.”
Jirou face twisted in confusion as she perked up from her relaxed position, quickly standing up as her expression shifted into one of shock and indignation. She quickly stepped over to the wall and jammed a jack into the stone to listen. The other girls were startled by her sudden outburst.
“Jir- Kyouka? What’s going on?” Yaoyorozu looked worried.
Kyouka held up a hand for her to be quiet, and then lifted her other jack. Sound began to play from the jack.
“Mineta, do not look through that peephole, that is a gross violation of privacy!” Iida’s muffled voice could be heard.
The girls shouted in surprise and looked frantically for the supposed hole. Kyouka found it first, and moved towards it.
Kiri crashed her fists together as she hardened them. “On the first day of class?”
“Don’t be such a prude! If you don’t want to see Ashido’s rocking bod or Yaoyorozu’s giant boobs then don’t look, but you won’t stop me!” Mineta was defiant.
The girls all gasped in indignation hearing the shameless words of Mineta, and made movements to cover themselves. Jirou prepared to jam one of her jacks into the hole to make the little pervert regret his choice, but before she could, a loud noise caused her to recoil, clutching at her ears.
“ I WILL.”
A sound like a sledgehammer slamming into the concrete wall echoed through the locker room, causing Jirou to pull her jack out of the wall as fast as she could.
The girls stood there for a few seconds in silence, reeling from what just happened. Eventually Mina spoke up. “...Was that Midoriya?”
“It sounded like him,” Kyouka hesitated, “but at the same time it didn’t.”
“That was Deku. I know it.” Ochako spoke firmly.
“What was that noise, though?” Tooru asked, still worried.
Kyouka put her jack back into the wall after calming herself down. She listened for a few seconds. “It’s really quiet in there, I think most of them left already.”
“I’ll go take a look, then.” Tooru slipped her clothes off.
“Tooru!” Mina sounded scandalized but her expression betrayed how much she approved.
“It’ll just be a second. Be right back!” The invisible girl slipped out of their locker room and snuck towards the boy’s. It really was only a few seconds before she returned.
“There’s like, giant claw marks on the wall, at about Mineta height.” She picked up her water bottle to demonstrate.
Momo gasped. “Midoriya attacked him?”
“I don’t think so; there’s no blood or anything. I think he only threatened him.”
“Manly,” Kiri whispered, shaking a fist, a single tear spilling from her eyes. Mina rolled her eyes at that with a smile.
“All that for us...” Ochako quietly added.
An idea formed in Mina’s head. She stepped closer to Ochako and spoke softly. “Speaking of Midoriya… I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He’s
totally
hot for you, girl.”
Ochako blushed harder and waved her hands in dismissal. “W-what? No, don’t b-be crazy, t-there’s no way someone like him-”
“You are hot as hell, O-cha-ko~.” Mina emphasized each syllable of her name, almost whispering in her ear. “You saw him staring at you in the classroom. You should have seen how he looked at you when you tossed that softball into orbit.”
“W-what are you saying, Ash- Mina?” The combination of Mina’s closeness and what she was saying had Ochako’s face nearly neon. Mina wasn’t ashamed to admit she liked the color on her.
“I’m saying that I’m thinking about asking him to come hang out after class today, as a thank you for defending us from that creep.” She smiled wickedly. “I’m asking if you want to join me. No pressure, just hanging out and talking.”
Ochako’s eyes went wide. She clutched her chest and nodded once quickly.
“Good.” Mina smiled. “We can hang out in my room. I brought card games from home.”
The pink girl turned around to face the rest of her classmates. “Hey girls, since we had a short day today, want to hang out in my room and play some card games? It’ll be a great way to get to know each other better!”
“That’s a great idea, Mina!” Tooru was immediately into it. The rest of the girls thought it over, but quickly agreed.
“I’ll bring some tea. My mother sent this new blend with me when I left that you all just have to try!” Momo was sparkling.
“Oh, and I thought that I might invite Midoriya.” The other girls paused. “He seems like an interesting guy, you know?” She gestured over at the wall between the locker rooms.
“I like that. I really want to ask him about his dad, ribbit.” The rest of the girls looked at each other and nodded.
The girls all hastily finished getting back into their school uniforms at that point. They headed back upstairs and grabbed Aizawa’s syllabus. There were only a few other students in the room by the time they left back to the dorms, including Mineta, who was as white as a sheet. Mina felt a little bad, but only a little.
It was almost one o’clock when the girls walked back to the dorm as a group. Mina was less chatty than usual, as her brain was firing on all cylinders, planning out the rest of her day. She grinned.
Mina had her own game to play.
Notes:
Also, in case you guys like my writing, another fic idea made its way into my head and I couldn't shake it. I'm writing a third story as of now, but it will be an absolute back-burner deal that I only work on when I need a change of pace or have writer's block with WiaH or The Director. Or when I'm really inspired.
Anyways, thanks for reading, leave a comment letting me know what you thought, and see you next time!
Chapter 12: Total Broccoli
Summary:
Izuku hangs out with his new friends.
Chapter Text
Izuku was panicking as he paced across the limited floor space of his dorm room. He was running his hands through his hair, eyes wide and glowing ever so slightly. The events of his first day of class weighed heavy on his mind, and he kept running through them in his head, hoping to find something .
Izuku finished his repeated side-steps with an above-average score. Draconic legs granted him extra strength and speed, but there were many other quirks more suited to the task. Katsuki had beaten him fairly easily, small explosions helping to cancel his momentum so he could change direction faster. He was curious about how Uraraka would perform, and if and how she would use her quirk to help her.
With practiced precision, he whipped out his notebook and pen and flipped to her page. She started by touching herself on her arm, flashing the pink light. ‘Pink light created by quirk activation’ was a note he already made. She began to jump from side to side, not as quickly as he expected. It appeared that she was not as weightless as she was during the 50-meter dash.
‘Her quirk doesn’t appear to be all-or-nothing, she must have a degree of control over how much weight she negates.’ Izuku hypothesized as he jotted down notes. After a few seconds, he noticed her looking a little queasy. She clapped her fingers together, releasing her quirk and slowing herself down significantly. ‘Nausea? Perhaps a side effect of her quirk. Maybe weightlessness causes it, that would make sense. Strange, unnatural motion and sensations can cause that reaction.’
His attention drifted for a moment as he felt a pang of tension in the back of his mind. His eyes flashed behind Uraraka, where he saw the short, shameless Mineta ogling her. He felt a surge of indignation and anger.
How dare you?!
He grabbed his head as his quirk flared involuntarily. He felt his already long canines sharpen in his mouth and his horns thicken. The painful impulse quickly subsided, but it left a sick pit in his stomach. He barely noticed Ashido turning around with a confused and slightly scared look.
That incident was bad enough on its own, but that wasn’t the end of it. The worst was yet to come. He thought back to the incident in the locker room.
“Why didn’t you tell us?!” Now that they were free from Aizawa, Kaminari resumed his indignant accusations.
“Uh…” Izuku stalled. “I forgot?” Izuku was joking, nobody was going to buy that excuse.
“I don’t buy that.” One of Shouji’s mouthed tentacles had peeked around the corner of one of the lockers.
“Yeah, fair enough.” Izuku took his shirt off and tossed it into his locker. “The real reason is that people treat me differently once they know who my dad is. They see ‘The Son of Stormclaw’ and not me, you know?”
“A sensible precaution, then.” Tokoyami nodded his approval.
“Ah, c’mon man, you don’t think we’d treat you special cause of that, do you?” Satou leaned out from around his locker as he took his shirt off.
“Don’t be stupid, Lips, of course you would.” Katsuki spoke up in Izuku’s defense. “Everyone has, ever since we were kids.”
“Could you get me an autograph?! I’ve always wanted one!” Kaminari was grinning wide-eyed.
“What did I just say?!” Bakugou reached over and slapped Kaminari upside the head. “Don’t treat him any different, dumbass.”
“It’s okay, Kacchan.” Izuku tried to calm his friend down. “Kaminari, I’ll see what I can do, but please, I’m just one of your classmates. I know for a fact I’m not the only one here from a hero family. We’re at UA, after all, the most prestigious school in the country. Every hero would want their kid to go here.”
“Hey guys, someone shawshanked a hole in the wall between here and the girls’ locker room!” Mineta waved his hand to get people’s attention.
Izuku felt the pang of anger in the back of his mind again. ‘No, calm down. Not again.’ He put a hand to his head, trying to calm the dull pain.
“Don’t be a creep, dude, what the hell?” Sero looked stunned.
“Oh, just imagine it. Kirishima’s toned abs, or Uraraka’s sexy hips!” He seemed to be almost salivating.
Izuku’s eyes burned bright.
You will not defile them.
“Mineta, do not look through that peephole, that is a gross violation of privacy!” Iida chopped his hand in warning.
“Don’t be such a prude! If you don’t want to see Ashido’s rocking bod or Yaoyorozu’s giant boobs then don’t look, but you won’t stop me!” This tipped Izuku over the edge.
HOW DARE YOU?!
The pain in his head peaked but disappeared when Izuku stopped resisting. His right arm quickly morphed into a large scaled claw and his horns grew harshly. Scales crept over his shoulder and neck, and his voice deepened. He reared his claw back.
“ I WILL. ”
Izuku brought the claw down, right above Mineta’s head, careful to miss his sticky hair. The concrete crumbled under his razor-sharp claws. As soon as he acted, the pressure went away and he was able to think clearly.
Mineta was staring up at him in terror. Izuku looked down. “Never do that again and I won’t tell Aizawa.” The boy nodded quickly and ran back to his locker.
“Damn, Midoriya, that was cool as hell. Way to defend the girls.” Kaminari gave him a thumbs up.
Izuku laughed. “Don’t get confused, Kaminari. The girls don’t need me to defend them.”
He smiled sadly to himself. ‘Doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve it though.’
Izuku had held his composure until he was back at the dorms. He walked calmly to his room and shut the door quietly. Then he began to freak out.
‘It was so easy! It felt so right! I can’t give in like that, what if I actually hurt him? Sure, he’s a little creep, but I can’t just attack my classmates!’
He continued to pace his room in panic. ‘How was I supposed to turn that into something positive? How could I have turned that anger into something constructive? Maybe I could have lectured him? No, Iida tried that, it didn’t work. It happened so fast I couldn’t think, I need to be able to think. I won’t always be able to, though. What if I’m a hero and something happens on a mission and that happens? I can’t afford to think during these situations. I have to get better, it has to become second nature to me. I can’t hide from this.
But what if I can’t? What if I just keep lashing out? I have a 50% pass/fail rate right now. Maybe that first time was a fluke? What if Uncle Hatsuo is right about me? What if-’
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. He stopped pacing and turned to look dumbly, as if asking the door itself to tell him who was knocking.
“Midoriya~! Open up!”
‘Ashido?’
Midoriya’s door opened after a few moments. Mina was waiting patiently, grinning ear to ear. “Hey, Mido- Woah!” She tilted her head to the side, looking around him and into his room. The pink woman quickly scrambled past him, nimbly slipping past his bulky frame, although she had to get pretty friendly to do it.
Midoriya’s room was lined wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor with hero merchandise. Shelves occupied every single available inch of wall space, and several new display cases and cabinets had been moved in. There was barely enough space for someone to walk between the door, bed, bathroom and desk.
“I knew you were a hero fan, Midoriya, but this is nuts!”
She wheeled back around with bright eyes, but the smile on her face fell quickly. Midoriya was staring at her, a look of strained intensity on his face. He was clutching his head with one hand and his eyes were glowing slightly.
“Uh, Midoriya, are you okay?”
He seemed to be struggling to find words. The look on his face, combined with his height, stature and eyes made Mina feel truly intimidated. She resisted the desire to take a step back.
After what felt like ages, he spoke.
“Ashido, we’re… friends, right?” His tone almost seemed… pleading.
Mina raised an eyebrow, half in confusion and half in concern. “Of course we are, Midoriya. We’re horn buddies.” She pointed at her horns, other hand on her cocked hip.
“Yes, but, are we good friends? Can we be good friends?”
Mina was confused even more by his line of questioning, but grew a wide smile. “Didn’t take you for someone so forward, Midoriya. But, sure! You seem like a good dude and I think we’ve meshed well. I like you a lot.” She put her finger to her chin in thought, and then snapped. “Tell you what, if you wanna make it more ‘official’: can I call you Midori? Ochako’s got a cute nickname for you, I want one too!”
He smiled through what Mina guessed was a headache of sorts. “Yeah, alright. I’d like that. Thanks, Ashido.” He sighed, his headache seeming to fall away as his strained expression was replaced by his normal smile and his eyes stopped glowing.
He shook his head slightly, and returned to normal. “Sorry about that, Ashido. And uh, yeah, I’m a huge hero fan. This isn’t even all of my collection. I couldn’t fit the rest in here.”
The woman shook her hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, okay. No problem, but what was that ? I’m not letting you off the hook that easily.” Mina was not afraid to ask questions.
Midori seemed to have hoped that she was, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. “I uh, well, let’s just say I’m, uh, very
protective
of what’s mine. I’m not comfortable with people who I’m not good friends with in my room or near my stuff.”
“Oh, so when I just barged in here, it upset you?” She felt upset herself. “I didn’t mean to, Midori. I was just so impressed with what you had in here!”
“You… were?” He looked incredulous at her, but his grin had returned in earnest. The look in his eyes was…
‘That’s the same look he gives Ochako. Interesting… does that mean...? Oh, I can use this.’
“Yeah, this is like some sort of hero museum! But that’s not why I came here.”
“Oh! What can I help you with?” He immediately stood at the ready, eager to lend a hand.
“So earnest~!” She teased him, finally getting a little bit of green in his face. “I’m having a little get together with the other girls in class. Hanging out, playing cards, getting to know each other, right?”
“Um, okay? What do you-”
“Some of us want to get to know our savior a little better.” Her eyes narrowed as she grinned. Mina knew that this would bug him.
“Savior? Oh… oh, you heard that. In the locker room.” He seemed very distressed, beyond the embarrassment she predicted. Strange.
“Even if we didn’t have Kyouka listening in, you were
loud
, Midori. And then you kinda smashed concrete with your bare hand? Yeah, we heard that.”
He bowed his head. “Well, it wasn’t with my
bare
hand…”
“Hey, chin up, buddy. We’re glad that there’s someone looking out for us. I’ll return the favor if one of us tries to peep on you, yeah?”
She grinned wider. “Unless there’s a girl or two you wouldn’t
mind
looking at you.”
That got him to turn green. “Uh, um, Ashido, I uh-”
“Broccoli achieved!” She began to laugh hard.
“Broc- How do you know all of Kacchan’s nicknames for me?” There was a hint of accusation in his sputtering.
Mina kept laughing for a few moments, before collecting herself. “He calls you that, too? Easy to see why; dark green hair, your face turns green when you’re blushing… Midori, you look like an actual piece broccoli right now.” He grumbled a bit, still shifting awkwardly in the door frame as she kept laughing.
“But hey, you didn’t answer my question. Do you want to come hang out with us? It’ll be fun, you can get to know us, we can get to know you, it’ll be great.”
Midori thought for a few seconds as his hand went to his chin and he stared at the floor. “Yeah, okay. I’d like to get to know you all better, anyway.”
“Great!” Mina moved towards him, put her hands on his firm shoulders and spun him around. She started pushing him like she had on Saturday, taking another opportunity to take a look at his butt.
She smiled behind his back as she pushed him towards the elevator, his door shutting and locking behind them. ‘UA is getting more and more interesting every day. Never would have thought he would have looked at me like that.’
Izuku was impressed. He had been manipulating and influencing people since he could remember, and he considered himself quite good at it. He wasn’t blind enough to assume that there weren’t people better than him, of course, but he had quite a few victories under his belt.
But Ashido was something else. She had caught him off guard, adapted to the circumstances, never given him an opportunity to take control and even hit him with a compliment aimed directly at his pride in his collection. And in the end, she got him to do what she wanted, and he felt good about it. She even got him to agree to a new nickname.
Izuku had met people who could stand toe-to-toe with him in the game, but it had been quite a while since he had lost .
He couldn’t help but grin as Ashido pushed him forward. He was excited . Losing never felt so good. His grin wasn’t dumb, but confident; he was determined not to lose again.
Ashido pushed the button for the fourth floor and the elevator doors dinged closed. She let him move of his own volition once the doors opened up again, her walking just slightly ahead of him. They walked towards the girls’ side of the dorm, passing by room 405.
“That’s Ochako’s room. I’m just down the hall in 408. Momo is in 406.” Ashido explained cheerfully. “The third floor has Kyouka in 305 and Tooru in 308, and the fifth floor is Pony in 505, Kiri in 506 and Tsu in 508.”
Izuku made a vague noise of acknowledgement. He was barely listening, instead mentally preparing himself for the task ahead. He was going to be in a relatively small room with eight women. Between Ashido and Hagakure, there was a degree of unpredictability, and Ashido especially seemed to like to tease him. He had to be focused and ready.
“Dude, we’re hanging out, not taking a test. Relax!” Ashido evidently noticed his distracted state as they arrived outside her room. She gave him an appraising look as he took a deep breath and then smiled and nodded. Ashido flashed her cheerful smile back and swung the door open. “I found him!”
Izuku gathered his confidence and took a bold step inside. “Hi, everyone, thanks for inviting me.”
“Of course, Midoriya, please come in.” Yaoyorozu was always so proper.
Izuku glanced around the room, taking stock of his surroundings. Ashido’s room was very… wow. Nearly everything inside was pink and black and styled with polka dots, hearts, leopard print, tiger stripes or some other boisterous design. Ashido was clearly not ashamed to be exciting. He noted a coat rack with scarves and hats on it that were just as vibrant and fluffy as the rest of the room. Her walls had a few posters on it and her balcony door was covered in a massive drape, just as pink as everything else. Her bed had… ‘Is that a weighted blanket?’
Izuku put his observations of the room aside for now and took stock of the other guests. Six women sat in a circle in the middle of the floor, each staring up at him with a smile; he immediately noticed something missing. Ashido seemed to notice his confused expression and preempted his question. “Kyouka has a headache and took a rain check.”
“A headache, but… wait, you said she was listening in when I uh, acted out.” He pointed a finger towards Ashido. “Did I-”
“Wow, okay, Ochako, I owe you lunch. You called it.” Ashido looked past him towards the brunette sitting on the floor.
“What did she call?” Izuku was caught off-guard again and noted that he was already losing control of the situation.
“She told us that you would immediately feel guilty when you found out about Kyouka.” Ashido crossed her arms but looked slightly impressed. “Look, Midori, nobody blames you, especially not her. You didn’t know that she was plugged into that wall.”
“It’s still my fault. I should apologize.”
“So manly…” Kirishima put a fist to her chest proudly.
“If you insist, you chivalrous oaf.” Ashido threw her arms up in defeat. “But do it later. For now, sit. ” She pointed demandingly at the spot on the floor right next to Uraraka.
He obliged and sat down. Uraraka and him exchanged friendly smiles. Their time together over the past few days had finally started to make them more comfortable around each other, at least to the point that they didn’t go stupid around each other… as much.
“Hi, Deku. Thanks for stopping Mineta.”
He looked down. “I… I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I’m glad that I stopped him, but my actions were inexcusable.”
“Midoriya, you dork.” Hagakure sounded like she was rolling her eyes. “How are you feeling bad about that?”
“No apology,” Tsunotori said in her broken Japanese. “Back home, no tolerance for creeps. I’m glad for you, Midoriya.”
“Please, Midoriya. We heard Iida try to rationalize with him, if you hadn’t acted… well it was probably a kindness to Mineta, in all honesty,” Yaoyorozu added, causing Izuku to look up in confusion.
“Yeah, Yaomomo is right.” Ashido had plopped down on the other side of Izuku. “If you hadn’t stopped him, he was going to catch an eye-full of Kyouka’s jack.”
“Yaomomo?!” Yaoyorozu seemed more caught off-guard than Izuku.
Hagakure squealed and flailed the sleeves of her shirt. “That’s an adorable nickname! Can we call you that, pleeeease?”
Yaoyorozu thought for a moment. Then smiled and nodded. “That sounds lovely.”
Izuku smiled knowingly. ‘It’s good to see her making friends. She’s probably been more worried about it than I’ve been.’
They all settled in and Mina pulled out the card games. They played for several hours, talking and laughing all the while. Pony left early to video chat with her parents back in the United States, so there were only seven of them left in the room when Tsu brought up the question almost all of them had been thinking about.
“Midoriya, why didn’t you tell us your dad was Stormclaw?”
Kirishima interrupted Tsu, even more fired up than usual. “I can’t believe you’re Stormclaw’s son! Are you related to Gallant?”
“Sure, he was my great-grandfather!” Izuku was being polite; he was used to the interrogation that inevitably happened whenever people found out about his family.
“That’s so cool! Gallant was Crimson Riot’s inspiration, so he’s like, my inspirational grandfather or something!”
“Then maybe you’re my horn sister instead of my horn buddy?” Izuku flashed his fanged mouth in a genuine smile, which Kirishima returned with her own sharp grin.
“Midoriya, don’t change the subject,” Tsu said flatly. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Deku sighed as he leaned back, cards in his hand. “Kaminari asked me that, too. Would you believe if I told you that I forgot?”
“No.” Tsu didn’t blink.
“Yeah, they didn’t either.” He chuckled a bit. “To tell you the truth, people...treat me differently once they know. I like you all, and I didn’t want to change anything.”
“Treat you differently? How?” Tooru asked, playing one of her cards. “Ha! Take that, Mina!”
“Well, like I told the guys, sometimes people just see who my dad is and not who I am. He’s my idol, and I hope to be half the hero is someday, but I’m also my own person.” Ochako saw Yaomomo and him exchanging knowing looks, smiling a small, sad smile at each other.
“Aw, man, I kinda already did that, didn’t I?” Kirishima rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.
“Don’t worry about it, Kirishima. Really, I know you’re not one of those people.” Izuku dismissed her concern with a kinda smile, which made her smile return.
“You certainly proved to me that you’re more than just your father’s son, Deku.” Ochako smiled at him, hoping to cheer him up.
“Yeah! Ochako told us all about you rushing in and saving her!” Mina pumped her arm in celebration.
Deku turned a little green. “Well, I couldn’t have just stood by and let that thing crush her.”
Mina grew her signature teasing grin. “Oh, you’re so heroic , Midori. You can’t help but save a damsel in distress, can you?”
Instead of blushing, Deku grew a little indignant. “H-hey! I don't think that! You’re students at UA, just like me. I know you’re all just as tough if not tougher than anyone else, and you all have great quirks. Only an idiot would think that you’re weak.” Ochako gasped slightly.
“Now you’re just being flattering, Midoriya.” Momo was blushing slightly.
“No, come on, it’s totally true!” He threw his arms wide and then pointed at Momo. “Yaoyorozu, the way you used your quirk this morning was totally se- smart at hell. You blew us all away and you looked like you were barely trying.”
‘What was that slip of the tongue?’ Ochako noticed him turn a little greener.
“A-and Ashido, your quirk is great, too. I wouldn’t have thought to use it as a lubricant for greater mobility, and your control seems great.” Deku seemed to be trying to shift attention.
“Kirishima, there’s so much you can do with your quirk, it’s so well suited for offense and defense, you’re gonna make a great hero one day, and in more than one way.” Izuku gave his horn sister another big smile; she quickly returned the gesture.
“Hagakure, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how absurdly useful your quirk is, and Tsu, I was honestly surprised how much power you pack in your legs.” All the girls were smiling as he complimented them. Well, Ochako assumed Tooru was smiling.
But that just left-
“And you, Uraraka.” She started blushing a bit, seeing the intensity of his stare.
‘Wait, I remember that look from the entrance exam. He looks…’
“Uraraka, your quirk scares the hell out of me.”
“W-what?!”
“It’s absolutely terrifying. I can’t think of one in our class that frightens me more.”
“Y-you’re… scared of me?” She was hurt. ‘I thought we were becoming good friends… it’s not the first time I’ve scared a guy off. Stupid height.’
“No! Not at all!” Deku shook his head eagerly, causing her eyes to widen. “Uraraka, I’ve only known you for a bit but I already know that you’re a great person. I have no doubts that you’ll only use your quirk for great things, but imagine if a villain had it.” He shuddered.
Her blush returned. “It’s not that great… I can just shift weight around and stuff.”
“Uraraka, are you kidding me? You functionally have control over one of the fundamental forces of our reality. If that’s not a superpower, then I don’t know what is.”
“Psh, yeah, girl. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Mina tossed a pencil at her. “You kick ass. We all do.”
Ochako couldn’t help but smile at the praise. ‘Deku doesn’t treat us differently ‘cause we’re girls, and he thinks that I’ve got one of the best quirks in class. I think the same thing about him, too….’
She dared to look at Deku, who was flashing a warm, genuine smile and gazing at her with admiration. She couldn’t help but blush a bit more at his honesty.
‘Well, maybe my height isn’t that big of a deal to him…’
‘Dinner’ was provided by Ashido’s rather impressive collection of snacks she had stashed in her room. Midoriya would have preferred something a little more hearty, but he wasn’t about to leave early to go make a proper meal. Eventually the sun set and Hagakure, Kirishima, and Asui left as well. Yaoyorozu opted to stay a little longer, seeing as her room was just down the hall.
The four of them had put the cards away and were instead just talking as the evening wound down. Or, rather, that’s what they were doing until Ashido decided to introduce Yaoyorozu and Uraraka to her new favorite game.
“Hey, you girls wanna see something neat?” Yaoyorozu and Uraraka looked at her and then each other. The smug smirk on Ashido’s face had them worried. Midoriya looked scared. “If you make Midori blush hard enough, he looks just like a piece of broccoli.”
“A-A-Ashido, please d-don’t.” Midoriya’s voice trembled with fear.
“Oh, it’s so easy! Watch this.” Ashido hopped up and walked over to the sitting man. She stood a little too close, looking down on him. He stared up at her black-and-gold eyes, already blushing slightly. “Midori~” The boy’s eyes went wide at her mock-seductive whisper. “How about you just call me Mina instead~”
Midoriya squeaked as he lit up like a traffic light and quickly covered his face.
The pink girl collapsed back onto the ground, rolling with laughter. “See! Look at him!”
Yaoyorozu couldn’t help but giggle slightly, holding her hand in front of her face.
Uraraka could only stare. ‘Why do I like that look so much? It’s makin’ my stomach feel all weird...’
Midoriya quickly stood up, chuckling awkwardly while still doing his vegetable impression. “Oh, wow, would you look at the time? We have our first Hero Basic Training class tomorrow, gotta make sure we’re well rested for that! T-thanks for inviting me, it was nice to get to know all of you. Bye!” He was out the door in a flash.
“You chased him off, Mina!” Uraraka tried to hide her disappointment with an accusation. ‘I really don’t like seein’ him leave.’
Ashido finally stopped laughing, wiping her eyes. “Oh man, totally worth it, though!”
Yaoyorozu stood up as well. “He spoke the truth; we should all get to bed soon. Tomorrow will be even tougher than today.” She gave them a small bow. “Thank you for organizing this, Mina. Goodnight, Ochako.” With a smile and a small wave she left the room as well.
Then, it was just the two of them. Uraraka sighed, holding her knees to her chest and staring off into space.
“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?” Ashido’s voice was calm and kind. Instead of teasing the girl, she seemed truly concerned.
Uraraka blushed a bit. “...Yeah.”
“Me too.” Ashido scooted over closer to Uraraka, hoping to comfort her.
“Ugh, it’s the worst !” She pouted into her legs. “He’s distracting me so much.”
Ashido chuckled gently. “A strong, cute boy with a heart of gold and a good head on his shoulders? Yeah, he distracts me too.”
“You’re not helping either, Mina! You keep making him blush and get all flustered and that makes it worse!”
“Aw, I was hoping I was distracting you in some other way.” Ashido batted her eyelashes playfully.
Uraraka didn’t say anything, but her blush deepened a bit as she averted her eyes.
Ashido’s eyes went wide as her lilac blush started showing. ‘ Oh.’
“I-I need to get to bed too, Mina. I... had a lot of fun today.” She stood up and began to walk out. She turned back, Ashido’s eyes quickly darted up to her face from where she was staring at her butt.
Uraraka’s blush deepened a bit further as she gave Ashido a small wave. “See you tomorrow, yeah?”
A half hour later, Ashido, Midoriya and Uraraka were all lying in bed, unaware that the others were also staring at their ceilings. A collective sigh was released, signalling the end of their first day of classes at UA as they drifted off to sleep.
Notes:
We'll see you next time for the beginning of the battle trial!
Leave a comment down below telling me what you thought of the chapter! :)
Chapter 13: Natural Talents
Summary:
The Battle Trial begins!
Notes:
Thanks to my betas, Mattybeach, epicderpybro2 and Epsilon110 for reading this chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The next day of school was rather boring, all things considered, at least for a hero school. Present Mic was the english teacher, and tried to make it much more exciting than it was. Izuku found it a little surreal that someone as cool as a pro hero was doing something this… mundane.
Not that the class wasn’t important. English was the lingua franca, ironically, of much of the world, including heroes. When two heroes from different countries and cultures had to work together, it was expected that they both knew how to speak English. Izuku did pretty well in the first class, which was unsurprising, considering he had been tutored in the language for years for that very reason.
He did notice, with no surprise, that Tsunotori was excellent at the class. It was her native language, after all. She made a point to not answer every question, but Izuku guessed she could probably have taught the course herself. ‘Maybe even better, considering the lack of accent…’
After class, he made a point to speak with her. He approached her desk at the front while others were talking. “Good morning, Tsunotori.” He crouched down, smiling at her at eye level.
“Good morning, Izu- Midoriya. Sorry!” She looked embarrassed by her slip.
Izuku was taken aback by her boldness, momentarily thrown for a loop. “I, uh, um, Tsunotori, I-”
“Sorry! Sorry! At America, everyone use first name. I still learning.” She held her face in her hands.
Izuku thought for a moment, and realized that this was an opportunity. “Oh, of course! I knew that. America is a different culture, after all. I find it a little strange how personal that seems, but I won’t judge you. If it makes you more comfortable, you can call me Izuku.”
Tsunotori slowly moved her hands down. “...you sure?”
Izuku smiled widely at her. “Yes, of course. If it makes things easier for you, then I’m happy.”
“Thank you, Izuku.” She returned his smile with gratitude.
“I have to say, you were great in class today. I’m not surprised, but I was wondering… would you tutor me sometime? I struggle with some aspects of your language.”
Tsunotori’s American eyes went wider. “Really? You want help?”
Izuku nodded eagerly. “I want to do the best I can, and I can’t think of anyone better to teach me. Please? Tell you what, help me out and I’ll tutor you with Japanese. Sound good?”
“You would help me?” She looked touched.
“Sure, what’re friends for?”
“Friends?” She thought for a moment and then smiled wide. “That sounds very, very good. I help you, you help me. Very good.”
“Thanks, Tsunotori. I really appreciate it.” He gave her one last smile and headed back to his desk. Katsuki gave him a knowing look and rolled his eyes.
During lunch, Ochako, Deku, Pony, Bakugou, Mina and Eiko all sat together. Lunch Rush came by each table, greeting the new students and asking how they were liking the food. Unlike all the other tables he visited however, Deku was sitting at theirs.
The pro hero had introduced himself and inquired about the food just like all his other stops, but before anybody could answer, Deku had whipped out his notebook and darted out of his seat. He started asking the hero a hundred questions it seemed, all about his quirk and the work he did. It was halfway endearing, but also a little embarrassing, as half of the cafeteria was staring at their table at that point.
‘You would think he was talkin’ to All Might judgin’ from how excited he is.’ Ochako smiled affectionately at his passion.
Eventually, Lunch Rush managed to escape Deku, but not before giving him his autograph. The student sat back down, still shaking slightly from his excitement. He was beaming ear-to-ear and staring at the autograph he had added to his collection.
“Are you always like that when you meet a hero?” Mina was snickering behind her hand.
“Oh yeah,” Bakugou answered, “you should see him when he meets one of his favorite heroes. We met Edgeshot last year when he worked with Izuku’s dad on a mission last year. The idiot was babbling for about an hour afterwards.”
Ochako and the rest of the table laughed at the imagery, while Deku only smiled sheepishly. “He’s number five, Kacchan, how could I not be excited?”
“Speaking of heroes, who do you think is teaching the next class?” Eiko scratched her chin. “It doesn’t say on the schedule.”
“Oh yeah, hero basic training, right?” Ochako was a little nervous, she had to admit.
“Maybe Ectoplasm,” Deku suggested, “his clones would be a great tool for teaching all of us one-on-one.”
“Nah dude, Ectoplasm teaches math,” Mina pointed out. “But now that you mention it, it seems lame to have a quirk like his wasted on math.”
“Tch, as if the teachers only do one thing around here. Maybe he does both, Pink.” Bakugou scoffed at her.
“My name is Mina Ashido.” Mina looked slightly offended by Bakugou’s disrespect, which Ochako understood. She would have gotten a less-than-flattering nickname if Deku hadn’t helped her out. Bakugou didn’t acknowledge her and got up to go get a second serving.
Mina huffed. “Rude.”
“Don’t think too much of it, Ashido. Kacchan is an… abrasive person until you get to know him better.” Deku smiled awkwardly as he defended his friend. “You may find this hard to believe, but if you have a nickname, it means he already thinks you’re okay. Most people he doesn’t even bother to remember.”
Eiko didn’t look convinced. “You sure, dude? Some of his nicknames are pretty harsh.”
“Oh?” Deku looked intrigued, strangely enough. “He calls you Weird Hair, right?”
Eiko nodded, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.
Deku laughed a bit and grew a grin. “If the nickname he gives you is insulting, it means he likes you. He thinks you’re tough and that you can take it.” Eiko’s slightly downcast look brightened immediately as Deku gave her a thumbs up.
“Honestly, Kirishima, I’m impressed. You might have the record of fastest person to ever get the ‘honor’ of an insulting nickname from Kacchan.” Deku laughed at the absurdity of his statement.
The rest of lunch carried on mostly uneventfully from there, but then Ochako noticed Pony leaning over and asking Deku a question. They were speaking English, so she couldn’t understand it, especially with how fast they were talking. She did catch a few words, most notably ‘Ochako’ and ‘Mina’. Ochako herself tried to not look like she was eavesdropping as she ate her lunch.
After a few more sentences back and forth, Deku laughed a bit and spoke a single word in Japanese, as if he was explaining something. “Adorable.”
Ochako looked up and saw Pony with a look of confusion on her face, but when he said the word her expression changed to one of comprehension.
‘What are they talkin’ about, I wonder…’
Ochako watched them speak energetically, and she couldn’t help but smile herself. She hadn’t realized how reserved and uncomfortable Pony has been until she saw her now. It made sense, of course, and Ochako felt bad for not noticing it. The American was in a foreign land, unfamiliar with the culture and language, of course she was confused and probably a little scared.
Their conversation seemed to come to a close as Pony said “Thank you, Izuku!”
The rest of the table sputtered and Bakugou nearly choked on his food right after he had sat back down. Deku saw the reactions and surprised looks on everyone’s faces and laughed smiled sheepishly again. “It’s a cultural thing, I swear! Americans always use first names with everybody they talk to.”
“Really? Weird.” Mina raised her eyebrow. Bakugou simply shrugged and went back to his food.
Pony herself was blushing from the situation she had caused. Ochako couldn’t help but feel a little bad for her, but she was still smiling softly. It seemed like Deku had really helped her come out of her shell and feel more comfortable.
‘She looks so cute when she’s happy.’ Ochako thought before she could stop herself, her eyes gazing up the girl’s long, pointed horns..
She froze.
‘Oh crap, do I have a thing for horns?!’
Toshinori had come to UA for two reasons. He was one of the most experienced heroes in the world, and he agreed with Nezu that he had a duty use his expertise to train the next generation of heroes. His second reason was more personal, but no less important. Toshinori had come to UA to find a successor for his quirk.
He was going to be able to keep working for years to come, but considering he was still a hero, he felt like starting now would be for the best. The longer he looked and the longer he taught, he would be able to pass on more experience and see a wider field of potential successors, so he wasn’t in a huge rush. If he met five or ten classes here at UA, surely he could find someone worthy.
And if he didn't? Well, he had time.
However, he was now doubting his decision. Toshinori was standing in the UA teacher’s lounge, staring at the door. He was due to get to class 1-A to begin Hero Basic Training but instead, he was frozen, deep in thought.
‘Come on, Toshi. You’ve faced murderers, psychopaths and dragons, not to mention him . You can face a bunch of teenagers.’ He slapped his trembling legs. ‘Stop shaking , dammit!’
He took a deep breath and opened the door. He had waited a few minutes after the beginning of class so he could actually move through the halls without being accosted every few minutes. ‘What I wouldn’t give for a good disguise. I can’t exactly hide when I’m this big.’ He sighed.
He quickly made it to the door of 1-A’s homeroom and he took a deep breath as he stopped and prepared himself. ‘Alright, Toshi. You got this.’
“I AM… HERE!”
Toshinori threw the door open and took a triumphant step inside. “Coming through the door like a hero!”
The class collectively gasped as he entered. Several students cheered while others only stared. He flashed his practiced, triumphant grin as he strutted to the front of the room. He took a look around, studying his new students. As he looked to his right, he saw familiar faces.
‘Ah! Young Bakugou and Young Midoriya, it is good to see they made it after all! I… I should have looked at the class roster beforehand.’
Young Midoriya in particular was wide-eyed and manic. He looked like he was trying to say something but no sounds were coming from him besides a few excited squeaks. Toshi felt a little proud that he could still elicit that reaction from him, despite them having met previously.
Finally, his mouth started working again as he stood up and pointed a finger at the hero. “So that’s why you were here last year!”
“Wait, have you met All Might before?” A tall black-haired student to Young Midoriya’s right asked him with an excited, toothy smile.
“Yeah! He saved me last year when a villain attacked me!” This caused further gasps and murmurings from around the room.
“Woah, All Might’s the best!” A student with red, spiked hair was grinning widely.
“I know, right?!”
Toshinori cleared his throat.
Young Midoriya paled as he realized what he was doing. He bowed deeply and apologized. “Sorry, All Might!” He sat down quickly as Young Bakugou hit his own face with his hand.
“No sweat, Young Midoriya!” Toshinori gave him a thumbs up. He turned to the rest of the class, who were mostly quiet now except for a few girls giggling at the green-haired boy’s antics. He recalled the speech he prepared.
“Welcome to the most important class at UA!” He proclaimed. “Think of it as Hero-ing 101! Here you will learn the basics of being a pro, and what it means to fight in the name of good!”
“Let’s get into it!” Toshinori bent back, then threw his fist forward, holding a card that proudly declared ‘BATTLE’! “Today’s lesson… will pull no punches!”
The class reacted with excitement and shouts once again. Toshinori had this in the bag.
“But one of the keys of being a hero is…” He pointed a remote at the far wall. “Looking good!” Four compartments slid out of the wall, each holding five boxes marked with a number. The excitement in the room boiled over at this point, several of the students standing up.
“Get yourself suited up, and then meet me at Training Ground Beta!”
“Yes, sir!” The class responded in unison.
‘Heh. I was worried over nothing.’ Toshinori thumbed his nose.
Izuku was almost vibrating as he walked down to the locker room holding his costume case. Sure, he had gotten accepted into UA, and he had already done some impressive stuff, if he said so himself, but this was the first time it felt real . He was going to put on a hero costume and get instruction from All Might himself.
He stripped off his school uniform and unboxed the suit with impressive speed. It was a specially designed suit, months in production. The curse with transformation quirks, especially ones as drastic as his, is that they are very hard to make costumes for. Any normal costume would be torn to shreds by even a basic transformation, not to mention a full draconic transformation like his father’s.
Fortunately, his family had long ago found a solution. The costume was made out of Izuku’s own scales, woven together into a smooth, scale-mail-like appearance. Because it was made from his DNA, it responded when he activated his quirk, and he was safe to do whatever he needed without the fear of transforming back without pants.
The process was time-consuming, painful, and expensive, even for pro heroes. So Izuku compromised. Only the pants were made at the time, leaving the rest of his body bare. It worked for him, as a simple scale-only transformation provided him with moderate protection, and it looked pretty cool in his opinion.
The pants were mostly green, obviously, but had accenting black lines down the sides. The pattern was in obvious homage to his father, but that only made him like it more. He put on the pants and shifted his right leg. The scales changed with him, and shifted right back to normal once he let his quirk go. He grinned widely.
Izuku was one of the first ones changed, due to how simple his costume was. He gave Katsuki a hand getting one of his grenade-shaped gauntlets on and walked towards the exit, eagerly theorizing what All Might’s training would be while his best friend just smirked and listened.
Japan was a very confusing place for Pony. UA was an internationally-renowned institution and she was honored to be attending, but she wished that everything wasn’t so different. Her own culture was so different than Japan’s, and it was proving frustrating on nearly an hourly basis. A lot of things had been brought into question and been confused since she had come to Japan.
Then Hero Basic Training happened, and Pony was more confused than ever. Her own costume was fairly modest. It was tight, but functional; she wore a skirt and pants, a headband and some stirrups over her hooves. The other girls… were less modest.
Ochako wore a black and white skin-tight suit, Mina wore a turquoise and purple skin-tight suit that was also really low cut, and then Momo was wearing a red skin-tight suit with a giant hole in the front and bare legs.
‘This isn’t fair.’
She opted to stand in the back of the group, and once the girls had all made their way out to the meeting area, she quickly disappeared into the fringes. Her position gave her a good angle on what happened next.
Izuku, that nice man who had been nothing but friendly to her, came walking out of the tunnel… wearing only pants.
‘Shirtless, incredibly cut, tall, horns, nice, speaks English.’ Pony’s mind did inappropriate things before she could stop it.
‘I-I think coming to Japan was a mistake.’
After Izuku exited the tunnel, Ochako and Mina seemed to take notice of the man as well. They both stopped talking and stared at Izuku, but before he saw them, Eiko ran up to him, flashing her sharp smile.
“Nice outfit, man!” Eiko smirked as she gave him a thumbs up. Her own costume was quite similar to Izuku’s; mostly just pants. Eiko had boots compared to Izuku’s bare feet, weird shoulder guards and a black shirt that stopped just underneath her chest, showing off her impressive abdominals, but the similarities were there.
Izuku was doing his best broccoli impression, the one Mina had gone on-and-on about that morning. “Y-you too, you h-have great taste!” Izuku returned her thumbs up while he covered his face with his other arm.
Eiko didn’t seem to notice how hard Izuku was blushing and walked off with Bakugou, talking about something Pony didn’t understand.
It was at this point that Izuku caught sight of Ochako and Mina, who had come up to greet him. Just as he was calming himself down, too.
She watched the three continue to stare at each other for what felt like an hour. All three of them had a blush growing slowly on their faces, be it red, purple or green. Three very attractive people, in very tight and revealing clothing, staring at each other like their brains had stopped functioning altogether. Pony began to blush as well.
‘Coming to Japan was definitely a mistake.’
Izuku finally got his legs to move and peeled himself away from the very curvy women stuffed into skin-tight costumes without saying a word. He was pretty sure he was doing Mina’s favorite broccoli impression, but the woman wasn’t saying anything about it.
‘Crap, they probably think I’m a creep for staring at them like that... I’m as bad as Mineta.’
He decided to take a look around, hoping to clear his mind by studying the other students costumes. ‘Many of them appear to be favoring form over function. I suppose style is important, and there’s always time to add or change things once we learn more. I don’t really have to worry about that, I guess. Satou’s is pretty simple, Kaminari is just wearing a jacket over his shirt, what the hell is Todoroki wearing?’
He continued to look over the rest of his classmates, taking short mental notes about them all. He was nearly done when he spotted Yaoyorozu.
‘H-holy crap. That’s her costume?! ’ He had only just barely begun to push the blood from his face when it came rushing back. ‘What is wrong with everyone here at UA?!’
‘Oh no, she’s looking at me. She sees me staring. Look away, Deku. Stop being a creep. They invited you to hang out yesterday and you pay them back by leering at them. You see that blush? You’re making her uncomfortable. Quit it!’ He stabbed himself in the palm of his hand to get himself to look away from the black-haired girl.
Izuku had never been happier to hear All Might begin to talk, which was saying something.
“They say that clothes make the pros, young ladies and gentlemen,” All Might declared, “and behold, you are the proof!” The man paused to look over his class. ”Take this to heart: from now on, you are all heroes in training!”
Izuku’s heart swelled with pride. He was a hero in training. He was doing it.
All Might began to lecture the class. “Now that you’re ready, it’s time for combat training!” He cleared his throat. “Consider this: most of the villain fights you see on the news take place outside. However, statistically speaking, run-ins with the most dastardly evil-doers take place indoors.”
“Think about it: backroom deals, home invasions, secret underground lairs… Truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows. For this training exercise, you’ll be split into teams of good guys and bad guys, and fight two-on-two indoor battles! It’s time to show what you can do, but remember, you can’t just punch a robot this time. You’re dealing with actual people now.”
All Might brandished a small packet of papers. “Listen up!”
‘A script?’
“The situation is this: the villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere in their hideout. The heroes must try to foil their plans. To do that, the good guys either have to catch the evil-doers or recover the weapon within the time limit. Likewise, the bad guys win if they protect their payload until time expires or capture the heroes.”
All Might held a device. “Time’s limited, so teams will be selected randomly!”
“Isn’t there a better way?” Iida questioned as he raised his hand.
“Think about it!” Izuku explained for his teacher. “Pros often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot, so maybe that’s the reason we’re seeing that here.”
“Yes, I see,” Iida conceded, “life is a random series of events.” He bowed low to his teacher. “Excuse my rudeness.”
“No sweat! Let’s draw!” All Might gave Iida a thumbs up and clicked the device in his left hand. A projection appeared with all twenty students’ names on it, and quickly started scrambling them up. In the end, ten teams were displayed.
Team A: Izuku Midoriya and Ochako Uraraka
Team B: Mezou Shouji and Shouto Todoroki
Team C: Pony Tsunotori and Momo Yaoyorozu
Team D: Minoru Mineta and Tenya Iida
Team E: Yuuga Aoyama and Mina Ashido
Team F: Kouji Kouda and Rikidou Satou
Team G: Denki Kaminari and Kyouka Jirou
Team H: Fumikage Tokoyami and Tsuyu Asui
Team I: Katsuki Bakugou and Tooru Hagakure
Team J: Eiko Kirishima and Hanta Sero
Izuku’s eyes went wide as Uraraka quickly made her way over to him. Neither looked at the other.
“And now, the matchups! Heroes vs. Villains!” All Might pressed another button on the device.
Team D vs. Team A
Team B vs. Team I
Team G vs. Team C
Team E vs. Team F
Team J vs. Team H
Izuku’s eyes widened further as he began to sweat. ‘I-I’m a villain.’
“First match is Team D as the heroes versus team A as the villains! Both teams, come with me, the rest of you, head back down the tunnel to the observation room. I’ll join you there shortly.” All Might turned and walked off as the other 16 students left as well.
Izuku’s feet didn’t move for a moment, but Uraraka prodded him on. “Come on, Deku, we got this, right?”
“R-right. Right. Yeah, we got this.” He was trying to convince himself more than her.
The four students followed All Might to a five-story building deeper into the city. All Might gave Izuku and Uraraka some encouragement as he sent them inside, giving them five minutes to prepare the building.
They made their way up to a room on the fifth floor where the bomb was located and Izuku set to work planning. He took a deep breath and flexed his quirk, letting the familiar feeling of his battle transformation flow through him. His eyes glowed slightly as his horns grew; scales flowed out from his limbs, covering his entire body save for his chest and stomach. Instead, those were covered by armored tan plates.
He felt his power coursing through him, making him more confident and focused. He turned to Uraraka, who had a similar determined look on her face. ‘It’s good to know that we can focus around each other when we need to.’
“You look like you’re thinking something, Deku.” Uraraka smirked at him.
“We have the upper hand here. We know the location of the bomb and the time limit is on our side.” Izuku transformed one of his arms as he reached up and smashed one of the lights on the ceiling. “Let’s use our home field advantage as best we can. Iida and Mineta have formidable quirks. By limiting the battlefield and sightlines, Iida will be less effective, and by blinding them, Mineta won’t know where to throw his quirk.”
“But then we can’t see either, Deku.” She protested as he continued to break the lights.
“What do you mean?” He turned around to face her, eyes glowing slightly. “I can see just fine.”
Uraraka’s eyes widened slightly, but quickly flashed with confidence. “I trust you, Deku. You do what you need to here, I’ll go make some obstacles for them. Slow them down.”
“Good thinking, Uraraka.” He pulled down the shutters on the windows to further darken the room as he finished destroying all of the lights in the room. He went out into the hallway and broke those lights as well, ensuring that the room was plunged into near-total darkness.
‘All Might won’t be able to see what’s happening, but that’s okay. This is the best plan I can think of.’ As Izuku continued to work, he kept hearing strange noises from down below, like walls and floors collapsing. Time was nearly up when Uraraka returned to the room.
She wandered into the room hesitantly. “Um, Deku? I can’t see anything, where ar-”
Izuku had come around one of the pillars as she entered the room. In her blind state, she crashed right into him, knocking him back as she fell on top of him at an angle, her chest on his abs.
“Oh crap, s-sorry Deku!” She was panicking, flailing her hands around as the two were tangled up together. She brushed her hand against his chest a few times in her confusion. Her left hand searched for purchase to help push her off of him. What it found was something… else.
Izuku made a sound like a squeaky toy being bitten by a dog. His quirk involuntarily released as he lost focus.
Uraraka screamed in embarrassment as she quickly slapped herself and floated off of him. Izuku was very glad that it was too dark for the camera to see anything.
The two of them waited for a few seconds in complete silence, him laying on the ground and her floating near the ceiling. All Might’s declaration of “One minute until we begin!” brought them both out of their furious blush.
Uraraka let herself back down and straightened herself out. “A-All set down below. They’ll have a hard time getting up here now.” She smiled shakily at the darkness where she thought he was.
“G-great.” He took a deep breath and refocused on his quirk, bringing his scales back out.
“Deku... Are you sure this will work?” She quickly regained her composure.
“No plan survives contact with the enemy… but I think we have a good shot. I’ll explain the rest of the plan in a second, but if all else fails, we’ll just follow our instincts.” He smiled nervously to himself.
“Time begins now! Team D, enter the building!” All Might’s voice blared through the speakers in and around the building.
The next few minutes passed in eerie quiet. Finally, Izuku got impatient and spoke up. “Uraraka, what did you do? What’s taking them so long?”
“I collapsed all the stairs. They’re gonna have to get creative to get up here.” He saw her smile through the darkness.
Izuku smiled back, even though she couldn’t see it. “Amazing.”
Over twelve minutes had passed by the time Iida and Mineta made it up to their floor. Izuku let his quirk flow stronger as they approached. His head elongated as his jaw began to curve slightly. His horns flared back over his eyes and teeth grew sharp. He leapt up and clawed himself into the ceiling, hanging out of sight.
“Ready, Uraraka?”
She nodded. “Oh, uh, could you see that? Yeah, I’m ready. You weren’t kidding about your voice, huh?”
She cleared her throat and deepened her voice to jokingly mimic his voice. “We’ll defeat those stupid heroes in the name of evil!” Uraraka giggled.
Team D made their way to the room as All Might declared “Two minutes remaining!” Izuku saw them hesitantly stop outside the room. Izuku’s draconic mouth smiled.
He holds too much pride in his brother. I can use that.
“You’ve finally arrived, heroes. I expected you to be faster. Pathetic .”
“M-Midoriya?” Iida instinctually took a step backwards from the deep, unsettling voice.
“Why are you here, Iida? Is it to make your brother proud?”
“W-what does that have to do with anything?”
“Think how ashamed Ingenium would be to see his little brother failing so spectacularly at something as simple as this.”
“I-I-”
“Maybe after this, I’ll go pay him a visit. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he knows how much of a disappointment you are before I kill him.”
“...”
“Time is ticking, heroes. All you have to do is touch the weapon and you win. All you have to do to fail your brother is to keep standing there like a coward .”
Izuku new how the sound of his voice could unnerve people, especially the first time they hear it. Iida acted just how Izuku hoped he would.
With a frustrated roar, Iida kicked his engines into gear and he dashed into the room, but Uraraka sprung into action from her position hidden next to the door. The blue-haired man couldn’t react in time to the surprise attack and quickly had his weight stolen away from him. With nothing holding him down, he soared forward, into the air and out of control.
“Foolish hero! You will never thwart our master plan!” Ochako laughed as ominously as she could, which wasn’t very.
Izuku pushed off from the ceiling, grabbing one of Iida’s legs with his enlarged claw as the man sailed beneath him, wrapping the capture tape around it with his other hand. Iida blinked in the darkness and hung his head in defeat, feeling the tape wrapped around himself. Izuku gently tossed him back towards the door, allowing him to slowly float back out of the room.
Now for the wastrel.
“One down, one to go. Mineta, what will you do?”
The purple man had been standing there silent ever since Izuku had started talking. He started blabbering something incoherently as Iida floated past him and drop back on the ground as Uraraka released her quirk.
“You’ve lost. We know you’ve lost. You know you’ve lost.”
The man continued to tremble at the sound of Izuku’s draconic voice, unaware that the dragon was creeping closer to him in the darkness. Once he was close enough, Izuku slowly pulled more of his quirk out of his arm until it was over two meters long. It didn’t have the strength of the transformation he used at the entrance exam, but it had the length.
“Checkmate.”
Izuku quickly reached his arm through and grabbed Mineta’s chest in his hand like a softball, yanking him into the room as he screamed. Izuku pushed him into the ground, pinning him under his palm as he dug his claws into the floor.
Izuku suddenly felt his quirk surge with power against his will. He clutched his head with his left hand, keeping Mineta pinned under his right.
He is worthless.
Izuku felt himself slowly moving his head closer to the boy, the fangs in his mouth beginning to drip with venom.
‘Woah, it’s over! I won! Calm down!’
His headache only grew in intensity as he tried to resist.
I will make him regret his actions.
‘No! Positive outlets! Bend this into something heroic! Uh, okay, I’ve beaten him, I can use this as leverage to help him change his ways!’
His death will make them fear me.
‘...W-what?’
Notes:
:)
Chapter 14: Ochako Rising
Summary:
The aftermath of the Battle Trial, as witnessed by Ochako.
Notes:
Thanks to AzureFirehawk, Epsilon110, MattyBeach and epicderpybro2 for being my beta readers for this chapter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Time’s up! The villain team wins!” All Might’s voice pierced through the silence. In the fifteen minutes she had been lurking in the room, Ochako’s eyes had adjusted a bit to the darkness, allowing her to see some of what was going on. Deku’s enlarged arm was pinning Mineta down, ensuring their victory while his head was bent down close to the student’s body.
“Deku! We did it!” Ochako cheered as she walked up to him. She could just make out the outline of his draconic head, his long, curved jaw and ridged horns painting an intimidating silhouette. As he heard her, his eyes snapped to hers, causing her to stop in her tracks.
His reptilian eyes were glowing with intensity she had only seen once before, but this time they were filled with pure terror.
“Uh, Midoriya, c-could you get off me?” Mineta asked the horned boy, fear prominent in his voice.
Deku stumbled backwards, his quirk snapping off as his head returned to its normal shape. He collapsed onto his knees and clutched his head with both hands, squeezing his eyes shut while he let out a low, pained groan. Scales formed and faded along the lengths of his arms as he seemed to struggle with controlling his quirk.
“D-Deku? Are you okay?” Ochako was getting worried.
Intense, green eyes snapped open towards her as she said his name. His horns had grown larger still as his eyes burned brighter. He stared at her for a few moments before scrambling to his feet and staggering away towards the far wall. His legs trembled, but he stayed standing this time.
He reached his arm back, growing it large and muscular, then threw it forward, blowing a large hole in the concrete wall and letting light pour into the room. Ochako squinted as she saw Deku seemingly fighting with himself. He lurched forward, but at the same time he was trying to turn and walk back towards her and Mineta.
“Deku! What are you doing?!” Panic clawed at Ochako’s heart. This wasn’t normal.
He looked up at her again, seeming to gain temporary clarity from whatever he was suffering from. Just as quickly, he clutched his head with both of his hands as he let out a deep, guttural roar and pitched himself backwards.
Right out of the hole he had punched in the wall of their fifth-story room.
Ochako couldn’t exactly tell anyone why she did what she did next.
Her body seemed to move on its own as she ran forward. She touched her arm and threw her weight out of herself, ignoring the nauseating repercussions, and with a small hop she leapt up to the top of the opening in the wall and looked down.
Deku was falling, his wings nowhere in sight as he continued to clutch his head. She put her legs above her and kicked off of the wall, shooting herself downwards. She rocketed towards him at high speeds, completely ignoring the rapidly-approaching ground as she managed to reach out and grab his arm, stealing the weight from him.
The effort caused her to cry out as she passed both his weight and momentum through and out of her, slowing his descent. As the air pressure caught him, she released her quirk, allowing her own weight to snap back to normal, slowing her velocity. She gradually returned Deku’s weight to him, allowing him to impact the ground firmly but gently.
Both students collapsed as they landed, the strain of using her quirk so intensely causing Ochako to grow severely queasy. Deku groaned and stumbled to his feet, still clutching his head.
“D...Deku… stay down. It’s gonna be...okay,” she managed to gasp through her nausea.
“NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME! I DON’T WANT TO HURT YOU !” he roared as he held his head, his voice breaking as his quirk continued to freak out. His wings unfurled from his back as he kicked off from the ground, soaring high into the sky and further into the fake city.
Ochako pulled herself to her own feet, but then doubled over as she lost her battle with her nausea. After wiping her face and gasping for air, she looked towards where Deku had flown.
‘I should wait for All Might, but he looks like might hurt himself. I can’t take that chance!’ She took a deep breath to steady herself and dashed after him.
She jogged as fast as she dared while still recovering from her episode of sickness, trying to follow the path Deku had taken. She found a trail of claw marks and cracked walls that led her deeper into the city and eventually, her ears picked up what sounded like a beast roaring, causing her to immediately take off in a sprint.
Nausea threatened to overtake her again as she passed through a faint, green cloud. ‘He must’ve hit some sort of pipeline or tank. That was jus’ the traces left, but what if he got it full-on? Oh, Deku, I really hope you’re okay!’
The young heroine turned around a corner and finally found the man. He was standing next to one of the smaller buildings in the city, both arms transformed into giant, scaled dragon arms. He was clawing and punching at the side of the building, and looked like he had been for a while. The building itself had a hole in it up to the second floor where the wall had collapsed from Deku’s assault.
Her breath caught as she watched Deku throw his fist forward again, cracking the wall he was beating and spattering the ground with green drops of blood. ‘He ran away from me last time. Somethin’ is wrong, this ain’t him. I should hold him down and wait for him to calm down… Before he hurts himself worse!’
She reached down and pulled as much additional weight from the ground as she thought she could while still moving easily. Deku threw another building-shaking punch as he let out a terrifying roar that caused the woman to flinch and nearly stumble, but her determination would not let her falter. Keeping low, Ochako slowly crept up behind the rampaging student. As soon as she was within striking range, she lunged forward with her foot, catching him on the back of his thigh and driving him to the ground as his knee buckled.
He roared in surprise as she touched her arm, driving the weight from her body and throwing it all down her right leg and into Deku. With his leg taken out from under him and the additional weight in his body, he collapsed.
“Stay down, Deku… Calm down and talk to me!” Ochako pleaded desperately with him.
To her surprise, his quirk flared harder and he started to push himself off of the ground, straining from all the extra weight in his body. “Get… away from me. I can’t afford to hurt anyone, especially not you!” His voice was hoarse; raw from screaming and breaking with emotion.
‘Damn your muscles, Deku.’ She placed her left knee on his back and reached down to the ground, gradually letting weight flow through her and into the man. He continued to struggle, his arms and legs bulging larger as his quirk flared. She kept weighing him down until his arms gave out. “I’ve got you! You’re not goin’ to hurt anyone!”
His eyes were locked onto hers as he panted, the glow starting to fade slightly. As he calmed down, she finally got a good look at his face. It looked like he had been crying.
“I trust you, Deku.”
His eyes went wide and then fell from her face, filled with grief and guilt.
It was true, too. She had only known him for a few days, but she felt like she really could trust him. There was something about his kindness and passion that made him attractive to her beyond just his appearance. She wouldn’t pretend like the way he’d goaded Iida and Mineta wasn’t unsettling, especially with his altered voice, but he had told her beforehand that he hated to do it, even if it was the best plan he could think of.
But this...freak-out of his had her seriously worried. As his quirk faded, he struggled less and his breathing became more labored from the added weight. Ochako leaned down closer to him. “Are you okay now? Can we talk?”
He managed to nod his head slightly. She breathed a sigh of relief and pressed her fingers together, slowly releasing her quirk. He gasped as the excess weight left him and he was able to breathe easily again. He gingerly pushed himself up on all fours and rolled over into a sitting position, wincing at the various lacerations on his arms.
Ochako herself took a few deep breaths to steady her queasiness and then kneeled down in front of him. As her adrenaline ebbed away, her worry quickly overwhelmed her.
Deku gasped as Ochako threw her arms around him in a tight hug. “You had me so worried! Are you really okay? What was that?”
He didn’t return the hug, but she felt his chest shake slightly. She pulled back and saw that a few tears were falling from his face again. He still didn’t dare to meet her eyes. He looked down and spoke in a raspy voice. “Uraraka, I-”
He winced in pain. “I think some of my ribs are bruised.”
‘That wasn’t what he was about to say…’ Ochako stared at him in concern. “Let’s... let’s get you to Recovery Girl, then.”
Before she could help him, a sound like a jet engine roared behind them. They both looked at the noise in fright, before seeing the imposing figure of their teacher standing a little bit away from them.
“Young Midoriya, Young Uraraka, are you alright?” He looked around, seeing the carnage.
“I’m okay, All Might, but Deku… something happened.”
All Might grew a look of concern and… understanding? He crouched down next to Deku and whispered something in his ear that Ochako couldn’t hear.
Deku looked up, confused. “My dad knew you were going to be a teacher?”
“Young Midoriya.”
“Right, right, sorry. Yes, sir. I understand. But I...I think I should see the nurse first.”
“Young Uraraka.” All Might turned to her. “Can I entrust you to take Young Midoriya to Recovery Girl?”
“Yes, sir.” She reached down and made Deku weightless, then lifted him up and gently started pulling him along with her.
Their trip to the Nurse’s Office was a silent one. Deku seemed to have slipped in and out of consciousness as his wounds finally caught up to him. Recovery Girl had Ochako place him in one of the beds in her office and quickly checked him over. A quick kiss and an I.V. drip were all it took for her to declare him healed, much to Ochako's relief.
The school nurse stepped out for a moment, leaving the two students together. They sat in silence for a little longer before Deku spoke up, unable to take the awkwardness any longer.
“You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.” He still hadn’t looked at her, but she could see how exhausted he was. After Recovery Girl’s treatment, combined with his… incident earlier, she was impressed he was still conscious.
“I want to, Deku. I’m...I’m worried about you.” She spoke quietly.
“I’m fine, see?” He held up his healed hands and laughed weakly.
“That’s not what I mean and you know it. I’m concerned about what happened in class. What was that, Deku? It’s like you were possessed!” She finally got the words she had been dying to say out of her throat.
“Oh.” He stared down at his sheets. “I, uh- Uraraka, c-can I ask you something first?”
“Um, sure...”
“You said you trusted me earlier...” He paused. “Why? We haven’t even known each other for a week.”
She blinked. ‘Why do I trust him?’ The question echoed in her mind for a moment as she rubbed her hands together.
“Well, you kinda saved my life, right? That earns some trust right there.” She laughed weakly, just as he had done. “And besides, you’re a really passionate guy. I’ve seen that look in your eye when you talk about heroes and about quirks. I can’t help but feel comfortable around you.” She began to blush slightly as she spoke.
Deku sat there for a few moments. “I trust you, too. Especially after you… after you caught me. I thought I was going to die. I can’t help but feel comfortable around you as well.” He smiled weakly. “I guess I can tell you… I should tell you. I really hope you’ll still want to be friends after I tell you, though. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t…”
Ochako drew back slightly. “I find that hard to believe…”
The green-haired man hesitated, not meeting her eyes. “Uraraka, do you know what Quirk Adaptation is?”
“You mean how our bodies grow into our quirks?”
“Yeah. For example, without the extra elastin and other stuff in his body, Kacchan’s Explosion would have destroyed his body years ago.”
“It makes sense to me, Deku. That’s why I’m so tall.” She figured if they were having a heart-to-heart, she might as well get it off her chest. Maybe her confession would help him feel better as well.
He stopped and looked at her in surprise before averting his gaze once again. “Really?”
“I guess I’ve never really explained how my quirk works.” She held up her hand. “You see these pads on my fingers?”
Deku seemed hesitant to look at her, like she was going to attack him or something. “Yes? I figured they had to do with your quirk.”
“Yep. I call my quirk Gravity Shift, but it’s a little misleading. What I do is I effectively remove the mass of things I touch. That part seems pretty obvious, yeah?”
Deku nodded weakly.
“What is less obvious is what I do with it. You see, the mass has to go somewhere . It either flows out through my feet to whatever I’m standing on, or I keep it in my body. The taller I am, the more evenly distributed the weight is, and the easier it is to move while I’m holding mass.”
“That’s… wow.” Deku was wide-eyed.
“You took physics, you know the basic formula of momentum, right? The momentum of an object is based on its mass and its velocity; that’s the mechanic behind my quirk. If I throw something that I’ve made lighter and then return it’s weight to it, it slows down normally. The energy doesn’t change, so as its mass increases, its velocity decreases.”
“But… the entrance exam. That block you threw impacted like a meteor.” He smiled weakly, but fondly, at the memory.
“That’s something I learned how to do recently, honestly. I found out how to mess with the energy of an object. It takes a lot out of me, but I can take or give energy when I add or remove weight. It feels sort of like I’m blowing out a candle or something, or taking a really deep breath.”
Deku laughed for some reason.
“Does that all make sense? When I threw that block at that robot, I had to put all of my quirk’s energy behind it to keep it moving at speed. And when you were falling, if I just took your weight, you would have just sped up, even with the air pushing back on you. I took the energy and your mass and threw it out of my body.”
“But what did you throw it into?” Deku was clearly curious, but his tone was still completely flat.
“Air isn’t just a void, Deku. It has mass, it exists. I pushed it into the air around my feet. Doing that is really hard, cause it’s so… airy, you know?” She laughed awkwardly. “But using my quirk like that makes me really sick, and I probably won’t be able to use my quirk at all tomorrow from overusing it today.”
“Won’t be able to use it?”
Ochako nodded firmly. “If I use my quirk too much, it sort of stops working for a while. I have to rest or I simply can’t make anything float. If you hadn’t handled most of the battle trial yourself, I probably wouldn’t have been able to save you.”
“And that’s why you’re tall?” Deku looked like he was flagging, his voice was almost monotone.
“Yeah. Quirk Adaptation… and I guess my dad was pretty tall, and you know how astronauts get taller in space? I guess messing with gravity combined with my growth spurt growing up did this.”
They sat in silence for a few seconds before Deku finally responded. “...that sounds made up.” They both chuckled, him weaker than her.
“Most people are put off by tall women, so it’s made my life hard sometimes. Nothing I can do about it, though.” She shrugged, casting her eyes away.
Izuku didn’t respond for another good while. “You know that's bullshit, right?”
“W-what?” Her eyes snapped back at the man on the bed.
“Tall women are hot, Uraraka...” His eyes slowly moved to catch her gaze, and she noticed how hazy they were. “You are really hot.” His voice was completely flat, even with what he was saying.
“You… what?”
“It’s part of why I get so dumb around you. That and your eyes are really pretty. Am I overstepping? I might be overstepping...” He blinked and looked away. “Sorry, I might be a little sleep-drunk… I don’t think my filter is working.”
Her brain, however, was working just fine, and it was panicking. It was good that Deku wasn’t looking at her or he would have seen her blush. ‘He thinks I’m pretty?! He thinks I’m ‘ really hot?!’ Dammit, and I was just startin’ to get less flustered around him!’
‘Wait... filter? Does that mean that’s how he normally thinks about me?!’
“Oh, right, we were talking about me. Sorry for distracting you.”
She just stared silently at him, mind racing.
“So, Quirk Adaptation. Because my quirk is a transformation-class quirk, I don’t have much in the way of physical adaptations. It’d be redundant, seeing as how I just change my body. I just have the basic adaptations that most everyone has, slightly enhanced durability and such.”
Ochako was managing to calm down. His droning voice reminded her of some of her old teachers and was threatening to put her to sleep if she wasn’t so wrapped up in his every word.
“My changes are mostly mental. Sort of like how Tsu is a bit different because of her quirk. Although, mine are much more severe than that.”
“Really? You don’t seem any different.” Ochako finally managed to speak, slightly proud of herself for how much she was keeping herself together.
Deku continued to stare forward, almost unblinkingly. “My family’s quirks have something we call ‘instincts’. It’s basically like they have a mind of their own. You remember Tokoyami’s quirk from the test yesterday? It’s sort of like that...but in my mind.”
He sighed heavily before continuing. “My father’s quirk, my cousin’s quirk, my grandfather’s quirk… their instincts were all mostly heroic. My dad talks about his yelling at him to push through pain when fighting a villain, or telling him where a trapped civilian might be. Our instincts are a part of our quirk, and if we work with them and listen to them, our quirks work with our bodies better.”
Ochako nearly forgot all about his compliments as she gasped. “Woah. So, what, you have a voice in your head? Your quirk talks to you?”
He bowed his head. “Yeah. You probably think I’m crazy or something. There’s a reason that outside of my family, only Kacchan and his parents know.”
“Hey, quirks are weird, right? I don’t think Tokoyami is crazy.” Ochako smiled to try and comfort him, even though he was refusing to look at her.
He smiled weakly. “The worst part is what my quirk says to me. I’m sure you’ve heard about villains like Terrorflame or Frostheart, right?”
Ochako’s breath caught. Of course she had, but surely it was a bit taboo to bring that up with him, right? Well, he was the one who said it… “Yeah… They’re your relatives, right?”
“Yeah. And my quirk is like theirs.” Deku’s hands gripped his sheets, knuckles turning white. “My quirk is evil, Uraraka. I’m defying my nature by even trying to be a hero.”
Ochako gasped. “...Evil?”
Deku looked like he wanted to cry, but he was too tired. “It’s not just a voice in my head. If it was just a voice, I could ignore it. It’s so much more than that. It’s not just a voice, it’s my voice. It speaks in every part of my brain, drowning out everything else. If I don’t calm it or appease it, it just gets louder. It gets worse until I can’t think about anything else than doing what it wants.”
He let out a single, bitter laugh. “My dad’s quirk tells him how to be a hero, my quirk tells me how to lie and hurt people. I’ve tried since the day my quirk fully manifested to become a hero, despite everything. But after today, I… I think I should give up.”
“No! You can’t!” She jumped to her feet, eyes wide at what she was hearing. “I’ve never seen someone more suited to be a hero than you! Think about the entrance exam!”
“Have you forgotten what you saw today?” he retaliated, face twisting with anguish. “After time expired, all of that. That was me, trying desperately to fight my quirk. What if you weren’t there to save me from myself? What if I actually had hurt Mineta like it wanted me to?”
Ochako’s mind was reeling from what the boy was telling her. “You...you looked like you had a headache, a really bad one. Is that what you were doing? Fighting the voice in your head?”
He nodded. “You saved me in more ways than one today. Now I can leave UA just as a dropout, and not as a criminal.” He smiled sadly.
A long silence passed between the two. Finally, with a deep breath, Ochako walked over to his bed and towered over him. “Deku. Look at me.”
He hesitated, before finally shifting his guilt-filled eyes up at her.
She poked him in the chest. “You are
not
leaving UA. Do you understand me?”
“I… what?”
“Do. You. Understand. Me?”
“How can you trust me after this? How can you care about me? I’m a monst-”
She slapped him. Hard.
“Don’t you dare say that!” She was crying now, her emotions having overwhelmed her. “Nobody but you thinks that!”
“Do that again.” His eyes and tone finally had some life in it, but those eyes widened as what he just said echoed in the room. His hand quickly clamped down over his mouth. “Sorry. No filter,” he mumbled out as his energy dropped again.
She blinked and felt her face grow warm. “D-damn it, Deku, I’m serious!” She shook her head to dispel the blush and took a steadying breath.
She glared down at him with a determined look. “Deku, I saw you in that battle trial. You had a brilliant plan. You had a plan for Aizawa’s test. Everything you do has thought behind it. Don’t think I haven’t noticed! You said you’ve been like this since you got your quirk, but you’ve handled it before, right? You’ve had a plan! Are you telling me you came to UA without a plan on how to handle your quirk?”
He slumped back into his bed, hand falling to his side. “I… I had one. My dad taught me for years to turn my quirk’s instincts to my own goals. To sort of twist it, or trick it. The first time it happened, it was an accident. The entrance exam.”
“When you saved me?”
Deku once again smiled weakly, but fondly. “Yeah. My instincts yelled at me there, and I worked with them. That’s how I was able to push myself to stop that zero-pointer.” He let out an airy laugh. “I couldn’t use my quirk the next day after that, I guess like you.”
“I couldn’t use mine for a week after that, Deku.” She sat back down as he looked at her in shock, or as much shock as his depleted body could muster. “But what were your instincts telling you?”
“They told me to protect you. I had to save you. It wasn’t an option.”
“That doesn’t sound very evil, Deku.” Maybe he was overreacting...
Deku nodded his head. “That’s because that
was
the twist. I turned it’s desire to want you for itself into a desire to keep you safe.”
Ochako froze again. “To… want me for itself?” She could feel her blush creeping back onto her face.
“I said that out loud? Crap.” Deku sighed. “Yeah, that’s what happened. I turned that selfishness into heroism, I guess. I was actually proud of myself. I believed I could actually do this. But now...I know better.”
“Look, Deku, I want to hurt Mineta a bit, too. He’s a creep, don’t feel guilty about that.”
He threw his eyes to the ceiling in frustration. “You don’t get it. It didn’t want to just
hurt
him. My instincts wanted to
kill
him. Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't stopped me.”
Ochako was not expecting to hear that. “K-kill?”
“Yeah.” Deku's voice shook slightly. “See why I said you won’t want to be friends with me anymore? My quirk is evil. If I can’t control it-”
“Then you’ll learn how. That’s why we’re here, right?”
“You can’t just overlook mur-”
“Did you kill him? Did you hurt him outside of the exercise?”
“No, bu-”
“Then it’s okay.” She put a comforting hand on his, but he recoiled from her touch. “You’re dealing with something none of us can really understand. You can’t control what you think, especially when you have something yelling in your ear about it.”
She paused for a second.
“What did you mean when you said that I stopped you?”
Deku paused for a moment, thinking. “When you spoke, my quirk seemed to... listen. When I was fighting it, all that existed to me was myself and a black void. But when you said ‘Deku’, it was like a ray of light through the darkness and I could think again. It only lasted for a moment at a time, but that’s how I pulled away from Mineta and punched that hole in the wall.”
Ochako tried to ignore the rather romantic imagery and prompted him to continue. “And you jumping out of the building?”
Deku nodded weakly, his eyes struggling to remain open. “I had to do whatever it took to make sure I didn’t hurt Mineta. If it meant dying, then so be it.” His voice attempted to sound determined, but he was too tired to sell it.
“And you think you’re not fit to be a hero.” She crossed her arms smugly. “You would rather die than kill.”
His eyes widened and he stared at his sheets for a moment. Then he finally cracked a real smile. “I… I didn’t think of that.” He hung his head in relief as well as exhaustion. “Maybe I
can
do this.”
“You
will
do this. You’re not leaving UA and that’s final. If your quirk wants me so bad, tell it that killing is off-limits.” She screamed internally for being so bold.
“That… might actually work.” He rubbed his chin in thought.
He turned up to look at her, his emerald eyes staring into her brown. They were clear and filled with determination, just how she thought they should always be. “Uraraka. If I do stay here at UA, then I have to ask something of you. A favor.”
“Anything, Deku.”
“If I ever lose control again, you have to stop me. I would rather be broken or dead than have this happen again. You have my full permission to do whatever it takes to stop me.” His voice was no longer monotone, but full of deadly seriousness.
“W-what?” The intensity in his voice took her by surprise.
“
Please
, promise that you’ll stop me.” She couldn't ignore the pleading look on his face.
She clutched her hand to her chest and looked down for a moment, before steeling herself, turning back and looking him dead in the eyes. “I promise.”
“Thank you. Really.” He finally began to lose his battle with his exhaustion. It seemed now that he had gotten all those things off of his chest, his willpower faltered. His eyes closed as he fell asleep. “Thank... you… Ocha...”
Ochako began to blush again. ‘Was he about to-’ She jumped in her chair as Recovery Girl walked back in. ‘Wait, was she waiting for us to finish talking?’
She decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth and just accepted her good fortune. She let a smile grow across her face, but all the emotions she had just experienced welled up inside of her. Joy, embarrassment, sadness, anger, fear… it was overwhelming. Even through her grin, she couldn’t stop a few small tears from falling.
Notes:
I'll see you all next time!
Leave a comment and tell me how you felt about this chapter. :)
Chapter 15: Recollection
Summary:
Izuku finds out what he missed.
Notes:
Thanks to my betas for this chapter, AzureFirehawk, mattybeach and Epsilon110!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku slept through most of the rest of day, waking up once again in the nurse’s office once the sun had already set. He managed to open his eyes with a degree of effort and looked to see not Uraraka, but Katsuki sleeping on the chair next to his bed.
“Kacchan.” Izuku’s dry throat woke his friend up from his light sleep. The blonde boy opened his eyes and glared at him. “Deja vu, huh?” He laughed weakly.
Katsuki tossed a water bottle to him, which he caught with both hands. “Izuku… What the fuck happened?”
Izuku took a gasping breath after downing the water in one go. “I… I lost control of my quirk. I had a bad instinct flare-up.”
“Was it cause of the creepy kid?” Katsuki spoke flatly.
“Mineta?”
“Sure, whatever.” Katsuki merely shrugged. “Answer the question.”
“Yeah. It… it wanted to kill him, Kacchan.”
“Shit.” Katsuki rubbed his hand through his hair. “You didn’t though. What happened?”
“Uraraka happened.” Izuku noticed his friend’s eyebrow raise. “She talked to me, and it helped me focus. I pulled myself away and sort of uh, punchedaholeinthewallandjumpedout.”
“And you flew away?”
“Uh, no, not exactly.” Izuku looked away awkwardly. “I w-wasn’t exactly in control of my quirk. Uraraka jumped after me and saved me from hitting the ground.”
“Dumbass!” Katsuki glared at him. “I leave you alone for fifteen minutes and you manage to almost kill yourself. Amazing!”
Katsuki leaned back in his chair. “I couldn’t see a damn thing in the observation room, but All Might dashed out of there as soon as the match ended. We couldn’t even see the wall you apparently jumped out of cause of the camera angle. I’m guessing All Might heard Uraraka panicking over that communicator.”
“Makes sense,” Izuku sighed, thankful his classmates hadn’t seen his episode. “He found Uraraka and me once she, uh, calmed me down. She carried me here.”
Katsuki stared at him hard for several moments. “You told her, didn’t you?”
Izuku flinched. Katsuki knew him too well. “…Yeah…”
“Did the fall make you stupid?” Katsuki rubbed his forehead in frustration.
“Well, my quirk was asleep after Recovery Girl healed me, so kind of, yeah.” Izuku shrugged.
“Just… why? Why let her know about all this?” Katsuki looked as exhausted as Izuku had been before his nap.
“I… I don’t know… But I trust her.” He smiled sheepishly. “Especially since she’s saved my life twice.” His shoulders slumped. “To tell you the truth, Kacchan... I was considering dropping out of UA.”
Katsuki immediately sat back up. “ What? ”
“I almost killed a student and I had lost control of my quirk,” Izuku explained quickly. “I was ready to give up, but Uraraka convinced me to stay.”
“I would have kicked your ass if you tried to quit,” Katsuki sneered. “You need this stupid school as much as I do. Shame you missed the rest of class. I’m sure you would’ve wanted to take notes.”
“Oh, right!” Izuku sat up quickly. “The other matches. How did they go?”
Katsuki reached into Izuku’s backpack that he had brought with him and tossed him his notebook and a pencil. Izuku quickly flipped it open and prepared to write.
“Alright, Team B and Team I, follow me.” All Might had returned to the observation room and quickly resumed class. “I would like to review the work from the first match, but we’re behind schedule.”
Katsuki walked up to All Might along with the other two students. Katsuki looked at the two taller men and glared. “Which one of you is with me?”
“I am!” A cheerful voice next to him took him by surprise. He jumped back but didn’t see anybody next to him.
“What the…” He looked all around until his eyes caught a pair of floating gloves. “Oh, you’re that invisible chick, right?”
“Hagakure, yes.” Her voice sounded like she was rolling her eyes.
“Yeah, whatever.” He turned away from her and followed All Might. He glared at the ground, deep in thought.
The five of them made their way to a different building than the previous group and once they arrived, All Might sent Katsuki and Casper inside to prepare. Their weapon was on the third floor, near the far side of the building.
“So, what can you do besides be invisible?” Katsuki asked dryly.
“What can you do besides make explosions?” she retorted.
He turned and glared at her. “It would be stupid to try and hold them off. We need to take them out.”
“If it was anyone but Kyouka or Shouji, I would have a serious advantage. There’s two people in this class that can detect me and I get put up against one of them.” Casper sounded frustrated.
“Three, but that’s not important.” Katsuki crouched down as he thought, stretching his legs. “So Arms can hear you?”
“Yep. I tried to sneak up on him after dinner yesterday just to test. He heard me right away.”
“I can fix that.” He popped off a few explosions in his hand. “I’m good at ‘loud and distracting.’”
“That could work.” She tossed her gloves off and closed her hand over the capture tape, making it disappear from view. “You distract them, I’ll sneak around and capture one of them. Then it’s a two-on-one fight.”
“Take out Arms if you can.” He stood up, stretching his arms.
“I think Todoroki is the bigger threat, didn’t you see him at the test yesterday?” Casper’s tone was not appreciated.
Katsuki huffed. “Fine, whatever.”
She began to take her shoes off, but Katsuki had a thought. “Keep them on.”
“A pair of shoes is pretty conspicuous, Bakugou.” Where did she get off being this sassy?
Katsuki checked one of his gauntlets while he explained. “You were the one who was warning me about Half-and-Half. Remember how he used that big ice attack on the softball throw? You might want to keep your feet warm until we find them.”
“That’s… you think so?” Casper hesitantly put her shoes back on.
“I wouldn’t normally care what you do, but my grade is riding on this. If you take them off, do it later. Better safe than dead.”
“I don’t think that’s how it go-”
“Time begins now! Team B, enter the building!” All Might’s voice cut her off.
“No point standing around.” He stepped out into the hallway and began to pop of small, but loud explosions every few seconds.
Katsuki’s warning seemed prophetic as suddenly a wave of ice rounded the corner and froze the entire hallway, including the two students’ ankles.
“Wow, you called it. Thanks for that.” Casper carefully slipped out of her shoes and onto the icy ground.
“Wasn’t me. Izuku thought he might have that kind of power, I don’t think even he imagined Half-and-Half could pull something like this off.” Katsuki quickly blew his feet free with a few small explosions.
“I’m counting on you, Bakugou.” The girl softly made her way down one of the side hallways, leaving footprints in the ice.
Katsuki smirked and continued to make noise. It wasn’t long before the glowing red eye of Half-and-Half’s hero costume appeared in the dim light of the hallway. “You look stupid,” Katsuki snarled between explosions.
The heterochromatic student looked behind him. “Your partner is frozen, you should give up. Fighting will only make it harder for you.”
“I didn’t come to UA to take it easy! What are you, weak?!” Katsuki roared, intending to further help his teammate.
Half-and-Half’s eyebrow twitched at Katsuki’s furious yell. “You remind me of someone I hate.” He shifted his right foot slightly, sending a wave of ice at the blonde.
The blonde raised both his hands, blowing the wave of ice away with a large explosion. He ran towards the boy with an anger-fuelled yell and Half-and-Half let another blast of ice go. Katsuki jumped, his right arm behind him to give him extra height, his left extended to blow a hole in the top of the ice.
“What was that?!” Katsuki landed about twenty feet away from the other student. “That was even weaker than the first one!”
“Shut up.” Anger burned in Half-and-Half’s eyes.
“I saw the shit you pulled yesterday! You’re holding back on me!” Katsuki raised a gauntlet towards the boy and sneered. “I won’t hold back against you, so you best come at me like you mean it.”
“You want me to stop holding back?!” Half-and-Half’s cool composure was cracking fast. He raised his right foot slightly. “I’ll give you everyth-”
“No you won’t!” Casper yelled triumphantly as capture tape was wrapped around the student’s arm.
Half-and-Half stared wide-eyed at the tape as his anger drained out of him, replaced with shock. “But how? I froze you.”
“You f-froze my shoes, T-T-Todoroki, not me! Those were j-just a d-decoy.” Her teeth were chattering. “I’m s-still really c-c-cold, though!”
The captured student looked back to see the trail of footprints in the ice, then hung his head in defeat. Katsuki huffed as he walked past him. “One down, one to go.”
“You’re w-welcome.” Casper said sarcastically, some of the bite in her tone lost as she shivered. “W-where’s Shouji?”
Katsuki made a noncommittal noise and began to walk towards the stairs Half-and-Half came up. “Time to find him.”
“W-wait, Bakugou. What if Todoroki t-told him to sneak around while h-he distracted us? W-we should wait a-at the bomb,” she argued. “A-also, could you g-g-get my s-shoes for me?”
Katsuki thought for a moment. “Fine. We’ll wait.” He walked over to her shoes and carefully extracted them.
The two of them headed back to the weapon to wait. Casper was shivering the whole time, and it sounded like she was rubbing her arms and legs trying to stay warm. Fortunately for her, they didn’t have to wait long before the sound of someone walking on the ice outside echoed through the hallway.
An eyeball poked around the corner of the room. Katsuki smirked. “Come on, Arms. You’re boring me.”
Arms’ impressive height and bulk rounded the corner, blocking the doorway. Two of his arms had eyes on them, locking on to Casper as he spotted her. Katsuki raised his right gauntlet again, pulling the handle back. “Listen up. My gauntlets have been storing my explosive sweat since I put them on. They’re charged up for a massive explosion.”
Katsuki enjoyed the look of surprise on Arms’ face. “Surrender and I won’t use it. Take another step, and I’ll blow you away.”
The tall student glared at Katsuki over his mask. “You wouldn’t.”
“Why not?” The blonde grew a crazed smile. “I’m a villain, aren’t I?” He placed his hand on the pin.
“Bakugou, stop! You are forbidden from using that gauntlet!” All Might’s voice blared over the speakers.
Katsuki lowered the gauntlet slowly. “Fine.” He threw his arms behind him. “We’ll fight hand-to-hand!” He rocketed towards Arms, ready to attack. The giant of a student threw one of his sets of arms forward, ready to intercept, but Katsuki was ready.
He set off a small explosion in front of him, stunning Arms and sending him flying overhead. He used another blast to stop his momentum as he soared over Arms’ head, ready to blast him in the back. Katsuki had never fought someone like Arms, however.
The taller student’s other set of arms had tracked his flight, and he reached up as Katsuki flew overhead and grabbed his foot. With two of the hands on his other arm, he quickly wrapped the capture tape around Katsuki’s leg.
However, this made him take his attention off of Casper, who dashed underneath the action and wrapped one of Arms’ legs in capture tape as well. Katsuki and Arms were both stunned silent, staring at the floating tape below them.
“Score t-two for T-Tooru!” the invisible girl bubbled. “You were r-right about you b-b-being a good distraction, Bakugou!”
“Both heroes have been captured! The villain team wins!” All Might declared the end of the match.
“Where did you get that tape?” Katsuki asked as Arms set him down. “I still had mine.”
“I pickpocketed T-Todoroki for it. I kept it h-hidden in my hand so S-Shouji wouldn’t see that I had the tape,” she explained. “I was h-hoping that it would… encourage him to t-t-take his eyes off of m-me.”
Katsuki smirked.
“Were you really going to use your gauntlets?” Izuku asked, half surprised.
“Nah.” Katsuki leaned back in his chair. “I got enough lectures from your dad about collateral damage to use it indoors, and especially not on someone who wasn’t an actual villain. I was just hoping to intimidate him. I probably could’ve done it too, if All Might hadn’t stepped in.”
“Figured.” Izuku smiled as he continued to write. “By the way you described it, it sounds like you really got under Todoroki’s skin. Very clever to use that to your advantage to get him to lose his composure.”
Katsuki shrugged his shoulders. “I wonder who I reminded him of.”
“You might want to be careful you don’t make an actual enemy, Kacchan,” Izuku lectured.
“Yeah, yeah…”
Izuku took another minute or so to finish scribbling in his notebook. “Fascinating. You’re right, I had no idea Todoroki could be so precise with his quirk; freezing you both by the ankles even though he couldn’t see you…”
“Yeah, and get this,” Katsuki continued, “after we finished? He melted all the ice. He’s got fire powers from his left side.”
Izuku’s eyes went wide as he flipped back to Todoroki’s page. “That makes sense, given who his father is. It also potentially explains why his hair color is split down the middle, as well as his heterochromia. There must be a reason he hadn’t used his fire before; it wouldn’t have been very useful in the quirk assessment test, and I suppose he didn’t want to burn you or Hagakure when he didn’t have to, but still it’s a little strange tha-”
“Motormouth, shut up!” Katsuki let off a small explosion to get his attention. “We should get back to the dorm if you’re feeling good enough to mumble.”
“I’m always feeling good enough to mumble, Kacchan,” Izuku laughed as he got out of the hospital bed. “I should ask our classmates how their battle trials-” He stopped suddenly.
“Oh, crap. Our classmates.” His eyes went wide. “What am I going to tell them about my test? What’s my excuse? What did Uraraka tell them?!” He began to furiously think about solutions.
“I caught Uraraka on my way here.” Katsuki sharply tore him out of his thoughts. “I told her not to say anything about it to anyone and just tell anybody who asked to wait for you,” Katsuki sighed. “I swear, what would you do without me, dumbass?”
Izuku smiled as he picked up his backpack and the two of them walked out of the Nurse’s Office.
The two boys made their ways back to the dorm in the darkness of the early evening. They opened the doors and walked inside, Katsuki giving Izuku a fistbump as he made his way to the stairs, intent on getting a good night’s sleep. Izuku would have normally followed him, but he had something else he wanted to do first.
“Hey, Midoriya’s back!” Kirishima was sitting on a couch near Ashido and Tsunotori and was waving at him. Several other students were hanging around the kitchen area or sitting at one of the tables, and very quickly, Izuku was swarmed by them.
“Hey man, are you alright?” Kaminari asked worriedly. “We heard you fell out of the building!”
“Yeah, Iida said you were acting strange,” Satou followed.
“Oh, y-yeah, I’m fine!” Izuku took a step back from the large group of concerned students. “I, uh, well, I had some bad cramps from being dehydrated, you see. My quirk can be volatile if I’m not careful. Rookie mistake, I know, but I sort of forgot because I was so excited about training!” He rubbed the back of his head, hoping the students would buy it.
“Oh, that makes sense,” Sero said, rubbing his chin. “I’m glad you’re okay, dude.”
Izuku couldn’t believe his excuse had worked and just stared for a few seconds. “T-thank you all for your concern! I appreciate it.”
“Hey, Midoriya, come sit with us.” Kirishima pointed her thumb to the couch she had been sitting at as the students dispersed. Izuku followed her and sat down on one of the comfy chairs, forming a small circle with the three women.
Izuku noted the suspicious look from Ashido, but opted to ignore it, hoping it would pass. He flashed a smile at the group. “I was actually hoping to talk to you guys.” Tsunotori raised an eyebrow at him as he pulled out his notebook and pencil. “Can you tell me how your matches went? I can’t believe I missed them!”
“Not before you tell us what happened in your match, Midori.” Ashido squinted at him. So much for hoping it would pass.
“Uh, well, there's not much to tell.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Uraraka collapsed the stairs, I destroyed the lights. When Iida and Mineta showed up, I goaded Iida into running inside, where Uraraka was waiting. She made him weightless, I wrapped him up, then snuck forward and grabbed Mineta. Pretty open and shut.”
“Uh huh. And after the end?” Ashido wasn’t letting up.
“I told you, I-I got some cramps.” He smiled and quickly turned to Tsunotori before she could respond. “Tsunotori, how did your match go? Please, don’t spare any detail.”
“I-is it okay if I speak English?” she asked hesitantly.
“Sure.” Izuku smiled. “Just go a little slow and try to avoid the big words, okay?”
Pony and Momo found their weapon on the fourth floor of the building. Momo immediately went to work setting up defenses. She made them both rubber boots to wear and set up a large amplifier next to the weapon. Momo then produced a large stack of steel plates that she fit along the door frame, effectively creating a steel barrier.
Pony spent most of the time being ordered around, moving the weapon to a different location, positioning the amplifier, helping to put the steel plates on the door and more. She was happy to be of assistance and grateful that she was partnered with someone who spoke English.
Once time began, Pony didn’t do much. Both women waited in the back of the room for the ‘heroes’ to find them. It didn’t take long, thanks to Kyouka’s quirk, and soon her and Kaminari were standing outside. They tried to open the door, but found it quite impossible.
The two gave up quickly, but after a few seconds of silence, pulsing waves of force started shaking the room.
“She’s plugged in,” Momo said in English. “Pony, cover your ears!”
Pony put on the headphones Momo made for her as the tall woman turned on the amplifier, blasting sound towards the entrance. The pulsating waves quickly stopped as they heard a pained scream from the other side of the wall.
“Sorry, Kyouka, but you can thank Midoriya for the idea!” Momo shouted as she shut the amplifier off. “You’re welcome to keep trying, but I would rather you didn’t; I don’t want to damage your hearing.”
In the end, the heroes just didn’t have the firepower to break down Momo’s barricade without Kyouka’s quirk. Pony was happy she won, but a little disappointed that she didn’t get to do anything.
“Yaoyorozu really is impressive,” Izuku muttered as he finished writing. ‘But why was Tsunotori blushing the whole time?’
“If you give her preparation time, she might be the most dangerous student in class.” He nodded as he rubbed his chin. “Thank you, Tsunotori. It’s a shame she dominated the exercise so much. I would have liked to learn more about your quirk and the others. I suppose there will be time for that later.” Izuku shrugged.
“Ashido, how did your test go?”
“Well, mine wasn’t as simple as Pony’s…” She eagerly began to recount, apparently temporarily forgetting her suspicion..
Mina and Aoyama were given the go-ahead by All Might and entered the building. They didn’t have any detection abilities like Shouji or Kyouka, so they had to do it the old fashioned way. Aoyama strutted through the hallways, looking more interested in himself than the exercise. Mina, on the other hand, skated along easily thanks to the special boots she wore.
She slid down the hallways, quickly covering ground as she looked in the rooms she passed. It took her about five minutes to find the bomb on the fourth floor, Kouda and Satou standing guard around it. The look on their faces as she skated by and waved at them with a smile was truly priceless.
“Surfs up!” Mina shouted as she skated up behind her partner once she found him patrolling down on the second floor. She accidentally splattered a bit of acid on his cloak, burning some holes in it, much to his annoyance. “Oops! My bad!” She smiled sheepishly as she clapped her hands together in apology.
They quickly made their way up to the fourth floor and got into position around the door. “Do you have a plan?” Mina asked.
“The same plan that I always have, chéri,” Aoyama winked, “I will dazzle them!”
“Wait, what?” Mina watched the blonde boy step boldly into the open door.
“Adieu, gentlemen!” His bright blue laser shot forward, causing Satou and Kouda to dodge out of the way. A giant hole was blown through the back wall as the laser sheared through the concrete.
Mina used the opportunity to leap to her feet and skate past Aoyama into the room. She quickly moved past Kouda before he could pick himself up, so all that was left between her and victory was Satou. She moved hard to the left to throw him off, then cut quickly back to the right. Satou stumbled as she jumped at one of the pillars to the right of the bomb, quickly secreting potent acid.
Her feet dug into the pillar slightly and gave her good leverage to push herself off. Mina lunged towards the bomb as Satou jumped towards her. She managed to stretch out and put her right hand on the weapon right as the muscular man grabbed her by the ankle and flung her backwards.
She flew across the room and landed hard on her back, but it was too late. All Might’s voice echoed through the room, declaring her team the winners.
Izuku scribbled as fast as his hand would let him, determined to record everything he could. “You got thrown across a room? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Midori, I’m not the one who fell out of a buil-”
“Kirishima!” Izuku interrupted her hastily. “How did your fight go?”
“Ah well, you see…” Kirishima began.
Sero and Eiko noted that the weapons had been on the upper floors for each of the previous fights, so they decided to start at the top. Fortunately, their building had a fire escape on the side of it and they quickly ascended to the top floor.
From the fact that half of the lights were destroyed, it seemed like their assumption about the bomb location was correct. It also seemed like they weren’t the only ones who picked up a thing or two from the previous matches.
The upper level was one large room, filled with pillars at regular intervals. Eiko could spot the weapon in the middle of the room, but between her and her win was Tokoyami and Tsu. “Alright, Sero.” Eiko hardened her fists and smashed them together. “We’ve got nearly the entire time limit to touch that weapon. We got this.”
As soon as they started to move forward, a great shadowy monster emerged from under Tokoyami’s cloak and rushed towards them. The two dodged out of the way as Dark Shadow slammed down between them, separating the ‘heroes’.
“I’ll take Tsu!” Sero yelled back as he ran off behind a pillar.
“That means it’s you and me, Tokoyami!” Eiko ran towards her opponent, arms crossed in front of her.
“Fight well,” Tokoyami responded stoically as his quirk reared back and dove down on Eiko. The red-head hardened her arms and took the blow, grinding backwards across the ground. Before she could recover, Dark Shadow was on her again, driving her further away.
Realizing that brute force was not an option, Eiko dropped her guard and dove out of the way of the next attack, rolling behind one of the room’s many pillars. She continued to dash from pillar to pillar, barely dodging Dark Shadow along the way. She was kept at distance, never being allowed any closer to the weapon.
On the other side of the room, she could see Sero engaged with Tsu. Her powerful legs allowed her to hop around at unpredictable angles, dodging every stream of tape shot at her. Eiko saw him in a similar situation of hopelessness and made the call. “Sero! Trade me!”
The black-haired boy nodded and taped a pillar, pulling himself towards Eiko. The two heroes-in-training high-fived as they crossed paths. She squared up with Tsu, hardening her arms again as he ran towards her.
Tsu jumped up and stuck on a pillar near the ceiling, out of her reach, and shot her tongue at her. She swung her arm forward like a sword, striking her tongue and causing it to recoil. She took the opportunity to run towards the weapon, aiming to touch it and win.
The other woman saw Eiko run past and jumped towards her, feet aimed towards her back. She looked back just in time to brace for impact, hardening her back to taking the kick, using the force of Tsuyu’s kick to roll forward onto her arms and back onto her feet, never breaking pace.
Tsuyu bounced off of her and onto another pillar, shooting her tongue at Eiko again, this time catching her around the waist and arms, wrapping her up. “Sorry, Tsu!” she yelled as she hardened her arms and chest and struggled, rubbing her sharp skin against the tongue. Tsuyu yelped in pain and released her, allowing her to continue running towards the goal.
Eiko’s victory was nearly within her grasp when suddenly Tsu sailed overhead, grabbing the apparently hollow weapon with her tongue and pulling it away from Eiko as she outstretched her hand.
“Damn!” She took the time to turn and take a look at Sero. Tokoyami had been taped to one of the pillars, but that did nothing to prevent Dark Shadow from moving freely. Eiko turned to run and assist her teammate when Tokoyami scored a direct hit on the taller student.
Sero was tossed backwards, hitting a pillar with a resounding thud and slumping down to the ground. Before he could stumble to his feet, Dark Shadow swooped down on him and wrapped the white capture tape around one of his arms. Eiko barely had time to harden her arms before Dark Shadow turned onto her once more.
She was struck full on, just like Sero. As Tsu protected the weapon, Tokoyami continued his assault. Repeated blows to Eiko drove her backwards; she dug her feet in, but the bone-crunching blows were grinding her up against one of the room’s many pillars. Without time to plan, she did the only thing she could think of and hardened her back against the assault.
Dark Shadow continued to crash into her, each attack driving her further into the pillar as the stone began to crack. After a dozen attacks, the pillar began to crumble as Eiko was pushed deeper into it. She shook with exhaustion, each feral blow becoming harder and harder to resist. After nearly thirty powerful strikes, her hardening began to fail, and after ten more, she broke, collapsing onto one knee.
Before she could catch her breath, Dark Shadow came at her from above, flattening her against the ground. In her exhausted state, Eiko couldn’t push herself back up, and Tsu slowly approached her and wrapped tape around her arm.
“You fought valiantly, Kirishima,” Tokoyami said as his quirk released her. “Feel no shame for your defeat.”
Eiko could only try and catch her breath as All Might’s voice rang out, announcing her loss.
Izuku scratched his with his left hand as he finished the last of his notes. “Tokoyami is much more powerful than I thought… I wonder why they broke the lights, perhaps his quirk performs better in the darkness? That would make sense, judging from it’s name… or perhaps he was simply attempting to obscure the battlefield. Tsu being able to carry the weapon with her tongue indicates a level of stren-”
“Uh, Midori? You okay?” Ashido’s half-worried, half-amused voice brought an end to his mumbling.
“Oh! Uh, yeah, fine. Thanks, Ashido.” He laughed awkwardly as he closed his notebook.
He sat back in his chair, analyzing what he had learned. “It seems like the villains were at a major advantage during the exercise. Ashido’s team was the only one of five to actually win as the heroes.”
“I said that during your match!” Ashido pointed a finger at him. “All Might said that heroes are at a disadvantage all the time, and we have to learn to overcome it or something.”
“Yeah, it was inspiring as hell.” Kirishima smirked. “Even though I lost, I don’t have any regrets. I tried my hardest and did my best. That’s all I can ask of myself.”
Izuku smiled as he stood up. “As much as I would love to talk to you all, I need to speak with Iida before I go to bed.” He let out a huge yawn. “Recovery Girl’s quirk takes a lot out of you.”
“Iida?” Pony grew a look of confusion. “Why?
“I… I just need to talk to him. Sorry.” He hastily waved goodbye and headed for the stairs.
Izuku took a deep breath and knocked on the door of room 303. After a few seconds, the door opened as Iida stood in front of him in his sleepwear.
“Midoriya?” He looked slightly surprised to see him.
Izuku threw himself down into a deep bow. “I would like to apologize for what I said during class today. I have nothing but respect for you, Ingenium and the Iida family. Please accept my apology.”
“Your apology is accepted, but unnecessary,” Iida responded flatly, causing Izuku to slowly stand up. “I do appreciate it, however.”
“You’re… not mad?” Izuku was surprised how easily things were working out.
“Of course not. You were merely acting the part of the villain. If anything, I commend you for being so dedicated to your schoolwork!” Iida chopped his hand emphatically.
“R-really?”
“Yes! Even All Might said as much.” He threw his arms wide. “In fact, you received the MVP from our match for fully embracing the spirit of the exercise and facilitating the capture of both Mineta and myself.”
“I… I didn’t know that. I’m impressed that you’re so level-headed about this, Iida.” Izuku let out a large sigh. “It’s a weight off my shoulders.”
“Furthermore…” Iida paused for a moment, considering his next words carefully. “I actually want to thank you for… exposing a weakness of mine.”
“A weakness? How so?” Izuku had foreseen this meeting going much differently.
“Your personal attacks against my brother clouded my judgement. After the match concluded and I was assured that you were unharmed, I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said to me and how I reacted.” Iida crossed his arms and closed his eyes. “I thought to myself, ‘what if a real villain used that against me?’ I realized I could be provoked into acting rashly during a truly dangerous situation.”
“I… wow, Iida.” Izuku grew an impressed smile.
“Experience is one of the most important tools in a hero’s arsenal, Midoriya, and today, you gave me incredibly valuable experience.” He smiled at the shorter student. “Tenya Iida will be that much better of a hero thanks to your actions.”
Izuku stared at him for a few moments before beginning to laugh heartily. “You are something else! I have a lot to learn from you, Iida; even more than I thought.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I made a promise to you at the entrance exam, and I’d like to see it through. Friends?”
Iida nodded emphatically. “I’d like that.”
“Thank yo-.” His thanks was interrupted by another large yawn. “Oh man.”
“You should get to bed post-haste, Midoriya,” Iida lectured him.
“Agreed.” Izuku turned away from him with a wave. “Goodnight, Iida.”
“Goodnight, Midoriya.”
Notes:
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you thought in the comments below, and I'll see you next time!
Chapter 16: Spread Your Wings
Summary:
The start of an eventful Wednesday.
Notes:
Thanks to mattybeach, epicderpybro2 and Epsilon110 for beta reading this chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“ Cramps ?! That’s the best you could come up with?!” Katsuki hissed through his teeth as Izuku walked out of the dorm the next morning. Uraraka and Iida were walking just ahead of them, talking happily to each other.
“You know I’m not good at making stuff up when I’m tired, Kacchan! I was exhausted.” Izuku whispered back as the two other students noticed them and turned around. Iida waved at them, beckoning them over.
“Good morning, Bakugou, Midoriya!” Iida’s boisterous greeting interrupted any further arguments between the two as they walked up to the two taller students.
Izuku smiled back and greeted Iida, then turned towards the woman. “Good morning, Uraraka.”
“Good morning…” She didn’t make eye contact with him, and quickly grew a slight blush. Izuku didn’t react outwardly, but couldn’t help but shake the feeling that she was acting weirdly. He also couldn’t shake the feeling that it was his fault.
‘Is she scared of me now that I told her about my quirk? No, she wouldn’t be blushing then…’
The four quickly made their way to the main building, the three men discussing their first class with All Might and the results of their training with him. Izuku made a note of Uraraka’s distracted silence, but was too involved in his discussion to give it much thought. Once they reached their classroom, their group split, each moving to their own seat.
Izuku sat down and began to brainstorm why Uraraka was acting so strangely around him compared to the previous days of class. Before he could get far into his mental investigation, a shadow was cast on his desk, causing him to look up.
“Oh, good morning, Ashido.” He smiled cheerily at her, but his expression faltered when he saw the serious look on her face.
She stared at him for a few moments, eyes both suspicious and concerned. “You’re going to tell m-”
“All students should be in their seats when class begins, Ashido.” Aizawa threw the door open and reprimanded the pink girl in the same beat. She scurried back to her seat, apologizing softly as she quickly sat down.
Aizawa took his place behind the lectern and slowly moved his tired gaze over the class. “I reviewed all of your performances yesterday. There were no glaring issues that weren’t expected.” His eyes met Izuku’s as he spoke, causing the student to swallow nervously. “So overall, good work.”
He walked out from behind the lectern with a stack of papers, handing one to each student. “These are your performance reviews. Read them over after class and speak to me if you have any questions.”
Aizawa returned to the front of the class and looked to make sure he still had everyone’s attention. “Next… you will make a decision that will change your future.” All of the students sat upright with a sharp intake of breath. They all stared at their professor expectantly.
“It’s time to pick your class representatives,” Aizawa droned emotionlessly.
The collective breath was released.
Students all around the room began to boldly declare their candidacy, standing and shouting at their desks, while Izuku took a moment to assess the situation and the other students. He had, of course, planned for this. The class representative was an important position, especially in a hero course when it was a way to show leadership and get yourself noticed.
Izuku smiled to himself; he already had it in the bag. This wasn’t the objective of his game, but it was a convenient benefit that he had already set up the board in his favor. He stood up, raising his arm into the air as the other students argued. “We should hold an election!” The other students stopped to look at him. “A democratic vote will show who already has the trust of their classmates. It is the only way to be fair.”
His classmates turned to look at each other, slightly stunned by his sudden proposal. Murmurs of assent ran around the room. Izuku continued his explanation with confidence, “Whoever gets the most votes will be the class representative, and second place will be vice representative. In the case of a tie, we’ll have a runoff election between those students. Everyone write their vote on a piece of paper, fold it up and put it on the table in the front of the class. Does that sound good?”
He looked around the room and nobody raised any objections. He smiled wide and sat back down, pulling out his own piece of paper to write a name down. A stack of votes quickly appeared at the front of the room and Izuku asked Aizawa to count them out, for the sake of impartiality. Aizawa glared at him for only allowing him a short nap but obliged.
The results left little room for debate. Most students sat at zero or one vote, presumably themselves, while two students stood out from the crowd. Yaoyorozu had three votes, while Izuku had five.
“Alright, Midoriya is your class rep, and Yaoyorozu is your vice rep. Congratulations to you both.” Aizawa half-heartedly gestured towards the two students standing at the front of the room.
Izuku himself turned and looked up at the woman and gave her a wide grin. “I look forward to working with you, Yaoyorozu.”
She smiled softly back at him. “Likewise, Midoriya.”
He turned and looked at the class, scanning over the students looking up at him... although he carefully avoided looking at Mineta. He had a good idea of who voted for him, and he was glad that his gamble paid off. He felt his quirk flare slightly, causing his eyes to glow almost imperceptibly.
They are all mine.
And for the first time in a long time, Izuku didn’t try and resist. He simply smiled wider.
His eyes caught Uraraka’s who was looking proudly at him. As her eyes met his, she began to blush again and averted her gaze. Izuku furrowed his brow slightly, finally having the time to think about her.
He moved back to his seat, rubbing his chin as he ran through the events of the previous day. Ever since walking to class, Izuku hadn’t been able to shake the feeling like he had been forgetting something. With all the action of the battle trial and the aftermath, the whole day seemed like a blur.
“Hey, hey Midoriya, you really... grabbed that by the horn -!” Kaminari yelped in pain as one of Jirou’s jacks caught him mid-pun, causing much of the class to start laughing.
Instead of laughing, Izuku was frozen in his seat. ‘Grabbed by the…’
Suddenly, all the memories of the previous day came crashing back. His eyes went wide as he remembered everything : the accident before the battle trial started, the confession about his quirk, what he had told Uraraka when he was delirious...
“Tall women are hot, Uraraka...You are really hot.”
Izuku thought his face might catch on fire as he turned green and buried his head in his arms.
Midori had successfully avoided Mina for the rest of morning classes, but she wasn’t ready to give up yet... Lunch gave her a great opportunity to talk to him without something interrupting her. She waited in line for her food and sat down across the table from him, waiting for her opportunity.
But before Mina could find it, something else distracted her; Midori and Ochako had been awkward around each other since they both arrived on Saturday, but today was something different. They had been getting better each day, but now they couldn’t even look in the other’s general direction without blushing.
Mina couldn’t help but smile as they awkwardly avoided each other. Even though they weren’t trying to be, they were adorable. Midori was so flustered that he didn’t even notice Mina staring at him almost the entire time.
Eventually, she grew tired of being coy and decided to take matters into her own hands. Midori wouldn’t want to talk in public, so she would just have to ask him to speak in private... She promised herself that this wasn’t just an excuse to get some alone time with him.
She noticed how distracted he was, so she reacted over and tapped him on the head with one of her chopsticks. He blinked and looked at her with a slightly worried look on her face, tilting his head slightly.
‘He has no right to be that adorable!’ She smiled at him, but then remembered what she was doing.
“Can I speak to you in pri-”
Suddenly, an alarm began to blare through the lunch room, followed by a recorded voice. “Warning, level 3 security breach. All students, please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion and return to your dormitories.”
The ‘orderly’ part did not happen, as the lunchroom immediately devolved into chaos. A stampede of students began pushing and shoving out of the cafeteria, creating a human traffic jam. People were shouting in panic and fear, elbows were flying and the crowd was only getting denser at time went on.
Her friends had managed to stay close for the most part, but as the other students pressed in, they had to really get close. Mina found herself and Ochako shoved into Midori, arms forced to their sides as they were crushed together. The pink girl found her head squeezed between the two taller students’ chests; firm on one side, soft on the other.
She sighed softly. ‘I could get used to this…’
“What’s a level three security breach?!” Midori shouted as they were all crushed together.
“It means an intruder broke onto campus grounds!” Iida replied. Mina couldn’t help but laugh; of course Iida had read up on all of UA’s protocols.
“An intruder?! Who would be stupid enough to break into UA of all places?!”
“It was probably the damn press!” Bakugou was apparently on the other side of Midori, judging from how near his voice sounded.
“The press?!” Ochako replied. “Ow!” Someone jammed their elbow into her side as they shoved past.
“They’ve been swarming the gates since they found out All Might’s teaching here! Hey, fuck off!” Bakugou yelled back as someone crashed into him as well. “Did you not see them this morning?! They were all over the damn place!”
“It is the press!” Iida shouted from a little ways away, sounding like he was pressed up against something. “Look out the window!”
“People need to calm down before someone gets hurt!” Ochako shouted as she got squeezed even closer to Mina and Midori. However, despite Mina’s desires, eventually there was such a thing as too close. The pressure from the crowd caused her to get squeezed out from between her friends.
It was at this point that Mina got torn away from the rest of the group. Several students behind her started pushing harder, and took her along for the ride. She saw Ochako reach her hand out, but Mina was already too far away from her. Midori was staring at her with wide eyes, panic setting in.
The surge that Mina was caught in was not a gentle one, and as it crashed into another group of similarly-panicked students, things took a turn for the worse. Somebody tripped someone else and it created a domino effect, students falling on top of each other and people continued to shove from behind.
Mina couldn’t stay upright in the human tidal wave and was pushed off of her feet. She tried to claw her way up, but nobody was paying attention to her. She caught an elbow in the back of the head, knocking her down further. Her legs started getting stepped on as she cried out. “I’m being trampled!”
She looked around desperately for something to pull herself up with, but the students were moving too quickly and forcefully for her to gain her balance. She looked back, hoping to see her friends were nearby. She could barely make out Midori, who was staring straight at her. He was clutching his head slightly as his horns slowly stretched longer, while his eyes were wide and burning bright. They looked almost… angry.
She lost sight of him as she was dragged away by the undertow of people, but then a loud crash rang out, causing the students around her to finally stop.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
She flinched and looked up, spotting Midori hanging from the wall, high above everyone else. His right arm was transformed, it’s claws dug deep into the stone. His pants were shredded below his thigh as scaled, digitigrade legs burst from them, the right foot dug into the wall as well; she guessed that he had to have jumped at least fifteen feet high. Mina could make out high green scales covering his neck as he shouted.
“You are UA Students , not animals ! Act like it!”
There was something deeply unsettling with his voice, as if it caused the ancient, primal part of her brain to cower in fear. The students around her felt it too, all staring at the man hanging from the stone, staring down at them with intense, glowing eyes and his mouth turned up into a snarl, exposing his elongated teeth. Several of the students around her even took a hesitant step back from the man.
Mina could only stare as he scanned the crowd, eyes moving quickly in a decidedly inhuman fashion. His fierce gaze snapped to her’s as he finally found her, still sitting on the ground. Midori’s eyes were nearly as disconcerting as his voice; they were the eyes of a hunter and he wasn’t moving them off of her.
The other students began to move again, but in a much calmer way. Mina picked herself up, still staring back at the green-haired man. He never took his eyes off of her, staring her down with an intensity that caused that animal part of her brain to scream ‘predator!’
Even though Mina was in the middle of what should have been one of the most intimidating experiences of her life, she couldn’t help but smile and feel... exhilarated.
It took about ten minutes, but eventually the lunchroom cleared out. Midori hopped down as soon as Mina was able to stand up and walk over to her friends safely. As soon as he landed, the intimidating aura was broken and the man returned to normal.
Ochako quickly moved up to him and crouched down slightly next to him, speaking softly to him. Unfortunately for her, Mina hadn’t become the gossip-fiend she was today without carefully cultivating her eavesdropping skills.
“Deku, was that your-”
“Yes, but I was in control this time. It’s okay.” He smiled shakily at her, and then spotted Mina standing nearby. His eyes went wide as he swiftly moved over to her. “Ashido, are you okay? Are you hurt?” Midori fussed, worry in his voice.
“I’m fine, thanks.” She smiled up at him to assuage his concerns.
He let out a huge sigh and then tensed up as he realized the situation he was in. “Oh crap, I clawed a hole in the wall! Nezu is going to kill me!”
“Not true.” A small, squeaky voice from behind Midori caused them all to jump.
“P-President Nezu!” Poor Midori looked like he was about to pass out at the sight of the small, white, rodent dog thing or whatever the President of UA was.
“You won’t be punished for your actions here, Midoriya,” Nezu assured him. “In fact, I would like to thank you for taking charge of the situation and calming your fellow students down before anyone got seriously injured.”
“T-thank you, sir,” Midori stammered, “but what about the wall? I damaged school property and-”
“Cementoss can smooth over the damage in no time. No permanent damage has been done.” Nezu cut him off succinctly, then turned to the rest of the students gathered around him. “Classes for the rest of the day have been cancelled. Please return to your dorms and await further instructions from your homeroom teacher.”
“Yes, sir.” The others responded immediately.
Midori let out another great sigh, his shoulders slumping in relief. Mina’s eyes drifted down his body to his shredded pants. His transformation had mostly destroyed them, leaving everything below his upper thigh exposed to the air.
Mina wanted to think something inappropriate, but her brain wasn’t working that well. She only stared and let her mouth hang slightly agape as she stared at his muscular legs.
The man followed her eyes and then realized what she was staring at. He yelped and covered his legs with his backpack. “S-sorry, Ashido!”
Her trance was broken as he covered himself up. She blinked a couple times and closed her mouth, staring slightly dumbly at him.
“I-I know you wanted to talk to me, b-but I need to go get new pants! Sorry!” The man took off down the hallway, earning a reprimand from Iida for running in the halls.
Bakugou and Kiri started walking behind Iida as they all headed back to the dorms, Bakugou laughing the whole time. As they walked off, Mina and Ochako were the only ones left in the hallway.
Ochako sighed. “Oh, Deku…”
Mina found her voice this time. “I know, right? Did you see his legs?”
Ochako jumped, apparently having forgotten Mina was there. She looked down at Mina and began to blush slightly. “Yeah…” She spoke so softly Mina could barely hear her.
Mina smiled at her blush, and grew a small lilac dusting as well. ‘Why are you both so damn attractive?’
Their walk back to Heights Alliance was silent, both of them evidently in deep thought. Mina was staring at the ground, thinking through the events of the week so far. ‘The way he looked at me… and whatever Ochako and him were talking about afterwards… it has to do with what happened yesterday, right? I have to get to the bottom of this.’
She sighed audibly. ‘It would have been so much simpler if I was just in 1-B…’
The rest of the afternoon passed mostly uneventfully. Midori had come back downstairs after changing into casual clothes, including a t-shirt that boldly declared ‘t-shirt’. Mina rolled her eyes but couldn’t help smiling at the strange, endearing garment. The man refused to make eye-contact with her for the next few hours, which made her both annoyed and a little flattered.
But Mina could tell that Midori was acting out of character. She had known him for five days, and she had never really seen him relax like this. He was always doing something , be it training with Bakugou, reading the textbook, making food, or writing in that notebook of his. Right now however, he wasn’t doing much of anything. He was simply sitting on the couches, hanging out with her, Ochako, Tsu, Kiri and Bakugou. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought that he was waiting for something.
Dinner came, and Midori went out of his way to cook for everyone again. Satou didn’t let him do it alone this time, and even Tsu helped. Mina didn’t know if she had ever had better ramen; she could definitely get used to this, and judging from the noises of satisfaction coming from the other girls she was sitting with, they could too. Mina noted a small, almost nostalgic look that Yaomomo and Midori exchanged when he served her. She made a mental note to question her about it later.
After dinner, when the sun was setting, Mina was sitting on the couch again with Midori. The other four had dispersed to do homework, workout or otherwise head to their rooms. This made Mina even more suspicious as she sat near him, watching him talk to Kaminari who was sitting with them. Bakugou and Kiri had left with Satou to go work out, and Midori had declined to go with them, even after the rather calm day of school.
Mina was glad for the opportunity to get him on his own and finally grill him about what had happened the previous day. She couldn’t help but feel concerned for him, especially with how Ochako seemed to fuss over him at lunch. Something was going on, and she felt like it was her duty to find out what. Midori wouldn’t want to talk about it publicly, she had figured out that much, so she just needed a way to get rid of Kaminari.
Fortunately for her, as she was formulating a plan, there was a loud knock at the front door of the dorm. Kaminari leapt up from his seat with an emphatic “I’ll get it!”
He began to quickly move over to the door and Mina took the opportunity to lean over to Midori to make her move. She noticed that he was watching the door expectantly, but continued anyway. “Midori, I really-”
Kaminari opened the door and promptly screamed, causing everyone in the room to look at him. He turned and ran back towards the group, panic on his face. “Why is the number nine hero at our dorm?!”
‘A hero?! Wait, number nine?! That means…’
With this, Midori also leapt from his seat, vaulting over the couch and sprinting towards the door. The other students saw his reaction and, already on edge from Kaminari’s reaction, began to freak out as well.
“Keep the hero nerd away from the pro!” Kyouka warned loudly. Several of the other students realized what she was saying: if Midori had freaked out so much over Lunch Rush, what would he do around a top ten hero?
Stepping through the front door was a beautiful woman just a bit shorter than Mina, wearing her elegant, copper hair over her right eye. She wore a long, black cheongsam that exposed her dense, refined musculature of her arms and shoulders. Mina stared with her mouth agape. Her favorite hero in the whole world was standing just a few meters away.
‘Ryukyu?! But why?’
Iida had moved to intercept Midori, hoping to stop him before he harassed Ryukyu. The green-haired simply ducked under Iida’s extended arms, deftly avoiding him without missing a beat. Midori was on the pro hero in seconds, and rapidly threw his arms around her, crushing the much smaller woman into his chest.
Mina contained the pang of envy she felt in her stomach as she and the rest of the room screamed . “Midoriya! Unhand her at once, that is entirely inappropriate!” Iida chopped the air sternly.
Then everyone stopped. Ryukyu was hugging him back, eagerly returning his crushing strength. Mina took a mental step back. ‘Oh, right. Dragon. Midori, Stormclaw, Ryukyu. How did I not realize that yet?’ She hit herself on the head. ‘I’ve been really distracted this week.’
The rest of the room seemed to make this connection themselves, and quickly relaxed. Midori let go of the woman and turned back to the classroom. “Everyone, please meet Ryuko Tatsuma, my cousin.”
The woman bowed slightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you. Izuku has told me much about you.” Her smile was kind and genuine.
Now it was Mina’s turn to feel indignant. She ran forward to join the crowd of her classmates that were surrounding the hero. Much to Ryukyu’s credit, she didn’t seem put-off by the pressure; she was certainly used to crowds as a top ten hero. Mina pointed an accusatory finger at Midori, just as Kaminari had done on Monday. “Why didn’t you tell me you were related to Ryukyu! I mean, I should have figured that out, but still!”
Midori looked sort of sheepish and took a step back from Mina’s intensity, but it wasn’t him that responded to her. “You must be… Ashido, right?” Ryukyu tipped a knowing finger in her direction. This caused Mina to begin turn lilac.
‘Midori told her about me?!’ She bowed slightly, more to hide her blush than anything. “I’m Mina Ashido, it’s truly an honor to meet you!”
“I was surprised to hear about someone with an acid quirk. My time is limited, so please excuse me.” She turned to the door, beckoning Izuku to follow her. “Perhaps next time I visit I could give you some pointers?” She waved to the class. “It was nice to meet you all, sorry I can’t stay longer.” And with that, the door shut and Ryukyu and Midori were gone.
The class around her was talking about the event that had just transpired, but Mina wasn’t listening. She was standing stock-still, mind racing. ‘Pointers?! Personal advice from one of the greatest and most beautiful heroes in Japan?!’ She frantically tried to calm herself down.
Then she realized something else. ‘Interrupted again!’ Her frustration overpowered her fangirling. For the third time that day, she had been stopped from confronting Midori and she was getting tired of it. She was ready to try something a little more… drastic.
Izuku returned to the dorm nearly an hour later, after saying goodbye to Ryuko. He normally went to his father for advice, but it was always good to get a different perspective on things. After all, none of his family’s quirks worked exactly the same. And besides, his father was still out of town for a couple more days.
He always found himself feeling better after spending time with his cousin. She was humble, kind and gregarious; a great friend and a great mentor. The… incidents of the past few days had been weighing heavily on his mind, and while he couldn’t say that all of his doubts had been assuaged, he felt a lot better.
He wiped the final tears from his eyes as he walked back inside the dorm, hoping his eyes weren’t too red. None of the other students were still in the common room, much to his relief. He made his way quickly up to his room on the second floor, ready to be done with the day.
But sometimes, things don’t work out the way you planned.
He put his key in the lock and turned the handle, slowly opening his door. What happened next seemed to be both a blur and in slow-motion. His room came into view and he immediately noticed that there was someone in his room. A mistake.
INTRUDER
His quirk flared with such intensity that he had no hope of controlling it. In an instant, he had dashed forward and tackled the interloper. His forearms shifted as his eyes glowed and his horns grew. The intruder was pinned to the ground as Izuku held their arms down with his clawed hand, and held their legs down with his own.
His teeth grew and he growled in the trespassers face, venom barely contained. His face was contorted into pure rage and indignation as his deadly fangs hung inches from the face of the person on the ground.
“Midori?”
Notes:
See you all next time.
Chapter 17: Heart to Heart
Summary:
Izuku and Mina have a long chat.
Notes:
Thanks to mattybeach, Epsilon110 and epicderpybro2 for being my beta readers.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Just like that, Izuku could think again. The surging fury of his quirk disappeared as quickly as it had arisen once he heard the nickname. The scales and claws on his hand swiftly receded, and his fangs shrunk back to their normal size. His eyes went wide with horror as he saw Ashido looking back up at him. He tried to sputter some sort of apology, but he was so ashamed and appalled with himself that he couldn’t make his throat work.
Ashido, on the other hand, had no such issues. Her eyes weren’t filled with fear like Izuku expected, but with confusion and a degree of mischief. Her mouth curled into a cruel smirk as Izuku stared at her. “This is pretty forward, Midori…”
He was utterly frozen; no longer holding her down as much as paralyzed on top of her. She shrugged his hands off of her arms and reached up. “Not that I mind, I~ zu~ ku~” She wrapped her arms around his neck, her hand accidentally stroking his green ridge. Izuku instinctually leaned into the contact as a low groan escaped his throat.
Ashido’s eyes went wide as Izuku’s body finally snapped back into action. He flung himself backward, off of her and onto the floor, covering his face with his arms. Izuku was half-expecting his face to actually catch fire with how hot it was feeling. The woman’s smile grew wider as she sat up to face him. “What was that? ”
“I, uh,” Izuku’s throat was working, but his brain still was frozen.
“I was hoping to just make you broccoli for me again.” her eyes narrowed again as she regained her smirk. “But that was…” Izuku noticed a small dusting of lilac on her cheeks as he peeked out from under his arms.
At long last, Izuku managed to find his voice. “W-why aren’t you afraid of me?”
She looked even more confused than before. “Should I be?”
“Yes!” he answered immediately. “Or, uh, no!” He sighed and put his head in his hands. “Ashido, I just… how can you not be afraid of me after that?”
She smiled at him, not even thinking about her answer. “I knew you wouldn’t hurt me, Midori.” She giggled lightly. “I trust you.”
For the second time in two days, Izuku heard those words echo in his mind. He looked up from the floor, small tears of guilt forming in the corners of his eyes as he repeated the same question he asked to the other woman to say that to him. “...why?”
Ashido put a finger to her chin and thought for a moment. “Hmm, I guess I just do? That’s not really an answer, is it?” She giggled a bit and kept thinking. “You saved me earlier today, that counts for a lot… and you’ve made friends with most of the other students in our class, so you’re clearly a good dude… oh!” She pointed her finger at him. “And you have horns!”
Izuku stared at her for a few seconds, blinking. She threw her arms up in exasperation. “That last one was a joke, come on , Midori!”
“T-thank you, Ashido, but…” Izuku turned his gaze away from her, clearly wanting to say something, but looked back up after deciding against it, at least for now. “Why are you in my room? H-how are you in my room?”
Ashido narrowed her eyes slightly at his pause and pulled out a small leather pouch from her pocket. “Lockpicking kit.”
“You have a lockpicking kit?” Izuku raised his eyebrow at her.
She looked at the kit in her hand and back to him. “No.”
He blinked and sputtered a bit, causing the intruder to giggle. “You know how to use a lockpicking kit? Why?”
Ashido shrugged and put the kit away. “It’s a useful skill to have. I could teach you if you want. It’s much more subtle than kicking a door down, you know?” Her eyes drifted down from his face. “Although with those legs of yours I’m sure you don’t have a problem with that.”
Izuku felt his face begin to green again and tried to quickly change the subject. “Yeahsuremaybelater. B-but you didn’t tell me why you’re in my room.”
She got up into a kneeling position and crossed her arms. “I’m tired of being interrupted. You are going to tell me the truth about what happened yesterday, and you’re going to do it now. No more excuses, no more interruptions.”
“You could’ve just waited for me to come back and knocked on my door!” Izuku threw his arms wide in protest. “That way I wouldn’t have-”
“That’s exactly why I broke in!” she interrupted him swiftly. “I figured that since you got so uptight about me pushing past you, being in here without you knowing would be even worse.” She rubbed the back of her head and grinned sheepishly. “I didn’t expect a reaction like that though…” She blushed a little harder.
Izuku’s eyes went wide with surprise. “You… you…” He stared at her for a few seconds more as his mind processed what she had said. Then, realization dawned on him.
Izuku couldn’t help it. A huge smile broke across his face and he looked at her with a mixture of adoration and awe. “You played me.”
Ashido put her hands on her hips and puffed her chest out proudly. “Sure did!” She leapt to her feet and pointed a finger down at him. “And since you attacked me, you owe me an explanation! You have to tell me what’s been going on; it’s only fair because I was a victim .” She smirked down at Izuku, his smile faltering.
Izuku felt his quirk flare slightly; a small pressure growing in his head, pushing him to comfort her. He hung his head. “Okay.” He sighed heavily. “You’re right, you deserve to know.”
Ashido smiled wide. “Good!” She stepped over and took a seat on the floor, leaning up against his bed and patting the spot on the ground next to her. “Come here and tell me.”
He crawled over and sat next to her, their shoulders only a few inches from each other. Izuku looked at the ground between his legs for a few moments, gathering his thoughts and figuring out where he wanted to start. To her credit, Ashido was waiting patiently. After almost a minute of silence, he leaned back, resting his head on the bed while he stared at the ceiling. “Ashido, are you familiar with quirk adaptation?”
“Course I am. ‘The process by which our bodies become better able to use our quirks’, or something, right?” She mockingly repeated a line from an old textbook.
“Right. For example, I assume your body has become increasingly resistant to acid over the years.”
“Yep.”
Izuku sighed again as he braced himself. “Well, my adaptations are mostly mental. I’ve got what amounts to a voice in my head.” He waited for her to say something, but she just sat there, listening intently. He looked away from her. “My whole family has it. At least the ones with the dragon quirk. So my dad, my cousin, me, et cetera. We call the voice ‘instincts’, and honestly, calling it a voice is a little dishonest.”
Ashido was still just listening, making Izuku feel a little better that she wasn’t judging him outwardly, at least not yet. “It’s not a separate entity, per se, it’s my own thoughts, but different. It’s really hard to explain. My instincts are me, but they’re not my thoughts, but at the same time, they are. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, I know, but that’s the best way I can explain it.”
“But what does this have to do with quirk adaptation?” Ashido finally spoke up, not a trace of judgment or derision in her voice, just curiosity.
“Our instincts are necessary for us to use our quirk to its fullest potential.” He stared at the posters of his father across from his bed. “For us to use our greatest powers and our maximum strength, we have to work together with our instincts. Here, you’ve seen how Stormclaw and Ryukyu fight, right?”
Ashido nodded firmly. “Sure have. They fight a lot like you do, transforming limbs and stuff as they need it. They only go full dragon sometimes.” She sighed dreamily. “I wish they did it more often, though. It’s super cool.”
Izuku laughed once. “Yeah, exactly. A full draconic transformation takes a lot of stamina and it requires for the person to be fully in-sync with their quirk. But our instincts go further than that, they’re a constant in our lives. We have to learn to live with them and work with them.” Izuku closed his eyes as he leaned his head back onto the bed.
“That’s really cool.” She had some awe in her voice. Izuku’s eyes snapped open and he turned to look at her. “So what kind of stuff does it tell you to do?” She gasped slightly, her face filled not with fear, but with wonder. “Did it tell you to tackle me?”
“S-sort of,” Izuku began. He sighed again. “But it doesn’t exactly just ‘tell’ me stuff. If it was just a voice telling me what to do, then I could probably ignore it. But like I said, it’s not something separate from me. It is me. I can fight it, but if I ignore it, it grows stronger, and if something sets it off really hard, it flares too hard for me to control.” He gripped his head with both hands, remembering the pain of his quirk. “When it gets too strong, it drowns out the rest of me, leaving me mostly at its mercy. It’s honestly… really scary sometimes.”
Ashido eyes went wide as he held his head. “All those times you looked like you were having a headache… when you were holding your head… those were just your quirk yelling at you and what, you trying to resist it?”
Izuku smiled sadly and nodded.
Ashido paused for a moment, staring at the ground. “What sort of things does it say to you?”
Izuku looked away again and the two sat in silence for several seconds. He transformed his hand and stared down at the claw, flexing it a few times. “Ashido… why do you want to become a hero?”
The woman was seemingly mesmerized by his quirk, staring intently at his hand as he flexed it with a slight smile on her face, but at his question, Ashido’s expression turned to confusion. “Why do I- hey! Don’t think you can distract me.” She pointed a finger at him accusingly.
He sat up a little straighter at her sudden accusation. “No, no, I’m not. I promise I’m going somewhere with this.”
She eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then relaxed. “If you say so...” Ashido straightened herself out and puffed her chest slightly. “I don’t like bullies. People who abuse or hurt others because they’re different or just because they’re weak are the lowest of the low.” Izuku couldn’t help but smile at the conviction in her voice. “I want to help people. I want to protect those who can’t defend themselves. I want to protect those who are attacked just because of what they look like or what their quirk is or whatever else outside of their control.”
Izuku smiled wider. “I would have liked to have been your friend for my entire life, Ashido.”
The woman looked surprised for a split second before she gave him a big smile, their eyes meeting for the first time. He noticed a small dusting of her purple blush on her cheeks as she grinned. Izuku stared at her, not to admire her, but to analyze her. She evidently noticed his appraising stare as her grin faltered slightly under his intense gaze.
“Ashido…” Izuku said, still staring at her. “You were one of those kids, weren’t you?”
She flinched and shrunk away; it was her turn to avoid his eyes. The woman ran a hand through her messy pink hair as she nodded slowly. “I’ve always stuck out, you know? Weird, pink girl with black eyes and horns? I look like an alien.”
Izuku moved himself a little closer to the woman next to him, hoping to comfort her by pushing his shoulder against hers. “I really like how you look, Ashido; I love your shade of pink.”
Her eyes widened slightly and lilac danced over her cheeks as she seemed to melt into the contact. She recovered before Izuku realized what he had said and smiled widely at him. “Oh, I’m not bothered by it anymore,” her eyes got a teasing gleam to them ”But~ it’s good to know that you think I’m pretty, Midori.” She stuck her tongue at him, causing him to begin to sputter and backtrack.
She laughed before quickly regaining her composure. “But when I was younger, I got picked on a lot. I learned to ignore the jerks and I always had a lot of friends, but their words still hurt.” She held up her hand, staring at her own palm. “But my quirk… there was a bunch of kids who called my quirk a ‘bad guy’s quirk.’ Acid isn’t exactly nice, you know? I can mess someone up really easily.”
Izuku nodded, staring off into space in thought. “You want to prove to yourself that your quirk isn’t evil, don’t you?”
Ashido started again, her eyes going wide. “Was it that obvious?”
The green-haired man looked down to the floor again, his shoulders slumping as he sighed. “I could tell because I’m here for the same reason. Don’t worry, Ashido. Your quirk isn’t evil. I’m the one here with the villain’s quirk.”
Ashido giggled. “Now you’re just trying to make me feel better. Don’t worry about me, Midori, you don’t have to lie.”
“I’m serious,” Izuku pleaded, “think about it. Why do you think I’m always resisting my instincts?”
Ashido froze.
“It’s depressingly deterministic, even. Have you ever noticed that there are a relatively large number of villains in my family?”
She hesitated and rubbed the back of her head. “I-I guess?”
“Our family quirk is divided into two broad categories: metallic and chromatic. Metallic dragons have noble instincts, for the most part, while chromatic… less so. There are five types in each category that we’ve seen so far. There could be more, but we haven’t seen anyone manifest something outside of those ten.” He held up his hand and began to count on his fingers.
“Metallics are brass, like Gallant, bronze, like Stormclaw and Thunderwing, copper, like Ryukyu, gold, like Purifier, or silver, like Silverlight.” He held up one finger as he numbered each one, then brought his other fist up. “On the other hand, sorry, no pun intended, on the other hand, for chromatics, there is red, like Terrorflame, blue, like Fulgurite, white, like Frostheart, black like that villain that attacked Musutafu ten years ago, do you remember that?”
Ashido was sitting completely still, taking in the information he was spouting. She nodded shakily.
He looked at the four raised fingers on his hand and hesitated. “And… green. Like me.” He raised his final finger as he transformed his hand, showing off his green scales. He felt tears forming in his eyes again. “I’m born to be a villain, Ashido. It was chosen for me before I could even talk.”
He threw his hands onto his head again, clutching his skull as he revealed his secret. “I fight these instincts because they tell me to do terrible things. They took control when I saw you in here, that’s why I tackled you. After Monday, they wanted Mineta…” He struggled to spit the word out. “...dead.” He shuddered at the memory. “So no, Ashido. I’m not trying to make you feel better, I really do have a villain’s quirk.”
Ashido paused for a moment, thinking. “...I thought I told you that you couldn’t distract me, Midori.” Izuku turned to look at her in surprise, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “What does that have to do with what happened yesterday? You said they told you to hurt Mineta, but I can’t help but notice that you didn’t.”
Izuku let his hands fall from his head and back onto his knees. “It’s all thanks to Uraraka, really. She snapped me out of it and calmed my instincts.”
“Really? How?”
“By saying my name- or uh, my nickname. She said ‘Deku’ and my instincts calmed, if just for a moment.” He waved his hands in front of him, then paused and looked at Ashido again. “Just like what happened earlier with you.”
Ashido’s eyes went wide. “You’re saying…” She paused as she thought. “That’s right. You opened the door and it was like you were possessed. You t-threw me down like I weighed nothing and pinned my arms with those big hands of yours and your eyes were wild and glowing,” she fidgeted next to him, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, “and those horns of yours were growing and those big, sharp teeth of yours were snarling so close to me...” She trailed off, rubbing her thighs together as she sighed, her blush growing more and more vibrant.
Izuku blinked a few times as she quickly regained her composure. “Then I called you ‘Midori’ and it’s like you snapped out of it. That’s what Ochako did to you, too?” He nodded slowly, still a little confused. “Okay, well I have a question for you now, mister evil dragon boy.” Her tone was so sarcastic that he didn’t even flinch. “Why do you want to be a hero?”
This was a question Izuku could answer very easily. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to be. I want to save people and I want them to feel safe when they see me. I want to be the world’s greatest hero and save everyone, just like All Might. I want to make villains think twice, just like my dad.” His voice was full of determination and drive.
The woman smiled at him. “That doesn’t sound like someone who’s born to be a villain.”
Izuku smiled. “You and Uraraka both have been… I don’t get it. You both listened to me tell you all this terrible stuff and you both just took it in stride and encouraged me. I don’t think I deser-”
He was cut off as the pink woman put her finger in front of his mouth. She didn’t touch him, but she was very close. He resisted the desire to move his mouth forward as she spoke. “You stop that. We both are encouraging you because we can tell that you’re a great guy, Midori. You’re a great guy who’s got the cards stacked against him. What I’m hearing is that you need some friends in your corner. Who knows about this besides Ochako… and I’m guessing Bakugou?”
“Here at UA? Outside of you three, just All Might, President Nezu, and Recovery Girl. The latter two were here when my dad, uncle, and cousin all went here. My dad told them all about my… issues. Professor Aizawa knows a little, too, but not the whole story. ”
“And you’re telling me that Ochako and I seem to have the ability to calm you down if your ‘issues’ get out of hand?”
Izuku nodded hesitantly as his eyes caught her mischievous smirk returning.
“So you’re just a big, mean dragon in need of a couple of dragon wranglers, huh?” She was grinning ear-to-ear, her face filled with cruelty, but her eyes filled with kindness.
He felt his blush returning, but also felt his quirk flare.
Mine.
Izuku’s face grew hotter as he saw Ashido notice his eyes glowing slightly.
“ Oh~, did your quirk like that?” Her eyes narrowed as she teased him, but Izuku noticed the small blush on her face grow slightly.
“I-I-I-”
“Oh, hush, I’m just teasing you.” Ashido giggled. They both smiled and looked away from each other for a few seconds as the air in the room grew more serious. She leaned further into the shoulder contact. “Midori… thanks for telling me all that. It means a lot to me that you trust me that much.” She blinked and looked up as if she had just realized something. “Wait, why do you trust me that much?”
Izuku stopped. ‘This is some serious déjà vu.’ He rubbed his head awkwardly. “Uraraka and I had this same conversation yesterday… and I’ll tell you what I told her.” She looked at him with anticipation. “I, uh, I don’t know.”
Her expression fell in exasperation. “I already used that line, Midori.”
He tried to recover the best he could, waving his hands in front of him. “I-I guess you’ve just been really nice to me. I feel like we’ve been friends since you first saw me on Saturday.”
“That’s cause we have.” Ashido didn’t leave room for argument.
Izuku laughed awkwardly. “Y-yeah. Right. You’ve been so honest with me, that I felt like I had to be honest with you…” He hesitated again but decided if he was in for a penny, he was in for a pound. “Besides, my instincts have taken a liking to you. Remember lunch?”
Ashido’s eyes lost focus and a dopey grin grew across her face. “Yeah…”
“That was my instincts and I working together. They wanted to protect you, to not let anything happen to you; I agreed. It’s much easier to think when your mind isn’t split against itself.” He rolled his quirk over his fingers, transforming them one after the other.
“So you’re saying I have a ferocious green dragon looking out for me now?” She emphasized the word ‘ferocious’ in a way that made Izuku feel weird. He couldn’t exactly put his finger on it, but it wasn’t exactly a bad feeling. Like she was implying something… else.
Before he could put more thought into it, she snapped her fingers. “Wait a second! You told me on Monday that you get ‘very protective of what’s mine’. The thing in the locker room… the thing at lunch today… what you’re telling me about Mineta…” She leveled her accusing finger at him once more. “You’re very protective of Ochako... and me.”
Izuku blinked, his blush faltering behind his burgeoning pride. “You… you’re really brilliant, Ashido.”
“Flatterer. It wasn’t that hard.” She crossed her arms but was still smiling at the compliment.
He looked down again. “My instincts have taken a liking to you, as I said. They can be very possessive and very protective. I-I’m sorry if that comes off as creepy, but there’s no point lying to you now.”
Ashido eyed him suspiciously. “If you think for a second you’re going to control me, Midori, then we’re going to have a problem.”
Izuku eyes went wide with shock. “No! Never! I-it just…” He stopped and thought for a moment, then remembered his conversation from yesterday. “If anything, it-it gives you some power over me, not the other way around. Uraraka figured that out.”
The pink woman looked at him suspiciously once more, but for an entirely different reason.
“We already talked about it in fact: my quirk listens to you. Since it likes you, I guess it wants to make sure you want to stay around me. Uraraka said that if my instincts want to keep her around, then they can’t k-kill anyone.” He laughed awkwardly at how dark that sounded.
“And that worked?”
Izuku nodded. “I didn’t have a single incident this morning with Mineta. You can’t imagine how big of a relief it is.”
They sat in silence for at least a minute. Izuku saw Ashido deep in thought and opted not to interrupt her. Eventually, she looked like she reached a decision and stood up, seeming to regret breaking their shoulder contact. He rose to his feet as well, Ashido looking up at him. “I’ll be looking out for you now, Midori, just like you’re looking out for me. I think you deserve to be a hero, and if I can help you get there, I’ll do whatever I can.”
Izuku smiled and felt some tears form in the corners of his eyes again. “T-thank you, Ashido. I… I don’t know if I can do it without you and Uraraka. I really do need your help.” Her eyes were filled with enough kindness and determination that Izuku’s restraint temporarily failed.
He reached forward and threw his arms around the pink girl, bringing her into a tight hug. She seemed startled and even pulled back at first, almost instinctively. After only a moment, she seemed to come back to her senses and melted into his embrace, throwing her own arms around him and pushing herself into him as much as she could.
Izuku’s nose was filled with the sweet smell of her hair, and he adored how her arms and body felt pressed up against him. The woman was firm and fit, but soft in all the right places. Without thinking, Izuku ran one of his hands up her spine, feeling her defined muscles, while the other combed through her pink locks, holding her head close.
She seemed to be enjoying herself too; Izuku couldn't help but blush deeper as Ashido buried her face into his chest and squeezed him with all of her might. A soft, high pitched mewling rumbled up from the woman as his hand moved up and down her spine. Izuku nearly stopped breathing as he felt the woman push one of her thighs against his and lean in, putting more of her weight on him.
They stood there for almost half a minute, greatly enjoying each other's company, before Izuku slowly let her go, his face doing it's full-blown broccoli impression. “S-sorry, I couldn’t help myself. You don’t know how much this means to me.”
Ashido seemed hesitant to release him as she squeezed even harder for a few seconds, but eventually loosened her grip and stepped back. She was blushing more furiously than he had ever seen her before as she looked up into his green eyes. The two students stood in silence, staring into each other's eyes with their faces nearly glowing with their unusual blushes. After what felt like nearly an eternity, Ashido finally broke the silence. “It's f-fine, Midori, I’m glad that I could help. I-I should let you get some rest, though.” She turned and wasted no time making her way to the door, as if she suddenly had to be someplace very important. “Good night!” She waved and quickly, but quietly, closed his door behind her.
“Good night!” He barely was able to return her farewell before the door closed and he was alone again. Izuku rubbed his hand through his hair and let out a great sigh, releasing tension in his body. He took off his shirt, finally getting ready for his much-needed sleep.
‘I know dad said that I hoard people, but those two… they feel different than the others… why? ’ He flopped down into his bed and kept thinking until he finally drifted off to sleep.
Mina rubbed her arms as she walked down the hallway outside of Midori’s room. Her mind was reeling from everything she had just learned; she had expected something when she broke in, but nothing like this. Honestly, it made a lot of sense; it explained how weird he’d been acting.
She still had a million questions to ask him, but those would come in time. For now, she had something else she needed to do. As Mina walked up the steps to her floor, she couldn’t help but think back to the hug they had just shared. ‘I can’t believe how much I needed that. I feel so much… happier.’
She pushed the thoughts out of her mind as she stopped in front of a door on the fourth floor. Not her room, but room 405. She knocked firmly on the door, hoping the woman inside wasn’t asleep.
Mina’s night wasn’t over yet; Ochako and her needed to talk.
Notes:
See you guys next time. Let me know what you thought about this chapter. :)
Chapter 18: More Answers, More Questions
Summary:
Mina and Ochako have a talk and the class goes on a field trip.
Notes:
Thanks to mattybeach, Epsilon110 and epicderpybro2 for being my beta readers for this chapter. Check out their stories too!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A few seconds later, Uraraka’s door opened. The brunette stood there, head cocked to the side in confusion as she looked down at the pink woman. “Mina? You need something?”
“Can we talk?” Ashido smiled, but less brightly than normal; her thoughts were weighing her down too much for her to put full effort into her grin.
Uraraka seemed to realize that something was amiss and stepped aside, letting Ashido into her rather simple room. The taller woman closed the door behind her before speaking again, her face full of concern and worry. “Are you alright, Mina? What’s this about?”
Ashido turned around in the middle of the room and rubbed her arm awkwardly, not meeting her friend’s gaze. “It’s… it’s about Midori.”
‘Oh, crap.’ Uraraka blanched. ‘I should’ve expected this. Deku trusted me, I can’t just tell her about his quirk. Come on, Ochako, think of an excuse.’ Ashido waited awkwardly for Uraraka to finally form words. “W-what about him?”
Ashido looked down, letting her pink hair cover her face as she smirked. It wasn’t her fault that it was just too fun to tease her friends. “Well, I’m worried about him.” She hid her smirk and put on a look of confused worry again as she looked back up at Uraraka. “He was acting all weird after class yesterday and I think something might be wrong.”
Uraraka began racking her brain for an excuse, but found nothing she didn’t think Ashido would immediately shoot down. She instead opted to buy more time for herself. “Wrong? W-what do you mean?”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed!” Ashido said scandalized, hamming up her part. “That weird thing in the locker room, that thing at lunch today. He’s so aggressive.” She looked down for a second. “It’s almost like he’s acting… villainous.”
Uraraka’s brain stopped trying to find an excuse and was instead filled with anger as Ashido’s words caused her to feel indignant and protective of Midoriya. “How dare you say that about Deku! He’s trying harder than any-”
She stopped suddenly as Ashido began laughing; Uraraka was really confused now. The pink girl smiled up at her, deciding to finally end her ruse. “It’s good to see you feel that way about him, too. I’m just kidding, Ochako.”
Uraraka crossed her arms in annoyance. “Did you just come here to tease me about Deku? If so, you can just leave. I need to get some sleep.”
Ashido’s smile faltered slightly. “That wasn’t the plan at first, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Sorry.” She winked at Uraraka, causing the brunette to roll her eyes. “But seriously, I did come here to talk about Midori. I actually just finished a nice, long chat with our local dragon boy. He told me a lot; I’m guessing most of the same stuff he told you yesterday.”
Uraraka let her arms go slack as she took a half-step back. “You mean…”
Ashido narrowed her eyes. “Does the word ‘instincts’ mean anything to you?”
The brunette’s eyes went wide as she covered her mouth. “H-he told you about that?”
Ashido nodded emphatically. “Yep. He told me a bunch, but I don’t think he told me everything. That’s why I wanted to come talk to you: I want to compare notes.” She turned and sat herself on Uraraka’s bed, crossing her legs and patting the spot in front of her. “And maybe some other stuff too.”
Uraraka walked over to the bed and sat down across from Ashido. “W-what did he tell you? I… I don’t want to tell you anything he didn’t tell you. It’s not my place.”
“You’re such a good friend, Ochako,” Ashido said with an honest smile. “We’re both lucky to have you.” Ashido mercifully decided not to comment on the blush her friend grew at those words and instead pretended not to notice. “But I think if we’re both going to help him, we need to be on the same page.”
Ashido straightened herself out on the bed and cleared her throat. “He told me about his instincts, first of all, about how they’re his own thoughts, but different or something. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense at first, but I think I’m starting to understand. He told me that it was his form of quirk adaptation, a way to help his body and his quirk work at their best.”
She sighed heavily and continued. “He told me that his instincts and quirk were something called ‘chromatic’, which meant that he was destined to be a villain, but he wanted nothing more than to be a hero. He said it reacted harshly to Mineta’s perving and wanted to hurt him real bad.”
The pink woman looked up into her friend’s eyes and smirked. “He also told me that you seemingly have the power to get him to stop.” Uraraka began to blush again and this time, Ashido leaned in a little closer. “ Guess what we found out ?” She leaned in even closer, propping herself up on her arms to not fall over. “I do too.”
Uraraka was getting a little tired of Ashido dropping bombs on her that made her freeze, but apparently her friend had a flare for the dramatic. “R-really?”
“Oh yeah, you should’ve seen it Ochako.” Ashido shivered slightly at the memory. “He was all riled up. He tackled me to the ground and pinned me down, then he snarled and growled in my face and that look in his eyes was so intense…” Her cheeks had turned a bright purple as she reminisced. “And then I just called him ‘Midori’ and it seemed to snap him out of it. He said it was just like what you did to him yesterday in class.”
Uraraka blushed furiously as Ashido fondly recalled her experience, her own mind going places she really wished it wouldn't. She pulled her legs up and tried to hide her face behind her knees.
“Oh, and he told me one last thing.” Ashido’s smile grew as she leaned in even closer. The pink girl was only a few inches away from her friend’s face, and both of them could feel the heat coming off each other’s blush. “His instincts are really protective of us, Ochako. They’ve taken a liking to us. But I think you already know that; he said you already told him that he can’t kill anyone if he wants to keep you around.”
Uraraka squeaked slightly as she fully hid behind her legs. ‘He told her that?! Why?!’ She breathed deep and sighed. ‘Well, I guess Mina is right. We’re both in this together now.’ She peeked over her legs and spoke so softly that she was almost whispering. “He said that his quirk ‘wanted me’. That’s how he saved me at the entrance exam. His quirk wanted the same thing he did, so he was able to really work with it and stop the zero-pointer.”
Ashido squealed a little. “Wanted you, huh? Girl, I told you that he was crazy about you.” Uraraka looked away, blushing harder. “And I know you’re crazy about him too. I saw how stupid the two of you were around each other today. Stop trying to hide and stop trying to deny it!”
Uraraka squeaked again and slowly came out from behind her legs, crossing them beneath her again instead. “Maybe I do like him…” she admitted.
Ashido cupped her face. “I knew it! What do you like most about him?! Tell me everything!”
“A-are we talking about boys now?”
“We’re talking about a boy. Don’t dodge the question, Ochako,” Ashido scolded.
Uraraka took a deep breath and nodded. “Well, he’s so earnest and passionate about being a hero, and he’s so friendly and I just sort of feel comfortable around him.”
“I feel the same way. There’s just something about him, isn’t there?” Ashido added. “You just sort of feel… safe around him, don’t you?”
Uraraka nodded again. “And I also feel like I want to keep him safe, too.”
Ashido leaned back onto her hands. “Ugh, same. Big, strong dragon who could snap me in half like a twig if he wanted to and he needs us to protect him.”
“Hey, we kick ass, remember?” Uraraka smiled playfully.
“Damn straight we do. I never said he wasn’t in good hands.” Ashido leaned back up and looked into Uraraka’s eyes. “But come on, it’s gotta be more than that. You think he’s hot, don’t you?” Seeing her friend’s blush return, she smirked and probed deeper. “What about him?”
“Do we really ha-”
“Yes.”
Uraraka sighed. “He’s obviously jacked. He’s muscular all over , but he’s still adorable.”
“I know!” Ashido interjected. “It’s so not fair!”
The brunette laughed softly. “Yeah…” She lost herself in her memories for a moment before continuing. “I… like his big eyes and that big, goofy smile he puts on… and…” She looked down, debating if she was ready to confront her feelings or not.
Ashido sensed blood in the water and leaned in closer. “Come on , Ochako, spill it. What~ ”
Uraraka took another deep breath, bolstering her resolve. “Ireallylikehishornsthey’resuperattractive.”
Ashido sputtered. “Nu uh, that doesn’t count. Enunciate your words, girl.”
Uraraka let out another great sigh as she admitted defeat. “I really like his horns, they’re super attractive to me for some reason. I… just want to look at them and touch them and stuff…” She blushed as she looked down.
Ashido grew a truly wicked smile. “Oh, is it just his horns~” She fluttered her eyelashes playfully at the brunette, who began to blush even harder and hid behind her legs again.
“...no…”
It was Ashido’s turn to freeze. She felt her heart begin to race faster as blood rushed to her face, causing her to turn a particularly vibrant shade of purple. ‘Is… is this really happening?’
Ashido leaned forward. “Did… did you just-”
“So!” Uraraka quickly tried to change the subject and for once, Ashido didn’t resist. “Why did he tackle you?”
“Oh, uh, I uh,” Ashido weaseled around for a bit, letting the blush fade slowly from her face. “I sort of broke into his room to confront him about the whole… thing .” She waved her hand as if gesturing to some unseen object. “He reacted… aggressively. I knew he would, he seemed very protective of his stuff, but I didn’t think it would be that aggressive.” She put a finger to her chin” Although, I guess we’re sort of his stuff too, yeah? His quirk has taken a liking to us and everything.”
“Don’t say it like that!” Uraraka exclaimed.
Ashido waved her hand dismissively but grew a mischievous grin. “Oh, you know what I meant.”
Uraraka let her shoulders drop. “That’s the kind of stuff he’s worried about, though. Aggressiveness he can’t control, impulses that he doesn’t want. It’s the reason he needs me- er, us. It’s the reason he wanted to quit UA…”
“He WHAT ?!” Ashido yelled as she stood up on her knees, managing to actually look slightly down at Uraraka.
“Keep your voice down! We don’t want to wake Momo!” Uraraka hissed quickly.
“He what?! ” Ashido repeated, quieter but no less intense.
“Did he tell you what happened yesterday in All Might’s class?”
“He told me that his instincts wanted Mineta dead but you stopped him before he could.” The pink girl raised her eyebrows in suspicious confusion.
Uraraka laughed sadly. “That’s… technically true but honestly, it was a lot more complicated than that.” She put her legs back down and rubbed her forehead. “We won the battle, right? Deku knocked all the lights out so I couldn’t see much, but I could barely make him out, standing over Mineta, his head low towards him. I don’t think you’ve ever seen him with a transformed head, but it’s a little… unsettling. He had his mouth open, Mina. He was that close.”
Ashido sat back down on the bed slowly, listening intently with a look of worry spreading across her face.
“I was able to help him break through and fight against his instincts, although I didn’t know it at the time. He staggered over to the wall and punched a hole in it.”
“We saw the light pour into the room on the camera, but we didn’t have an angle on Midori,” Ashido said quietly. “We could just see you, looking terrified. Then you ran off camera.”
The taller woman swallowed nervously. “He… he looked at me. He looked so scared… Then he roared and clutched his head and he… he jumped.”
Ashido gasped.
“I didn’t know what happened to me; my body just kinda moved on its own, without me even thinking. I jumped after him and managed to slow him down right before he hit the ground.” She held up her hand to stop her friend. “But that wasn’t the end of it. He got back up and flew off to another part of the city. I was able to find him by following the trail of destruction he left behind. When I finally caught up, he was beating his hands to a pulp against a building. I think he was trying to tire his quirk out.”
The pinkette resisted the urge to reach out and hug her friend. “So that’s what he’s fighting against…”
Uraraka nodded slowly. “And then I took him to Recovery Girl. Once he woke up… he told me about his quirk. The same things he told you. But he… he had given up. He was planning on quitting, giving up on his dream. He was so scared about hurting someone that he would have rather thrown his own life away, both literally and figuratively, just to avoid it.”
“I can’t believe that,” Ashido said, doubt nevertheless in her voice. “He told me about why he wants to become a hero. It’s like it’s the only thing he cares about.”
Uraraka nodded again. “Exactly. But he thanked me for ‘letting him leave UA just as a dropout, and not as a criminal.’”
“What did you do?”
“I told him no.” Determination suddenly burned in the brunette’s eyes, causing Ashido to gasp slightly.
A grin finally found it’s way back onto Ashido’s face. “You told him no? That he was what, not allowed to leave UA?”
“Yep.”
“Ochako, you are so badass I can hardly stand it!” Ashido pumped her fist as she forgot to keep her voice down again. “You saved his life, then you saved him again! I could just kiss you right now, and not just for the normal reasons!”
Ashido quickly clamped her hands over her mouth, but it was too late. Her lack of sleep and her excitement had caused her emotions to blow past her mental filter, exposing herself to her friend.
Uraraka began to blush again, but quickly felt her embarrassment give way to frustration. She put her hands on her hips and glared down at the pink woman. “Now you’re just confusing me, Mina. I’m too tired to deal with this right now: are you crushing on me or Deku?”
Ashido let her hands fall from her face as her blush crept in and her heart began to pound even faster. She breathed slightly heavier as she stared at the expectant gaze of Uraraka and debated how to respond. ‘Well, if I’m already in this deep…’ Ashido tried to smile confidently, but instead her nerves caused her to tremble. “B-both.”
Uraraka wasn’t expecting that .
Her own blush grew until her entire face was bright red. “W-what do you mean ‘ both’ ?!”
Ashido’s heart felt like it was about to jump out of her chest. ‘I’m not a schoolgirl anymore, why am I freaking out about this? I mean, I guess I’m technically still in school, but this is college!’ She fanned herself slightly, trying to chase the purple from her face.
“I mean that I’m crushing on both of you. And at the same time… and I was kinda… hoping that you were crushing on me back?” She rocked back and forth on the bed slowly. Finally getting this off her chest was making her feel a lot better and she could finally smile fully again. “I know you have a thing for Midori but-”
“Isn’t this a little fast, Mina?” Uraraka was covering her face with both hands and floating off the bed a little bit as she pleaded. “We haven’t even known each other for a week!”
Ashido’s looked away and pouted a little bit. “Yeah… yeah, you’re right. Sorry.” Uraraka released herself, dropping back onto the bed softly. “I meant what I said earlier though, Ochako. You’re such a good friend to have. I can tell that already.”
“T-thanks, Mina.” Uraraka desperately tried to chase the blush away from her face. ‘I don’t know what I’m feelin’, but even if I do like her, this is just too quick! I haven’t even sorted my feelin’s for Deku out yet...’
Ashido pulled her confidence back out from where it was hiding and smiled brightly at her blushing friend. “I wouldn’t want to risk that friendship for anything. Thanks for letting me get it out in the open, I feel a lot better.”
Uraraka felt inspired by Ashido’s confidence and tried to straighten up. “Of course, Mina. Anytime... But I think we should really be focusing on school now. We’re here to become heroes, right?”
Ashido nodded. “Right! I came here to talk about Midori, not this. Sorry for getting distracted!” She giggled, internally proud of herself for how quickly she had managed to regain her composure. “We’re a team now, Ochako. We’re in charge of our very own dragon and it’s our job to make sure he becomes the hero that he deserves to be.”
Uraraka nodded and clenched her fists, her eyes burning with determination. “Deku is counting on us. With our help, he’ll get a handle on his instincts and become a great hero one day. Until then, we gotta keep an eye on him.”
The pink woman giggled again. “Besides, it seems like he’s kinda being melodramatic about the whole ‘villainous quirk’ thing, you know? A big bad villain that has a weakness for a couple of hot babes, I mean come on. You handled him at his worst yesterday just fine, and I’m sure we can handle whatever happens, especially if we’re working together.”
Uraraka wished she could be as confident as Ashido, but the memory of the battle trial sat in the back of her mind. Regardless, she met her friend’s gaze and nodded. “For Deku.”
“For Midori.”
Uraraka and Ashido stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments. And then a few moments longer. Eventually Ashido leaned in just a bit, arms moving unconsciously. She caught herself and quickly broke eye contact and stood up, making her way to the door. “I’ll let you get some sleep, thanks for staying up to talk to me.” Ashido tried to keep her slight sadness out of her voice.
Uraraka stood up slowly, slight concern growing on her face as she looked at the back of her friend’s head. ‘She looked like she was gonna… ah come on, Ochako, live a little!’
The brunette took a couple quick steps forward and caught up with Ashido, putting a hand on her shoulder and spinning her around as she leaned down. The golden-eyed woman looked up at Uraraka in confusion for a moment before, for the second time that night, she felt arms wrap around her and bring her in for a hug.
Ashido gasped and felt herself recoil slightly in shock before her brain realized what was happening. She wrapped her own arms around Uraraka and returned the warm embrace, hooking her chin over the taller woman’s shoulder. She tried to burn the feeling of Uraraka’s body heat into her memory, hoping to hold onto it for as long as she could.
Uraraka took the opportunity to smell Ashido’s hair, just as Midoriya had done earlier. She smiled softly at the sweet smell and savored the sensation of her soft skin. ‘Maybe havin’ her around more wouldn’t be such a bad thing.’
They held onto each other for a few more precious moments before Uraraka brought herself back to her senses and slowly let go. Ashido reluctantly followed suit after holding on for another second or two. The two women stared at each other, blushes spreading across their respective faces. Ashido finally turned back around and opened the door quietly so as not to wake Momo next door. She gave a silent wave goodnight as she crept down the darkened hallway and back to her room.
Uraraka closed the door behind her and held her breath for a few seconds before letting out a great sigh. She shook her head softly, brushing her face with her brown locks as she pulled the covers back on her bed and layed down to sleep.
Mina rubbed her arms again as she crept back to room 408. ‘I can’t believe I got hugs from both of them today.’ She didn’t think she could have removed the ear-to-ear grin from her face if she wanted to.
Thanks to years of practice, she silently opened the lock to her room and slipped inside, closing the door behind her. She quickly changed out of her day clothes and slipped on something more comfortable as her sleepiness finally caught up to her.
Mina yawned as she pulled back her polka-dotted sheets and got into her bed. She pulled her weighted blanket over herself and smiled fondly as she drifted off to sleep. It felt… less necessary than before.
‘Breaking into Midori’s room was the best idea I ever had.’
The next day of class was surprisingly uneventful. They had their second Hero Basic Training course with All Might, which went much smoother than the previous one, especially if you asked Uraraka or Midoriya. No alarms interrupted lunch and there were no threats of expulsion from their homeroom teacher. Midoriya cooked dinner again for the class, with the help of Satou this time. Uraraka was much less resistant to enjoying the delicious meal than she was on Sunday.
All-in-all, it was a normal day at UA. Or, at least what the students felt like should be a normal day; it was the first one of its kind that they had experienced. They twenty students of Class 1-A did their work, hung out together and went to sleep, hoping that Friday would be just as simple so they could get to the weekend quickly and easily.
However, some things were just not meant to be.
The next morning started as normal as any other. Izuku got up early to go on a quick jog with Katsuki and Kirishima, who had decided to come along that morning. They got back to the dorms and were able to grab a quick shower before eating a filling breakfast and heading to class.
While Izuku considered all twenty students in class his friends, (yes, even Mineta , you stupid quirk) , there was a group that he certainly felt closer to; Uraraka, Kirishima, Ashido, Iida and Katsuki were just easier for him to get along with. He still made a point to spend time socializing with Yaoyorozu, Tsunotori, Satou and all the other students, but when he didn’t put effort into facilitating events, it was the group of five that he seemed to spend the most time with.
Speaking of Yaoyorozu, Izuku noticed that she seemed to be avoiding him. Whenever he talked to her, she seemed happier; Izuku had a talent for making her laugh, one that he had developed years ago. He figured that she would have wanted to spend more time around him because of that, but Yaoyorozu seemed to always find a convenient excuse to excuse herself whenever he got her laughing.
Izuku filed that thought away for later as they arrived at their homeroom a few minutes before class started. Katsuki and Izuku walked to the far side of the room while the other four continued to talk near the door as their seats were all close together. The greenette made a point to greet Tooru and Yaoyorozu, who were chatting quietly near the front of the room and took his seat.
As the bell rang, the door flew open and Aizawa stepped inside. Izuku narrowed his eyes and racked his brain for the hundredth time as he glared at his professor. ‘Who are you…’
“I have a surprise for you today,” Aizawa droned in his usual bored manner. “All of your classes are cancelled.”
A cheer erupted from around the room from nearly everyone; Izuku noted with amusement the look of betrayal on Iida’s face. Aizawa’s glare flashed around the room, somehow immediately quieting the celebrating students. “Your classes are cancelled because we’re going on something of a field trip today.” He pressed a button on a remote in his pocket and the four compartments on the far side of the room hissed open.
“We’re doing rescue training today. Change into your costumes if you wish, but you might want to just put on a gym uniform if you’re not used to it yet. We won’t be doing any combat today. Get dressed and head outside. We’ll be taking a bus to our destination.” Without even entertaining the idea of answering questions, the black-haired man turned and walked back out the door.
The class jumped into action and about ten minutes later, they were all gathered outside as a bus pulled up. Izuku took the moment to look around at his classmates, keeping his eyes off of the women in the class so as not to have a reason to stab himself again.
“Kacchan, why did you bring one of your gauntlets?” Izuku asked, hoping to distract his brain from its repeated attempts to get him to glance at Uraraka and Ashido. “That bulky thing isn’t going to do you any favors. Didn’t you hear what Aizawa said?”
Katsuki rolled his eyes. “I gotta get used to them. I’m not gonna be able to take them off in a real fight if I gotta rescue some chump in the middle of a fight.”
Before Izuku could keep up his small talk, Iida blew a piercing whistle that made everyone flinch, but Jirou a little more than everyone else. Izuku jerked his head in her direction as he felt his quirk flare slightly in the back of his mind, but it calmed as quickly as it spiked once he saw that she was unharmed.
Iida asked Izuku for permission to organize their classmates loading the bus in an orderly manner, but the open seating plan ruined his strategy, much to most of the class’ amusement. Izuku patted the taller man on the back to comfort him as he himself chuckled along with the rest of the students.
The students began to pass the time with small talk as Aizawa napped at the front of the bus. Izuku could only marvel once again at the sheer scale of UA’s campus as they traveled down the road.
“Hey, Midoriya,” Kirishima got his attention, “I gotta say, I’m impressed with your quirk.” She held up her arm in front of her and hardened it. “It’ll be hard for me to get noticed with just this Hardening, but you’ve got such a versatile and flashy quirk. You basically have my quirk and then a bunch on top of it, you’ll get scouted in no time!”
Izuku’s quirk pulsed in the back of his head and put a little green glow in his eyes. “What are you talking about, Kirishima? Your quirk is super great for hero work! You can beat all sorts of bad guys with it, and you’ll be able to stand up to nearly anybody! My quirk has basically nothing compared to yours in the toughness department.”
Kirishima raised a suspicious eyebrow. “What do you mean? I saw that hole you put in the wall of your building when I was on my way to my test. I’ve seen your scales, dude. You don’t gotta lie for me, really. I’m happy with what I’ve got, I just wanted to say that you’re a lucky guy.”
The redhead’s self-deprecation was causing his quirk to flare harder for some reason. Izuku smirked and held up his right hand, forming scales along his fist and forearm and holding it up to the woman. “Here, I’ll prove it to you. Fist bump me. Like you mean it, too. Make Crimson Riot proud.”
Kirishima’s eyes flashed with fire as she accepted the challenge. She brought her hardened fist up and threw it forward as Izuku did the same. Scale and hardened skin collided, a solid, resounding noise ringing out through the bus. Izuku hissed through his teeth as he pulled his hand back and clutched his wrist in pain. The scales slipped away and he held up his red fingers to the woman.
“See? I may be tougher than most, but you’re like a bulldozer.” He stretched his fingers and smiled at Kirishima, who was looking worried that she hurt her friend. “Keep your chin up, horn sister! You’re tougher than I’ll ever be.”
Kirishima grew a wide, sharp smile and nodded. “Thanks, man. That means a lot to me.”
“We’re here!” Aizawa shouted back from the front of the bus before their conversation could continue. The students stood up, piled out of the bus and promptly dropped their jaws at the gigantic dome before them.
“Hello, everyone, I’ve been waiting for you!” A hero in a puffy astronaut suit greeted them cheerfully as they stepped into the sun.
“The Space Hero: Thirteen!” Izuku gushed. “The chivalrous pro who’s rescued thousands of people around the world! In just the last year alone, Thirteen sa-” Izuku cried out in pain as Katsuki elbowed him in the side to prevent him for going on another hero tangent. Next to the two boys, Uraraka was also gushing as Ashido laughed and tried to get the woman to calm down so the hero could continue to speak.
“Thank you for the flattering introduction, students. Welcome to the most advanced rescue training facility in Japan.” Thirteen pointed back to the building. “This is the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short. Let’s head inside and I’ll show you what you’ll be working with.” The hero turned around and walked inside, with Class 1-A following behind.
Ochako could hardly contain herself. She was getting to train under Thirteen of all people, one of her favorite heroes in the whole world! The brunette was nearly vibrating as she walked through the heavy metal doors of the USJ and looked around. She noticed Deku writing in his notebook, but was too wrapped up in her fangirling to try and continue her investigation into where he kept it.
The twenty students stopped as Thirteen turned around near the top of the steps to address them. “Welcome to the USJ! Here we have six different areas to help train you to rescue people in a variety of conditions.” The hero pointed to the students’ right. “Starting and going counter-clockwise, we have the Storm Zone, the Flood Zone, the Conflagration Zone, the Mountain Zone, the Landslide Zone and the Ruins Zone. Once you get the go ahead, you’ll head down these steps behind me and head to one of these zones.”
Aizawa stepped forward and began to speak. “We’ll be splitting you up into groups for the day. All Might was supposed to be with us, but the Prime Minister personally requested him to assist with a hostage situation, so we’ll make do. Instead of splitting you into groups of seven, seven and six, we’ll be doing ten and ten. If you sit in the two rows closest to the door, you’re with Thirteen, otherwi-”
Their teacher stopped and snapped his head around, staring at the central plaza of the facility. Ochako followed his gaze and saw a purple vortex forming near the fountain in the middle of the plaza. A strange man with messy, light-blue hair and a hand covering his face appeared in the swirling mass, gazing up at the students with a crazed look in his blood-red eyes.
“Are we starting already?” Kaminari asked hesitantly.
The vortex widened as dozens of strange looking people stepped out into the USJ. “Stay together!” Aizawa yelled back. “Thirteen, protect the students!”
“What is this, I thought we were rescuing people today?” Satou asked nervously.
Deku took a step forward. “Stay back! This is real. Those are villains. Stick together and get back outside!” Aizawa snapped as the students except for Deku recoiled and gasped. Ochako saw his eyes begin to glow brightly as his horns stretched back across his head. Deku took another step forward as scales began to form across his shoulders and back.
Aizawa turned his head back and stared at the student, his eyes glowing red and his hair floating. “Stand down , Midoriya.”
Deku suddenly let out a piercing scream and collapsed to the ground as his scales vanished, clutching at his head as if it it were on fire. Ochako’s eyes went wide and the world seemed to slow down around her as he writhed on the ground in tortured agony. She took a step forward but was knocked back as Bakugou dashed past her, crouching down next to Deku and helping him up. Ochako was hot on his heels and grabbed his other arm and between the two of them, they pulled Deku up to his knees.
Deku panted heavily for a few seconds as he slowly let go of his head, moving his head up and looking at the rest of the class, eyes completely devoid of any glow and wide with confusion and fear. Ochako felt the need to hold him close and tell him that everything was going to be okay, but before she could he spotted Bakugou to his right and clutched the blonde’s arm.
“K-Kacchan?” he stuttered fearfully. “W-where am I? Who a-are all these people?”
Bakugou’s eyes went wide with shock as the rest of the class nearly screamed. The sudden noise startled the confused man, who would have fallen back onto the ground if he wasn’t being held up. “W-what’s going on?!” Deku looked absolutely terrified and his voice was cracking like he was about to start crying. Ochako felt like nails were being driven into her heart as she watched helplessly, wishing she could do something.
Deku finally noticed her holding onto him and he turned to look into her brown eyes with his shaky green. He stopped shaking as much as he seemed to calm down slightly, a small blush creeping into his face. Ochako started to smile, hoping to comfort him, but her expression turned fearful as she noticed the familiar glint of recognition in his eyes was completely absent. “Do… do I know you?” Deku asked, still staring at her.
Ochako whipped around to glare at Aizawa. “What did you do?!” She yelled, half terrified and half furious.
Aizawa had been struck dumb by the series of events, staring along with the rest of the class. At Ochako’s shout, he quickly refocused and blinked, his eyes returning to their normal black as his hair fell back down. As soon as he did so, Deku screamed and grabbed his head again, falling back out of her and Bakugou’s grips.
His screams subsided quicker than last time and he slowly stood up under his own power, catching his breath again. He rose to his full height and looked over his classmates as they stared back in confusion and horror. The look of intelligence and determination that Ochako liked so much had returned to his eyes, but it was also accompanied by confusion. “W-what just happened?”
Bakugou made sure Deku could stand before he stepped back. “Teach did something to your quirk. He looked at you and you collapsed.”
Deku’s eyes lit up with understanding and he spun around, pointing a finger at their professor. “Y-you’re Eraserhead! That was one of five I narrowed it down to, but I should’ve seen it sooner!”
“Eraserhead? Who’s that?” Kirishima muttered next to Mina, who could only shrug and shake her head.
“Y-you can’t fight all those villains on your own!” Deku pleaded with Aizawa. “You specialize in back-alley brawls and one-on-one fights!”
Aizawa pulled a pair of strange slitted goggles from underneath his scarf and put them on. “Midoriya, you should know better than almost anyone that no hero is a one-trick pony. Now follow my orders and stay with the rest of the class.” Without another word, he turned and leapt down the long flight of stairs, his scarf unraveling behind him ominously.
Ochako grabbed onto his shoulders and spun him around so she could look down into his eyes again. “Deku, are you alright? What happened?”
The man’s green eyes had begun to glow again and stared back into hers, taking her breath away with their intensity. “I’m not sure, but it’s not important at the moment. Right now I- I mean we have to focus on getting everyone out of here safely.” Ochako looked at him for a moment, then grew her own look of determination. She nodded once and released him, turning back to face the rest of the class.
“You heard the man!” Bakugou yelled over the rest of them. “Stick together and we just might survive this!” He turned and smirked at Deku, who was reforming the scales along his body. “And you thought I should’ve left my gauntlet back at school.”
Notes:
I'll see you guys next time for the start of the USJ arc :)
Chapter 19: Party in the USJ
Summary:
The encounter begins.
Notes:
Thanks to Epsilon110, Mattybeach and epicderpybro2 for beta reading my chapter.
Special thanks to Rovos for suggesting the title of this chapter :)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shouta was not a young man. He wasn’t as old as many of the teachers at UA, but he was no spring chicken. Over his long and eventful career as a pro hero, he learned many things, such as the how insufferable the media is, how to deal with a thug tweaking out on Trigger, or the best way to get blood out of his capture weapon.
But above all else, Shouta Aizawa had learned that he hated surprises.
Today wasn’t a day he was expecting to be surprised, either. He was normally a fairly wary man, even occasionally bordering on paranoid. He knew that, and he was okay with it; paranoia kept you alive. Over the years, he had seen a lot of surprising things, but a platoon of criminals breaking into UA’s campus with the most dangerous and potent warp quirk he had ever seen was certainly a new one. So was what happened to Midoriya.
Midoriya had a transformation type quirk, that much was abundantly clear to anyone who saw him in action. Aizawa had been briefed that his quirk affected his mental state sometimes, which wasn’t that rare, all things considered. He was trained and able to deal with that. Or so he thought.
His student’s reaction to his quirk had him seriously worried. The boy had reacted extremely poorly to his Erasure; one of the worst he had ever seen. Those sorts of reactions were normally reserved for people with major mental quirks, but that wasn’t what Midoriya had, at least as far as he was aware. The fact that he had collapsed and experienced acute amnesia implied that the mental effects of his quirk were much deeper than he knew.
But now wasn't the time to think about those implications. Now was the time to focus on the immediate threat in front of him, and none were more immediate than the villain made of purple mist.
Warp quirks were rare, and he thanked the powers that be for that, as even the most limited of them could completely alter a fight in unforeseeable ways. As he flew down the stairs of the USJ, capture weapon unfurling behind him, he took in all the information he could about his situation. The warp quirk user was standing in the back of the group, next to the younger man covered in hands, both watching calmly as the horde of thugs walked closer. Those two were likely the leaders and the most dangerous. It was imperative that he keep them locked down if he was to give his students the best chance for them to get out alive.
Shouta didn’t like to act rashly, but since his communicator was being jammed, he knew he didn’t have much of a choice. He had to hold them off so his students could escape, and if he died while doing it, then so be it. It was a hero’s duty to give of themselves what was needed to keep innocents safe.
He put those thoughts out of his mind for now; it was time to get to work.
His best friend in a fight was the element of surprise, especially against a group this large. That was part of the reason that he was an underground hero, besides just his hatred of the media: if villains knew what he could do, they could strategize around it. In a fight, he was essentially quirkless; his best and only tools were whatever advantages he could scrounge up. All his quirk could do was level the playing field; it was up to him to tip it the other way.
A couple of idiots stepped forward from the rest of the group, preparing to use what he assumed to be ranged quirks to attack him. He waited until the second before they acted to erase their quirks and quickly wrap them in his capture weapon, knocking them out as he used their weights to break his fall from the top of the stairs.
“Idiots!” one of the thugs yelled. “That’s Eraserhead, he can erase your quirks just by looking at you!”
Shouta twitched. He hadn’t expected to be outed nearly this quickly. This was going to complicate things. ‘Damned media…’
“Erase? Ha, bet that doesn’t work on mutation types like me!” A six-armed man came running at Shouta, ready to attack.
“You’re right,” Shouta said calmly, “it doesn’t.” He ducked under the telegraphed attack and smashed the villain in the face with a full-bodied right hook, feeling his facial bones crack and crunch under his fist. “I can’t believe I’ve never encountered a mutation type before.” The man flew back from him but Shouta wrapped his leg up as he ducked under the punch of another assailant.
He twisted as he ducked, kicking the new villain backward into a group of thugs as he swung the first criminal over his head and down into the pile, putting all of them out of commission. “If only I could have planned for this.” He pulled his weapon back around his neck as he slowly looked around at the hesitating crowd. “Now, which one of you punks is next?”
It was painfully obvious that these villains were low-level street criminals with no real experience dealing with a pro hero. The fact that they were all here under a seemingly-united cause had some incredibly dangerous implications that he didn’t have the time to think of at the time. What was important was that his attempts at intimidation were much more likely to be successful if these thugs were all small-time.
He let his eyes rest for a moment as the criminals hesitated. If they weren’t going to come to him, then he had to make a move, which was fine by him. He quickly threw out his weapon again, wrapping two flat-footed thugs up while he swung his heel into the jaw of a criminal whose quirk he shut off. He hurled the two trapped criminals at their compatriots, clearing more space for him to move around in.
Sweat began to slowly drip down his forehead as he kicked the feet out of another thug taking a wide swing at him. The villain hit the ground hard and Shouta drove his heel into his sternum, cracking it before he could react and putting him out of commission. Against these odds, Shouta had no room for mercy and restraint; every motion he made had to be made with perilous intent.
Three more villains fell in quick succession, causing those still standing to hesitate again. Shouta took the brief moment to look at the man covered in hands. His manic, red eyes were staring back at him, clearly analyzing and observing. This settled it for Shouta: that man was the leader, which meant that-
‘Crap.’ He couldn’t hold his eyes open any longer and was forced to blink. When he reopened his eyes, the warp villain had vanished. He cursed under his breath and returned his focus to the nigh-insurmountable task at hand. There was nothing he could do about it now.
‘Thirteen, I’m counting on you.’
This certainly wasn’t how Momo saw her day going. Rescue training should have been the perfect opportunity to prove what she could do, especially to herself, but in an instant, everything changed. She had been prepared to put all of her rescue practice and intense studying into action, but she didn’t foresee that the ones needing rescuing would be her and her classmates.
“Come on!” Thirteen yelled. “Stick together and follow behind me; we’re getting out of here!” The hero started to jog towards the entrance, leaving the villains and their teacher behind. Momo looked back over her shoulder as she followed, listening to the sound of Aizawa fighting for all of their lives.
‘Even if he is a pro, the chances of him surviving all of those vill-’ Momo shook her head. ‘No, now isn’t the time for pointless theorizing.’ She turned back and fixed her gaze on the massive metal gate in front of her. They towered well over thirty feet tall, looming like the door on a bank vault. ‘They’re supposed to keep us safe, but instead it just feels like those doors are the gates of our tomb.’ She shivered as she jogged. ‘Don’t think like that!.’
Momo would’ve sworn that the doors weren’t getting any closer as they ran towards them, but she knew what fear and panic could do to the human mind. She might not be able to calm herself down, but she could rationali-
The group ground to a halt as a great purple vortex appeared on the ground in front of them, swirling black with sinister intent. A form rose from the vortex, towering high above them as two glowing yellow eyes appeared at the top of the mist. “There is no escape for you.”
Momo felt her heart drop out of her chest and into the growing pit in her stomach. The villain spoke with a refined, but malicious tone. “It is a pleasure to meet you, students of UA University. We are the League of Villains. I know it’s impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say hello. ”
The students trembled in fear as the purple mist monologued in front of them, the sadistic intent palpable in his voice. A commotion to her left caught her attention as she broke her terrified gaze from the villain and onto…
‘Midoriya?’
The man was crouched slightly, legs wide as if he was bracing himself. He was holding his head with his left hand, allowing Momo to see his burning green eyes and lengthening horns. She could barely make out Ochako, who was bending down slightly and rubbing his back, whispering to him.
“Come on, Deku. Keep calm, now isn’t the time. We gotta stay focused.”
Momo felt sick. She shouldn’t have eavesdropped the other night, but after Mina’s outburst woke her up, her curiosity got the better of her. She couldn’t make out everything they were saying, but she did hear quite a bit. ‘Is this him fighting against those ‘instincts’ they mentioned? What are they? They seemed to be talking like Midoriya was supposed to be a villain or something. Is… he resisting that ? Is it his ‘instinct’ to be a villain?’
Momo’s questions were firing like a machine gun in her head, giving her no time to think of answers before the next question burst into her mind. She barely even noticed as the villain continued his speech. “Wouldn’t you say this is a fitting place for the Symbol of Peace to meet his demise? Truly Unforeseen…but I see no sign of him. He was supposed to be here today, but there must have been some change of plans…”
Midoriya’s breathing sped up; the man seemed like he was on the verge of hyperventilating. Ochako had a worried look in her eyes as she grabbed one of his shoulders and shook him slightly, but he didn’t seem to notice. The horns on his head grew longer still as he reached up with his right hand to clutch his head. Momo gasped as she saw the claws forming and fading along his fingers. ‘Is... is his quirk trying to activate itself ?!’
“I suppose in the end, it doesn’t matter.” The villain almost sounded amused. “I still have a role to play. Prepare to meet your deaths.”
Midoriya’s rapid breathing stopped.
He stopped clutching his head.
His eyes burned with a light that Momo had never seen before; the green was so vibrant it was almost yellow, and it was so intense that it obscured the rest of his eye.
He slowly lowered his arms from his hair, scales swiftly and firmly appearing along their lengths. The claws formed again but did not fade as his arm bulged larger.
Midoriya’s innocent face stretched out, scales rapidly appearing as his hair vanished and the ridge on the back of his neck grew up his head and down the length of his spine.
Scales formed across his bare back, while tan plates formed on his chest. His pants seemed to melt into his legs as they too grew longer and thicker. His bare feet grew black claws like his hands and dug into the concrete floor as he flexed his toes.
The man rose to his full height, but then kept going. Normally, Momo looked down on him ever so slightly, but as he straightened himself out, she had to turn her gaze up to follow his burning eyes. ‘He… he must be over seven feet tall…’ Momo took a hesitant step back from Midoriya, his predatory glare causing her to want nothing more than to turn and run, even though it wasn’t directed at her.
‘Is Midoriya… was Midoriya, who made me laugh when we were kids...’
It was all Momo could do to keep herself from falling down and screaming as the man took a towering step forward, shaking the ground and cracking the concrete as his claws dug in.
The rest of the class turned to Midoriya, his seismic stomp breaking their attention from the chilling gaze of the villain. A deep, threatening growl rose from his throat, causing all of them, even Thirteen, to instinctually recoil from him, clearing a path between him and the mist.
‘...was Zu… my Zu…’
There was no hesitation in him. There was no struggle in his eyes. There was no resistance in his movements. His claws were bared, their razor-sharp black tips glinting in the light of the USJ. His mouth hung open slightly, showing the dozens of deadly fangs lining his jaw.
Momo’s own instincts were yelling at her to shrink back away from him further, to make herself as small as possible to hopefully pass under the gaze of the apex predator in front of her. Nearly everyone else in the class was backing away slowly as well, eyes wide with fear.
‘... a monster this whole time?’
“ I won’t let you touch them. ” Midoriya’s gaze was fixated on the villain, his eyes filled with undeniable death underneath his flared, ridged horns.
The villain’s own glowing eyes raised in what amounted to an intrigued look for a moment. “You seem to be quite dangerous, but it matters not.” Tendrils of black mist began to writhe in front of him ominously. “You cannot harm me.”
Midoriya surged forward, leaving a crater behind him as he reared his arm back. The tendrils shot forward, forming a black and purple vortex inches in front of the leaping student. The pool seemed to swallow him whole as he vanished from view.
“Izuku!” Bakugou yelled, the only one with enough sense still in his head to form words. Explosions popped off from his fists as he began to run forward towards the villain, Eiko hot on his heels.
The villain’s eyes narrowed. “Now then. Perish .” The tendrils swirled once more and rapidly extended towards the students, quickly enveloping them all in a black cloud. Momo heard movement and commotion around her, but she was still too petrified to move.
The swirling mist grew thicker and raged around them with more intensity until she felt the ground drop out from underneath her, a scream finally bursting from her lungs as she fell into the darkness.
As the mists faded, Tenya looked up, quickly checking on the two blondes he had tackled out of the way. “Are you two alright?”
“Oui.” Aoyama nodded as he stood up and dusted himself off. The normally aloof boy had a focused look on his face as he pursed his lips slightly.
“Yes, thank you, Tenya.” Tsunotori was too overwhelmed at the moment to realize her mistake, and Tenya had more important things on his mind. He looked around, hoping to find other students that had avoided whatever the villain had done. To his dismay, he only saw four others.
Satou was tearing Sero’s tape off of himself while Shouji was helping Thirteen stand. The villain hovered ominously before them, glaring at the seven people standing before him. “Disappointing, but not unexpected. I will simply have to deal with you myself .”
Tenya quietly revved his engines, making sure everything was flowing for the inevitable fight. His fellow students brought themselves down into combat stances, while Thirteen stood in front of them.
“What happen to others?” Tsunotori asked Tenya as they glared at the villain.
“He likely warped them somewhere else,” Tenya postulated.
“Momo… Izuku… the others…” Tsunotori whispered under her breath sadly, barely loud enough for Tenya to hear her. Her eyes narrowed with anger as a horn popped off of her head, another quickly taking its place as she called the villain something very rude in English.
“They’re probably still within the facility,” Thirteen suggested. “These villains are somehow jamming our communications, transporting them outside would give more opportunity for the alarm to be raised.” Tenya’s eyes went wide; he hadn’t noticed the alarms hadn’t gone off.
Nobody knew they were in danger.
There was no help coming.
“Iida, you have to get past this villain and outside to warn the school! It’s our only hope!” Desperation was creeping into Thirteen’s voice.
The blue-haired man’s eyes went wide. “And abandon you all?”
“Come on, Iida!” Satou shouted back over his shoulder. “You’re the only one who can!”
Tenya looked over his classmates and back to the rest of the massive facility. There were 21 other lives riding on him, not to mention his own. The man turned back to Thirteen and nodded as he revved his engines again and planted his feet, ready to kick off towards the door.
Fumikage was too distracted by trying to keep Dark Shadow under control in the black mist to remember when he started falling, but that’s certainly what he was doing now. Water smacked his face as he tumbled towards the ground, nothing but concrete to break his fall.
He braced himself, hoping to escape with only a few broken bones when his descent was suddenly arrested by a pair of large arms. He blinked and looked up at Kouda, who had jumped up to catch him before he hit the ground.
“Thank you, my friend,” Fumikage said as the other student let him down to stand on his feet. He took a moment to look around at the dismal downpour they found themselves in. He mused that he would be at a distinct advantage due to the dim conditions but his partner… “Will you be able to use your quirk to help us?”
Kouda shook his head.
Fumikage closed his eyes in thought as he formulated a plan. After a few moments, he looked back to the taller student with his beady red eyes.
“Could I ask you to place your trust in me?”
Kyouka clutched her ears and squeezed her eyes shut as she fell, two other screams piercing through the darkness and into her skull. She felt air rushing past her face and reopened her eyelids as she crashed down onto something surprisingly soft.
She looked down and saw herself sitting right on Momo, causing her to panic and quickly scrambled to her feet, before turning to help the taller woman up. “Sorry, Yaomomo, are you alright?”
Momo seemed shaken, more so than herself, and took a moment to respond. “Y-yes, I am, thank you Kyouka.”
A grumbling noise startled the two women, who jumped back as Kaminari dug his face out of the ground, spitting dirt out of his mouth. “Happy to be your landing pad,” he said sarcastically.
Kyouka rolled her eyes as she helped the man to his feet. He dusted himself off, still grumbling under his breath when Kyouka heard movement behind her. She whipped around and saw a group of menacing and sneering thugs moving towards them.
“Heads up, we got company!” She turned back to Momo, who was staring into space, out of the mountain zone and into the distance, seemingly distracted by something and deep in worry. “Yaomomo, you with us?”
The woman jumped slightly and hastily looked around. “O-oh! Yes, of course.” She shook her head and adopted a determined look as she quickly produced a metal pole from her arm. “I’m with you.”
Tooru’s fall was abruptly slowed by a large ice slide, but even the smoothest of ice was incredibly uncomfortable on her naked body. She whined all the way down, but her whine quickly turned into a scream as she realized who she was about to crash into.
Todoroki turned around at her shout, one of his eyebrows raising slightly as he evidently saw nothing but a pair of shoes and gloves sliding towards him. His eyes went wide with realization just a moment before he was toppled over by Tooru slamming into his side.
Both of them laid there for a moment, completely silent and still. “H-hey, Todoroki, t-thanks for breaking my fall!” Tooru tried to break the ice, but the man was seemingly too cold to react. Speaking of cold, Tooru realized she was lying with her chest on his, and judging from how cold she was, he certainly had to be aware of that.
She quickly scrambled off of him and covered herself up, protecting her invisible modesty while she calmed herself down. The man picked himself up slowly and turned to walk away from her without a word, nor even a look back. Tooru huffed and ran after him, not eager to be left alone in who-knows-where.
They walked in silence through the rocks and rubble of the Landslide Zone for a minute or two before Tooru couldn’t stand it any longer; the quiet only made her worry more. “No hard feelings about the battle trial, right?”
Todoroki didn’t turn to acknowledge her and was silent for a few moments before uttering a simple “no”.
Tooru took the hint and didn’t try to strike up any more conversation. She resigned herself to walking quietly on his left, enjoying the warmth radiating from him when he suddenly spoke up. “Make sure you stay behind me, I don’t want to freeze you if we encounter any villains.”
“Oh!” Tooru said, smiling softly to herself. “Right, thanks.”
Ochako was falling, just like most of her classmates, but unlike most of her classmates, she could do something about it. She quickly took in her surroundings as she tumbled from the misty portal, finding herself surrounded by burning buildings and smokey streets. She clasped her hands together, pushing her mass out of herself and letting the hot air begin to catch her fall.
She pushed more weight out until air pressure completely stopped her and then pressed her fingers together, letting her weight snap back to her as she fell the remaining five feet to the ground.
“Hey, Ochako!”
A voice she recognized called out to her, causing her to look up and whip around. She searched for the voice for a few seconds but found nothing. “Mina? Where are you?”
“Up here!” Mina called back. Ochako lifted her gaze and found her pink friend about three stories above her, dug into a wall with her hands and feet, acid dripping from the pockmarks. “I grabbed the wall when I fell out of that stupid portal, can you catch me when I jump?”
“Sure!” Ochako yelled up. “But wait, can’t you just climb down you- oh you jumped!” Mina let herself fall, arms wide as she pitched herself backward. Ochako held her hands out, quickly pulling Mina’s weight and momentum away as she caught the woman in a bridal carry.
Mina wrapped her arms around Ochako’s neck and smiled widely. “Oh, my hero!” Ochako blushed slightly and hastily let her down, returning Mina's weight after a moment.
The brunette looked around, taking in her surroundings again. “I think this is the Conflagration Zone that Thirteen mentioned…”
Mina nodded as she stretched. “Looks like it. I guess that means everyone else got scattered around too… I hope.”
Ochako checked the bracers on her costume and let out a slight sigh. “You’re worried about Deku, aren’t you?”
“Are you not?!” Mina said, raising an eyebrow. “You saw how he was there, I’ve never seen him that worked up. Was that how he was at the battle trial on Tuesday?”
“No…” she shook her head, “this was… much worse. I think when that villain threatened all of us, he sort of… lost control.” Ochako clenched her fist and looked her friend in her golden eyes. “But there’s nothing we can do about it now. We gotta focus on getting out of here and helping the others.”
Mina let some acid drip from her hand as she smirked at the brunette.. “Just like heroes are supposed to. Let’s do this.”
Bakugou shouted with frustration as he blew another thug away. “Dammit!”
Eiko jabbed another villain in the gut, causing her to gasp in pain and exposing herself to a hardened chop from Eiko. “Worried about Midoriya? Don’t be, Bakugou, if we got tossed here, I’m sure he’s out there somewhere.”
“That’s what I’m worried about, idiot!” Bakugou deflected a wide, off-balance swing and kicked the legs out from under the villain, blasting them with an explosion as they hit the ground and knocking them out.
“What do you mean?” Eiko blocked a knife swing with her arms and knocked the villain down with a headbutt. “He’s tough, he’ll be fine.”
Bakugou yelled again as he set off a huge explosion, blowing the wall in front of him down and taking out three thugs at once. “You don’t get it!” The dust and debris settled as Bakugou took advantage in the lull in the action to stomp over to Eiko. “Back when we were 8, some older kids came to pick on Izuku when we were at school. Izuku didn’t want to fight them, so I stepped in. They took a couple swings at me and eventually got a solid hit.”
Eiko raised an eyebrow at him. “Sounds rough, but what does-”
“As soon as I got hit, Izuku flew past me and tackled the kid, who had at least a foot on him. He screamed in the kid’s face, took a swing, and knocked him out with a single punch.”
“That’s pretty manly, Bakugou. What’s the problem?”
Bakugou poked Eiko hard in the forehead. “You’re still not getting it! He had hardly ever raised a finger against someone before that day outside of training, and then all of a sudden he puts a kid in the dirt and knocks him out in a rage. All because I took a cheap shot to the jaw that barely phased me.”
The blonde moved his face very close to Eiko’s, his growl nearly a whisper as he glared into her eyes. “ So what do you think will happen when 19 of his friends are threatened with death ? ”
Things could be going worse for Tsuyu, all things considered. Of all the places she could get warped to, she was lucky enough to teleported to the fully aquatic zone. She hit the water with practiced ease and dove deep, feeling the water pass through her suit to let her skin breathe. Looking around, she saw a few shapes swimming around the water with her. Since it was very unlikely that UA would be stocking this lake with any sort of fish, Tsuyu had a good idea what those shapes were.
She didn’t have much time to get her bearings before a noise broke through the still waters.
“First catch of the day! Nothing personal, kid, but you gotta die!”
Tsuyu whipped around and saw a villain with a shark quirk tearing towards Mineta, who was flailing helplessly in the deep lake. With a kick from her powerful legs, she streaked towards her classmate, slipping through the water and crashing into the side of the assailant, knocking the breath out of him. She quickly reached her hand down and tore off the breathing apparatus he had on, before kicking off of him. She grabbed Mineta under her arm as the shark villain disappeared behind them, frantically swimming for the surface.
Mineta had a look of panic, fear, and gratitude on his face, but couldn’t speak for obvious reasons. Tsuyu needed to get the boy out of the water if he was going to stay conscious.
She remembered the ship in the middle of the zone and scanned above her, quickly spotting the vessel about a hundred feet away from her. Tsuyu kicked hard and began to swim towards it, but before she could get halfway there, Mineta started flailing in her arms and slapping her frantically, pointing behind her.
She turned around and saw another villain shooting towards her with deadly intent. His blonde hair streaked behind him as he smirked, rearing a spear back, ready to attack. He was too close for Tsuyu to dodge, her only hope was to knock him off course; she shot her tongue at him, but he spun out of the way with ease.
He thrust his spear forward as he closed within a few feet of Tsuyu and Mineta, the latter squeezing his eyes shut as the villain attacked.
And then, the water went red.
Tsuyu kicked back, distancing herself from the bloody mist. She patted herself down to make sure hadn’t been stabbed, just in case she was in shock. She found nothing, so she quickly looked over Mineta, but he was unscathed as well. The woman turned to stare as the red cloud dissipated, her eyes widening further and her mouth dropping open slightly as the scene came into view.
The villain was bug-eyed as a great green claw clutched his neck, his right arm ineffectual tugging at the scaled arm of Midoriya. The spear drifted slowly to the depths of the lake while a gruesome wound on the villain’s left arm poured blood into the water as Midoriya firmly held his wrist.
Tsuyu’s classmate had shrunk back down to his normal size, but he was still an intimidatingly large man. He had grown a long tail that was flitting back and forth, keeping him still in the churning waters. That, combined with his elongated, draconic head, made him look nearly crocodilian. But Tsuyu was pretty sure that crocodiles did not have burning green eyes.
The villain gurgled in pain as Midoriya slowly pulled the villain closer to his face until he was mere inches from his fanged maw. “You will not lay a hand on them. Do you understand?” Tsuyu’s stomach felt uneasy as his deep, intimidating voice echoed through the water.
The villain nodded as much as he could while being choked by a claw. “Good. Tell your companions the same thing.” Midoriya released his grip and delivered a powerful kick to his chest, sending the villain rushing away from them. Newton sent Midoriya floating in the opposite direction, but a few powerful strokes slowed him down so he stopped nearby to Tsuyu.
The green-haired woman had half a mind to drag Mineta up to the surface so he could breathe, but the other half of her mind was too stunned by the brutal display put on by her otherwise friendly and jovial classmate.
Suddenly, Midoriya’s hand shot out towards her, causing her to flinch and squeeze her eyes shut.
Her eyes snapped open again as she felt him patting her head softly. “I’m sorry for scaring you, Tsu. Don’t worry, I won’t let them touch you.” His eyes still burned brightly and angrily, glaring off in the direction he had kicked the villain as a small blush formed on her cheeks.
Tsuyu was thankful her skin breathed for her underwater because she was pretty sure she would’ve otherwise forgotten how. There was something oddly comforting about his powerful, clawed hand gently tussling her hair. She couldn’t help but lean into the contact slightly, her eyes closing as her mouth turned up into a small smile.
Mineta’s struggling reminded the both of them that he was still there, and still couldn’t breathe. Midoriya's hand slowly retracted back as they both blinked a few times. He turned to look at her, an expression of genuine concern on his face, or at least as much concern as could be mustered on his reptilian snout. “Are you alright? Are y ou hurt?” Midoriya’s voice rose slightly as the light in his eyes faded.
She brought herself out of her daze and looked back at Midoriya, shaking her head. “I’m fine, thank you. We should get out of here.” As the two of them kicked towards the surface to let Mineta breathe, she finally took note of his chest, which was rising up and down slowly and rhythmically. “Midoriya, you can breathe underwater?” Tsuyu put a finger to her chin and tilted her head slightly. ‘Just like his dad…’
“What? O-oh, yeah.” The nervous stuttering nearly gave Tsuyu whiplash when compared to the stone cold persona he had displayed merely seconds earlier. The man tapped the side of his neck. “When I have my neck transformed, I can breathe underwater. I have to ask though, I’ve noticed you’re not breathing normally, can you breathe through your skin like an actual frog?! Can you-”
“Midoriya, maybe not right now.” Tsuyu would have laughed as they broke the surface if she wasn’t still so uneasy.
Midoriya turned to his right. “Right, s-sorry, time for that later. Follow me, the shore is this way. We should hopefully be able to handle anyone we encounter on the way there, but you’re right, we need to get out of here before they gang up on us.” He kicked his feet and began to swim quickly, much faster than he had any right to.
Tsuyu took note of the webbing between Midoriya’s fingers and toes. Those, combined with his powerful tail stroking from side to side behind him, made Tsuyu guess he would be comparable to her in the water. She smiled a little to herself. ‘I was hoping to find someone who could keep up with me underwater, maybe I should ask Midoriya to train with me.’
The image of the blood-filled water and Midoriya’s reddened claws flashed back into her mind, causing Tusyu to shudder as she followed behind him towards the shore. ‘Well, maybe.’
Notes:
See you all next time!
In other news, someone has made fan music for me. Incredible.
Check it out here: https://soundcloud.com/jonathan-power-dear/sets/wiah-inspired-music
Chapter 20: I Am Not the Final Boss
Summary:
Things take a turn for the worse.
Notes:
Thanks to my betas, epicderpybro2, mattybeach and Epsilon110 for being my beta readers!
Chapter Text
The lake became more shallow as Tsuyu and her classmates approached the shore, allowing the three of them to stand waist-deep in the water as they peered over the raised bank and into the central plaza.
The crowd was much smaller than it had been when the villains had first arrived through the warp gate. Taking stock of the unconscious thugs scattered around the plaza, Tsuyu quickly noticed that there were far fewer than there should have been. This confirmed her suspicions; the villains had been scattered like the students were. Divide and conquer. Tsuyu could only hope that her classmates were as lucky as she, Midoriya and Mineta had been.
Only four villains remained: three surrounding Aizawa and the man covered in hands, who was standing further back, observing. She could barely make out that he was mumbling numbers under his breath as he watched their teacher fight.
Aizawa was clearly flagging, but the battle was nearly won. He wrapped up one of the villains and dragged him in front of another, who was swinging a flail towards the hero. As the villain took out his ally, Aizawa ducked past him and drove his knee into the thug’s stomach, and as he doubled over from the pain, the hero’s elbow cracked the side of his skull, knocking him out.
Their teacher tried to catch his breath, looking between the leader and the other villain, sizing up the last two enemies standing. The observer paced slowly, walking perpendicular to their teacher, his array of hands creating an unsettling silhouette. The other villain had a simple transformation quirk, his two arms were bulked up to nearly six feet long and covered in dense, brown hair.
The lead villain walked in a wide arc, continuing to keep his distance as the three were locked in a standoff. As he moved behind the large-armed villain and obscuring himself from their teacher’s view, Tsuyu noticed the blue-haired man slowly moving his arm, detaching a vial from his hip.
Midoriya apparently had noticed the same thing, shouting loudly over the plaza. “Professor! He’s got something in his hand!”
Aizawa jerked his head towards the three students, his hair falling down around his face. As soon as he moved his eyes from the villains, the leader dashed forward and jammed whatever he was holding into the neck of the thug. The villain stumbled and fell to his knees, letting out a blood-curdling scream as the leader stepped back, chuckling to himself.
“What the heck did he just stab that guy with?” Mineta asked in a terrified whisper. Midoriya and Tsuyu were too stunned to say anything as they stared at the scene unfolding in front of them.
Their teacher stepped back slightly, unsheathing his scarf as he returned his attention back to the villains. The man on the ground stood up slowly, a slightly unhinged look on his face as he stared Aizawa down.
Kurogiri sneered. “Are you really foolish enough to plan in front of your enemy?”
Thirteen turned to face him properly. “It won’t matter if you know what we’re planning if you can’t do anything about it!” A finger on Thirteen’s costume popped open as Iida began to rev his engines, ready to make a break for the doors. An irresistible force began to pull Kurogiri in, dragging him closer to oblivion.
However, Kurogiri wasn’t worried. “Thirteen,” he said flatly, “you are a rescue hero. You have saved thousands, but you are woefully unprepared to face me. When was the last time you were in real combat?” The villain began to swirl his warp gate in front of himself, focusing on his quirk’s precise energies. “When was the last time you were against someone who was genuinely trying to kill you?”
Thirteen didn’t answer, instead continuing to focus on using Black Hole against the villain. Kurogiri opened the other end of a warp gate right behind the rescue hero, almost instantly rending Thirteen’s suit wide open.
The hero collapsed onto the ground, weakly uttering “He got me…” as the students all gasped, looking on in shock and horror.
“Come on, Iida! Go!” Satou shoved Iida’s shoulder, prompting the man to snap back to reality. Iida turned back and hesitated for a moment, before nodding and kicking his engines fully into gear, dashing madly towards the towering gates.
“A sheep trying to escape from the wolves…” Kurogiri swiftly opened a warp gate in front of the speeding Iida. ‘I simply cannot allow that.”
Right before Iida slammed head-long into the portal, Shouji leapt in front of him, using his massive arms to envelop the small warp gate and clearing the path for Iida. “Run! I’ve got him!” The six-armed man tumbled to the ground, struggling with the writhing purple mass.
Iida kicked off again, the gate to their salvation growing closer with every step. Kurogiri began to lose his patience, rearing up and flying at the armored man. “Impertinent children! I will not allow you to set foot outside those doors!” His misty form loomed over Iida’s head. “Begon-!”
Kurogiri’s command was interrupted by an anguished grunt. He whipped his vision back around as a sharp, excruciating pain ran along his body.
A sharp, crooked horn had pierced his brace, wedged painfully between the metal plates. He could feel his blood slowly seeping out along the wound.
Tsunotori took a step forward, grinding her hoof into the ground and glaring daggers into Kurogiri’s wide, yellow eyes. The short woman grit her teeth, exuding a grim intensity that reminded the other students of Midoriya.
Kurogiri cried out again as the horn wedged deeper into his flesh, twisting slowly. Tsunotori never broke eye contact as she growled in English. “Sound trumpets. Let our bloody colors wave.” A second horn slammed into the side of Kurogiri’s armor, cracking the metal plating protecting his body. “And either victory, or else a grave.”
The villain kept his impressed surprise to himself, shoving the pain out of his mind to focus on his mission. He surged again at Iida, desperate to prevent the man from alerting the outside to their attack. Before he could reach the man, Sero shot tape out, wrapping around one of the horns dug into his side.
Satou grabbed Sero’s tape, pulling with all his might and flinging the villain away and high into the air. The momentum wrenched the horn from his side, letting the blood flow freely as he grunted in agony.
The groaning sound of the doors being forced open signaled Kurogiri’s failure. He turned his gaze to the horned woman down below who was still glaring hatefully at him. The villain warped away as he somberly recited in English: “To weep is to make less the depth of grief.”
Uraraka and Ashido ran through the smokey alleyways of the Conflagration Zone, the only illumination from the roaring fires that burned in every building.
“We have to stay quiet, and stay together ,” Ashido whispered as the two peeked out into one of the soot-covered streets. Uraraka nodded in agreement and signaled for the two to dash across to another hidden alleyway.
They barely slipped into cover as a small band of thugs wheeled around into the street, sneering as they searched for Uraraka and Ashido. Groups of villains were patrolling around the zone, shouting and threatening all sorts of bodily torture on the students ‘when’ they caught them. The women were determined to not let that happen.
The smell of smoke and burnt wood stung the nostrils of the women as they crept from alleyway to side road, keeping out of sight of the villains as best they could. Uraraka cursed her tall statue under her breath; her height did her no favors when trying to find places to hide.
“We can’t- stay here, M- Mina,” Uraraka gasped out as she tried to hold in her coughs. Both of their eyes were watering, and breathing was beginning to get difficult.
Ashido nodded. “I have an idea, but you’ll have to trust me.” Her whisper was low and serious; she clearly understood the situation they were in. Uraraka met Ashido’s steely glare with one of her own, nodding in response. “Alright, let’s make our way to the edge of the c-” she coughed harshly, covering her mouth, “-omplex. I can melt us an escape, but it’s not gonna be quiet, and we’re not gonna be able to hide.”
Uraraka gulped. “So you need a distraction.” Her friend nodded grimly. Uraraka took a deep breath, shoving her worry away and gritting her teeth. “Alright, let’s do this.”
The two women began to move as fast as they could while keeping a low profile, making a beeline for the nearest wall of the Conflagration Zone. Uraraka ducked left and right, slapping and grabbing every decent-sized chunk of rubble she came across from the buildings already collapsed from the flames raging in the zone.
A building they were running past was smoldering with low, licking flames when one of the sides collapsed, tumbling twenty or more feet and cracking the pavement below it. The sudden rush of oxygen reignited the dying embers, causing the side of the building to erupt in flames and send more concrete falling.
Uraraka was too stunned from the dazzling cataclysm in front of her to do anything but stare, mesmerized by the flames as the debris fell straight towards her. Fortunately, Ashido was in no such daze, and shoved her friend out of the way, the two tumbling backward and onto the ground.
Uraraka and Ashido covered their heads as concrete exploded in front of them, kicking up dust and flinging smaller chunks of building flying. Ashido cried out in pain as a baseball-sized piece of debris hit her in the back, cutting her hero uniform and leaving a bleeding gash.
Uraraka’s eyes widened as her friend cried out. The brunette’s shock vanished as she flew into action, flipping their positions in a single motion, pinning Ashido underneath her as she shielded the pink woman from the settling carnage with one of the weightless chunks she had been towing behind her.
Both women panted as the dust floated down to the ground, catching their breaths and staring at each other. “Thanks,” they gasped out simultaneously, earning a wide-eyed look followed by a small smile from each of them.
Uraraka reached down and pulled Ashido’s shoulder towards her, turning the woman so she could see the wound. Her lilac blood seeped slowly out of the dirty wound, gradually staining the rest of her costume.
Ashido shook her shoulder loose and stood up, dusting herself off. “I’m fine, Ochako. We have more important things to worry about than a scrape. Let’s keep moving.”
Uraraka hesitated, seemingly wanting to protest, but obliged. As they ran through the newly-created debris field, she reached down and pulled the weight out of the largest chunk of wall she could find, picking it up effortlessly and adding it to her collection.
The two made it to the exterior wall without further incident, but they both knew that the commotion was likely to bring unwanted visitors. Ashido nodded to her partner as she put both of her hands up against the thick steel wall and began to produce the most potent acid she could muster.
Uraraka reared back and pitched one of her distractions as hard as she could into the air. As she lost sight of it in the smoke, she released her quirk; a few moments later, she heard the echoing sounds of a great collision. She couldn’t risk imparting energy to the debris, but gravity was her friend. Launching something weightless into the sky and letting earth pull it back down was a great way for her to get free inertia.
She repeated the process several more times, pitching the rocks deep into the burning city, each one creating a satisfying, crunching report. Ashido was grunting in pain as the burning acid pushed her own resistances to their limit, but she was not deterred. She was nearly through the wall when they heard a commotion down the road.
A group of three villains had turned the corner and spotted them, each shouting in cruelty and anger as they dashed towards the two students. Ashido redoubled her efforts, tears flowing from her eyes as her skin burned from her own power. “J-just a little longer!”
Uraraka tried to ignore how much her knees were shaking as the villains closed on them. She picked up her penultimate piece of ammunition, throwing the weight out of it and gripping it tightly in her hands. She took a deep breath and stepped forward, hurling the boulder like a bowling ball towards the charging villains.
“Release!” she yelled, throwing the weight back into the projectile and pushing to keep it from slowing down too much. The villains didn’t have time to react as the chunk of concrete crashed into them, throwing the three back into a heap. Uraraka hoped she hadn’t overestimated or underestimated how much force to put into the attack. She wanted to incapacitate, not kill.
“Midori was right,” Ashido said, a small smile growing on her face through her pained tears, “you’re scary .”
Before Uraraka could respond, her worries came to pass. The villains groaned and stirred, pushing themselves to their feet, the cruelty in their eyes replaced with burning hatred. Uraraka wheeled around as a second group of enemies ran into the open from the other direction. “M-Mina? I hope you’re almost done!”
Ashido grunted with a final effort, light pouring into the dim street as she broke through. “Come on, let’s get out of here!”
Tears formed in Uraraka’s eyes as her emotions continued to build. She reached down and threw the weight out of her final piece of debris: the mostly-intact wall she had grabbed earlier. She pulled it with her as Ashido slipped through the small hole in the wall, placing the concrete slab above her head.
One of the villains flung a knife at her, catching her in the arm before sailing past. The woman dove through the hole after her pink-skinned friend, screaming in pain as she hit the ground hard. She blinked through her tears and clapped her hands together, “release!”
The wall fell down with a heavy thud, kicking up more dust as it effectively sealed the hole Ashido had made. The pinkette helped pull her to her feet, careful of the bleeding gash on her right arm. “You okay?”
Uraraka panted for a few seconds, partially from her adrenaline leaving her system and partially because of the stress she had put on her quirk. She tried and failed to speak, instead settling on gritting her teeth and nodding.
“If we get out of here alive, I am so kissing you, Ochako. You can’t stop me.” Ashido’s teasing smile was flatter than normal, her own exhaustion clear on her face. Uraraka’s face lit up bright red as she began to stutter and cover her face with her hands. “Yeah, you’re fine,” the pink woman giggled as she gestured towards the central plaza behind her. “Let’s get moving. We gotta help the others.”
Aizawa squared up against the twitching, wild-eyed villain, still panting and exhausted. Tsuyu and her classmates stood in the waist-high water, staring at the scene in front of them, frozen in concern; even Midoriya was still, his eyes glowing softly.
Their teacher wrapped up the villain and crashed his knee into his gut, causing the thug to sputter and stagger, but unlike before, he remained standing. Her teacher’s hair fell down around his face again, and the villain seemed to explode. Before, his arms were massive, easily five feet long, but now they were truly gargantuan.
Each limb was larger than the rest of his body combined, bulging with taut muscle with fists larger than his torso clenched threatening at the ends. The scarf wrapped around him was flung outwards by his sudden growth, the hero leaping backwards as pulling the weapon back around his shoulders.
The villain lunged forward, crushing the ground to smithereens where their teacher had been before he had dodged away. He swung his arms wide, chopping the air as Aizawa jumped above him. The villain’s arms suddenly shrunk back to normal as their teacher wrapped him up and pulled himself downwards, driving the thug into the dirt.
Once again, the villain was not knocked unconscious, the jarring blow to his head only seeming to irritate him mildly. Their teacher snarled in frustration, “ what did you inject him with?!”
The blue-haired villain sneered. “Wouldn’t you like to know? Let’s just say it’s a homebrew.”
Aizawa jumped back as his hair fell again. “Trigger and stimulants?” he guessed, “You’ll kill him.”
The leader shrugged, throwing his arms wide. “A small sacrifice to bring down this disgusting society of heroes!”
Before Aizawa could retort, the large-armed villain took another deadly swing at him, the hero barely dodging.
Purple mist appeared next to the leader, the warp villain forming from nothing. Tsuyu immediately noticed a large, yellow horn jutting from the side of the mist, with what she guessed was his blood dripping from it.
“Tomura Shigaraki,” he said formally, his voice slightly strained from the pain he was in.
“Ah, Kurogiri,” Shigaraki responded, either unaware or unconcerned with Kurogiri’s wound, “is Thirteen dead?”
“The rescue hero is out of commision,” Kurogiri said evasively, “but one of the students escaped. He is going to call for the other heroes.”
Without warning, Shigaraki seemed to snap, his arms twitching as he raised his hands to his neck and began scratching himself violently, like a junkie going through withdrawal. “If you weren’t the lynchpin of this whole operation, I’d turn every atom in your body to dust!”
Just as quickly, he composed himself. “There’s no way we can win if dozens of pros show up to stop us; its game over, back to the title screen.” His shoulders slumped. “And I was looking forward to finishing this today. Dammit… let’s go home.”
Tsuyu could hardly believe her ears. Next to her, Mineta was having a similar reaction. “Did I hear that right? Did he say they’re gonna just leave ?”
“That’s what it sounded like to me,” Tsuyu responded.
Mineta began to weep tears of joy, his arms reaching for Tsuyu’s chest in a relieved ‘hug’. Before he could touch her, he froze. Midoriya’s eyes had flared brighter, the man snapping his neck towards Mineta, his mouth curled up to barely reveal his sharp fangs. Mineta wisely chose life, and took a step backwards.
“Oh, before we leave…” Shigaraki turned his crazed look on the three students. “Let’s make sure the Symbol of Peace is broken. Let’s wreck his pride.”
With stunning speed, Shigaraki was upon the three classmates, his hand reaching towards Tsuyu’s face. Death itself flashed before her, rooting her in place.
“Shigaraki, was it?”
The villain froze, his hand inches from the woman’s face. She dared to shift her gaze to her right, catching a glimpse of the green light radiating from Midoriya’s eyes.
Midoriya’s right arm was covered in scales, his am bulging slightly as his clawed hand gripped Shigaraki’s wrist tightly.
“Why are you doing this? You want to kill All Might, but that plan has clearly fallen through,” Midoriya continued, his tone both curious and matter-of-fact. “Surely you have a backup plan, so I’m curious as to why you’re doing this.”
Shigaraki tilted his head slightly, seemingly intrigued by Midoriya. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to kill you to break All Might’s spirit.”
“Surely your goals are larger than that ,” Midoriya responded. “You want to kill All Might, sure, but do your aspirations end there? The death of a single man?”
The villain’s hand gradually pulled back as his curiosity grew, Midoriya releasing his grip on the mesmerized villain. He stared at the student for a few moments, thinking. “It’s… not just a single man. It’s what he represents. With his death, I will destroy this pathetic society and their ‘heroes’.”
Midoriya snapped his fingers. “There it is. I knew you couldn’t be that small minded.” The student grew a twisted, unnerving smile. “You want to change the world, I can understand that. So what’s the best way you can do that?”
Shigaraki’s eyes grew a manic glint. “By killing All Might.”
The greenette nodded. “Right, but he’s not here, so what’s the best you can make of this situation?” Before Shigaraki could respond, Midoriya continued. “I’ll tell you: fear. You spread fear. You make a name for yourself, your ‘League of Villains’. This doesn’t have to be a setback, Shigaraki, it can be a brilliant debut.”
“What do you mean?” Shigaraki had seemingly completely forgotten about Tsuyu and Mineta, the two taking the opportunity to slowly slip away.
“Let’s say you kill us. Think of the headlines.” Midoriya was unsettlingly calm. “‘Villains Break into USJ, Take out Teachers and Kill Students.’ Not a bad headline, but it’s thinking small. What sends a better message: a bunch of villains killing some college freshmen, or a true mastermind, who orchestrated this whole operation, had the students in his grasp, literally dead to rights… and then walked away?”
Midoriya threw his arms wide. “It’s not about the body count. A few dead in a country of millions? It’ll be forgotten in a month or two. It’s about the message you send. The fact that you are strong enough to break into this place, desecrate one of the supposedly most secure campuses in the world , just to prove a point. You held our lives in your hands, and you let them go, just because you could.”
Midoriya crossed his arms as he finished. “That shows that you’re not some two-bit violent thug, but a real supervillain, planning much further ahead and much grander than a couple of dead students. Fear is what wins wars, Shigaraki, not dead bodies. Break the spirit of your enemies and it will be worse than any death.”
Shigaraki was stunned silent as the man finished his speech. His eyes squinted slightly, his face twisting into a wide smile. “You’re pretty smart, kid... and I think you’re right.” Tsuyu nearly tripped; had Midoriya’s ploy worked?
“Fear is important. Which means… Kurogiri!” Shigaraki called back over his shoulder, a warp gate forming under his feet in an instant. The villain reappeared next to Kurogiri, chuckling softly to himself. “We’ll continue as planned. Bring in the heavy-hitter.”
“Oh, and finish off Eraserhead, will you? I’m done with him.”
“As you wish, Tomura Shigaraki.” Kurogiri turned his focus on Aizawa, who was dodging away from the Triggered villain, his exhaustion making his movements more sluggish by the second. A massive arm surged forward, but once again, Aizawa ducked out of the way.
This time however, one of Kurogiri’s warp gates opened up and swallowed the punch, redirecting it to Aizawa’s blind spot. With a sickening crack, the massive fist collided with the pro hero, sending him hurting to the ground in a heap.
Shigaraki began to laugh harder, cackling at the unconscious man. “Finish him off.”
The thug lurched towards Aizawa, his massive arms dragging along the ground behind him.
Tsuyu and her classmates couldn’t move as muscle as he approached the hero and raised his arms high, ready to crush the man into a fine paste.
He swung his titanic limbs down.
A heavy crack echoed throughout the plaza.
Mina cheered as the thug flew backwards, smashing through the concrete divider between the plaza and one of the other zones and crashing into the ground, choking in pain as he held his broken ribs.
Ochako skidded to a halt as she hit the ground, her right boot completely shattered from the flying kick she delivered to the villain’s side. She nearly stumbled as she rose to her feet, clearly favoring one leg; it was no surprise she hurt herself with how fast and hard she had flung herself forward.
Mina turned her gaze over to Midori, who was staring wide-eyed at Ochako. His eyes ran over her limp, her shredded costume, her shattered boot, her filthy hair, her exhausted expression and her blood-covered arm. Mina took step back as his vision snapped to her, his eyes tracing over her tender hands, her soot-covered skin and the blood staining her costume. The shock on his face drained away, replaced with unbridled rage and hatred . Mina gasped as a fire seemed to erupt in his eyes, his horns flaring back at speeds she had never seen before as he bared his fangs.
The villain staggered to his feet and began to run towards Ochako, a furious, unhinged look on his face. Ochako was shaking, her face split between fear and determination, but her hurt leg prevented her from getting out of the way. She braced herself for the villain’s retaliation.
As he stomped forward towards the woman, Midori kicked off almost too fast for Mina to see, covering the distance in an instant and leaving a massive explosion of water behind. For the second time in less than a minute, the villain was catapulted backwards, but this time, a massive, scaled man was on top of him.
The villain screamed in agony as he crashed into the earth almost fifty feet away from Ochako, Midori pinning him to the ground. The claws on his left arm were buried in the thug’s side where his broken ribs were, crimson blood staining his clothes. Midori ripped his claws out, renewing the screams echoing through the plaza. Surprisingly, the villain didn’t stay down but began to struggle to get up.
“ Villains! ” Midori screamed, raising his right arm behind him. “What have you done to them?!” His arm bulged massive, dwarfing the rest of his body as he braced himself to not fall off balance. The man brought the closed, scale-covered fist down, finally knocking the villain out cold as his ribs cracked under the mighty blow.
Mina winced as the noise echoed through the plaza, but took the chance to run over to Ochako, who was nearing collapse. She grabbed onto her, helping to prop her up. “Are you alright? Can you walk?”
Ochako nodded as she panted. “I’ll be fine… but I think my quirk’s used up. I’m all out.” Mina helped Ochako to stand.
Midori also stood up, turning around with cold fury burning in his eyes. “Tsu. Mineta. Take Aizawa and get him to safety.” The two students, who Mina hadn’t even noticed yet, leapt into action at his command, not hesitating to run over and pick up their unconscious teacher and move quickly back toward the entrance, leaving the Mina, Ochako, Midori and the two villains alone in the central plaza.
The villains had simply watched the events before them unfold. The one Mina heard called Shigaraki seemed to be enjoying himself greatly as he chuckled maniacally. “You’re getting more interesting by the second, kid…”
“The warp gate is ready, Tomura Shigaraki,” Kurogiri said with finality. “There is no going back after this. Are you-”
“Yes!” Shigaraki interrupted him harshly. “Do it.”
A swirling black and purple mass appeared next to the two villains, a huge metal chair falling from the gate and crashing onto the ground next to them. Sitting, strapped into the chair, was a giant of a man. Shigaraki reached over and grabbed the restraints holding the man down, the bonds simply disintegrating in his hand.
The man stood slowly, a cruel grin growing across his face, rooting all three students in place with the malice he exuded. As he moved his gaze upward, Mina finally got a good look at him. His head was covered in short white hair, flecked with bright red, while two massive, red horns twisted back along his skull, one with the tip broken off. He rose to his full height, dwarfing Shigaraki next to him in height and breadth.
His face was wrinkled, his sadistic smirk doing nothing to hide his age, but despite it all, he looked incredibly physically fit. He rotated his head, popping his neck as he seemed to enjoy the look of horror on the students’ faces.
“ Greetings , students of UA,” he said slowly, his voice deep and intimidating. “My name is Genta Midoriya.”
“Midoriya…?” Mina whispered softly as fear gripped her heart. She slowly turned slightly to her right, peering at Midori, whose eyes were wider than hers, his breathing getting deeper and faster.
“But you might know me better…” he smirked as smoke vented from his nostrils, “as Terrorflame.”
Mina’s heart stopped. A chill ran down her spine as her knees began to shake harder.
Ochako reached out, slowly grabbing Mina by the arm and pulling her closer, both women unable to run, nor move their eyes from the true supervillain before them.
To her right, Mina could hear Midoriya collapse to his knees, his pained breathing turning into grunts and groans. She dared to peek once again and saw the man clutching his head as if in the greatest pain he had ever experienced, tears falling slowly from his eyes, which she was sure would have been burning furiously bright if they weren’t squeezed shut.
“I have come here to take revenge on the man who locked me in Tartarus for 25 years, ” Terrorflame spat as he looked around. He turned back to the villains. “Where is he?”
“He is en route,” Kurogiri explained.
Midori’s groans became full-blown screams of pain as he buckled over, pressing his head to the ground in an attempt to dull the pain. Mina was crying again, panic overwhelming her. She looked back and forth between her friend and his relative, her heart falling deeper and deeper into the pit of despair in her stomach.
“Midori!” she cried out, her voice cracking with fright. “We need you! Stop resisting!”
His screams redoubled, anguish echoing through the plaza. “I’M… NOT!”
Terrorflame turned back to the students, a look of bemusement on his face. “Very well, I suppose I will simply have to entertain myself while I wait.”
His cruel grin returned as he bared his fangs. Unlike Midori, these fangs only caused her heart to clench with fear. His red eyes began to glow, resembling pools of liquid magma as his horns twisted larger on his head. “It’s been so long since I’ve been able to stretch my wings, as they say. It feels good to be able to breathe again.”
He inhaled deeply, his eyes filled with nothing but malice and arrogance. With a low roar, he opened his mouth wide as a torrent of flame poured forth.
Straight towards Ochako and Mina.
Even if their legs were working, the absolutely massive wall of fire rushing towards them would have offered them no chance at escape. The heat was so intense that Mina could feel her face and hair beginning to dry and singe as soon as the flames escaped his throat. Time slowed down as the rushing death closed in, the fountain instantaneously evaporating and the concrete cracking as the fire rushed past.
Mina was told that your life flashed before your eyes before you died, but she only saw the bright light of Terrorflame’s attack as it closed in.
The deafening roar of searing flames and charring flesh filled the USJ.
Chapter 21: Family Reunion
Summary:
Terrorflame.
Notes:
Thanks to Epsilon110 and Mattybeach for being my betas again!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ochako squeezed her eyes shut, but the light coming from the flames still shone through, nearly blinding her.
Then everything went dark.
She heard the flames rush around her, the heat causing her to sweat intensely, but she felt no pain. Ochako had heard that severe burns were sometimes painless because they destroyed your nerve endings, but… no, she didn’t feel nothing . She could still feel Mina’s arms wrapped around her waist and her own arms holding her friend close. She could still feel the pain in her right leg and the throbbing from the cut on her arm. She could feel the sweat pouring down her brow, mixing with the tears dripping from her face.
As the sound of flames faded, Ochako dared to peek. She slowly opened one of her eyelids, but what she saw made both of her eyes fly wide and her jaw to drop.
Towering in front of her was a massive creature covered in beautiful green scales. Even at her impressive height, she didn’t even rise to the shoulder of its massive arm. A curved black spike, as dark as its terrible claws and easily over six inches long, stuck out of the creature’s elbow. Its legs were longer, digitigrade and bulging with powerful muscle as they dug into the concrete at her feet.
The body of the beast was covered in massive, interlocking plates running down its neck and back, while it’s underside was protected by lighter green armor. A great green ridge accented by long, dark spikes ran down its head to the tip of its tail, which had coiled loosely around the two women. Above her, covering Mina and Ochako and shielding them from the light was a massive, dappled wing.
Ochako recognized those wings. She recognized those arms. She recognized him.
“D-Deku?”
Deku was colossal, easily over thirty feet from tail to tip. His arm was larger than her entire body and his hand could easily have palmed her head like a baseball. His heavy breathing sent deep vibrations through her body, further impressing just how large the predator in front of her was. The sheer power he exuded should have terrified her, intimidated her, cowed her, but instead, she only felt… safe. All of this was for her and Mina, protecting them from certain death. She felt a swell of hope in her heart, dispelling the dark despair that had gripped it.
Next to her, Mina was also slack-jawed, staring dumbly at the massive dragon in front of them. Her face was turning slowly up into a smile, tears of relief beginning to form in her eyes. “He… he saved us.” Mina gripped Ochako’s waist harder, pulling them closer together.
Deku inhaled and reared back, throwing his head high as he unleashed a thunderous, primal roar. The women squeezed their eyes together and braced themselves as the ground underneath their feet shook with such intensity that they would have fallen over if they weren’t being held up by Deku’s tail. The trees nearby trembled and waves were kicked up in the nearby water as the ear-splitting battle cry echoed throughout the USJ. As the sound faded, Deku slowly lowered his head back down; Ochako wished she could have seen the look on his face, even if he didn’t look like Deku anymore.
“What’s this ?” Terrorflame sounded surprised, as well as impressed, but certainly not intimidated. Ochako could hear the smirk on his face. Deku widened his stance slightly, a fearsome growl rumbling out of his throat. His long, muscular tail coiled tighter around Ochako and Mina’s feet, wrapping itself up and around their bodies, comforting but not crushing them.
Deku finally spoke, his voice octaves deeper and more monstrous than anything she had ever heard before.
“They… are mine. They are all mine. You will not. Touch. Them .”
Ochako could barely tell that the voice was Deku’s. It sounded so foreign, so terrifying, so … alien, but it was definitely his.
Mina’s expression devolved back to fear. “We need to get out of here. Those villains are still there, but you heard what that Kurogiri guy said, right? The pros are coming! Midori’s giving us a chance, come on!” She grabbed Ochako’s arm and pulled it over her shoulder, giving the limping woman some support.
Ochako tore her eyes from Deku, who seemed to have heard them, his tail uncoiling around them. She missed the feeling of warmth and safety, but Mina was right. Ochako gulped, then nodded, the two of them moving as quickly as they could while keeping Deku between them and the villains.
“What are the chances ?!” Terrorflame sounded almost delighted , completely unphased by Deku’s transformation. “Another Midoriya in this class of students, and one with a full transformation at that! Quite impressive for someone so young, but what’s this?”
The two girls made it to the trees on the edge of the complex, but Ochako’s ankle was screaming, causing her to stumble. Mina pulled her behind the blackened, incinerated wood and let her sit down, leaning her up against the charred tree.
“Green? Chromatic ?”
Ochako and Mina both froze, slowly turning towards each other, eyes wide with fear.
Terrorflame began to chuckle, but soon the plaza boomed with boisterous laughter. “And you’re trying to be a hero?! Don’t you know what you are, boy?! You’re a villain! It’s in your blood! IT IS YOUR BLOOD!”
Deku snarled, turning himself to face Terrorflame properly. The villain huffed, blowing a cloud of smoke from the corner of his mouth. “Who are you?” The white-haired man inhaled deeply through his nose, smelling the air. “You smell like Hisashi, but no… you’re his son, aren’t you?”
Terrorflame’s laughter renewed in earnest. “What a delightful twist of fate! I take his father from him and his own child is chromatic. He must hate you.”
“You don’t know anything ,” Deku growled, his rage shaking the ground slightly.
The villain’s laughter abruptly ended. “It’s true that I’ve been isolated for longer than you’ve been alive, child, but you would do well to respect your betters. I know a great deal more than you think.” His voice had suddenly lost its mocking derision, instead dripping with malice. “Are you telling me that he willingly let a chromatic try to become a hero? What a joke .”
Ochako burned with anger and indignation. Who did this guy think he was? Deku was going to become a hero and nobody could say otherwise. She shifted her foot, trying to pull herself up, but Mina held her down.
“What are you doing? ” she hissed.
“I can’t let Deku fight this guy on his own.”
Mina looked like she wanted to slap her. “Are you kidding me?! You’re hurt, exhausted and functionally quirkless right now. Midori isn’t standing up to that monster so you can hobble back and get yourself killed!”
“Bu-”
“No buts! You are staying here until we can get moving again.” Mina poked her chest with a finger. “I will not hesitate to knock you out and drag you away if you try to go back.” She reached down to pull the shattered remnants of her boot from her right leg.
Shigaraki produced another vial from his hip, holding it out to Terrorflame. “Here.”
“...no.”
“What?!” Shigaraki looked up at the man as he flew into a rage.
Terrorflame didn’t break eye contact with Deku, completely unphased with Shigaraki’s tantrum. “I will not sully myself with such a crutch against this wyrmling.” Shigaraki began to furiously scratch his neck again, but before he could argue, both him and Kurogiri vanished into a warp gate, reappearing on the far side of the plaza.
Then, the man ceased to be. With a speed that Ochako had only seen when watching Stormclaw or Ryukyu, Terrorflame exploded into a huge red dragon, even larger than Deku. He took a menacing step forward as he rose to his full height, smoke billowing from his nostrils as he grinned, showing his fangs.
Compared to Deku’s curved jaw, Terrorflame’s was stouter and straighter, while the villain’s horns were much more pronounced, extending past his head. His shoulders were maybe a foot taller than Deku’s but she immediately noticed the difference in their builds. Terrorflame was much more the traditional image of a dragon, the one you would find in an old picture book or in a video game, his body well-proportioned and burgeoning with muscle and scales.
On the other hand, compared to Terrorflame, Deku was much lankier. His arms and legs were longer in proportion to his body, and his neck was much longer as well. He almost looked serpentine as he held his curved, spiked jaw low to the ground.
The two beasts, each over thirty feet long, began to pace slowly in a circle around each other. Ochako noticed Terrorflame’s body was covered in scars and old battle wounds, his pristine armor disfigured and gnarled, but no less effective. Deku’s scales were unblemished and beauti-
They weren’t.
Ochako gasped and cupped a hand over her mouth as Deku paced to the right, exposing his right shoulder to the women. The scales above and around his right arm were burnt and flaking, charred black from Terrorflame’s fire breath. The green dragon was keeping his right side turned away from the red dragon, keeping his wound out of reach.
“Come, great-nephew. Show me you have the fangs to back up that roar.”
The two dragons surged forward.
Momo finished creating a new uniform for herself as Kyouka dusted herself off while Kaminari was wandering around like an idiot after electrocuting the villains that had been attacking them; apparently his quirk had some nasty drawbacks when he went overboard. Kyouka was admiring her handiwork when a giant pillar of flame erupted from the central plaza.
The two still with their wits turned and stared as the blazing torrent rushed through the center of the USJ, dissipating after blasting at least a hundred feet forward. Momo clapped her hand over her mouth in horror, “w-who could have…”
As the fire cleared, her eyes widened in horror. Standing directly in the path, and somehow still standing, was a gigantic green dragon. The beast reared back and unleashed a deafening roar that caused Kyouka to clap her hands over her ears, despite the great distance between them.
“H-holy crap! ” Kyouka cried out as the roar faded. “Is that Midoriya?”
“I...I think it is,” Momo mumbled as the blood drained from her face. Before she could contemplate the terrifying transformation, a second dragon seemingly appeared from nowhere, standing opposite of her classmate.
Momo’s breath caught in her throat as her stomach twisted into knots.
She recognized that dragon.
“T-Terrorflame!” Her voice cracked as she took a step back instinctively.
Kyouka mirrored the motion. “The supervillain ? I thought All Might defeated him way before we were born! What’s he doing here?!”
Momo clutched her chest as she watched the two dragons pace around each other, their wings twitching as their footsteps shook the ground. Next to Terrorflame, Momo couldn't help but think Midoriya looked valiant… almost heroic, facing against the battle hardened, bigger dragon.
‘Zu….’
‘I’m sorry…’
“Getting stopped by Midoriya.”
“You really don’t know how outclassed you are,” Shouto said flatly as he stared down the frozen villain in front of him. “What are a bunch of lowlifes going to do against someone with three quirks?”
“T-t-three?” the thug chattered out through the ice.
“You’ve seen my ice, but I also have my fire.” Shouto let a small gout of fire rise from his left hand; a small sacrifice to make for the sake of intimidation. “But I’m also telekinetic.”
The villain grunted as he was punched across the face by apparently nothing. He sputtered and spat out a bit of blood as he stared back up at Shouto with pure fear in his eyes.
“Fortunately for you, I want to be a hero; I don’t want to cause undue pain or death.” Shouto heard another thug creeping up behind him, but he also felt Hagakure touch his arm as she brushed past him, moving to intercept. He kept his right foot in position to throw up an ice wall to protect himself in case she failed, but he didn’t take his eyes off of the villain in front of him.
The man behind him lunged forward, only to be thrown back by a kick from nowhere, gasping as the wind was knocked out of him as he was tossed to the ground. Before he could stand back up, another kick to the gut and a blow across his face knocked him out cold.
The frozen villain’s eyes were somehow even wider than they were before, and quickly darted back and forth between the unconscious thug and Shouto. “Do you see? I don’t even have to look to defeat you. Your position is hopeless.” Shouto narrowed his eyes. “Your lives will be spared, but only if you tell me how you plan to kill All Mi-”
His question was interrupted by a sound all too familiar to him: the roar of rushing flames. He finally broke his gaze from his prisoner and stared at the source. His own eyes widened as he saw a green dragon standing in the central plaza as the flames faded.
A second, towering dragon grew in front of his classmate, red as blood and covered in scars. Todoroki recognized the supervillain from all the studying he had done under his private tutors.
His mouth fell open as his earlier question was answered.
“Oh.”
The dragons tore great chunks out of the concrete floor with every step they took as they rushed towards the other. Terrorflame swung at Midori with his right hand, his red claws glinting in the light as they cut through the air. With a heavy impact that Mina could feel , despite being at least a hundred feet away, Midori turned his body into the blow and blocked with his right.
Midori’s long tail came around with him, striking Terrorflame on his left and grinding the villain back several yards, concrete debris flying into the air all around them. The green dragon’s head lunged forward, deadly fangs bared as his maw opened wide. The villain brought his own skull down and a sharp, echoing crack rang out as his twisted horns impacted with Midori’s flared ridges, the latter being driven into the earth.
Mina gasped at her friend’s pained grunt as the ground shattered underneath his skull. Terrorflame rose his right arm up again and brought it down right on Midori’s head, but before he could connect, a great dust storm was kicked up as his great-nephew’s wings beat once, launching the younger man backward.
“You fight like an amateur. Has this pathetic institution gone even further downhill since my imprisonment?” Terrorflame sneered, his booming voice carrying across the entire complex.
The green dragon shook his head as he rose back to his fighting stance, his eyes refocusing on the posturing villain. Mina noticed the familiar, intelligent look in Midori’s green eyes, even if they were massive, draconic and furious. She doubted he would make the same mistake twice.
Midori cautiously stalked forward, his head low to the ground and his wings poised at the ready. Terrorflame beat his own wings, launching himself toward the green dragon with deadly intensity. He swung his claws once again, but this time, Midori was ready.
The student’s wings beat hard, jerking him back onto his hind legs and letting the villain crash down in front of him. Mina watched the massive muscle fibers of Midori’s legs flex and push, stopping his backward momentum and launching her friend forward, fangs bared and claws extended towards the exposed villain.
Terrorflame’s years of experience would not let such a tactic work so easily. Planting his right claw, he ducked down slightly and drove his left arm upward with a closed fist. As Midori’s attack sailed high, his fist struck the younger man in the chest, launching him upwards and careening above the villain.
Like a cat, Midori twisted himself in the air and with a beat of his wings, he landed on his feet. The man took a few deep breaths, recovering the air that Terrorflame had knocked out of him. With his second attack repelled as easily as the first, Midori set to prowling again, plotting and strategizing.
Mina felt herself tearing up again, and a quick glance at Ochako showed that she was, too. The incredible power on display from both combatants was driving her fight-or-flight instincts crazy, but she kept her feet firm, standing guard over her friend. ‘All that strength, all this intensity… Midori isn’t just fighting for me, or Ochako…’
She thought back to what her classmate had said when he first transformed. His declaration of ownership had sounded strange, but Mina knew what it meant. Midori had placed his protection on the entire class, he had claimed all of them.
He was working with his quirk.
‘He’s fighting for all of us.’
Bakugou’s eyes were wide and his mouth had fallen open as he stuttered and sputtered for words. Eiko saw the look of absolute terror on her friend’s face, but she didn’t quite understand it. “Midoriya really his his father’s son, huh?”
“H-he shouldn’t…” Bakugou managed to choke out.
“Shouldn’t what? Look at him fight that big villain!” She pumped her fists up and down in excitement. “That’s so manly!”
Another great clash from the two dragons shook some of the rubble around them loose, kicking up dust and snapping Bakugou out of his petrified state. Eiko felt herself grabbed by the shirt and shoved backward; she instinctually hardened her back as she was slammed into a wall behind her.
Bakugou was glaring into her eyes, only a few inches from her face. His expression was a mixture of rage, fear and determination. “You don’t get it! He shouldn’t be doing this! He shouldn’t be able to do this!”
Eiko was cowed slightly under his furious snarl. “W-what do you mean? His dad does it all the ti-”
“Uncle Hisashi and Ryuko weren’t even going to try and teach him this until our third year!” Bakugou shouted in her face. “You have a transformation quirk, you shouldn’t be this dumb! Think about how much strain something like that puts on his body!”
The woman’s eyes widened slightly. “So you’re saying-”
“His body can’t handle this!” Bakugou’s hands were trembling as they clutched her shirt. “He shouldn’t be able to do this, but he somehow did it anyway! Stupid, stupid, stubborn bastard!” Bakugou shouted into the sky as he let Eiko go. “A full transformation is way too much for him!”
Bakugou began to run off in the direction of the battle, Eiko shaking herself out of her stupor and immediately following him. “What’s gonna happen, Bakugou?” She couldn’t stand the idea of anything happening to her horn brother.
“Stormclaw warned us about this. If he doesn’t stop…” Bakugou’s rage seemed to have broken, replaced with cold determination.
“He’s going to die.”
Deku was breathing hard as he was rebuffed once again, landing on all fours and kicking up the concrete rubble, which was all that was left of most of the floor of the central plaza. Ochako’s emotions were riding so high that tears were leaking from her face and her heart pounded like a drum against her ribcage. Deku was standing up against the biggest supervillain Japan had seen in at least a century; he was the only thing between them and fiery death.
Ochako adored the look of brilliance in Deku’s eyes that was burning through even in his transformed state. She could tell he was strategizing; none of his attacks so far had been the same. He was keeping the villain off balance, not knowing what to expect next.
Sure enough, Deku took her by surprise. With a mighty beat of his wings, he surged into the sky, soaring above the other dragon.
Terrorflame was less surprised, and even seemed excited. “Yes! Think like a dragon, child!” He beat his own wings and chased Deku into the air.
Deku had a height advantage from his head start and kept climbing higher until he was nearly at the roof of the giant domed structure. He flipped himself around with a flap of his wings and began to dive towards the earth, straight towards Terrorflame.
Perhaps Deku was expecting Terrorflame to be slower, as he seemed slightly surprised that the villain was as close as he was. He couldn’t gain the speed she guessed he wanted before he crashed into the red dragon, but the impact still sent a shockwave that blew her hair away from her face and shook the burnt trees around her.
With the two dragons locked in a ferocious grapple, there was no way that either of their wings could keep them aloft. They tumbled toward the ground in a death spiral, quickly reaching terrifying speeds. Ochako strained to make out what was happening, but struggled to see anything concrete.
What was clear was that Deku was using his longer limbs and neck to his advantage. Terrorflame clearly had the upper hand in experience and raw strength, but Deku seemed to be more clever and quick-witted. He used his reach to keep Terrorflame at bay, letting him strike with less fear of retaliation. Deku used his right arm to reach past the villain and grab onto his wing, effectively negating any maneuverability the red dragon had in the air.
The two dragons approached the ground rapidly, and Deku used his superior position to flip Terrorflame beneath him, aiming to crush the villain against the ground. Ochako dared to let her heart fill with hope as the draconic meteor rushed towards impact.
“Clever, but futile.”
Ochako was reminded just how strong Terrorflame was as he broke free of Deku’s grasp and kicked away from him, flipping over in mid air and beating his wings with enough force to obscure Ochako’s vision with dust and debris.
With her line of sight blocked, she had to rely on sound. She heard two heavy impacts as the dragons hit the ground, Mina stumbling and falling down next to her as some of the lights that lined the complex shattered from the shockwave.
A rush of wind and the cracking of concrete betrayed the surge of motion in the cloud of dust. She heard the sickening sound of piercing flesh and a deafening, primal roar that caused the two women to shriek and cover their ears.
Ochako’s heart clenched with terror. ‘Was that Deku?! Did Terrorflame get ‘im?!’
She strained her eyes as the dust cleared, desperate to see what had happened. Her mouth fell open and tears began to fall slowly as she saw the dragons seemingly frozen.
Terrorflame was twitching slightly, his neck raised up and his jaw open as smoke poured out. Underneath him, Deku was low to the ground, his longer neck bent upwards and his curved jaw turned to the side with his fangs buried deep in the villain's neck. Terrorflame’s ruby blood dripped to the ground, accompanied by another strange green liquid.
Ochako nearly cried out for joy as hope surged inside her once more.
‘He- He’s doin’ it...’
Pony, on the other hand, did cry out in joy. She jumped in the air and pumped her fist, cheering at the top of her lungs. “Get him, Izuku!” She had completely forgone Japanese, leaving the other students mostly unaware of what she was saying.
“Did you see him flying through the air! It was like something out of an old action movie!” Pony popped two of her horns off and mimicked the dragon’s mid-air struggle by flying and spinning them around her.
“And that part where he blocked the fire! Oh, and that dodge he did!” Pony was full-on fangirling over her friend’s success.
“Tsunotori, you might wanna calm down,” Satou warned her, “this doesn’t look like it’s over yet.”
“Don’t dull her sparkle,” Aoyama chimed. He was smirking, admiring Pony’s spirit.
Pony grinned at Aoyama’s encouragement, turning back to the plaza to keep watching Izuku sa-
She stopped. Her horns floating around her fell to the ground.
“I-Izuku?”
Ochako’s leaping heart suddenly plummeted back into the pit of her stomach.
Terrorflame wasn’t shaking with pain.
He was shaking with rage.
“You… how dare you…” Terrorflame’s eyes were burning bright, hot red; they truly looked like erupting volcanoes. “I was allowing you to serve as my entertainment until All Might arrived… but I see that you are tired of living.”
With a casual swipe of his right hand, Deku was tossed backwards. Terrorflame puffed a gout of fire from his nostrils and down his neck, his crimson blood igniting like gasoline and sealing the wound. “I was going to take you under my wing… Teach you the true power of our quirk… but you have proven yourself a nuisance. Witness the power you do not deserve!”
Terrorflame’s eyes burst with light as his entire body bulged. When he had been comparable to Deku before, he quickly dwarfed the green dragon in every way. His horns twisted back further beyond his head while his claws lengthened and sharpened. Spikes grew from his elbows and around his jawline as his wings stretched larger and larger, a faint blue-black tone growing on their trailing edge.
Ochako had estimated Deku to be about seven feet tall at the shoulder, and easily 30 feet long; she had thought he was massive.
Terrorflame brought new meaning to the word.
He was at least fifteen feet at the shoulder; Ochako guessed that his head stood another fifteen feet above that, and from his nose to the tip of his tail, she was pretty sure at least two Dekus could fit along the length comfortably. His limbs bulged and rippled with powerful muscle, while his scales thickened along his body. Ochako’s entire body would have fit inside his palm, and his jaw was so titanic, he could easily swallow both of the women whole in a single bite.
‘He… he was just toyin’ with us. Deku never stood a chance…”
She scooted back along the ground in a panic, her brain screaming at her to flee. Mina grabbed her by the shoulder and wrenched her up, surprising Ochako with her strength. The pinkette pulled Ochako onto her back and began to run as fast as she could, both of them looking back over their shoulders at Deku, who was pulling himself up.
Ochako noticed that he was shaking. The backhand from Terrorflame couldn’t have hurt him that badly; he had taken much worse in the fight before and been fine. She was a little concerned with how easily she was reading the expressions of a gigantic lizard, but she could tell that he was pushing himself, struggling to stay in the fight.
The women froze in their tracks as Terrorflame unleashed a truly blood-curdling roar. The ground shook and the remaining lights in the USJ shattered. Ochako tumbled off Mina’s back as they both fell down, clutching their ears. The roar made Deku’s sound like a puppy trying to imitate its parents.
Terrorflame turned his fiery gaze back to the two women. “You will not escape my wrath again. ” His voice boomed across the entire complex, louder than ever before.
The monster opened his massive jaw wide, his vicious teeth glinting and dripping saliva. Ochako could see the tell-tale glow of flames once again begin to emerge from his throat.
And then, Deku happened.
Despite him having to fight to even stand, the green dragon surged forward, faster than even the villain could react.
Time was flowing in slow-motion. The flames sparked and surged, edging closer and closer to the end of his throat and towards the women. Before the dragon could take another shot at turning the women into charred husks, Deku beat his wings and kicked off with his legs as hard as he could.
A crater several feet deep was left behind as he sailed over into the air, the spiked horns on the top of his skull impacting Terrorflame’s jaw with a bone-chilling crack .
The villain’s head was shot skyward as the flames poured out like the engines on a space shuttle. Despite not being aimed at them, Ochako could feel the heat radiating from the attack, and the air around her began to rush like a hurricane as it rose.
The roof of the USJ stood no chance as the flames smashed into it and melted a gigantic hole in the dome, the flames shooting into the sky as they escaped the complex.
Molten glass and melted steel fell from the hole as Deku tumbled back to the ground, the ground splintering as he landed. Terrorflame’s entire body shook with renewed rage as he slowly lowered his head back down.
He raised his deadly claw above Deku and crashed it down on top of the green dragon, pinning him down with a single hand.
“You… insolent… child!” Terrorflame roared with unrestrained fury, staring down at the pinned dragon. Deku’s maw opened as he tried to breathe something out, only for Terrorflame to push his hand down harder, crushing Deku’s chest down further into the destroyed floor, stopping his attempt. Ochako could hear the sickening sound of snapping bones even across the great distance between them. “You claimed these students? You called them yours? I will slaughter each and every one of them in front of you. I will tear your wings from your back and then devour you limb by limb. I will make every… single… moment… agony for you.”
Ochako could hear Mina crying as her own tears fell harder. Deku’s eyes glowed so weakly as he looked up at Terrorflame, but she could see the defiance and determination still burning within them, stronger than ever. Her soft tears turned into wet, choking sobs as the supervillain began to lower his jaw towards Deku.
“Missouri… SMASH!”
Terrorflame’s head was driven into the ground with such a force that Ochako and Mina were physically thrown backwards a dozen feet from the wind pressure alone. Rocks and debris were catapulted into the sky, whirling around as if a tornado had appeared in the middle of the USJ.
All Might had leapt down from the hole Terrorflame had burned into the dome with such speed that Ochako only knew he had from the sound his movement generated. The number one hero stood tall between Deku and Terrorflame, his broad shoulders standing guard over the dragon-sized crater he had just dug into the floor of the plaza.
Ochako could only catch a glimpse of his face, but it told her everything.
He wasn’t smiling.
Debris began to fall down all around the USJ, splashing into the waters of the Flood Zone and bouncing off the roof of the Conflagration Zone. He lowered himself into a combat stance, emanating pure power from his bulky frame. “Never fear, students…”
“ I am here.”
Notes:
Leave a comment below, it really makes my day to see people enjoying my work. :)
Chapter 22: Fire, Fury and Hope
Summary:
The conclusion of the USJ.
Notes:
Thanks again to Epsilon110, epicderpybro2 and mattybeach for being my betas for this chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Toshinori cursed himself under his breath for being so late. He couldn't have known that the USJ was under attack, but he didn’t push himself as hard as he could have to get here. He turned to look behind him at the green dragon laying in a crater behind him, his heart sinking further as he saw the burn marks on his scales and heard the labored, ragged breaths rattling from his throat.
‘Young Midoriya…’ There was nobody else that the dragon could be. ‘You, your father, you both trusted me…’ He scanned around the plaza, looking desperately for anybody else. ‘Your entire class trusted me. I failed all of you.’ He hopped down into the crater, kneeling next to Young Midoriya’s head.
“I’m so sorry you had to stand up to this villain, but I’m proud of you for doing it.” The dragon’s eyes look at him weakly. “I am here, Young Midoriya, I will keep everyone safe, you have my word. Nobody else will be hurt because of these villains today.”
The dragon shut his eyes and nodded, his power seeming to collapse back into his body as he shrunk back down to his normal, human shape.
The child spoke, his breath weak and soft. “Thank you, All Might…” He barely managed to finish his thanks before he went limp, unconscious. Toshinori scooped him up from the ground carefully and in an instant, he was standing before the two girls he had seen earlier.
“Young Ashido, Young Uraraka, can I ask for you to keep Young Midoriya safe?” He placed the boy gently on the ground.
“With my life.” Young Uraraka spoke with such grim determination that it gave Toshinori pause. She looked deadly serious, an energy almost seeming to emanate from her that bolstered his confidence.
The pink student quickly moved over to Young Midoriya, gently placing her hand on his chest to feel his breathing. “We’ll take good care of him, All Might.” Her voice was shaky, but seemed to be doing her best to keep it together.
‘These poor students, they never should have had to experience this,’ Toshinori lamented before refocusing. “Where are the other students?” He didn’t have time to comfort them right now, not when others could still be in mortal danger.
“We got teleported all over the complex,” Young Uraraka explained. “Tsu and Mineta took Aizawa back to the entrance, but the rest are probably still around in the different zones.”
“Aizawa?” Toshinori froze.
“A villain got him, but he’s alive… I-I think.”
‘Dammit…’ The true scope of Toshinori’s failings was becoming clearer by the second. He stood up and turned back towards the villain pulling himself out of the hole Toshinori had put him in. “It’s safe now, children. I’ve got this.” With that, he took several bounding steps away to get a safe distance from the students before leaping high and landing in front of Terrorflame.
“All Might…” The monster’s voice dripped with pure rage. “I’ve thought about what I would do if I got my hands on you every day for twenty-five years.”
“Yeah?” Toshinori postured, making sure to grow his trademark smile once again, “How about I break your other horn this time?”
Terrorflame roared in rage and surged forward, his gigantic claw swiping down at Toshinori. He quickly dodged to the side as the concrete shattered like glass against the villain. Despite the great power surging through Toshinori, if the villain got a good hit on him with those massive, razor-sharp claws, he would be in serious trouble.
“You’ve gotten slow, old-timer.” Toshinori taunted, causing the dragon to howl in renewed fury and lunge at him with his titanic jaws. Toshinori jumped back the other direction and kicked off of Terrorflame’s planted arm. He reared his fist back and delivered a full-bodied punch to the dragon’s jawline, sending him careering across the central plaza and crashing into the the lake.
As the torrent of water shot into the air, Toshinori took the opportunity to dash into the large domed structure to his right, tearing through the faux-city and the rain until he found his targets. He scooped Young Tokoyami and Young Kouda in his arms and shot out of the Downpour Zone, depositing the boys at the entrance before they realized what was happening.
Toshinori paused for a moment. He counted nine students, including the two he had just rescued. He saw Thirteen laying on the ground with a destroyed suit next to Aizawa, who was also unconscious. Toshinori felt his guilt deepen, but this wasn’t the time for him to feel sorry for himself. He had met Young Iida on his way to the USJ and he knew of the students making their way here, which left seven students for him to rescue.
He dashed back to the central plaza in an instant, before any of the students could even realize he was there. Terrorflame had recovered and launched himself into the air, his great wings unfurling around him as he opened his jaw and breathed a massive torrent of fire down at Toshinori. He planted his feet and brought his fist back.
“Texas Smash!”
His punch unleashed an rush of wind so great that it split Terrorflame’s inferno around him, spinning them around him like a red tornado. He jumped straight towards the villain, through the eye of the vortex his punch had conceived.
“I don’t remember it being this easy!” He caught the villain in the jaw, snapping his mouth shut with an uppercut. He used one of the spikes on Terrorflame’s chin as leverage and swung down, landing a solid punch on the dragon’s chest, sending him flying backwards into the massive water slide in the Flood Zone. “You’re gonna have to do better than that , villain!”
He scanned the water for any students and finding none, he threw another mid-air punch, flying backwards as Terrorflame’s body cracked the cliff behind the water slide. Toshinori landed and dashed off to the red-domed building. He found no students there either and ran to the next zone.
Toshinori saw Young Kaminari being held hostage by a villain and his blood boiled . Before any of them could even notice him, he put the villain in the dirt and tucked the dazed student under his arm. He scooped up the two girls and whisked them off to safety.
That only left four students unaccounted for. Before he could grab them, a massive crash announced the dragon’s return to the central plaza, steam rising off of him in his rage.
In a flash, Toshinori was on him. He swung with a left hook, which the villain blocked with his arm. “Come on, lizard, is that the best you’ve got?”
Terrorflame’s eyes twitched with liquid fire and fury as he flung Toshinori back with a swing of his arm. Every single one of his motions carried murderous intent as he slowly stalked towards Toshinori.
‘Keep him focused on me and get him angry ,’ Toshinori repeated in his mind. He recalled well the strategy that kept him alive and brought him victory twenty-five years ago. Keeping him too mad to think would keep all of them alive today.
As you grow up, you learn things about yourself. You learn what you like, what you dislike, what you love, what you hate and so on. Momo didn’t know everything about herself, of course; nobody does. But what she did know, was that she hated not being in control.
That’s not to say that she needed to be in command of every situation, but whenever she was in a situation she didn’t have a firm grasp on, she couldn’t help but get nervous and uncomfortable. She liked knowing all the facts and she didn’t like surprises.
Since she came to UA, she had been in control. She had studied for over a year for the recommendation exam and had gone out of her way to prepare for her classes at UA. During the quirk assessment test, she was presented with clear challenges that she could apply herself to, and at the battle trial, she had completely controlled the battle from beginning to end; her opponents never got a chance to fight back.
Momo didn’t feel like she could be blamed for feeling that way either. Her entire quirk depended on her being prepared; if she didn’t know the molecular composition of something, she couldn’t make it. In a grim sense, once she became a hero, her success and survival depended on her being prepared.
She knew that she couldn’t always be in control if she was a hero, surprise attacks and other unexpected events were sure to happen, but that’s why she was at UA. To best prepare herself to know what to do in these situations and learn how to get a firm footing. She wasn’t expecting everything to go off the rails so soon.
And things had certainly gone off the rails.
Ever since Wednesday night, she had been even more wary of Midoriya than she normally was; he brought up too many old feelings she just wasn’t sure what to do with yet. Hearing Mina and Ochako talk about Midoriya… just being around him made her nervous. He seemed so harmless, so kind, so sincere, so adorable; the same way he had always seemed, ever since they were kids. But was it all a ruse? Was Midoriya a wolf in sheep’s clothing?
Then she had seen him snap when that warp villain had attacked them. Was that who he truly was? A monster ready to attack? He didn’t seem to be in control of it, either. Ochako was trying to stop him, he looked like he was trying to stop himself , but it didn’t matter. He lost the battle as he transformed into a seven-foot-tall scaled draconic humanoid and lunged at the villain with real intent to kill.
What if Momo set him off accidentally? What if she said something or did something that caused Midoriya to lose it? There were too many questions surrounding him, too much uncertainty.
But then… then Terrorflame happened and Midoriya turned into a real monster. How was something that gigantic and deadly hiding in his admittedly buff, but still human-sized frame?
She had to admit, however, that if it wasn’t for Midoriya, they would probably all be dead. Terrorflame was a real supervillain and Midoriya held his own against him, at least for a while. He stood before the gigantic dragon, even when he used his full, terrible power and protected them with no concern for his own safety.
So no, Midoriya wasn’t a monster. Maybe his quirk was monstrous, maybe he had a dark side she didn’t understand, but Midoriya… her Zu… he was no monster.
Who was a monster, besides Terrorflame of course, was the villain standing in front of her and Kyouka. He had an electric quirk just like Kaminari and had been unaffected by his attack. She and Kyouka could only stand with their hands up while the villain threatened their lives.
And then… the three of them were standing back at the entrance.
Momo blinked a few times, trying to make sure she wasn’t dreaming or delusional, but no, there they were, back at the entrance. Kaminari was still drooling as he made dopey sounds, but Kyouka looked as stunned as she did. Momo panned around, she saw Tsu, Mineta, Aoyama, Pony, Shouji, Sero, Kouda, Tokoyami, Aiza-
“Oh no,” Momo clapped her hands over her mouth again. Aizawa was unconscious, and Thirteen was next to him in worse shape.
“How the crap did we get here?” Kyouka asked the obvious question.
“All Might,” Tsu answered flatly. “He’s been running around and bringing the others here. We’re only missing seven right now.”
“We moved so quickly though,” Momo put a finger to her chin as she began to think. “If he just grabbed us a moved us over here, we would certainly have been killed instantly by the G-forces of such a rapid acceleration, but we’re no worse for wear. It must be a part of his quirk.”
“You’re sounding a bit like Midoriya there, Yaoyorozu,” Satou said, laughing nervously as the ground continued to shake from All Might and Terrorflame’s clashing.
“Speaking of…” Tokoyami muttered ominously, causing Yaoyorozu to look up at him, and then to where he was looking.
Ochako and Mina had come over the crest of the stairs… carrying Midoriya between them. The two women were both bloody and bruised, but at least they were still conscious and on their feet, albeit Ochako with a slight limp and a missing boot.
The man they were carrying was a mess. He was bruised and scraped all over, and the skin on his right shoulder was burnt horrifically. Small rivulets of green blood dripped from his arms and his face was completely slack. Only the rattling, forced rising and falling of his chest told Momo that he was still even alive.
Today had been a terrible day, that was evident. Momo had been stumbling and panicking since the villains arrived, unable to feel like she was in control for more than a few seconds at a time. But as she looked down on Midoriya, bruised, bleeding and broken before her, she was reminded of the times they spent together at all those hero galas and gatherings, all those times he was genuinely interested in being her friend when everyone else just cared about ingratiating themselves to her parents. She remembered those laughs and smiles they shared, all of the silly jokes and fun games, all those smiles on both of their faces.
His face, which should be covered with his kind, enthusiastic smile and his big, wonder-filled eyes, was instead covered in blood and soot. Midoriya might be an unknown factor, but he was her friend, and dammit, she could help him.
“We need to raise the burn above his heart,” she instructed, immediately taking charge. Mina responded promptly, kneeling down and pulling Midoriya’s head and neck onto her lap, suspending his burn a few inches off of the ground. Momo produced a soft cloth from her arm and doused it with a small cup of water she made after.
With a rush of wind, Todoroki appeared with the group as All Might made another pass.
“Oh, I left my shoes and gloves behind!” Apparently, Tooru was there with him.
“Todoroki,” Momo began before Tooru could continue, “can you chill this rag? I need to treat Midoriya’s burn.”
The stoic boy paused for a second, seemingly taking some time to adjust to his new situation, which Momo couldn’t blame him for. He nodded and produced a chilling wind from his hand as he held it to the rag, quickly cooling it down. She covered the burn with the cloth and held it there.
“I’ll hold it.” Pony had walked up and knelt down next to her. Momo nodded and handed responsibility of the wet cloth to the American and began to prepare the next part of her first aid. The ground around them shook as All Might landed another solid blow on Terrorflame, sending the villain flying into the side of the great dome and leaving a massive dent.
She produced more small bottles of water, this time with some soap in them, as well as several cloths. She handed one of each to Ochako. “We should clean his wounds to make sure they’re not infected. There’s not much we can do here for broken ribs other than keeping him still.”
Ochako nodded, the fire in her eyes dampened slightly by barely-noticeable worry behind them as the two women got to work. Momo passed out the remaining bottles and cloths to some of her classmates, instructing them to begin tending to Aizawa and Thirteen. Fortunately, it seemed the teachers were in better shape than Midoriya.
“I can’t believe you’re actually teaching that boy.” Terrorflame’s booming voice got the attention of all the students as it echoed clearly throughout the USJ. “You know what he is. It's in his blood, it's in his brain. He doesn't have a choice.”
“W-what’s he mean by that?” Sero asked nervously.
“You know you’re training the next me. ”
A nervous muttering rose up around the students as they all shifted their gazes to the unconscious man being tended to on the ground.
“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Ochako spat bitterly.
“That boy is a hero!” All Might’s boisterous confidence shone through his voice. “He did what he had to do… to keep his classmates safe!” With a grunt and a thunderous punch, Terrorflame was smashed into the Conflagration Zone, his massive body collapsing half of the structure.
Another great gust of force rushed past them as Bakugou and Eiko appeared. Momo let out a sigh; that was all twenty students and two teachers accounted for.
Bakugou recovered faster than anyone else who had gotten rescued by All Might. “Izuku!” he yelled as he rushed over to his friend, nearly bowling Ochako over. Eiko moved over in front of Midoriya, her back to him as if she was standing guard over him.
He kneeled down and looked over the ravaged body of Midoriya, his whole body shaking with emotion. What emotion exactly, Momo couldn’t tell. He looked he wanted to cry, but that he also wanted to possibly strangle Midoriya.
Terrorflame had gotten back to his feet again and flown at All Might, claws bared. Momo paled at the sight; no creature that large should be able to move that fast. All Might dodged again as the villain skidded to a halt on the other side of the central plaza.
“The boy can already use a full transformation and you’re still taking a chance on him? UA must truly be desperate.” Pure malice dripped from the villain’s sneer.
Bakugou stood up furiously, which Momo was secretly curious how he managed to do, and turned away from the rest of the class, his shoulders still shaking. “You all better make it worth it. You better be worth it.”
“Worth what?” Pony said curiously, still holding the cool, wet cloth to Midoriya’s burn. Bakugou refused to acknowledge anyone as he stared swords at Terrorflame.
All Might dodged another blast of fire as he retorted. “That was the first time he did it. He pushed himself beyond to stop you!”
“Um, Momo…” Mina’s voice was filled with worry, but Momo was too focused on the conversation between hero and villain to give her any mind at the moment.
“His first time? And he pushed himself that hard?” Terrorflame began to chuckle, his deep, cruel laugh reverberating around the USJ and unsettling the students. “I suppose I was wrong, you won’t have to worry then…”
“Momo, he’s not breathing!” Mina’s worry turned into panic as she shouted.
“Corpses don’t make very good villains.”
Screams and gasps rang out from the students of class 1-A, as Momo whipped around towards Midoriya. Mina was absolutely right, the faint rising and falling of Midoriya’s chest had ceased, and no air passed through his lips.
Momo didn’t have time to think, she only had time to react. She tossed the bottle and rag she was using to clean his scrapes away and scooted to her left so her knees were at his shoulders as she leaned over on top of the man. “Mina, put him on the ground!” The woman reacted quickly and gently, moving his head to the floor. Momo leaned his head back, straightening his neck out.
She placed the palm of her right hand in the center of his chest and then covered it with her left, keeping her shoulders over her hands and her elbows straight. She put the whole weight of her upper body into each motion, compressing his chest two inches up and down in the rhythm she was taught, just barely under two compressions a second.
If there was anything else going on around her, she didn’t notice it. Her entire focus was on giving Zu CPR. She counted as she pushed her weight down and as she counted to 30, she quickly moved her hands to his head. Momo tilted his head back slightly and lifted his chin, opening his airway. She pressed her mouth to his as she took a deep breath, forming a seal with Zu’s lips.
She breathed forcefully but gently, pushing her breath down his throat for one second, nearly beginning to cry as she saw his chest move up with her breath. She inhaled again and repeated the rescue breath, pushing more air into his lungs.
She leaned back up and placed her hands back on his chest to repeat the compressions. Thirty compressions later, she leaned his head back and pressed her lips to his again, pushing air into his lungs. After her fourth breath, his chest expanded rapidly, a flash of scales running across his neck and torso before vanishing as he started to breathe under his own power once again.
Momo slumped back, away from Midoriya and onto the ground as adrenaline rushed out of her system and the rest of her perception came crashing back. She nearly fell over as Ochako threw her arms around her, and it wasn’t until the brunette’s tears began to stain Momo’s shoulder that she realized that she was crying too.
A few seconds later, a shockwave rushing through the megastructure did cause Momo to fall over, Ochako tumbling down on top of her. The brunette scrambled off of her as the two got up to stare at what had knocked them down.
All Might and Terrorflame had clashed in the center of the plaza, where the fountain had once been. The red dragon radiated pure fury, but it seemingly paled next to the righteous anger emanating from All Might. The hero was holding back one of the villain’s titanic limbs with a single hand, seemingly effortlessly.
“Normally, I’m the one teaching my students, but today, I learn from them.” All Might threw the dragon’s arm behind him, catching the lunging dragon with an uppercut that sent him skyward.
He jumped into the air, chasing the villain. All Might crashed into the back of Terrorflame, the impact sending another rush of wind that threatened to bowl Momo over flying through the USJ. He grabbed one of the dragon’s wings with each of his hands, pinning them behind his back. “Young Midoriya exemplified one of the most important ideals of a hero: a willingness to give your all!”
The two powerhouses fell toward the earth, Terrorflame flailing, trying to dislodge All Might from his back. With a mighty kick, All Might flipped the dragon over, and with a furious roar, he flung the supervillain to the ground, the impact cracking some of the glass panels around the dome of the USJ.
All Might crashed down next to the villain, rising to his feet slowly. “Now for a lesson. You may have heard these words before, but let me teach you what they really mean! ” All Might reared his fist back, squaring up to the dragon’s massive head. “Go beyond…”
“PLUS ULTRA!”
All Might’s fist flew forward and impacted the skull of the dragon with a force that Momo wouldn’t have believed came from a human being. The dragon was driven deeper into the earth, the crater widening as if a meteor had crashed through the makeshift skylight of the USJ. A gigantic crack opened up in the floor, spreading and splintering as it shot like a lightning bolt across the complex. The ground rumbled like an earthquake was ravaging the complex as the entire structure buckled and bent, the tempered glass above them bending and cracking, but not shattering.
The rumbling came to an end as Momo and her classmates dared to open their eyes. In a day of surprises and firsts, their jaws fell open once again. The entire USJ was split down the middle, a height difference of several feet ran along the two sides of the man-made faultline that emanated from All Might’s impossible attack.
All Might himself was panting slightly as he pulled himself out of the crater, carrying the unconscious but finally human body of Terrorflame in one hand. He set the villain down on the ground and took a steadying step, breathing deep as he straightened himself out. After a few seconds to catch his breath, he made a run for the students, amazingly fast, but slow enough for Momo to actually track him this time.
He appeared before the students, looking them over and counting. He visibly relaxed as he saw all twenty of them accounted for. “I apologize for the devastation of that attack, but I learned that you have to hit like you mean it to take a monster like that down. Terrorflame escaped too many times because of my restraint in the past.” He looked to the three injured, regret appearing on his face. “How are they?”
“We need to get them medical attention fast ,” Momo urged the hero. “Z- uh, Midoriya already stopped breathing once.”
All Might grimaced. “The UA faculty are on the way, ambulances should be here soon as well. You’ve done well, performing first aid. Caring for the wounded is an important part of being heroes... and don’t get confused,” All Might looked around to the students, “after what you’ve done here today, you’re all heroes.”
“Monsieur All Might, look!” Aoyama called out, causing 19 heads to turn. A purple vortex had appeared under Terrorflame, whisking him away.
“Dammit.” All Might cursed himself under his breath but quickly regained composure. “These things happen, students. I chose between securing the villain and protecting my students. I do not regret my decision.”
Momo hoped he wasn’t lying.
As if on cue, the doors of the USJ slid open, revealing the rest of their teachers. The lot of them relaxed significantly, seeing All Might standing guard over the group.
“You work damn fast, All Might,” Snipe commented as he looked over the destruction with a whistle.
“I only fought one villain,” All Might responded grimly.
Vlad King’s eyes went wide as he scanned the devastated USJ. “But who could have…”
“Right now it’s our top priority to ensure everyone’s safety!” Nezu interrupted the exchange brightly. “How many are injured?”
“Aizawa, Thirteen and Young Midoriya. Everyone else appears to be mostly unharmed.” All Might scanned over the students, looking for anybody disagreeing with him. “But there are still loose villains all around the complex. They’ll need to be rounded up.”
Momo shakily stood to her feet as the teachers dispersed around the USJ, All Might and Nezu remaining behind to monitor the students. It wasn’t long after that ambulances arrived and carried off Midoriya and the two injured pros, Momo and the rest of the class watching as their classmate was carted out of the building.
Soon after, the police arrived. The detective in charge had some questions for all of them, but after only another hour or so, the 19 students of class 1-A were back on their bus and heading for the dorms, escorted by All Might and Midnight. The bus ride was almost entirely silent, Ochako probably wouldn’t have noticed anyone talking even if it wasn’t.
Once they got back to the dorms, Midnight stayed with them to make sure everyone was safe and accounted for. They had explicit orders from Nezu to stay in the dorms for the rest of the day, but Ochako noticed All Might trying to sneak away and rushed outside after him.
“Where are you going?” she demanded once she caught up to the massive, muscled man.
“Uh, well, you see,” the number one hero was significantly less intimidating when he wasn’t in battle. He was almost adorable in a blundering way.
“You’re going to see Deku, aren’t you?”
He grew a look of confusion. “De- oh!” He slapped his head. “You mean Young Midoriya. Well, yes. I feel it’s my duty to go check on him. It’s because I wasn’t there that he had to push himself like that.”
Ochako felt sympathy to the giant man, and placed a comforting hand on his arm, keeping her pinky free. “I think I know what you’re feeling... can I come with you? I need to know if he’s okay.”
All Might looked like he was having an internal debate, but the sad look in Ochako’s eyes seemed to win him over. “Alright, fine.”
Ochako smiled softly, trying to hide how much her heart hurt. “Can I bring a couple people? I’m not the only one who’s worried about him.”
All Might groaned, clearly nervous. “Hrmm, fine. But only if they’re subtle about it. You’re supposed to be in your dorms.”
“I can’t think of a better escort than you, sir,” Ochako said respectfully, hoping to ease his reservations. She quickly ran back inside the building, returning a few minutes later.
“They’ll be along shortly,” Ochako said to All Might, who had taken to leaning up against one of the trees outside the dorm.
After another minute or so, Bakugou came stalking around from the back of the building, staring at the ground and grumbling quietly to himself. Ochako looked around curiously. “Where’s Mina? She said she’d be right out…”
After another five minutes, the three were getting impatient. “Young Uraraka, we don’t have all night…” All Might warned her.
“I know, I don’t know- oh! There she is!” Ochako pointed as the front door opened, Mina emerging… dragging Momo by the hand.
“Hey guys, I brought Yaomomo!” Mina said cheerfully as the other three stared at her. The black-haired woman was blushing slightly, clearly embarrassed. “She saved Midori’s life, I figured she deserves the chance to come as much as any of us.”
All Might opened his mouth to protest, but no words came out. Eventually, he just shook his head slightly. “Fine, let’s get going. Keep this between us, okay?”
Ochako didn’t know why she was surprised that All Might owned a custom-fitted American truck with tinted windows, but looking back, it probably should have been obvious. Bakugou sat in the front next to All Might while the women piled in the back. Even with his seat nearly on the floor of the truck, All Might was still taller than the blonde.
They arrived at a hospital near UA, driving to the bottom of the parking garage to a level marked with ‘No Public Access’, but the gate opened automatically when All Might’s truck approached. The four students exited the truck after they parked and followed the pro hero to the elevator.
Before he pressed the button, the man turned around and looked down at all of them. “I know I don’t need to say this, but I’m going to anyway. You four are here as my guests, so please be on your best behavior. Stay quiet and respectful, please. Emotions are riding high for everyone involved.”
Ochako and the others nodded. Seeing their affirmation, All Might swiped his hero ID card through a scanner and the elevator door opened. Despite the spacious elevator, being in any sort of enclosed space with the giant that was the number one hero was a little cramped.
All Might pressed the button to go up to the fourth floor and the elevator lurched to life. The ride was silent, each of them coping in their own ways. All Might and Bakugou just stared at the walls, silently thinking. Momo was adjusting her hair, while Mina was fidgeting with a pencil between her fingers. Ochako herself, out of habit, was touching her fingers to her hands and then together, rolling her weight around with her quirk. It had been long enough that her body was rested enough to at least pretend she had powers.
The door opened to the fourth floor and the four students followed All Might as he exited. No introductions were necessary it seemed as a nurse quickly approached the hero and began to debrief him. When questioned, All Might informed the man that the students were here as his guests, which seemed to appease the nurse.
Ochako and her classmates were directed to a small waiting space near the elevators with only about a dozen chairs in it while All Might spoke with the staff. The four students waited patiently for about twenty minutes, or at least as patiently as they could manage, until the hero returned.
“How is he?!” Mina shot out of her chair as the blonde man turned the corner.
“He’s stable,” All Might said grimly. “Thanks to modern medicine and quirks, his broken bones are already mended. They mentioned that there was some aggravated fractures on his ribcage, especially around his sternum.”
“That must have been me, I’m sor-” Momo began.
“On the contrary, Young Yaoyorozu,” All Might cut her off. “The doctors wanted to pass on their thanks for your quick reactions. A few cracked ribs is much better than death, which is what would have happened to Young Midoriya if you hadn’t intervened.”
The black-haired woman relaxed visibly, but she was still clearly stressed and nervous.
“He’s going into surgery now for a skin graft, but as for…” The hero trailed off as the hairs on Ochako’s head began to float even more than they normally did.
Ochako looked around confused as a charge seemed to fill the room. The lights flickered as she winced in pain, a small arc of electricity hopping from her hand to the chair she was sitting on, giving her a small static shock. Momo and Mina were also shifting nervously and looked around, their own hair rising up slightly as the lights flickered again.
The woman noticed that only Bakugou seemed to be unphased by the phenomena as the elevator door behind him dinged.
The doors slid open and out stepped a well-built and tall man wearing a tailored black suit with one arm conspicuously missing. While he was not as well-built or tall as All Might, he radiated an intimidating intensity that caused Ochako to shrink back.
A set of black horns swept back across his bronze hair, electricity arcing around between them and around his head. His slitted eyes were otherwise familiar to her and glowed with a green light that, while much darker than Deku’s, were no less intense. He turned to the five standing before him and stared straight at All Might as one of the lamps next to Ochako had its bulb spark and break.
The man opened his mouth into a snarl, Ochako’s eyes spotting his long fangs as lightning seemed dance around them. It was only then that the woman noticed the bronze scales formed along the man’s thick neck.
“Where is my son? ”
Shigaraki stepped out of the warp gate, grumbling in rage as he wrenched the hands from his arms. “He was useless, Master!” he yelled at the television in the bar as the unconscious old man landed roughly behind him. Kurogiri reformed himself behind the bar and resumed cleaning a glass as if they had never left.
“Hmm?” An ominous voice responded from the television speakers.
“This overgrown lizard refused to take the Trigger! He said he refused to use the ‘crutch’…” Shigaraki stopped. “There was another dragon there.”
“Oh?” The voice was intrigued. “Very interesting...and Terrorflame refused to take the Trigger when he fought this other dragon?”
“Yes, Master. And then before he could do anything, All Might showed up and wiped the floor with him. He didn’t even land a single hit on the blonde oaf. I don’t even think any of the students died. This was a total failure!” Shigaraki turned around and kicked the bruised and beaten man on the ground. “And it’s all his! Damn! Fault!” Each word was accented by another kick. “He was completely useless without that Trigger!”
“What is your judgement then, Tomura Shigaraki?” The voice was unphased by Shigaraki’s tantrum.
“I’m done with him. I’ll find another way to kill All Might.” Shigaraki stomped over and sat down at the bar, sulking.
“Very well,” the mysterious voice said coldly. The unconscious man began to seemingly vomit a strange gray sludge. The goop expanded until it covered his entire body, upon which both him and the gray substance vanished. “The man is of no further use to us.”
Shigaraki heard the sludge appearing on the other end of the television connection.
“But his quirk is.”
Notes:
This ends the USJ arc! Leave a comment down below telling me your reactions!
Now that I've finished this arc, it's back to work on The Director. Expect episode 9 of that before another chapter of this.
See you guys next time :)
Chapter 23: The Road to Recovery
Summary:
As the flames die down, healing begins. For everyone.
Notes:
Thanks to Epsilon110, epicderpybro2 and Mattybeach for being my betas once again :)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ochako stared at the hulking, electrified man. “S-Stormclaw?”
“Hisashi!” All Might proclaimed, a hint of nervousness in his voice. “Your son is doing fine. He is in surgery right now, but he is in stable condition.”
The father seemed to relax slightly, but only slightly. His glowing green eyes snapped to Bakugou, who didn’t seem phased by his intense glare. “Katsuki, are these your classmates?”
Bakugou nodded. “They did alright by Izuku.” That was apparently his version of praise.
The intense glow in Stormclaw’s eyes dimmed slightly as he looked around to the three women sitting in front of him. A look of recognition appeared on his face. “Miss Yaoyorozu?”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Midoriya. It has been quite some time.” Momo bowed slightly in her chair, her refined upbringing shining through.
“Indeed it has,” the man said, nodding politely. “If only it was under better circumstances.” He turned back to Ochako. “And you are?”
Ochako floundered for a second before she finally suttered out “O-Ochako Uraraka, sir.”
“I’m Mina Ashido,” Mina said brightly, although less bright than she normally would have, considering the circumstances.
Surprisingly, a flash of understanding grew on the hero’s face. “Ah, Izuku has told me a lot about you two. It’s good to finally put faces to names. You all have my thanks for protecting my son. He is my most important treasure; you have a dragon’s gratitude.”
‘Deku’s told him about us? I hope only good things…’
All Might cleared his throat. “Hisashi, I think it would be best if I were to debrief you about the situation.”
“I would appreciate that,” Stormclaw said tersely. The two pros walked off in the direction All Might had come from, leaving the students alone.
As soon as they turned the corner, Mina whipped back around to Ochako and Momo, whispering excitedly. “Stormclaw is so much cooler in person. Did you see how protective of Midori he was?”
“Mr. Midoriya is a great hero and a better father,” Momo added succinctly. “He must be devastated.”
Mina tapped her chin. “You sound like you know that personally. How well do you know the Midoriyas?”
“Not as well as I used to, unfortunately.” There was a definite hint of regret in her voice. “I saw them less and less after the… accident.”
“When he lost his arm?” Ochako asked curiously. Momo nodded slightly, clearly deep in thought.
Ochako turned and looked at Bakugou, who was glaring in the direction the two men had gone. She turned her gaze in the same direction.
‘I hope Deku is okay…’
The door to the surgical observation room closed behind the two men. Hisashi walked to the one-way mirror and stared at his child on the table. The surgeons were working diligently, preparing the grisly burn on his shoulder for a skin graft.
“Toshinori…” His voice was trembling slightly, whether from grief or rage, he could not tell.
It was probably both.
“Please tell me why my baby boy is lying on an operating table.”
“Hisashi, you know I respect you immensely. I owe you my life at least once over,” Toshinori began. “So I’m going to be direct with you.”
“I appreciate that.” The man hadn’t moved his eyes from Young Midoriya.
“It was your uncle.”
The man took it much better than Toshinori expected. Instead of short circuiting the nearby electronics, he instead turned slowly towards his compatriot. “...What?”
“That burn on his shoulder? He was Terrorflame’s first victim in 25 years...” All Might stared directly into Hisashi’s glowing green eyes. “And thanks to your son, his only victim in 25 years.”
Hisashi blinked a few times, his face mixed between disbelief and rage. His mouth twitched, revealing his fangs.
“There’s more. To hold him off… your son transformed. Fully.”
The rage fell from Hisashi’s face, replaced by pure horror. “I-Izuku… transformed?”
Toshinori nodded. “He did. It was only due to your son’s bravery that Terrorflame was held at bay until I arrived. I must confess… I was supposed to be there, but the Prime Minister requested me for a sensitive hostage situation.”
“You couldn’t have known…” Hisashi turned back to his child on the table with a somber look. “I don’t blame you. I’m sure Izuku wouldn’t either.” The men stood in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. “Genta… you bastard . What happened to him?”
Toshinori wished he had good news to give, but alas. “I defeated him again, but he escaped as I ensured the safety of the students.”
Hisashi nodded slowly. “A wise decision. Thank you for watching out for my boy and his classmates. He has only known them for a week, but they are precious to him. They were basically all he talked about when we talked on the phone this week.” He chuckled slightly before sighing heavily. “Katsuki said that those girls protected him? How… how was he doing?”
“I entrusted Young Uraraka and Young Ashido with protecting your son after I arrived. Young Yaoyorozu… I understand she performed CPR on him after…” Toshinori didn’t need to finish.
“I see.” Sadness was palpable on his voice as his shoulders began to shake. “Izuku…”
“There’s more.” Toshinori winced internally as he continued dumping bad news on Hisashi. “Your uncle wasn’t working alone.”
“Please...don’t associate me with that man,” Hisashi pleaded grimly as he looked back at him.
Toshinori nodded. “As I was saying, he seemed to be working with a group. According to the student testimonies, they called themselves the ‘League of Villains’.”
“And this League had the capabilities to break him out of Tartarus?”
“Evidently,” Toshinori said grimly. “They appear to be led by a man known as Tomura Shigaraki. His second is a man the students heard called Kurogiri. This Kurogiri has a warp quirk, and we suspect that’s what they used to breach Tartarus’ defenses.”
“An unknown warp quirk signature that they had no way of defending against.” Hisashi shook his head. “At least it won’t happen again, but…” He trailed off as he looked forlornly at his child.
“There’s more, but it can wait until another time.” Toshinori took a step towards the man, putting his hand on his right shoulder. “We won’t stop searching until Terrorflame and those with him are brought to justice.”
Hisashi’s shoulder shook harder. “I will spare no expense. The best doctors. The best specialists. My boy will be okay .”
“Young Izuku spoke to me about his worries and his doubts regarding Terrorflame before,” Toshinori admitted. “He was afraid of ending up like them, but I can tell you this, Hisashi: your son is already a hero.”
Hisashi wrapped his one arm around Toshinori’s shoulder and began to weep. Toshinori returned the gesture with his left arm, giving the grieving father support both physically and emotionally.
About a half-hour later, Midori’s mother arrived. For every pound of righteous fury that Stormclaw had carried into the hospital, she carried two pounds of stress and worry. She had crushed Momo and Bakugou in a hug as soon as she saw them, and after introductions, she had given Mina and Ochako a similar embrace. Before Mina could say much of anything to the mother, All Might quickly whisked her off to see her husband.
Once Midori was out of surgery, they moved him into one of the rooms for recovery. Mina and the other girls were permitted to be in the room as the doctor spoke to Stormclaw. The doctor raised an eyebrow at them, but Midori’s dad simply told her that ‘it’s what Izuku would want’.
“Very well,” she said after a pause, “the prognosis is both good and bad, Mr. Midoriya. Your son’s wounds were easily healed, and the skin graft appears to be successful, although we will be unable to confirm that until more time has passed. The bad news is that he suffered a degree of exhaustion we have seldom seen. He’s fallen into a comatose state, and we are unable to determine when he will wake. It might be a day or a week; we simply have no way of knowing.”
Stormclaw nodded as she spoke. “You are confident that he will recover?”
She nodded. “Judging from our scans and tests, he has not suffered any permanent damage and all of his bodily and mental functions appear to be working properly. He is essentially just out of energy; it will take time for him to recover, but we are confident that he will.”
Mina looked at the green-haired boy sleeping in the hospital bed. His chest rising and falling slowly gave her comfort and helped to pull her heart out of the pit it had fallen into hours prior.
Then, Mina was struck with a bold idea.
“Stormclaw, sir? Mr. Midoriya?” She looked up at the tall, muscular man. He was no longer comparable to Endeavor like he had been in his prime, but he was still incredibly buff.
The man looked down on her and raised an eyebrow. “Yes, Miss Ashido?”
“Could we stay here with Midori- uh, your son?” She tried to put on her best puppy dog eyes, but her unique eyes weren’t the best at it. “We’re all really worried about him, I know I would be stressed out of my mind if I had to sit back at school while he was here.”
“Absolutely no-” the doctor began.
“That’s a great idea, actually.”
Mina did a double take, making sure that Stormclaw wasn’t playing a prank on her. “R-really?”
“Of course!” Stormclaw looked to the other three students. “That is, if the rest of you would like to.”
The three other students nodded, surprised by the sudden turn of events.
The doctor protested. “This is highly irregular.”
Midori’s father turned to the doctor. “I assure you that it would be beneficial to my son’s recovery. Until he recovers, please consider these four students to be my family.”
The doctor looked up into Mr. Midoriya’s eyes for a few seconds before sighing. “Fine. But I won’t risk the safety of my patient even for family. No messing around and no second chances.”
“Understood.” Stormclaw nodded as the doctor sighed again and left the room.
All Might chuckled slightly. “Alright, get ready kids, we’ll head back to UA and get luggage.” The four students shuffled out of the room, but Mina lagged a bit behind, making sure to use her eavesdropping expertise.
“Are you sure about this, Hisashi?” All Might asked.
Stormclaw chuckled softly. “Absolutely. It has to do with our quirk. We always want to return home to rest, it calms us down, soothes us, helping us heal faster.”
“I don’t follow.”
“Remember, Toshi: Home is where the hoard is.”
Mina didn’t dare listen any longer and jogged to catch up with her friends. It took about another ten minutes for All Might to follow them, after which, the four piled back into his truck and headed back to UA.
The sun was setting by the time the students opened the doors of Heights Alliance. As they entered the dorm, they were greeted by a storm of questions from nearly everyone else in the class.
“How’s he doing?!” Kiri asked, clearly worried out of her mind.
Kyouka popped up beside her. “Is he gonna be okay?”
Mina only caught some of what Pony said to Momo, as the woman was speaking in English, but even in another language her worry bled through.
Before any of them could answer, the imposing figure of All Might entered the doorframe and commanded attention. “Young Midoriya will be fine, students. Your concern is both appreciated and heartwarming.”
“How did you know where we were?” Ochako asked the students crowding her.
Kaminari chuckled. “It’s not like it was hard to figure out. Where else would you have gone after today?”
Kyouka rolled her eyes. “He had no idea until Midnight told us you went to see Midoriya.”
“Jirou, come on!”
Midnight was sitting on one of the stools next to the kitchen counter laughing softly for a moment before she cracked her whip to get everyone’s attention. “Now that everyone is here, we have an announcement. President Nezu had made the decision to declare a campus-wide emergency while we analyze and strategize regarding the break-in today.” The hero seemed to be parroting official jargon, outside of her normal speech pattern.
“What that means for you is that classes are canceled next week, but none of you are permitted to leave campus without an escort. Any of you that choose to break these rules will be… punished .” She licked her lips.
That was more like it.
All Might cleared his throat again, returning attention to himself. “Now, don’t look so sad, students. The doctors are confident that Young Midoriya will make a full recovery. However, I spoke to his father and he actually made a request that I am more than happy to oblige.”
The students turned back to the number one hero with looks of curiosity and some trepidation.
“Any of you that wish to visit Young Midoriya are more than welcome to. In fact, Hisa- er, Mr. Midoriya encourages it. He believes it will facilitate your classmate’s recovery.”
Satou was the first to speak. “But how’re we gonna visit him if we need an escort?”
“Not to worry, Young Satou.” All Might flashed a thumbs up. “Nezu has granted us the use of a bus to take anyone who wants to see Young Midoriya to him. I hope you all decide to show your support for your classmate.”
“Hell yeah. We’re all gonna go, right guys?!” Kiri turned around and pumped her fist in the air. Cheers went up from the class in solidarity.
“That’s not to say you can slack off,” Midnight said loudly. “You’re still responsible for all of your textbook readings for the week. This week off from classes means that you’ll be pushed extra hard once we get back. Hope you can keep up~”
As the students groaned, All Might shot Mina and her compatriots a knowing look, sending the four of them scurrying off to their rooms to pack.
Ochako marveled at the room Deku had. It was almost more like a hotel suite than a hospital room. It only had one bed, which was currently being occupied by a peacefully sleeping man. There were two recliners and a comfy looking couch in the room, as well as a full bathroom with a shower. It was honestly not the worst place Ochako ever had to stay.
Mr. and Mrs. Midoriya were staying a few hallways over in a guest suite: a room with an actual bed and accommodations. They were seemingly overjoyed that Deku had friends who were willing to stay with him like this.
“It’ll be like camping!” Mina said excitedly. “Except we won't freeze our butts off if we have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. And we won’t have a fire, and we’ll actually have running water… well, it’s a little like camping.”
Ochako and Momo couldn’t help but giggle a little, and even Mrs. Midoriya, who insisted they call her Inko, laughed as well.
“Mr. Stormclaw, sir?” Ochako spoke up quietly.
“Please, Uraraka; call me Hisashi. Like I said, you’re family right now.” The man looked exhausted from the emotionally draining day. Ochako couldn’t blame him, she was nearly about to pass out on her feet as well.
Ochako smiled weakly. “Thank you. Uh, I’m curious, why did you let us stay here? Not that I’m not grateful, but wouldn’t it be better for him to get some peace and quiet?”
“I appreciate your concern. Izuku said you seemed to be a very considerate girl, and he’s seldom wrong.” Hisashi chuckled weakly. “I don’t know how well you know my son, but I suspect that your presence here will help him a lot. He puts a lot of value in his friends.”
Ochako smiled wider. ‘But how will us jus’ bein’ around help him? Not that I don’t wanna be here…’
Hisashi incidentally answered her mental question. “Knowing that you’re close will help him recover. You’re just going to have to take my word for it. That’s why I asked All Might to bring any students who wanted to see him by. You should talk to him, even if you think he can’t hear you. Let his brain know that you’re there. It will help him. I promise.”
Inko squeezed his arm a little. “Come on, dear. The kids need rest. They’ve had a long day.” The kind woman turned to Ochako and her classmates. “I can’t thank you enough for doing this; I’m sure you would rather be sleeping in your beds back at UA.”
“Come on, Auntie, Izuku would do the same thing for us.” Bakugou rolled his eyes, but there wasn’t any bite behind his words.
Tears began to leak from the woman’s eyes as her husband wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her out of the room. Ochako let out a heavy sigh as a heavy silence filled the room.
Bakugou stepped over to one of the recliners and placed his backpack on the ground before flopping down in the chair. He shifted around, making himself comfortable and seemed to begin drifting off to sleep just like that.
Then Ochako realized the problem. “Oh, someone is gonna have to sleep somewhere else.” She glanced over at the couch and the other recliner.
“Nonsense!” Mina said cheerfully, even though her own exhaustion was clear on her face. “Yaomomo can take the chair, you and I can share the couch.”
Ochako was too tired to argue. She was just grateful to have a place to lie down as she crashed onto the couch. Unfortunately, due to her height, she took up the entire couch.
“Ugh, come on, Ocha, scoot over a bit.” Ochako remained face-first in one of the pillows as Mina wedged herself in on the other side of the couch. Ochako just let it happen as Mina struggled and shifted the taller woman out of the way as she claimed a spot.
Eventually, Mina had carved out enough of the couch to get comfortable. The women’s heads were on opposite ends of the couch as both rested on their right sides with their backs to each other. Mina’s feet were just at the bottom of Ochako’s back, while her feet were much further up Mina’s.
Momo shook her head and smiled as she turned around, her back to the rest of the group. Ochako blushed slightly as the tall, busty woman pulled up her shirt and exposed her back to the group. The telltale glow of her quirk caused Ochako to tilt her head in curiosity, before a large white blanket billowed out around the woman.
She repeated the process two more times before walking over and putting a blanket over Bakugou, another over the two women on the couch and then finally herself as she turned off the lights and then snuggled into her own recliner.
“Thanks,” Bakugou grumbled softly.
“You’re the best, Yaomomo,” Mina mumbled into the pillow at the end of the couch.
Ochako could hear the smile in Momo’s voice. “You are welcome. Let’s get some sleep everyone.”
Tired, sore, grouchy, and all the other symptoms you would normally feel after spending a night on a hospital sofa scrunched up with someone else: Ochako felt none of these.
Instead, as she woke up the next morning, the early morning light peeking into the room, she felt fantastic. She opened her eyes slowly and rolled her shoulders slightly as she sighed. Ochako suddenly became aware of a weight pressing down on her body.
She glanced down and noticed that the blanket was a tangled mess and Mina had flipped around in her sleep. She was hugging Ochako’s leg like a teddy bear and resting her head on Ochako’s hip with an adorable, satisfied smile on her face. The brunette grew a matching smile and in her grogginess, reached down without thinking and rustled the pink woman’s hair.
Mina pushed her head into the contact instinctively, letting out a small mewl as she nuzzled her face further into Ochako’s leg.
Ochako felt a strange tightening in her chest as her face grew warm. Her heart rate increased, her blush deepening further as she woke up more fully. She slowly and perhaps a little reluctantly pulled her hand away from the messy pink locks of the woman wrapped around her leg.
It was Mina’s turn to finally wake up, which was probably Ochako’s fault for tussling her hair. The woman blinked slowly a few times and stretched her mouth in a small yawn. She looked around, taking in the surroundings and quickly noticing the position she was in.
Mina’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment but, to Ochako’s surprise, they quickly shrunk back down as a happy smile and a lilac dusting appeared on her face. “Morning, Ochako.”
“Good m-morning, Mina.” Ochako looked away, less embarrassed about the situation she was in, and more so that she was enjoying it so much. Seeing her discomfort, Mina begrudgingly let go and the two women untangled themselves from both the blanket and each other.
Ochako looked over to the chair which Bakugou had occupied, which was empty, and then over to the still snoozing form of Momo. The woman’s voluminous raven hair was spread over the reclined chair as she breathed peacefully. ‘She even looks beautiful and refined while she’s sleepin’...’
Her vision finally fell to Deku, still in the exact same position as when Ochako had fallen asleep. If it wasn’t for the faint beep of the EKG telling her his heart was still beating smoothly, there was almost no sign that he was still alive.
But he was still alive. He had nearly given everything to keep Ochako and the others alive, but he had pulled through. He would wake up again soon, the doctors said as much.
Ochako sighed as she stared at the man. Just looking at him filled her with so many emotions that it nearly overwhelmed her. She felt gratitude for what he had done for her, she felt guilty that she wasn’t able to protect him more, she felt disheartened as she remembered what Terrorflame had said about him, she felt proud for what he had been willing to do… and she felt that strange tightening in her chest that she had felt when Mina was cuddling her leg.
She felt her face warming up again.
Saturday passed surprisingly quickly. About ten students came by on the first bus, each spending some time with Deku and talking with the four overnighters. Inko insisted on bringing a home-made lunch for them, which Ochako enjoyed immensely.
“I see where he gets his cooking skills,” she complimented, her eyes squeezed shut with delight as she ate Inko’s rice.
The mother smiled wide. “He was so happy that you all enjoyed the meals he made. He went on and on about it when he called me a couple days ago.”
“Does he tell you guys everything?” Mina asked, saving Ochako the trouble of having to swallow her food to speak.
“Well, he tells us a lot.” Inko was rummaging in the food basket she had brought. “Like this, for example.”
She produced a small dish containing some delicious-smelling mochi and held it out to Ochako. “He said you seemed to like mochi; you should have heard him begging me to give him lessons on making it…” Inko trailed off as he smile dropped. “We were going to cook all day today, in fact. He was planning a big feast for you all tomorrow. Celebrating the first week of classes being done, and all that.”
Ochako felt her heart both swell and drop a little. She took the dish and ate a small bite of the dessert, doing her best to contain a delighted squeal as it hit her tongue.
Mina reached over and put her arm around Inko’s shoulder. “Maybe next weekend, Mamadoriya. He’ll wake up soon.”
The woman sniffed once. “Thank you, dear. I’m sure Izuku would be happy if you would want to join us. He speaks so highly of you.”
Ochako smiled as a small dusting of lilac appeared on Mina's cheeks. “R-really? I'd love to!”
Inko threw her arms around Mina in a tight hug. “Of course! Oh, he’ll be so excited once he finds out.”
Fire and fury. Heat and hatred. Terrorflame bared his terrible fangs in a cruel smile as he took titanic, earth shaking steps towards Ochako. He towered over a hundred feet above the paralyzed woman as he sneered down at her with his burning eyes full of malice.
“Greedy, greedy. You’re just a hero for the money. You don’t care about helping people.”
Ochako tried to step back, but she found her legs encased in black, volcanic stone. She tried to use her quirk to free herself, but it wouldn’t activate. Her panic grew with each thunderous step the monster took.
“While other heroes stood up to me, you cowered in fear. And why not? There’s no money to be made in standing up to me.”
“T-that’s not true!” Ochako yelled back. “I want to help people!”
Terrorflame sneered, exposing his massive fangs. A fiery glow that was terribly familiar to Ochako shone in the back of his throat as he opened his jaw wide.
A torrent of flame poured forth, impossibly hot and bright.
Suddenly, Deku appeared between the monster and Ochako, but he was no dragon. The man was in his hero costume, his chiseled chest facing toward her. The fire crashed into his back and split around her as his face contorted in pain. His eyes bugged wide as he stared straight into Ochako's own.
The flames began to consume him, his flesh and muscle charring and melting from his bones. The fires began to close in as his body was burned away. “Ochako…”
“If you want to be a hero, then why didn't you protect him? Why didn't you try?!”
Deku reached his skeletal hand towards her. “Help me…”
Ochako's eyes flew open as she shot up in her seat. She was dripping with sweat and panting slightly. She was so tired the previous night that she slept dreamlessly, but tonight there was nothing keeping the terrible memories of Terrorflame from her mind.
Even now, her imagination wandered back to the roaring flames that melted Deku in front of her. Her heart pounded in her chest as she recalled his death-
Except... he wasn't dead. He had saved her and had lived. She threw the blanket off of herself and quietly walked over to Deku's bed and sat down in a chair next to him.
She reached out and grabbed his hand, gently moving her fingers up and down his palm. She wrapped her hand in his and felt his pulse. It was slow, but it was steady.
Just by touching his hand and feeling his heartbeat, she felt her own begin to calm down. A feeling of warmth and safety radiated from the contact, spreading up her arm and across her body.
“You too, huh?”
Ochako nearly shouted as Mina's whisper broke the silence of the dark room. She whipped her vision up and saw the pink woman sitting on the other side of Deku's bed, his right hand held tightly between hers.
Mina smiled apologetically. “Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.”
Ochako's pulse began to slow again as she came down from her fright. She took a few deep breaths before finally calming down enough to speak. “I-I had a nightmare…”
“About Terrorflame?”
Ochako nodded slowly. “You too?”
Mina returned the nod as she looked down at Deku. “I feel safe around him, but I want to keep him safe, too. I see him lying here and I can't help but think that I could have… should have done more.”
Ochako shuddered slightly, remembering what the Terrorflame in her dream had bellowed at her.
“But…” Mina continued, “seeing him here, still breathing… I know things are gonna be okay. There will be chances in the future to show him what he means to me and return the favor.” She leaned down and rested her face on his arm.
Ochako nodded again as her eyes returned to Deku. She reached up and brushed his hair away from his face and ran her fingers along his horns. The whole time, both Ochako and Mina never let go of his hand.
After another half hour of silence, the fear and uncertainty that had filled Ochako's heart was all but dispelled. Waves of sleepiness began to crash against her body as her eyes began to feel heavy again.
Mina yawned widely, seemingly feeling the same thing. Their eyes met as they both made their way back to the couch. Ochako laid down, leaving enough room for Mina to squeeze in. Instead of turning around to the other side of the couch, she slid in facing the same way.
The pink woman wrapped her arms around Ochako's legs and rested her head on her hip again. Instead of resisting, Ochako just blushed a little and pulled the blanket up so it covered her friend.
“You know, Ochako. I feel safe around you, too.”
Over the course of the next few days in the hospital, they settled into a sort of rhythm. Several students came by each day to spend time and talk with Deku, some of which came by every day; namely, Pony, Iida and Eiko. What surprised Ochako most of all perhaps, was that over the first three full days of Deku’s coma, every single student had come by at least once, even the stoic Todoroki.
Todoroki hadn’t said much, but at least he had come by. The man had mostly sat in the chair next to Deku’s bed and stared at him, before saying a few short words under his breath and leaving. Hisashi had given Todoroki a knowing nod as he left, which tipped Ochako off that they knew each other, at least a little bit.
Ochako couldn’t catch most of what Pony talked to him about, she spoke English with such speed and excitement that she could only understand about every third word. It was nice to see her so animated, but Ochako blushed a little when she saw Pony holding his hand between hers. ‘Perhaps it’s an American thing? I hear they’re touchier over there… but it’s not like I wasn’t doin’ the same thing earlier.’
Eiko talked a lot about old heroes, which Ochako found charming. The way she spoke about them and told stories about them, it made the old pros sound like their adventures were straight out of a comic book. The passion that Eiko carried into everything she did was infectious and endearing; it was hard not to have a smile on when she was around.
Bakugou talked to Deku every morning for about an hour or so, mostly about the hero news that had happened the previous day, recounting important developments and key battles that gained the headlines. Mina talked with him about funny things she had read online as well as gossip she had heard between nurses and other staff, stunning Ochako with how well trained her hearing had to be to have heard half of the stuff she did.
Ochako couldn’t help but giggle slightly whenever Iida arrived. The man would do his best to make sure that Deku kept up on his studies, even in a coma. Ochako and Mina sometimes even skipped certain readings in their textbooks if Iida explained them well enough.
Momo was the one who made sure that the other two women were actually reading. Momo would spend a couple hours each day reading the assigned passages out loud to Deku, unless Iida had already gone over them, of course. Momo’s refined and well-practiced speaking voice made her a delight to listen to.
Ochako spent her time with Deku talking about all sorts of things. She would talk about her time with his parents, anything interesting she had read online or in her textbook, or sometimes just whatever came to her mind. She would wind up recounting stories she remembered about her childhood, some that made her laugh and others that made her a little embarrassed.
Overall, it was about as pleasant and exciting that spending time around a comatose man could be. But despite her spending time with her friends, which included Mina and her getting a little bit more comfortable with each other every night, Ochako couldn’t shake off the question that was plaguing her heart and her conscience.
Toshinori was nearly shaking when he returned to the hospital on the fourth full day of Young Midoriya’s coma. It was a rainy Tuesday afternoon, but the storms outside were nothing compared to the turmoil raging in Toshinori’s heart.
He approached the fourth floor room that held Young Midoriya, not able to take any of the joy he normally would have in the eight students in and around the room. He ducked through the doorway quickly looking around for the man he had come to see.
“Stormclaw, I need to speak with you.” Using his hero name would tell Hisashi just how serious Toshinori was.
The man picked up on his intent, quickly standing up and following Toshinori out of the room. The students around Young Midoriya were very aware of the tension that had suddenly filled the room.
Toshinori led Hisashi to an empty room on the other side of the floor. He walked to the windows, staring at the rain pouring down outside. He stood still for at least a minute, collecting his thoughts and thinking of how to proceed.
“What’s this about, Toshinori?” Hisashi’s patience finally began to reach its limits.
The blonde man sighed heavily. “This morning… they found Terrorflame.”
Toshinori felt the hair on the back of his neck raise as the air was filled with a static charge. “Where?”
He turned around slightly, looking straight into the now-glowing eyes of his friend. “Allow me to clarify: they found his body.”
The scales that had formed alone the man’s neck and arms snapped away in an instant as the lights in his eyes blinked out. “He’s… dead?”
Toshinori nodded. “His body was dumped in front of Tartarus; their sensors detected the same warp energy from before. Whoever did this wanted us to find him. According to the coroners, his body was chilled, preserved. There’s no telling how long he had been dead. There were lacerations around his body that looked like someone had already performed a small-scale autopsy on him, so they suspect it might have been within 24 hours of the attack at the USJ.”
Hisashi sat down in a chair, staring wide-eyed at the floor. “I suppose that’s a weight off my mind, but judging from how shaken you look, I’m guessing that’s not the end of the story.”
“No,” Toshinori said grimly. “What has me worried is the other part of the police report.” All Might turned fully so as to face Hisashi properly, his blue eyes looking straight into his sea green. “His horns were missing, Hisashi.”
“Missing?”
“Not broken. Not removed. Missing . As if they were never there.”
A silence hung in the room. The only noise came from the humming of the air vents and the rain pattering against the window.
“So what you’re saying,” Hisashi eventually broke the silence, “is that he is back.”
Toshinori nodded. “I fear so.”
“To survive an injury like that…” Hisashi shook his head. “So... All For One is back... and this time he has a dragon quirk.”
In that moment, to Toshinori, the water crashing against the window sounded less like raindrops and more like the distant, echoing drums of war.
Notes:
See you guys next time!
Leave a comment :)
Chapter 24: Awakening
Summary:
As Izuku sleeps, the world moves around him.
AKA: In which the author begins to earn his rating.
Notes:
Thanks to Epsilon110 and Mattybeach, my betas for this chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
After a few more minutes, Hisashi stood up to leave. Neither men bid each other goodbye; there was simply too much on their minds. The number one hero turned back to the window, following the paths of droplets falling down the glass with his eyes.
He was alone for a few minutes, deep in thought about what the future might hold, when a knocking brought him back to reality.
“Um, Mr. All Might, sir?”
Toshinori turned around and saw a tall brunette woman standing in the doorway, looking inquisitively at him. “Young Uraraka, do you need something?”
The woman rubbed her hand through her hair nervously. Unlike normally, she had her hair pulled up into a messy bun. It put a small smile on Toshinori’s face, reminding him of fond, far-off memories. “Yeah, I was hoping to ask you a question or two? I’ve had some things on my mind.”
Toshinori pushed the thoughts of his nemesis out of his mind for now so he could focus on his young student. “Of course, I am willing to help anyway I can!”
Young Uraraka sat down in the chair that Hisashi had pulled up, while Toshinori grabbed another chair so he could sit across from her. “What’s this about?” he asked her.
“It’s about… well, it’s about Deku.” The woman shifted awkwardly in her chair.
Toshinori chuckled softly. “I figured as much. Tell me, what’s been bothering you?”
“Okay.” She let out a big sigh. “Okay. I’ve been thinking about what T-Terrorflame said. About Deku.”
The voice of the villain echoed in Toshinori’s mind, fresh as the day he heard it.
“You know what he is. It's in his blood, it's in his brain. He doesn't have a choice.”
“You
know
you’re training the next
me
.”
He sighed. “You’re worried that Young Midoriya is going to become a villain. That he’ll wind up like Terrorflame.”
“No.” The woman shook her head, surprising the pro.
“No?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Deku would never become villain. I know that.” The conviction in her voice impressed Toshinori. “But the others don’t know him like I do. UA doesn’t know him like I do.”
‘Oh,’ Toshinori thought, ‘she’s thinking about…’
“The boy can already use a full transformation and you’re still taking a chance on him? UA must truly be desperate.”
Toshinori raised an eyebrow at her. “You seem to think you know him quite well.”
“I do.” She looked into his eyes. “I know it’s hard to believe…but I know he would rather die than become a villain. I’m not worried about that. He won’t let his insti-”
She slapped her hands over her mouth.
Toshinori blinked twice. “He’s told you about…?”
“ You know? ” Young Uraraka’s eyes widened.
Toshinori was so surprised he couldn’t help but begin to laugh, the woman joining him a few moments later with a few awkward chuckles.
He looked at her with a kind smile. “I see you’ve earned Young Midoriya’s trust.”
“Trust…” she repeated. “Yeah, we trust each other. He’s… he’s told me a lot. I know he hasn’t told me everything, but…” She shook her head and steeled herself. “I’m guessing that the school knows about his instincts… and now they definitely do. The rest of the class hasn’t said anything, they’ve been really supportive in fact but…”
Young Uraraka looked straight into his eyes, staring him down with a mixture of determination and fear. “I need to know if UA is planning on kicking him out or anything like that!”
Toshinori grew a very serious look. “And what if we are?”
Young Uraraka’s eyes teared up slightly, but she didn’t look any less driven. “Then… I’m leaving too. I don’t think I could go to school at a place that would kick out someone like Deku. He’s more determined than anyone I know to become a hero, he saved us from that monster, he’s done nothing but try to be friends with everyone in class! It’s not fair!”
“You would leave UA over him?” He hadn’t expected a reaction like that.
“I’m not going to follow him or anything,” she looked down. “I got the top score at the entrance exam, I could go to Shiketsu or something. I’m not going to throw my life away for a boy I have a cr- for a boy.” She caught herself a little too late, but he pretended to not notice. “But it wouldn’t be right for me to stay at UA.”
She looked into his eyes again, the faint hint of blush fading rapidly as it arrived. “It’s more important to do what’s just than to do what’s easy, right? Heroes fight for justice, not for fame o-or money.”
Toshinori grew a wide, proud smile. “That’s right, Young Uraraka! The true purpose of being a hero is fighting for justice and for those who cannot protect themselves! It speaks volumes that you already understand that.” He reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “And please, do not worry. UA has no plans on expelling or otherwise punishing Young Midoriya. Please forgive my deception; I wished to see how you would react.”
The woman stared at him dumbfoundedly for a few moments as a small embarrassed blush began to dust her cheeks. She looked down and shifted in her seat awkwardly. “O-oh.”
Toshinori chuckled again as he released her shoulder. “I think Young Midoriya is lucky to consider you his friend. Now, if there-”
“Actually, now that I think about it… can I ask you something else?” She was still looking down at her feet.
He noted the somberness that had returned to her tone along with a weight it hadn’t had before. “Of course.”
He knew that weight intimately.
“Is there ever times when… even after you’ve done a lot…” She ran a hand through her hair nervously. “Even if you’ve done all that you feel you can... you feel like you should have done more?”
The number one hero paused for a moment. His silence caused her to look up at him, her eyes filled with both regret and hope. “Every time.”
Her mouth dropped open. “R-really? Even you?”
He nodded. “Even me. Even now.”
“What should I do? This guilt is eating me up inside, I can’t help but feel like it’s my fau-”
“Young Uraraka.” He interrupted her by placing his hand on her shoulder again. “From what I understand, you did quite a bit. Young Ashido told us all about you defending her from the villains in the Conflagration Zone, and multiple students praised you for your quick reaction in saving Aizawa. You have the thanks and praise of everyone at UA.”
“But-”
“I saw your injuries before Recovery Girl healed them. You pushed yourself to your limits, you have nothing to be ashamed about.” He tried to bolster her confidence. “You are still a student; you never should have been asked to do something like this in your first week of hero school, but you did . Take pride in that!”
The woman hung her head as she absorbed his words. He pulled his arm back, and a few moments later, she suddenly stood up, looking slightly down at him with fire in her eyes. “I’ll train harder so this never happens again. Nobody will be hurt under my watch, not if I can help it.”
Toshinori blinked as his smile widened. “That’s the spirit!” He stood up as well, beaming proudly. “Let me give you a piece of advice someone long ago gave to me. A hero is responsible for not just saving someone’s body, but also their hearts. That’s why I smile, Young Uraraka, to let people know that everything is going to be okay. The strongest heroes are the ones that are always smiling!”
Her eyes went wide for a few moments as her mouth hung open in surprise. Slowly, her eyes regrew their determined glare and her mouth turned up into a small smile. “Yes, sir!”
She hesitated for a moment, then threw her arms around him in a tight hug. “Thank you, All Might. I feel a lot better.”
He patted her head a few times. “Always happy to help. Now, run along, I’m sure your classmates are looking for you.”
She broke the hug and nodded, turning and walking towards the door. She smiled brightly and gave him a wave as she left him alone in the room once more.
Toshinori turned back to the rainy window. Maybe it was just him, but it seemed a little brighter out than it had a few minutes ago.
Ochako headed back to Deku’s room with a slight spring in her step. Ever since she woke up on Saturday, the guilt in her heart had been growing more and more. Why was Deku the one in a coma when she was walking around just fine? Why had he nearly given everything when she was ‘disabled’ by a simple sprain while he protected her? How dare she stand next to Deku when he’s giving his all, fighting against his very nature to become a hero, while she is just trying to make money?
Those doubts had been silenced, or at least quieted for now. She had regrets, but like All Might said, she should be proud of what she had done. Those regrets would be reminders to her. The first week of UA had challenged so many of her perceptions. All Might was right: she was here to learn. She would get better. She would do better.
Only one thing still weighed heavily on her heart as she opened the door to Deku’s room. Before she could look around, she was nearly tackled by Mina.
“Ochako! Did you hear?” Mina was almost picking her up with how strongly she was hugging her.
Ochako snapped her head to the bed, but to her surprise, she saw Deku still lying there, still unmoving. She turned back to Mina, looking down into her black eyes. “...No?”
Bakugou clicked his tongue as he glared at the newscast on the television in the room. “It’s Terrorflame. They found his body. Bastard’s dead.”
Ochako’s heart felt light for the first time in nearly a week. ‘He’s gone… we don’t have to worry about him anymore. Maybe the nightmares will stop now…’
Then her heart twisted slightly. She looked at Bakugou as Mina let go of her. “Who killed him?”
“We don’t know,” Momo answered, “but my money is on that League of Villains. They were likely not pleased with him failing to kill All Might.”
Ochako looked over at Deku again. Next to her, Mina noticed her forlorn stare. “Don’t worry, Ochako, I’m sure he’ll wake up soon.”
The brunette remembered what All Might had told her and forced a smile onto her face. Surprisingly, as the smile rose, so did her mood. Instead of fake confidence, some of it had become real. She grinned happily down at the slightly surprised and barely blushing Mina. “You’re right. I can’t wait.”
The group stayed up a little too late that night talking and playing a card game that Mina had brought. The news that Terrorflame was no more raised all of their spirits. Momo was often early to bed, as she knew well the value of a good night’s sleep, or perhaps more accurately, the dangers a lack of sleep could bring. But tonight, she indulged.
The four students eventually couldn’t stay up any longer, and at around 1AM, they decided to go to sleep. Thanking Momo for the comfortable pillows, blankets and padding for their makeshift beds again, causing a small smile to blossom on her face. She felt a lot more comfortable now than she had the first night, and not just because of the bedding she had made.
Momo let her hair down and snuggled into the surprisingly comfortable recliner, pulling the covers up her body as she nuzzled deeper into the pillow. She opened her right eye just barely, enough for her to catch a glimpse of the other women, but not enough for them to tell her eyes were open.
Over the past several nights, Momo had noticed Mina and Ochako getting… friendlier with each other. Mina was gradually creeping further up Ochako’s body each night, to the point where Momo had noticed her resting her head on the brunette’s side the previous night.
However, it seemed that their lack of sleep was… liberating some of their inhibitions. Ochako got onto the couch on her side like normal, wearing those adorable little mittens to keep her quirk in line, while Mina crawled in the other side. Momo watched curiously, a little interested in how far they were going to push things tonight.
Momo heard Ochako sigh and whisper something like ‘screw it’ under her breath. The brunette took off one of her gloves and put her hand on Mina’s head, taking the weight from her. The horned girl looked on with silent curiosity, not wanting to wake Bakugou, who had an incredible talent to fall asleep nearly instantly. Ochako rolled to her left so she was laying flat on her back, then pulled Mina back down so that her head was right on her clavicle.
Mina gasped, her furious purple blush dwarfed only by Ochako’s own red as the smaller woman immediately snuggled up into the brunette’s side, her arms were bunched up near her chest while Ochako put her mitten back on and then draped her left arm along Mina’s back, pulling her close.
Momo was impressed she was able to keep her composure watching the scene. She felt shocked by the scandalizing display in front of her, the familiar sensation bubbling up in her ch-
‘No, that’s not it.’ Momo tried looking away from the two women, whose blushes were fadingly slowly as they grew content smiles and closed their eyes. She watched Ochako rub her face in Mina’s hair the smallest amount as the latter adjusted herself a little further, burrowing a little deeper into Ochako.
‘I’m feeling…’ Momo didn’t dare admit it at first. She tried to rationalize it away, argue against it, but in the end, she couldn’t deny it.
‘Envy?!’
Momo rolled over, turning her back to the girls and pulling the blanket to her nose to make sure they couldn’t see her growing blush.
Ochako woke up as the sun shone through the window Wednesday morning. She felt a small amount of sweat on her body and a light blush on her cheeks. ‘That dream again ?! I really am hopeless…’ She looked down and saw Mina snuggled up on her side, causing Ochako to smile happily as she softly patted her head again. ‘I’m glad I finally pulled the trigger on that. I slept better than ever-’ she let out a huge yawn, ‘-I just wish I slept longer.’
Mina woke up slowly as Ochako rubbed her hand through her hair. She rolled around a little bit, bumping her head into Ochako’s chest a couple times as she moved her head to she could look up. “Morning, Ochako.”
Ochako nodded happily, making sure she was still focused enough to keep hiding her accent. “Morning, Mina. Sleep well?” She blushed slightly from her boldness.
Mina’s smile was a mix between adorable and predatory. “Is that really a question? You’re super comfy. I could get used to this~”
That broke Ochako. “O-oh o-okay, t-thanks.” She was pretty sure her face was doing an impression of Eiko’s hair as she averted her gaze.
Mina giggled on her chest, Ochako becoming very, very aware of her impressive bust pressing into her side and chest. “Sorry, too much?”
Ochako covered her face with her mitten-covered hands, trying, but finding herself unable to form words. Mina pushed herself up into a sitting position, straddling the taller woman and causing the brunette to miss the warmth on her side, but to enjoy the sensation of Mina’s healthy thighs pressing against her hips.
The woman let out a yawn of her own, stretching her arms wide and lifting her shirt up, giving Ochako a very good view of her bra. ‘First that dream again, now this?!’ Ochako groaned into her mittens.
Mina giggled at the reaction but stopped her teasing, hopping off the woman. Ochako stood up as she tossed her mittens off and grumbled halfheartedly, still blushing from the earlier interaction. “I’m taking a shower. Don’t wait up.”
Mina loved it when Ryukyu would visit. She couldn’t be there as much as Midori’s dad was, since she was covering his normal hero beat, something that seemed to cause tension in the man whenever it was brought up for some reason. Mina guessed it was just because he was proud of his work and didn’t want to seem like he was slacking. She didn’t worry about it too much.
She had only come by twice before today, but each time was like Christmas for the pink woman. The first time, her visit was mostly taken up by her getting the rundown of the situation from Midori’s parents; Mina wasn’t about to get in the way of family matters. Her second visit happened to come at the same time that a busload of their classmates were visiting as well. Mina didn’t get much of a chance to speak with her then, either.
This time, however, it was just Momo, Ochako and her. Bakugou had stepped out to do training with Stormclaw, something they apparently had been doing for over a decade, which was baffling to Mina. Their worlds were so different from hers.
Ryukyu sat down in one of the chairs next to Midori and started talking about… stuff. She told him about some villains she had fought the previous day, describing her fighting in great detail. Mina wasn’t listening too well; she was too busy staring at her stunning, draconic turquoise eyes, her jutting horns, and her copper red hair to really pay attention. Mina had been crushing on Ryukyu for years and now being so close to her, well, it made her feel like a schoolgirl again.
The pro began telling stories about Midori when he was younger, which certainly got Mina’s attention. Apparently, he had been quite the prankster in high school, which Ryukyu claimed she had no idea about and had no part in encouraging and certainly wasn’t personally responsible for some of his better ideas.
They spent the better part of an hour listening to her tell stories, crack jokes and generally lift their spirits. After a while, Mamadoriya showed up, asking for some help making lunch. The three students jumped to attention, but before she could leave Ryukyu interceded.
“Aunt Inko, can I borrow Ashido for a bit? I’m sure these two ladies will be more than capable of helping you fix lunch.” She winked at Mina, who nearly fainted on the spot.
“Oh, that’s fine.” The short woman smiled kindly, just like Midori did. “You two have fun, now. Come on, girls.”
Ochako gave her a smile and a wave as she left, while Momo gave her an appraising, curious look as she followed. The door closed behind them, leaving the pro alone with Mina and her unconscious cousin.
“So…” Ryukyu looked slightly up at her, the muscular woman just an inch shorter than her. She grew a smile that Mina knew all too well, for it was the wide, predatory smirk she often wore. It was a little unsettling to be on the other side of it.
Mina gulped.
“You wear your heart on your sleeve, Ashido,” she pointed out.
“Is… is that a problem? I’ve always been outspoken.” She wasn’t sure where Ryukyu was going with this.
“No, no, not at all. I just want to ask you about something I’ve noticed.” The smile grew wider.
“S-sure, shoot.” Mina raised an eyebrow nervously. ‘Is this what it’s like when I do this to Ochako or Midori?’
Ryukyu pointed a thumb towards the comatose man. “What is he to you?”
Mina felt her face warming up. “W-what do you mean?”
“Don’t play games with me, young lady,” she jokingly reprimanded. “You keep stealing glances at him and your face goes all soft and cute when you do.” She jokingly pushed her own cheeks up to make a cute smile.
“Do I?!” Mina hadn’t noticed herself doing that. Her eyes went wide as she looked at the smirking hero. ‘Guess there’s no use denying it…’
Mina shrugged and began to laugh. “Well, I guess you caught me, then!”
Ryukyu started laughing as well. “I like you, Ashido. You’re a good kid.”
“I’m 18!” Mina protested.
Ryukyu shrugged. “And I’m 29. What about it?” She raised an eyebrow at Mina. “And don’t try to change the subject. What is he to you?”
Mina pouted slightly, earning another smile from Ryukyu. “Fine. Midori is…”
“A nickname? Oooh…”
Mina blushed slightly. “Heh, yeah… but uh, Midori is… I’m not sure.”
“Yes you do.” Ryukyu’s blue eyes burrowed into her black and gold. “You’re a smart girl.”
Mina pouted again. “I… I have a huge crush on him.”
Ryukyu raised her eyebrow again. “And that’s why you’ve spent nearly a week watching over him? A crush?”
“No!” Mina locked eyes with the hero. “I’m here because I care about him a lot. He saved my life and he’s a really good guy. Even if he doesn’t like me back, I want to be there for him. I want to be his friend and keep him safe.” Mina forced the words out of her mouth, almost panting from the mental exertion.
Surprisingly, the redhead’s smirk grew kind. “Thank you. He needs people like that. People to watch over him and make sure he’s doing okay. He has always been willing to protect others, but he never watches out for himself. He surrounds himself with people when he can, but it’s hard for him to actually open up. Maybe one day he’ll open up to you.”
“Oh, he already has.” Mina took the opportunity to turn the tables. “He’s told me about his instincts.”
Ryukyu’s eyes went wide, much to Mina’s satisfaction. “Wait, how long as he known you?!”
Mina thought for a moment. “Before the coma? Less than a week, technically.”
The hero began to laugh. Hard. “Oh, Ashido, I don’t think you have to worry. Izuku must be absolutely crazy about you to tell you a secret like that so quickly.”
A sparkle lit up Mina’s face. “You think so?”
“Yeah, I do.” She paused, thinking. “I’m curious, though. How did that happen?”
Mina rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. “Well, after you came and talked to him last week, I sort of… broke into his room.”
The pro blanched. “You what?! ”
Mina smiled a bit as she relived the memory of his hands on her wrists… She shook herself a little and continued the story . “Yeah, I knew he was gonna react badly, but not that badly.” She shrugged jokingly. “Anyway, he saw me, tackled me, snarled in my face and all that.”
The hero was speechless. “He…”
“Oh, don’t worry,” she waved her hand to dismiss the woman’s concern. “He didn’t do anything more than that. Afterwards, I told him that since he tackled me, he had to tell me what had been going on.” Mina rubbed her chin. “In hindsight, that’s probably what he was talking to you about, right?”
Ryukyu’s horror was slowly replaced by incredulous awe. “So, you played him.”
Mina nodded proudly. “Yep! That’s what he said too, actually.”
“Oh yeah, now I’m really sure.” She bumped Mina’s arm with her fist. “You go get that dragon and hold on tight, girl.”
Mina felt her heart swell and then do a couple backflips in her chest. She felt her face warm up and she was sure she was turning purple in front of Ryukyu.
“Aw, you blush purple,” the hero teased, “that’s just as cute as his little green blush.”
“Y-you think so..?” Mina shook herself again, giggling to cover up her slip. “Yeah, his blush is super cute.”
Ryukyu smiled widely at her. “You’re a good sport, Ashido. I’m looking forward to Izuku bringing you to family dinners. And that’s not me teasing you, that’s honest.”
“Aw, thank you!” Mina was almost bouncing with joy.
“Hey, indulge me for a second.” The hero’s tone changed. “Tell me about your quirk.”
“Oh,” Mina was caught off-guard, but recovered, “okay. Uh, I make acid.”
“Can you control the strength?” The hero was suddenly totally different, Mina had almost forgotten that Ryukyu was in the top ten.
Mina nodded. “And the viscosity. I’ve got these special boots for my hero costume that lets me use it to skate around for mobility and stuff.”
The hero nodded approvingly. “Clever, clever! I assume you are resistant to acid as well?”
“Right again! Well, uh, to a point.”
Ryukyu looked around quickly. “Hey, wanna do something dumb?”
Mina smirked. “Psh, always.”
The redhead opened her mouth and Mina gasped slightly as her sharp fangs began to lengthen even more. In a flash, the hero’s arm grew tough, copper scales as she held it up near her mouth. A drop of orangish-red acid fell from her fang and onto her scales, not reacting in the slightest as it slipped down her arm. It fell from her scales and hit the floor, making a small hissing noise, but not doing any noticeable damage to the tile.
Mina’s eyes went wide as the implication hit her. She steeled herself and held her arm towards the pro hero. “Don’t worry, Ashido, it’ll be weak.” She opened her mouth wide and let another drop fall down and land on Mina’s arm.
She flinched as it hit, but only out of nerves. The acid slipped down her arm just like it did on the other woman, Mina marvelling as she felt nothing. “It feels like warm water.”
“Oh, fun,” the pro added. “If we had more time, we could find out just how resistant you are. It’s important to know your limits. Try that out with Izuku some time; he should know too.”
Mina’s head snapped to look at Ryukyu. “What do you mean?”
“What, has he not told you? I figured he would have… oh, well.” She shrugged. “Dragon scales resist the effects of other dragons. We’re basically immune to our own ‘type’, if you would -you could give me everything you have and I probably would barely notice- but we resist the other types. Because our quirks are similar, you know? The quirk didn’t reinvent the wheel between my mother and me; it just changed some stuff.”
She turned to look at Midori with a forlorn expression. “That’s how he escaped our dear great-uncle with such relatively minor injuries. I shudder to imagine what would have happened if he wasn’t a little resistant to fire.” She turned back to Mina, letting her mood rise again. “So, what I’m saying is that Izuku’s scales will resist your acid a bit. You should figure out how much.”
Mina stared at Midori, her mind going hundred miles a minute, bashing through previous hangups about her own body. It was as if a fire had been lit inside her and all the emotions she was forcing herself to suppress were rising to the surface in its wake. She felt a little too hot, but at the same time too cold, yearning for his touch.
Before she actually gave in and pulled his hand to nuzzle into it, she quickly changed the subject, trying desperately to ignore the pool of heat forming below her stomach. “S-so you breathe acid and those fangs drip acid. I get that. But how do the other dragons work? How does Midori’s work- wait.” Mina froze and scratched her head. “What kind of breath does he have? He’s never shown it off or anything…”
“He’s kept that a secret, huh?” Ryukyu didn’t seem surprised. “I won’t spoil the surprise then. I’m sure he has his reasons. As for the others, it’s pretty straight forward. Uncle Hisashi’s fangs act as conduits for his lightning, so his bite also electrocutes if he wants. Fire dragons like Uncle Hatsuo, er, Purifier, and our dearly-departed Terrorflame have a nasty bite. Their fangs have this substance in them that ignites when it comes in contact with oxygen, including oxygen in someone’s bloodstream.” She shuddered.
“Our quirks aren’t nice, Ashido,” she said somberly. “But you know what that’s like, don’t you?”
Mina nodded slowly.
Ryukyu wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a reassuring one-armed hug. “You have a friend in Izuku, even if you don’t wind up dating him. I want you to help each other, okay?”
Mina nodded again. “I will. I promise.”
Ryukyu laughed again and smiled. “Don’t tell Izuku, but I’m rooting for you.” She winked. “Come on, let’s go get lunch. I’ll tell you how to get him to really turn green if you behave.”
After a satisfying and filling lunch adding to her lack of sleep, Ochako was feeling seriously tired. Ryukyu, who she swore was whispering some stuff to Mina when no one was looking, had left after the meal, as she needed to get back to her patrol routes, while Bakugou and Stormclaw were still out training, which left the four women and Deku the only ones around.
Inko invited the girls to go shopping with her, which immediately set an adorable fire under both Momo and Mina, but Ochako was feeling too out of it. She volunteered to stay with Deku, ‘just in case he wakes up, right?’
Mina pouted a little bit, but gave up soon enough and let her stay behind. Ochako settled into the chair on Deku’s left and stared at him. “I wish you’d wake up soon, Deku. I… we all miss you. I know you’re gonna be okay, but it’s hard seeing you lyin’ there. I wanna thank you proper.”
She felt comfortable around him, even if he was comatose; she didn’t even need to hide her accent when she was alone with him.
Her eyelids suddenly began to feel heavier and heavier as her head sagged down. She took a slightly nervous glance at Deku and then laid her head down on his chest, her ear on top of his heart.
With the soothing, steady rhythm in her ear, she fell asleep nearly instantly.
In what felt like an instant to her, her eyes began to slowly open. She didn’t feel the crushing exhaustion she had when she went to sleep, which was a relief.
Ochako began to look around and quickly noticed that her hair had drifted into Deku’s face while she had been sleeping. She lifted her head slowly, pulling her brown locks away. “Sorry ‘bout that, Deku.”
She turned to her left as she stretched, but her heart suddenly skipped a beat and nearly jumped out of her chest.
Standing upright about halfway down the bed was a rather impressive tent in the bedsheets.
Ochako’s heart settled down as her heart filled with a mixture of shame and exasperation. “Oh, I’m in that dream again.” She shook her head. ‘Two times in one day, and that’s way bigger than it usually is. I’m hopeless.’
She stole another glance back at the towering object. ‘Wow... that would totally get me pre- no, bad Ochako. Stop objectifying Deku like that, even if it is in a dream. You’re better than that.’ She shook her head again, hoping to dispel the dream, but to no avail.
She felt her heart rate begin to pick up as she started breathing a little faster. Ochako bit her lip as her body continued to disobey her. She whined a little bit as she rubbed her legs together and began to sweat slightly. ‘I mean… if it’s only a dream...’
She reached out her hand, hesitating multiple times as it crossed the distance, before she poked the tip, causing it to wobble as she wrenched her hand back. The sight alone made her whine unintentionally. ‘...Maybe being here for so long without… private time was a mistake,’ she finally admitted as she licked her lips, realizing just how pent up she must be for her dreams to be getting this wild. She rubbed her thighs together again, hating and loving the aching, throbbing sensation spreading through them, up her spine, and into her stomach. Ochako wanted nothing more than for someone, no, Deku, to touch her, to help fill the emptiness that was growing inside. Blood rushed downward and she could feel her heartbeat throbbing in her-
“S-screw it.” One hand started traveling back to the monolith that was causing her suffering, while the other started traveling down her stomach towards-
“Hey Ochako, we’re ba-” Mina came walking into Ochako’s dream, stopping dead at the foot of the bed just like the brunette’s hands at the intrusion. She stared slack-jawed for several seconds before she found words. “Holy...shit… Midori is huge! ”
“I know, right ?” Ochako responded breathlessly, her voice heavy with familiarity and lust; she was used to this song and dance, and if Dream Mina was here… she wouldn’t need her hands. “It’s not nearly this big normally though, I must really be pent up...”
“N-normally?!” Mina sputtered. “Have you been-”
“No, no. I mean in these dreams normally.” Ochako rolled her eyes at the woman. “You’re pretty sassy today, Dream Mina.”
“Ochako…” Mina stared at her with a genuine look of concern on her face behind her growing lilac blush. Ochako noticed she kept stealing glances toward the man, just like her. “Do you think you’re in a dream right now?”
Ochako raised an eyebrow. “Obviously! Come on, there’s no way Deku is that bi- ouch!”
Mina had taken a few rapid steps toward the woman and pinched her hard on the arm.
“What’d you do that fo-” Ochako began indignantly before realization dawned on her. Her face began to heat up with a speed that would give Endeavor a run for his money.
Momo was trailing a little bit behind Mina on her way back to Midoriya’s room, as she had been involved in a discussion with Mrs. Midoriya. She was nearly to the door when it flew open, a neon-red girl nearly bowling her over as she streaked out of the room cupping her face with her hands.
She regained her balance and turned back to the room when Mina came flying out of the room, her own face lit up with a shade of purple she didn’t know she could turn. Momo managed to jump out of the way of the pink and purple girl as she dashed past her.
“What’s going on?” she called after the two, but they didn’t respond as the rapidly turned around the corner and vanished, leaving Momo alone in the hallway.
“How strange,” Momo said, a little insulted. “What’s gotten into them?”
She dusted herself off and turned back towards Midoriya’s room, opening the door and taking a step inside before freezing in place.
“Oh my.”
Several hours and another long shower later, Ochako had calmed down enough to return to Deku’s room, although she still couldn't look at him without starting to blush. The sun had set and they took the opportunity to go to sleep early that night, hoping to make up for the late night yesterday.
Ochako lay down across the couch and comfy padding that Momo had graciously made for them, leaving room for Mina to climb over her and cuddle up on her left side. She felt guilty for just how comfortable and relaxed snuggling Mina felt, especially after the day she had. ‘It’s just cause we’re sharin’ this couch, it just makes sense for us to sleep like this. It’s nothin’ else.’
Despite her protests, she grew a contented smile as Mina’s head rested on her shoulder and the two of them drifted off to sleep nearly instantly.
The next day passed by quickly. About half the class showed up that day, which was pretty standard. Pony, Eiko and Iida were there, just like they always were, doing what they always did at Deku’s bedside.
It had been nearly a week since the USJ and the class had certainly settled into a routine. They had been out of class longer than they had been in class; with the bizarre short day on Monday and the cancelled classes on Friday, they had only had three ‘normal’ days of class. Ochako dreaded the idea of classes starting back up on Monday, especially if Deku wasn’t up yet.
Mina shared her sentiments. When Iida urged Deku to wake up before he missed any actual class, the two women had exchanged worried, stressed glances.
Surely it couldn’t be much longer, right?
Friday. A week since the USJ and a week since Deku fell into his coma.
The specialists that Stormclaw had hired finished their daily round of treatment on Deku and left with a curt nod just like they had for the past week. The four students were left alone in the room as a heavy silence fell over them.
Bakugou was a hard man to read, but over the week, Ochako had gotten to know him a little better, even if he didn’t talk much. She could tell that he was taking Deku’s continued coma pretty hard, despite trying not to show it. Any time he didn’t spend talking to Deku was spent trying to distract himself. He had read all the textbook assignments at least twice, done all the written problems and even gone further ahead what Aizawa had assigned them. He went out jogging and strength training with Stormclaw every day, working himself so hard that he would fall asleep nearly instantly when he sat back down in his recliner.
She could see that Stormclaw was tired by the end as well. Maybe both men needed the exercise to get their mind off the same issue.
Momo surprised Ochako more, however. When she thought about it, she wouldn’t have guessed that the black-haired woman would have willingly spent the week here. She seemed friendly with Deku, sure, but not in the same way Bakugou, Mina or Ochako herself were. Momo certainly had a motherly instinct; she seemed to worry that Deku was taken care of, despite the nurses, doctors and specialists that came into check on and care for him multiple times a day.
She spoke to the man with a kind voice that sounded… surprisingly intimate, one she hadn’t heard her use up until now, when she was reading the textbook to him or talking about other things. Part of her wanted to hear her speak like that more, maybe even towards her, but another part chastised herself for wanting that; she could only be so selfish. Ochako knew that the two of them had a history, with what Mina told her about the first night at the dorms as well as Stormclaw’s reaction to her, but Momo seemed very adamant in pushing herself away from it all.
Ochako had to admit that she was impressed by the number and variety of medical quirks the staff and specialists had. Things that would normally take fancy equipment and careful observation were handled nearly instantly and quite cleanly, leaving Deku mostly free of needles or patches. The advances in wireless monitoring and remote testing meant that his hospital visit was remarkably smooth and safe, even compared to just a few decades ago, not to mention centuries.
As Friday afternoon ticked by, Mina and Ochako found themselves alone with their comatose classmate. Ochako sat down on the chair to the man’s left, while Mina sat across from her on his other side. They had done this often since their first time after the nightmares of the second night, usually just talking about whatever, or sometimes even playing cards across the bed with each other.
Today, Ochako wasn’t feeling it. She just sat there, staring at Deku’s sleeping face, pleading for his eyes to open or for him to make some noise, but nothing happened.
The drawn-out suspense was getting to her. She counted her blessings that the doctors predicted him to wake up any day now, trying not to image what it would be like if he was comatose for a month or longer. Throughout this whole thing, they had all been fortunate.
Mina, shrewd as ever, effortlessly picked up on Ochako’s melancholy. “You know it’ll be soon, Ochako. Then all this waiting will seem like a lifetime ago.”
She sighed. “I know you’re right, but it still… it hurts seeing him just lying here.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s hard seeing someone you love suffering.”
Ochako nearly fell out of her chair. She gripped the handles tightly as she whipped up to Mina’s face, expecting to see her teasing smirk, but the woman was smiling gently. “L-love?! Isn’t that a b-bit much, Mina?”
She shook her head slowly. “I wasn’t sure what I was feeling either, which is strange for me, honestly. I’m usually pretty good about that stuff. But then Ryukyu had a talk with me and well, over the past couple of days… I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”
This wasn’t Mina’s usually happy-go-lucky attitude that she was displaying, nor was it the teasing tone she took while trying to get people to blush. She was serious, and her sincerity caused Ochako to listen intently, even as blush creeped into both of their faces.
“And I think I figured it out.” Mina reached up and ran her hand along Deku’s face affectionately. “The reason I wanted to stay here, the reason I’m willing to do all this while just waiting for him to wake up, why I get all these funny feelings in my stomach and heart and mind when I look at him…”
Mina looked straight into Ochako’s eyes.
“You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? He put so much trust in us, he put his life on the line to protect us, how kind he was, not just to us, but to everyone in the class. Well, excluding Mineta, but you know.” Mina giggled slightly as Ochako grew a small smirk. “Plus he’s super hot, I mean, come on .”
“ Mina !” Ochako blushed a little harder as the pink woman stuck her tongue out playfully. Just as quickly, she regained her composure and her serious tone.
“I’ve had crushes before, Ochako. I’ve had boyfriends. This is…” she sighed, almost dreamily so, “beyond that- I guess? I don’t know how to describe it any other way”
Mina looked back at Deku and smiled softly, resolutely. “I… I think I’m in love. I’ve never experienced it before, and maybe it’s just a foolish, childish thing, but…” She trailed off as her blush filled her face.
Ochako was frozen. ‘Love? Deku? I mean, I like him a lot, I’ve been crushin’ on him ever since we met back at the entrance exam… but love ? I-I never thought about it; I never even considered that, but… maybe?’ She covered her face with her hands as her blush grew to match Mina’s.
“I… I don’t know, Mina. I mean-”
“Think about it! What do you feel? I know you feel that weird bubbliness when you look at him too; What else could it be?” Mina was nearly pleading.
The brunette’s eyes went wide behind her fingers. She ran through everything Mina had said in her mind, she thought about him saving her at the entrance exam, about her saving him at the battle trial, the trust he put in her afterwards, the way he told her that he thought she was hot and how he reacted to her slapping him, the way he had nearly died to protect her and everything in between, not to mention her ‘dream'. Each one of those memories brought a flood of emotion to her system, causing her blush to grow even stronger and her heart to skip a beat as her stomach did somersaults in her gut.
Ochako lowered her hands slowly, staring down in shock. “I t-think you might be right… maybe I do... l-l-love him…” She struggled, but was finally able to push the words out. “But what if he doesn’t love m- us back?”
Mina smiled widely, small tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “That’s something for us to worry about another time, but if what Ryukyu said is true, and she seems to know Midori pretty well, then I don’t think either of us have to worry too much about that.”
Ochako’s shoulders slumped as she sighed; she felt as if a great weight she didn’t even notice had been lifted off her chest, like she had unknowingly had her quirk activated this entire time. “I hope you’re right, Mina.” She once again remembered All Might’s words to her as she looked up and gave Mina a confident smile. The other woman matched her smile, making Ochako feel just a bit better.
Then, Mina flinched.
Her head slowly turned to her left, toward Deku as her eyes began to widen. Ochako felt compelled to follow Mina’s stare.
Deku was gently nuzzling into her hand with a groggy, happy smile stretching across his face. He slowly opened an eye, staring at Mina, and then Ochako, his smile only growing larger with each passing second, at least until he noticed the ceiling.
“...Where am I?”
…
…
“DEKU?!”
“MIDORI?!”
Notes:
This was a monster of a chapter: over 7500 words. Thanks again to Epsi and Matty for helping me out.
See you guys next time!
Chapter 25: To Be a Midoriya
Summary:
A talk about his quirk.
Notes:
Thanks to my betas, epicderpybro2, Epsilon110 and Mattybeach for helping me. Go check out their stories here on AO3!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hisashi was tired. A week of worry, stress, and guilt weighed down on him, but he kept a happy face on around the children. If they saw him worrying, their own spirits might fail and he wasn't about to allow that.
Izuku had told him all about his classmates, but meeting them in person was different. Yaoyorozu was almost just as he remembered; she was the heiress of a very wealthy family and her upbringing shone through. He was quite surprised by how concerned and affectionate she was with his son, but he wasn't resistant to it. She was a fine young woman.
Uraraka and Ashido seemed like good kids as well. They were both deeply attached to Izuku, that much he could tell immediately. He wondered what had caused them to become so close, but that would have to wait until his son woke up. Everything else was secondary to Izuku.
Katsuki was beating himself up. Hisashi had known the boy since before he was born; he would be a sorry excuse for an ‘uncle’ if he couldn't tell when he was suffering. Katsuki was feeling guilt, just like Hisashi was. They felt guilty that they weren't there for Izuku, that he had faced Terrorflame on his own, that he was lying there while they were completely uninjured.
Last Friday felt like a bad dream. He had barely landed back in Japan when he had received the message from President Nezu that there had been an attack and his son had been hospitalized. He couldn’t remember the last time his instincts had flared that badly; he even got a bit of a headache from it. He had sent his luggage home with his hired driver and taken to the skies from the airport.
He slammed down in front of the hospital with enough force to set off car alarms and crackling enough lightning that he burst a streetlamp just by being nearby. He felt his heart pounding faster as his instincts screamed more and more.
He hadn’t expected to see Katsuki, Yaoyorozu and the other two girls there, but he was relieved to see that All Might was involved. Especially after saving his life, Toshinori was a loyal and steadfast friend. In hindsight, it was foolish to not expect Izuku to have made good friends so quickly. It was his nature, after all.
When he saw his boy lying there on that operating table, in surgery for an injury given to him by Genta of all people… his fury broke. His boy was safe, but he would never be the same, Physically, mentally, or emotionally.
The news that Izuku had managed a full transformation was just the icing on the terrible, terrible cake. He should never have been able to do that, he never should have had to do that. But he somehow did and, judging from what All Might told him, he had to. If he hadn’t, people would be dead.
A part of Hisashi marveled at the fascinating amalgamation of pride and grief that was tearing his heart in half.
When Ashido expressed a desire to stay there with Izuku and when the other three agreed… that made Hisashi feel a lot better. Not only did it show him just how much of an effect his son had on his classmates, he also knew that having his hoard there would accelerate his healing.
A week of guilt, anguish, regret, confusion, pride, joy… it was a lot to take, even for someone as experienced as him. He had seen his share of destruction and pain throughout his 26 years of being a pro hero, but he had never had his own family hurt like this.
Hisashi sighed, looking out the window of the suite that Inko and he were living in while Izuku was in his coma. They were willingly keeping a little distance from their son, as much as it hurt them, so to let his friends be around him without the pressure of his parents being around; he knew kids acted differently when they had an audience, especially one they felt they needed to be respectful around.
His long years of practice and training with his quirk had allowed him to maintain some transformations nearly permanently, including the little trick his father had taught him before he passed. By just barely circling his quirk through his sensory organs, he could maintain part of the enhanced perception abilities of his draconic form without transforming significantly. Those that knew him well could see a slight discoloration around his ears, but for the m-
“DEKU?!”
“MIDORI?!”
Hisashi hadn’t moved that fast in a long time. He was thankful that there was nobody in the hallway outside his room as he tore toward his son. He hit ‘send’ on the message he had typed in his phone a week ago as he burst through the door, his eyes wide and glowing, whipping his head in the direction of the bed.
What he saw would have warmed his heart if it wasn’t already nearly on fire from beating so hard. Ashido and Uraraka both had their arms thrown around Izuku and their cheeks crushed against his, the two women crying slightly while his son’s expression was a hilarious combination of confused and very happy.
His entrance caused the women to nearly jump out of their skin and quickly release Izuku. His son looked startled by the sudden noise, but as his eyes latched onto Hisashi, they quickly filled with joy and tears; he really was his mother’s son.
“Dad!” Izuku cried out. Hisashi’s heart swelled; he had wished to hear that voice every day for an entire week.
“Izuku!” Hisashi crashed into his son, wrapping his arm around him. Since that fateful night six years ago, he hadn’t missed his left arm more than he did right now.
The two men embraced for a good minute, both men crying into each other’s shoulders, but Izuku crying harder, of course. Finally, they pulled apart slightly, Hisashi wrapping his arm around his son’s head and pressing their foreheads together. “I missed you, son.”
“I missed you too,” Izuku responded softly. Hisashi noted a tone of sadness in his voice. “Did… did I hurt anybody?”
Hisashi cracked a small smile as he leaned back. “No, Izuku. You didn’t hurt anyone. Well, besides some villains.”
Izuku flinched as if all the memories had suddenly come crashing back. His eyes began to glow brightly as his horns began to streak back on his head. “Terrorflame!” he yelled frantically. “Where is he? The girls! My classmates! I need to protec-”
“Izuku!” Hisashi yelled, shaking his son’s shoulder. His eyes snapped up to his father’s, the glow fading slightly. “He’s gone. Everyone is safe. Everyone is safe. ”
Izuku panted as he fell back into his bed. He took a few moments to collect himself as he stared at the ceiling. “How… how long was I out?”
Hisashi sighed and leaned back, giving his son some space.. “A week. It’s Friday, Izuku.”
Izuku sputtered as he shot up in his bed. “A-a week ?! Oh man, I’ve missed a whole week of training.” His eyes widened further. “I missed a week of class! Oh man, Aizawa is gonna kill me.”
The girls giggled behind Hisashi. He had to admit, he had forgotten they were there. “You didn’t miss anything,” Hisashi said with a smile. “They canceled class to check on the security of the campus. A wise decision, if you ask me.”
Izuku sighed, clearly relieved. Then suddenly, his eyes widened again. “Dad, I transformed! Fully!” His voice was equal parts excitement and trepidation.
Hisashi’s brow furrowed. “I heard. You’re incredibly lucky to be alive, son. I won’t scold you, but you have to be more careful. You knew how dangerous it was.”
Izuku’s shoulders slumped. “I know. But I had to do it. If I hadn’t…”
“If he didn’t, Ochako and I would be dead,” Ashido finished for him. “He saved us from Terrorflame. We owe him our lives.”
Izuku smiled softly at the woman’s words. “I’m just happy you’re okay, Ashido. Uraraka.” He looked back to Hisashi. “It’s sort of a blur, the whole thing, I mean. I remember resisting my instinc-”
Hisashi flinched this time, his eyes widening before he caught himself. “Oh, right. All Might and Ryuko told me that you already informed your friends here of our ‘family secret’.” His voice was a little scolding but mostly exhausted.
Izuku’s head lowered again as he looked away sheepishly. “I trust them, dad. They’re… they’re important to me.”
‘Ladykiller,’ Hisashi thought, shaking his head and smiling a bit as he heard both women gasp slightly behind him. ‘He doesn’t even know what he’s doing.’
At this point, Izuku’s doctor entered along with a small team of assistants. She asked a series of questions to Izuku while she and her team ran tests. Izuku passed with flying colors, apparently experiencing no unexpected discomfort or complications, satisfying the doctor. She nodded to Hisashi as she left, telling them to take all the time they needed and to call her when they were done catching up. She gave Hisashi a curt nod as she left the room twenty minutes after she entered.
“But yeah, where was I? Oh right, the transformation.” Izuku didn’t miss a beat. “I was resisting, trying to keep my instincts in control, but then I heard that villain say he was going to kill us and… well, I stopped resisting. I just... let go.” Izuku began to tear up again. “I felt like I didn’t have a choice. I needed my quirk; all of my quirk.”
“Wait…” Uraraka began. “What do you mean you ‘stopped resisting’?”
“Just that. I stopped separating myself from myself.” There was an odd note of resigned pride in his voice. “In my head, it was no longer this separate voice, but a unified one. For the first time in a long time…” He looked at Hisashi, pleading with his eyes for his father to tell him if it was going to be okay. “... I was alone in my head. There wasn’t Izuku and the instincts, there was just… one thing. I don’t want to call it myself, because I don’t think it was me. I wouldn’t have said those things, or hurt those villains like I did. I… I don’t think.”
Hisashi nodded. “I know, Izuku. I know.” His son looked up at him, his face filled with surprise and intrigue. “As soon as I heard you transformed, I knew that you had done that. I know that feeling well, that mixture of yourself and your instincts to make something else entirely. Unlike you, I have a name for it.”
“Really? W-what is it? It didn’t feel… wrong or anything. It felt like…”
“I call it ‘Stormclaw’, son.” Hisashi smiled at Izuku’s widening eyes. “That feeling you experienced, that’s what lets us be what we are. One day, you’ll find your own name for it.”
The four of them sat there in silence for a few moments as Izuku thought. He looked back up at Hisashi and opened his mouth, but before any words could come out-
“MY BABY!”
The door almost flew off its hinges as Inko burst into the room and nearly tackled Izuku out of the hospital bed. Hisashi smiled widely; he had heard her coming but didn’t want to spoil the surprise.
His heart warmed as he saw the short woman began to nearly crush the breath out of their son. Her tears flowed freely, which renewed the waterfalls in Izuku’s eyes as well. The two greenettes sobbed happy tears into each other’s shoulders for at least a minute before Inko pulled back, still sniffling too hard to form a coherent sentence.
At this point, Katsuki had made his way to the side of the bed. He and Yaoyorozu had entered with Inko, but they had kept quiet while the woman embraced her son. Izuku saw Katsuki and began to tear up again; Hisashi stopped being surprised years ago by how many tears the boy somehow stored in his body.
Izuku sat up straight in his bed and threw his arms around Katsuki, which the blonde begrudgingly allowed. “I’m so happy you’re safe, Kacchan. I didn’t see you at all after I got teleported. I was so worried.”
“I’m not the one who almost killed himself, dumbass,” Katsuki scoffed as he returned the hug with one arm. “I’m gonna kick your ass for missing a week of training.”
Hisashi laughed at the slightly scandalized look the three girls were wearing. They clearly didn’t understand Katsuki and Izuku’s relationship, but perhaps the wide smile his son grew would help them.
“Wait.” Izuku let go as he leaned back. “If I was in a coma for a week, how come I feel like I just had a good night’s sleep? I don’t feel stiff or weak from the atrophy that surely would come about from being virtually immobile for an entire week, not to mention the strain a lack of use would cause on other parts of my body like my throat, but I was able to speak just fine, and I don’t even feel thirsty. Perhaps it’s my quirk? No, that wouldn’t make sense. Perhaps…” His mumbling grew too fast and soft for Hisashi to follow, even with years of practice.
“Uncle had a team of specialists in to see you every day,” Katsuki explained, cutting off Izuku. “One of them had some quirk that stimulated all of your muscles. Apparently, he’s some famous physical therapist. Makes sense, with a quirk like that. There were a bunch of others that did other stuff to you, too. Long story short, you should be fine to get up and get back to work.”
Izuku’s eyes were wide again. “Woah… what kind of other stuff? Did someone have a quirk tha-”
“Son.” Hisashi stopped Izuku before he could get going again. “I’ll tell you all about it later, but we have important things to discuss now that you’re awake. Besides, there’s someone else you haven’t greeted yet.”
Izuku quickly looked around and locked eyes with Yaoyorozu, who was waiting politely by the door. His eyes flashed bright green for a second, quickly enough that someone might not notice. His eyes widened slowly as his jaw opened. “You saved my life. Thank you.”
Yaoyorozu began to blush slightly, but Ashido was the first one to speak up. “Wait, how did you know that? None of us told you that.”
Izuku laughed awkwardly. “Sometimes you just have to listen to your instincts, right?” He answered her question while avoiding exposing himself to Yaoyorozu, impressing Hisashi.
Or at least, impressing Hisashi until Izuku lowered his head in guilt. “Actually, can I speak to Yaoyorozu in private for a bit?”
“Son…” Hisashi warned.
“I know, but…” Izuku met his eyes with a look of determination and guilt. “She saved my life. I owe her the truth.”
Hisashi stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. He stood up as he ruffled his son’s hair, which brought a smile to both of their faces.
“T-this really isn't’ necessary, Mr. Midoriya,” the woman protested weakly.
Hisashi ushered the rest of the visitors out of the room as he smiled kindly at the woman. Ashido and Uraraka looked kindly at her, while Katsuki glared suspiciously. Hisashi caught him whispering at her as he passed. “Don’t betray his trust.” It was a warning, he noted; not just on Izuku’s behalf, but from him as well.
Izuku was putting on a bit of a brave face, all things considered. He had a vague feeling that time had passed, but it felt more like he had experienced a series of vague dreams over the course of the world’s longest night, rather than being in a coma for a week. He was understandably confused and disoriented, but it was good to see all of his close friends there for him, but he was a little surprised to see Yaoyorozu there, especially with how she had been acting the past couple of days.
That was, at least until his instincts spoke a word to him.
Lifegiver.
Izuku didn’t know what she did, but he subconsciously knew that she had done something to keep him tethered to the mortal coil.
As the rest filed out, Yaoyorozu sat in silence, looking slightly nervous in the chair next to his bed. Izuku looked at her for a moment, hoping to calm her with a soft smile. “How did you save me?”
She started tugging at her hair. “After you… lost consciousness, Ochako and Mina brought you up to the entrance. While All Might fought Terrorflame, you… you stopped breathing.”
Izuku paled.
“So, I gave you CPR. After two cycles of rescue breaths, your quirk flashed over your body and you started breathing again.”
Izuku’s eyes widened. He felt his quirk humming slightly under his skin as he stared at the woman. Since he had known her, he had always known her to be pretty, but for the first time, he realized just how beautiful she was. Perhaps it was the revelation that she had saved his life, or perhaps it was his quirk’s doing, but for whatever reason, she suddenly took his breath away.
The way the afternoon light shone through her long, beautiful raven hair seemed to frame her like an angel, causing his mouth to begin to turn up into a smile. Her onyx eyes and gorgeous face caused blush to begin to creep into his cheeks as his mind worked at memorizing her features rather than making sure he was still breathing. ‘Maybe I need more CPR…’
“Um, Midoriya?”
Izuku blinked, breaking the trance. He felt his quirk flare in the back of his mind.
Pain. Regret. Why?
“You were s-staring, are you okay?”
He shook his head, dispelling the warmth on his cheeks. He didn’t know what was causing the weight in her voice and her expression, but he made a mental note that he was going to fix it.
But later. Right now, he needed to explain some things.
“Yaoyorozu, I need to tell you something. It might explain why I’ve been acting so strangely.” He averted his gaze slightly, ashamed of how he had scared her at the USJ. He had noticed the terror on her face at the time, at least subconsciously, but he had to focus on Kurogiri.
Izuku took a deep breath and prepared himself while Yaoyorozu shifted slightly in her chair. “My quirk… has some unique aspects to it. You’re aware of the physical manifestations and transformation, for the most part. Those are obvious. The part that is less obvious is my quirk adaptation.” He opted to begin the conversation on an academic note, hoping to make her more comfortable. “You are, of course, aware of what quirk adaptation is. I assume your adaptations are quite impressive, considering what your quirk is capable of.”
Yaoyorozu relaxed slightly, bringing a wave of satisfaction to Izuku. “My body digests and metabolizes food at an incredible rate, to the point where I eat many times more what others do. If I am particularly out of energy, or eat a particularly hearty meal, or worse, both , you can physically see my body change slightly as my lipid reserves are restored and grown.” She blushed slightly as she spoke, causing Izuku to smile. “In addition, my body is denser than the average human, allowing me to store more lipids in a relatively small space. With training, both of these aspects have gotten stronger.”
Izuku was intrigued. “Denser? How much so?”
The woman blushed harder. “D-don’t you know it’s not proper to ask a lady about her weight?”
“O-oh, that’s not what I meant!” Izuku waved his arms around in a panic. “I was just curious, I didn’t mean to insult you, I swear!”
Yaoyorozu averted her gaze for several seconds, letting her blush calm down. “F-fine. I can respect scientific curiosity. Hold out your hand.”
Izuku did as she asked, to which Yaoyorozu extended her own arm, placing it in his and letting her arm go slack. Izuku nearly dropped her arm, surprised by the sudden weight in his hand. He lifted it back up with a look of awe on his face and reached out his other hand to turn her arm over, marveling at it. He didn’t even realize that he was holding her hand as he looked her over.
He ran his left hand over her arm, taking note of the refined and hardened muscles along it. ‘To compensate for the additional mass. Her joints must also be adapted to the additional strain on them as well.’
“O-okay, that’s enough,” she said nervously, pulling her arm back.
Izuku’s fingers suddenly wrapped around her arm and hand tightly.
I don’t want to let her go.
Izuku’s hands flew open, releasing her arm as he gasped slightly. Their eyes met for a split second before they both looked away, blush creeping up their faces. “S-sorry, Yaoyorozu.”
“Do not worry, I was the one who offered in the first place,” she said quickly, hoping to put the event past her. The two sat in awkward silence for a few seconds before she spoke again. “You were talking about quirk adaptation?”
Izuku, who had been distracted trying to memorize the feeling of her skin but at the same time trying desperately not to, snapped back to attention. “R-right.”
He cleared his throat. “Yaoyorozu, you’re basically a genius, so I’ll spare you the metaphors and get to the point. My quirk adaptation lies in my brain. I have what amounts to a second voice in my head. It’s called my ‘instincts’ and it is the key to using my quirk.” He kept his voice monotone and objective, hoping to keep her calm.
“The voice is mine, but it is different at the same time. At the risk of sounding to arcane and philosophical, it is like a very overactive subconscious. That is how I knew you saved me, actually. I looked at you and my instincts called you ‘lifegiver’.”
Yaoyorozu was listening intently, her face flat and mostly expressionless, ever since the blush faded.
Izuku continued. “The issue is that, unlike my father or cousin, my instincts are less than nice. I am much more akin to Terrorflame, or Fulgurite, or Frostheart in that sense. If I am not careful and determined, I am likely to wind up like them.”
Yaoyorozu nodded as she listened. Izuku raised an eyebrow. “I sort of rely on ‘tricking’ my quirk into making it work in line with my- you’re not surprised, why are you not surprised?”
“What?” Yaoyorozu sat up straight, taken aback.
“You’re not surprised.” Izuku’s eyes began to glow slightly. “You already know this, or at least suspected it. How?”
The woman blinked a few times before looking down, her shoulders slumping. “I… overheard Mina and Ochako talking to each other about it. No, that’s not entirely honest. I eavesdropped on them. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to spy, but I heard them saying you had an ev-” She slapped her hands over her mouth, but it was too late.
Izuku flinched.
“Nonono, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean t-”
“No, you’re right,” Izuku admitted. “They are evil. If I don’t control them, then I’ll become a villain.” He looked her dead in the eyes. “But after the USJ, I know that I can do it. I won’t let anything stop me. As long as I have my friends and family to stand behind me, I’ll never fall.”
Yaoyorozu was still blushing slightly, holding her face from embarrassment as he made his bold declaration. She slowly lowered her hands as a kind expression appeared on her face. “Oh, Zu.”
She slapped her hands over her mouth again as Izuku stared at her, eyes wide.
“I-I’m sorry, Midoriya, it just slipped out, I-I didn’t mean to bring up the past like that, please forget about it!” She buried her face into her hands as she begged forgiveness.
Izuku felt the word echo in his mind, awakening fond memories from long ago and bringing a whole new rush of emotions. A smile began to grow on his face, quickly swelling to a wide, blinding grin.
“No, Yaoyorozu, it’s fine. I missed being called that. Thank you.”
Momo’s heart skipped a beat. ‘I missed that smile…’ She felt a smile creep across her face as she was nearly blinded by the sunshine radiating off of Z- Midoriya.
The admiration and kindness in his eyes should have made her heart swell, but it only sent it deeper into the pit of her stomach. ‘Please don’t look at me like that. Please . You’ll only make it worse…’
She stood up, hoping to distract herself from her blush. “Thank you for trusting me, Midoriya. I’ll go get everyone else, I wouldn’t want to keep them.”
Midoriya nodded as she stepped outside the room. The crowd gathered outside stopped their light conversation and turned to stare at her, many of them raising expecting eyebrows. She nodded curtly and smiled weakly, hoping to appease them. They stood up and walked past her, Ochako and Mina both giving her reassuring smiles as they passed.
She stood alone in the hallway for a moment, tracing her hand up her arm, where the faint sensation of Midoriya’s touch remained. ‘I waited too long… I missed my chance.’
Momo shook her head, waving her hair around slightly as she turned back and walked into the room once again. “It was just a childish crush, anyways,” she mumbled under her breath.
‘Right?’
Izuku watched everyone file back into the room, his smile growing slightly with each person. However, three new faces joined the group, causing him to try and climb out of his bed before his father stopped him.
“Ryuko! All Might! Recovery Girl! What’re you doing here?” he said excitedly. His cousin quickly approached the bed and threw her arms around him in a big hug.
“Did you really just ask me why I’m here?” Ryuko asked as she squeezed him tight.
All Might beamed down at him, an almost fatherly look on his face. “Young Midoriya, I am glad to see you awake and well... I never got to properly thank you for saving all of your classmates last week.”
Izuku grew slightly green from the praise as he rubbed the back of his head. “It’s kinda funny, it doesn’t feel like a week ago. But thank you, All Might. I appreciate it. I want to thank you for keeping everyone safe after I couldn’t.”
“Of course, it’s my job, after all!’ the pro joked.
“Well, yeah, I guess,” Izuku responded. “Just because it’s your job doesn’t mean you don’t deserve thanks.”
All Might laughed loudly. “Hisashi, you’ve raised a good boy!”
Hisashi ruffled Izuku’s hair again. “As if I needed you to tell me that.”
Izuku smiled happily at both heroes before glancing over the rest of the room. Uraraka and Ashido were both smiling fondly at the scene, but he noticed the hint of something on Yaoyorozu’s face again.
Why?
Recovery Girl cleared her throat. “I don’t have all day, you know.” Her tone held not actual bite, but the room quieted down regardless. She looked Izuku dead in the eye. “Sorry to put this on you so soon, but we need to have a talk about your quirk and what happened last Friday.”
Izuku gulped and then nodded. “Alright.”
The elderly woman scanned the room, her gaze lingering on the three female students. “And I’m to understand that all three of them know already?”
Izuku nodded with a sheepish smile.
She shook her head. “If you say so. It’s reckless if you ask me, but I suppose it’s not my quirk.”
Hisashi shot the women a stern gaze. “This is a very important secret, young ladies. You must not speak of it to anyone without his permission, understand?” He gestured towards Izuku. “Our family is placing a lot of trust in you.”
The three women nodded. “We understand, sir,” Uraraka said firmly.
“Alright,” he affirmed before turning to Izuku, who was looking around nervously. “Son, I had hoped to wait a bit before telling you this; I felt it was best to let you get more used to your quirk at UA before dumping this on you, but that’s no longer prudent, I’m afraid.” He sighed before turning back to Recovery Girl. “Please, go ahead.”
The woman pulled out a small device and hit a button, causing a hologram of a brain to appear. The hologram rotated slowly as Recovery Girl began to speak. “I’ve been studying the Dragon quirk for a long time, children. Stormclaw, Purifier, Thunderwing, Ryukyu… all of them came through my office more than once in their time at UA. I have brain scans on all of them. Let’s take a look at Hisashi here.”
She hit another button, and a bronze glow began to illuminate parts of the floating brain. “Here you can see a visualization of the effect the quirk has on his brain. As you can see, about 40-50% of his brain is affected at any given time. During times of high stress, like in a battle, that percentage spikes to around 60%.”
She looked at Izuku as she continued her explanation. “Your great-grandfather was quite interested in finding out as much as he could about the quirk, such as how he discovered the chromatic and metallic differentiation. I never met the man, but his notes, combined with help from your grandfather, we established our best theory as to why you have these mental adaptations.”
“Back in the early days of quirks, there were many that were… less than pleasant to hold. The nature of mutations is that not all of them are good. Many people had quirks that caused them immense pain or loss of functionality; these quirks were mostly weeded out by natural selection as the years went on. This sort of quirk incompatibility is something that’s not heard much of nowadays.”
“While most quirks evolved to be better suited for the human body or to be less severe, your family’s quirk took a different path. If the quirk is too much for a person, change the person. This is, of course, the concept behind quirk adaption, but few adaptations are on the level of what your quirk does. Most adaptations are mild things that let a quirk work better for the body, such as Uraraka’s height, or Ashido’s acid resistance. Those adaptations are helpful, but are seldom necessary. Uraraka is taller so she can use her quirk more efficiently, but your instincts are there so you can use your quirk at all. ”
“The simple fact of the matter is that the human brain just isn’t equipped to pilot flying lizards the size of small buildings, especially ones as intricate and powerful as your family. That’s where your quirk adaptation comes in. In essence, your quirks ‘run’ part of your brains, which is where your instincts come from. As you grow, train and mature, the amount that it ‘runs’ grows.” She noted the concerned look on Izuku’s face.
“That isn’t to say that you are doomed to fall under the sway of your quirk; quite the contrary, in fact. As someone who knew both your grandfather and Hisashi here quite well, let me be the first to tell you that they’re very different people, despite having very similar quirks. It’s safe to say that your own personality has a major say in how your quirk develops. While you can’t escape your base instincts, as it were, you are not a slave to them. Think of it less like a foreign entity taking over your mind and more of a seperate power source that helps your brain do what it needs to to handle your quirk.”
“Which brings me to my next point. From what several of the other students said in their reports, you had a very poor reaction to Aizawa’s quirk.”
Izuku nodded. “Yeah, I don’t remember too much about it, but I remember a lot of pain and confusion.”
“It was like you forgot everything,” Ashido added, worry in her voice. “Like you had amnesia.”
Recovery Girl nodded. “That makes sense. Aizawa’s quirk, Erasure, essentially turned off power to the part of your brain that your quirk was running at that point. It caused what amounted to a small short-circuit in your head.”
“That sounds pretty bad!” Izuku cried out.
She nodded again. “It is, but it wasn’t anything life threatening. I suspect that given a few minutes, your brain would have recovered and you would have regained your memories and been able to act normally. You might have liked it if it happened under different circumstances; it would have been the first time ever you would have been entirely free of your instincts.”
Izuku thought about the concept. “Free of my instincts…” His mind began to wander, wondering what he would be like without that damned voice in his head. Before he could get far, he noticed something. He looked at Recovery Girl and pointed a finger. “You’re speaking in the past tense.”
She nodded grimly. “Yes, I am. That is no longer a possibility for you, I’m afraid.” She pressed a button and the brain changed to another image, this one much less colorful, but dancing with green lights. “This is a scan of your brain from the first week of classes. I took this after your incident in All Might’s class. As you can see, much less of your brain is affected by your quirk compared to your father.”
She pressed the button again. This time, the brain was lit up nearly twice as much with the same green light. “This is the scan of your brain from yesterday. Note how much more of your brain is being affected by your quirk. It's still nowhere near your father, but the differences are startling.”
With another press of the projector, another brain appeared next to Izuku’s, this one lit up with reddish hue. “This is Ryukyu's scan from when she first started UA. If you notice, your first-year scan is slightly more active than hers, but nothing to be alarmed about.” She pressed another button and his cousin’s brain began to glow brighter. “This is her second-year brain activity. And when compared to your scan from yesterday, you can see the similarities.”
She looked straight at Izuku once again. “Simply put, your quirk adaptation went through essentially a year of development in what I can only assume to be a few minutes. By all accounts, young man, you should be dead. It’s a miracle your brain survived the stress it was placed under.”
The room grew deathly still for a few moments as her words sunk in. Izuku’s mind was racing, trying to comprehend what exactly she was telling him. He looked up hesitantly. “What does this have to do with Professor Aizawa?”
“When you were ‘quirkless’, you suffered complications that were severe, but not life-threatening. Since Aizawa had never used his quirk on anybody in your family, we had no idea you would react that poorly.”
“That is our failing,” All Might said solemnly, “and you have our most sincere apologies.”
“Extrapolating from what we know now,” Recovery Girl continued, “If Aizawa were to erase the quirk of your cousin or your father here, they would likely fall into a coma or have permanent brain damage, even if he only Erased them for a second. I suspect that someone whose quirk was as advanced as Terrorflame’s would likely be killed outright. Safe to say, Aizawa will not be using his quirk on you ever again.”
His father sighed. “I had counted on Aizawa to help you out if you had problems, but that’s not an option any longer.” He shot a serious look at Izuku. “We don’t have a back up plan, now. You’re on your own when it comes to handling your quirk now.”
Izuku glanced over at Uraraka and Ashido, who were staring back at him with determined looks. He looked back at his father and smiled, surprising the man. “I’ll be okay.”
His father’s shock fell off his face as he chuckled and smiled, ruffling Izuku’s hair again. “That’s my boy.”
“There is one last thing we need to discuss,” Ryuko interjected. “We need to talk about what happened at the USJ and why.”
“What, the vill-”
“No, Izuku, with you, ” she interrupted.
Recovery Girl looked at him with a kind expression. “Anything you can tell us about what happened will be helpful, sonny.”
Izuku wracked his brain. He did his best to recall the moments leading up to his transformation, but they were all so foggy. “I… don’t remember much, I’m sorry.”
“You were in a lot of pain, Midori,” Ashido said with worry in her voice. “Like how you are when you’re resisting, but worse.”
Izuku nodded as he recalled the pain. “Yeah, the headache was pretty bad, even though I wasn’t resisting.”
“That’s right,” Uraraka gasped. “Mina told you to stop resisting, but you said you weren’t… so you were having that headache even if you weren’t resisting…”
Hisashi raised an eyebrow. “Izuku, how often were you having those headaches? You mentioned them when we talked on the phone last week.”
Izuku poked his fingers together. “Well, not that ofte-”
“Are you seriously trying to lie about this?” Katsuki, who had been silent up until now, spoke up loudly. He turned to Hisashi with an angry scowl. “Horns over here had them nearly every day, and they were bad .”
“It’s true,” Ashido added. “He could barely stay standing when he got one.”
Hisashi looked down at his son, who suddenly felt a lot smaller under his piercing gaze. “You failed to mention that, Izuku Midoriya .”
Izuku tried to shrink down as much as he could. “I-I didn’t want you to worry…”
“Yes, well, that worked out, didn’t it?” His father sighed. “Son, how are you so smart about everything, but so foolish when it comes to yourself?”
“Hisashi…” his mother interjected. “He knows.” She looked at Izuku with teary eyes. “Please just… don’t do that again, Izuku, okay? Let us know if you’re having trouble. We want to help you.”
Izuku felt the gazes of disappointment and surprise from everyone in the room as he looked down. “Sorry…” he mumbled.
“That works well with one of my best theories, actually.” Recovery Girl got everyone’s attention as if nothing had happened. “Hisashi, you get headaches sometimes, right?”
The man nodded. “Rarely, but yes. Usually only when something stressful happens and I have to contain myself, such as when I heard Izuku had been injured. Keeping myself calm caused a dull pain.”
Ryuko nodded. “I’m the same way.”
Recovery Girl nodded. “And young man, you said you experienced acute pain even when you weren’t trying to hold yourself back?”
Izuku nodded sheepishly, still cowed from his scolding.
“Allow me to use a metaphor. Think of your quirk adaptation as a pipe that your quirk flows through like water. If you try and resist it, that pipe shrinks, causing ‘high water pressure’, which translates to headaches. At the same time, when too much water is pushed through that pipe, even when it’s not constricted, that will also cause high pressure.”
She pulled up the hologram of Izuku’s brain scans, showing the difference in the activity. “My theory as to what happened to you, young man, is that you had such a strong desire to protect your friends here that you shoved more through than you could handle, and, in an unfortunately convenient twist on this metaphor, the pipe burst.”
“I don’t think I like this metaphor,” Izuku said as he paled.
“The real question is why,” Ryuko added. “I never had any sort of reaction like that when I was growing up, nor did I experience headaches to that degree ever .”
Hisashi nodded. “My guess is that it has to do with him being chromatic. Their instincts might be more volatile and violent than ours; it would make sense.” He shook his head slightly. “Ryuko, did your brother ever complain about headaches?”
The copper-haired woman thought for a few seconds. “Yes, some. Not like what Izuku has, but worse than me, if I remember right.”
Hisashi sighed. “And with Terrorflame dead, we-”
“He’s what ?!” Izuku’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest.
“Oh, right,” Ashido said softly. “You wouldn’t know.”
His breathing picked up. “D-did I-”
“No.” Hisashi’s firm hand gripped Izuku’s shoulder, causing his face to whip up to his father. “He was killed by the villains after All Might defeated him. You didn’t kill anyone.”
Izuku sighed and fell back into his pillows, still breathing a little heavily.
“I think that’s enough excitement for one day,” All Might said as he stood up. “Come on, students. Let’s leave the Midoriya family in peace.” He began to motion for the four students to grab their luggage. “President Nezu wants you back in your dorms now that Young Midoriya is awake.”
Izuku felt a pang of longing as his four friends left, followed by All Might and Recovery Girl, but with his mother, father and cousin all crowding around him, he didn’t feel too bad.
Momo and the three other students piled into All Might’s truck after they put their luggage in the back. The hero himself had to step away to make a phone call, but he told them he wouldn’t be long. While they waited, her mind was a maelstrom of confusion and uncertainty as she sat between Ochako and Mina in the back.
“Yaomomo, something’s eating you up,” Mina quickly noted. “What’s on your mind? Is it about Midori?”
Momo knew that Mina wasn't going to let it go. Perhaps if she talked about it, she would feel better. Momo sighed, then nodded. “It’s… a lot to take in. I am grateful for the trust that he and his family placed in me- us, but I don't understand why they told us all that. Why give us all of that, rather personal, information?”
“Do you really need it spelled out for you, Ponytail?” Bakugou snapped from the front seat. “You heard them, Teach can’t cancel his quirk anymore. Izuku needs help keeping his quirk in check, so that’s up to us. I guess you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but Izuku trusts you for whatever reason.”
Momo still wasn’t used to Bakugou’s brash, dismissive nature, and she half-suspected she would never be. ‘How can someone like Midoriya be best friends with someone like him?’
“Deku’s gotten a raw deal in life, Yaomomo,” Ochako added quietly, but with a fire in her tone. “I think he deserves to be a hero, but he needs us to help him get there. You heard what Recovery Girl said, he has those instincts of his that he needs to control. We can’t do the job for him, but we can help, right? I know that I would love to have you with us.”
Momo noted with a degree of intrigue the small blush that crept onto Ochako’s cheeks as she finished, but stored the information away for the time being. “Yes, forewarned is forearmed, as they say. If Midoriya has another ‘incident’, then I will be better prepared to handle it. I suppose I am still surprised that he put his trust in me so easily…”
Mina scoffed. “You’ve known him longer than any of us but Bakugou, and you saved his life at the USJ. I’m not surprised; Midori seems to be a good judge of character.”
Momo’s brow furrowed slightly. ‘It is a hero’s duty to help those in need; I’ll do my best.’
She kept thinking as All Might returned and started the car. Mina and Ochako started chatting around her, which she only was vaguely listening to.
“Did you see how his dad kept ruffling his hair? So cute~” Ochako said happily.
Mina laughed. “I know, right? What’s up with that?”
“Izuku’s a damn cat, that’s what,” Bakugou answered. “You should see him get all goofy when people pet him. Spirals is the worst about it.” Momo could hear the eye rolling in his voice.
“Spirals?” Ochako asked. “Who’s that?”
“She’s someone who works for Ryuko,” he said dismissively. “She goes to UA, so you’ll probably meet her eventually. Upperclassman.”
Momo kept thinking, her classmate’s voices fading from her mind as the exciting events of the day rushed around in her mind. ‘He needs help controlling his quirk. I can do that.’
Her eyes went wide as she came to a realization. ‘Did he give me this information so I would feel obligated to help him? To get me closer to him? I know he noticed me pulling back from him…’
A small, hopeful smile crossed her face.
‘Clever, Zu... Clever.’
The sun had long set when Ochako followed Momo as she pushed the doors of their dorm open. As the doors flew wide and the four students entered, she became very aware of a sudden silence coming from within.
Every student in the common room had frozen and were staring at them. Eiko was the first one to break the still, jumping up from her place on the couch and running over. “You’re back! Does that mean…?”
Ochako smiled, realizing just how tired she was. “He’s awake.”
A wave of shouting and gasps crashed over the students in the doorway. Bakugou began getting pelted by a thousand questions from Eiko while Pony ran over to Momo and did the same thing.
“When’s he coming back?” Kyouka asked Ochako and Mina.
“Tomorrow, hopefully,” Mina answered. “At least, that’s what All Might told us on the drive over.”
Kyouka grew a small, relieved smile at her words. “That’s good to hear. Hasn’t been the same without him around.”
Iida placed his hand on Ochako’s shoulder, shocking her out of her trance as she realized she was staring off into space. “You seem exhausted, Uraraka. All four of you should get some sleep.”
Ochako nodded and turned to take her weightless luggage upstairs. “Tha-,” she let out a huge yawn- “Thanks, Iida.”
After getting ready for bed, Ochako found herself staring at the ceiling of her room. Despite the great weight of exhaustion on her body, she had been lying down for over an hour without being able to drift to sleep.
She tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable or feel relaxed. She let out a quiet groan of frustration as she turned her pillow around again and slammed her head back into it.
She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to force herself to sleep, but to no avail.
After another twenty minutes of restless sleeplessness, her willpower broke, and the thought she had been denying and suppressing the entire time began to shine through.
She sighed with resignation and sat up, swinging her legs over and getting out of bed. She felt a small pang of guilt in her chest as she opened her door and stepped out into the hallway, feeling bad about the thought of waking her friend u-
As she shut the door behind her, she heard an identical click to her right. She snapped her head up and saw Mina staring back at her in the dimly lit hallway.
Their eyes went wide as the two froze, staring at each other like animals caught in headlights. After what felt like hours, they began to creep slowly toward each other.
They met halfway between their two rooms, still staring wide-eyed at each other.
Silently, Mina leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Ochako, pulling her close. Ochako held in her gasp as she quickly returned the hug, bringing her friend’s head into her chest tightly.
They held each other for a while, but at the same time, not nearly long enough. They broke apart, each with a small blush on their faces. Mina grabbed her hand and began to pull her gently back towards her room.
Ochako smiled softly. ‘I guess I’ll be gettin’ a good night’s sleep after all.’
Notes:
Wew! Another long one.
Leave a comment telling me how you liked the chapter, and I'll see you next time. :)
Chapter 26: Homecoming
Summary:
Izuku returns to UA.
Chapter Text
The next 24 hours were a little surreal for Izuku. His family were all treating him like they hadn't seen him in so long, but for him, it felt like it had just been a few days. He knew that he had been in a coma for a week, but he couldn't help it. Having Ryuko tell him about all the hero news that had happened while he was out, which felt familiar for some reason, was strange, as if he hadn't seen her just a few days prior, at least in his timeline.
He was kept overnight at the hospital, just as a precaution. His mind was racing while he stared at the ceiling of his room that night. After a week of sleeping, it was the last thing he wanted to do.
His mind wandered, passing over the last thing he remembered: The USJ.
Izuku's emotions were mixed, to say the least. His transformation was terrifying, even for him; he didn't like to think what the others thought. Were his classmates intimidated by him now? Were they scared of him?
Good.
‘No, not good! I don't want them to be afraid of me, I want to be friends. I want them to like me.’
Friends are fickle. What if they stop liking me?
‘Then that's their choice. I want them to like me because they want to, I'm not going to control them.’
But I could control them. I could twist them to my will.
‘Not only do I not want to, I don't think that’s the right way to go about it. I have so much to learn from them; they’ll make me stronger. Precious things should be protected and treasured, not coveted and dominated.’
Kacchan understands fear. He wants villains to fear him.
‘And that’s fine! I think. My friends deserve protection. They’re heroes; training to keep people safe from villains that spread fear! They wouldn't stand for that. Honey, not vinegar.’
Fine.
‘And ano-’ Izuku’s eyes went wide in the dark. ‘Fine?! I… wow. Huh.’ A small smile spread across his face. ‘Glad I could agree on that.’
Izuku ran the thoughts back through his head, finding himself caught on something.
Protection.
He had protected them. His classmates. His friends.
His… hoard.
That word didn’t feel as dirty as it had before. It felt...natural. As he thought more, he came to a realization.
That’s why he was able to push himself to transform: because he was a dragon, and his hoard was being threatened. If he wasn’t the way he was, if his collection was the beautiful underwater prizes that his father treasured, or the rare metals and gems that filled Ryuko’s vault, then he wouldn’t have been able to save them.
Maybe his quirk wasn’t so bad. It gave him the power to save his friends from Terrorflame. Sure, everyone probably thought he was a monster now, but he could earn their trust back, right?
He set his mind on a goal. He had to work with his quirk, his father had been telling him that for years. After the USJ, he wasn't as scared of his quirk. He had worked with it fully and he had been a hero.
If his quirk wanted him to hoard people so badly, then he would embrace that.
Not only would he protect them, he would nurture them and make them the best they could be. They would flourish. Anything else would devalue his hoard. He would have a collection that would put Terrorflame’s to shame. Nothing would compare to the majesty and spectacle of his hoard.
He felt his instincts flare in approval in the back of his mind.
Izuku finally drifted off to sleep, finding his dreams quite vivid and alive. They were filled with flashes of his classmates, barraging his mind with words he didn’t remember them saying and things he didn’t remember them doing. Most vivid in his mind was not Katsuki, but Uraraka and Ashido. He heard them talking over him, saying all sorts of things.
Sometimes they were happy, sometimes they were sad, sometimes they held his hand and sometimes they stroked his face. Their voices faded in and out. He could only catch parts, but even though he knew it was a dream, it felt so real.
“Think about it! What do you feel?” Dream Ashido said, almost pleading. “I know you feel that weird bubbliness when you look at him too; What else could it be?”
Dream Uraraka paused for several seconds. Her hands were covering her face, but began to lower slowly. “I t-think you might be right… maybe I do... l- ”
“Izuku!”
A voice rang out, snapping him out of his dream. He grumbled a bit as he opened his eyes; he wanted to see how that dream went. They sounded so emotional, and about him even. He smiled a bit as he stretched his eyes open. ‘Too bad there’s no way women as beautiful and amazing as them would feel about me like I do them, especially after I showed them just how much of a monster I was in the USJ. Must be my quirk acting up... ’
His eyes blinked a few times as he saw his mother’s smiling face looking down on him.
“Hi, Mom.” A smile grew across his face.
“Good morning, Izuku,” she bubbled cheerfully. “Are you ready to get out of this hospital?”
“But it feels like I just got here,” he joked weakly.
Inko giggled and smiled slightly. “It’s good to see you’re feeling well enough to crack jokes, young man. Come on, let’s get you up and get the doctor’s in here so we can take you home. I’m making katsudon for lunch, and the Bakugous are coming over. You don’t want to miss it!”
Izuku nodded as his grin widened. “Yes, ma’am.”
He got up out of bed and got dressed in clothes his mother had brought him. While putting a shirt on, he took a moment to look at the great burn scar that dominated his right shoulder. It was a battle scar; his first, but probably not his last. He flexed his quirk and let his scales cover the wound. No longer were they the beautiful, pristine, and uniform green, but discolored, some darker than others.
He sighed. ‘Ugly. Ugly, but worth it.’
It wasn’t long before his doctor came in and gave him a quick check up. She declared him fit for discharge and gave Inko and him a small nod and a polite smile as she left the room, passing by Hisashi who was entering at the same time.
He let out a satisfied sigh. “Ready to go?”
Izuku nodded. “Yeah, hey actually, real quick first- Dad?”
Hisashi raised an eyebrow.
“Is this the same room you stayed in when you…”
His father chuckled a little. “Yeah, funny, isn’t it? I don’t want to see you back in here, alright? I know you look up to Stormclaw, but I want you to keep both of your arms, alright? One-armed suits are expensive.”
Izuku let out an airy laugh and nodded sheepishly. “I’ll try.”
Hisashi turned around, finally leading Inko and Izuku out of the room and back home.
On the ride home, a thought came to Izuku.
“Hey, Dad?” he began, getting his father’s attention. “Terrorflame was in Tartarus for 25 years, right? Judging from what he was teleported in on, he was kept in total restraint.”
Hisashi didn’t react to Izuku’s words with any degree of surprise; Izuku noted that he probably knew what was coming.
“Why was an elderly man trapped in a chair for 25 years still so physically fit and dangerous?”
His father sighed. “You really are a smart boy. All Might and I actually discussed that, among plenty of other things in the wake of the USJ. Unfortunately, we don’t know. My guess is it has to do with his quirk; I told you that ‘ancient’ dragons have some incredible power. That might be one of them.”
Izuku’s mind latched onto something in particular. “What else did you talk to All Might about?”
Hisashi smirked and shook his head. “Stuff we opted to not tell you about, son. Not yet, at least. You should go back to focusing on UA and being a student. Let the heroes figure out the hero stuff, alright?”
Izuku knew better than to try and argue. “Yes, sir.” He went back to staring out the window. That was fine, he would just figure it out later. He was right though, Izuku had a lot to catch up on before class started again on Monday. And with the UA Sports Festival coming up, he needed to get back to training.
The food was delicious as always, but what was a very pleasant surprise was his mother telling him that Ashido wanted to come cook with him next time he went home. That lifted his heart nearly out of his chest. Maybe they stayed at the hospital with him because they cared that much, not out of guilt or fear. He let himself pretend that for a little bit, at least.
It would've be a nice change of pace.
It was mid afternoon when it was finally time for Katsuki and him to return to UA. They loaded up into the car and made the trip in unusual silence; Izuku always had something to talk about. It was only when his mind was full that he was silent.
Of course, Katsuki knew that. “Third Place, what's bugging you?” he asked as they stepped out of the car in front of their dorm and after they bid farewell to Hisashi and Inko.
“Nothi-”
A small explosion interrupted him. “I'm not buying it. Spill.”
Izuku sighed. “I'm… worried that everyone is going to avoid me now. Like before. Like grade school. They know what I am now and what I can do. I felt the fear in them when I attacked that Kurogiri guy and that was before I transformed. I just… I like them all and I don't want them to pull away from me. I know it's not my choice and it's basically an inevitability, but still. I wish it wasn't.”
Then, Katsuki did something he almost never did.
He laughed.
He honestly laughed.
Izuku's eyes widened incredulously as the short-lived laughter echoed around the empty yard.
Katsuki's laughter ended and he fixed his eyes on Izuku with a small smirk. “You're a fucking idiot, Deku.”
He felt his brow furrow as the blonde turned away from him and walked slowly towards the front doors of their dorm. “What's that supposed to mean?” Izuku called, hustling to catch up with his friend.
Katsuki didn't answer him as they walked side by side to the entrance. Izuku held out a hand to open the door, but then hesitated. He turned back to his friend, who was simply smirking at him knowingly.
Izuku closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He steeled himself and opened his eyes, gripping the handle and turning it. So what if everyone was going to be wary of him? He had a job to do, he had a dream to achieve, and nothing was going to stop him.
Izuku stepped boldly inside, waving a hand and growing as wide of a smile he could muster. “Hey guys, I'm ba-”
WHUMP
Izuku blinked, suddenly staring up at the ceiling. As he got his bearings back, he felt a weight on his chest. He looked down and saw a mop of long blonde hair with a pair of pale yellow horns sticking out of it shoved into his chest as two arms wrapped around him.
“I missed you so much, Izzy!” Tsunotori yelled excitedly into his chest. She was speaking English, maybe because she was so worked up.
‘Izzy?! And what's this weird thing I feel around her chest? Doesn’t feel like when I hugged Mina...’
“You fought that big villain and you looked so cool! You saved Ochako and Mina and all of us! I was so worried all week and I came to visit you as much as I could and I'm so happy that you're okay!”
Izuku was having trouble processing whatever the hell was going on. He felt his quirk flare as the woman pushed further into his chest and wrapped her arms around him tighter; he didn't have the mental capacity at the moment to stop it from doing what it wanted. His hand reached up and ran his fingers through her long, flowing locks. “Tsuno-”
“No!” she yelled suddenly, moving her head up to stare straight into his eyes. The frustration and fiery determination that burned in her eyes cause Izuku's mouth to fall open slightly. “My name isn't Tsunotori! I'm tired of everyone calling me that! Call me Pony like a normal person!”
Izuku expected his mind to freeze and for him to lock up, but instead he felt another pulse from his quirk.
Mine.
‘Oh boy.’
“A-alright.” He took a deep breath and looked down into her big, blue eyes. “Pony.”
Her face lit up like the sun as she smiled widely.
“Hey, Pony!” Kirishima had stepped over and was standing over them. “Stop hogging him to yourself, we're all happy to see him!”
Pony apparently just realized what she was doing, as she turned a violent shade of red and scrambled off Izuku.
Kirishima reached her hand down to him, her wide, sharp smile dominating her face. He grabbed her wrist as she locked around his and yanked him up off the ground. Izuku noted the way her abs and arms bulged as they helped to return him to his feet. “Come on up, Aniki,” she said with a proud grin.
‘Aniki? What’s with the nicknames?’
Izuku finally tore his eyes from Kirishima’s beaming face to look around. In the time that Tsu- Pony had tackled him, a crowd had formed.
“Midoriya!” Iida chopped the air. “It is good to see you up and healthy!”
Kaminari was nearly vibrating. “Man, you were totally awesome against that Terrorflame guy! The way you two fought in mid air was something straight out of a movie or something!”
He looked around, expecting to see fear or at least trepidation on their faces, but instead he saw nothing but kind smiles. His jaw fell a little slack as he looked around. Pony was still blushing madly, Kirishima and Iida were both had proud looks on their faces, Kaminari and Sero were both grinning widely, Yaoyorozu, Tsuyu and Jirou had a soft, small smiles, while Uraraka and Ashido looked… positively affectionate.
Izuku did a quick double-take, to make sure that he wasn’t seeing things. His eyes passed over the women and as he made eye contact, both of them seemed to almost sparkle a little bit as their expressions brightened. ‘Are they so afraid of me that they’re trying to appease me? They were the closest when I transformed, they had to have been terrified.’
He moved his eyes away from them before he felt worse. Regardless of everyone’s apparent happiness to see him, he took a deep breath and did what he needed to do.
“Guys, I’m… really sorry about the thing at the USJ. I swear I didn’t mean to scare you all, it’s just that, I felt like I couldn’t hold back.” He bowed his head in apology, hoping they could tell how sincere he was.
There was a pregnant pause.
“Is...is he serious?” Kirishima half-whispered to Katsuki, who was standing next to her.
Katsuki huffed before taking a step toward Izuku and slapping him upside the head. “Nobody is scared of you, dumbass!”
Izuku let out a small yelp and rubbed the back of his head. He shot a hurt and confused look at Katsuki before turning back to the rest of the class, who were all staring incredulously at him.
Satou raised a worried eyebrow and began to speak slowly, concern in his voice. “Midoriya, you’re the reason that none of us died, and you’re the only person who was hurt badly enough that Recovery Girl couldn’t fix them up. What are you feeling bad about?”
“But when that Kurogiri guy attacked us, I saw how scared all of you were,” Izuku argued.
“Yeah, a villain attack will do that!” Kaminari countered. “Maybe that whole murderous dragon act you put on was a little intimidating, but I was never worried that you were going to eat me or anything.”
Izuku noted Yaoyorozu’s sharp intake of breath, as well as the slightly guilty look she grew before she regained her composure.
“It was a stressful situation, Midoriya,” Iida continued, in an attempt to placate his worry. “You cannot be blamed for how we reacted; none of us were expecting to be facing life-or-death situations in our first week of school. If you were to do it again, I’m sure that we would be less concerned.”
Kirishima patted him on the shoulder, flashing him a thumbs-up. “The whole deep, scary dragon voice thing you did was super manly, too!”
“You saved Mineta and I,” Tsuyu added, tapping her chin. “It was scary, but you showed that you weren’t going to hurt me. Next time, I won’t be scared.”
Ashido cocked her hip and raised an eyebrow. “Besides, any of us could kill someone with our quirks if we wanted to. I remember on the first day of class, you told us that you thought Ochako’s quirk was terrifying.”
“Well-”
Ashido took a step closer to him. “And are you scared of her?”
“N-”
Another step closer. “In fact, you told us that you weren’t scared of her. Her quirk was powerful and dangerous, if used incorrectly, but you said she was a good person, so you didn’t have any worries, right?”
“Ri-”
A third step brought her right next to him. She jammed her finger into his chest harshly. “So why would we be scared of you, Midori? Isn’t that a little hypocritical? Do you think so little of us that we would be scared of our classmate who put his life on the line to stop a supervillain from killing us?”
The entire room was silent, Izuku included. He didn’t know what to say, which was incredibly rare; once again, Ashido had left him speechless. What seemed like a simple defense of her classmate, at least to those who didn’t know about his instincts, had a deeper meaning. She knew that the rest of them probably should be afraid of Izuku. Until he mastered his instincts, he would be a potential danger to everyone around him.
Even so, she was telling him, in a way that didn’t seem suspicious to anyone who didn’t know, that she wasn’t afraid of him. She was telling him that he should trust her, Uraraka and the others.
In fact, she was telling him that she was getting irritated that he was still acting like there weren’t people there that knew his secret and had promised to help him.
He felt shame.
Izuku felt his quirk pulse again, his eyes glowing slightly brighter for a second.
Mine.
‘Greedy.’
Izuku hung his head. “You’re right, I’m sorry. Everyone,” he looked up to his classmates again, “thank you for your trust. I’ve been… conditioned to expect a certain reaction, but you’ve completely destroyed those expectations. I couldn’t ask for better classmates.”
“Ah, c’mon, why so sappy?” Sero asked with his toothy smile. “You’re back, let’s celebrate!”
Kyouka always enjoyed a party. The impromptu celebration wasn’t the wildest thing she had ever been to, but it was nice.
Mina quickly gathered Ochako, Pony, Tsuyu and Tooru around for a card game, dragging Midoriya in from the conversation he was having with Iida as well. Momo and her were standing off to the side, chatting with each other while Pony, who was apparently pretty competitive, ran away with the game nearly immediately.
After a while, Satou got up from the couch, where he, Kaminari, Sero and Eiko were playing a video game together, heading towards the kitchen to begin dinner. Midoriya noticed and immediately stood up, heading off to follow Satou.
“Ah, no, go back,” he yelled back at Midoriya. “I got this one, man. You go have fun.”
Midoriya began to protest, but relented. Kyouka had to admit, it was a little endearing to see him so eager to help, even with the little things. Not that a six foot tall, muscle bound man with a powerful quirk like that was cute or anything. He was just a nice guy, and she could appreciate that.
Terrorflame's words about him still hung in her mind, but she wasn't about to let the threats of a desperate villain get under her skin.
As his shoulders slumped and turned around to head back to the card game. Before he did, she noticed his vision pass over her and then suddenly freeze. His big green eyes locked onto her and he began to make his way over with intent in his step.
Kyouka raised her eyebrow as Momo noticed him approaching as well. “Jirou!” he called as he stopped a few feet from them. “I wanted to apologize.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “For what?”
He looked down on her with a kind, but regretful expression. “Last Monday- well, two Mondays ago, I guess. The first day of class.”
“Don’t worry about it, man,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “Not your fault I was listening.”
“Right, the other girls said that. But still, I should apologize for any pain I cause, regardless of intent or fault. I didn’t mean to harm you.” He hung his head slightly in apology.
‘Great.’ She rolled her eyes slightly as she spun one of jacks around her fingers. ‘He thinks I’m some delicate-’
“I know you don’t need my pity or protection, but still, you deserve the courtesy.”
She stopped twirling her jack as her vision snapped to his.
“In fact, I was hoping you could help me. Your quirk is amazing, Jirou, and after Pony told me about your battle trial, I’ve been really curious about it.” Midoriya looked like a kid in a candy shop. “You see, my quirk gives me enhanced senses, so I was hoping we could train together some and you could give me some pointers? From what the other girls told me about you, your ability to hear is out of this world!”
‘Wait, the guy who fought Terrorflame wants… pointers?’
“I was gonna ask you after school on Friday, er, two Fridays ago, to see if you had time that Sunday, but uh, yeah that didn’t work out.” He laughed awkwardly. “So, what do you say?”
She blinked a couple times. “Uh, s-sure. Sometime.”
Midoriya jumped up and down. He actually jumped. “Awesome! Thank you, Jirou!”
Kyouka felt her face heat up a little bit as the man hurried back to his card game.
‘What the hell just happened?’
She chose to ignore the small, knowing smirk on Momo’s face.
Several hours later, the party had wound down. Everyone had come down besides Todoroki, which disappointed Izuku, but didn’t surprise him. Even the stoic Tokoyami and shy Kouda had joined in, both passing on their well-wishes to Izuku. It made his heart swell that so many people participated. He had made time to talk to every one of them and he had felt his quirk buzz slightly in approval whenever he spoke to someone new.
Eventually, it had gotten dark outside and everyone had left for bed except for Izuku, Ashido and Uraraka. He yawned loudly; the long day of socializing had exhausted him. “Alright, bed time. I’ll see you two tomorrow, er, if I get all my studying done that is.” He scratched his head in worry. “I have a week of reading to catch up on.” He stretched widely, absentmindedly lifting his shirt slightly
He sighed as he ended his stretch, looking back down to the women, whose eyes snapped up from his stomach to his face as quickly as they could. “Well, goodnight.”
He turned and took a few steps towards the stairs before a voice called from behind.
“Um, Deku, actually, could I talk to you for a little bit?”
Izuku turned around slowly as Uraraka stood up from the floor and shifted awkwardly. “Oh, uh, sure.”
Ashido hopped up cheerfully. “I’ll give you two some privacy.” She walked off to the staircase with a small smirk.
As the pink woman left, Izuku turned back to Uraraka, who had her eyes shut, seemingly steeling herself. She let out a great sigh and then walked up to him, until there was only about a foot of space between them. Izuku found his gaze fixated on her lips, which were eye-level with him, but managed to eventually look her in the eyes.
She began calmly. “Deku, I came to UA to become a hero.”
Izuku cocked his head slightly.
She looked away slightly, then back into his eyes. “Twice in the past two months, you have stood between me and certain death. First at the entrance exam, and then with Terrorflame.” She looked down at him, her face full of frustration.
“I-I’m sorry?” Izuku didn’t know what to say.
“No! Don’t be sorry!” She began to blush a little bit. “I’m grateful, of course. You saved me, Deku. You put your life on the line for me twice. I’ll never forget that and I’ll never thank you enough. In fact…” She stopped and looked away, biting her finger in apparent thought. She looked down and up, before finally appearing to make a decision. Uraraka looked back into his eyes with a determined scowl, causing Izuku’s mind to go blank a little bit.
‘Does she know how beautiful she is?’
“Here, this is a thank you.”
She wrapped her arms around his shoulder and back, bringing him in for a tight hug. He felt his quirk pulse hard in the back of his head as his arms shot around her, tightening their embrace. Izuku felt the warmth of her body spreading through him like a hot cup of tea on a cold December morning as he hooked his chin over her shoulder.
Seemingly emboldened by his reaction, she moved her arm up to hold the back of his head and ran her fingers through his hair. Izuku felt his heart rate pick up as the sensation ran down his spine. He could feel her heartbeat against his skin even through the clothing separating them and only sped up further as she turned her head slightly to smell his hair. His body reacted to the sensation of being so accepted by trying to pull her even closer, the lean muscles of her back imprinting themselves in his memory.
With one arm across his back, another on his head and her face buried in his hair, Izuku felt… safe. Protected.
After far too little of a time, Uraraka released him, causing Izuku to loosen his arms as well. She brought her arms up and rested one on each of his shoulders as he looked up at her. She moved her face closer, pressing her forehead against his. Both of them panted softly, their faces absolutely flushed, intoxicated by the contact in a way he couldn’t even imagine. Izuku could hear his heart pounding in his ears so loudly that he was certain she could hear it as well.
Her eyes burned with determination and her voice was steady as she looked deep into his soul. “Next time, I’ll be the one standing between you and danger.”
Izuku’s eyes flashed a bright green so suddenly that Uraraka had to squint slightly.
Mine. Mine. MINE.
Uraraka’s tongue flicked out of her mouth as she quickly licked her lips. Izuku noticed that his mouth felt a little dry too, but he was too busy staring at her plump, inviting lips to do anything about it. She began to push her head forward, slowly moving her mouth towards his. If his heart was beating any harder, it might have actually jumped out of his chest.
Suddenly, the elevator dinged behind them.
Uraraka and Izuku flew apart as they whipped around. Kaminari stepped out of the elevator in his pajamas, yawning loudly as he walked towards the kitchen. The illumination from the elevator contrasted with the darkness of the common room, shrouding the two of them in total darkness. They watched the blonde make his way to the kitchen and open up the refrigerator; he rummaged around inside for a few seconds before pulling out a bag of shredded cheese. A dopey grin spread across his face as he grabbed handful, shoved it in his mouth and made his way back to the elevator, leaving as quickly as he came.
As the doors closed, Izuku and Uraraka were left in the darkness of the common room. In the intervening seconds between the interruption and now, he had managed to shove his quirk back down. However, without it encouraging him, his courage failed. He stiffly turned his head towards the taller woman and stuttered out a weak farewell. “G-good night, Ura-raraka. I’ll s-see you tomorrow.”
If she said anything, he didn’t hear it. Izuku moved to the staircase as quickly as he could without actually running and began to climb up to his room, two steps at a time. He swore he heard someone about a flight above him, but his mind was too distracted with other things to worry about it.
Mina barely had time to react and dash up the staircase before Midori began to climb them behind her. She tried to move quietly, but the man was climbing too quickly for her to be able to afford that luxury. As she hurried up to the fourth floor, she just hoped he didn’t investigate the noise. Fortunately, he stopped at the third floor and headed for his room, giving Mina time to catch her breath.
She crossed her arms and furrowed her brow. ‘They were so close! And I’m so proud of Ochako for making the first move! If Kaminari hadn’t…’
“Ugh!” Mina threw her arms up in frustration as she walked out of the stairwell.
‘This will not stand!’
Perhaps it's an indication that I've finally made it or something, but I've had a few very talented artists make wonderful fan art for me!
You can find her AO3 account here.
I am absolutely blown away that people like my work enough to use their talents to make me gifts like this :O
Thank you to everyone who reads and enjoys!
Notes:
How about that hiatus?
See you guys next time :)
Chapter 27: A Learning Experience
Summary:
Everyone learns a bit.
Chapter Text
Ochako stared at her ceiling as she lay in her bed, her eyes wide and her mind racing. ‘I was just going to give him a hug, but it felt so good to hold him… and then he smelled so good and the way he hugged me back… it felt like I was melting.’ She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration as she heard her door creak open.
“Leaving the door open for me?” Mina whispered, the smirk evident in her voice as she crossed the darkness of the dorm room to Ochako’s bed. She slipped under the cover and nuzzled herself into the taller woman’s side, filling Ochako with a sense of comfort that helped to calm her.
They laid there in silence for only a few seconds before the pink woman whispered something else. “You’re tense, what’s up?” Mina was keenly observant, but this was impressive even for her.
“It’s nothing,” Ochako deflected.
“If you say so. Goodnight.” Mina gave up easily, for once, as she closed her eyes and relaxed.
Ochako shifted awkwardly. “Okay, fine. It’s about Deku.”
Mina was immediately at attention. “Yeah? How did you little private talk go?”
“F-fine.”
“Are you gonna tell me or not?” Mina bumped her hip into Ochako, prompting her to continue.
“Well, I was planning on telling him that since he’s stood between me and danger twice, I’m gonna do the same for him next time.”
Mina’s grin widened, her white teeth visible in the dark room. “Oh, so heroic~ ”
“But then I… well, I hugged him,” Ochako continued as Mina’s head was drifting closer. “And… I…” Mina was only a few inches away from her face. “I… I almost kissed him.”
“What was it like?” Mina whispered excitedly. “Was there a hunger in his eyes as he held you tightly? Did he look deep into your eyes with desire and want? Did he look at you like he wanted nothing more than to keep you close forever?”
Ochako’s mouth fell open. “M-Mina, how di- were you spying on us ?!”
“Yes!” Mina admitted, cupping Ochako’s cheeks with both hands. “Ochako, listen to me. That boy wants you. If Kaminari had kept himself from being a walking meme for another twenty seconds then Midori would have melted against you!”
Ochako’s mind suddenly started imagining how Deku’s bare skin would feel against hers. His firm, muscular chest pressing into her as they embra-
She shook the thoughts from her mind. She didn’t want another one of those dreams tonight.
Well, maybe she did.
But… what if he didn’t feel that way about her?
“Hey,” Mina said sternly, apparently sensing her doubt. “Don’t worry about it, okay? Leave it to me.”
If anything, that made Ochako more nervous. “If you s-say so, Mina. Let’s get some sleep, okay?”
Mina nodded quickly and burrowed back into Ochako’s side underneath the covers. Maybe Mina was right. She shouldn’t worry about it.
If Deku really did like her back, then things would work out, right?
After waking up and doing his morning training with Katsuki, Izuku was prepared to spend all day catching up on the reading he missed, but it barely took him any time at all. It was like he already knew everything. His mother told him that Iida and Yaoyorozu had spent a lot of time talking about their homework and the latter had even read to him. ‘I guess I really was listening…’
He left his room around noon as the smell of something delicious wafted up through the air vents. He took the stairs three at a time and burst out into the common room ready to help make lunch.
Unfortunately, the food was already done. To his surprise, it wasn’t Satou who was cooking this time, but Tsuyu and Kirishima. “Hey, Midoriya!” Kirishima called as she waved at him. “I was hoping you’d be down soon, I just finished making yours!”
Izuku filed the new information away in his growing dossiers on his classmates as he made his way to the counter. Kirishima passed the steak over to him, flashing her razor-sharp smile. “It’s nothing fancy, but there’s few foods manlier than a good steak. Bakugou said you’d be down as soon as you smelled it, glad to see he was right. He also said that you liked your steak rare.” She pressed the spatula she was holding into the meat, letting the juices seep out slowly.
“I told you that he liked it raw!” Bakugou shouted from a nearby table.
“Wait, you were serious?” Kirishima snapped her head to the blonde with wide eyes. “Isn’t that, you know, dangerous?”
“I-it’s fine, Kirishima,” Izuku muttered quickly. “This looks amazing, thank you.”
Tsuyu looked up pat him as she scooped rice onto his plate. “Wait, is it cause you’re a dragon?”
Izuku flinched. It was always a little awkward to explain to someone how good bloody meat tasted. Thankfully, his quirk rendered him functionally immune to any sort of food poisoning or other negative effects of eating raw meat. “Kinda, but uh, I’m not actually a dragon, Tsu. It’s just my quirk, right? You’re not really a frog.”
She nodded. “I figured you would know what I meant. We’re a lot alike, aren’t we?”
He smiled down at her. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Izuku hadn’t really considered that, but Tsuyu and him shared quite a few aspects of their quirks. Beyond their shared affinity for water, both of their quirks affected their minds and actions. Hers were more visible, usually, but he guessed that his were more severe.
“Wait, you can eat steak raw?” Kaminari said as he approached the counter. Izuku felt a small tinge of annoyance due to his interruption last night, but he knew he didn’t mean anything. “Kirishima, come on, you wanna see it too, don’t you?”
“I gotta admit, I’m curious,” Kirishima said with a raised eyebrow.
“Kacchan…” Izuku whined. “Why did you tell them?”
Katsuki swallowed his bite of steak and shot a cruel smirk at him. “I missed an entire week of giving you shit, think of this as revenge for the poem.”
Jirou had arrived next to Izuku as well. “This I gotta see.”
He sighed. “Fine… Here, Kirishima, you can have that one. Give me a raw one.” He pushed the plate back to the cook, who eagerly ran off to fetch an uncooked steak.
Izuku sat down at a table while the rest of the class gathered around. Kirishima placed the raw, bloody meat in front of him on a plate and stared.
Izuku looked down at the food, his mouth starting to water slightly. His dad didn't get the pleasure of doing this, so it was something he was actually grateful to his quirk about for once.
He looked around the room at his audience; if they wanted a show, why not embrace it? He let his quirk flow slightly, scales flashing up his neck as his teeth sharpened and elongated. He drew a single claw from his hand and stabbed the steak, lifting it slowly from the plate as his classmates continued to stare.
He opened his mouth wide, showing off his razor-filled jaw as he took a huge bite, tearing the meat effortlessly. He resisted letting out a satisfied groan as the taste of raw steak hit his tongue. It was second only to his mother’s katsudon as his favorite food, after all.
Another gnashing bite followed by a third and a fourth caused the steak to vanish entirely. It wasn’t a huge thing, so he ate it quickly. His shredding fangs made quick work of the meat as he swallowed and sighed.
He let his quirk fade, returning most of his teeth to their normal, human shape. Only his usual fangs remained, shrunk back down to their normal, large size. He smiled, the blood covering and running down his teeth.
“Woah, gross!’ Hagakure yelled, but he could hear the smile in her tone.
Izuku quickly glanced over the room, judging everyone’s reactions. Most of them looked stunned, while Aoyama and Iida looked a little offended. But what caught his attention most was the women: Uraraka and Ashido both had small, incredulous smiles and bright blushes for some reason, while Yaoyorozu was wide-eyed, covering her mouth. Tsuyu, Pony, Jirou and Kirishima had the widest eyes out of everyone, but he also noticed a small dusting of red on each of their cheeks.
“Hardcore…” Jirou muttered finally.
Kirishima nodded in agreement. “Manly…”
Tsuyu croaked slowly. “You really do look like a predator. Like from a nature documentary or something.”
“So what, you won’t get food poisoning or anything?” Kaminari asked with awe in his voice.
Izuku shook his head as he wiped his mouth and hand with a napkin. “Nope. It’s honestly really convenient if I ever need to have a quick meal: just wolf down something raw and off I go.”
As the rest headed back to their own meals, Izuku suddenly felt a weight on his back. A very soft weight. His nose told him that Ashido was very close, so he had a very good idea what those two, large, soft weights on his back were. Pink arms wrapped around his shoulders as he felt her breathing into her ear. “Kinky,” she whispered. “Is that all you eat?”
Izuku didn’t know exactly what she was implying, but the husky tone of her voice set off all sorts of alarms in his head. “A-Ashido, w-what are-”
She had started giggling.
“Sorry,” she said quietly, “Bakugou put me up to it.”
“Up to what?” He was genuinely confused.
“Are you serious?” She looked at him with a exasperated expression as she whispered. “As in eating someone…?” She winked seductively for some reason.
“I would never!” His eyes went wide as he whisper-shouted at her. “How could you even-”
“No, no, you adorable idiot,” she clapped a hand over his mouth. “I mean eating…”
She whispered something in his ear.
If she was looking for a broccoli impression, she got it.
“Hey, Jirou!” he yelled as he stood up suddenly, startling the shorter woman and everyone nearby. “You got time for that training session today?”
“Uh, sure, anytime, I guess,” she responded, still a little stunned.
“Great! I'll go get changed and meet you in front of the dorm!” He bolted from his seat and up to his room as fast as he could, tearing away from Ashido as his face glowed green.
Kyouka changed into a gym uniform and headed outside, where Midoriya was already waiting. “Hey, dude,” she greeted him as the door closed behind her.
“Hey, Jirou!” he responded brightly. “Thanks again for helping me out. I really appreciate it.”
“No worries,” she said cooly. “Not exactly sure what you want me to teach you, but I’m down for whatever.”
Midoriya started doing stretches. “I’ll explain along the way. Wanna jog with me?”
“Sure.” Kyouka was certainly not staring at his bulging thighs and calves as he stretched his legs, that would have just been shallow. It’s not like Midoriya was a total hunk or anything and it’s not like those horns on his head or that small ridged sail on his neck were totally badass or anything. She was just helping her classmate train.
After they stretched in silence, Midoriya and her started jogging towards one of the practice facilities. “So basically,” he began, “my quirk gives me enhanced senses. Smell, sight, hearing, that stuff. How strong they are depend on how much power I push into them, if that makes sense. I was hoping you could give me some tips on how to utilize my hearing.”
He wasn’t panting at all as he spoke, nor did he even pause to take a breath. ‘His lung capacity has gotta be out of this world,’ Kyouka thought as she nodded along.
Shortly after they arrived at a large rectangular structure: one of the practice gyms. Midoriya opened one of the doors and poked his head inside. “Cool, nobody’s here.” He held the door open and she entered in front of him.
“Alright, here we go.” Midoriya took a deep breath as the two of them stood in the middle of the empty facility a few moments later. He let out a deep, controlled breath as his green scales formed along his neck and up to his ears which… disappeared.
“Uh, your ears are gone,” she pointed out. “How do you hear?”
He tapped the side of his head softly. “When I’m transformed, I hear through these little holes."
“Alright, well let’s start with the basics then,” Kyouka said as she sat down, patting the ground to her left. “You hear best when you focus on it. Close your eyes and shut out everything else but your ears, or whatever those things are.”
Midoriya sat down next to her and obeyed, breathing out slowly as he closed his eyes. She slowly reached her hand to her right, away from him, and tapped slowly on the ground, so quietly that a normal person wouldn’t be able to hear. After several seconds, he reached out and started tapping on the ground in time with her.
“Good,” Kyouka said approvingly. “Let’s try something a little harder.” She listened for a second before continuing. “How many people are outside this building right now?”
Midoriya’s eyes opened as he raised an eyebrow incredulously. “What? How am I-”
“Hey,” she hissed sharply. “Focus.”
“Right, right, sorry.” He closed his eyes again and resumed his breathing.
She heard something flowing beneath his skin, like blood but different. ‘Is that him using his quirk?’ She watched him focus for a few more seconds. ‘Gotta admit, it’s kinda fun bossing him around. This is the guy that stood up to a supervillain?’
Kyouka found herself daydreaming a little. Now that the danger was gone, she could appreciate just how badass Midoriya looked fighting Terrorflame. The way those two gigantic beasts had moved so quickly was totally unreal, not to mention their mid-air fight. The way Midoriya had nearly pinned the villain as they tumbled… and the way he had bitten down on his throat.
It was fucking hardcore is what it was.
“Oh, uh Jirou,” Midoriya brought her out of her reverie. “I think I hear two people outside. You know, it sounds like they’re getting closer.”
Kyouka listened for a split second to confirm. Midoriya was right, there were two people coming towards the building they were in. Judging from their footfalls, one was a man and one was a woman.
The doors of the facility flew open as two people their age entered, Midoriya and Kyouka standing up as the newcomers caught sight of them. Kyouka was right, by the way.
The woman had long orange hair tied in a side ponytail and was probably a few inches taller than Kyouka. Her teal eyes had strange white pupils, but they looked friendly. The man was a few inches taller still, his head was adorned with messy silver hair and his beady black eyes were framed with a bizarre jagged frame. His mouth was turned up into a small snarl, revealing his razor-sharp, spiked teeth, just like Eiko’s.
“Hey!” the man called accusingly. “We’ve got this place reserved, what’re you two doing here?”
Midoriya waved a hand at the two. “Sorry, we didn’t know! We’ll get out of you way.”
As Midoriya and Kyouka headed for the exit, the woman piped up. “Hmm, hey wait, what class are you two in?”
“1-A,” Midoriya responded succinctly. “Why?”
The woman’s face lit up slightly. “Oh, you’re in the other hero class! We’re from 1-B. Itsuka Kendou, 1-B class rep, and this is Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu.” She gestured to the silver-haired man, who was now looking at the two of them appraisingly.
Midoriya’s face lit up in kind. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting the other hero students! I’m Izuku Midoriya, class rep of 1-A, and this is K-Kyouka Jirou.” He seemed a little nervous saying her first name, even if he was introducing her.
It was a little cute. How was a dude eight inches and at least fifty pounds of muscle larger than her so nervous around her?
“Oh, you’re Midoriya?” Tetsutetsu asked, pointing a finger. “You’re the one that stood up to that villain in the USJ!”
Midoriya took a half-step back from the pointing man. “O-oh, you heard about that, did you?”
“The entire school was shut down for a week,” Kendou remarked with a laugh in her voice. “Yeah, we heard about it.”
Midoriya half-smiled, but didn't seem keen on talking about it. “I’m just glad everyone made it out okay. Anyways, we’ll be going. Good luck training.”
“Hey wait, hold on!” Tetsutetsu held out a hand to stop the taller student. “Kendou and I are here to train; how about you spar with us?”
Midoriya thought for a moment, then glanced at Kyouka, asking for approval, or was it permission? She thought for a second, then nodded. The man turned back to the 1-B students and grinned, baring his fangs. “You’re on.”
“Alright!” Tetsutetsu threw up a fist. “Let’s do this!”
“Ground rules?” Midoriya asked as he and Kyouka put some space between them and the other students. “You have the reservation, you decide.”
Kendou thought for a moment. “We’re here to train, not seriously injure each other. Let’s say you’re out if you touch a wall or unable to move. Good sportsmanship.”
“Sounds fine to me. Jirou?” he asked softly.
“Works for us,” she called out loudly before leaning towards her partner. “You got a plan?”
“We don’t know their quirks,” he reasoned, “so we should play it safe until then. We’ll have to think on our feet, but I have a feeling you’re good at that.”
Kyouka huffed. “Remind me to ask you why you have that feeling later, but you’re not wrong. I do alright.”
Midoriya took a deep, centering breath as scales began to spread along his limbs as he took his shirt off. Kyouka certainly wasn't admiring his defined back as he tossed the shirt aside. While she wasn’t doing that, something caught her eye: a patch of off-color scales on his right shoulder. She thought the darker and lighter tones meshed well with the solid, forest green of the rest of his body, giving him a sort of camouflage look.
A simpler part of her wanted to run her fingers over his scales, to see if the scarred scales felt as badass as they looked.
Another wondered where he got it from.
‘Wait, is that where he blocked the fire that was gonna kill-’
The horns on his head streaked back until they formed a sort of crown and his eyes glowed brighter. His fingers flashed into claws as his entire body was covered in scales, save for his head. Midoriya kicked off his red shoes and grew his feet into claws, digging into the ground slightly. “Ready when you are.”
Damn, that voice was cool.
‘Why do I keep thinking stuff like that?’
Kyouka froze as she realized what was going on.
‘Oh, right. He’s a dragon. Dragons are badass. Yeah, that’s fair. ‘
She smirked as she eyed the competition. She had a dragon on her side and she knew she could handle herself. These 1-B guys didn’t stand a chance.
“I’ll stand back and attack from range,” she whispered, low as she dared. “I’ll have an easier time if you can keep them off me.” He could apparently hear her fine as he nodded and took a few steps forward, dropping down into a ready stance to guard her.
Kendou and Tetsutetsu nodded to each other. The woman’s hands grew to enormous sizes, easily large enough to grab Kyouka like a pencil, while the man’s skin turned silver as he transformed into living steel. ‘What, is he just a male Eiko? Weird.’
“Go!” Kendou shouted.
The two broke into a run, charging straight at Midoriya. She saw his arms beginning to bulge and lengthen as she heard that rushing noise under his skin. This time, she was sure that the sound of blood was accompanying it; it made sense, his quirk would have to make blood to keep circulation through his massive transformation.
Kyouka shot her jacks toward what she figured was the more dangerous target. Tetsutetsu made the mistake of underestimating her as he didn’t move to avoid her attack. Her jacks slammed into him, cracking his metal slightly under her assault. The man cried out in surprised as he tripped and stumbled to the side.
Midoriya took the opportunity to turn his full attention onto Kendou, who seemed equally taken aback by Kyouka’s surprisingly powerful attack. He swung his enlarged left arm, but she recovered quickly enough to throw up a block, causing her to just be pushed back a few feet by his fist.
“Tetsu!” Kendou called with a determined grin, “we gotta take advice from The Offspring and keep ‘em separated!”
Kyouka hated that she got that joke.
They began to move towards Midoriya and Kyouka again, this time splitting up so Midoriya could only block one of them. His head shot back and forth, trying to figure out what to do.
Unwilling to get caught by a pincer move, she came up with a better idea, or at least what she thought was a better idea in the heat of the moment. Kyouka ran forward and jumped, latching onto the taller man’s neck with her arms and hooking her legs around his stomach. One hand had latched onto his shoulder, while another around his neck against his chest to lock her upper body in place. “Go!”
Midoriya gasped slightly, clearly not expecting a surprise passenger. To his credit, he picked up quickly and tore off across the facility, leaving the two flanking students behind. Thanks to his sudden burst of speed, she had to brace herself, but as her hand slipped down his shoulder, her palm passed over a different texture. She glanced down for a split second and noticed she was palming his scar, and before she fully realized what she was doing, her fingers were running gently along them. They felt rough compared to the of the rest, but at the same time, it almost felt familiar. The texture was reminiscent of one of her leather jackets, but hard like steel.
‘Woah, even his scar is punk rock.’
After her moment of curiosity passed, Kyouka refocused, quickly turning back and shooting her jacks at their opponents, but they now had a healthy respect for her quirk and dodged.
Kyouka hopped off his back after they put some distance between them. “Hey, you’re a dragon, right?” she shot at her partner. “Don’t you have like fire breath or something? Gimme a hand keeping them at range!”
He seemed shocked for some reason. “N-no, I don’t have fire! Besides, I can’t use my breath here, no way!”
“Ugh, whatever!” She didn’t have time to argue with him. “I don’t think they’ll fall for that again, get ready.”
It seemed that the two 1-B students had come up with some sort of plan, as Tetsutetsu was charging Midoriya with Kendou lagging a little behind. The metal man reared a fist back and swung at Kyouka’s draconic classmate, who blocked it with a grunt. As soon as the two men engaged, Kendou darted around to the side and made a break for Kyouka.
Midoriya attempted to stop her, but taking his attention away from Tetsutetsu was a mistake. The smaller man caught Midoriya in the gut with a solid punch, driving him to the ground. A ferocious snarl ripped out of his throat as he swiped back with one of his clawed hands, sending the horrendous sound of grating metal echoing through the building, causing Kyouka to flinch slightly.
In the meantime, Kendou was closing. Kyouka wasn’t some damsel in distress, but she knew that those giant fists and that almost-playful smirk meant nothing but trouble. She took off running, trying to keep as much distance as she could between the two of them as she shot her jacks back at Kendou.
The woman was clearly well trained and flexible as she dodged every single attack with ease. This game of cat and mouse clearly wasn’t working, so Kyouka changed tactics again. She let her pace slow enough for Kendou to gain ground, hoping the woman would get greedy and go in for an attack.
Her gamble paid off as the redhead lunged.
As soon as her foot left the ground, Kyouka pivoted and stepped to the side, shooting her jack around like a boxer’s right hook. Kendou couldn’t dodge in time as the jack hit her in the ribs, digging into her side. The sharp, literally stabbing pain was nothing compared to Kyouka slamming her heartbeat through and blowing Kendou back as she shouted in pain.
After a few moments, Kendou shakily stood to her feet as she wiped some blood from her mouth. “Good one.”
She never lost that smirk.
A quick glance over to the men told Kyouka that Midoriya was struggling. His claws had little effect on the metal armor of Tetsutetsu, but his enhanced strength was keeping him in the game as the two grappled on the ground.
She returned her attention to the redhead as she returned to the offensive. Kendou seemed like a smart woman; Kyouka doubted the same attack would work twice.
Using her hands to push off from the ground, Kendou covered the distance between them faster than Kyouka could react. It was all she could do to dodge underneath the giant fist swinging at her.
Unfortunately, now Kyouka was on Kendou’s playing field. She took a couple swings at the taller woman, mixing her jabs with stabs from her jacks. She was hoping to get her to back off, but it became painfully obvious that Kendou was a far superior martial artist.
Painfully was right, as Kendou swiped up with her enlarged left hand, knocking Kyouka’s guard away as she drove her right fist into her gut.
For a split second, Kyouka’s world went white.
She flew backwards, slamming into the ground and rolling a few times before she came to a stop on her back. Kyouka groaned and rolled onto her side to pick herself up. She took a breath, but as she tried to breathe out, she found herself unable to. Panic set in automatically as tried again, but nothing came out. She focused and took another deep breath, filling her lungs that Kendou had knocked the wind out of.
As she regained her bearings, something else assaulted her senses.
That rush was back, but this time, it was nearly deafening.
Her slightly-blurry vision snapped to the source of the sound, her eyes locking with Midoriya’s as he stared at her. His green orbs burned with an intensity she hadn’t seen before.
With a furious roar, he drove his left arm into Tetsutetsu’s stomach, flinging the nearly six feet of steel off of him like he was nothing. He jumped to his feet, his eyes glowing so brightly they were nearly yellow. Kyouka normally had to look up to him, but this was something else.
He easily passed the eight foot mark as his arms and legs bulged, just like he had at the USJ when he attacked Kurogiri. His vision left Kyouka as his face grew elongated and draconic, his predatory eyes landing on Kendou. “You hurt what’s mine.” His voice was level, but filled with rage.
‘Mine?’
The other three students were all frozen with slacked jaws as he bulked up, but once he kicked off towards Kendou, time resumed. Kyouka staggered to her feet and stepped away from Kendou as Midoriya was on her before she could move. She drove a brutal open-palmed strike into his chest, but he barely seemed to notice.
He crashed down on her, pinning her chest to the ground with a single, giant claw. He snarled in her face, his fangs bared. “Yield.”
“Woah, man, I yield!” she shouted back, holding her hands up and letting her hands shrink back down.
Kyouka remembered that that the fight wasn’t over and tore her eyes from her massive classmate over to Tetsutetsu, who was pulling himself up from the ground slowly. Her jacks shot out and stopped an inch from his face. “You heard the man, give up!” she yelled, half-surprised her voice still worked.
“Ah, dammit, fine!” He held his hands up.
Midoriya’s vision snapped to her again. She felt a little uneasy as his glowing, reptilian eyes looked her all over; she noted the distinct look of intelligence within them as he slowly approached her. The man towered over her as he stood next to her; she only came up to his stomach. “Hey,” she smirked as best she could up at the man nearly twice her height as she tried to keep the blush from her face. “What’s this about me being ‘your’s’? If anything, you’re mine, dragon boy.”
‘Shit, that sounded a lot cooler in my head.’
Apparently, he seemed to think it sounded cool, because his mouth dropped open slightly as his eyes flashed to hers. He breathed out slowly as he shrunk back down to his normal impressive height and his face returned to its normal cu- shape. Normal shape.
‘Man, fuck you, hormones.’ She let out a short, frustrated sigh. ‘It’s just cause I haven’t spent any time with him. There are plenty of hot dudes in the class, I’ll get over him.’
It was then that she noticed the unfortunate side effect of Midoriya’s transformation. His pants… didn't make it. He seemed to be aware of this, as he didn’t let his quirk fully release. His body was still covered in scales, with his chest and stomach covered in his light-green plates. His legs were completely bare from the feet to his thigh and… up. Thankfully, and somewhat strangely, there wasn’t anything there.
Regardless, she felt her face heating up just from the implication. “You know, I’m not some princess that needs rescuing. I was fine.”
“What?” He looked at her with genuine confusion. “No, I know that. You can take much more than that punch, but still, you being hurt is unacceptable. You don’t need my protection, but you definitely deserve it.”
She blinked. ‘ Dammit , that was cool.’
“Damn, you two go hard,” Kendou said as she approached the two of them, still smiling. “You have that whole intimidation thing down pat, Midoriya.”
“T-thanks,” he muttered sheepishly. “But hey, you didn’t hold back either, look.” He let the upper part of his quirk fade, exposing his chest, arms and defined abs, where a large bruise was forming in the middle of his torso. “I don’t think you cracked any of them, but my ribs are definitely bruised a bit.” Kyouka noted that the scales around his right shoulder didn’t vanish.
Tetsutetsu had gotten up and joined the group as well. “Midoriya, I gotta say: you do the hero course proud! Both of you! That fight got my blood pumping! You better bring that passion to the sports festival, I don’t want my victory to be against anything but your best, alright?!”
Kyouka and Midoriya looked at each other before nodding. “See you there, man.” Kyouka had to admit, the spar had gotten her blood pumping too. Fighting with Midoriya had felt really good.
Midoriya gave a curt bow. “Thank you for the opportunity, but we’ll be going now. Enjoy the rest of your training!”
The two 1-B students waved back as they exited the building back into the early afternoon sun. “Jirou, I-I want to apologize. I didn’t mean to uh, do that.”
“Do what? Go all dragon on them?” She waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it, it was pretty cool.”
“Y-you think?” He looked genuinely surprised and touched.
She remembered this was the guy who tried to apologize for ‘scaring’ them all when he saved their lives. He mentioned that he was what, ‘conditioned to expect a certain reaction’? Had he been ostracized and shunned most of his life for his quirk?
She felt a small twinge of anger and indignation at the idea. ‘Wait, am I getting protective of him?’
Kyouka opted to avoid the question and change the subject. “Speaking of, why didn’t you just go full dragon like at the USJ?”
He flinched. “Oh, uh, well, I can’t.”
“Can’t?” She cocked her hip as she raised an eyebrow.
“At the USJ… well, I shouldn’t have been able to do that. It almost killed me.”
“...What?”
“Well, it's wrong to say I ‘can’t’, rather I should say I ‘shouldn’t’.” He looked away sadly. “I could probably do it if I really wanted to, but it would almost certainly put me in the hospital again... and who knows if I would come out alright this time. My dad wasn’t even going to teach me how to do that until our junior year.”
“Wait, that would put you in…” She noticed his particular language.
Midoriya nodded. “Terrorflame didn’t put me in a coma for a week, my own quirk did.”
Kyouka’s jaw dropped. She didn’t realize. “I, uh, wow, dude. I didn’t know, sorry for asking.”
“No no, it’s fine. Sorry for dumping that on you.” He chuckled awkwardly as his disposition brightened. “I just feel comfortable around you Jirou, I didn’t mean to let all that slip out.”
“No problem,” she muttered, looking away to try and maintain her cool. “Let’s head back, alright? We gotta get you some pants.”
Midoriya yelped a little. “Oh, uh, r-right. Sorry.” Two giant wings slowly sprouted from his back and stretched in the spring afternoon.
She watched his horns grow slightly longer and then ran her eyes over the great, dappled wings. ‘His quirk is metal as fuck, are you kidding me? If this hero thing doesn’t work out for him, he could get a job acting in music videos.’
“Oh, how rude of me,” he laughed, turning back to her. “My mother would kill me if I didn’t offer you a ride. Wanna grab on?” He pointed to his back with a grin.
Kyouka flashed back to her impromptu piggyback during their match a little while ago. “Wait, like, a flight back?”
“Yeah! It’s a lot faster. Flying is a ton of fun, too. You’ll love it!” He was like an excited kid.
Riding a dragon? Sign Kyouka the hell up.
“Like I’d pass on an opportunity to ride you.”
‘SHIT, that sounded a lot cooler in my head!’
Midoriya didn’t seem to notice her accidental innuendo as he bent down to allow her easier access to his back.
Unlike last time, she had the time to fully appreciate what she was doing. Her arms locked around his shoulders and neck and her legs wrapped around his thick core. She could feel his muscles bulging and contracting with every motion and breath he took.
What felt intimate to her was apparently nothing to him. He just looked back with a small smile and asked if she was ready. When she nodded, desperately trying to keep her face from blushing, his wings rose up and beat downwards, sending the two of them streaking into the air.
Her feelings of embarrassment quickly gave way to a rush of fear as her stomach dropped. She instinctively gripped harder, pressing herself tighter into his firm body. Kyouka was much too preoccupied to worry about her thighs squeezing into his sides.
As the acceleration slowed and their ascent stopped, she finally peeked one of her eyes open. As she peered around, both of her eyes shot open and her jaw dropped, or at least dropped as far as it could when it was pressed into Midoriya’s back.
The view was spectacular.
The two of them were soaring at least several hundred feet above the ground, well over the tallest tower of the UA main building. Looking out she could see all of Musutafu and the ocean sparkling in the sun.
The wind whipped through her hair as her heart swelled with amazement and excitement and as a wide grin stretched across her face. Kyouka couldn’t resist cheering loudly as the two of them soared high in the air.
All too soon, they began their descent. He held his wings out wide to catch the air and slow gravity's pull on them, causing the two of them to glide slowly to the ground. He circled around the dorm several times before landing by the front doors, his muscular legs acting to absorb the impact as he lowered himself on contact.
He stayed crouched, letting her slip off his back and back onto solid ground. She almost fell down as her legs gave out beneath her, but Midoriya seemed to have expected that and reached out to hold her up.
The feeling returned to her legs as her adrenaline faded, but the wide smile never left her face. “That was awesome! You get to do that whenever you want? Consider me jealous, man.”
“It never gets old,” he returned with a smile.
She stood up tall, or at least tall for her, patting his arm to let her go. “Thanks for catching me. You were on top of things, you do this a lot?”
Midoriya shook his head. “Not really. You're actually the first person other than Kacchan I've given a ride.”
Her cheeks warmed up. ‘The first…?’
“Anyway, gotta go, thanks helping me out!” he said suddenly, taking back off into the air.
“H-hey, we should do it again sometime!” she called after him, to which he gave her a nod and a thumbs up before he disappeared around the side of the building.
She sighed. ‘That was a much more exciting training session than I expected. Midoriya is a really cool guy.’ Kyouka realized she was still smiling. ‘Oh shit, do I have a crush on him? No, no. No way. I barely know the guy.’
She turned to walk inside, her shoulders slumping slightly. ‘Being 18 sucks. Hormones suck.’
‘Not like he would even look at someone like me when bombshells like Mina are after him…’
Izuku quickly flew up to his room, where he had intentionally left his balcony door unlocked. He had managed to keep his composure during the flight back, but now that he was in private, he broke down.
He grabbed one of his pillows and shoved his face into it hard, screaming at the top of his lungs. His throat felt a little sore, but a lot of his tension was gone.
‘Holy crap, why are all the girls in my class so hot?! Why did I offer her a ride?! Did she know what she was doing?! She was pressed so hard into me…’ He reached up and ran his fingers over his scar. ‘Her touch was kind, even on something so ugly.’
‘Why did it feel so good?’
He slumped down onto his bed and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to calm his quirk as it flared at the memories of Jirou’s body against his back and her bright smile. ‘At least school starts back up tomorrow. That’ll be a good distrac-’
A knock on his door.
“Oh, Midoooriiii~”
‘Oh no.’
Notes:
See you guys next time :)
Chapter 28: What's in a Hoard
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Ashido, uh, now isn’t a great time!” Izuku called out.
“You don’t get a choiiice~” she singsonged through the door. “This is important!”
“Uh, I’m naked!” That wasn’t a lie, he was; especially now that he had released his quirk.
He heard a gasp on the other side of the door. “Izuku Midoriya, what have you been doing?! ”
The blood drained from his face. “N-nothing!” No answer, but he heard his handle moving slightly. “...Are you picking my lock again?!”
“You better get some clothes on if you don’t want me to see~” The lock started moving a little faster. “Unless you want me to see, of course~”
Izuku never threw on clothes faster in his life. He grabbed the first things he could find, which happened to be what he slept in last night: a pair of All Might underwear, his Stormclaw pajama pants and a shirt that said ‘pajamas’ on it.
He flung the door open, finding Ashido standing there with a playful grin and empty hands. He stared at her for a few seconds with wide eyes. “You… weren’t picking the lock?”
“Nope! It got you ready though!” She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of his room. “I need you to do something for me. I’ll explain once we get there.”
“Um, okay…”
Izuku had a bad feeling about this.
Or was it a really good feeling?
Ochako sat on Mina’s bed, rocking back and forth slightly as she stared out at the window, wondering what was taking her friend so long. She had been reading peacefully in her pajamas when she got a text from Mina to come down to her room, but once she got there, Mina just put her on the bed and told her that she “needed to go grab something real quick”.
Just when she was getting ready to text Mina to ask where she was, she heard footsteps approaching the door. No, wait. She heard two sets of footsteps. ‘Did Mina get someone? Maybe she’s organizin’ another one of those game nights. Strange she didn’t say nothin’ about it to me, though.’
“A-Ashido, are you sure?”
Ochako blanched. Is this what Mina meant by “leave it to me”?
The door swung open and standing there were two of her favorite people in the world, but she couldn’t help but be filled with trepidation.
“Ura-raraka,” Deku stuttered. “H-hey.” It was like he was back on the first day of school again; the poor man couldn't even make eye contact with her and just being nearby was causing him to blush. He had gotten so much better about it, but she guessed that her boldness last night had ruined all his hard work. She kicked herself a little.
“Hi, Deku,” she replied, forcing a smile on her face to hide her pounding heart. ‘Dammit, I’m blushin’ too now. Mina, why?!’
“Alright!” Mina chirped with a wide smile. “Midori, on the bed. Opposite Ochako.”
“Um, that’s okay, I’ll just sta-”
“Nope! You’re sitting down.” She put her hands on his back and pushed, shoving him into the room and towards the bed.
Ochako scooted back towards the head of the bed to let Deku have space at the foot. Both of them sat there cross-legged, staring at each other for only a second before looking away.
Mina shook her head. “You two are hopeless.”
“W-what did you want from me, Ashido? Is this another game night or something?”
“You could say that.” She looked at him with a cruel grin as she sat down on the bed next to Ochako. The two women were almost touching, but Ochako didn’t feel the comfort she usually did; Mina was up to something and it made her nervous.
“There is a problem,” Mina began. “An issue. I’ve been thinking long and hard about how to fix it, especially since last night.”
“Last night?” Deku was rightly worried.
“She was spying on us,” Ochako muttered, still not looking at him.
“Damn straight I was!” Mina declared proudly. “I thought to myself ‘how do I fix this?’ I considered getting you two to go to a movie with me and then getting conveniently ‘sick’, I thought about tricking you both into going to a restaurant together, I thought about sneaking forged letters into your backpacks to get you to meet up.” Mina rattled off her plans as she rocked back and forth on the bed. “But those had way too much potential to play out like a bad romance show, and Mina Ashido is not about that life.”
She puffed her chest out and pointed an accusing finger at both of them. “You two are absolutely nuts about each other and you are not leaving this bed until you talk about it!”
Deku looked like he was about to die. Ochako figured she looked about the same.
“A-Ashido, w-what is this? What are you s-saying?” The poor man wasn’t ready for the storm that was Mina.
Ochako wasn’t ready either. She buried her face in her hands and fell over on her side, trying to hide herself up against the wall.
“I’m saying that Ochako has a huge, huge crush on you, Midori, and I’m tired of dancing around it! You two are absolutely adorable together and I will not stand for you to keep acting like a bunch of hopeless virgins!”
“But I am a hopeless virgin!” Deku yelled out suddenly. “Uh, I mean, uh-” He hid his face behind his arms as he turned nearly neon green.
Mina giggled. “Well, that’s good to know, but surely you didn’t act like this around your other girlfriends, right? Where’s that Midori confidence that shouted a hallway of panicking students down?”
Deku mumbled something.
“What was that? Speak up!” Mina demanded.
“I’ve… never had a girlfriend.”
“What?! No way!” Mina leaned over onto her hands closer to him. “How? I don’t believe you!”
“People are scared of me, Ashido,” he muttered sadly. “You know that. You know that they should be. I’ve already resigned myself to being alone, I just focus all my energy on being a hero so I hopefully won’t hurt anybody.”
Ochako felt her blush fade a little as he spoke. ‘Alone? Him? How could he be?’
“Oh, Midori,” Mina sounded a little sympathetic. “You won’t be, I promise. You deserve to be happy. And today is your lucky day because I know one tall, beautiful brunette who is head-over-heels for you.”
Ochako squeaked. “Mina, why?!”
“I already told you why! Now stop hiding, both of you!”
“N-no, that can’t be right,” Deku argued. “Someone like Uraraka couldn’t like someone like me. That’s- no, that's ridiculous. She’s way too good for me, are you kidding?”
Ochako felt something flare inside her. She whipped up and looked Deku dead in the eyes. “How can you say that?! If anything, you’re too good for me!”
“What?!” He nearly fell backwards. “But I’m a mon-”
“Don’t you dare finish that word!” Ochako threatened. Her cheeks were burning but it was her blood that was truly on fire. “Mina is right!” She squeezed her eyes shut as she forced the words out.
“Deku, I love you!”
There was silence in the room. She didn’t dare open her eyes.
“B-but... how? ” Deku sounded like he was on the edge of tears. “Y-you’re so beautiful and strong and capable a-and-”
“And what?” she hissed. “You’re a brute with an evil quirk?”
“I-”
It was like the dam that was holding her feelings back had crumbled. Everything was pouring out. “You’ve been nothing but kind to me, ever since we met! You saved my life the day we met, you saved me at the USJ from that guy with the big arms, and then you turned around and stood between Mina and me and God damn Terrorflame!” She finally tore her eyes open and looked at the man.
Eye contact made it so much worse.
He looked confused, scared and panicking. His eyes were flashing green erratically and his voice seemed caught in his throat.
Even so, her heart clenched in her chest and her stomach did flips.
“You always talked to me like I was this beautiful, strong woman who could do anything.”
“That’s what you are!” He found his voice. “B-both of you!”
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Ochako whined. “How could I not fall in love with you? You’re the man who saved his entire class from a real monster with no concern for his safety, but you look at me like that! Just being around you makes me want to do better, and not just for myself! I want to make you proud of me, Deku!”
“I…”
Ochako realized something.
She whipped around on Mina, who was absolutely beaming from ear to ear. “Mina feels the same way!” She scowled at the pink woman, whose expression had fallen away rapidly.
“W-what?! Both of you?!”
Mina looked confused and startled. “H-hey, this is me trying to get you two together, what are you doing?”
“Don’t deny it! You love him too!” She leaned over, getting in Mina’s face.
The pink woman was not ready for how this had turned on her. With Ochako towering over her, purple began to creep into her face. “S-so what?”
“Why are you trying to do this, Mina? It’s time for you to confess and you can be his girlfriend! He deserves you !” She didn’t really know what she was saying, but it felt right. Ochako’s feelings for Mina were confused, but she knew that she cared deeply for her. Mina wanted Deku as much as she did and she would do anything in her power to make sure Mina was happy.
Mina was panicking. “What?! No! You should! T-think about it, it’ll be like how we’ve been sleeping, except it’ll be him. No worries, I’ll be fine!”
Ochako felt her heart plummet. The idea of losing Mina was something she wasn’t ready to confront.
“W-wait, how have you two been sleeping?” Deku asked, his voice still shaky.
Ochako froze. “Uhh…”
“We started cuddling when we were sharing a couch while you were in a coma,” Mina explained, still blushing herself. “And, well, it kinda stuck.”
Deku’s jaw dropped. “You two… have been sleeping together?”
Ochako and Mina stared at each other for a few seconds before slowly turning to face him. They both nodded slowly.
He looked down slightly as a small smile grew on his face. It was full of relief, but also sadness. “It sounds like you two should date each other. Maybe you two love each other, instead. That would be much better.”
Ochako looked back to Mina, who did the same.
They stared into each other's eyes, time losing its meaning as she lost herself in her gold irises in contrast to her black sclera. .
When she finally managed to pull her gaze away from her eyes, it focused on her soft, sweet-smelling hair and over her adorable horns. She wanted to run her hand through her pink locks again, to feel her mewl at the contact like she always did.
Then she looked at her full, kissable lips and her purple-tinted cheeks.
A new urge made itself known.
Ochako didn’t realize it at the time, but Mina was doing the same to her; looking her over for the hundredth but seeing her for the first.
She felt her heart leap as her mind raced through the memories they shared.
The bonds they forged in the fires of the Conflagration Zone and then in the inferno that was Terrorflame… The sensation of her skin on hers…
It was something that she didn’t know if she would want to live without. Ochako felt comfortable around Mina, more than perhaps anyone else outside her family. Maybe it was the hormones pumping through her right now, but Ochako felt like Deku was right.
The two women were still locked in place, staring at each other. Ochako felt Mina’s hot breath on her face and neck.
It was driving her mad.
“M-Mina?”
“Y-yeah?”
“I...love you.”
“I love you too, Ochako.”
She realized what she wanted right now.
Ochako’s arms moved on their own as they reached out and grabbed the sides of Mina’s head. She pulled, bringing the pink woman closer and closer, her head tilting slightly on its own.
Their lips locked.
Electricity sparked in Ochako’s mind as the sensation of Mina’s soft, luscious lips crashed through her body. She pressed harder and pulled her closer as her mind focused only on amplifying the feeling that was flooding her with such pleasure.
They broke contact for a moment, each of them taking a breath before diving back in for further contact. Mina’s arms wrapped around her waist and held her close, almost begging for more contact.
Ochako’s eyes widened as she felt Mina’s tongue slowly probe her lips. She moaned softly as she allowed the tongue to slip in and quickly met it with her own. Compared to Mina, she was clumsy, but it didn’t seem like she minded. Ochako pushed forward, meeting no resistance as Mina retreated back into her mouth as fast as Ochako advanced. Soon, she was in total control and judging from how much Mina was squeezing her, the smaller woman loved it.
After what felt like a moment but also a lifetime, they broke apart again, a thin strand of saliva still connecting them. They both panted faintly, their cheeks flush with color.
As her brain slowly started processing information outside of ‘Mina’, she heard a faint noise coming from the far end of the bed. She turned her gaze to Deku, who had his hands clapped over his mouth.
He was crying softly.
Ochako’s heart sank. ‘Oh… that- no, that was so selfish- I knew he was interested in me, but I-’
His hand fell away slowly, showing a wide smile. “I’m s-so happy for both of you.” His eyes were glowing softly, almost imperceptibly so.
Ochako thought she felt herself fall for him again. ‘How sweet is he?’
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up to leave. “Wait, where are you going?” Ochako didn’t want him to go.
He looked back, an expression of genuine confusion covering his face. “I’ll leave you two in peace, don’t worry about me.”
Mina leaned over towards him. “Hey, w-we weren’t done! Ochako told you that she loved you and you’re just going to leave her?” She was still a little flustered from their kiss.
Deku flinched. “Y-you two are dating now, right? It’s better that way. I hope you’re happy, really!” He forced a smile on his face.
Ochako frowned. “What do you mean ‘better that way’? Are you putting yourself down again?”
Deku slouched a little, before looking away. “Yeah, I guess I am, but you don’t understand. You don’t know what you’re asking. You don’t l-love me, not really. I’m sure I’ve… tricked you into thinking that. My quirk does that.” He began to tug at his hair in frustration. “It manipulates. It tricks. It lies. It deceives. And by ‘it’, I mean ‘me’. I’m really glad that you’re both my friends, but I-”
“This again?!” Mina shouted in indignation. “I thought I already dealt with this yesterday! You either have a very high opinion of yourself, or a very low one of us. Or both! Midori, do you think that you’ve been ‘manipulating’ me this whole time?”
“W-well, I… yeah?” Deku offered weakly.
“No!” Mina sounded actually a little mad. “You haven’t! Unless you consider ‘being a nice person’ or ‘saving my life’ to be manipulation! If you define it as any sort of interaction that changes someone’s opinion, then yeah, I guess you have been, but then I’ve been doing the same thing! We all have!”
Deku said nothing.
“So, get your legs back up here, mister,” Mina growled through grit teeth.
Deku obeyed.
Mina took a calming breath. “Now.” She looked the man in the eyes. “I want you to listen very carefully , okay?”
Deku nodded.
“Midori, I, Mina Ashido, of my own volition, love you. Do you understand me?”
His eyes flashed brighter. His right hand twitched as if it was moving to grab onto his head, but he kept it down. “I… thank you, but-”
Ochako finally spoke. “But what? Do you not feel the same?”
“It’s not that!” he immediately responded, before he had time to think.
Ochako felt her heart skip a beat. ‘Then he does?’
“You don’t know what you’re asking!” he admitted, seemingly forcing himself to speak.
“I think we’re asking-” Mina was cut off this time.
“I am a dragon ! Dragons hoard things! We are greedy! ” He clenched his eyes shut as he spat his words. “We all have our collections. My dad hoards underwater treasures and oddities, Ryuko loves rare metals and gems, Terrorflame just loved wealth . It’s a part of our quirk. If we don’t hoard, our instincts get very upset.”
“So is that why you have all that hero stuff?” Ochako asked.
Mina nodded. “I don’t see where you’re going with this.”
“Yes, Uraraka, at least in a way.” He sighed heavily. “We don’t just hoard our favorite thing. Our collections’ sizes are important. Outside of the pearls, historical artifacts and old books, my father enjoys generic wealth just as much. Anything valuable is worthy of our hoards.” He seemed to be trying to choke back tears. “I collect my hero merchandise, yes, but I also love emeralds and things that remind me of the forest. But that’s not my favorite thing to hoard. It's not what my quirk values over all else.”
Ochako racked her brain. “What is it then?”
“P-” He paused, centering himself. “People. I hoard people . You, the other girls, our classmates… my quirk has claimed you all. You’re all part of my hoard, as far as its concerned.”
Ochako gasped. “So… are you saying that you like us as much as everyone else?” She felt her heart sink again. ‘We’re all just part of his hoard? He doesn’t actually-'
“No.” He spoke with authority. Ochako and Mina were both immediately at attention. “You two… you’re… you’re more. I don’t know what it is, but I… nothing has ever been like this. I can’t get either of you out of my head! A night hasn’t gone by in the past… however long it’s been that one of my dreams hasn’t involved you both. If it’s not you, its Yaoyorozu, or Pony, or Jirou or Tsu! I feel so gross.”
“That’s actually kinda flattering,” Mina giggled, tilting her head.
“You don’t get it,” Deku repeated. “You should both be scared. My quirk has latched onto you in a way I’ve never experienced before. I don’t know how to deal with this! If you tell me that you...l-” He tried to force the word out, but failed. “-like me, you’re asking for trouble. If I… give into this feeling I have for you both… there’s no going back. I won’t be able to go back. My quirk won’t allow it. I don’t want to ‘own’ you- either of you. You’re both your own people who deserve so much more than that!”
He slumped down as he finished his speech. He looked exhausted.
The room was quiet for a good while. Ochako turned the information over in her mind time and time again. ‘No goin’ back? His quirk has ’latched onto’ us?’ Her gut churned with emotion after emotion, some good, some less so. Deku was right, this was not a light decision, but what did she feel? She knew what she felt to a degree, but something was holding her back.
She realized something. ‘I don’t know how he feels back… that’s what’s-’ Her eyes went wide. ‘Wait. He said that he can’t get us out of his head. He said that he doesn’t know how to deal with what he’s feelin’.’
Ochako smiled. Her heart started beating even faster.
She knew what he was feeling.
She knew what he was feeling because she was feeling the same thing.
She turned up to look at him. “Deku?”
He slowly raised his eyes to meet her gaze. His green orbs were filled with guilt as they glowed softly.
She lunged forward.
Nothing was going to stop her this time.
Her arms wrapped around him as they had before, one arms holding his back while the other gripped his head. He barely had time to react as her lips crashed into his. His eyes widened and erupted in light as her own mind began going blank for the second time that afternoon.
The force of her lunge and the sudden, primal need she felt to be as close to him as possible drove him onto his back, flat on the bed. She closed her own eyes as she focused entirely on the feeling and taste of his lips on hers. Fireworks went off in her mind as his shock wore off and he began to return her affection.
Emboldened by her kiss with Mina, Ochako pushed her tongue forward, asking for permission. He granted it, but as she moved forward, she was met with resistance. Unlike Mina, his tongue was just as clumsy as her own, but that didn’t matter to either of them.
He felt different than Mina. His kiss was no less passionate than hers, but it carried a different energy. While Mina let Ochako take charge, Deku was struggling. He wasn’t trying to fight her for dominance, he was merely challenging her. If she wanted it, she would have to work for it.
She loved it.
She loved him .
Both of her hands moved to his head as she pressed him further into Mina’s soft bed.
It was only once they both began to feel short of breath that they broke apart.
She loomed over him, her hair hanging down around his face as he stared up at her. They panted for a few seconds, thin strands connecting them in their silence until she smiled softly. “How’s that for an answer?”
He seemed too stunned to speak and instead just nodded dumbly.
Ochako leaned back, slumping back onto the bed next to Mina. She pushed her shoulder into Ochako’s arm slightly. “I’m proud of you, girl.”
Deku slowly pushed himself up on his elbows, blinking and dazed.
Mina laughed. “Damn, Ocha, did you suck his soul out? You better have left some for me.”
Deku’s vision cleared immediately as he turned his head to stare at Mina.
“That’s right, my answer is the same, Midori.” Her smile was kind and loving, a blush glowing on her face. “Listen, ever since I laid eyes on you, I could tell you were something special. You’ve shown me kindness, passion, dedication, joy and that’s just to name a few. You take my teasing like a champ and you don’t mind that I have fun with you. You’ve treated me with respect without putting me on a pedestal, you never once entertained the idea that my appearance was strange or that my quirk was anything but one fit for heroics.”
She let out a big sigh as her blush faded out as quickly as it came and her smile turned back to teasing. “I love you and no big, scary quirk is gonna change my mind.” She beckoned him to her with a seductive finger. “But if you want it, you’re gonna have to come and get it.”
Deku’s eyes flashed bright again and he was suddenly surging forward across the bed. He pinned Mina down in an instant, his face mere inches from hers as his hands held her wrists down above her head.
“You know, this is the second time you’ve had me in this position,” she teased. “I hope you don’t get cold feet this time.”
Even with his quirk surging and bursting against its confines, he hesitated. “Is- can I?”
“Yes,” she said simply, her smile threatening to burst from her face.
He lowered himself, slowly, methodically; it reminded her of a predator stalking its prey. Something told her that Mina liked that. Maybe it was the way her eyes sparkled with excitement and affection as he got closer.
He locked his lips with hers in a firm, commanding way. It was filled with passion, but there was no room for argument. The kiss was so different than the one they had shared, but she could see just how much Mina was enjoying it. Her back arched as she squirmed against his grip and her legs wrapped around his, encouraging him to continue.
As he had lunged at Mina, Ochako had felt a sickening worry fill her heart. Would she feel jealous that Deku was kissing Mina? Or that Mina was kissing Deku?
As the two continued, she felt her heart swell. There was no jealousy or envy to be found within her, only pure happiness at seeing two people that she… that she loved wrapped up in such passion. The weight was lifted from her shoulders as a smile bloomed across her face.
The two of them split apart finally and Deku fell backward off of Mina. He panted slightly as his quirk continued to glow brightly in his eyes. ‘I wonder what’s goin’ on in his head right now…’
The three of them sat in silence again for a few moments. Eventually, a thought crossed Ochako’s mind. “What now?”
“What do you mean?” Mina asked.
“I mean, where do we go from here?” Ochako looked back and forth between the two. “Am I dating Deku? Am I dating you? Are we dating at all?”
Mina blinked. “Oh.”
As the rush of passion left her body, Ochako began to worry. “We… we didn’t think this through. I was so caught up in my emotions that… How do I pick? How do any of us pick? Anything we do is gonna leave someone…”
Mina understood the implication as he own mood visibly dropped. “Well, we could pick nobody. That way no one would be…” She looked up at Deku. “Midori, what do you think?”
His eyes flashed.
He immediately grew a look of slight shame and revulsion. His eyes moved like he was chiding himself for a thought.
Mina noticed it too. “Your quirk just told you something, didn’t it?” Her mischievous grin was growing back slowly.
“Y-yeah, but don’t… it’s nothing.”
The grin was fully back now. “No, no, tell us! Tell us!”
Deku gulped. “It… it said, uh…” He looked down in shame. “It said ‘both’.”
Ochako’s jaw dropped.
Mina took it much better. “Really? It said both? Oh man!” She turned to Ochako, looking like a kid on Christmas. “Let’s do it!”
“What?!” Ochako and Deku exclaimed simultaneously.
Mina raised an eyebrow. “Polyamory isn’t that weird. Doesn’t make it any less exciting though!”
“I mean I’ve heard of it…” Ochako shifted uncomfortably. “But… can we really do that?"
Mina’s expression grew more incredulous. “What do you mean? Of course we can. It's not even an uncommon thing, where have you been?"
“But isn't it a little weird?"
Mina rolled her eyes a little. “Ochako, it's-"
"You are not about to use the 'current year' argument on me,” Ochako snapped.
Mina was so cute when she pouted. "But it's true! It's not the 21st century anymore, it’s not even the 22nd! Who cares if we both date Midori and each other and whoever else we want to date?” She began to blush a little. “I know you've had your eye on Yaomomo, and I've had a little bit of a crush on Kiri for years now.”
Ochako nearly fell over on the bed. “W-what? Yaomomo?! Y-you think-”
"You know that one hero team that was pretty high in the rankings a couple years ago?" Mina wasn’t about to give up.
Ochako thought for a moment. "The Pussycats?"
"No, the other ones.” Mina waved her hand “I can't remember their name, but what's important is that they were all dating each other and nobody outside of the tabloids gave a damn."
“I guess I knew that…” Ochako admitted. “I just… never even considered that I might be in a situation even close to that. I didn’t even think I’d get a boyfriend or anything. N-not that I needed one! I’m here at UA to become a hero first and foremost.”
“Hold up,” Mina shot back. “Why didn’t you think you’d get a boyfriend?”
“W-well, I’ve never had one before, you know?” Ochako poked her fingers together. “Guys have always been really intimidated by my height and-”
Deku was suddenly in her face. “You’ve been nothing but supportive of me. You’ve been honest and not judged me even when sometimes I think you should have. Let me do the same for you.” He leaned in a little closer. “Your. Height. Is. Sexy. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Do you remember when we first met?”
“W-when you tripped?”
Deku flinched. “Y-yeah, that part.” Mina giggled. “Besides your big, beautiful eyes and your gorgeous hair and those lips of yours… what really took my breath away was how I had to look up at you. Something about it just...” He leaned back, giving her space even though she didn’t really want it. Suddenly, his confident air seemed to vanish. “I-I hope that wasn’t too forward… I just hate seeing you beat yourself up.”
“Now you know how we feel,” Mina scolded. She leaned in between Ochako and Deku. “So, what do you say? Do we want to make this work?”
Deku immediately nodded. “I-I warned you. I can’t back out now.”
Ochako nibbled her finger a little as she thought. ‘I really want to, but is this right?’ She peeked at her two friends who were looking back expectantly. The thought of having them close all the time… ‘Yeah, I want that.’
She nodded. “I want this.”
Mina squealed .
Deku suddenly swung his arms around, bringing both of them in for a tight hug, one in each arm. “T-thank you both. For this. For everything.” His arms bulged with strong muscle, making Ochako feel distinctly safe within his embrace.
He leaned back, looking them both in the face and smiling as tears flowed down his face. “I want you to know that this isn't my quirk talking. I feel this way even when it’s quiet.” He took a deep breath. “My entire life, with few exceptions, including the Bakugous and my family- and not even them as a rule- I’ve been… held at arm's length. When I was little, more than ten years ago, I was friends with everyone, but as soon as the saw the fury that my quirk puts in me… they walked away.”
“But you two,” he pulled them in closer, putting his head between theirs as his tears flowed, “you two have been nothing but kind to me from the moment we met. Even once you found out what my quirk is, what I am, you didn’t bat an eye. You held me close and encouraged me, embraced me… and now even loved me. I didn’t know what I’ve been feeling, but I’ve figured it out. I often speak with confidence, but right now, I’m speaking with certainty.”
He pulled his head back and looked at them both with an expression filled with love and joy.
“Uraraka, I love you.” He kissed her on the cheek, causing her to light up red.
“Ashido, I love you.” He kissed her too, causing the woman to beam even as she turned purple.
He let them go, causing Ochako to immediately miss his touch. ‘Oh man, I’ve got it bad… but I’m glad it’s for him. I don’t think he’ll be leaving me anytime soon.’
The free-flowing tears slowed as he wiped his face on his shirt. “A-also, one last thing. Apologies if this is… a little creepy.” He smiled sheepishly. “It’s about what I told you earlier. About my uh, hoard.”
“Ooh, yeah, we’re officially part of a dragon’s hoard now, huh?” Mina smiled as her face lit up in fascination. “That’s kinda cool.”
“Y-yeah, and about what you just said, Uraraka.” He looked at her with that determined gaze that she fell in love with. “About you coming to UA to be a hero.”
He sat up straight. “Listen carefully, please. The value of our hoard is very, very important to us. We will always have a drive to increase its size and its value. What that means is that it is my goal, my mission, to make sure that you two are the absolute best you can be. You are my hoard, you and the rest of 1-A. You will be the best.” His eyes flashed. “That’s not an option.”
Ochako felt her face growing warm again. Mina, on the other hand, began laughing. “That may be the most ominous encouragement I’ve ever received! Well hey, right back at you, Midori. You’re not allowed to slack off either!” She pushed him playfully.
A smile grew across his face. “I-I won’t, Ashido.”
“Oh!” Mina leaned forward again. “That won’t do! Now you really do get to call me Mina!”
His eyes widened slightly as his quirk flared again. “R-really?”
“Uh, yeah?” she laughed. “I want to hear you say it.”
“M-” He gulped and licked his lips. “Mina.” As soon as he said it, his eyes flashed once.
She squealed again. “ Oooh~ ! Ochako, come on, you gotta try it!”
Ochako felt her heart start to beat faster at the thought. “A-alright, Deku. S-say my name.”
He hesitated again. “O…” He looked at her again, as if asking for permission. She smiled reassuringly. “Ochako.” The flash again.
A bolt of lightning shot through her mind as the word passed his lips. Ochako felt her heart swell and clench as a warmth spread through her body. Hearing her name from him just… made it seem so much more real.
She couldn’t help it.
She lunged forward again.
She pressed her lips into his for the second time, but all the magic was still there. He was less surprised than last time and wrapped his right arm around her, holding her close. She appreciated his taste more this time as she mashed her lips into his. She kept her tongue to herself this time and pulled back shortly.
“S-sorry.” She was blushing something awful once again. “I… couldn’t help myself.”
“I-it’s fine, Ura- Ochako.” He laughed slightly, apparently in disbelief. “Y-you don’t have t-to apologize for that. E-ever.” He was trying to sound confident, but he was too flustered to be convincing. She found it endearing.
“Hey, Ochako,” Mina had moved forward so she was on Deku’s left. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, sending a pulse of green through his face. While he was momentarily distracted, she looked straight at Ochako with a mischievous smirk.
Maybe it was due to her spending so much time with her, but Ochako couldn’t help but be a little disturbed that she perfectly understood Mina’s silent intent.
Both women moved up to one of Deku’s ears.
“Izuku,” they whispered in unison.
Ochako didn’t know if she’d ever seen him greener.
It took Izuku a few moments to recover. Today had been physically, mentally and most of all, emotionally exhausting, and it was only four in the afternoon.
Today had moved so quickly, he could hardly process that he was now looking at the beaming faces of his girlfriend...s. Just thinking about it caused his mind to sputter slightly.
On the other hand, his quirk had never been happier. The pulses of joy and satisfaction washed over him like a hot bath on a cold evening as it almost felt like it was dancing in his mind.
It was addicting.
Of course, Izuku was happy too. The feeling of affection and acceptance that the women had given him was something he knew he craved, but he didn’t really understand how much he needed it until they gave it to him. He couldn’t have been more grateful and he was so glad that he reciprocated their feelings.
Their happiness was important to him on more than one level. Because of the way his quirk worked, it wasn’t just the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment you would normally feel for making someone happy, he was also filled with the deep, primal joy of fulfilling a biological imperative. Their happiness was his happiness on a fundamental level.
Maybe his quirk wasn’t all bad.
As the three of them sat there in the afterglow of their hormone-fueled confessions, Izuku’s stomach growled.
“What, hungry already?” Ash- Mina remarked.
That was going to take some getting used to.
“I uh, well, using my quirk takes a lot of energy,” he explained.
Ochako tilted her head. Being that cute was probably illegal. “You were using it? I thought the whole eye glow thing was it more than you.”
He rubbed the back of his head. “Right, no, it is, but I used it earlier. When I was training with Jirou.” He was in fact using his quirk right then, to keep a certain something hidden and under control, but they didn’t need to know that.
Mina's face lit up in recognition. “Oh yeah, how did that go?”
“It went fine, but we didn't get to practice much. Two students from 1-B showed up shortly after we started and well, we wound up sparring.” Izuku leaned back as he recalled the fight. “Kendou, 1-B’s class rep, has a quirk that makes her hands really big and it seems to increase their strength as well.” He lifted his shirt and showed the large bruise on his chest. “I got this while transformed.”
He noticed both of the women staring at his abs and chest, concern mixed with what he could only call desire. Normally that would make him blush and freeze up, but now… now he felt… proud?
“The other,” he continued as he put his shirt down, “his name was Tetsutetsu, and the best way I can describe him is a male Kirishima.”
“Wait, what?” Mina snapped her vision from his chest to his face.
Izuku laughed once. “Yeah, crazy, right? He’s got the same sharp teeth that she has and his quirk turns his body into solid steel. They’re really similar.”
Ochako and Mina looked at each other and shrugged.
“Anyways, we got in a fight and things got a little hectic and I wound up going a little uh, overboard.”
“You didn’t hurt anyone, did you?” Mina asked, although her voice wasn’t worried.
“No, no, not outside the purview of the spar, at least. I pinned Kendou down and got her to yield, and then Jirou got Tetsutetsu to give up too. Jirou’s great, she kicks ass.”
“She sure does,” Ochako said with a smile. “Yaomomo told me about how she handled herself at the USJ. But hey, what caused you to go ‘overboard’?”
Izuku flinched slightly. ‘Well they’re my girlfriends, right? I should tell them stuff.’
“J-Jirou got hit hard. You know how I told you everyone in class is part of my collection now?” He rubbed the back of his head again. “My quirk didn’t take kindly to her being hit like that.”
Mina’s eyes lit up. “Is that why you didn’t have pants on?”
“Wha-”
“Y-yeah,” Izuku interrupted Ochako. “I wasn’t planning on doing anything like that when I left, so uh, they got destroyed.” Mina and Ochako were staring at him. He opted to quickly change subjects. “So yeah, we won the spar and then I gave Jirou a ride back and went up to my room and that’s when you found me.” He finished his story quickly as he could.
“A ride?” Ochako asked, wide-eyed and curious.
Izuku shrunk down a little bit. He probably shouldn’t have mentioned that. “Y-yeah, we flew back.”
Mina’s eyes widened further as her grin grew. “So that’s why Kyouka looked all flustered when she came back into the dorms and why you weren’t with her!” She whipped an accusatory finger at him as he shrunk back in surprise. “You went all big, bad dragon in her defense, lost your pants and then gave her a flight back! You’re such a ladykiller!”
“What are you talking about?!” Izuku recoiled.
“I’m like… 95% sure Jirou has a crush on you now, Midori.” She smirked at him. “I have a sense for these things.”
Izuku’s mind temporarily short-circuited again. He blinked a few times as he rebooted. “No, what? You’re just seeing things, there’s no way Jirou likes me. She’s so cool and beautiful and… well that’s just wishful thinking. Besides, I have you t-two now.”
“So?” Mina asked flatly, gesturing to Ochako and Izuku. “There’s room for her.”
Izuku sputtered. “W-wha-?!”
Mina giggled. “Midori-”
“I know, I know,” Izuku said, letting out a great sigh. “You’re just teasing.”
“What? No,” she responded, causing him to whip his head up to her. “I was gonna say ‘all in due time’.”
“Mina!” Ochako sounded scandalized… a little.
“Hey, if she wants in and we like her, why not?” Mina shrugged. “I’m not saying let’s go grab her right now, but if things work out in the future, why refuse?”
“Well, maybe…” Ochako admitted. “What do you think, Deku?”
Yes.
‘Shut up, I have more than enough already; don’t be greedy. Besides, Mina is just seeing things, I don’t want to get my hopes up.’
“S-sure,” he answered. Since there was no chance of it happening, there was no harm in him agreeing; he was already astronomically lucky to have two women, it would be absurd for him to even consider more.
“Good!” Mina was pleased. “Oh, and Midori? You might want to mention that to Kyouka, that you think she’s beautiful, I mean. Just between us, I think she has some self-esteem issues that she just hides really well.”
Izuku did a double-take. “First of all, how would you even know that after only knowing her for a couple weeks?”
“You remember the first day of class? With Mineta in the locker room?”
Izuku scowled. “Yes.”
“Oh, hush, you guard dog,” she scolded. “Well, when he didn’t say anything about her, lecherous as he is, she looked a little hurt. It was hard to spot because then you nearly took the wall down, buuuut I noticed.”
Izuku blinked. “A-alright, that’s fair.” He cleared his throat. “But second of all, how would she feel that way? She’s gorgeous! ”
“I know, right?” Mina agreed. “And have you seen her butt?”
Ochako blushed a little. “Yeah…”
Mina smirked. “So yeah, just keep that in mind, alright?”
He nodded. “F-fine.”
“Good!” she chirped again.
Another stomach growl.
“S-sorry.”
“Oh, right!” Mina hopped up out of the bed. “I still have some snacks from the first week. We can eat those and play some games to pass the time. School starts back up tomorrow, so let’s get a good night’s sleep though, alright?” She turned back and winked for some reason.
Ochako nodded. “Sounds good to me. Deku?”
“Relaxing sounds nice,” he muttered with a sigh.
“But first, look at you two in your pajamas already. I feel so overdressed!” She reached down and began to whip her shirt off.
“M-Mina!” Izuku cried, slamming his eyes shut and covering his face. Next to him, Ochako had a similar reaction.
“Oh boo, you both are so adorable.” Izuku could almost hear her tongue sticking out.
Mina began to rummage around in her dressers. After only a few more seconds she called out to them. “Alright, you can open up. I’m decent.”
Izuku sighed and lowered his hands. “Mina, please war-”
She wasn’t. She wasn’t decent.
Mina was still shirtless, a seductive smirk and a wink on her face as he stared at her black bra. It contrasted beautifully with her skin and accented her impressive bust. Izuku was completely frozen, staring against his wishes. ‘Those are-’
He wrenched his mind back and slammed his face down into his arms again. “Mina!”
She began to cackle loudly. “Oh man, you should have seen your faces! You two are too precious!” She paused for a second as she actually put a shirt on. “Alright, for real this time. Let’s play on the floor, it’s easier than the bed.”
Izuku peeked out from behind his hands, looking over at Ochako, who was doing the same. They both smiled awkwardly as blush filled their face. They exchanged an understanding look and then moved to join their girlfriend on the floor.
The three enjoyed each other’s company immensely over the next several hours until the sun went down. After the day he had, Izuku was ready for an early night. He yawned and stood up, stretching after sitting on the floor for so long.
“Where are you going?” Ochako asked, looking up at him.
“To bed,” he answered. “Oh, of course.” He kneeled down and gave Ochako a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I’m still new to this, sorry.” He stood up and looked at her, expecting to see her blushing or smiling, but instead he saw her looking a little disappointed as her brow furrowed. “W-what?”
“Midori, she’s wondering why you’re leaving,” Mina told flatly.
“I told you?”
Ochako pointed to Mina’s bed with her brow still furrowed. “Your bed is right over there.”
“W-what?” He stopped dead. Surely he was hearing things.
Mina hopped up while he was stunned and threw her arms around his waist. “Yep! You get to sleep with your two beautiful girlfriends tonight. How lucky are you?”
“Y-you want me to-”
“Ugh, Deku, why are you so adorable?” Ochako stood up, looking down on him slightly with a soft, sympathetic expression even though her own cheeks were blushing. “Yes!”
Izuku felt his quirk pulse and hum in his mind.
Good. Keep them close.
Izuku hated when he agreed with his instincts. “If you two want me to, then alright.”
“Yay!” Mina squeezed him harder. “Let’s go get ready and turn in! I’ve never been this excited to go to bed, but hey!”
Izuku nodded as Mina let him go. “Alright, alright. I’ll be right back then.”
He left the room and headed back down to his room to get ready. His face felt slightly warm the whole time and his heart was beating a little faster as he brushed his teeth. He was nearly shaking when he finally returned to room 408 and knocked.
Mina swung the door open. “You don’t need to knock, silly, but thanks.” She smiled up at him as she moved to let him enter.
Ochako showed up less than a minute later, entering as she let out a big yawn. “Y’all ready?”
Izuku made a mental note of her unusual speech but filed it away for now. He had more pressing matters to deal with. “Y-yeah, I guess. I’m not exactly sure what-”
Mina put a finger to his lips, silencing him. “Go lie down, we’ll take care of the rest.”
Izuku nodded and slowly, nervously made his way towards Mina’s pink bed. He reached out and pulled the covers back, including the weighted blanket he had previously noticed. Izuku felt his mouth dry up as he looked back at the two women watching him. Mina was smiling kindly, nodding for him to continue, while Ochako looked like she almost wanted to die of embarrassment, but at the same time was incredibly happy.
He gulped and rolled onto the bed, placing his head on her pillow. “Alright, now wh-” He gasped in surprise as Mina dove over him and onto his left side. She quickly burrowed herself into him, pushing herself up between his arm and body and placing her head on over his heart.
Before he could finish processing the sensation of Mina’s soft-yet-toned body on his, Ochako slipped into the bed on his right. Because of her height, instead of resting on his chest, her head came to rest next to his, their faces close enough to barely feel each other’s breathing. He looked into her eyes and felt his heart swell.
She leaned over and pecked him on the nose. “I’m really happy right now, Deku,” she muttered softly.
Mina quickly sat up and grabbed the covers at the foot of the bed, pulling them up over the three of them as she dove back into Izuku’s side. She stretched up and gave him a kiss on the cheek before burrowing herself back into his chest. “Me too.”
Izuku felt tears well in the corner of his eyes. He leaned over and gave Mina a kiss on the forehead and gave one to Ochako on her cheek. “Me three.” Mina mewled slightly at the contact and Ochako’s blush marks grew larger.
The both shifted slightly, moving somehow closer to him. “It’s been a hell of a day, huh?” Mina muttered.
“You can say that again,” Izuku replied as his eyelids began to close.
The three of them drifted off to sleep tight in each others embrace.
Notes:
See you guys next time :)
Chapter 29: Moving Forward
Summary:
The road to the festival begins.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ochako awoke slowly. ‘Oh man, that was a hell of a dream.’ She felt the familiar sensation of someone pressed against her as the world gradually leaked back into her awareness. ‘I should be happy with Mina, I don’t need to be greedy…’
Her eyes opened gently, something decidedly… green . ‘Wait…’ Sleeping peacefully next to her, arm wrapped around and holding her close… was Deku. ‘It...it wasn’t a dream?’
As the memories came crashing back, it was like experiencing it all over again. Her heart swelled and an unbelievable sense of joy permeated every fiber of her being. A wide, sleepy smile spread across her face underneath her half-open eyes as she leaned forward and smelled his hair. She looked down at his peaceful face and couldn’t help but lean down and plant a kiss on his cheek.
She immediately felt bad as he stirred, but not bad enough to let the smile fall from her face. He opened his eyes slowly at first, but as he caught sight of her, they flew open wide. He looked her face over as fast as he could and Ochako could almost hear his brain going through the same process that she had just gone through.
His eyes closed slightly as a smile grew on his face, as well as a green dusting on his cheeks. “Good morning,” he whispered, a small amount of light glowing from his eyes.
“Mornin’” she responded unthinkingly. “Sorry for wakin’ you up.”
His eyes widened a tiny bit as his mouth turned up in an amazed smile. “You have an accent.”
Ochako’s eyes slammed open as she woke up suddenly. She let out a squeak as she tried to bury her face to hide her growing blush. Unfortunately, the only thing available to burrow into was Deku’s neck and shoulder. Or was it fortunately?
As she hid her face, Deku moved his head down slightly, putting his face in her hair this time. “I love you,” he whispered into her hair.
“That’s… that’s not fair,” she pouted, muffled by his neck.
“What’s going on?” came a voice from the other side of the bed. Mina poked her head above Deku’s chest with a curious, but sleepy expression on her face.
Deku leaned over and planted a kiss on Mina’s forehead, causing the pink girl to squeal and bury her face in his chest. “Oh damn, I could get used to this…” She lifted her head and looked over at the taller woman with an almost intoxicated expression. “Ochako, come give m- what’s up with her?”
Deku shook Ochako slightly as she shoved her head back down. “Did you know that Ochako has an accent?”
Mina scrambled over Deku, causing him to gasp slightly as she put pressure on his chest and stomach. “What?! Really?!” she whisper-shouted.
Ochako shook her head, her face feeling like it was on fire.
“Ochako, come oooon,” Mina whined. “You don’t have to hide anything around us, I promise.”
The blushing brunette finally peeked her eyes over Deku’s shoulder and looked at the kind, smiling faces of her boyfriend and girlfriend. “You… you won’t make fun of me?”
“Never!” Deku replied immediately.
“Well, never seriously, ” Mina continued.
Ochako sighed and let her facade fall. “F-fine. I trust you two. Good mornin’, Mina.”
“Oh. My. God.” Mina scrambled closer to Ochako, causing Deku to grunt a little more. “I didn’t think it was possible for you to be more adorable.”
Ochako looked away. “You don’t hate it? I think it makes me sound dumb.”
Deku’s arm wrapped around Mina, bringing her down to his chest as he rolled over slightly. Ochako found herself face-to-face-to-face with the others as Deku stared into her eyes. “No, I don’t hate it. I don’t think it makes you sound dumb. I really like it.”
“Me too,” Mina agreed, only a few inches from her. “Don’t let anyone make you feel bad about yourself, okay? If they do, I’ll sic our dragon on them.” She opened her mouth and mimicked some biting motions.
“Mina, I’m not your attack dog,” Deku muttered softly.
“No, but if someone hurt Ochako or me…”
His eyes flashed softly brighter.
“I thought so.” Mina pecked him on the cheek.
He looked down, smiling softly but also looking a little guilty before pulling Mina back to his left side. Deku pulled his arms out from underneath the two women, Ochako immediately missing his warmth, and sat up. He stretched his arms wide. “Alright, gotta get going. Kacchan gets upset if I’m late.”
He crawled over Ochako and stood up, stretching again and yawning as he made his way to the door. “See you at breakfast,” he said cheerfully as he left, his eyes still glowing.
“We should get up too,” Ochako muttered as the door closed behind him, pulling off the mittens she wore at night to prevent her from accidentally activating her quirk.
“Yeah, but first…” Mina rolled over towards Ochako, throwing her arms around her.
Ochako felt her heart swell again. Mina’s affection was definitely addictive.
She pulled Mina’s head back slightly, running her fingers through her pink hair. Ochako smiled softly as she leaned in and planted a quick, chaste kiss on her lips. “I’m really glad we started doing this.”
Mina giggled and burrowed back into Ochako’s chest. “Thank Midori, it was his idea.”
Izuku made it back to his room as quickly as he could. He entered and quickly closed the door behind him before beginning to move frantically around his room. He went over everything: every poster, action figure, and collectible. Once everything was accounted for, he relaxed.
And then he began to panic.
‘What was I thinking? What am I doing? How can I have a girlfriend?! How can I have TWO girlfriends?!’ He paced around his room with wide eyes. ‘They’re both so cool and amazing and their bodies feel so good on mine!’
He sighed, finally releasing his quirk that he had been holding since he woke up. Immediately his loose pajama pants became much, much tighter. ‘Crap, I barely had time to deal with this before, now I have two of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen dating me?! Not to mention all the other girls in this class…’
Izuku did some slow, calming breathing exercises, but to no avail. ‘Dang it. Well, until I can calm it down, guess I’m getting more quirk practice.’ He sighed again, sharper this time, letting his quirk cover his lower body and loosen his pants again. Izuku wasted no time changing into his workout clothes, Katsuki was already probably waiting for him.
‘Whatever, at least running is easier without it all getting in the way.’ He closed the door quietly behind him and hurried downstairs.
Just as he predicted, Katsuki beat him there. “Where the hell have you been?” he snapped.
Izuku’s shoulders slumped slightly. “Uh, I’ll explain in a bit.”
Katsuki glared for a second, then shrugged as they started jogging.
“So uh,” Izuku began awkwardly after a few minutes of running. “As of last night, I’m… no longer single.”
Katsuki didn’t even look at him. “Hmm. Uraraka or Raccoon Eyes?”
Izuku didn’t answer for a moment as he searched his memories, making sure the previous day hadn’t been a dream. “...Both.”
Katsuki did look at him that time. “Both? Hmm. So you’re poly? Can’t say I’m surprised.”
“As of yesterday I am, I guess,” Izuku chuckled once awkwardly. “Wait, why aren’t you surprised?”
“Think about your quirk, dumbass.”
“F-fair.”
Katsuki huffed. “I’m more surprised you found two people willing to do it.”
“Really?” Izuku asked curiously. “Mina said that it’s not that uncommon.”
Katsuki shot him an exasperated look and rolled his eyes. “Listen, Horns. I know you don’t really pay attention to that stuff, but most people aren’t poly. Just because it isn’t weird doesn’t mean it isn’t uncommon.”
“O-oh. Right,” Izuku said softly.
“You better not let it get in the way of our training,” Katsuki warned. “You start slacking and I’ll beat your ass out of any relationship you’re in.”
Izuku laughed. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. Thanks, Kacchan.”
They continued their jog around the UA campus in relative quiet, Izuku considering his newfound situation as well as their classes starting back up. Once they arrived back at the dorms, panting from their exertion, Izuku had a thought.
“Hey Kacchan, what do you think of Pony?”
Katsuki seemed to think for a moment as they walked. “Who, Yankee? She’s alright, I guess. Why?”
Izuku had his hands over his head for better circulation. “Well, you’ve always had a thing for foreign girls…”
Katsuki stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide for a moment before they narrowed and glared at Izuku. “What are you talking about?”
It was Izuku’s turn to roll his eyes. “Kacchan, every girl you’ve ever shown a passing interest in was a foreigner.”
“Whatever.” Katsuki clicked his tongue. “She’s not my type, anyway.”
“She too shy?” Is this what Mina felt like when she teased people? He couldn’t help the smile forming on his face.
Katsuki, on the other hand, glared harder. “Shut the fuck up, Deku.”
Izuku and his friend walked back into the dorm and up the stairs, waving as they split apart. Once back in the privacy of his room, Izuku sighed and let his quirk loose again.
He looked down in frustration. ‘Still? This is bad…’
Izuku flexed his minor transformation again as he grabbed his shower bag. He stopped at the door, his hand inches from the handle. After thinking for a few moments and considering his options, he let out a large sigh and turned away from the door, tossing his bag back onto his desk chair.
‘I gotta take care of this before class...’
Momo considered herself to be a tolerant person, but she expected people to be courteous, especially if they were to be neighbors for the next four years. She heard Mina’s door open again and she decided to do something about it, as politely as she could.
She opened her door as the shorter, pink woman was walking past. “Mina,” she said tersely.
Her classmate turned and smiled brightly at her. “Morning, Yaomomo!”
‘God, she’s adorab- Stop it Momo, focus.’ She sighed curtly. “I respect you and Ochako’s decision to… do whatever it is you do.”
“We cuddle,” Mina remarked flatly, her smile ever present.
Momo felt that twinge of envy in her chest again but shoved it away. “Yes, that. While I respect you and Ochako, I have to ask why you must move back and forth so many times in the early morning.”
“What do you mean? Ochako just left a little bit ago.” She tilted her head to the side.
‘Stop it. Stop being cute.’ Momo folded her arms. “I heard someone moving down the hallway quite early this morning- look, I’m not saying you can’t walk down the hallway- you know what, nevermind. I am just not used to this much motion outside my room.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I will have to get accustomed to it. I apologize for bothering you, I am just tired after getting in late last night.”
Mina was scratching her head in thought. “Oh!” she said suddenly, snapping her fingers. “You must’ve heard Midori!”
Momo’s mind stopped working for a second. “M-Midoriya?”
“Yep! He left really early.” She beamed up at Momo.
“W-what was he doing in your room?” Momo was sure this was one of Mina’s pranks.
“Same thing that Ochako was,” she answered, as casually as if she was talking about the weather. “Midori’s really comfy for someone so muscley. I slept great!”
Momo felt her heart clench inside her chest. ‘Come on, Momo, you knew this was coming. You saw them at the hospital.’ She looked down slightly. ‘Wait.’ Her vision snapped back up. “Ochako an- Both of them?!”
“Uh huh,” Mina responded, rocking back and forth on her feet slowly. “I was on his left and Ocha was on his right. It was nice…” She grew a slightly dreamy look as she reminisced.
Momo stared for a second. “You… you’re joking. I just heard Ochako twice, clearly.”
“You would have heard her three times if that were true,” Mina pointed out. “Come on, Yaomomo, you’re smarter than me.”
She froze up. Mina was right.
“B-but, what? No! That’s-”
Mina tilted her head again. “It’s not that weird to sleep with your boyfriend. Or Girlfriend.”
“N-no, I suppose not, but which is it?!” Momo was blushing at just how scandalous this all sounded. And how thrilling.
“Both.”
Momo took a half step back. “...what?”
“I’m dating both! And they’re both dating me! And each other!” Mina explained cheerfully. “It’s called polyamory!”
“I know what it is!” Momo snapped back. “I just- what-” She bit her lip and turned away slightly. ‘Maybe I still have a chance then?’ She turned back to Mina. “So, you’re in an open relationship?”
“No.” Mina retorted. “We’re not open, we’re with each other. We’re not opposed to anybody else joining, but nobody is gonna come in for just Ochako, see? It’s all of us or none of us.”
“Oh,” Momo said, a hint of sadness in her voice she didn’t manage to hide. ‘So unless Ochako and Mina agree to it… No, don’t be ridiculous. That ship has sailed, Momo.’
“Why?” Her face went from firm to conniving and teasing. “You want in?”
Her mind stopped processing. It was far too early for this.
Momo’s confusion and worry fell from her face, leaving it completely expressionless. She took a step backward and closed the door. “I will see you in class, Ashido.”
Eiko was getting a little worried. It was nearly time for class to start and Aniki was nowhere to be seen. Being late wasn’t manly. She hadn’t seen him at breakfast, or at all that morning. Eiko hoped he was okay.
There was less than a minute remaining when the door flew open and Aniki jogged in, panting slightly. He must have sprinted here, judging from the small amount of sweat dripping down his brow.
As he rushed past the front of the class and into his seat, something very faint hit her nose.
‘Holy crap, what’s that smell? It smells amazing! Wait, is that Aniki? Since when has he smelled like that? Has he always smelled like that?’
She couldn’t help but shoot a glance or two or three at the green-haired man as he took a seat behind Bakugou. Eiko had a strange urge to get a little closer to him but resisted. ‘I guess it’s just a new body wash he’s using or something.’ She took another small smell, hoping to catch a whiff of it on the air, but to no avail. ‘I didn’t know they made soap that smelled so good. Maybe Mina’s onto something with all those scented washes she keeps trying to force on me.’
Eiko didn’t know what the smell actually was; she couldn’t pin it down. It was unlike anything she had ever smelled before, but at the same time, it was almost like her mind knew what it was. Whatever it was, she really liked it.
Before she could waste more time thinking about what it was, Aizawa arrived. Or rather, what she assumed was Aizawa and not just a bandage-covered mummy with shaggy black hair.
“Professor!” Iida yelled from the back as he raised his hand. “Should you be teaching in your condition?!”
Aizawa ignored him. “Welcome back, class. As you’re all undoubtedly aware, the UA Sports Festival starts next week, and as first years, your event is on Monday. That means you only have a week to get ready. I hope none of you wasted last week goofing off because we didn’t have classes.”
“That being said,” their professor continued, “obviously a week of physical conditioning isn’t going to make too big of a difference, so that means this next week we’re going to be focusing on making sure your quirk and your skills with your quirk are the best they can be.”
A shudder ran through the class at his ominous tone.
“You were warned that missing a week wouldn’t be a vacation. This week, we’re going to push you every opportunity we get, especially in All Might’s class. This festival is one of the most important things here at UA; it’s how you get noticed by pros and agencies. One opportunity a year, four opportunities in a lifetime, none of you can afford to not do your best.”
Even though she could only see his wild eyes behind his bandages, Eiko could feel his manic grin. “Welcome to Hell Week.”
Aizawa wasn’t joking. ‘Hell Week’ began with him shoving all the material they missed last week into a single day. Eiko was mentally exhausted by lunchtime and she still had the entire afternoon to go.
She had to admit, the talk about the festival had gotten her all hyped up. She admired the hell out of how Ochako got into it, declaring that she was ‘gonna do my best!’ to the entire class. That was manly. It was kinda funny, seeing just how serious and intense the normally cute Ochako could get.
As the class headed to lunch, she noticed Aniki going in the opposite direction. She overheard him saying something to Mina about heading back to the dorms for a bit, but decided to let it go. She also noticed Mina and him exchanging a quick hug as he left, causing her to feel a slight tug in her chest.
Back before UA, Eiko wasn’t like she was now. She always wanted to be a hero, but she didn’t understand what that really meant. Not until Mina showed her how.
She had admired the pink girl from afar for a while. They didn’t exactly travel in the same social circles most of the time, after all. Mina was popular, outgoing and pretty, while Eiko was more reserved, unsure of herself and… plain. Mina had a flashy quirk, suitable for heroics, while Eiko just… didn’t. In many ways, Mina was her idol; she was everything she wanted to be.
Nothing made that more clear to her than one fateful afternoon after school when a towering villain appeared on the streets when Eiko and some of her classmates were walking home. He approached two of the smaller students in her class and loomed over them, his body and head concealed by his massive trenchcoat and hat.
He was well over 15 feet tall and built like a tank, that much was obvious even beneath his clothing. He towered over the two students, asking- threatening them- to tell him where a certain hero agency was. When they hesitated, clearly scared out of their minds, he began to look… violent. He crushed solid concrete with his bare hands as he grew frustrated with their unwillingness or inability to tell him.
Eiko remembered it like it was yesterday. She watched the man growl and posture over her classmates as they stood there helplessly. Eiko looked around.‘There’s no heroes nearby!’ she thought. ‘Someone- no, you! You do it! Just do it!’
But her feet wouldn’t move.
She was frozen.
But then Mina happened.
Mina dashed in front of the man, between the students and him, holding her arms wide to protect the two. “Turn left at the corner!” Mina yelled. “The left at the avenue and the agency is two kilometers further!”
The villain paused for a second before rumbling out a “...thanks” and walking away.
Eiko for a long time had something of a crush on Mina but that… that was the moment she fell for her.
But she wasn’t worthy. As Mina collapsed to her knees and bawled in fear, Eiko just watched. Mina had risked her life and Eiko couldn’t do anything.
Eiko went home and hid in her room, scratching off UA from her college application list. ‘I’m no hero,’ she thought. ‘All I did was talk big, but when things got hairy and it was time to risk my life… I showed my true colors. While Mina dove into danger… I froze. I hid. I was afraid.’
She stared down at her hero compendium as she remembered her idol, Crimson Riot. Unable to look at it any longer, she flung it with all her strength at her bookshelf.
“That ain’t it!” a voice from behind her shouted. She nearly jumped out of her skin as she whipped around to see a hologram of Crimson Riot standing in front of her. In her frustration, she had knocked open an old hero bio box and activated a hologram projector.
“Mr. Crimson,” the interviewer began, “Some say you have a reputation for being reckless. Aren’t you scared whenever you run into danger?”
Eiko looked down. There was no way. He was fearless, while she wa-
“Who the hell do you think I am?!” the hero retorted. “Of course I get scared.”
Eiko’s eyes widened. ‘What…?’
“Ain’t nobody out there who faces down death without fear, other than idiots and-” A censor beep cut him off, but Eiko got the gist. “Back in my days as a sidekick, there were some people I coulda saved, but didn’t.”
“I remember,” the interviewer continued. “You can hardly be blamed for that, and now with rocketing crim-”
“That ain’t it!” he repeated. “I hesitated for a second! It was my weak spirit that doomed them!”
Eiko turned to look at her idol, trembling.
“I know something scarier than death! A person’s final moments, frozen in fear and pain, fear and pain that I couldn’t prevent! It’s only because I’ve seen that that I do what I do.”
“Let me tell you a story,” Crimson Riot continued, his voice a little calmer. “It was during those sidekick days that I had the honor of meeting my idol, Fumio Midoriya, or as you know him, Gallant. He took me aside, seeing the pain in my eyes. I told him about the fear I felt, about the regrets I felt, and about my doubts. And do you know what he said to me?”
Crimson Riot looked down, straight into the camera. “Crimson, he said, What is more noble? To be a hero because of your instincts? Or to overcome and be a hero despite yourself? If you ask me, it’s those that are scared or conflicted that are the most heroic. The true meaning of courage is mastering your fear and doubt, not being without them.”
A single manly tear fell from Crimson Riot’s eye. “I’ve never forgotten those words. I remember them every. Single. Day.”
A few more tears fell from Eiko’s face.
“That’s… wow.” The reporter was stunned. “Thank you for sharing that with us.” He took a few moments to compose himself. “In your words, what is ‘Chivalry’?”
“A strong spirit,” he answered immediately. “Chivalry might be associated with men, but that ain’t right. It ain’t about confidence or fearlessness, it’s not about being a man or being a woman, none of that!” He turned his head up proudly. “I’m a hero, so I protect people! Once I’ve made that decision, I gotta put my life on the line for it! It’s about living without regret!”
It was at that moment that Eiko finally understood. She had always wanted to be a hero and she had trained for it, but after that day, she knew what it would take.
She went into the bathroom that very night and cut her long, black hair. To her, it represented her regrets and her past that she was casting away.
As she looked into the mirror, she sometimes wished she hadn’t trained as hard as she did. That was part of the reason nobody paid attention to her, she thought. She didn’t have the curves that the other girls had and her sharp teeth scared anyone else off. But that didn’t matter anymore; those were just part of those same regrets she was throwing away.
The first thing she did the next day of school was apologize to those two students who Eiko had failed to help. They didn’t know who she was, but that didn’t matter. That was another regret cast aside.
Nothing was going to stand in her way.
She redoubled her efforts: training her body, her quirk, and her mind. She pushed herself to the limits over the following year, her entire life dedicated to getting into UA… but she did it. She got in.
That day she moved into the dorms, she fully threw away her old self. A bottle of red hair dye and an egregious amount of hair gel later, she certainly looked different, but it wasn’t until Mina talked to her that her past released its last hook in her.
“Kirishima?!” a voice from behind her called as she walked through the hallways of the dorm. Eiko whipped around to see Mina running towards her with wide eyes. “What’s up with that hair?! You’ve got horns now, just like me!”
“Damn right I do!” Eiko answered. “Don’t touch ‘em though.” Mina nailed it: Eiko styled her hair like that to remind her of Mina that day. Her horns would be a symbol that helped her be like the woman looking up at her right now. “No regrets for me. Not anymore. I’m here to be a hero who protects others. Say goodbye to the old, pathetic me.”
Mina glared at her for a few seconds, sizing her up. “That day last year really hit you hard, huh? Well, I tell you what!” She threw a punch into Eiko’s arm. “The old you isn’t going anywhere with that gloomy look on your face! You throw that away and then come with me, alright? It’s time to meet all our new classmates, Miss ‘College Debut’!”
Eiko paused, her eyes wide. Those final, black tentacles of her regret faded away as a wide grin spread across her face. “Thanks.”
“That’s more like it, Kiri! Come on, maybe there will be someone else with horns, too!”
‘Kiri?’
Eiko was so caught up in her thoughts that lunch passed in a flash. She didn’t even realize when Aniki came back to class, smelling much more like he normally did. This school, this class, this festival… this is why she came to UA. She would become a hero that protected people.
She rubbed a hand over her defined abs through her shirt. ‘Maybe Mina or Aniki would like them.’
She blinked and shook her head, coming back to reality as her memories faded and class got ready to resume. ‘Where the hell did that come from?!’
Izuku had hardly ever been more mentally exhausted than he was after they were dismissed at the end of class. Hell Week was no joke apparently; he was even a little hesitant about All Might’s class the next day.
He was talking to Yaoyorozu about class rep business as he walked to the door when Ochako bounced up on his other side with a smile. The way she had demonstrated her passion for the festival was really inspiring, not to mention attractive, so he beamed widely back at her, even more than he normally would.
He opened the door to the hallway with his wide grin, only to be suddenly met with a veritable wall of students.
Looking back, it must have been quite a sight.
Izuku, with his horned head and his fangs bared, was already taller than most of the students at UA, not to mention some of the teachers, but even beyond that, he was flanked on both sides by women taller than he was.
It was probably a little intimidating.
Not to one student, evidently. A purple-haired student about Todoroki’s height- about an inch taller than the women next to Izuku- pulled himself out of the crowd. He looked exhausted, just like how Professor Aizawa always looked.
“So this is class 1-A?” he started dryly. “I heard you guys were impressive. I was hoping to see you, actually.” He looked straight at Izuku with a flat expression. “You’re the dragon, right? You stood up to your great-uncle at the USJ.”
Izuku’s eyebrow twitched. “Please don’t associate me with that man.”
He didn’t acknowledge the request. “I wanted to be in the hero course, but like many others here, I was forced down a different path. C’est la vie.”
Izuku heard Aoyama sparkle behind him.
“I didn’t cut it the first time around,” the purple-haired man continued as he looked down at Izuku, “but I have another chance. If any of us do well in the sports festival, the teachers can see fit to transfer us into the hero course… which means they’ll have to make room.” He looked past Izuku and into the classroom behind him. “So I’m here with a warning. If you don’t bring your very best, I’ll steal your spot right out from under you. Consider this a declaration of war.”
Izuku watched the man intensely as his class stared. He noticed something in his eyes; something very, very familiar to Izuku.
Self-loathing.
Before Izuku could say anything, another voice called out.
“Hey! I’m from 1-B next door and- Oh! Hey Midoriya!”
Izuku turned to see Tetsutetsu pushing his way through the crowd. Izuku gave him a friendly smile and a wave. “Hey, Tetsutetsu.”
The man approached him and held out his hand, which Izuku took in a firm handshake. “Don’t forget what I told you! You better bring everything you got!”
“Same goes for you!” Izuku smirked back. “I’m looking forward to everything your cla-”
“What are you doing associating with the enemy? ” came a third surprise voice from his left.
A blonde man about Izuku’s height was approaching. He had blue eyes and a face that screamed arrogance. “Don’t make me have to remind you not to deal with these 1-A de-”
“Monoma,” a familiar voice interrupted, “leave him alone.”
“Ah! Kendou!” Izuku waved at the redhead, who returned it with a smile. “Good to see you again.”
“You too!” she responded, pretending not to notice the stunned, if not insulted look on Monoma’s face. Perhaps he was simply hyper-competitive. “Sorry, can’t stay to chat, I gotta talk to the president.”
Izuku’s face lit up. “Oh, me too! Can I walk with you?”
“Of course!” She beckoned him over with a kind smile. “Maybe with both of us we might actually stand a chance against Nezu.”
Izuku laughed as he followed her, turning around to wave goodbye to his friends. “I’ll see you guys back at the dorms.”
Ochako waved back with a happy smile. “Bye, Deku!” She turned to Yaoyorozu and starting chatting cheerfully.
Izuku noted the barely-hidden look of betrayal and anger on Monoma’s face as he walked away.
Momo was a smart woman; she was bold enough to say that. But even she was a little mentally taxed after the absolute deluge of information Professor Aizawa had dumped on them the previous day. She sat down in her chair in the back left of 1-A’s homeroom on Tuesday morning, hoping that at least All Might’s class wouldn’t be too hard.
Aizawa entered the classroom, still bandaged all over, and wasted no time diving into business. “Today you’ll be having an all-day clinic with All Might… and someone new.”
Murmurs went around the room as students exchanged raised eyebrows.
“President Nezu has deemed it wise to assign each class a TA. You have the honor of being taught by one of UA’s ‘Big Three’, so try not to make fools of yourselves, alright? That’s all. Good luck.”
Momo shivered at the sadistic look in his eyes as he turned and left the classroom again.
‘A TA? One of the Big Three?’ Momo could barely contain her excitement. ‘There’s so much I could learn from-’
The door flew open again as All Might burst into the room. “Good morning, students!”
“Good morning, All Might!” the class returned in unison.
“That’s what I like to hear! You’re ready to face the day!” He laughed his booming laugh. “As Aizawa already told you, we have someone new joining the class today! Say hello to your new TA!”
A periwinkle-haired woman appeared in the doorway, beaming from ear to ear with an excited smile under her big, blue eyes. Her hair was comparable to Tsuyu’s in length- down past her waist- and she was about Kyouka’s height, a good eight or so inches shorter than Momo. As she looked her over, Momo’s eyes went wide and a faint red dusting graced her face as she noticed just how tight her uniform was around her chest. ‘She must be as large as I am…’
“Hello, 1-A!” she declared cheerfully. “My name is- GREENHORN?!”
The class all recoiled as she shouted and bolted across the room. In an instant, she was on Midoriya.
On Midoriya.
As in, sitting on his lap.
He seemed equally stunned as the rest of the class as she gave him a huge hug, crushing his head into her bosom. “I missed you so much! It’s been so long! I’m sorry I didn’t come see you in the hospital!”
“I-I know you were doing that foreign exchange thing in America, Hadou, it’s-”
“Hadou?! I thought I told you to call me Nejire, Greenhorn!”
The familiarity between the two was quite… unsettling. Or at least, that’s what Momo felt like she should feel like. What she actually felt was a strange tightness in her chest.
The woman let him go, allowing him to pull back slightly as she looked down into his face, which was rapidly turning green. “Look how big you’ve gotten! It’s only been a year and it’s like I barely recognize you!”
She put one hand behind his head and began stroking one of his horns with the other, running her fingers along its length. “I was hoping that I would get assigned to your class! Oh, it’s gonna be so good to see you all the time again!”
Midoriya seemed to try and say something, but instead, his eyes fluttered. Then they closed as she brought his head into her, continuing to pet his horns.
Then he began to purr.
He honestly began to purr. There was nothing else that low rumble coming from him could be.
Momo nearly fell out of her chair. She saw Ochako and Mina shooting wide-eyed looks at each other out of the corner of her vision, but the rest of the class was fixated on the scene before them; none more so than Mineta, who looked like his eyes were about to explode with the pressure of the glare he was giving to Izuku. The only one seemingly unaffected was Bakugou, who was just staring ahead, looking almost bored.
Their new TA was sitting in Midoriya’s lap, stroking his ridged, green horns. He had his eyes closed, a look of absolute bliss covering his face as he purred, pressed into her prodigious chest.
He was putty in her hands.
An unbidden thought crossed Momo’s mind.
‘I want that.’
Her eyes went wide as her face starting filling with blush. Fortunately, before she could continue to have a crisis, All Might cleared his throat.
“Oh!” the woman chirped. “Sorry!” She hopped up out of Midoriya’s lap and headed back to the front of the room as if nothing had happened. She paused at Bakugou’s desk for a second. “Hi, Bakugou!” she said cheerfully as she gave him an excited wave.
He nodded in response. “Hey, Spirals.”
‘Spirals?! She’s the one working for Ryukyu?!’
She planted herself at the front of the class and looked them over. “So, my name is Nejire Hadou, and I’ll be your TA! We’re gonna have a lot of fun together, I can tell!” The way she jumped around as she spoke and how she held her hands… it made her seem so young. “You all look like you’re going to be super interesting!”
All Might cleared his throat again. “Hadou…”
“Right, right, sorry!” she said back to him, never losing her smile. “Alright, today you’re all going to be training under me! Get into your gear and meet us down in City B!”
With a wave and another wide smile, she left the room, All Might chuckling softly as he followed.
The classroom was quiet for a second. Momo shot a glance at Midoriya, who looked like he was waking up from an exceptionally peaceful nap. Other students were watching him too, not exactly sure what to think as he shook his head slightly and rubbed his eyes.
Suddenly, Midoriya hopped up from his seat. “You heard the woman! City B!” His tone was calm, but commanding.
There was another pause, then people finally, slowly, started to move.
Midoriya and Bakugou exchanged knowing looks with each other as they made their way to the door.
“She so bubbly!” Kaminari said with a smile to Eiko next to him. “Maybe this training won’t be so bad after all.”
Midoriya and Bakugou stopped in their tracks, causing Kaminari to falter. They looked at him for a second, then back to each other.
Then they began to laugh.
“W-what’s so funny?” Kaminari asked, clearly worried.
They didn’t answer as they walked out of the room, Midoriya’s arm around Bakugou’s shoulder, still laughing.
Kaminari hurried after them. “Guys?!”
Notes:
See you guys next time :)
Chapter 30: Hell Week
Summary:
Will 1-A survive Nejire?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ochako headed off to the locker room to change into her costume with her head swirling with emotions. She had just watched their new TA- who was smoking hot, by the way- sit on Deku’s lap and begin petting him. Hadou pressed him into her- Ochako gulped- generous chest and began to pet him. And then he… he purred. Deku purred.
She didn’t know how to handle it at the moment. Her ferocious, standing-up-to-a-supervillain boyfriend purred like a big, terrifying cat.
It was adorable.
Ochako shook her head. She was here to be a hero and if Deku’s laughter was anything to go on, she wasn’t in for an easy day. She pushed the thought of her boyfriend- she still couldn't get used to that- out of her mind.
She and the girls all changed quickly, chatting only sparsely as they all tried to focus. Deku and Bakugou’s laughter had made them all nervous.
The quiet gave her time to think about something she had noticed over the short time she had been at UA, namely the fact that Pony didn't seem to ever change with them. The woman always ducked behind a set of lockers or hid somewhere when she changed. There wasn't anything wrong with that per se, but it was a little odd.
Mina seemed to notice it too. As the two of them walked out in their costumes, she spotted Ochako peering in concern at the American lagging behind them. "It's kinda weird, huh?" she asked in a low whisper.
Ochako nodded. "I hope she doesn't think we're gonna make fun of her or anything."
"I thought the whole 'body-shy American' thing was just a trope, but I guess not." Mina shrugged before growing a wide smile and pointing over at the group of students. "Hey, check it out," she whispered, " our boyfriend ."
Ochako blushed a little as she saw Deku standing at the entrance to the city, his muscular back expose-
Her blush fell away immediately as she caught sight of the scales covering his right shoulder. They didn't look like his normal scales, they looked… different. That was right where that monster’s flames had struck him and Ochako knew he would have a scar there even with the best doctors his father could afford… but this was her first time seeing it.
Mina had noticed them too, her own mood dropping slightly as she looked in concern. The two women exchanged glances before they continued their approach.
Ochako made a move to greet Deku, but then she saw the look on his face. His mouth was opened slightly, his fangs elongated even more than normal as his eyes glowed. His horns were longer and she saw him breathing a little heavier. He looked intimidating and if she didn’t know any better, a little scared. At least, she thought she knew better.
Bakugou soon joined him, a similar ultra-focused look on his face as well. The two men stared forward at the closed gate, neither speaking a word to each other.
Their energy spread to the rest of the class, who grew their own looks of determination mixed with trepidation. Two of the most competent and skilled members of their class looking so grim was doing nobody’s confidence very many favors.
The gate opened slowly, the two doors sliding with a great mechanical noise to reveal All Might and Hadou standing there, each bearing wide, but very different smiles.
Ochako got her first look at the woman’s hero costume. It was a skin-tight white, mint and blue suit with strange twisting cuffs over the yellow gauntlets that covered her forearm. Two locks of hair were styled up like a pair of blue, spiraled horns. ‘Is that why Bakugou calls her Spirals?’
“Ochako.”
‘She’s really pretty.’ Ochako admired the way her white pupils played off her blue eyes. And those ‘horns’ of hers.
“Ocha-” Mina elbowed her. “Ochako, you’re staring. ”
Ochako shook her head and remembered where she was. She glanced down at Mina in embarrassment, who was wearing a look of incredulity and interest.
“Hiii!” Hadou yelled, waving wildly as the doors opened fully. “Wow, I love your costumes! Bakugou, those gauntlets are so cool!”
The man didn’t respond, instead just continuing to glare.
Kaminari looked back and forth between the TA and his classmate. “Bakubro, aren’t you taking this a little seriously?”
“She seems really nice,” Tooru bubbled, “why you gotta be so intense?”
“None of you are ready for this,” Deku suddenly growled. “Hadou isn’t one of the Big Three because she’s nice.”
“I told you to call me Nejire, Greenhorn!”
“Alright, students!” All Might interrupted. “Follow us, your day is just beginning!”
The class followed their two instructors deeper into the city until they came to a large intersection. The whole time, Deku and Bakugou were glaring, focusing and psyching themselves up. It was bizarre to see them getting so worked up about the shorter, bouncy woman who was sometimes literally skipping alongside All Might in front of them.
“Here we are!” All Might declared as he brought the group to a stop. “Hadou, are you ready?”
“Yes, sir!” she declared proudly. All Might laughed and walked over to the edge of the intersection, planting himself on a fake car, denting the metal slightly just with his weight.
Hadou turned to the rest of the class. “Welcome to training! We’re gonna start with some sparring so you guys can get an idea of where you are and how much further you have to go!”
“This is what I’m talkin about!” Eiko yelled in response, pumping her first. “Who’s first?”
Hadou giggled. “All of you, of course!”
“Wait, at once?” Satou asked incredulously.
She nodded. “Ayup!”
Eiko looked like she was about to say something a little confident, but a sideways glance at Deku stopped her tongue. She instead dropped into a combat stance and hardened her arms, causing Hadou to lower herself slightly as well.
The TA was about twenty meters in front of them, smiling slightly less wide than she had been while the rest of Ochako’s class prepared themselves. She watched her boyfriend grow scales over his body, sprout wings, flex his claws and bare his fangs. Even with how high of an opinion Deku had of Hadou, Ochako still felt a little bad about a 20-on-1 fight.
Bright yellow energy began to form around her hands, twisting around her gauntlets.
‘Is that why Bakugou calls her Spirals?’
"Ready when you are!" Hadou called, her expression faltering slightly as she focused.
Deku bent down and kicked off with all his might, streaking into the air as Bakugou let off a massive downward explosion and forced himself skyward as well. The brawlers in the class- Eiko, Ochako, Satou and the rest- began to run towards the woman as the skirmishers like Aoyama and Kyouka stood back.
She whipped her hands forward as a massive, twisting vortex of energy came blasting towards them.
Ochako’s eyes went wide.
‘THAT’S why Bakugou calls her Spirals!’
As soon as Hadou gave the go-ahead, Izuku took to the air, hoping to avoid her Wave Motion. Her yellow energy surged forward only a few seconds later, crashing into the mass of students and knocking most of them back. He spared a glance back, noting with a degree of pride that Kirishima had endured the blast and that Ochako had dodged out of the way.
‘Dodge’ may have been a generous term, as what really happened is she removed her mass and leapt to the side, tripping and falling over a bench on the sidewalk. She was pulling herself up, a look of determination growing on her face.
Izuku refocused, turning his vision back on Hadou.
“Izuku!” he heard a voice above him call.
“On it!” he returned, swooping to his right and snatching Katsuki out of mid-air.
Katsuki smirked as he hung onto Izuku’s back. “I’m real fucking glad we practiced that so much.”
“I wouldn’t drop you, come on,” Izuku retorted, making sure his friend was secure before turning back onto their opponent.
“Nice and low,” Katsuki muttered, small pops bursting from his hand. “Give me a clear bombing run.”
Izuku beat his wings, picking up speed and soaring past Hadou. They didn’t have much of a chance against her, he knew, but he should use his classmates to his advantage. Her blind spot might give them the edge.
Hadou sent another blast forward, knocking another half dozen students out as they were overwhelmed by the blast. Those that were still standing- less than half at this point- where spread out. A wise decision, if you asked Izuku.
Mina was taken out in that wave and Izuku held his breath as she hit the ground and groaned in pain. He expected his quirk to flare up with anger, but nothing happened. He let his breath out, sighing in relief as he realized his quirk wasn’t going to get upset with good-natured sparring. He had been doing that with Katsuki for years, but now he had girlfriends; this was a whole new world he had to learn how to navigate.
Ochako, Kirishima and Satou came rushing at the woman from three sides, hoping to get close. Predictably, at least if you were Izuku, Hadou kicked off and took to the skies, small pulses of energy from her feet keeping her airborne.
"She can fly?!" Kirishima yelled in disbelief.
Hadou flipped herself upside down about ten feet above the ground, pointing both of her hands down as she unleashed a monsterous blast of energy, knocking the three students back and leaving them groaning on the ground. At speeds that Izuku hoped to one day achieve, Hadou streaked around the battlefield like a pastel missile, strafing over the remaining students and sending them all tumbling down. Even Todoroki’s massive ice wall wasn’t quick enough to stop her attack.
Hadou had them completely outmatched.
She turned around, locking eyes with the only two remaining students for a moment before tearing towards them.
Izuku beat his wings hard and shot towards her as fast as he could, but right before they collided, he spread his wings wide and flipped upside down, swooping over and behind the woman with his explosive passenger. With a roar, Katsuki pushed his hands together and began to prepare his attack. Like a well oiled machine, Izuku brought his wings in to give his friend a clear shot and to avoid jostling his aim. He pushed the quirk to harden his scales and utilizing a trick he had discovered a few years ago.
He let his quirk slip a little in his head, closing up the small holes there, while keeping his quirk flowing around his head, keeping his ears from reforming. Izuku was now essentially deaf. It was disorienting, but that's what he wanted; he didn't have Katsuki's quirk adaptation in his ears, after all.
"Fire!" he shouted, silent to nobody but himself.
A massive explosion ripped through the air, shaking his teeth and jerking the two men backwards violently.
Izuku let his ears open back up, sound rushing back into his consciousness as he righted himself and beat his wings. "Did you get her?"
"Hell if I know!" his friend yelled back. "You know how slippery Spirals is!"
Izuku scanned around, pushing his quirk a little harder to try and detect the nimble woman undoubtedly soaring around him.
Suddenly, he was struck by a thought. He remembered Jirou's training, as limited as it was, and shut out the rest of his senses. He focused his energy and his quirk on his hearing, straining for a sign.
He found it. Fainter than anything he had ever heard before, but he found it.
With a sudden beat of his wings, he shot upward right as Hadou streaked beneath him, her foot extended.
“Ooh, good one, Greenhorn!” she called up. “I was hoping you’d learned something in the year I was gone!”
Izuku wasted no time diving toward her, his claws out in front of him.
Hadou whipped around and soared above him faster than he could react. “Alright, you’ve had your fun. I learned stuff in the past year too!”
Izuku and Katsuki both cried out as they were blasted with her twisting energy, pushing them towards the ground with irresistible force. The two men slammed into the earth, Katsuki still on his back, leaving a small crater beneath them.
It hadn’t even been thirty seconds since they started.
“POWER!!!” Hadou yelled loudly as she landed gently next to them. He heard her hop up and down a little bit and giggle. “Mirio is right, that is fun!”
After a few seconds, Katsuki rolled off of him and onto his back, groaning as he tried to move. Izuku panted as he pushed himself up, only to feel himself being held down by a forceful foot on his back. “Do you really wanna get back up?” Hadou asked. “We’re just sparring; don’t hurt yourself, Greenhorn.”
Izuku stopped pushing.
“Now let your quirk go, you’ve got a long day ahead of you.” Her voice was calm and relaxing, full of concern but still firm.
He hesitated for a second before finally letting his quirk go, the beating having dulled its pressure a little. Deep down, Izuku was a little proud with how well he had handled his quirk.
Izuku froze up slightly as he almost forgot to keep his quirk working around his right shoulder. He had almost exposed th-
"What're you waiting for?" Hadou asked curiously. "Wait," she added in a hushed tone as he suddenly found her closer, rubbing her fingers along his scarred scales. "Are you worried about this?"
He didn't say anything.
She leaned in even closer to his ear, speaking softly. “Greenhorn, you can’t get hung up on this. Being a hero means putting your entire heart and mind into it. Let. It. Go.” She emphasized each word with a small pet of his horns.
Izuku gulped. Hadou was right.
He nodded against the ground and let his quirk fade fully, his retreating scales exposing his scarred shoulder.
Hadou leaned back. “There you go.” She reached her hands down and pulled both of the men to their feet. “Good job, both of you. You make me proud! But Greenhorn, why didn’t you use your breath? Are you still worried about that, too?”
Izuku nodded sadly and glanced over at his classmates. “I don’t want them to think poorly of me. Poison is just so...”
She put a hand on his chest, looking up at him. “Hey now, you’re never going to get past that if you don’t practice. You gotta use it sooner or later, or you’re just hampering yourself. What did I just say? You gotta give this your all if you wanna succeed.”
Katsuki groaned slightly as he straightened up. “Listen to Spirals.”
Izuku looked between the two of them once before lowering his head. “You’re right. I'll… I'll try."
“Good!” She smiled widely and then jogged off to where All Might was gathering the rest of the students.
Katsuki clapped him on the back gently as they shuffled towards their classmates. “She’s always had a way with you,” he muttered, stretching his bruised arm.
Izuku rubbed a sore spot on his chest. “Yeah... I guess she has.”
“So, did you have fun?” Hadou asked the bruised and beaten students.
“We barely got to do anything!” Mina complained from her spot next to Ochako.
“You were on a totally different level,” Kaminari added. “We didn’t stand a chance against someone with an awesome quirk like yours!”
“Yeah,” Kyouka followed, “my quirk’s nothing compared to yours.”
Ochako felt a little indignation bubble up inside her chest. ‘Don’t say that, Kyouka…’
Hadou clapped her hands once. “Hey now, none of that! You all have super amazing quirks! Each of you can do things that I can’t!” She pointed a finger into the air proudly. “Besides, did you know that the top student at UA was dead last in the entire class his first year because of how weak his quirk was?”
The students stopped their moaning to listen.
“Yup, it’s true!” Hadou continued. “He honestly doesn’t even know how he got into the hero course his first year! But he trained, he pushed himself and he kept at it! He put his entire heart, body and mind into his goals and now he’s the number one!”
All Might nodded. “Young Togata is a truly exceptional student now. He’s closer to taking my spot at the top of the leaderboard than most pros I know!”
The class gasped at the man’s praise. ‘How good are the Big Three?’ Ochako wondered.
Hadou pointed her finger over the students. “So what I’m saying is that don’t take this defeat as a setback, but as a reminder just how far you have to go! Set your sights on not letting that happen again and strive for it with all your heart!”
The class began to murmur in approval and a few of them even cheered, Mina included.
"A defeat is one thing,” Sero muttered after the noise died down, “but it was like she knew our quirks. She flew literal circles around us.”
“That’s because I did!” Hadou chirped.
The class whipped their heads around. Mineta shook his fist. “What?! That’s cheating! We didn’t know your quirk!”
“Think about it, Young Mineta,” All Might began. “If you become a pro, especially a popular one, villains will know your quirk, while you often won’t know theirs. Adaptation and quick thinking are vital skills for a hero.”
Bakugou huffed. “Besides, Izuku and I knew and we still got trounced.”
“Hey, that’s right!” Mineta cried out. “Why didn’t you tell us?!”
Deku shot the small man a piercing look, causing him to falter slightly. “Did you not hear All Might? Telling you anything would have hampered your development. It’s my job as class rep to make sure you all grow into the best heroes you can be.”
Mina and Ochako exchanged knowing looks. ‘Not a bad cover story for him improving his ‘hoard’, I guess,’ the taller woman thought.
“Alright, break time is over!” Hadou shouted. “We’ve got the next five days together and I’m not wasting any of it! I’m gonna be pairing each of you up with someone else each day and you’re gonna spend the entire day sparring and training! All Might and I will go around, offering advice, giving tips and making sure that you’re not slacking!” She floated a few feet off the ground as she pumped her fist. “It’s time to go Plus Ultra!”
The students looked around with trepidation. Hell Week had only just begun.
“Alright, first off…” Hadou pointed her finger around the group. “Bakugou, you’re with Asui. Go find a spot to face off.” Tsu hopped over to the blonde, who gave her an appraising look before heading down one of the streets with the woman following.
“Jirou, you’re with Satou.” The two students nodded and walked off.
“Greenhorn, I’m pairing you up with Kirishima.”
“Psh, same,” Mina whispered from Ochako’s side.
“ Mina! ” Ochako hissed. “You can’t say that!”
Mina shot a completely serious look up at her. “Why not? Just look at them. You can’t tell me they don’t look adorable together.” She pointed to their right, where Deku and Eiko were meeting.
Eiko beamed up at the taller man, both of their faces full of confidence and excitement. Deku’s eyes were kind, but she could tell he wasn’t messing around.
Ochako looked back to Mina and then away. “Th-that’s not the point…”
“Ashido, Yaoyorozu, get to it!”
Mina nodded and walked away, raising her eyebrows a few times at Ochako.
“Shouji, go with Uraraka.”
Ochako nodded, looking at the taller man who was glancing back at her. They headed down another road, putting some space between them and the rest of the class as they got to work.
Hadou hadn’t become any easier of a trainer from her time in America; she had spent the last two hours flying around, making sure everyone was pushing themselves ‘appropriately’. Which to her, meant very hard. Hadou’s concept of ‘Plus Ultra’ was a few steps further than most, which Izuku knew all too well.
That knowledge kept him pushing harder than most, which made him all the more grateful that he was paired up with Kirishima. The woman matched his energy pound-for-pound. There was absolutely no quit to be found in her.
He admired that.
After their lunch break, which Izuku spent napping after his quick meal, Kirishima turned to him with a grin.
“Aniki, I want you to hit me as hard as you can.”
Izuku paused, looking over to the shorter woman.
“Wait, wait,” she interrupted him before he could speak. “I worry what you just heard was ‘hit me really hard.’ What I said was ‘ hit me as hard as you can'. ” She paused, looking him in the eyes. “Do you understand?”
Izuku nodded slowly.
She turned away and walked a few paces from him down the city street. “Alright, ready when you are.” She hardened herself, prepared for his hit.
Izuku threw his quirk into his right arm, growing it to a huge size and swinging it forward with a grunt of effort.
His fist impacted the woman’s crossed arms, sending her skidding back a few feet.
“You weren’t listening, Aniki!” she shouted back. “I know you’ve got more than that!”
He nodded, snarling a little as he poured more of his quirk into his right arm. He had to push a little more into his legs and other arm to keep his balance as he swung forward again, his fist sending Kirishima back several meters.
“Why are you holding back?” Her tone was goading, but he could feel a hint of hurt beneath it.
He gulped.
The question now was… did Izuku trust his quirk? Did he trust himself? Did he trust her?
He closed his eyes and breathed.
She wants a test.
‘I’m here to push her.’
She deserves the chance.
‘I can do this. She can do this.’
His eyes flew back open as he glared at his partner.
‘Alright! Everything I’ve got!’
Izuku’s quirk burst forth in a way he hadn’t felt since the USJ. His eyes exploded with light as he bared his teeth and felt his body bulge with his quirk’s power. His right arm surged , growing to the size of the rest of his body but not stopping there. If he had to guess, his arm was over four meters long, it’s entire length bulging with muscle.
The claws in his left arm dug into the concrete road to give him leverage as he swung his titanic limb forward, his fist smashing into the woman as he let out a primal roar.
That time, Kirishima got what she wanted.
The woman was sent flying backwards at a speed he couldn’t follow with his eyes; his only indication of her location was the sound of smashed concrete as she slammed into a building behind her.
His quirk snapped away as his face twisted into a horrified expression. The entire front half of the building had cracked and collapsed, sending three stories of rubble crashing down onto Kirishima.
He dashed forward, his quirk unconsciously pushing back into his legs as he willed himself forward as fast as possible.
“Kirishima!” Izuku yelled in panic, reaching down to grab a piece of concrete to begin digging out the massive pile of rock and rebar.
His head snapped to his left as he noticed some of the rubble stir.
“YEAAAAH!!!”
Suddenly, Kirishima burst forth from the wreckage, her arms thrust in the sky as she yelled a triumphant battle cry.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” She pumped her fist as she shot a manic grin at Izuku. He noticed some cracks in her hardening, but for what he had done to her, she hardly looked any worse for wear. She pulled her legs from the rocks and let her quirk fade, her cracks becoming small cuts and scrapes on her as she rushed over to Izuku and threw her arms around him, lifting him up slightly as she cheered. “That was awesome!”
Izuku’s mouth dropped open, his disbelief outclassed only by his swelling pride in his friend. Something about her arms around him made him feel…
He felt his quirk pulse slightly in the back of his mind.
Mine.
‘Ah, crap.’
"Hey!”
Izuku whipped his head up to see Hadou flying above them.
“What did you do, Greenhorn?”
“I uh,” he looked down at the red-haired woman who had let him go and was now standing next to him, beaming. “I punched Kirishima into a building.”
Hadou paused for a moment, looking to the rubble and then to the students. "It looks like you punched her through a building."
“I asked for it!” Kirishima added, waving at Hadou. “I wanted to test our limits!"
Hadou beamed down at the two of them. "Hey, that's the spirit! Hmm… Can you do it again?"
Izuku hesitated as Kirishima put him down. "Uh… maybe?"
Hadou understood. "Take five then try again!" She waved and flew off.
Izuku flopped down on a piece of rubble, letting his shoulders slump as he relaxed.
Kirishima sat down next to him, only a few inches between them. “A whole week of this, huh? Well, Aniki, UA doesn’t disappoint, huh?”
“No joke,” Izuku agreed as he took a drink of water from his bottle. “But uh, hey, why ‘Aniki’?”
“Oh.” Kirishima grew the smallest amount of blush, something Izuku had scarcely seen before. “Well, it’s kinda like how Americans use ‘bro’, you know?”
Izuku laughed dryly. “Yeah, I know.”
“Heh, yeah, so it’s well…” She trailed off, rubbing the back of her head. She looked like she was psyching herself up a little. “I look up to you, man. You saved my- all of our lives at the USJ. You stood up to that bastard and I can’t be grateful enough. So now you’re my Aniki, my bro. You protected me and I’m making it my goal to protect you too. You and everyone else.” She looked down at her hand and hardened it. “My quirk… is made for that. I’m gonna be your wall, Iz- er, I mean Midoriya. Sorry.”
Once again, he felt his quirk pulse softly.
She wants to get closer to me. Good.
Izuku hesitated, thinking about his girlfriends, about Tsuyu, about Pony. He took a deep breath and looked down at Kirishima, who was glancing up at him.
“It’s fine, E-Eiko.”
Her eyes went wide for a moment before a smile nearly exploded off her face, her sharp teeth baring themselves brightly. “Thanks, Izuku.”
His eyes flashed faintly.
The two of them smiled at each other widely and chatted for the rest of their break before standing back up and squaring off again.
“Come at me, Aniki.”
Izuku smirked. “Get ready, Eiko.”
Izuku was exhausted after class ended, just like he was every time he trained with Hadou, but most of the other students had never been pushed like they had been that day. There was barely a word spoken on their entire walk back to the locker room and their dorms. The showers were silent apart from the water as Izuku and his classmates let the heat soak into their bodies.
Dinner was prepared for them, mercifully. All Might and Hadou brought in food from Lunch Rush himself and Izuku didn’t know if he had ever seen his classmates eat that fast before. It was impressive, none more so than Yaoyorozu, who seemed to be inhaling food faster than anyone else, even Satou or Izuku. He actually paused and watched her closely.
‘Now that I look… does she look skinnier?’ The dense muscles Izuku had felt in the hospital were easily visible on her arms and her uniform was definitely looser than normal, especially around her…
Izuku finished his food slower, trying to stealthily watch Yaoyorozu eat. Everyone was so tired that nobody noticed him and she was so tired that she had forgone her normally refined eating habits. Fortunately, either nobody noticed, or nobody cared.
Over the next ten minutes, she ate more than the rest of her table combined, but that wasn’t the most incredible part. Izuku watched as he literally saw the woman grow. Her arms gradually swelled, her muscles fading underneath her growing mass and her body filling out all over. Her shirt grew tighter- much tighter.
Izuku averted his gaze as his face began to turn green. As he regained his brain function, he felt sick. He had two beautiful girlfriends after all, he shouldn’t be looking at the other women in the class. ‘Stupid quirk…’
He excused himself, hurrying up to his room to try and get some rest.
Izuku threw off his clothes and changed into his pajamas before flopping onto his bed. Comforted by his little ‘lair’ in the dorms, he was able to think a little better.
He went back to his punch again; the one that had crashed Eiko through a building. That wasn’t what he was focusing on, though. No, rather he was focusing on what had happened directly before that.
‘Alright! Everything I’ve got!’
He had done it again. He had worked with his quirk seamlessly. The only other time that had happened… was at the USJ. Against Terrorflame.
And just like it had back there, it had given him power he didn’t know he had. That punch he threw was beyond anything he had ever done before… it scared him, in a way, but it also thrilled him. If he could learn how to master that, he co-
A knock at his door.
Izuku furrowed his brow. ‘Who could that be?’ He stood up and walked over to his door, opening it to find Mina and Ochako in their pajamas. “Whatcha need?” he yawned.
“Uh…” The two women looked at each other awkwardly.
Izuku blinked. “Oh right, we’re dating.” He turned around as Mina slapped her forehead. “I still can’t believe it…”
“I get it,” Ochako added, yawning herself as Izuku sat on his bed. “I’m barely standing too. Shouji is no joke.”
Izuku perked up slightly. “Oh yeah, how did that g-”
His question stopped as Ochako began gently petting his horns. “Shh, I’ll tell you about it later.” She turned to Mina with a smile. “You were in the middle last night, so it’s my turn, but I want Deku to be in the middle again for… reasons.”
Mina smirked as she sat down on Izuku’s other side, beginning to slowly pet his other horn. “Oh, I understand,” she whispered as Izuku’s eyes fluttered and closed, his eyes rolling up into his head..
He weakly tried to resist, but the sensation was too great.
His ‘purring’ began again, rumbling up from deep inside him as he fell backwards onto his bed, the two women coming with him.
Izuku didn’t know how long they kept petting him, as everything started to blend together. He vaguely remembered a weightless sensation as Ochako floated him up and put him under the covers and the feeling of a kiss being planted on each of his cheeks; otherwise, all he could remember was the soothing, unbelievably relaxing sensation of the women petting his horns until he drifted off to sleep.
The rest of the week passed in an exhausted blur. Izuku was teamed up with Satou the next day, both of them focusing on refining and enhancing their strength. All Might personally supervised their weight training, something that Izuku had dreamed of since he was a kid. It was all he could do to keep himself from actually squealing.
Thursday he spent at the pool with Tsuyu. She was a master in the water, swimming circles around him for the most part. By the end of the day, he had closed the gap somewhat, after taking her advice to heart. He still had a lot to learn, so at the end of the day as they were drying off, he asked if she wanted to keep training like this regularly.
She looked at him for a few moments. “I’d like that,” was her simple response.
Izuku smiled wide. “Thanks, Tsu. I’m looking forward to it.”
Tsuyu stared for a few more moments, her eyes tracing over his horns and his fangs. Izuku felt a little awkward beneath her gaze as she blinked a few times. She put her finger to her chin and tipped her head slightly. “You’re hot.”
Izuku dropped his water bottle and stared at the ground with wide eyes.
She tilted her head a little further, blinking with her big eyes. For some reason, her gaze felt much different now, like she was appraising him or trying to analyze him. He felt his face begin to turn green.
“You wouldn’t mind if I called you ‘Izuchan’, would you?” she asked flatly.
Izuku’s eyes glowed slightly as his mouth fell open, but no sound escaped him.
Tsuyu stood up calmly and walked to her locker room. “I’ll see you at dinner, Izuchan.”
Izuku sat there for a few more minutes, trying to process getting blindsided by Tsuyu like that. He had always prided himself on being fairly socially well-adjusted and suave, but he was becoming acutely aware just how inexperienced with women he was. He pulled himself up and walked off to change out of his suit as well, muttering theories about his quirk.
Friday was, thankfully, calmer, at least on that front. He and Shouji spent the day sparring and trying to push their transformations as far as they could. The two of them found a surprisingly large amount of common ground between them and shared tips about how they used their quirks. Izuku, of course, didn't mention anything about his instincts.
Saturday was the day he had been waiting for all week. “Greenhorn, you and Bakugou do what you do best,” was all Hadou had to say for the two men to smirk, even with how tired they were. It had been a while since he and Katsuki got the opportunity to spend all day sparring and training.
Izuku and Katsuki wound up having to go see Recovery Girl by the end of the day, something that shouldn’t have surprised anyone. The festival was only two days away and they were more eager than ever to be at their best. The two men were barely standing as they entered the droms, each leaning a little on the other to keep upright.
After Hadou and All Might delivered their last catered dinner, Aizawa entered and called for their attention through his bandages.
“You survived Hell Week, good work,” he began, causing some of the students to make faint noises of happiness. “It only gets harder from here, so don’t get complacent, but you should all take tomorrow to rest before the festival.”
Izuku nodded. Rest sounded nice.
“Oh, and Uraraka,” he muttered, causing the tall woman to look at him with worried eyes. “Don’t forget, you got first place in the entrance exam, which means you’re giving the opening speech for your entire class.”
Izuku’s vision snapped to his girlfriend, who looked like she had just seen a ghost. Or twenty.
Aizawa waved his arm casually as he turned to the door.
“That’s all. Good luck on Monday.”
Notes:
See you guys next time for the start of the Sports Festival!
Chapter 31: Off to the Races
Summary:
The festival begins!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku woke up much later than normal. After the week he’d had, it was nice to be able to actually rest his aching body. Thanks to the physical rigors he had been put through over the past week, his quirk had been quite silent for a while, which was something for which he was always grateful.
He moved his head slightly, subconsciously keeping his horns from poking the woman he was cuddled against. Izuku moved his head into the mass of messy brown hair and smelled his girlfriend, putting a smile on his face and reminding him to be thankful that his quirk gave him such a good sense of smell. The scent of her hair was something that was burned into his brain at this point; he could smell it- and the rest of her- from across a room easily and pick it out from a crowd of a thousand scents.
Izuku glanced across Ochako’s chest to his other girlfriend. He looked at her fondly as she slept peacefully against Ochako’s right arm. He could pick her smell out just as easily and it always gave him and his quirk a little bit of comfort to know they were close, even if he couldn’t see them.
Izuku noticed Ochako stir at this point, woken up by his motion, slight as it was. She blinked and opened her eyes, looking back and forth between Mina and Izuku as a small smile stretched across her face. “You know, Deku,” she whispered, “I wake up every mornin’ wonderin’ if I’m still dreamin’.”
His groggy brain wasn’t working as well as he would normally have hoped, perhaps due to his quirk still being a little ‘asleep.’ “You’re real pretty,” was all he could say in response.
Ochako giggled even as she blushed, moving her left arm around his head and bringing him in for a quick kiss on the lips. “You’re quite the romantic, ain’t ya?”
“S-sorry.”
“Don’t be, De-” Her words cut off suddenly as she blinked and looked down slowly.
Izuku followed her eyes and realized in horror that he had grabbed onto her left breast in his sleep… and was still holding it. He could only appreciate just how soft it felt for a moment before he wrenched his hand back. “O-Ochako, I’m so s-sorr- I didn’t mean to!”
Ochako’s blush deepened as she averted her gaze. “I-it’s fine, we’re- we’re datin', right? It’s okay.” She mumbled something that Izuku couldn’t hear.
“I-I didn’t catch that.”
“I said I didn’t hate it…” Ochako covered her face with her left mitten, her right still tightly wrapped around Mina.
Ochako suddenly squeaked.
“Didn’t hate it, you say?” Mina muttered with a chuckle; she had apparently woken up as well. Izuku looked down to see her pink hand cupping Ochako’s other breast. She moved her hand gently, causing Ochako to inhale sharply. “Sounds like you might even like it.”
“M-Mi-” Ochako’s plea was cut off by another squeal as Mina pinched her nipple gently through her nightshirt. “Mina, please!”
“Fine, fine, sorry,” Mina pulled her hand back and smiled, her own lilac blush faintly growing on her cheeks. “I couldn’t resist. Waking up to someone as sexy as you is taking its toll on me…”
Ochako bit her lip for a moment before moving her mittened hand up Mina’s back and pulling her closer to her own face. Her lips locked with her girlfriend’s, but unlike the kiss she had given Izuku, this was anything but quick.
Izuku watched as the two women kissed passionately, their hair and saliva both mixing together as Mina wrapped her arms around Ochako’s neck. He was enraptured by the sight, but suddenly something else danced at the edge of his senses.
A new scent, something he had never smelled before- or at least he had never noticed before- gradually filled his nostrils. He didn’t know what it was, but it was intoxicating and exciting and had an effect on him that he couldn’t have predicted.
Namely, it woke his quirk up immediately , which in turn, woke something else up. Izuku, almost out of reflex, flexed his quirk beneath his pajama pants before anything embarrassing happened. As he watched his girlfriends share their passion, he felt his quirk pulse harder, causing his heart rate to pick up and his mouth to feel a little dry. He licked his lips subconsciously as he felt his gut tighten slightly.
The women broke apart barely as Ochako sighed with need. “This is your fault… both of you.” She put her left hand around Izuku’s head again and pulled him in, mashing her lips against his as her tongue immediately entered his mouth.
Ochako pulled Mina in closer too, letting her mouth enter the fray. Without really knowing what was going on, Izuku was somehow kissing two women at once. Their three tongues intertwined, Izuku’s mind being assaulted by both of their tastes simultaneously.
Their breath, hot and heavy, filled the confined space between their heads, only increasing the feeling of passion.
Then Mina and Izuku’s eyes both went wide.
They pulled their heads back instinctively but found it quite impossible to separate themselves.
Izuku’s sweeping horns had gotten caught in Mina’s hooks.
They both pulled again but to no avail. They were stuck.
“Um, O-Ochako, a l-little help here?” Mina stuttered, looking incredibly uncomfortable as Izuku’s horns put pressure on hers.
Izuku's quirk pushed harder as the scent got stronger.
Ochako sat up a little, her expression of lust giving way to a look of genuine concern. “Oh, right. Here, sit still.” She pulled off her mittens and reached up to their heads. She tilted Izuku’s head down slightly and pushed him back, finally letting him move his head back from the awkward position.
As he pulled back, the smaller ridges in his horn bumped against hers, causing Mina’s shaky breaths to grow faster until she let out a deep, needy moan.
Ochako and Izuku both looked at her with wide eyes and slightly open mouths as Mina clapped her hands over her mouth and turned a beautiful shade of purple.
The three stared at each other for what felt like a minute before they all started laughing; the awkward horn lock had certainly interrupted the mood and they couldn’t help but chuckle at how strange the whole ordeal had been.
After their heart rates had calmed down and their laughter subsided, Ochako finally sighed heavily and slumped back onto the bed, the other two following her lead. They stared at the ceiling together for a few minutes in silence, simply enjoying each other’s presence.
“It’s nearly ten,” Mina finally muttered, glancing at her phone.
Ochako’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh no, I have to write that speech today. Aizawa mentioned somethin' about it during the first week of class, but I totally forgot with all the… stuff that happened.”
Izuku propped himself up on his right arm, looking down on his stressed girlfriend. “Do you want some help?”
Ochako looked at him for a split-second, then returned her vision to her ceiling. “Thanks, but… I want to do this on my own. I can’t rely on you two for everythin'.”
Izuku’s face grew a large, proud smile as his quirk pulsed in approval. “I’m sure you’ll do great.”
Mina pulled back a little as she also grew a proud expression. “We should probably let you get to it, huh?”
Ochako bit her lip again. “Yeah, but… how about you two stay for a little longer?”
Izuku and Mina exchanged a glance before settling back down into the bed, wrapping their arms around Ochako as she sighed happily.
“I love you both,” Ochako said dreamily.
Izuku and Mina leaned up simultaneously and planted a kiss on a cheek each, but as they did, their horns cracked together again, causing the two horned teenagers to recoil.
They blinked a few times before all three began to giggle again, wide smile spreading across their faces as they snuggled into their girlfriend once more.
Later that morning, Midori was sitting on a couch in the common room, quietly scrolling through the hero news on his phone as Mina sprawled across his lap on her own phone. He absentmindedly tussled her hair with his other hand, causing Mina to hum happily. Ever since they had started dating, the two of them spent a lot of time just… touching each other. Sometimes they just leaned on one another on the couch or touched legs beneath the table at lunch, but contact made them happy and calm. Mina was infinitely grateful that she had found someone like that.
The room was empty, save for them. A few of their classmates had wandered down for a snack or such, but most of them were still resting off the soreness of Hell Week.
Speaking of wandering, Bakugou trudged into the room about an hour before noon.
Midori perked up immediately. "Hey, Kacchan, you sleep in?"
"Piss off," the blonde muttered, "Recovery Girl took a lot out of me cause of your stupid breath."
That made Mina perk up. She looked up at her boyfriend, who was looking around a little awkwardly.
Bakugou noticed this, too. "Fuckin- Horns, you told Spirals that you were gonna get over this." He seemed quite exasperated.
"I know, it's just that… you know, it's not very-"
"Deku. Dumbass," Bakugou cut him off with a roll of his eyes. He pointed at Mina. "One of your girlfriends throws acid. Are you really hung up on this?" He threw his hands up in the air. "Uncle is right: you really are an idiot when it comes to yourself. Think about what Spirals said, you can't let shit like that hold you back."
"Woah, hey, hey." Mina sat up, dragging herself off Midori. "What do I have to do with this?"
Bakugou turned his gaze on her and pointed at Midori. "Fangs-For-Brains here is too hung up thinking his dragon breath is 'evil' to actually use the damn thing on anybody but me."
Mina connected the dots. "Midori, really?"
"Uh, I mean… kinda?" He refused to make eye contact with her.
"Do you see what I'm dealing with?" Bakugou growled. "Look, Izuku, you better use it tomorrow or I'm just gonna tell everyone."
Midori looked down, rubbing his chin in thought. "You're right, Kacchan. I'll use it tomorrow."
Bakugou nodded and walked away, grumbling under his breath about food as he headed to the kitchen.
Mina looked at Midori curiously as he returned to his phone, remembering Ryukyu's words about his breath. He would tell her when she was ready. Or, rather, she guessed she would find out tomorrow. Either way, she made a mental note to keep a better eye on any self-deprecating habits he still held onto despite her and Ochako's insistence.
She laid back down across his lap and his hand returned to her hair, calming her worries for the time being.
The next day, the students of 1-A were all filing out of their locker rooms inside the stadium and into the waiting room, preparing for the event staff to tell them when to leave.
They had been mostly quiet as they changed; Izuku could feel the tension in the air as the festival approached.
Once they mixed with the girls, there was finally some chatter.
"Hey, hold up," Hagakure started indignantly. She pointed a finger at Izuku. "Why do you get to wear your hero costume and none of us do?"
She was right: Izuku was wearing his scaled pants, even if his shoes and shirt were the standard UA gym uniform.
Izuku laughed, flashing his fangs as he smiled. "Remember when I left to go talk to Nezu on Monday? I was taking everyone's equipment request forms for his approval." Izuku gestured at Mina's boots and Aoyama's belt. "He personally gave approval for certain equipment, although he did turn down some of them."
Izuku noticed Ochako grumble slightly, rubbing her wrists where her costume's bracers normally were.
"And Nezu ruled that, after that incident at last year's festival, since my pants don't give me any advantage other than, you know, keeping me decent, that they were okay."
Hagakure shrugged widely. She was always so physically emotive, which Izuku supposed she had to be to actually get points across.
"Midoriya."
A cold voice from behind him caused him to turn around slowly. Todoroki was staring down at him, his eyes calculating but lacking any real emotion.
"I think it's safe to say," he continued, "that I have an advantage over you here. I'm stronger than you." His stare hardened. "I'm going to beat you."
The atmosphere in the room iced over.
Izuku and Todoroki glared at each other.
Eiko was the first to speak. "Hey now, you really think you're strong enough to take on a dragon? You saw him at the USJ."
"You're right, I did see him at the USJ." Todoroki's vision never left Izuku. "You can't do that again, can you, Midoriya? It would put you in the hospital again."
Izuku paused for a second before responding. "It would probably kill me, actually."
"What?!" Pony yelled as Todoroki's eyes widened an almost-imperceptible amount. "How can quirk hurt that bad?!"
He smiled down at the shortest woman in the class. "My quirk is too much for my body, Pony. Simple as that. Until I can handle it, using too much will seriously hurt me. Todoroki is right, a full transformation would end me faster than any of you could."
A silence hung in the room. Izuku seized the opportunity.
"That doesn't mean you're gonna have an easy time about it," Izuku declared with a smirk. He held his right arm up and grew his green claw. "I'm still coming at you with everything I can. I'm gonna push myself to that edge and I'm gonna take that prize. You can count on that."
“...Fine.” Todoroki stalked off.
"That so?" Katsuki asked, sauntering over to Izuku's side. "Or are you just bullshitting the rest of us again?"
Izuku paused, then nodded. "Nothing held back." He turned to the rest of the class and smirked wider, showing off a fang. "None of you have seen my breath yet. You better be ready for it."
"Wait, yeah, that's right," Kaminari added. "What is your breath anyway?"
"You'll just have to find out," Izuku answered with a smile. "I'm in it to win it, I'm not gonna give up my advantage freely."
"Oh, I bet it's lightning like your dad!" Kaminari guessed, pounding his palm with his fist.
"Or maybe acid, like Ryukyu," Jirou suggested.
Eiko pounded her hardened fists together. "It could be fire, like Gallant or Purifier! That would be super manly!"
"Silverlight and Frostheart both had ice breath," Yaoyorozu pointed out thoughtfully. "That could also be an option."
Mina whipped around. "Wait, you don't know, Yaomomo? I thought you've known Midori forever!"
The tall woman shook her head, shooting a glance at Izuku. "He always kept it a secret."
"Sorry, the only one who knows is Kacchan," Izuku said with a shrug. "And he won't tell."
"Why not?" Sero asked.
A light above the door flashed green, signalling them to begin moving out of the room.
Katsuki smirked. "Cause if I do, he'll use it on me."
Izuku and his friend exchanged small grins as they moved to the door, ignoring the other students who were looking at each other, not certain if Katsuki was joking or not.
"Gooood morning, listeners!" Present Mic's boisterous voice rang out around the stadium. "And welcome to opening day of the UA Sports Festival! Let me hear you!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd, the noise echoing down the concrete hallway that Ochako and the rest of 1-A were walking down.
"First up, let's introduce you to our contestants!"
A man in a vest at the front of the group motioned them forward and into the arena.
"This group of youngsters has already proved that their admittance to UA was no mistake! You know 'em, you love 'em, give it up for Class 1-A!"
The class walked out into the sunlight of the field as the crowd erupted again. Ochako gulped; she wasn't used to this sort of attention. She took a deep breath, steadying herself and pushing herself forward.
"Next up, our other hero class! They haven't been in the spotlight like 1-A, but that just means they're even more eager to prove themselves! Class 1-B!"
From another one of the tunnels came 1-A's sister class. Ochako got her first real look at them and if their expressions were anything to go on, this wasn't going to be an easy win for 1-A.
After they stopped in front of the podium, Present Mic made his way down the other classes, introducing the Support, General and even Business courses. By the end of the introductions, there was a huge crowd gathered. Ochako gulped again. Her time was coming.
"And officiating this year's festival is a very special someone! Can you guess who?!"
The crowd and students both murmured to each other, curious about who it could possibly-
A great, boisterous laugh rang out around the stadium.
"I know that laugh!" Deku yelled next to her. Ochako recognized it too.
Flying over the massive stadium walls and slamming down in front of the mass of students was none other than…
"I AM HERE! " All Might stood up and saluted triumphantly, his hero uniform shining in the sun. " TO OFFICIATE THIS SPORTS FESTIVAL!"
The cheers that the students received were dwarfed by the deafening roar that shook the stadium and even caused Kyouka to flinch slightly.
All Might waved to the crowd as the cheers continued, his wide, bright smile never dimming. "Thank you! " His voice was amplified by the microphone pinned on his suit. " But please, save your applause! I'm not the star attraction here today! No, today, we bear witness to the stars of the future: the next, great generation of heroes!"
The crowd renewed their cheers. Ochako admired All Might's ability to work the crowd; the man had so much raw charisma that it seemed impossible not to like him.
"Without further ado, allow me to introduce the young woman who will be providing our opening words this morning! She placed first in our entrance exam and has done nothing but impress me ever since: Ochako Uraraka!"
Hearing the number one hero say her name like that and having the crowd cheer again, but this time for her … well, it was a little overwhelming.
She felt Mina bump into her arm. "You got this."
Deku smiled from her other side. "Go get 'em."
She nodded and took a deep breath before walking forward, looking up at All Might's smiling face. Ochako stepped up to the microphone as All Might flashed her a thumbs up.
She fanned her chest a few times, focusing on all the time she had spent yesterday reciting and practicing in the mirror. Mina, Deku and her had even slept in separate beds last night, none of them wanting any distractions.
"UA isn't like many other schools, " she began, her voice surprisingly stable as it boomed through the microphone. " We've come here from different backgrounds, different cities, even different countries. " She glanced over at Pony, who was smiling proudly at her. " But we- all of us standing before you here today- have all come here for the same reason."
"We are here... to be heroes."
“A hero fights for justice first and foremost, not fame or money. We are here at UA to be those champions, to be the ones that protect. For that is the true calling of all heroes." She had used her conversation with All Might back at the hospital as inspiration for her speech. "But that desire doesn’t end there; we aren't here to just be heroes, we’re here to be the best. Because in the world of heroes, only the best is good enough. For that is what you, the people, deserve.
Ochako felt her competitive spirit flaring, urging her on and giving her confidence. “Being the best… that road isn't easy. In the first week, my class was attacked by those wishing to end our journeys before they began. ” She paused. “ They very nearly succeeded. But none of us backed down, none of us gave up. To borrow from a great man: we choose to be heroes, not because it is easy, but because it is hard."
"But nobody makes that journey alone. Not even All Might. " She turned around slightly to look at the man, who nodded sagely. " We can only be our best, we can only be the best with the help of others; only by being pushed and challenged can we grow. So I call on you- " She glanced over the crowd of students in front of her. " whatever we may be; strangers, classmates, friends- " Her gaze passed over Deku and Mina. " -from now until the winner is crowned, we are no longer any of those things. We are rivals. And I challenge you to come at me and everyone else here with everything you have. Hold nothing back."
Ochako paused, clenching her fist in front of her as her words set in. "To those of you that accept that challenge, I can only say thank you… and bring it on. Plus. Ultra."
As she finished her speech, Ochako noticed just how badly her legs were shaking and how much she was sweating. She felt like she was ready to fall over.
There was the slightest pause before the crowd started cheering. The thunderous sound crashed over her, nearly causing her to stumble backwards.
She felt All Might’s hand clasp her shoulder, steadying her shaky legs. “That was spectacular, Young Uraraka.”
Ochako looked up into his eyes, smiling at the almost paternal look in them. “T-thanks, All Might. Can I go now?” She just wanted off the stage.
All Might laughed loudly and let her go. She wasted no time hurrying down the stairs, focusing with all her might on not tripping or anything else embarrassing.
“I don’t know about you folks, but that speech gave me goosebumps! I couldn't have said it better myself!” All Might yelled, renewing the crowd’s cheers.
Mina and Deku both beamed at her as she shuffled back to her spot. “That was amazing!” Mina whispered.
Deku sniffed. “I-I’m so proud of y-you.”
She did a double-take. “Deku, are you crying?”
“J-just a little.” He laughed sheepishly as he wiped his eyes. “That was really good, honest.”
All Might pumped his fist. “However, being a hero means always being on the clock! We’ve no time to waste so here comes our first event!”
Ochako’s eyes shot back up. Nearby, she heard Kyouka huff. “Ain’t no rest for the wicked.”
The giant screen behind All Might had been displaying the UA logo, but it was suddenly replaced by a gigantic spinning display like a slot machine.
“This is but the first challenge these young challengers will face. I wonder what it’ll be?!”
The spinning stopped as the screen proudly displayed ‘Obstacle Race’.
“A race! The track is 4 kilometers long, around the outside of the stadium. First one to cross back into the stadium wins! And as long as you stay within the course, anything goes! Simple, right?” All Might flashed a thumbs up. “Just remember to keep it heroic, kids! Now take your places, we’re getting ready to go Plus Ultra!”
Izuku lined up with the rest of the students with a confident grin. He had a definite advantage here; not many people had quirks that let them fly.
“Get ready, students! And before we get started, let me introduce my co-host: none other than Midnight!”
Midnight’s sultry voice played through the sound system. “I can’t wait to see what kind of excitement our students get up to in this event. There are a couple I have my eye on…”
Izuku pulled his shirt up and balled it up into a neat bundle, gripping it in his left hand. No sense ruining a good shirt, right?
“Uh, dude?” A student Izuku didn’t recognize was standing next to him with a weird look on his face as the lights counted down. “Isn’t that a little much?”
The last light shut off and a horn blared.
“And they’re off!”
Izuku pushed his quirk to his legs, strengthening them as he leapt six feet in the air. At the same time, his wings burst from his back and beat mightily, causing some of the students beneath him to stumble as he rocketed down the hallway. He heard the unfamiliar student mutter an ‘oh’ as he left him behind.
Todoroki was already in the lead as he filled the hallway with a sheet of ice. Most of the students failed to keep their footing and fell over, but Izuku had no such issues, being airborne. However, what was a problem for him was the giant wall of ice that Todoroki threw up behind him as he exited the tunnel.
Luckily, Izuku knew just how to get through that.
“Kacchan!” he yelled, getting the attention of the blonde beneath him.
With practiced precision, Katsuki raised his arm up and let Izuku grab hold. He was lifted into the air, dangling under his friend by one arm as he raised his other in front of him.
A massive explosion ripped through the hallway, shattering the ice into a thousand pieces as Izuku and Katsuki flew into the open field, the mass of students behind them.
“Sorry, Kacchan!” Izuku yelled down, opening his hand to drop his friend. This was a competition, after all.
Katsuki wasn’t about to give up, however. “Like hell!” As he started to fall, he put both is hands beneath him and rocketed himself back up, slamming into Izuku before the green-haired man could put enough distance between them.
The two became entangled in a mid-air wrestling match as Izuku continued to fly forward. His unexpected passenger was slowing him down, which was unacceptable.
"Ooh, feisty~ I love that competitive passion!"
“Get- get off!” he growled, struggling to break his friend’s grip.
“Not until I’ve grounded you, you bastard!”
Izuku flexed his quirk, covering his body with scales and making it harder for Katsuki to hold onto him as his body grew larger. The extra power in his wings let him kick up speed, but then a thought struck him.
“Hey, Todoroki!” he yelled down at the man still running in front of him. “Thanks for that ice wall, let me give you a present of my own!” He tipped downwards into a slight dive and pulled his wings in, further increasing his speed. By carefully steering himself, he began to spin like a bullet as he streaked towards Todoroki.
He felt Katsuki’s grip starting to slip from the force of his spiral, which is just what he hoped for. The student threw up an ice wall behind him, but Izuku curved around it. He was moving too fast for Todoroki to handle without giving Izuku his full attention.
“Special delivery!”
At the last moment, Izuku righted himself, grabbing onto Katsuki with both hands and slamming him into the other man down below, driving both of them into the dirt.
"A brutal hit! Midoriya has slammed the other two front runners into each other!"
Izuku hit the ground too, but he rolled through it, catching his feet under himself and jumping back into the air. He unfurled his wings again and quickly gained altitude, putting as much distance as he could between himself and the other students.
“Fuck you, Deku!” Katsuki yelled up at him as he picked himself up off of Todoroki.
“See you at the finish line!”
“Our first obstacle is… Robo Infern- oh. Uh, Midoriya is already past the robots. Well, it’s an obstacle to everyone else! Man, that boy can fly!”
Izuku settled into a comfortable rhythm, keeping his pace quick, but sustainable as he flew forward. He kept his quirk flowing through his ears, making sure to listen in case any surprise contenders were gaining on him. Izuku heard the sound of crunching metal, surely the ‘Robo Inferno’ that Present Mic was talking about.
He quickly came to the next objective, which seemed to just be a giant pit filled with platforms. Not exactly an obstacle to him. Nevertheless, he kept his focus. Getting cocky wasn’t going to do him any favors here.
Izuku soared over the pits, keeping an eye out for any tricks that might be at work, but… there was nothing. It was almost a little disappointing.
“Midoriya flies over the second obstacle before most of the students have cleared the first. I don’t want to jump the gun, Midnight, but I think we might already have a pretty clear winner here!”
"Let's hope he remembers today is a marathon, not a sprint. Stamina is very important."
Izuku’s eye snapped in the direction of the stadium. ‘Most of them haven’t cleared the first obstacle?’ He thought for a moment, then came up with an idea: if he hurried, he could spend more time studying the other students. Information was power, after all.
He pushed his quirk harder, forcing more into his back and wings to increase his speed. Izuku broke out into a sprint, soaring over the track at breakneck speeds.
“Woah! It looks like Midoriya isn’t happy with just winning, he wants to set records!”
"Vigor is equally important~"
Izuku turned himself as he hit the curve, aiming himself to hit the inside angle and break out over the next objective as fast as he could.
“Midoriya encounters the third obstacle! The Minefield! Also not much of a threat…”
Izuku almost laughed. He tore over the open field, completely immune from any danger of the mines.
Izuku slowed down as he approached the finish line; he wasn’t eager to misjudge his approach and slam into the stadium wall. He tucked his wings in slightly as he entered the concrete tunnel, the cheering of the crowd became louder as he flew towards the light.
As he passed the threshold, he unfurled his wings fully to slow himself. He hit the ground and skidded several feet as he came to a full stop.
“There you have it folks: the winner by a wiiide margin is Izuku Midoriya!”
The crowd cheered, but not as loud as they had before. He couldn’t blame them, it’s not like it was a particularly close race. He wasn’t even exactly proud of himself; sometimes things just work out in your favor. Whoever had designed that course didn't have flying quirks in mind.
He paused for a second. Nezu was smarter than that; something else must be going on. Maybe…
Izuku shook his head and put his shirt back on as he turned around and stared at the jumbotron above him, putting the thoughts away for now. The noise of the crowd faded out as he focused on studying the competition.
Katsuki and Todoroki were in the lead and they had just arrived at the second obstacle. Hot on their heels were Ochako and a woman he didn’t recognize. She had long green hair that she was using to swing herself around the course, keeping her speed up in a truly impressive, if a little disconcerting way.
Ochako looked like she was removing only part of her weight, leaping like she was on the moon from platform to platform. Surprisingly, Iida was a little further behind than he expected. If he was a betting man, he would have figured the speedster as a contender for first, for obvious reasons.
Katsuki was hot on Todoroki’s heels as they both cleared the second objective. Both of them had spent their entire lives training under pro heroes, so they seemed to be evenly matched. Todoroki’s focus appeared to be flavored with anger, for some reason.
Izuku had a guess.
Endeavor.
His eyes pulsed as his quirk flared.
Todoroki and Katsuki were neck-and-neck as they reached the minefield. They both hesitated, deciding if they wanted to take it slow or fast. They both whipped around and saw Ochako landing behind them, hot on their heels.
Izuku breathed deeply. That determined look on her face was beautiful.
He could see the hesitation leave both men as the turned back to the minefield and took off. Todoroki shot out a sheet of ice, freezing the ground and protecting him from any mines as he bolted forward.
"There's no clear front-runner as our contestants hit the final obstacle! Anything could happen!"
Katsuki jumped up and threw his arms behind him like thrusters, taking to the air like an angry, blonde rocket. Izuku knew that technique well; after all, he had helped develop it. It made him dangerous and very quickly over short distances, but he couldn’t sustain it for long. Katsuki had a plan.
The blonde put more energy behind his blasts, pushing himself forward faster and faster. Izuku knew he couldn’t have been planning to just outpace Todoroki, that would have used far too much energy. Midnight was right, the festival was a test of endurance as much as it was anything else, which meant that there was only one thing that Katsuki could be planning.
With a roar that Izuku felt like he could almost hear despite the great distance between them, Katsuki shot out in front of the heterochromatic man. He spun around in mid-air and held out his hands in front of him.
Todoroki’s eyes went wide for a second before a massive explosion tore up the ground in his path.
A great pink explosion echoed Katsuki’s blast, sending Todoroki ragdolling backwards as Katsuki was hurled forward. He hit the ground hard, but kept his feet under him and steadied himself as he tore towards the finish line.
"Another devastating blow has set Todoroki back again! It looks like nothing can stop Bakugou now!"
Izuku ran forward, jumping up and down as Katsuki entered the tunnel. His friend crossed the threshold panting heavily but still grinning madly as Izuku threw an arm around him.
“You alright?” Izuku asked, concerned for his friend.
“What? Yeah, yeah,” Katsuki huffed dismissively, rubbing his wrists absentmindedly. He suddenly stood up and punched Izuku right in the arm. "That's for pitching me into Half-and-Half!" he spat, but the smile on his face told Izuku that he respected the move.
Izuku turned back to the screen with a chuckle to watch the rest of the race, but another noise caught his attention.
“Incoming!”
Izuku looked down just in time for Ochako to crash into him as she flew over the finish line. She didn’t hit very hard, thanks to her lowered mass, but it still caught him off guard. He stumbled backwards as he caught the taller woman, but managed to steady himself and plant her back down.
“Sorry about that Deku, but you were in my way,” she huffed playfully. He gave her a quick, friendly one-armed hug as she smiled at him, but she soon bent over, propping herself up on her knees. She seemed a little green again, but less than normal.
Izuku looked at her proudly. "You're getting the hang of it, huh?"
She nodded, still panting. "Iida gave me some pointers when we trained together. He helped me use my legs better. Then Eiko gave me some help with endurance training." She stood back up, stretching her legs out. "I still have a long way to go, but I don't think I'm as queasy as I would be normally."
He smiled as he turned back up to the screen, flanked on both sides by his friends. The rest of the race finished with much less fanfare. Todoroki recovered and managed to come in sixth, behind that 1-B woman and Iida, but he looked furious. Katsuki’s blast had set him back, but Izuku had a hunch he was more frustrated at himself than anyone else, mad that he hadn’t been better prepared. Iida looked similarly frustrated that he had only gotten fifth; Izuku heard him muttering something under his breath about his brother.
Izuku’s quirk pulsed. He didn’t like that from either of them.
At one point, Mineta tried to leap onto Yaoyorozu’s back with his quirk, trying to use the woman as a free ride. Izuku’s quirk pulsed with rage for a second before he saw Mina slide up behind them, catching Mineta by the scruff of his neck and hurling the diminutive man backward. He smiled with approval as Yaoyorozu nodded her thanks to Mina.
As the last of 1-B entered the minefield, something caught his eye. A woman with dark green hair was… splitting herself up into pieces. The pieces were flying. At first they seemed to be fairly slow, but as another student took a shot at one of her floating limbs, it darted out of the way quickly. If she had put her full effort into it, she could have finished much faster, maybe she could have even kept up with Izuku.
He raised an eyebrow, half indignant but half impressed. 1-B was sandbagging. Most of the students weren't relying on their quirks at all, just their natural physical abilities. They were hiding their true power, keeping Izuku from being able to fully study them.
Clever. Frustrating, but clever.
The rest of the contestants funneled in in groups of one or two until they had all finished. Aoyama was the last of Izuku’s class to finish, crossing the finish line in a very queasy-looking 42nd place.
What piqued his interest then was the two non-Hero-Course students ahead of him. That purple-haired man had pushed ahead of several students, finishing in the mid 20s, while a strange pink-haired woman decked out in gadgets and gear had finished only a single place in front of Aoyama. Izuku assumed she was from the Support Course.
“Congratulations to all of our contestants!” All Might yelled as the students gathered around his podium again. “Unfortunately, only the top 42 will advance, but I think you all did great nevertheless!”
Some of the competitors had barely caught their breath when the screen began to spin again.
“Now remember kids, one of the most important ideals a hero can embrace is the spirit of cooperation!”
The spinner finished, declaring the next even to be a ‘Cavalry Battle’.
All Might thrust a finger to the sky. “It’s time to set aside your differences and work towards a common goal!”
For some reason, All Might’s gaze wandered over to Izuku. He almost looked… sympathetic.
Izuku couldn’t help but be filled with a sense of dread.
Notes:
See you guys next time :)
Chapter 32: Riders on the Storm
Summary:
The cavalry battle and the aftermath.
Chapter Text
It wasn’t long until Izuku realized why All Might was looking at him like that.
“This is like a normal playground game, but with a twist! Each one of you will be assigned a point value, going up in fives. That means 42nd place is awarded five points, while 41st place is worth ten points.” All Might pointed a finger down at the students. “You’ll each join in teams of two-to-four as you see fit and your point values will be added together into the headband your team’s rider wears.”
Izuku nodded. That meant he would have a headband with 210 points. That gave him an advan-
“I know all too well the dangers of being in the spotlight. There are those who will come for you just because you’re on top. Which brings me to my next point…” All Might looked straight at Izuku and pointed a finger at him. “The winner of our first round, Young Midoriya… your headband will be worth ten million points!”
Izuku’s eyes widened.
Some would have expected Izuku to shrink down, to be cowed by the forty-one other students now staring him down with bloodlust in their eyes.
But Izuku was a dragon.
He was a dragon and All Might had just given him a hoard.
His quirk pulsed harder and harder each second. His eyes began to glow brighter as his horns stretched slightly larger. A grin broke across his face as his fangs glinted in the sunlight.
Some of the closest students took small steps back, faltering in the face of the taller, smirking man.
“Choose your teams! You have 15 minutes!”
Izuku immediately began to think. He considered several angles, formulating probable teams and possible combinations. He turned around, looking for and quickly spotting a couple of the people on his short-list.
“Mina, Ochak-”
Mina held up her hand. “Let me stop you right there, Midori. We don’t think pairing up with you gives us the best chance at winning.” Ochako nodded in agreement.
Izuku stood there, blinking for a second before beginning to laugh. They made him proud.
“Alright, fine.” He smiled again. “Don’t think you’re going to take my points, though.”
“Just try and stop me,” Ochako declared.
He turned around as a little bit of worry began to seep into his mind. The women were right, his points made him a target. Did that mean that nobody would want to partner with him? He didn’t take that into account. Surely Katsuki wouldn’t want to join his team either, that would just m-
“Oi, Izuku.”
Izuku turned around, spotting his blonde friend.
“Kacchan?”
“Let’s win this shit.” He smirked.
Izuku blinked. “You… you want to join me? But I’ll be a huge target?”
“You think I would let you face this on your own?” He laughed once. “Besides, this is a game about grabbing and hoarding stuff; I want to be with the dragon.”
Izuku’s quirk flared again. He grinned with determination.
“That gives me a good idea.”
In the end, nobody else joined their team. Only one other person even tried- that pink-haired Support Course student, Hatsume, as she introduced herself- but Izuku turned her away. He had a plan.
Izuku handed the 10,000,205 point headband to his friend, who strapped his around his forehead firmly. He looked down at Katsuki with determination. “Since I can carry just you easily, we have the ultimate mobility.”
“I figured that’s what you’d want to do,” Katsuki muttered as he stretched his legs. “Just fly over everything again.”
“If it works, why not?” Izuku asked, shrugging.
“Contestants, get ready!”
Izuku took his shirt off again and threw it down to the ground as he bent down, his wings unfurling. Katsuki hopped on, Izuku locking his elbows behind his friend’s knees as he stood back up.
“Alright, Toothless, let’s go.”
“Screw you, Dandy.”
“Your ten minutes begins… now!”
Katsuki, with one hand steadying himself on Izuku’s shoulder, threw his other arm back and prepared a blast. Like the hundreds of times they had practiced this move, Izuku jumped at the same time that Katsuki’s explosion went off, propelling him even higher than normal as his wings beat mightily and caught the wind, causing the duo to streak into the sky.
“Who could’ve seen that one coming?” Present Mic sounded a little bored.
Midnight was much more excited. “It’s up to the rest of our students to try and find a way to bring that dragon back down to earth if they want a shot at those tantalizing ten million points!”
Izuku had no intention of landing anytime in the next ten minutes. He had trained his endurance for years, partially under Hadou’s brutal regime. He could stay in the air with a passenger for thirty minutes easily, ten minutes would be a piece of cake.
He settled into a comfortable rhythm again, flying much like a raptor did: beating his wings only a few times to gain altitude before holding them out to glide lazily in circles around the inside of the stadium. He pushed his wings larger than he normally did to account for his passenger’s weight, but otherwise he was practically relaxed.
Unlike the rampant greed of Terrorflame, Izuku was content to sit on his wealth. He had over ten million points, he didn’t need to risk anything for the paltry sums down below. Sure, he wanted them, but the risk far outweighed the reward.
Izuku watched carefully, eager to study his opponents more and to size up the competition for the next round. He identified two main contenders quickly.
Ochako and Mina had teamed up with Eiko and that Hatsume woman, which intrigued him. Several of them were equipped with her gadgets and gizmos, which made them unpredictable. He would have to keep an eye on her. Mina’s quirk was keeping the threats to their right at bay, while Ochako’s reach was floating away anyone who got too close to their left. You could hardly ask for a better frontline defender than Eiko; their team was solid.
The other major threat he saw was Todoroki’s team. Iida was the towering front of their group, while Kaminari and Yaoyorozu provided ample defense and utility. The black-haired woman’s versatile quirk could enhance their strengths and limit their weaknesses, which is what she was already doing. Yaoyorozu and Kaminari both had roller blades on, allowing Iida to easily move the group at his rapid pace.
Over the next several minutes, all hell broke loose down below. A few of the teams were outright eliminated when their rider hit the ground, others were left pointless as the headbands were consolidated in the possession of other teams.
“Two minutes remaining!” All Might’s voice boomed loudly, even to the men flying high above the action.
“Damn, I’m about to take a nap up here,” Katsuki huffed, keeping his eyes squinted to keep them from drying out.
“Don’t get complacent, we’re almost through,” Izuku warned.
Katsuki lightly hit his back twice. “I know, I know. Let’s hope the third round has some more action, that’s all.”
“Yeah, I supp-” Something caught Izuku’s ear.
“Alright girls, time to go for the win.”
That was Mina’s voice.
Izuku’s vision whipped down to the four women. “Head’s up, Kacchan, I think they have something planned.”
“Fucking finally.”
The rider of their team, Hatsume, pulled out what looked like a rifle of sorts. She aimed it up, right at Izuku.
Katsuki noticed it too. “She’s trying to hit us at this distance? Good lu-”
Izuku had to jerk harshly to the right to avoid whatever it was that went shooting past them.
“Damn!” Katsuki yelled, grabbing onto Izuku’s back tighter instinctually, due to their years of training together.
“She’s got quite the eye on her, huh?” He began flying faster and more erratically to avoid her shots. “Hold on, Kacchan!”
“What do you think I’m doing, dumbass?!”
The shots were zipping by them, each barely missing. He didn’t know what that rifle of hers was firing, but it sounded like darts or… something . Izuku wasn’t particularly concerned with what they were, he just wanted to avoid them.
He wasn’t so distracted that he didn’t notice that the shots were very intentionally corralling him lower and closer to the team of women. He saw Ochako reaching over and pulling the weight from everyone in the team, preparing to make the leap at them.
Let them come.
He couldn’t agree more. All this excitement was getting his quirk pumping.
As Izuku let his tail grow, he heard Katsuki pop a few small explosions off on his back, both of them preparing for the clash they knew was coming.
Using some boots to propel them, the four women launched into the air, coming straight at the two men at rapid speeds.
Let it be known that Izuku had more experience in aerial combat than most. His father, cousin and Hadou gave him too many scrapes and bruises for him to be taken down by a group of sky-bound amateurs.
“Kacchan: Rifle and two boots.”
Katsuki tapped his back three times. “Ready.”
Instead of trying to avoid the incoming team, he turned into it, diving straight at them. He saw Eiko react with a second of surprise before smiling wide and embracing the challenge.
Unfortunately for her, he wasn’t looking for a direct fight.
As the distance closed, Katsuki brought his two hands together.
“Stun Grenade!”
His explosion ripped through the air, but instead of power, the energy was mostly concentrated in the flash of light that erupted from his hands.
The four women flying up at them were all blinded and completely caught off guard. Izuku immediately pitched to the right and curved around the defenseless women. His tail swung to his left, smacking the gun out of the rider’s hands as he dug a claw into the boot on Ochako’s left foot. With a beat of his wings, he flew around behind the women as Katsuki blew the other boot off Mina’s right leg. As he soared upward, Katsuki caught the gun that was flying through the air with both hands, blowing it to bits with a pair of explosions.
Down two boots and without their rifle, they weren’t a threat anymore. If they had taken all four boots, they might have crash landed, even with Ochako. He was here to win, not to hurt people.
Izuku reached a fist over his shoulder, which Katsuki immediately met with his own. Feeling good about himself, he began to beat his wings in earnest, aiming to regain his height above the playing field. He had gotten much too low for his liking.
Then he heard something behind him. It sounded like a rocket going off.
“Hard left!” Katsuki yelled, causing Izuku to react without a second thought.
He spun just in time for a large net to fly past him, the corners each attached to a small rocket booster.
“Say hello to Baby #41!” he heard the strange woman call from behind him as she pressed a button on a remote.
Faster than he could react, the engines on the rockets cut out and new thrusters kicked to life at a 90-degree angle.
The net shot forward, pinning one of Izuku’s wings to the rest of his body.
They began to fall.
With only one wing working, they quickly spun into a death spiral, hurtling to the ground in an ever-tightening twister.
His quirk raged and bucked; it hated being trapped. Izuku didn’t exactly like it much either.
The ground was growing closer and closer as he desperately tried to beat his wings and prevent himself and Katsuki from smashing into the ground. He reached up and clawed at the net, but he didn’t have the leverage to properly tear at it.
“I can’t blow it up without hurting you!” Katsuki pounded on his back. “Izuku, pull your wing in!”
A moment of clarity in the panic.
His wings shrunk and snapped away. Without his left wing to hold them aloft a little, their descent quickened, but the net lost much of its hold. Katsuki reached down and yanked it off, pitching it behind them as hard as he could.
Izuku shoved his quirk into his back as hard as he could, willing his wings to reform as fast as possible. They caught air at the last possible second, allowing him to slow their fall but he was unable to prevent them from landing.
He put more quirk into his legs, strengthening them like he had when he gave Jirou a ride. His shoes exploded as his clawed feet grew, but thankfully he wasn’t wearing normal pants.
“LESS THAN SIXTY SECONDS REMAIN!!!”
Other teams had been greedily watching their descent and as Izuku slammed down and absorbed the impact, they were quickly on them. Fortunately, Izuku wasn’t alone. Several massive explosions burst from his friend, keeping Ochako’s team and several others at bay while Izuku prepared to take flight again.
Then he heard something in the distance.
“TORQUE… OVER!”
The roar of a furious engine grew louder behind them.
A giant ring of ice flew up around the two men.
A rush of wind blew past Izuku’s back.
The snap of a headband.
“RECIPRO BURST!”
“Oh, no,” Hisashi muttered, his hand over his mouth as he looked down from his luxury box in the stadium.
Next to him, Ryuko nodded. “This isn’t going to be pretty.”
“Do… do you think…” Inko whispered through her teary eyes. She had been crying ever since that net snagged their son. “His instincts… the points?”
“For sure,” Saori muttered as she sat down next to her husband Seizou and handed him a glass of water. “Even my instincts would’ve been going nuts over something like that. There’s barely 4,000 other points out there and little Izuku has ten million? Even if it’s just a game, it’s real to Izuku.”
Hisashi nodded at his sister’s assessment. She wasn’t blessed- or cursed, depending on your point of view- with the full version of the family quirk like he and Hatsuo were. She only had a single straight, black horn sticking out of the right side of her hair and she could only produce enough frost breath to chill food and drinks, but she still had instincts, albeit much weaker than Hisashi’s, Izuku’s or anyone else with the full quirk.
Down below, Izuku was confirming their suspicions.
He had hunched over and was breathing so heavily it was visible despite their great distance. Both Hisashi and Ryuko were pushing their quirks to enhance their vision, their slitted eyes glowing green and turquoise respectively. Scales rippled across his son’s skin as his arms and legs bulged larger. His face grew long and draconic and his tail thickened. His wings shrunk and pulled back into his body as he lowered himself onto all fours.
Ryuko gasped. “Hisashi, did you teach him-”
“No, I wasn’t going to until the internships,” he responded, his eyes wide. “That damn boy is too smart for his own good sometimes.”
Ryuko turned back to the action and held her face in worry. “I don’t know if this is him… ”
“Whoa! What just happened?! That was all one big blur! Holy smokes, folks, why didn’t he show off that super speed in the preliminaries?!”
Iida had done it. That burst of speed was just what Shouto needed to grab that headband from Bakugou. He fastened the 10,000,205 points around his neck and began to scramble their order as his team turned to face Midoriya’s team. With time ticking down, all he and his team had to do was protect their points and they were assured victory… while Midoriya was assured defeat.
If he couldn’t back up his words, he had no right continuing in the festival.
“Uh, guys?” Kaminari sounded worried. “Does Midoriya look a little… upset?”
Shouto turned his gaze back to their opponents.
Midoriya was… different. He was down on all fours and he was massive. Although not nearly as massive as he was at the USJ, he was still larger than any normal man. Every inch was covered in green scales and his long, fanged head was low to the ground. His tail swayed angrily behind him as Bakugou sat on his back. He was the size of a horse, but looked like a bizarre blend of dog and dragon as his digitigrade legs dug into the dirt.
“It looks like Midoriya is taking the whole ‘cavalry’ thing literally! It’s all coming down to the wire!”
He lifted his head up and let loose a deafening roar that shook the very earth. He could feel Midoriya’s rage.
“We need to move!” Yaoyorozu yelled, her voice full of panic.
“I- I can’t!” Iida responded. “My engines are shot!”
Midoriya’s head lowered, his bright, glowing eyes locking onto Shouto’s. They were filled with fury and indignation.
Bakugou sneered as he gripped Midoriya’s sides with his thighs tightly. “Ya shouldn’ta did that.”
The beast kicked off the ground, charging at them at incredible speeds.
Without Iida’s speed, he couldn’t help but feel exposed.
Midoriya kicked up dirt as he tore towards them, his mouth turned up into a snarl to reveal his long, deadly fangs.
Todoroki flung his right arm around, throwing up another huge ice wall between the two of them.
It only granted them a moment of respite.
He heard Bakugou’s battle cry from the other side as a huge explosion went off.
The ice shattered, Bakugou having unleashed a blast at the same moment Midoriya’s massive right fist had impacted the wall.
As the frozen crystals glinted in the sunlight, Midoriya and Bakugou came bursting through the new opening. In that brief moment, Midoriya looked like a true hellish beast of war and Bakugou his infernal, apocalyptic rider.
The beast’s eyes were locked onto him. They were shining bright, but there was no mistaking that look. They were the eyes of an enraged predator.
Even with years of training, Shoto’s mind froze. He was only able to see the upcoming attack as one single thing.
Death.
“The middle one!” Midoriya shouted in his unnatural voice.
‘How does he know?!’
The beast leapt towards Shouto, his claws extended before him and his jaws open wide.
His body moved on instinct; that same primitive, primal instinct that kept his ancestors alive in the face of wild beasts.
“Take this, Icy-Hot! Stun Grenade!” Bakugou raised his hands up and a blinding light erupted forth, forcing Shouto to close his eyes.
He felt a tug on his neck and one of the headbands snapped away.
With a massive crash, the beast that was Midoriya landed behind him, but Shouto opened his eyes, neither that nor the loss of the headband was what horrified him.
Flicking from his left arm were flames.
‘My left side? What am I doing?!’
“Todoroki, we need to-”
“Times up!”
And like that, it was over.
Shouto stared at his left hand as he stepped down onto the ground.
“Those last two minutes were nothing but pulse-pounding action! But now let’s take a look at our top teams! In first place, Team Midoriya!”
Shouto turned around to glance at the men behind him. Bakugou had dismounted and was stretching his legs while holding the headband in front of Midoriya, showing him the point value on it.
Midoriya sniffed it cautiously before snatching it away roughly and slowly shrinking back down to his normal size. The whole time he didn’t take his eyes off the headband.
“In second place, Team Uraraka! In third place, Team Monoma! In fourth place, Team Todoroki!”
The other headbands they had taken ensured their continuation into the next round, but it was too close for comfort. What if Bakugou had taken more of the headbands?
“Since Team Midoriya is only two people, we’ll need another team! In fifth place, Team- Woah, when did this happen?! In fifth place, Team Shinsou came out of nowhere!”
‘I swore to never use it to attack… but as soon as Midoriya came at me like that, I broke my own promise.’ He threw his fist down to his side. ‘Weak! At this rate… he’ll win and I’ll end up exactly who he wants me to be.’
“Now, let’s take an hour lunch break before we start the afternoon’s festivities!”
The rest of the contestants turned to head out of the arena, eager to get food in their bellies, but Shouto had another plan.
He walked over to the green-haired man who was busy fastening the headband around his neck for some reason.
“Midoriya, I need to talk to you.”
While everyone else headed to lunch, Midoriya and Todoroki wandered off to an abandoned tunnel. The two men stared at each other for what felt like an hour, Midoriya still with the ten million band dangling from his neck.
Neither of them noticed that Bakugou had snuck up to listen in on them as well.
“Midoriya,” Todoroki began, “we’re both the sons of heroes. My father is the number two, but before his injury, your father was in the top ten as well. You must know the pressure I am under to succeed. We are legacies and it is our duty to rise to the top.”
“What are you getting at?” Midoriya responded, still a little indignant after what he had done in the cavalry battle.
“My old man is ambitious, he aims for the top,” Todoroki continued. “He used his power to make a name for himself, but he was never able to best All Might. To him, the ‘Symbol of Peace’ is living proof of his failure. Did you father feel the same way?”
Midoriya shook his head. “All Might is a good friend of my father. He always aimed to do his best, but he never had a shot at the number one spot.”
“I figured as much, but that’s why he trains you, right? You’re there to surpass him and everyone else. You are his pride, his progeny. He pushes you to succeed, to excel, to win.”
“I… can’t say that, Todoroki,” Midoriya admitted. “My father has always supported me, but it’s my desire that pushes me forward. I look up to him and All Might, but I’m not their… project.”
Todoroki looked away slightly, visibly disappointed. “Tell me, Midoriya, have you ever heard of… quirk marriages?”
“What?” The green-haired boy’s voice had gotten firm. “Explain yourself. Now.” His eyes were glowing slightly.
“My father has a rich history of accomplishments, and is just rich in general.” Todoroki looked down. “He… bought my mother’s family off to get his hands on her quirk. My… right side is from her.”
“He… did what?!” Midoriya sounded mad.
“He’s raised me to usurp All Might. But I refuse to be a tool for that scumbag.” Todoroki’s voice cracked only the slightest amount. “In every memory of my mother, I only see her crying. I remember… she called my left side unbearable… before she poured boiling water on my face.” Todoroki’s hand slowly raised over his left eye.
Scales flashed up Midoriya’s neck in a wave, but faded as quickly as they came. His fists were clenched in anger and his shoulders were shaking. Something was making Midoriya furious , but what?
Todoroki’s vision snapped back to Midoriya. “I challenged you to show my father what I was capable of doing without having to use his damned quirk. I’m going to rise to the top without his power, I’m going to show him that I reject everything he’s given me.” He raised a finger at Midoriya. “You are the only other student in our class that is the child of a high-ranking pro. By defeating you, I prove not only to him but to myself that I will reach the top with only my right side.”
“Todoroki.” Midoriya’s voice was dripping with emotion. “I can’t allow that. I won’t allow that.”
“What?”
“I can’t know what sort of life you’ve led. I can’t know what you’ve gone through, but let me tell you this.” His glowing eyes pierced Todoroki’s. “Few people have as much experience in hating their quirk as I do.”
Silence hung in the air. What did that mean? Why would Midoriya hate his quirk?
The green-haired man continued. “I have goals, too. Dreams. I also need to prove to myself and others that I can be a hero.” Midoriya’s eyes glowed slightly brighter. “If we fight, I’m coming at you with all my power. And I won’t allow you to hold back against me.”
Todoroki and the man stared at each other for a few seconds before he turned and walked away.
Midoriya waited in the hallway alone for couple minutes. Even Bakugou didn’t dare move as Midoriya’s eyes gradually grew brighter and brighter. He even clutched his head like he was having a headache. Suddenly, he flexed his right arm, growing his claw and slamming it into the concrete, shattering it like glass. He held his hand there for a few seconds as the glow in his eyes dimmed, the only sound coming from the debris falling to the floor.
He released his quirk and walked out of the hallway in the same direction as Todoroki, heading toward the cafeteria.
It was another minute before Bakugou turned to leave, trudging silently away into the depths of the stadium.
Only once he had vanished around the corner did Tooru dare stand up to go recover her clothes and head to lunch.
Izuku was still fuming when he made his way to the lunchroom. He let his quirk out slightly, letting it enhance his senses to dull the throbbing in the back of his mind slightly.
How dare he.
Izuku was of a mind to agree. Thankfully, he would never meet Endeavor or who knows what his quirk might want to do. All he could do was try and repair whatever damage he had done to his son, although it seemed deep-seated.
His thoughts were interrupted by a noise on the edge of his perception.
It sounded like someone crying, but not just anyone. One of his someones.
His instincts, already incensed and raging, bucked harder, urging him to go and check on the distraught woman, as if he wasn’t going to do that already.
He broke into a jog, running down the hallways of UA to find the source.
Izuku heard soft sniffles from inside one of the classroom doors as he turned the corner. He flung it open, a little harder than he wanted, only to cause Pony to nearly jump out of the chair she was sitting in.
“I-Izzy, w-what you” She sniffed and rubbed eyes to try and clear the tears slowly trickling from her eyes. “What you w-want?”
Comfort. Now. NOW.
‘I know, shut up!’
“I heard you crying.” Izuku said in English as he walked over and crouched down next to her. “What happened?”
“I… I don’t want to talk about it.”
Izuku nodded. “That’s okay. Can I stay here with you?”
She hesitated, then nodded. Izuku smiled and pulled up another chair, sitting less than a foot away from her.
The two of them sat quietly for several minutes, the only sound was Pony sniffling every once in a while. Eventually, she spoke up as she stared down at the ground.
“I’m more u-upset with myself than anyone else.”
Izuku slowly turned his head to face her. “Is it because you didn’t advance to the finals?”
“No… Well, yeah, I’m upset about that, but that’s not why I’m crying.” She stomped her hoof into the ground, causing a much louder noise than Izuku expected. “I shouldn’t be crying like this! That’s why I’m mad! I can’t believe I let him get to me!”
Who?
‘Question for later. Comfort now.’
Izuku leaned in a little closer. “Pony, it’s okay to cry, don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.”
“B-but-”
“I cry all the time.”
She looked up at him, her big prussian-blue eyes staring into his green. “R-really?”
He laughed once softly. “Oh yeah, all the time. Just ask Kacchan or my parents. They sometimes joke that my tears are my real quirk and the horns are just a convenient cover story.”
She giggled a little. Progress.
“And Pony, I want you to know that I’m proud of you. I watched you fight from above.” He smiled a little wider as her mouth opened. “You were fierce. I wouldn’t want to stand between you and anything you wanted.”
“R-really?”
The sparkle in her eyes was coming back a little bit. “Yeah, absolutely. The way you kept your horns flying around as a sort of deterrent was brilliant, too.”
“Yeah… things were going pretty well, I guess.” She looked down again, prompting Izuku’s quirk to pulse again. “Until that 1-B guy happened.”
WHO?
‘Question for now.’
“Who? If I might ask.”
“Uh… I don’t remember his name.” Pony looked around a little nervously. “Short blonde hair, uh, he was the rider of the team that got third place.”
Izuku felt his quirk swell with fury now that he had a name. “Monoma? What did he- No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t ask. My bad.”
“It’s… it’s okay.” She looked up to him and put on a brave face. “I’m a big girl, I can talk about my problems.” She took a deep, steadying breath and began. “I was the rider for my team because I’m the smallest, right? His team was keeping his distance up until the time you started getting shot at, when there was about two minutes remaining.”
That’s why Izuku didn’t notice anything. He nodded along.
“He came in while we were fighting Shouji and his team away and got a hit on me. He slapped my arm. Oh!” She turned fully, her body facing him. “His quirk! He touched me and then he grew two horns as big as mine! He copies quirks by touching you!”
Izuku’s eyes went wide. The implications of that were…
Monoma must never touch me.
He agreed with his quirk, but probably for different reasons.
“So he copied my quirk and started harassing us with my- his horns.” She made little horns with her fingers and mimicked them flying around. “He started saying some stuff, told me that he was better at using my quirk than I was, saying that 1-B was so much better than us.”
“Oh… I’m sorry, Pony.”
She shook her head. “No, no, that didn’t bug me, Izzy. He can go fuck himself if he thinks that.”
Izuku recoiled slightly at her… aggressive choice of words.
Pony looked down again. “No, what bugged me was what he called me next. I think he was just trying to get to me. He asked me what my name was, as if he couldn’t remember. I think he knew I was American because he was using my first name, unlike everyone else.” She looked up at him for a second. “Well, most people at least.”
She took another breath. Izuku could tell the hit was coming. “He said something like ‘Oh, what was your name again? Goat? Horse? C-Cow?’ He saw me react to that last one, so he repeated it in English.” She started to cry again, a single tear escaping her eye. “And I froze up! And while I froze up, that girl with the vine-hair took our headbands! I cost our team everything! All because of a stupid insult from high school!” She swung her arms violently out to the side, one of her fists accidentally hitting Izuku in the chest.
And sending him tumbling out of his seat and over another desk.
He crashed into the floor hard, the wind knocked out of him by the accidental backhand from Pony.
“Oh my God! Izzy!” She scrambled out of her chair and dashed over to him, kneeling down next to him. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?!”
He took several, gasping breaths. The worst part of getting the wind knocked out of you was when you tried to automatically breathe out, only to find it quite impossible. However, Katsuki had winded him enough times in the past that he was well-versed in how to handle the situation. No, what he was more concerned with as he got his air back was how the hell she sent him flying.
“P-Pony, what was that? I’m fine but, do you have super strength or something?”
She sighed when he told her that he was okay. “Um, kinda? Have you ever heard the phrase ‘strong as a horse?’ I don’t know if it’s a saying here, but my dad always joked because it’s kinda true for me. I think it’s some sort of quirk adaptation, cause it lets me give people rides on my back without slowing down too much.”
Izuku’s eyes filled with awe and curiosity. “Really?!” He stood up and dusted himself off. “Can you pick me up?”
She nodded. “Yeah, for sure.” Pony stood up as well and wrapped her arms around his waist. With very little effort, she leaned back and lifted him off the ground.
“That’s amazing, Pony!” Izuku was beaming as she put him back down. “Now I see how you knocked me down so easily when I got back to the dorms.”
“T-thanks, Izzy. I’m not strong enough to be a hero on that alone, but it helps.” She smiled up at him. “And… thanks for checking up on me. I feel a lot better now that I’ve talked about it.”
She clearly didn’t want to talk about the incident anymore, even if he hadn’t gotten to the root of the problem. ‘Baby steps,’ he reminded himself.
He recognized her body language and his quirk was too incensed for him to resist it. He dropped down onto one knee and opened his arms up. “I’m just happy to help.”
Pony wasted no time stepping into his hug, her own arms wrapping around him tightly. “I’m really glad I met you, Izzy.”
Mine.
‘I know.’
“I’m glad I met you too.” He motioned to the door as he stood up, both releasing each other. “Want to go get some lunch?”
She nodded and followed him at his side.
Monoma will pay.
‘...’
‘I know.’
Izuku and Pony entered the cafeteria, talking cheerfully; her worries seeming to be behind her, at least for the time being. They walked over to where the rest of their class was sitting, but he quickly noticed something was amiss.
“Oh good, Midoriya,” Yaoyorozu looked over at him with exasperation. “Mineta and Kaminari were just telling us the most interesting thing.”
Mineta whipped around, looking terrified. “O-oh, it’s- it’s nothing!”
Jirou cocked her hip. “No, no, don’t be shy. They were just telling us that all the girls in our class had to go put on cheerleading uniforms before the next event.”
Izuku’s eyes flashed.
Hagakure waved her arm. “You wouldn’t have happened to hear anything about that, would you, class rep?”
“No…” Izuku looked down on Mineta and Kaminari with stoic anger. “No, I hadn’t.”
“Oh, w-well I must have misheard then,” Kaminari offered meekly. “S-sorry, Yaoyorozu!”
“Y-yeah, sorry!” Mineta and Kaminari both turned and walked away very stiffly.
Yaoyorozu sighed. “Thank you, Midoriya. For a second, I almost believed them. God, could you imagine?” She and the other two women turned to walk to a table and eat.
Yes, I could.
‘But I won’t . Shut up.’ He sighed audibly and looked over at the retreating boys. ‘What is it with people trying to mess with what’s mine today?’
“Izuku!”
A smile broke across his face as he turned around to a very familiar voice. “Dad!”
His father and him embraced warmly in the middle of the cafeteria for a few moments. “I’m really proud of you, Son. First in both events so far! Way to go!”
“Thanks, Dad.” Izuku smiled warmly up at him as he stepped back. “Things got a little, uh, hairy at the end there.”
Hisashi scratched his chin. “Yes, they did. Izuku when did you...?”
“I didn’t. I… I don’t.”
“Then it was…?”
“Yes.”
“But you…?”
“Yes.”
His eyes looked down at the 10,000,205 point headband still around Izuku’s neck. “Am I right to assume…?”
Izuku sighed as he ran the headband through his fingers. “Yes…”
Hisashi nodded. “Good talk, son. I have to get back to the family now, you keep it up, alright? We’re all cheering for you.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Well, that was weird.”
Izuku jumped and whipped around. “Mina!”
She smiled up at him. “Hey, Midori.” She lost her smile and looked around a little nervously. “Can… can we talk? In private?”
Izuku was immediately worried. “Oh, of course.” He turned to the short girl next to him. “Pony, are you gonna be okay?”
She nodded. “Thanks again. I’ll go sit with Yaomomo.” She trotted off to go get food.
Mina led him out of the cafeteria, the smell of food taunting his empty stomach. She took him around a couple corners before pulling him into a small side hallway.
She peeked down both ways before she turned back to him. Izuku was getting anxious; what could possibly be bothering his girlfriend so much?
Mina reached up and gripped his head firmly with both hands before pulling his face down to hers. She smashed her lips into his and pushed her tongue deep into his mouth.
For a second, Izuku was stunned.
Then his quirk burst to life and he took control.
His arms stretched around Mina’s back and waist as he lifted her up and pushed her into the wall behind her. Her legs wrapped around him as she pulled even harder on his head. Their tongues intertwined, her own giving ground as fast as he wanted to take. She was utterly at his mercy and hanging on for dear life, begging him to do whatever he wanted by how desperately she was pushing her face into his.
After nearly thirty seconds of kissing, they broke apart, panting to get their breath back.
“What… what was that about?” he asked. “Not that I’m compl- complaining.”
“Midori…” Her voice was full of desire. “I saw you go after Todoroki’s team after he took your headband. I melted through his ice wall because we wanted to get your headband, but we weren’t fast enough for that. What we were fast enough for-” She leaned up and bit his lip before slowly pulling back. “-Was to see you go all feral on him. It was so damn hot.”
Izuku leaned down, pressing their foreheads together. “You… liked that? I just… I lost control of my instincts.”
“Seeing all that power you have…” She breathed heavily, her hot breath brushing against his face. “Knowing that it’s hiding just below your skin…” She ran her fingers along his chest, tracing his muscles. “I love it.” She reached up and kissed him again. “I love you .”
Her words made his quirk pulse in approval. He couldn’t deny how his heart rate increased even further and how good her body felt on his.
Then he noticed something else.
“Mina…” He leaned back slightly. “I… what’s that smell?”
“What?” She tilted her head slightly.
“Y-yeah, I smelled it earlier...um, yesterday morning.” He looked away slightly, trying to think. “It smelled… both of you had a scent.”
“Like, my shampoo?”
He shook his head. “No, it smells more… adult?”
Her eyes went wide. “Yesterday morning? Adul- Oh my God.”
“What?”
“Midori…” She leaned back up and kissed him again as her face grew a seductive look. “I’m horny . You’re smelling… that. You’re smelling me through two layers of clothing, how are you even doing that?”
His eyes went wide as his face started turning greener and greener. “I have a good sense of smell, especially when my quirk is going like it is… You’re telling me that scent is…?”
She kissed him again. “I told you that it was hot, Midori. What did you expect?”
It was at times like this that he was glad his armored pants kept his ‘friend’ hidden and out of the way. “Wait, so, what are you saying?”
Mina giggled. “I didn’t even try to make you broccoli there but I guess things just work out sometimes…” She sighed and released her grip on him, letting him help her to the ground. “And while a small part of me wants to, we got a bunch of festival left ahead of us, right? I just wanted to let you know that I… appreciate you. But don’t think that means I’m not going to beat your ass if we face each other next round!”
“Right.” He took a fortifying breath as the two of them began to walk back to the cafeteria together. “The same goes for you, Mina. I won’t lose.”
“That’s the Midori I know.” She looked up at him and winked. “Besides, we can wait until we get back to the dorms to continue where we left off.”
Izuku gulped. “Y-yeah, okay.”
“Alright, alright, no more teasing,” she laughed. “Focus time! Let’s do this!” She held up her hand to him for a high-five. Izuku slapped her hand confidently, both of them flashing competitive smirks at each other.
Izuku was the last to make it to the stands where the rest of his class was. He had stayed behind a little to ask Lunch Rush to make him a big, hearty bowl of food as fast as he could. The pro was a master, of course, and obliged faster than Izuku could have hoped.
He had grabbed the bowl eagerly and ducked around a corner, before transforming his head and pouring the entire bowl into his enlarged maw in a single go. As soon as he swallowed and the food hit his stomach, he let his transformation end with a grimace and a shudder. It always made him feel weird for a little bit when he did that, but he needed to eat. How stupid would you have to be to not eat lunch on a day like today?
“Deku, down here!” Ochako called, waving at him as he entered their small section of the stadium. They were fairly high up, but they had a good enough view. He saw Hadou sitting near the front, eagerly looking over the railing like an excited schoolgirl, which was actually accurate in many ways.
He walked down at sat between her and Katsuki, casually waving to the rest of the class.
“Hey man, congrats on first place,” Sero said happily. “You were a beast out there.”
Izuku smiled. “Thanks. Sorry you didn’t make it through.”
“Eh, it happens,” Sero admitted with a shrug. “There’s always next year, right? I’ll just have to try harder.” Izuku smiled and nodded.
Yaoyorozu tapped her chin in thought. “You know, I’ve always found it a little weird that the festival is so early in the year. We’ve barely had time to learn anything.”
Izuku nodded. “I’ve wondered the same thing. My guess is that it’s more of an aptitude demonstration for us freshmen than anything else.”
Several other students murmured in agreement.
Then Kaminari screamed.
Izuku was up in an instant, his right arm transformed into a claw at his side. He whipped his vision over to his left, to where the scream came from. Poking out of the wall that separated 1-A from 1-B was a man’s smiling face.
His face was… simple. Simple, but kind and friendly. “Heya!” was all that he said once Kaminari calmed down.
“Mirio!” Hadou shouted, running out of her seat and over to the man’s face. She reached forward and poked him on the nose softly with her finger. “My class is gonna kick your class’ butts!”
He laughed. “We’ll just see about that! They’ve got some real fire in them!”
Hadou turned back to 1-A. “Guys, this is Mirio Togata, the top student at UA and 1-B’s TA!”
Izuku tilted his head slightly. “Woah… what’s your quirk?”
Togata laughed once. “Hey now, no spoilers! I just dropped in to say hi, and good luck! Later!”
“Bye!” Hadou said cheerfully, waving as his head sunk back into the wall. She walked cheerfully back to her seat and plopped down at the same time that All Might’s voice began to boom around the stadium.
“Welcome back!” Just the sound of his voice caused the stadium to erupt in cheers. “It’s time for our final competition for the day and I have to say, you’re all in for a treat! Some years, we get fancy with our 1v1 event, but then we thought it would be a shame for us not to show you just what our freshmen are capable of!” The screen behind him lit up with a 16 person bracket. “It’s time for a tournament!”
“Alright!” Eiko cheered. “I can’t believe I’m actually in these finals!”
“Due to the smaller nature of our first-place team, we had to bring in students from the fifth-place team. While we tried to figure out who would advance, two students came forward and expressed their desire to drop out due to personal reasons. I would like to personally congratulate Young Ojirou and Young Shouda for their remarkable sense of integrity!”
Polite applause filled the arena.
“Now, for our bracket! Bear in mind that these seedings were completely random! Keep your eyes on the screen, folks, this is sure to be a wild time!”
Every eye was on the bracket as names appeared.
Izuku Midoriya vs. Neito Monoma
Hitoshi Shinsou vs. Tenya Iida
Shouto Todoroki vs. Momo Yaoyorozu
Ibara Shiozaki vs. Denki Kaminari
Ochako Uraraka vs. Mina Ashido
Eiko Kirishima vs. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
Katsuki Bakugou vs. Mei Hatsume
Reiko Yanagi vs. Fumikage Tokoyami
Izuku’s eyes went wide. His quirk pulsed harder with every beat of his heart.
He felt his rage building.
Izuku turned down to look at Pony, who was staring back at him with a half-uncertain, half-determined expression.
“Our first match is Young Midoriya versus Young Monoma! Both of you, please report to your respective waiting room; we’ll be underway in ten minutes!”
Izuku stood up slowly as the cheers rang out from around the stadium once more. His eyes were glowly softly as he carefully undid his headband from the second round and handed it to Katsuki for safe keeping.
He couldn’t allow Monoma to touch him, but he had to make him pay for hurting his hoard.
Which meant there was only one real choice.
Hadou and every one of his classmates were looking at him, each of them silent in the face of the intimidating energy he was exuding.
“You all were curious about what my breath is?” he asked as he began to walk up the steps.
His quirk bucked a little harder and he let it out a little to relieve the pressure, allowing scales to cover his neck and torso.
“Just watch.”
Notes:
See you guys next time for the big breath! :)
Chapter Text
Kyouka stared intently at the arena; after the intimidating exit Midoriya made, it was hard not to be on the edge of your seat. She twirled one of her jacks in her hand- a nervous tick she had picked up years ago- while the other was pointed subtly towards the battleground Cementoss had constructed in the center of the stadium.
“My money’s still on it being lightning,” Kaminari said. “Think about it: his dad, his granddad. It’s gotta be that.”
“Hmm, I dunno,” Mina muttered. “He’s a different color than them.”
“Fulgurite used lightning,” Iida added, finally getting into the debate himself, “and she was blue. Color might not mean anything.”
Tsuyu put a finger on her chin. “Hey, think about the USJ for a moment. Surely he would’ve used his breath there, right? Unless…”
Kyouka caught on. “Unless he breathes fire because that wouldn’t affect Terrorflame.” She remembered watching videos from Terrorflame's rampage through Japan; if anything, he seemed to enjoy being around fire.
“Ooh!” Tooru bubbled. “That’s the best theory we have so far!”
“I mean, Bakugou could just tell us…” Satou looked at the man with a hopeful smirk.
Bakugou didn’t take his eyes off the arena. “No.”
Kaminari threw his hands up. “Aw, come on, man! Just a hint?”
“Drama is an art, mon ami. You should appreciate the suspense!” Aoyama remarked with a sparkle.
Kyouka narrowed her eyes. ‘How does he do that?’
“It’s time to get this show on the road!” Present Mic shouted, eliciting cheers throughout the arena. “Let’s start with our contestants!”
Midoriya and Monoma were walking up to the arena, the latter’s walk was casual, almost flippant, while the former’s was… cold.
“You’ve seen him take first place in both events so far, but what else can you expect from the son of Stormclaw?! From 1-A, Izuku Midoriya!”
Kyouka and the rest of her class cheered loudly. Next to her, Pony yelled something in English; Kyouka didn’t catch it, but it sounded encouraging.
“He led his team to a comeback victory in the previous round with some really clever moves! From 1-B, Neito Monoma!”
Kyouka saw Pony’s mood visibly drop. She was on Pony’s team for the cavalry battle, so she understood why. Kyouka reached out and put a hand on Pony’s leg, hoping to comfort her.
Pony smiled softly. “Don’t worry, Kyouka. Izzy gonna win.”
Kyouka smiled back and handed Pony her other jack. “You wanna listen in?”
Pony nodded eagerly and took the jack tenderly, putting it up to her ear.. Kyouka couldn’t help but smirk at the stark contrast between Pony’s normal personality and just how badass and determined she got in battle.
It was kinda hot.
‘Where the fuck did that come from?’ Kyouka wondered, her eyes widening slightly as she turned back to the arena. She put the thought out of her brain as All Might prepared to speak.
“The match will end when one of three things happens: a contestant goes out of bounds, a contestant is immobilized or a contestant gives up. Do you understand?"
Monoma nodded smugly. How do you even nod smugly?
Midoriya was quiet for a second. “I understand.”
Kyouka and Pony exchanged looks. On the far side of Pony, she saw Momo holding her hand to her mouth in worry.
“Then let’s get started!” All Might declared. “Go!”
“Monoma.” Midoriya was staring daggers at the man. “You will apologize for upsetting Pony.”
Kyouka and Pony stole looks at each other again. Nobody else in their class could hear this but them and maybe Shouji if he really wanted.
“Who?” Monoma said with a sardonic smile. He wasn’t moving, apparently content to banter for the time being.
“You know damn well who she is.”
“Maybe I do,” he said offhandedly. “But why are you getting so worked up about it? Is she your girlfriend or something?”
Midoriya’s voice was deeply unsettling even without the rage dripping from it. Right now, it was terrifying; it was a little impressive that Monoma was keeping his composure. “No. We would not be having this conversation if you had insulted them . This is your last chance.”
‘Them?’
Kyouka blinked.
‘THEM?!’
She and Pony shot a third glance at each other, this one full of questions. ‘I noticed Mina has been all over him, but she’s all over a lot of us; she’s just a touchy person. Could they be dating ? And who else?!’ Kyouka shook her head slightly. ‘Questions for later.’
“It isn’t wise to lose your head, don’t you know? It would be a shame to have such weak composure that a simple word like ‘cow’ would cause you to get so upset.” Monoma began to run forward.
Kyouka didn’t need her quirk to hear Midoriya’s snarl. God, it was like being badass was just natural for him.
She saw his eyes burst with light as he took a deep breath, much deeper than she would have thought possible.
“Here it comes!” Eiko cheered from behind her.
Kyouka secretly hoped it was fire; it was classic, if maybe a little cliche, but fire-breathing dragons were badass. Ice would also be cool. She rolled her eyes a little at herself.
Midoriya opened his mouth, baring his fangs as he exhaled.
A massive green cloud poured forth, enveloping his opponent and the rest of the arena with a thick haze in an instant.
There was a beat of silence in the stands.
“What?!” Eiko shouted before anyone else. “What is that?!”
Bakugou huffed. “That’s Izuku’s breath.”
“Hold your breaths, folks! Midoriya unleashed some sort of gas attack on Monoma!”
Midoriya wasn’t moving. He had unleashed his attack and then was just standing there at the edge of the arena, the look of cold fury on his face contrasting his burning bright eyes. She couldn’t see Monoma in the green fog that hung over the ring… but she could hear him coughing.
“...What is it?” Sero asked nervously.
“Poison gas,” Bakugou declared flatly.
“P-p-poison?!” Mineta stuttered. “Is he gonna kill that guy?!”
“What?” Bakugou responded, like the question was ridiculous. “Don’t be stupid.”
Midoriya was still standing there, staring into the gas.
“Lots of quirks are dangerous,” Hadou said softly, her voice filled with more wisdom than Kyouka was used to hearing. “Each of you could kill very easily if you wanted to or just by accident. Greenhorn has gone through a lot of training to control his breath and he’s gonna get more here at UA.” She turned and looked at them seriously, but still with a small smile. “You’re all gonna get a taste of it sooner or later.”
The class recoiled.
“Ah, don’t be a buncha babies,” Bakugou sneered. “Yeah, getting hit by it sucks but so does getting hit with any quirk. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want Pikachu to shock me either.”
“That’s… fair,” Satou admitted.
“He’s winning the best way he can without letting Monoma touch him.” Ochako clenched her fist. “I trust Deku.”
“Me, too!” Mina declared. Kyouka noticed the two of them exchange knowing glances.
Kyouka turned back to the arena as the gas cleared away, dispersing into the air and fading from sight.
Laying in the middle of the arena, unmoving, was Monoma.
“Move over, Midnight! It looks like Midoriya’s gas attack knocked Monoma out cold!”
Midnight huffed over the speakers.
Midoriya still hadn’t moved an inch, simply staring his opponent down. A shudder ran down Kyouka’s spine. ‘How is he such a stone-cold badass one moment and such a cute, lovab-’ She stopped herself before that thought continued.
All Might dashed into the arena in the blink of an eye, reaching down to check on the student.
“Don’t worry, Izuku just knocked him out,” Bakugou huffed, almost sounding bored.
“Are you sure?” Tooru asked.
He clicked his tongue. “He’s used it against me enough times. He’ll be fine.”
“Young Monoma is unconscious! Young Midoriya wins!”
“See?”
Midoriya bowed towards All Might and his opponent before turning and walking down the stairs and out of the arena.
“M-Midoriya is scary,” Tooru muttered.
“Yeah," Tsuyu agreed cheerfully. “It’s kinda hot.”
"I know, right?" Mina was grinning wide.
Kyouka began to blush slightly.
She didn’t necessarily disagree with them...
Izuku was still fuming slightly as he made his way back up. Monoma had paid, but he hadn’t done any permanent damage to him. He had practiced enough to make it work like a knockout gas, albeit a little more… painful. His gas was poison, there was no way around it, but he didn’t put any real kick behind it. Monoma would be fine after some rest, especially with Recovery Girl’s help.
He was also nervous. The class- not to mention everyone else- had finally seen his breath. Would their opinions change now? Would they see him for the monster he really was? Would his girlfri-
Izuku’s mouth dropped open.
‘Oh crap, my girlfriends! What am I going to tell them?’ Izuku shook his head. ‘No. They trust me. They know I’m not… I don’t want to be… They love me. They told me that.’
‘...But that was before the ga-’ He shook his head; there was no use worrying about that now.
He approached the top of the stairs and took a deep breath. It was now or never. Why was he more scared of this than the matches ahead of himself?
Izuku stepped out into the light and began to walk to-
“Deku!” Ochako was waiting for him at the top of the stairs and crushed him into a big hug. “You did great out there!”
As her arms wrapped around him, his quirk calmed immediately, as if it was falling asleep on a pile of treasure. All of his doubts and fears flowed out of him as they were replaced by her warmth. “Thanks, Ochako,” he muttered as he wrapped his arms around her in return. They stayed like that for a few seconds as he took in her scent and her affection.
They broke apart slightly but kept their hands touching each other’s sides for a little while longer as they both blushed slightly. “Sorry for keeping it a secret for so long. I was afraid you would think less of me because of it. Silly, I know.”
“It was silly,” she agreed, leaning down and bumping his nose with her own. “But I’m glad to see you’re finally starting to grow out of thinking like that. Come on, the rest of them want to grill you.”
Izuku nodded. “I figured as much.”
The two of them walked over to the 1-A section of seats, but before they got there, they had to walk past the 1-B seats. Izuku hoped they weren’t too mad at him for what he did to Monoma.
“Hey, Midoriya, you got a sec?” Kendou asked as she stepped out of their section with another girl. The other woman was about Mina's height- about six inches shorter than Izuku- with gray hair that came down to about her chin. It hung over most of her face, as he was only able to see one of her blue eyes and her mouth. She held her hands up strangely, holding them up, but limp, at elbow height. ‘Kinda like Tsuyu now that I think about it…’
Izuku nodded as he studied the new student. "Of course, Kendou."
"Midoriya, this is Reiko Yanagi," Kendo explained, gesturing between the woman and Izuku. "She wanted to talk to you."
"Oh, hello, Yanagi." Izuku waved politely. "Can I help you?"
"I saw how apoplectic you were," she began, her voice nearly monotone, "and I was perplexed. What did Monoma do to earn your ire so?"
Izuku blinked for a second. "He insulted my classmate. I won't tolerate anybody hurting them."
She nodded once. "As I suspected; I was on his team, you see. His denigration was cruel, but he sees it as a way to secure an advantage. Please do not judge us all by the actions of one malcontent. For what it's worth, I apologize for him."
'Oh, Tokoyami would like her,' Izuku thought with a small smile. "I won't, Yanagi. I've already met Kendou and Tetsutetsu and they were very friendly to me. I appreciate your apology and will relay it to my classmate."
She nodded and returned to her seat. Kendou shook her head slightly. "You get all that? Yanagi has a… unique way of speaking."
Izuku nodded and laughed once. "I did."
"That makes one of us," Ochako mumbled.
Kendou rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I try to keep an eye on Monoma, but I can't always. He gets really... competitive ."
"I understand competition," Izuku said with a sigh, "but I won't tolerate any abuse of my classmates. I want to be friends with you all, but I will go to war for my class." He ended more severe than he intended.
Kendou looked at him for a second, seeming to size him up. "I hear you, man. I feel the same way about my class. Good luck in the rest of your matches, both of you."
"Oh, how rude of me." Izuku held his hand out towards Ochako. "This is Ochako Uraraka."
Kendou laughed. "I know. Killer speech, by the way."
"Thanks!" Ochako chirped. "I was really nervous."
"I could tell, but you handled it well." Kendou waved as she turned away. "Good luck again!"
Izuku and Ochako waved back. "She's nice," Ochako added.
Izuku nodded. "Shall we? I'm sure Mina is wondering where we are."
The two of them made their way over to their section in silence. Izuku reached over and grabbed her hand, which caused her to blush slightly as they walked around the upper level.
Izuku stepped down into their section, which was quickly noticed. "Hey man!" Eiko yelled. “Way to kick ass out there!”
“Yeah, but hold up!” Kaminari pointed a finger. “What’s with that breath?! Nobody else in your family has that!”
Izuku shrugged. “Quirks are weird. I’m the only green dragon in the family, too. Or at least the first one in a long time.” He took his headband back from Katsuki as he sat down.
Yaoyorozu looked up at him curiously. “Midoriya, I have to ask: what is it?”
“You mean like, chemically?” Izuku asked. She nodded. “It’s unique in the natural world, as far as any doctors can tell. It’s actually a combination of several different complex chemicals. I can adjust and control the concentrations of them according to my needs.”
“That’s… versatile,” she responded, blinking a few times.
“Yeah, I guess. It’s sort of like how Kacchan can adjust his explosive sweat.” He pointed to his friend, who looked like he wasn’t paying attention. “You were on the other end of one of his Stun Grenades; he can make minor adjustments that make the explosions more flash and less bang.”
Tokoyami nodded. “It makes sense when you put it like that.”
“What are ‘your needs’, though?” Jirou asked.
You.
‘Really?’
Izuku held in his sigh. “My breath doesn’t cause very much permanent damage if I’m careful; I’ve developed a sort of knockout gas over years of training. It’s a particular mix that causes a large amount of pain and some minor internal damage- ruptured capillaries and irritation to the lungs, throat and skin, for example- the combined trauma is usually enough to knock someone out without damaging them permanently, like I said.”
“And other mixes?” Sero asked hesitantly.
Izuku flinched a tiny bit. “Yeah, if I’m not careful… well, let’s just say I really hope I never have to use those. It took me years to get this one right; poison isn’t nice.”
The class murmured and exchanged glances.
Mina perked up. “Hey that reminds me, Ryukyu showed me that her fangs dripped acid and your dad has those lightning fangs. Do you…?” There was genuine curiosity in her voice and, judging by the breathless way she ended her question… exhilaration?
Izuku nodded as the class gave him their attention again. He opened his mouth and flexed his quirk a tiny amount, growing his fangs longer and then letting a single, green drop slowly fall from one of them and hit his tongue. He swallowed and then smiled.
“Poison…” Mineta said quietly.
“Technically, it’s venom,” Izuku explained, “but yeah. I can’t control that one as easily. It’s especially not nice.”
Katsuki finally spoke. “Fucking right it isn’t.”
Mineta stared in horror. “Wait, have you been-?”
“Yep.” Katsuki took a drink from his water bottle. “Sucks.”
Yaoyorozu looked quite intrigued. “And that pois- venom you swallowed, it won’t hurt you?”
Izuku shook his head. “You know how Stormclaw is immune to electricity? My quirk makes me basically immune to poisons of all types.”
“Woah, really?!” Ochako asked, stunned but smiling.
He nodded slowly. “Yep. Doctors theorize that’s why my blood is green; my quirk neutralizes any foreign bodies in my blood and body nearly instantly. I can’t be poisoned, I probably can’t get any diseases, I probably can’t get drunk, but that also means most medicine doesn’t work on me.”
“Hold on,” Yaoyorozu was wide-eyed and her mind looked like it was running a mile a minute. It was honestly attractive. “That’s a lot to unpack. You can’t get sick?”
He shook his head. “Never in my life. That’s how I can eat raw meat; the microbes in it can't survive the poison that flows through my veins.” He paused and scrunched his face. “...That came out weird.”
Mina giggled softly. “And I thought Tokoyami was the edgy one.”
Tokoyami huffed. “What a mad banquet of darkness…”
“See?” Mina gestured at the man with a wide grin.
Momo smiled along but was still looking down in contemplation. “You can’t get drunk for the same reasons, yes that makes sense. And medicine doesn’t work on you…” Yaoyorozu looked at him. “Since your body sees it as a foreign entity, it eliminates it before it can work. And some medicines work by inhibiting bodily functions such as swelling, so it makes even more sense that they wouldn’t work.”
Mine.
“Wow, uh, yeah.” Izuku was nearly speechless. “You got it.”
“It’s time for our second match! I hope you’re ready, folks!”
The class turned their attention back to the arena, ready to watch Iida’s match.
“ Turn around and walk out of the arena. ”
Tenya couldn’t stop his body from obeying. His legs turned him around and stepped forward. Slowly, robotically, but forward.
How did this happen? Tokoyami had even taken him aside before the match and warned him.
“Iida, I feel that I must tell you about your opponent.” Tokoyami sounded grim, even more so than he normally did.
“Oh?” Tenya replied. “What seems to be the problem?”
“His quirk is… Iida-” His red eyes pierced into his blue. “He can control people’s actions forcibly. I was on his team for the cavalry battle and… well, it is hard to explain. He tried to control all of us, but Dark Shadow freed me from his control. My other teammates were not so fortunate and fell under his sway. That is actually how we advanced to fifth place: through duplicity; he used his quirk to command other teams to give us their headbands.”
Tenya was stunned. “What can I do against a quirk like that?”
“You must not speak,” Tokoyami said simply and firmly. “I believe he can only take control of you if you respond to him. Stay silent and he is powerless.”
Tenya nodded. “I understand. Thank you, Tokoyami.”
He did understand. He understood completely, but he still spoke. He was determined to stay silent, but when he mocked Tensei… he was blinded. Again.
‘First Midoriya and now him…’
His foot stepped down, sealing his fate.
‘I’m sorry, brother…’
“Young Iida is out of bounds! Young Shinsou wins!”
He felt the mind control snap away. Tenya whipped around furiously, his face distraught. Shinsou had already turned away and was walking calmly out of the arena. He wasn’t even a challenge for him. He was just a stepping stone.
Tenya turned back and slowly walked away as well, trying to deal with the swarm of emotions that were flooding him.
Failure. That was the big one. He had failed himself, he had failed his class, he had failed Tokoyami, he had failed Tensei.
All he could do now was accept his defeat with some semblance of dignity. How could he go back to his classmates after he didn’t even put up a fight?
The sound of pounding feet caught his attention. ‘Oh no, someone is coming.’ He wiped his eyes and straightened his glasses, trying to at least attempt to have some damn composure.
Midoriya whipped around the corner, panting like he had sprinted the whole way down. His glowing eyes locked onto Tenya and he ran towards him, stopping only a foot or two away as he took a few deep breaths.
“I-Iida!” he panted out.
“Midoriya, can I help you?” Tenya tried to keep his voice level, but there were cracks.
Midoriya looked up at him, his glowing eyes staring into Tenya’s soul. “You don’t have to put on that facade for me.”
Tenya felt something give in the dam that was holding back his emotions.
“I- I am fine, Midoriya,” he lied. “Your concern is appreciated, but you don’t need to-”
“You did not fail your brother.”
That stopped Tenya in his tracks. “But-”
“ You did not fail your brother .” There was no room for argument in his voice. He tapped the side of his head as he looked up at Tenya. “I heard what he said.”
He hung his shoulders and looked down to the ground. There was no use trying to hide it, then. “Both you and him exploited the fact that I idolize Tensei. Midoriya, I…” Tenya looked up slightly, into Midoriya’s eyes, begging for an answer. “Is my brother a weakness?”
“No.” His response was instantaneous and firm. “Your brother, your family- they are what you choose to let them be. Shinsou and I were able to use your brother against you because of what you let him be.”
“I… don’t follow.”
“Don’t let your brother be a burden, let him be strength.” Midoriya put a hand on his shoulder. “Instead of living underneath the shadow of Ingenium, stand proud in his light. You are his brother and you will be a great hero like him.”
Tenya blinked a few times. “Did… did you see me out there? I didn’t even put up a fight- how can you say that?”
“Iida, listen.” Midoriya held his shoulder firmer. “Are you a pro hero?”
“What?”
“Are you a pro hero?” he repeated.
“No, bu-”
“Exactly. We’re not here to be perfect , we’re here to learn. Losing isn’t wrong, failing isn’t wrong, as long as we keep learning.” He smiled. “My dad said that to me once. I bet if you talked to your brother, he would have tons of stories of times he failed and struggled here at UA.”
Tenya gasped; Midoriya was right. Tensei had told him some of those stories when he was younger, but he hadn’t appreciated them at the time. “T-thank you, Midoriya. You are right.”
“Iida, lean on your family for strength, because some day, they may rely on you for your strength. My grandfather told my dad that, he… my dad remembers the day Thunderwing fell every year.” Midoriya stepped back and held his arms wide. “But you don’t have to be strong right now. Let me give you some of my strength.”
Tenya hesitated, but then moved forward, accepting the embrace as he hugged Midoriya back.
"T-thank you, Midoriya."
"...Call me Izuku."
Momo breathed deeply as she walked up the stairs to the battlefield. Todoroki stared at her across the arena, his eyes narrowed and not nearly as emotionless as normal. She couldn’t tell exactly what they were filled with; sometimes anger, sometimes fear, sometimes frustration… but she wasn’t here to play therapist to Todoroki.
She was there to win.
Or at least try.
She could hardly think of a worse matchup for her, but that just meant she had put even more thought into how to beat him. Ever since the first day of class, she had studied Todoroki intensely, as she thought he was the most powerful student. Midoriya was giving him a run for his money, but that didn’t matter right now.
She had come up with multiple plans, of course- a flamethrower, a cannon, small explosives, etc.- but they all had the same issue: Todoroki was too fast. Momo felt like only one of her ideas was viable, but she only had one shot at it.
Literally.
“Are you ready?” All Might asked.
They both nodded. Momo flexed her right hand, preparing herself as a few tell-tale sparkles of her quirk shone from her palm. She had noticed a few other things about the man in front of her- namely that he never used his left side. That gave her an opening.
“Go!”
She had spent weeks practicing this creation; complicated electrical systems, a chemical propellant and a sturdy frame all came together nearly instantly as her taser formed in her right hand. She lifted it up as she made it; the entire device forming in the window when Todoroki was raising his right leg.
His eyes went wide as she leveled the weapon at him. Todoroki slammed his right foot down.
The wall of ice he had planned on shooting at her instead shot towards his left to create a shield. There was no disputing it: Todoroki was fast.
But he wasn’t that fast.
The self-contained prongs shot past the ice before he could block them. They hit him square in the left leg, causing him to spasm and collapse.
“A quickdraw from Yaoyorozu has downed Todoroki! Who could’ve seen that coming?!”
“It looks like Snipe might have been giving lessons on the side~”
Momo dashed forward, dropping the taser as she formed the next part of her plan in her left hand. She hadn’t made the taser bolt with much punch; she was more focused on making it fast enough to get past his defenses. Todoroki was already struggling back to his feet by the time she hurled the grenade over his ice wall.
She averted her gaze as the flashbang went off in Todoroki’s face, causing him to scream in pain and confusion as he tried to clutch his eyes and ears at the same time. Momo felt a little bad, but she knew that if she relented, it was all over.
“Ouch! I think I felt that one up here!”
The creation she had been preparing since the beginning was finally ready. She pulled her shirt open as a massive metal net and a remote grew from her stomach. She hurled the net at Todoroki, trapping him on the ground as she pressed the button.
Electricity started running along the metal wires as she activated the batteries she designed into the weights on ends of the wires.
“Oh my~ She really knows how to make it hurt , doesn’t she?”
His screams renewed with greater intensity as she held the button down. Despite the pain wracking his body, he lifted his hand slowly and shakily, fighting for every inch. Momo’s eyes went wide as she quickly moved to make something else to disable him.
But Todoroki was fast.
And Momo wasn’t fast enough.
With a roar full of pain and fury, Todoroki slammed his right hand down and a wave of ice exploded from his body. The net was flung from his body as Momo was immediately covered in ice. The wave continued in all directions, covering the stands behind him and the arena in front of him. It didn’t stop until the tip of the glacier was sticking a good ways above the roof of the stadium.
“Oh.” That was all Present Mic could say.
Momo was panicking. In his anger, he had lost control. He had covered her completely; all she could do was stare out of the shimmering ice as she slowly suffocated and froze underneath the ice. She desperately tried to create something, but nothing came to mind. Without focus, her quirk wouldn’t work.
“Young Yaoyorozu has been immobilized! Young Todoroki advances!” All Might’s voice was muffled to her.
Todoroki stumbled to his feet, still shaking slightly from the electrical shocks she had given him- or was he shivering? He slowly looked up, his face sweating and flush, full of anger and rage.
All Might dashed into the arena, cleaving through the ice as easily as air to free her. Momo took a gasping breath and coughed a few times as oxygen refilled her lungs. She stumbled once, but All Might held her steady.
As Todoroki shifted his eyes to her, his expression swiftly changed to one of horror. He stumbled forward, tripping once on his own ice thanks to his unsteady legs. “Yaoyorozu, I- I’m so sorry, I…” Todoroki looked down as he began to melt some of the ice around him with his left side. “I lost control. I apologize.”
She didn’t say anything as she closed her shirt back up and slowly moved out of the arena, still shivering.
‘Even after all that time I spent on planning for him… even when that plan went off without a hitch…’
Momo felt a hitch in her throat. The adrenaline from her near-death experience was finally fading as she slowly walked down the hallway.
‘He beat me with a single attack. Todoroki is so strong that he nearly, accidentally killed me and that was still only half his strength.’ She held in a sob as she threw her head back. ‘He’s holding back and I looked like a child out there compared to him.’
‘I felt so powerless…’ Her head slumped as she wiped a tear away. ‘I guess… no matter how hard I try, I can’t do it.’
She shook herself a little and held her head up. ‘This moping does not befit me. I gave it my best; I won’t show this weakness in front of my classmates.’ Her bravado was hollow, but they didn’t need to know that.
Momo made her way back to her classmates with her well-practiced neutral expression on her face, the one she cultivated over the years of attending fancy dinner after expensive ball with her parents. It was near-flawless.
Nobody could see through it.
It was perfect for hiding her heart that was slowly breaking more and more every minute.
Every smile on her classmate’s face.
‘Failure.’
Every cheer from the crowd.
‘Weakling.’
Every passing moment.
‘Unworthy.’
Momo kept her face forward and her back straight as she showed no outward signs of her inner turmoil. She waited patiently for the next round, not saying a word to anyone, she would keep her emotions to herself like she was taught. Nobody would or could know just how distraught she was.
In a moment of weakness, her eyes caught Z- Midoriya's.
Her breath hitched.
She knew that look.
Momo averted her gaze, turning back to the front and refusing to look at him or anyone else.
Notes:
See you guys next time for the continuation of the round of 16!
Chapter 34: All Is Fair
Summary:
The end of the Round of 16.
Chapter Text
Ibara spoke a small prayer to herself as she approached the arena. Through God’s grace, she would find victory this day.
Her opponent was a blonde man from 1-A; Kaminari, according to Present Mic's introduction that she was trying to ignore. Something about him caught her eye; maybe it was the way he was looking at her. He looked almost stunned, his face adorned with an awestruck glint as if he had seen an angel.
The look disappeared quickly, replaced by a confident smirk.
“Begin!”
“Hey, you’re pretty cute,” he called over with a smirk. “You wanna go out after this?”
Ibara’s mouth dropped open slightly, her stoic demeanor cracking under the sheer audacity .
“I’ll buy you some ice cream to comfort you after your loss.” Electricity began to spark around him, but Ibara’s eyes narrowed and a flicker of contempt surged in the depths of her mind before she cast it aside.
‘Lust and Pride…’ She shook her head. ‘Perhaps God has put you in my path so that I might help you?’
“Indiscriminate Shock! 1.5 million volts!” The lightning crackling across his body swelled in size and power as he prepared his attack. She could feel the charge in the air and knew she must act.
Ibara closed her eyes against the glare of lightning, turning around and creating a cocoon to insulate herself with her vines, tendrils of green lifting her from the ground. As he slammed his hands down, the storm crashed around her- yet she remained safe and sound.
Her vines tunneled beneath the ground, cracking it wide with ease as a green vortex sprung up beneath the man.
“Whu-?” he mumbled, his face full of confusion.
In an instant, he was trapped, suspended a good ten feet above the ground by her quirk.
“Young Kaminari is immobilized! Young Shiozaki wins!”
She clasped her hands and bowed her head, softly saying a quick, thankful prayer under her breath before turning around and glancing at Kaminari. Ibara let him down gently, studying his innocent face. ‘A young man should not be burdened so by sin.’
She nodded as she turned away. It was decided. Something felt right about it.
‘I will save you, Kaminari. Even if I have to save you from yourself.’
Izuku fiddled idly with the headband around his neck as he waited anxiously for the next fight to start. His quirk was on edge, but not because of the match. Izuku was actually looking forward to Ochako and Mina fighting, he was sure that they would both give it their all.
No, it was on edge because of Yaoyorozu. Ever since her, in his opinion, impressive match against Todoroki, she was depressed. She was a master at hiding it- she always had been- but he knew her well enough to know better. She had been taught how to hide her emotions, but he could tell she was hurting. He wanted to do nothing more than to comfort her, to make her feel better, but he knew now wasn’t the time. She wouldn’t appreciate being singled out in a group like this, he would have to get her alone. That was easier said than done.
“It’s time to begin our second group of matches for the first round! We already know one side of the bracket, now let’s figure out the other! First up: they were on the same team for the cavalry battle, but only one can advance here!”
Midnight continued for Present Mic. “These two lovely ladies are both from 1-A! She can give great speeches, but can she fight? Give it up for Ochako Uraraka!”
Izuku cheered louder than everyone else in the stands as the two women began to walk up to the stage.
“She’s got a dangerous smirk and a deadly quirk! Not to be outclassed is Mina Ashido!”
Izuku cheered again. This was going to be a hell of a match. Hopefully, it would distract him from looking at Yaoyorozu every few seconds.
“Are you ready?” All Might asked. Seeing their nods, he swung his arm high.
“Begin!”
Izuku’s quirk flowed through his eyes as he closed them, before opening them with newly sharpened vision, his now slitted green eyes intent on taking in every detail of the fight. Mina and Ochako paused for a moment, smiling wide, confident smiles at each other while they prepared themselves.
“Who do you think’ll win?” Katsuki asked.
Izuku rubbed his chin, not taking his eyes off the arena. “They’re both talented and capable, but Ochako just needs to touch Mina to win. They both know that; I doubt it will be that simple. I think Ochako has the edge, but I wouldn't be surprised if Mina pulls it off.”
At that, Mina kicked off. She shot forward, using her boots and her quirk to skate across the arena. Her mobility would be key here.
Ochako took a few steps forward, away from the dangerous edge. She lowered herself into a combat stance, her hands held at the ready in front of her to touch Mina if she got within range.
The shorter woman picked up speed, leaving a small groove in her wake as she dashed towards Ochako. The taller woman stepped forward, reaching her hand out to try and remove her weight, but Mina was far too agile. She dexterously ducked under her swipe and spun around, catching Ochako in the back with an elbow and sending her stumbling forward.
“Looks like you’re gonna have to be quicker than that!”
Mina’s momentum carried her away but she quickly turned and came in for another attack. Ochako lunged low this time, keeping Mina from ducking again. In response, Mina abruptly cut back, digging a large hole in the concrete as she juked to her left and swung around Ochako’s side. She swung her fist wide, slamming into Ochako’s side and causing the taller woman to cry out in pain and stagger sideways, twisting to disengage.
“Right in the kidney! That had to hurt!”
Ochako stumbled around, trying to keep her distance as Mina began to circle her once more. The brunette quickly recovered from the hit, breathing heavily as she readied herself and turned back to face Mina, a look of driven determination drawn across her face. When Mina came by for another strike, Ochako didn’t take another swing at her with her hands but instead swiped low with one of her long, powerful legs. Izuku saw Mina’s eyes go wide as she jumped as high as she could, flying over the brunt of the attack only for the edge of her foot to get yanked aside by the attack, throwing her off balance.
Mina flew through the air and hit the ground hard, but rolled with her momentum, catching her legs back under herself and resuming her skating without losing too much time. She was too clever to let that happen again, but the reach from Ochako’s longer legs meant she couldn’t get in as easily. Mina instead chose to skate circles around Ochako.
Quite literally. Izuku smiled softly; he saw what she was doing.
Mina let acid flow from her hands as she started to chuck globs of it at Ochako’s feet. The brunette danced backwards to avoid her attacks, but she was being herded closer and closer to the circle Mina had carved around her.
Carved was right: Izuku noticed that she had upped the strength of her acid as she skated, digging a deeper and deeper groove around Ochako. Mina was driving her girlfriend to the edge, trying to make her lose her footing, or at least give her an opening.
Thanks to Izuku’s enhanced perception, he noticed the tiny smirk growing on Ochako’s face. His own eyes went wide.
Ochako stepped away from another glob of acid… and right into the small canyon. She stumbled and fell backwards, but twisted herself in mid-air to land on her stomach instead of her back.
Mina pounced, jumping over and grabbing Ochako by the ankles. She began to drag the taller woman towards the edge of the arena, making sure to keep far away from her dangerous hands.
“She got her!” Eiko yelled.
“There’s no way Uraraka can reach her!” Sero agreed as Ochako flailed back at the woman grabbing her legs.
Izuku smirked. “Not so fast.” The class snapped back to look at him. He pointed back at the arena. “Just watch. Ochako fell on purpose.”
The class whipped back around to see Ochako start to struggle. Izuku could tell she wasn’t kicking as hard as she could, but she was causing Mina some troubles. Ochako drove her foot firmly into Mina’s side, which the shorter woman saw as an opportunity. Mina hooked her arm around the foot, securing the leg, but also sealing her fate.
Ochako’s smirk grew as she slammed both of her hands onto the ground.
Mina’s eyes went wide as she suddenly slowed down and then stopped. Her legs shook for a moment before she fell to the floor, pinned under a large amount of extra mass. Ochako stood up slowly, not removing her foot from Mina’s side as she continued to pump weight into her.
The pinkette struggled a little, but it became apparent very quickly that she couldn’t move. Ochako took a step back and panted slightly.
“Call it!” Ochako called loudly to All Might. “She won’t be able to breathe until I let my quirk go!”
All Might paused for a second, looking over at Mina. True enough, the extra mass was causing her great difficulty; she was straining with all her might to breathe, but her chest barely moved. He raised his hand to one side. “Young Ashido is immobilized! Young Uraraka wins!”
Ochako immediately slammed her hands together, freeing Mina from the extra weight as her chest rapidly expanded. She reached down and offered Mina and hand, pulling her up. The shorter woman beamed up at Ochako as the two walked off the stage together to the cheers of the crowd, unlike everyone else.
“Wow, Aniki, you were right,” Eiko admitted. “Oh! But that means I’m next.” She stood up quickly stretching her arms as she walked to the stairs. A few steps before the top, she turned around, smiling a little sheepishly. “Uh, does anywhere know where the rooms are? I wasn’t paying attention.”
Tsuyu hopped up. “I can show you. I want to stretch my legs anyways.”
Tsuyu led Eiko down into the depths of the stadium, enjoying the opportunity to walk around. Since her team got taken down by Monoma’s, she was relegated to the stands for the rest of the day.
Eiko wasn’t her normal, talkative self. She was chatting, sure, but not nearly as much as Tsuyu expected. It was probably nerves; Tsuyu tried to imagine what it would feel like to be out there on that stage. She would probably be nervous too.
They quickly came to the waiting room. Eiko stared at it like it was the door to hell for a few moments before turning back to Tsuyu. “Thanks for helping me find it…” she muttered. “Here goes nothing.” Eiko took a step forward and held her hand out before pulling it back.
She looked down. “Everyone is gonna be looking at me. I have to make them proud.”
“You will,” Tsuyu said flatly.
“But what if I don’t win?” She looked up at the ceiling. “You saw how Iida and Yaomomo were after their losses…”
Tsuyu blinked at her. “Then you’ll lose. Does that matter?”
Eiko blinked back. “No… no, you’re right. I forgot myself for a moment.” She clenched her fist proudly. “As long as I give it my all, as long as I live with no regrets, then I’ll make myself and everyone else proud!”
She suddenly threw her arms around Tsuyu. “Thanks, Tsu.”
“No problem.” Tsu patted her on the back as she returned the hug. “You smell nice.”
“Thanks!” Eiko squeezed once more and backed away. “Thanks again, Tsu. Watch me out there, I’m gonna win.”
Tsuyu waved as Eiko closed the door and left her alone in the hallway. She turned away and began walking back to the stands, but decided to take the opportunity to walk around a little more.
She was walking down a dark side passage when she heard some familiar voices up ahead.
“Aren’t you upset you lost?” That was Ochako.
“Well, of course I am.” That was Mina. “But I’m more proud of you for winning! I gave it my all out there, even landed a few good hits.”
“Yeah, you did.” Ochako hissed like she was rubbing a sore spot.
“We should probably both let Recovery Girl look us over.”
Ochako laughed a little. “Deku will make us if we don’t.”
Mina laughed too. “Hey, I had no idea your quirk could do that!”
“I don’t get a whole lot of opportunities to use it. Only Deku knew before today,” she admitted.
“We should get going, but first, all this adrenaline is still pumping through me. Come here...”
Tsuyu came around the corner right as Mina pulled Ochako down for a deep, passionate kiss.
She stared, frozen. It wasn’t right to just stand there, she knew, but her brain wasn’t working well enough to do anything else at the moment. She felt something tug at her heart as her cheeks reddened.
It took them a good ten seconds to break apart and another ten seconds of staring lovingly at each other for them to notice her standing there.
Ochako looked like she had just seen a ghost. “Ts-su?! H-how long have you been standing there?!”
Tsuyu blinked. “Long enough.”
Mina looked a little like a predator. It was kind of hot. “Oh really ? Did you like what you saw?”
Tsuyu paused for a few moments before nodding slowly. She couldn’t really believe it, but yeah, she did.
Mina’s mouth dropped open slightly, her facade fading just a little. “Really?”
“Sure,” Tsuyu added, approaching them slowly. “You’re both very cute. But Mina, aren’t you dating Izuchan?”
“ Izuchan ?” Ochako repeated. “Oh my God.”
“That’s adorable .” Mina was awestruck.
The two women looked at each other and silently communicated with their eyes. Ochako looked a little hesitant, while Mina had a more playful expression.
“Yeah, Tsu, I am dating Midori,” Mina explained while she moved a little closer to her. “But so is Ochako.”
Tsuyu blinked and put a finger to her chin. “Oh, so you’re polyamorous?”
Ochako nodded. “Y-yeah.” Her face started turning redder and redder. “I never would have thought, but…”
“I understand,” Tsuyu admitted. “Izuchan is a very attractive man.”
Mina looked like it was Christmas morning. “You sound like you’re interested.”
“Hmm, perhaps.” Tsuyu tilted her head slightly. “I’ve never been in a relationship before, I wouldn’t know how to start. Besides, this is much too fast. The three of you are all hot, but I don’t know if I feel that comfortable yet.”
“God, your bluntness is refreshing,” Mina sighed with actual relief.
Ochako smiled softly, looking down the full foot of height difference between the two of them. “Hey, no pressure, Tsu. I’m happy with being your friend, a relationship is a big thing.” Her face turned red again. “N-not that I’m inviting you or anything!” Her face turned redder. “Not that I’m saying you can’t or anything!” She covered her blushing face with both hands, keeping her pinky fingers extended.
Mina giggled and shook Ochako’s arm, which just caused her to whine softly.
Tsuyu tilted her head. ‘Adorable.’
Mina sighed as Ochako continued to hide her face. “Hey, Tsu, we’re heading to Recovery Girl, do you wanna join us? We’d hate for you to walk back by yourself”
She nodded. “Sure.”
Eiko breathed slowly as she stared down her opponent. He had received the same intro she had and even their poses on their splash screens had been the same. They had met briefly during the first round, so Eiko knew what he was about. In many ways, he was strangely similar to her.
Like, really strangely similar. He even had the sharp teeth thing going on.
“Hey!” she called across the arena. “When’s your birthday?”
He paused for a moment. “October 16th, why?”
“Me too!”
“What?!”
“Begin!”
The two of them crouched down and charged at each other. She hardened her fist and slammed it into him, right as he did the same to her.
They took a step back and breathed for a moment before setting their stances and charging back at each other.
This wasn’t going to be a quick thing.
Momo stared down at the slug-fest between Eiko and Tetsutetsu. She should be cheering her on, encouraging her like Eiko undoubtedly encouraged her in her match, but she couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth. She was afraid of what might come out.
She could feel Midoriya’s eyes on the back of her head. Momo knew he could tell she was hiding her emotions. ‘Dammit, why couldn’t he have been in 1-B? Things would be so much easier.’
The worst part is that she felt guilty that she was feeling bad. She hadn’t done as poorly as Iida had, or even Kaminari. She at least was close to winning. Kind of… Maybe...
What right did she have to be so upset with herself? What right did she have to consider herself such a failure when others did worse?
She sickened herself.
Momo stole a glance backwards. Iida was stoic and maybe a little more stiff than normal, but he certainly didn’t look like he was suffering like she was. He was even exchanging a few words with Midoriya as they watched the fight. Kaminari didn’t look upset at all. If anything he looked a little satisfied, or maybe even a little happy, judging by that dopey grin.
She was very careful to not look at Midoriya.
‘Pull yourself together, Momo. You’re vice rep, this isn’t proper. Throw these feelings away.’
She straightened herself up slightly and stared back at the fight. Maybe she could analyze the fight like Midoriya; it would at least provide her with a distraction from her self-loathing.
Eiko was bruised and bloody, but she was still fighting. Tetsutetsu didn’t look much better, all things considered.
Their fists clashed again. Neither of them was very interested in dodging, it seemed.
She was fading, she couldn’t deny it. All she could do was hold on. She had to outlast him.
His fist smashed into her stomach. She retaliated with a shot across his chin.
Hardening her body felt like pulling on a strained muscle. Every second was agony, but she fought through the pain. Her memories of the months she spent in the gym pushing herself were nothing to this bone-deep muscular ache that was building .
A hero had to push past their limits, especially when there were lives on the line. Eiko didn’t know if she could live with herself if she didn’t put everything behind her every move.
Another clash, this time each of them blocked with their arms as they traded blows, the screeching of metal limbs over stone like skin echoing around the arena.
Everything in her life, especially all the work she had put in over the last year, came down to this. This was the time to go beyond.
This was the time to go Plus Ultra.
Her punch slammed into Tetsutetsu’s chest as his blow did the same, their arms passing by each other.
They stumbled back a half step, each of them gasping slightly and groaning. At some level, she registered that Present Mic and Midnight were yelling commentary, but her heart was pounding in her ears too much for her to hear it.
Eiko had one good punch left in her.
She would make it count. She had to.
Eiko remembered that monster at the USJ. She remembered how she stood by helplessly as Aniki saved them all. She remembered the promise she made to herself.
‘If I’m going to be that wall... ’
She took a step forward with her left foot and planted it firmly, focusing even as Tetsutetsu’s fist began to fly.
‘If I’m going to protect Mina, Aniki, and everyone else…’
Eiko clenched her fist at her waist, shoes scraping as she lowered her stance. Every fiber of her body screamed at her and her teeth clenched as tears began to roll down her face.
‘Then I have to stand firm right here. Right now!’
Eiko screamed as she pulled on her quirk with one last, titanic effort. She let the punch hit her, glancing off the hardened skin of her face and splitting her lip with the impact as she threw away her guard for a final attack. Her eyes were wild, burning with fiery passion as she stared down Tetsutetsu.
She did not falter.
Her right leg turned. She put her back into it. Her fist flew forward.
For Mina. For Aniki. For everyone.
For herself.
A crushing uppercut met Tetsutetsu’s chin.
His head snapped back and the steel covering his skin shuddered and faded. His eyes rolled up into his head as he fell backwards.
With a heavy crash, he slammed into the ground.
Eiko took a step forward, nearly pitching over, but managing to steady herself.
“Young Tetsutetsu is down for the count! Young Kirishima wins!”
“Who needs Midnight’s quirk when you can punch like that!” Mic teased, only to follow with an abrupt apology as a whip cracked next to him.
Eiko threw her head back and unleashed a roar filled with every emotion pouring from her pounding heart.
Her vision went black and she collapsed to the earth.
“Hey, you!”
Katsuki turned around as he walked through the tunnels beneath the stands, already annoyed. “What.”
A woman with pink hair in thick locks came bounding up to him, a manic look on her face. He recognized her from the cavalry battle, she was on Uraraka’s team. He didn’t remember her name and didn’t really care to.
“I’m fighting you next!” she declared cheerfully.
He didn’t say anything and instead just glared at her.
“Yeah… anyway,” she continued, unfortunately, “I’m from the Support Course and I’ve got all these wonderful babies! I was hoping to give you a couple for you to wear as a show of good will!”
He glared harder. “You must think I’m really stupid. Fuck off.”
“What?” She wasn’t a very good liar.
“You wanna give me some of your equipment out of the kindness of your heart? Get real.” He scoffed. “Even if I didn’t think it was a trick, I wouldn’t accept help like that.”
She huffed. “Come on, it’ll b-”
“No,” he repeated firmly. He turned to continue his walk to the waiting room when he suddenly remembered something Uncle Hisashi told him years ago.
“Remember, Katsuki: an ally is always better than an enemy. If you help people, you might be surprised in the ways they can help you.”
‘Support Course, huh?’
He turned back. “Look, just cut the bullshit and tell me what you want.”
The woman seemed taken aback for a moment and then sized him up with those weird-ass eyes of hers. They seemed to actually zoom in and study his expression. Katsuki reasoned that it must be her quirk; it would certainly explain how she was such a good shot.
She put her hands on her hips. “Fine. I don’t have any real interest in continuing on in the tournament, to be honest. I’m only here to show off my babies to potential investors and customers. I just want to show off what they can do and then I’ll step out of the arena. Entertain me and you’ll get a free win, alright?”
Katsuki was silent for a moment again. “No deal.”
“You’re turning down a free win?” She seemed confused.
“I don’t take ‘free’ wins.” Katsuki stepped a little closer to her. “I earn what I get. If you want to show off your toys, you gotta fight for it.” He smirked at her, increasing her confusion. “Besides, won’t it look better to those investors if you can show what your inventions can do in a real fight? Maybe I’ll let you take a little time to sell yourself before I blow them up.”
“And it’ll look even better if I win…” Her confusion gave way to a wide, manic grin. “You’ve got yourself a deal, guy-whose-name-I-don’t-know!”
“Whatever.” He waved his hand dismissively as he turned to finally walk away.
Izuku’s hand was over his mouth as he sat next to Eiko’s bed in the infirmary, watching Katsuki’s match on the television; he didn’t know whether to let it smile or let it drop open. His best friend had spent the first several minutes of his ‘fight’ just stretching on the far side of the arena while Hatsume gave what amounted to a sales pitch for each of her ‘babies’, as she called them, that she was going to be using in the match.
She had brought a voice amplifier along with her, another one of her babies, and was just… selling herself like she was on an infomercial or something.
“Is she for real?” Mina asked, sitting on the other side of Eiko.
“Something tells me that she isn’t interested in joining the hero course,” Izuku mumbled. “She told me she wanted ‘to use my fame to her advantage’ when she tried to join my team for the cavalry battle.”
Mina nodded. “I just didn’t figure Bakugou for someone who would let her get away with this.”
“I know what you mean.” Izuku smiled softly. “I’m proud of him.”
Mina and he both laughed as Hatsume finished her pitch, informing the audience that she would be ‘demonstrating her babies with the help of her lovely assistant.’ They both saw Katsuki’s eyebrows twitch in annoyance, causing their laughter to redouble.
“Quiet, you two!” Recovery Girl scolded them.
They both flinched. “Sorry, ma’am.”
The fight itself was… more competitive than Izuku expected. Katsuki blew away every attack Mei launched, but he had to work for it. The number of contraptions she had brought with her was truly impressive; every time she seemed to be running low, more would just seem to appear.
Izuku smiled knowingly. If he wanted to, Katsuki could have just blown her out of the ring almost immediately. That isn’t to say he wasn’t fighting hard or giving her a free pass, but he was using a strategy that conserved his energy and his strength by keeping himself safe. Playing defensive just so happened to give Hatsume the best opportunity to show off what her inventions could do. Izuku knew it wasn’t a coincidence.
Hatsume looked like she was actually trying to win, which he knew would stoke his friend’s flame. She didn’t have very much combat experience, but Izuku could tell that- beyond just her inventions- she was smart, brilliant even. She quickly adapted to several of Katsuki’s moves, even getting in a few glancing blows; not bad for someone who likely had very little combat training, if any.
She never stood a chance, not really. Once all her ‘babies’ were broken, Katsuki moved in. Instead of blowing her out like he could have done, the man broke her amateur guard and threw her over his shoulder, slamming her down out of bounds.
In the end, nobody could doubt Katsuki’s superiority, but it was interesting to see how well Hatsume performed. She hopped up with a wide smile that told Izuku that things had gone even better than she had hoped. Katsuki trudged away slowly, heading back to the waiting room.
Not wanting to abandon Eiko, he sent Katsuki a text message instead. ‘You’re not getting soft on me, are you Dandy?’
It was a couple minutes later when Katsuki sent his one word response. ‘Networking.’
Izuku smiled a little wider. Thanks to his quirk, he didn’t have a whole lot of use for gear that someone like Hatsume could build him. Katsuki, on the other hand, could benefit greatly; his gauntlets were testimonies to that.
“Don’t you want to go talk to Bakugou?” Mina asked.
Izuku shook his head. “We’ve been best friends for over 15 years, we don’t need to spend every moment together. He values his solitude. He knows I’m proud of him.”
Beyond that, he didn’t want to leave Eiko alone… or be near Yaoyorozu. He didn’t know how to help her right now and it was tearing him up. He could tell she was broken inside, but he didn’t have an opportunity, not yet.
Comfort. Hurting.
His smile faltered slightly. Just thinking about her caused his quirk to pound in his head slightly.
Mina nodded in understanding. “I hope Kiri wakes up soon, she wouldn’t want to miss another match.”
“I missed a match?” a voice groaned from between them. “Dammit…”
“Kiri!”
“Eiko!”
Eiko smiled up at them. “Hey, guys. Did you see my match?”
Izuku nodded. “You were incredible.”
“Uh huh!” Mina agreed. “I’m super proud of you!”
“Y-you? Proud of me?” Eiko stared for a few seconds. “T-thanks…”
Izuku raised an eyebrow. These two clearly had some sort of history he didn’t know about.
Mina smiled kindly. “Yeah, I really am. You gave your everything out there, Kiri. I could tell. You’re not the girl I knew in high school.” She giggled softly. “Too bad, in a way. I always kinda liked goth girls.”
“Goth-” Izuku looked between the two women rapidly. “Eiko you were-?”
“Minaaa,” she whined. “Why’d you have to tell him that?”
Mina giggled again. “Don’t worry, Midori doesn’t mind. Besides, I like your new look too.”
“You… you do?” Eiko looked confused. “You, Mina Ashido, like my look?”
“Uh, duh?” Now Mina looked confused. “I’ve always thought you were a cutie, Kiri.”
Eiko blinked a few times then shook her head, trying to clear the slight blush that was forming. “W-who won the match?”
Izuku could sympathize with someone under Mina’s flustering gaze. “Kacchan won. Can’t say I’m surprised, but that Hatsume woman put up a better fight than I expected. You’re just in time to catch Tokoyami’s fight.” Izuku gestured to the screen above them on the wall.
“Oh, against that girl from 1-B? I gotta see this.”
Fumikage took to the stage, sizing up the woman opposing him. He was not a tall man, in fact, he was the shortest man in his class other than Mineta. Yanagi stood an inch or two taller than him, about the same height as Kirishima. She had a strange etherealness about her- perhaps it was the ghostly white of her hair or the way she carried her hands.
She… intrigued him.
“Looks like a classic case of goth versus goth! We have a real Skeletal Family on our hands. Is Yanagi a Sister of Mercy? Or will Tokoyami show her the Cure with his quirk?”
Midnight audibly sighed. “How long have you been sitting on that one?”
All Might shook his head before throwing his arm high into the air. “Begin!”
“Dark Shadow!”
“Right!” it called back.
Fumikage had seen a little of her quirk in action during the cavalry battle: she seemed to have the ability to move objects around with her mind- a form of telekinesis. However, there was nothing for her to use here. Much like Kaminari and Monoma, she was simply outmatched.
Dark Shadow moved towards her, aiming to drive her back with a crushing blow. It came down swiftly, slamming in-
With a bizarre, flowing grace, the woman stepped to the side. Something about the way she moved threw both him and Dark Shadow off as the latter slammed into the ground, missing her barely.
“How hateful,” she remarked quietly. He blinked a few times; even her voice was enrapturing.
Fumikage huffed, refocusing himself. “Dark Sha-!” His speech was cut off as something slammed into the back of his head. He stumbled forward, whipping around as Dark Shadow returned to protect him. His red eyes locked on a pair of objects swirling around him threateningly.
They were shoes.
He shot his vision back to his opponent and saw that she was barefoot. When she sidestepped Dark Shadow, she must have stepped out of her shoes. Its attack blew the shoes into the air, where she could grab them with her quirk without him noticing.
Clever.
Several pieces of rubble that Dark Shadow had broken loose began to float into the air.
Dark Shadow couldn’t protect him and attack her at range, he would have to close in. He dashed forward, protecting his head and neck with his arms as he was continuously pelted by shoes and stones.
Once he closed the distance, it was all over for her. She just didn’t have the firepower in the bare arena to compete with Dark Shadow.
It’s arms were flung wide as it swung upward at her, too quick for her to dodge. Yanagi was lifted up and tossed out of the arena, landing on the grass outside.
“Young Yanagi is out of bounds! Young Tokoyami advances to the second round!”
Tokoyami, for some reason, hurried down the stairs and offered the woman a helping hand up. She seemed surprised and looked up at him for a moment before taking it and rising to her feet.
“Thank you, Tokoyami.”
He nodded. “You fought well, Yanagi. Your perseverance and astute thinking in the face of opposition will serve you well as a hero.”
She tilted her head ever-so-slightly. “My gratitude, you battled valiantly as well. Perhaps our destinies might cross again.” Yanagi turned to walk away.
He stared for a few moments before turning and heading to his own locker room.
‘Fumi has a crush~’ Dark Shadow singsonged in his mind.
‘Silence, troublesome beast.’
‘BEAST?! You take that baCK!’
“Thanks, Iida, Tokoyami,” Izuku said with a smile as he left the two men behind him in the hallway. They had come to warn him about Shinsou’s abilities, as he was Izuku’s next opponent. He understood: no talking. Someone like Shinsou would surely try to manipulate him into speaking, just like he had Iida, but he was far too clever for that.
He couldn’t beat Izuku at his own game.
“What a way to start our round of eight, ladies and gentlemen! Both of these contestants won in a one-sided slaughter last round, but only one of them can move on here! Will Shinsou get another walk-off win, or will Midoriya make him choke?!”
“From personal experience, a little choking can go a long way~” Midnight’s sultry voice chimed in.
Mic’s muffled groan almost went undetected.
Izuku narrowed his eyes as the taller, purple-haired man walked up on the other side of the arena. He was tense and had a bitter expression on his face. Izuku was calm.
“Are you both ready?” All Might asked.
They both nodded; Izuku slowly, Shinsou curtly.
“Begin!”
“Shinsou,” Izuku said quickly, “I know how your quirk works: you can control people if they respond to you. Since I won’t do that, you’re basically quirkless.” He saw the man’s teeth clench. “Now, hold on. I respect your drive to win, to join the hero course, to become a hero. You can’t understand how much I respect that. I don’t begrudge you for beating my classmate, but I can’t let you win here.”
Izuku narrowed his vision. “I could just use my breath here again and win, but I have a better idea. Shinsou, I want you to succeed.” The man’s eyes went wide with confusion. “So here’s the deal: we fight quirkless. I won’t use my quirk, you won’t use yours. We spar and the winner goes on. Prove that you’re not just a quirk. Prove that you can fight, that you have what it takes physically to be a hero.” Izuku smiled wide. “Do we have a deal?”
Shinsou paused for a moment, looking Izuku over as if expecting a trick. “Fine. I accept. Are you ready?”
Izuku wasn’t foolish enough to fall for a simple question like that. He didn’t trust Shinsou, but as long as he didn’t speak, he couldn’t fall under the sway of his quirk.
Izuku nodded.
His body froze.
“By the way, I lied,” Hitoshi admitted with a smirk as he felt his grip solidify on Midoriya’s mind. “Oh, and it’s not just speech. Any response will let my quirk in. Thanks for that.” He held in a hiss as his head pounded. Using his quirk on a non-verbal response- a trick he had only learned in the last year or so- took a lot out of him; he probably wouldn’t be able to do that again without falling unconscious.
He leaned back, throwing his head to the sky as he felt relief wash over him. If Midoriya wasn’t such a fool, he could have just won. Whatever, Hitoshi wasn’t going to look a gift-win in the mouth.
“You know, it must be pretty great to have a quirk like yours,” he said to the sky. “You’ve got it all, just like your dad. Strength, speed, flight … not to mention that gas of yours.” He put a hand to his forehead as he laughed once, full of spite. “You wouldn’t appreciate what it’s like to be born with a villainous quirk!”
He whipped his head back down, ready to continue his monologue when he suddenly stopped.
Midoriya wasn’t standing still like he should have been.
He was hunched over slightly, his arms clenched in front of him. He was panting heavily as green scales flashed over his body.
His body was growing larger and larger. His shirt strained and burst as his arms and chest bulged with muscle and scale.
Midoriya’s eyes were wide and vacant like they should have been. Hitoshi felt his quirk working on him, why was he moving?
Intelligence burned to life in his eyes as they started glowing brightly. He didn’t feel his quirk slip, but he felt something… shift. He was still controlling Midoriya’s mind, but it felt like there was something else there. It didn’t feel like a second person just… different.
“What are you doing?!” This was completely new to him, it was hard not to panic. “Stop!”
Midoriya hunched over more as his arms and legs grew. He slammed down on all fours as he transformed into a great, hulking beast that looked like a mix of hound and lizard, but the size of a horse, if not larger. A long tail grew behind him as his head twisted longer, more reptilian… more terrifying.
“Oh my heavens, Midoriya seems to have let his monster out~” Midnight announced with considerable glee leaking into her voice.
That wasn’t helping his nerves.
“I said stop!” He was supposed to be in control now, why wasn’t he in control?! “Midoriya, turn around and walk out of the arena!”
He felt his quirk activate, pushing the command to Midoriya’s mind.
The creature’s vision snapped to him, his slitted eyes widening slightly like he had just seen prey. A cruel, predatory sneer grew wider on his draconic maw and he spoke, his voice dripping with derision and mirth.
He sounded almost… playful.
“I’m sorry, he can’t come to the phone right now. Can I take a message? I’ll be sure he gets it.”
Notes:
God, I love cliffhangers, don't you?
Leave me a comment so I get an email and it makes me smile :)
Chapter 35: Fear and Trust
Summary:
The Round of Eight begins in an unexpected way.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“He did it again!” Ryuko cried, looking at the wingless, reptilian form of her cousin. “I thought you said he didn’t know how to use the drake transformation?”
Hisashi blinked slowly. “That’s what he told me. I don’t think he was lying, but that means…”
The two pro heroes looked at each other with wide eyes and dashed out of their booth, leaving the rest of their family behind, looking confused. They both ran to a railing, giving them a clear line of sight to the arena; they pushed their quirks to their ears, heightening their perception to listen in to what was happening down below.
Hitoshi was frozen. “W-what?”
The beast slowly lumbered towards him, its glowing, slitted eyes looking him up and down. “Are things not working out the way you hoped, Shinsou?”
“Stop!” he yelled again, futilely trying to force his quirk to work. “Why won’t you stop?!”
“Because I don’t want to,” he said simply, laughing slightly as a puff of green gas vented from his nostrils.
The chuckle was a deep, unsettling rumble that caused Hitoshi to want to flee, but his legs wouldn’t move. “W-what are you? Who are y-you?”
“I don’t have a name, not yet,” he explained, “I’m Izuku, but I’m not. I’m something else, but I’m not. I’m both, but I’m neither. Isn’t it poetic?”
“I-is that some sort of riddle?” The beast was nearly upon him, why wouldn’t his legs move?!
He laughed again. “A riddle? Hmm, I suppose it could be. I don’t believe you’ll find the answer. Even Izuku doesn’t know yet, but he will soon, most likely.”
His voice was so deeply unsettling that he could barely think. The nameless monster reached him, but kept a small distance, pacing around him slowly in a circle with his tail flitting behind him. The feeling of imprisonment redoubled.
He was trapped.
Hitoshi took a moment to breathe, to try and pull his mind back from the frantic edge. He reached out and felt his connection to Midoriya’s mind, ensuring that it was still there.
It was, but something was off. The way he could best explain it was that his quirk acted like a sort of dam in the mind, blocking the flow of control and allowing him to take over. However, in Midoriya’s mind, something was very wrong. The dam was there, blocking his mind, or rather, it should have been blocking, but there was something else in another part of his mind that was flowing past his quirk.
The...whatever it was flowed around the side of the dam and somehow it was pulling Midoriya’s consciousness around the other side of it. The two flows were pooling in front of the dam, completely bypassing his quirk. So was this Midoriya or not? His consciousness was there, but it seemed so wrong.
‘I wonder…’ Hitoshi strained his control, willing the ‘dam’ to widen in Midoriya’s mind. He felt it grow slightly, slowing the flows for a moment.
Midoriya froze, his eyes widening slightly before his smile grew larger. “You’re fighting, pushing... Good! Keep trying!”
The strain was too much. If he kept trying to force his quirk to cut off the flows, he felt like his head might explode. Hitoshi put his hands on his knees to hold himself up as he gasped and panted.
“Hmm… a shame. Perhaps with time.” He saw a giant, deadly claw reach forward and touch his chin, lifting his vision up to meet the monster’s. “You intrigue me, Shinsou. You have a fire within you that I may wish to cultivate.”
Hitoshi didn’t dare move, he didn’t dare speak. A small, simple flick of that claw and his throat would be slit.
Thankfully, the claw pulled back and Midoriya resumed his circular path around Hitoshi. “You called your quirk ‘villainous’, why is that? Tell me.” The command was forceful, he couldn’t bring himself to resist.
“It’s… it’s what its always been called.” He felt the ground shake slightly with every step the monster took. “When I was growing up, all the kids thought my quirk was amazing, but for terrible reasons.” He paused, hoping that he could satisfy the beast.
“Hmm, I see. Tell me more.” The beast moved his head in close; Hitoshi could feel his hot breath as he spoke softly in his ear. “Keep talking. It might be the only thing keeping you alive.”
He was bluffing. There was no way he could kill him, not with All Might nearby.
But was he willing to take that chance?
“M-my quirk, it can control people's-” He looked at the smirking beast- “most people’s minds. All the others saw was all the harm I can do with it. When they found out what my quirk was, the other kids would gasp and talk about how I could rob banks and steal cars, how I could hurt people.” He hung his head. “They talked about what a great villain I could be. I could get away with anything, do almost anything.”
The beast stopped moving and looked at him for a few moments. “Those people are fools.”
Hitoshi’s eyes went wide.
“You have no desire to be a villain. You’re going to be a hero.”
He blinked. “But t-they’re not wrong. My quirk would be excellent as a villain-”
“So would most heroes’.” He cut him off and stared deep into his soul. “Think about Endeavor or Miruko. Think about All Might.” His tail flicked in the direction of the number one hero standing at the sidelines. “Any of them could be incredibly dangerous villains if they wanted to. Could anyone stop All Might if he wanted to do villainy?”
“I… I don’t… no.”
“Hmm.” The beast began to circle around him again. “You could,” he suggested.
“M-me?” Hitoshi was so confused.
“You could be an unparalleled tool against villains. Despite all of my father’s power, his favorite outcome is when he doesn’t have to fight.” He looked directly into Shinsou’s stunned face. “To paraphrase the great Sun Tzu, ‘The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities. It is best to win without fighting.’ That is what you are capable of, Shinsou.”
“You... I… what?”
“Hostage situations, police standoffs, chases, and more. You could succeed with absolutely no collateral damage.”
Hitoshi blinked a few times, taking in his words. “Yeah… yeah, I could.”
“But not yet. You're not ready.” The monster stood back up on its hind legs as it transformed into a more humanoid shape. Midoriya still towered over him, eight feet of draconic man staring down his fanged maw at Hitoshi as his words sunk in. He reached forward with his right arm, which bulged larger until he grabbed him by the torso with a single hand, his claws wrapped around his shoulders and waist.
Hitoshi was lifted into the air by the man like he was nothing, brought closer until his face was only a few inches from Midoriya. “Your peers poisoned your mind and your spirit. Fortunately, your heart remains intent on becoming a hero, or else you would not have declared war on my class. You have intrigued me, Shinsou, impressed me. You will begin training in earnest. You will train your body and you will hone your skills. Take heart, I will assist you, if you should desire.”
“Why- why are you doing this?” Hitoshi struggled against the giant claw, but it was no use. He was helpless.
“Because I see potential in you. You will cultivate that potential and you will become a great hero, or you will flounder and fail. You can see this as a defeat, or the beginning of your heroic career. The choice is yours. Make it now.”
With that, Midoriya took a few, giant steps over to the side of the arena and opening his hand, letting him drop a couple feet to the ground. His legs shook, but he avoided falling over.
Even All Might was stunned for a few seconds. “...Young Shinsou is out of bounds. Young Midoriya… wins.” The crowd technically cheered, but it was quiet and muted.
Hitoshi shook his head as he tried to comprehend what the hell just happened. He realized he still had his quirk running on Midoriya- he had basically forgotten.
He released his quirk and the man in front of him stumbled, nearly falling over.
The scales across his body faded and he shrunk back down to his normal size. Shinsou looked at him as he clutched his head in what seemed like pain.
Midoriya panted for a few seconds before looking up at him with… horror in his eyes. “S-Shinsou, I am so, so sorry. I didn’t- I wasn’t-” He stared silently at him for a few seconds before sprouting wings and shooting into the air, rocketing several hundred feet high before dashing for a section of box seats near the top of the stadium.
He wasn’t upset, however. For the first time in a long time, Hitoshi didn’t feel like his quirk was a curse. Maybe he would become a hero because of his quirk, not despite of it. He turned to walk out of the arena, his head held high despite his bizarre loss.
“I’ve made my choice, Midoriya. Thank you…” He turned back to look where the man had flown. “I’ll see you at the top.”
Pony blinked a few times as she held Kyouka’s jack in her shaking hand. Izzy had just… she didn’t even know- encouraged his opponent? It was truly strange.
He had seemed like a predatory animal, stalking around him, playing with his food. It was unsettling before she had heard him speak, but thanks to Kyouka, she had heard every word.
Next to her, the purple-haired woman was just as stunned. “I guess… that’s what Tsu meant when she told us about him talking to that villain guy at the USJ. I can’t tell if its badass or terrifying. Maybe both?”
Pony didn’t know what to think. Izzy had literally manhandled Shinsou; it was humiliating for the poor man. He didn’t stand a chance. All Shinsou could do was cower and answer the threatening, deadly interrogation that Izzy was subjecting him to- and that was before he just picked Shinsou up like he was nothing and just… dropped him out of bounds.
When she was watching it, she was horrified. That wasn't him, that wasn’t the Izzy she knew. Izzy was heroic and kind, he was a good listener and would break himself to protect his friends.
That fight was on top of the brutal knockout against that Monoma guy. Sure, Monoma was a bully and she had no love in her heart for him, but…
Then she saw Izzy’s face once Shinsou released his quirk. His face was twisted into regret and horror and filled with something she was all-too-familiar with: self-hatred. It comforted her in some small way to know that… that wasn’t him. That wasn’t Izzy.
Or was it?
She watched him shoot into the air, over her head, and dash towards one of the luxury boxes for some reason. At the same time, a commotion behind her caused her to turn around. Bakugou, Ochako and Mina had all scrambled out of their seats and dashed off, almost certainly to go find wherever Izzy had gone.
Ochako and Mina seemed particularly attached to him- Pony’s eyes went wide. Are they his girlfriends that he mentioned in his fight with Monoma?
Pony shook her head. All this conjecture was useless. Izzy had taken the time to comfort her when she was having issues, she should return the favor. She would talk to him about it, surely he could explain what was going on.
He deserved that much at the very least.
Hisashi let his quirk flow through his arm, bulking himself up slightly as Ryuko did the same next to him. Izuku streaked towards them in a panic, slamming into both of them as they caught him.
Izuku’s wings faded as Hisashi and Ryuko crushed him between them in a great hug- or at least as great of one that Hisashi could give with a single arm.
“D-Dad, Ryuko- I- I-”
“Shhh.” Hisashi pressed his chin to the top of his son’s head, hoping to calm him down.
Ryuko ran one of her hand over one of his horns.“You did fine, Izuku. It’s okay.”
“B-but, but I-”
“It’s okay ,” Hisashi insisted. “Come on, let’s get you inside, alright?”
Izuku nodded and Hisashi led Izuku into the luxury box while Ryuko held back for a moment. They only got a few steps inside before Izuku was crushed by another three hugs, none stronger than Inko’s. Ryuko quickly rejoined them, wrapping around the group from the back.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, letting the comfort of his family calm Izuku’s racing heart and mind. Eventually, Izuku nodded a few times and they slowly let him go. Hisashi sat him down and he and Ryuko sat on either side of him.
“Alright, Izuku,” Hisashi began calmly, “what happened?”
Izuku nodded a few times. “Shinsou got me with his quirk. He brainwashes people, takes over their minds and he can control their actions. That’s how he got Iida out.”
“It didn’t work on you?” Saori asked.
“No, no, it did,” Izuku explained. “But uh… my quirk took over.”
“Nonsense,” Ryuko dismissed. “Our quirks aren’t sentient. We heard you talking down there, Izuku.”
Izuku gulped. “Right, right.” He looked away. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
“I think you do,” Hisashi said seriously, shaking Izuku’s shoulder slightly.
Izuku sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. I just don’t want to admit it.” He began to tear up slightly. “I think… I think that was my ‘Stormclaw’. My ‘Ryukyu’.”
“What’s wrong with that, honey?” Inko asked. “I thought we taught you to not be ashamed of who you are.”
“You didn’t hear me!” Izuku cried. “I toyed with him! Manipulated him! Humiliated him! How can I be a hero when I do stuff like that?!”
“You really are blind when it comes to yourself, Izuku,” Ryuko said with a small laugh in her voice. “You could use some of the advice you gave Shinsou.”
He sniffled. “W-what?”
“You have a talent for wrapping people around your finger, wyrmling, you always have.” She smiled down at him as he blinked a few times in confusion. “You can end fights before they start, just like him. You pegged Shinsou’s greatest wish in an instant and told him exactly what he wanted to hear. It sounded like your ‘Stormclaw’ wanted to collect him for your hoard.”
“I… I…” Izuku wiped his eyes. “Maybe? I do appreciate his desire to be a hero, despite having a… quirk like that. And I think he could be an amazing one, too. He could do so much with a quirk like that.”
“And you can do so much with your quirk, Izuku,” Inko said, touching his hand kindly. “Listen to us, honey. Words are some of the most powerful things in the world. I know you and I know you are a sweet, kind, boy who doesn’t want to hurt anyone you don’t have to. You can use your talents for good, Izuku, I know it.”
He began to cry again. “T-thanks, Mom… it was just so scary to be totally helpless like that. I was watching myself drive my own body, but I didn’t have any control. It was surreal.” He lifted his right arm up slowly. “It was like I told my body to raise my right arm and it did, but it wasn’t me who created the thought. It was me, but missing something.”
“You were missing your fear,” Hisashi said quietly.
Izuku blinked. “My fear?”
Hisashi nodded. “Your hesitation, your apprehension, your fear of your quirk that’s been holding you back forever. Think about it, Son, did it feel the same as the USJ?”
Izuku’s eyes widened. “Y-yeah, kinda. But that time I chose to let go out of… necessity. This time it was wrenched from me.”
“Don’t feel bad. It took me years to let go of that fear, Izuku,” Hisashi admitted.
“What?!” Izuku’s jaw dropped. “But your instincts are so heroic!”
“It’s still a big leap,” he explained, “to let go like that, to let your quirk flood into your consciousness like that. It requires a lot of trust.”
“Trust…” Izuku looked like he was rolling the word around in his mouth. He looked up at Ryuko, asking an unsaid question.
She nodded. “Yep. It took me a while to let go, too.”
Hisashi shook Izuku’s shoulder softly again. “You’ve been put in situations where you have had no choice but to trust twice already .”
“Hey wyrmling,” Ryuko said, getting his attention. “Listen, that Shinsou kid said something before he left. Something only I heard, I bet.” Izuku blinked, his eyes full of hesitant curiosity. Ryuko smiled wide. “He said ‘thank you’. He took your words to heart, Izuku; he was so bitter, but you inspired him.” She ruffled his hair. “Think about all the good you can do with talents like that.”
Izuku was about to respond when the door flew open. The six of them whipped around to see Katsuki, Ashido and Uraraka standing in the doorway. “Finally,” Katsuki huffed. “You think a luxury box would be easier to find.”
“W-what are you doing here?” Izuku asked, surprised.
His three friends looked at him sternly. “What do you think?” Uraraka said, annoyed. “We came to check on you!” She walked up and crouched down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay? No lying.”
Before he could answer, Ashido stomped over to him and grabbed his chin, looking his face over. “You’ve been crying again,” she stated. “What was it about this time?”
Ryuko was laughing too hard to speak so Hisashi had to explain. “Izuku was worried about the match, as you could guess. His…” He looked down at his son, who was staring star-struck into Ashido’s face. “His hero side took over and inspired his opponent to embark on a new path.”
“Dad…” Izuku whined. “I’m still not sure tha-”
Ashido tipped his chin up further and pressed her lips into his. Izuku’s eyes went wide as Ryuko, Saori and Inko all started screaming in surprise and joy.
“M-MINA!” Izuku sputtered as he pulled back.
“Feel better?” she asked firmly.
Izuku had turned a vibrant green color as he covered his face with his arms. Even so, he still nodded slightly.
Hisashi and Seizou were both laughing uproariously at Izuku’s fluster. He managed to peek over through his tears to look at the other two students in the room. Katsuki was rubbing his forehead in annoyance, but he saw the small smile on his face. Uraraka, on the other hand, was blushing nearly as hard as his son.
Curious.
He felt a disturbance in his wallet.
“My baby is growing up!” Inko cried, hugging Izuku as tears poured from her face. “And you found such a good girlfriend, too!”
Ashido blushed a little under the praise. “Oh, t-thank you.”
“Izuku-” Ryuko choked out between her laughter, “how about- you introduce your friends to my- parents!”
Izuku gulped. “Aunt Saori, Uncle Seizou, t-this is Mina Ashido, my g-girlfriend.”
“It’s a pleasure,” Saori said, dabbing away a few of her tears.
Izuku turned greener. “A-and this is Ochako Uraraka… my uh, girlfriend.”
The screams renewed. The commotion was so loud that he barely noticed the gigantic glacier appear in the stadium behind him, signalling the anticlimactic end to the second match.
“OH, MY BABY !” Inko squeezed Izuku harder.
“Mom, p-please!” Izuku was desperately trying to cover his face, but failing as his mother jostled him around. Uraraka was blushing harder, Ashido was smiling wide through her own slight purple blush, while Katsuki was even chuckling slightly at the chaos.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Uraraka blurted out as she stood up and hurried to the door. “But uh, I gotta go get ready for my match. I’m next!” The tall woman ducked out of the room and dashed away, still covering her red face.
“So, two girls, eh?” Ryuko asked, grinning wide as she ruffled Izuku’s hair. “How’d you manage that?”
“It was their idea!” Izuku defended himself.
“Technically, it was yours,” Ashido shot back with a grin.
“You know what I meant!”
“Izuku, Izuku,” Hisashi said with a little force, hoping to calm the situation. “It’s fine. We’re just proud to see you finally getting some friends beyond Katsuki. You have to forgive your mother and I for being proud of you.”
Izuku hung his head. “I know… thanks.”
Katsuki moved over and softly punched Izuku in the shoulder. “Come on, man. Let’s get back to our class.”
Ashido nodded. “They’re all worried about you. You shouldn’t just fly off like that!”
“Sorry,” Izuku muttered. “I was panicking. I’ll explain the details later.”
Katsuki huffed.
Izuku sighed again as he hugged his family goodbye and headed for the door. “You know, after the adrenaline has died down, being transformed that long really took a bit out of me. I wasn’t planning on using that much energy against Shinsou.”
“Just don’t wear yourself out too much against Icy-Hot. I can’t kick your ass if you’re unconscious,” Katsuki warned as they closed the door.
“Ashido and Uraraka, eh?” Ryuko muttered as she sat back down in her seat. “I would’ve bet on Ashido, but both of them? Good for him.”
“They seem like they’ll be good for him,” Hisashi admitted. “He needs support like that.”
“Speaking of bets…” Inko looked over to him with a smile. “Pay up.”
Hisashi groaned, pulling out his wallet and handing over a thousand yen to his wife.
Ryuko laughed as her parents looked on in confusion. “What was that for?”
“I bet that Izuku would be polyamorous,” Inko explained with a wide grin.
“Really?” the other man in the room asked with a raised eyebrow. “You suspected?”
“A mother knows, Seizou.”
Ochako stretched her arms as she walked up the stairs to the arena. Eiko stared back with a wide smile from the other side. The poor woman still looked pretty beat up from her previous fight, but if Eiko was anything, it was tough.
And cute.
Something about her determination and that smile of hers really made Ochako want to smile too.
So she did.
The two women grinned wide, determined grins at each other from across the arena as All Might gave the signal for them to begin.
“I might not have much of a chance,” Eiko yelled as she charged forward, “but I’m still gonna give it my all!”
“I’m not holding back, either!” Ochako responded as she kicked off.
“That’s all I ask!”
Eiko hardened herself, keeping herself low to try and minimize her profile.
Unfortunately for her, unlike Mina, Eiko relied on brute force and durability, rather than agility. Ochako and her crashed into each other, swinging their arms, one open-palmed, one close-fisted.
Ochako sputtered and nearly hurled as the hardened fist smashed into her stomach but she held fast as all five of the digits on her right hand touched Eiko’s shoulder.
She yanked hard with her quirk, wrenching the mass out of Eiko. Thanks to her forward momentum, the redhead rapidly picked up speed and flew out of the arena, crashing into the wall.
“Young Kirishima is out of bounds! Young Uraraka advances to the semi-finals!”
Ochako ran over to Eiko, letting her quirk go slowly to ease her to the ground. “Are you alright, Eiko?” she asked, more out of courtesy than any real worry.
“Yeah, no, I’m fine, but how are you?” Eiko looked up with a bit of genuine concern. “I felt like I got you pretty good.”
Ochako touched her stomach, wincing slightly as she felt a bruise beginning to form already. “Yeah. Yeah, you did.” She smiled through the pain. “Nobody will ever say you went quietly.”
Eiko chuckled. “Thanks. Can I take you to Recovery Girl? I don’t regret hitting you, but I’m sorry you had to get hit, you know?”
“Yeah,” Ochako said with a smile, “I get it. Sure, you can walk with me. I’d appreciate the company.”
Katsuki made sure that Izuku was doing alright before he had left to go get ready for his second fight. Raccoon-Eyes was- you know what? No, that was a shit nickname.
…
Fuck it, she’s earned it.
Ashido was taking good care of him, so he wasn’t worried.
He also wasn’t worried about the upcoming match. That’s not to say Katsuki was arrogant, he just knew he had a solid advantage. As long as he didn’t get cocky and fuck up, he would be fine.
“Here comes our last two contestants of the round! They’re both powerhouses, so this could be anyone’s game!”
Katsuki huffed. Unlikely.
As soon as All Might gave the signal, Katsuki started running forward. Predictably, Nevermore didn’t move, he just let his quirk out to fight.
He had paid attention during training, he had listened when Izuku went over his notes on the students. He knew what to do.
Katsuki raised his arms up and began to pop off small, bright explosions.
Just as he predicted, Nevermore’s annoying quirk recoiled and hissed. He upped the power, turning his hands into a veritable light show as he closed the gap. Once he got within striking range, he put his hands together and paused his explosions for a moment.
“Stun Grenade!” he shouted, as he was required to by hero law or something. He closed his own eyes as the great, blinding blast went off.
He kept his momentum, bracing his arm in front of him to tackle his opponent to the ground. With his other hand, he kept popping off his small flashes, keeping the shadow-bird-thing at bay. “This was a bad matchup for you. Give up,” he ordered.
Nevermore glared at him for a few seconds before raising his arms. “I surrender.”
All Might declared his victory as he stood back up. “You know, you were kinda fucked from the start.”
“So it appears,” Nevermore grumbled as he began to pull himself up.
“Sometimes we’re all fucked before we start,” Katsuki mused as he turned around and offered his hand. “But that’s why we have allies, right?”
Nevermore’s eyes went wide for a second before he accepted the help.
Katsuki pulled him up and began to trudge off. “Just make sure you kick the ass of any villain that’s immune to explosions for me, alright?”
“Alright folks, after 12 pulse-pounding matches, we’re down to our final four contestants and they’re all from 1-A! I bet Eraserhead is proud!”
“Assuming he isn’t napping, I bet he is. On some level.”
“...right. Anyway, our first match is a clash of two powerhouses. The Son of Stormclaw versus the Son of Endeavor! Izuku Midoriya versus Shouto Todoroki!”
Izuku walked through the hallways towards his waiting room. It was him against Todoroki. This was going to be the hardest fight so far.
Todoroki was powerful, there was no way around that. He was powerful and he was only using half of his quirk.
That was what really had him distracted. This was a perfect opportunity- perhaps the only opportunity- to get Todoroki to use his fire. He almost used his left side during the cavalry battle when he was pressed.
That could be a way to get him to use his fire. If he didn’t have a choice, he would use his flames out of habit or instinct or even desperation.
Short term solution. More harm than good.
Izuku nodded to himself. No, he would have to make Todoroki choose to use his fire.
How would he do that? That was the question. He had a couple ideas, but to make any of them work, he had to survive in the ring against him. That meant he had to match Todoroki in terms of strength.
And he couldn’t do that alone.
He looked down at his hand as he quickly formed a claw. He turned over his hand, admiring the green scales. He needed help.
Which meant he needed to trust .
Just the thought made his heart rate pick up. He breathed a few times, trying to calm himself. ‘I can do this. They didn’t hurt Shinsou. Todoroki is part of my hoard, I won’t hurt him either… I can trust my instincts.’
Time seemed to slow down as a man nearly five inches taller than him turned the corner. Izuku’s eyes went wide as he stared at the blue-and-orange clad suit that was dancing with flames. He moved his vision up slowly as he saw the ironically cool gaze of-
ENDEAVOR?!
“Ah, there you are, boy,” the pro said calmly. “I’ve been looking for you.”
I love it when my prey comes to me.
“R-really?” Izuku responded, holding his head slightly.
Endeavor nodded. “Yes. It’s my Shouto’s duty to surpass All Might as the number one hero and while you are no replacement for All Might, you will be an adequate test. Your father was a sufficiently powerful hero before he was crippled.”
Let’s see how 'sufficient' you are once I tear off your arm!
“W-what does-” Izuku’s head pounded as he put all of his will into holding back his quirk.
“His match with you will be a good testing ground for how much training he has left,” Endeavor explained as he pointed at Izuku. “So hit him hard; don’t disgrace yourself or him by holding back.”
He is not some pet project for you, bastard!
“R-right,” Izuku managed to force out of his throat as he fought to push the claw that was forming on his hand back down.
“Are… are you well?” he asked with a touch of confusion.
Have you ever asked your son that?
“I ju-just sometimes get bad he-headaches.” Izuku was breathing heavy, keeping his face down so Endeavor couldn’t see his glowing eyes.
“Hmm. Don’t let it hinder you against my Shouto. I need you to do your best so I can properly assess him.” He turned to walk away. “That’s all.”
He has hurt what is mine. He must pay. HE MUST PAY!
Izuku wanted to open his mouth. He wanted to tell Endeavor that Todoroki was his son, but he wasn’t him. He wanted to tear into him verbally, but he was afraid his quirk might tear into him physically.
‘Stupid quirk! You were so damn eager to twist Shinsou, why can’t I just talk to him?’
Shinsou has value. Endeavor is trash. Words would not work. Actions will.
Izuku willed his legs to move with a herculean effort, turning away from the pro hero and stumbling down a side hallway. His claws dug into the wall as he failed to contain them, the sleeves of his replacement shirt shredded as his arms rippled larger and smaller.
This reaction wasn’t good; he had to calm down. This was like his reaction at the battle trial, when he almost hurt Mineta. Using Recovery Girl’s analogy, he felt like he was holding back an entire raging river of power; his head was pounding, like it was about to explode. Was it because he was better in-tune with his quirk? Was it because it was powering more of his brain?
Izuku slammed into another wall, his claws carving giant holes in the concrete. He needed help… but there was no Mina or Ochako to save him now.
Momo wandered through the dark hallways underneath the stadium, desperate to get away from her thoughts and her peers. She couldn’t bear to sit still any longer, but she knew that once she was alone, Midoriya would no doubt try to talk to her. Him or someone else, anyway. He saw the way Mina and Ochako were both looking at her sometimes. Even Kyouka and Pony were being extra gentle with her, like she was some sort of weakling.
Momo hated it. She wasn’t a weakling! She didn’t need their pity!
She sniffed. Maybe she was a weakling. Maybe she was pathetic and pitiable. She knew that she was in a spiral, her own dark thoughts piling on top of themselves to push her further down, but she couldn’t pull herself out.
This was a terrible decision. At least when she was up in the stands she had something to distract herself with; being down here just gave her mind time to wander and hate itself more. She was about to turn around and head back up when she saw something strange.
The wall in one of the small side hallways was torn up, like a monster had scratched clear through the gray wall. It was like something out of an old horror movie.
Then she heard a roar.
A deep, anguished roar echoing up from down the hallway.
She gulped. This really was like a horror movie.
A part of Momo wanted to turn around and run, but there was one problem: she recognized that roar.
“M-Midoriya?” she asked aloud as she crept forward slowly. A chilling silence met her question, deepening her worry. Her heart pounded as she remembered her time at the hospital.
She needed to go get one of the others. Bakugou, Mina or Ochako- they would know what to do.
Another roar made her flinch. ‘There’s no time, Momo!’ she thought to herself. ‘He needs someone now and there’s nobody else here! He trusted you with his secret, pull your head out of your ass and help him, dammit!’
She clenched her fists and her teeth as she began to run down the hallway, following the sound and the claw marks.
It wasn’t hard to find him; it turns out rampaging dragon-men aren’t exactly stealthy. She turned a corner and stepped into a doorway of a small storage room. Midoriya was on the far side, clutching his head with both hands as his scales flashed up and down his arm. His head was stretching out and shrinking as his eyes flashed erratically, but what caught her attention the most was the way his face was contorted in what looked like excruciating pain.
She wanted to help, she needed to help, but she didn’t know how. The way he was thrashing about kept her from approaching, perhaps she could get his attention somehow. Maybe she could talk him down.
“Midoriya?” she called quietly.
No response. His tail grew and shrunk back.
“ Midoriya!” Louder this time.
Still nothing. The ridge on his neck stretched down his back, shredding the tattered remains of his shirt as the sail burst through.
Momo bit her lip. What could she do?
She shook her head. ‘Think, Momo, think ! What would Mina or Ochako do here?’
She racked her brain for something, some idea of what to do. ‘When have I seen him like this before?’ Her eyes went wide. ‘The USJ! Before we got warped. What was Ochako doing?’ Momo tried to recall. ‘She was patting his back and talking to him. What did she say? She was calling him that nickname of hers.’
A pause.
‘Wait. Both Ochako and Mina call him a nickname- almost exclusively. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard them call him something else. Is that it?’ She gulped. It was worth a shot.
“D-Deku?”
No change.
“Midori?”
Nothing.
“Dammit.” That wasn’t it. She thought harder, trying to remember something to get his attention. ‘Maybe I can hit him?’ Momo looked over at the struggling, angry Midoriya. ‘Probably a bad idea.’
She thought back to the hospital; maybe there was a clue when he talked to her in private. ‘He told me about his instincts, but I had already heard that when I was eavesdropping. We didn’t get very far before I messed up and called him Z-’
Her eyes went wide.
She looked over at the man again. ‘Maybe…’
“Z-Zu?”
He froze.
‘No way.’
She cleared her throat. “Zu.”
He slowly turned to look at her, the light in his eyes fading slightly. “M-Mo?”
Her heart clenched. That was a name she hadn’t heard in a long time.
“Zu, are you alright?” She dared to take a step towards him.
“Mo?” he repeated. He still looked like he was in pain and more than a little confused.
“I’m here, Zu.” She stepped closer and reached her hand out to touch his face.
As soon as she touched him, his eyes went wide, but his body began to calm. He stood there, panting for a couple minutes in silence, closing his eyes and leaning into her hand like his life depended on it. His own hand reached up and touched hers; it was so gentle and soft compared to the force of nature that had rent the concrete walls around them.
Momo didn’t know what to think- she didn’t dare take her hand away, not when he so clearly… needed it.
After he caught his breath, he looked up at her, his eyes filled with fear and gratitude as their hands broke apart. “T-thank you. You saved me.” No longer did he look like he was in pain; was that all it took to calm his quirk? It seemed almost too easy; just what kind of power did she have over him?
“S-saved?” She almost laughed. “I just said a-an old nickname, I didn’t do anything.”
“That’s not true.” He stood up straight, still looking up a little into her eyes. “If it wasn’t for you… I don’t know what would have happened. You saw me, I was out of control.” He stepped closer; something about his proximity caused her heart to start beating harder. “So… thank you. From the bottom of my heart.”
Zu was right: she had stopped him. She had… saved him. Her heart swelled, even as it continued to beat faster. The darkness in her mind and spirit were still there, but it wasn’t quite as suffocating as before.
Suddenly, she felt a little… needy. She looked down at the look of genuine, desperate gratitude on Zu’s face and wanted nothing more than to reach out and hold him close. She wanted to make him feel safe and she wanted to feel safe with him.
Momo shook her head slightly, hoping that she wasn’t beginning to blush. “Y-you should get going, your match is going to start.”
He hesitated, then stepped back slightly. “You’re right. Thanks, Mo. I owe you… more than you know. You’re my hero.”
‘God, it’s like he knows just what to say.’ Momo blinked back a tear as she stepped out of his way, letting him leave the wreckage of a room behind. She leaned out, watching him walk down the hallway. Right before he turned the corner, he looked back and smiled again.
Then, just like that, he was gone.
She smiled for the first time in a while. There was something thrilling about having that sort of control over him, but she was more focused on how good he had made her feel. With him gone and his footsteps fading in the distance, she could feel the loneliness and darkness starting to creep back in at the edges of her heart, but it wasn’t like it was before.
Momo smiled a little wider.
“Good luck, Zu. I’ll be cheering for you.”
Notes:
No cliffhangers this time! See you next time for Izuku vs. Shouto and Ochako vs. Katsuki!
I got over 60 comments on the previous chapter, my most ever. I can't thank you guys enough. I had a blast reading every comment, you really made my week. :)
Chapter 36: Letting Go
Summary:
Izuku Midoriya vs. Shouto Todoroki
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
With no more pro heroes to distract him, Izuku tried to mentally prepare himself for the match ahead. Thanks to his little episode, he didn’t have any time to go to the waiting room; he had to head straight for the arena.
Izuku didn’t pay attention to the introduction Present Mic gave him or his opponent, he was too focused on the task ahead. He had to convince Todoroki to use his flames of his own volition, but he first had to determine the best way to go about it.
Todoroki was stubborn and hyper-focused; he wouldn’t do anything he didn’t want to do. Izuku had to get through to him somehow.
He felt his quirk pulse softly, as if it was waking up from the sleep Yao- Momo had put it into.
To Izuku, it was strange to imagine Todoroki was choosing not to use his full power. Izuku wanted nothing more than to be able to use his quirk, but he couldn’t. Even beyond its penchant to put him in the hospital or kill him, he was afraid of what it might do if he let it roam free.
Izuku kept his quirk hidden because of fear and danger, Todoroki kept it hidden out of spite and principle.
That wasn’t fair. Todoroki was afraid he would wind up like his father; his every waking moment was dedicated to distancing himself from everything Endeavor represented to him.
So they were both afraid. Todoroki of becoming his father, and Izuku of becoming a vill-
Izuku’s eyes went wide.
‘That’s it!’
Shouto raised an eyebrow as Midoriya walked up the stairs on the far side of the ring. For some reason, his shirt was already missing; was Midoriya trying to intimidate him? Regardless, it wouldn’t work.
Present Mic was trying to hype the crowd up, but he wasn’t listening. He was too busy centering himself, preparing for the glacier he was preparing to unleash.
He had to end it quickly; Midoriya’s breath was too much of a threat. His best shot was to freeze him fully, encase him completely like he accidentally did to Yaoyorozu. Only then would Midoriya be unable to use his quirk.
If that didn’t work… he would have to figure out a way to avoid his poison. Surely he wouldn’t risk threatening the crowd, so his gas would be limited in volume; he could avoid it by rising above it or skating away from it. Not an ideal strategy, but what other real chance did he have?
Fire he could have blocked, ice he could have blocked, lightning or acid… he could have blocked those. Poison gas?
He grimaced bitterly.
That would be tricky.
Across the arena, Midoriya had a small smirk on his face beneath his glowing eyes.
All Might held up his hand. “Begin!”
Shouto slammed his right foot down and a wave of ice erupted across the ring, just like he had done the previous two matches. He couldn’t tell if he had caught Midoriya- the ice was blocking his vision- but surely he couldn’t have escaped.
His confidence faltered as he heard the beating of wings.
Shouto’s vision snapped upward as he saw Midoriya land on top of the glacier, gazing down on him with burning eyes. His wings folded behind him, framing him against the shining ice with a silhouette like a demon straight out of Hell. “Tell me, Shouto Todoroki, what will you do… when your ice isn’t enough?”
He took a step backwards, gazing up at the grinning man. His face wasn’t draconic- not yet, at least- but his grin still looked predatory… and a little playful.
“Come on now, don’t give me the cold shoulder,” he taunted. “Go ahead, try again.”
He felt his blood pressure spike slightly. Shouto slammed his foot down again, sending a controlled wave of ice curving around, aiming to knock Midoriya off his perch. His opponent jumped, soaring over the sweeping attack and landing on a new spot.
“It’s humorous to watch you struggle like a wounded animal.” Midoriya’s face was twisted into a cruel grin, his fangs glinting in the sun. He licked his lips, his tongue long, green and forked at the tip. “There’s nothing like the thrill of the hunt, but playing with my food is a good second choice.”
Shouto’s grit his teeth. “Why are you doing this, Midoriya?! What do you intend to gain by mocking me?”
“Midoriya?” The man laughed darkly. “Please, call me by my villain name. I am Venomfang… and I’m here to kill you, hero, just as I always said I would. You and everyone here in this stadium.”
Shouto paused, blinking a few times as he tried to make sure he had heard correctly.
His smirk grew wider. “Don’t look so surprised, hero . After all the years we have fought each other, surely you knew it had to end this way.”
“Years?” Shouto’s face twisted in confusion. “What…?”
“How quaint, pretending not to know your own nemesis. I’m hurt.” He held his hand over his heart and pretended to wallow in despair for a moment. “But what hurts me even more is that even after all the times we’ve fought, you still refuse to use your full power against me. Why do you look down on me so much?”
Kyouka blinked a few times, her eyebrow cocked as hard as she could manage. Next to her, Pony and Momo held her other jack between them, both listening to Midoriya and Todoroki talk.
Momo had shown up right before the match started and, while she had been absolutely ice-cold since her match ended, she seemed to be doing a little better now. Whatever she had done to improve her mood, Kyouka hoped she got more of it.
Pony noticed the change in Momo’s mood too and had kindly offered to share Kyouka’s jack with her. Momo had paused, before smiling and accepting graciously.
Kyouka had smiled at the two. They were both so adorable.
But right now, all three of them were looking at each other with mixtures of confusion and shock.
Kyouka was the only one whose mouth was still working. “Is… Is Midoriya roleplaying? ”
“Look down?” Shouto repeated with a mix of bewilderment and frustration. “ What are you talking about?”
“Time and time again, you’ve refused to use your fire against me,” Midoriya explained. “So I’ve decided to give you some… encouragement. That’s why I brought you here!” He gestured around to the stands. “If you wish to save the lives of these pathetic people, you will have to use your fire.”
Midoriya jumped from the ice, slamming down on the floor of the arena about halfway across the ring from Shouto. “So again I ask you: what will you do when your ice isn’t enough? ”
Shouto snarled; enough of this farce. Something about Midoriya’s voice unsettled him, reminding Shouto of the end of the cavalry battle. It disturbed him on a fundamental level and he was tired of it.
He created another wave of ice, but he had learned that Midoriya was too agile for his ranged attacks. This time, he rode with it, streaking towards his opponent; a single solid touch from his right hand would end this fight.
Midoriya pushed off with his powerful, scaled legs and dodged back, unsurprisingly. “Oh, did that light a fire beneath you?”
Shouto lunged for the man, who simply beat his wings and soared across the arena, casually smashing through the remnants of one of his previous attacks. Shouto wasted no time chasing after him, riding another wave of ice, but he dodged that one as well.
He swung his foot along the ground, sending a sharply curving wall of ice wide of his opponent, twisting it behind him to block off his escape routes.
Midoriya smirked as Shouto dashed towards him, furthering his ire. The draconic man reared his right fist back and swung forward.
Shouto’s eyebrow raised the smallest amount as the attack closed in on him. The punch was incredibly telegraphed, Midoriya was surely trained better than that . Perhaps his father was right when he disparaged Stormclaw.
Shouto shifted left, letting the fist streak past him as he moved his right hand in to freeze Midoriya.
Then he noticed the arm being pulled in tight.
His eyes went wide.
Midoriya was trained better than that.
Using the momentum from his punch to turn, Midoriya slammed his tail into Shouto, sending him skidding across the arena, but not before his fingers made contact with Midoriya’s scaled right arm.
Shouto groaned softly as he pulled himself to his feet, satisfied that he made the first step towards victory.
“Bravo, bravo.” Midoriya’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
Shouto’s vision snapped to his opponent and saw his entire right arm and shoulder covered by thick ice. Why was Midoriya still smiling?
“It’s easy to forget, I suppose, that I’m descended from Silverlight, whose breath was winter.” Midoriya laughed once before he flexed, cracking the ice and sending it falling from his arm. “I resist fire and ice, hero. You won’t be able to beat me down with only half your strength.”
Midoriya took a step forward as his quirk flowed stronger, growing him taller and bulkier. “I will ask. You. Again .” His face stretched longer, his jaw curving and his horns flaring above his eyes to form a ridged crown. His human eyes shut for a moment, then reopened with a renewed glow. His now-slitted eyes stared into his soul.
Midoriya’s curved maw opened, his voice dripping with anger.
“What will you do when your ice is not enough?!”
“What are you doing, boy?” Hisashi muttered, glancing at the shorter woman to his left. “Are you hearing this?”
“Yes, Uncle,” Ryuko responded, “He’s trying to get that Todoroki boy to use his flames, but the question I have is… why won’t he use them?”
Hisashi glowered down at Endeavor far below, who himself was glaring at the match, a look of barely-contained fury on his face.
“I have a pretty good idea,” Hisashi snarled.
“My ice will be enough!” Todoroki yelled back. “I’ll make sure of it!” A wave of ice streaked towards Izuku, but he shot up into the air, his increased strength from his further transformation helping him move even faster.
Izuku landed on a shard of ice from Todoroki’s initial attack. “Surely you can’t believe that,” Izuku laughed, before becoming much more serious. “And if you do, you are a fool. I thought I would give you a chance to prove yourself here, to save these poor, innocent people, but you are determined to keep your pride at all costs. Are you so arrogant that you can’t see that your ice won’t stop me?”
Izuku was bluffing, at least a little bit. He was definitely resistant to frost and cold, but it didn’t render him immune to Todoroki’s quirk, not by a long shot. His classmate was a powerhouse, there was no doubt there, and if he kept hitting Izuku, he would wear him down sooner rather than later.
Even so, Izuku had to keep up his facade if he wanted all this bravado to work. He was trying to use ‘Venomfang’, ridiculous as it was, to convince Todoroki just how short-sighted his refusal really was.
Izuku felt a little guilty, truth be told. He was trying to get his opponent to use his full power… but he couldn’t bring himself to trust his instincts. Not after what happened earlier…
He tried again, just as he had several times during the match already.
‘Let go. Trust .’
Izuku felt his quirk flowing into his consciousness, becoming less and less distinct with each passing moment.
He is burdened with anger and hatred.
‘He has shut himself off from others.’
He was melting, mixing, becoming something else.
He is an emerald in the rough.
‘I’ll help him become a hero.’
He held onto his control with his figurative fingertips, willing each one to pull back, letting go one at a time.
I will save him.
‘I will save him.’
Four fingers, three, two, o-
“Your father was a sufficiently powerful hero before he was crippled.”
Let’s see how 'sufficient' you are once I tear off your arm!
Izuku snatched his control back as fast as he could as Endeavor’s face filled his mind.
Another failure.
‘Dammit…’
He shook his head slightly, refocusing himself on the slightly stunned Todoroki. Lying came naturally to him, he would just have to fake it until he made it. As long as he helped Todoroki, his own problems were secondary.
“Why aren’t you taking this seriously?!” Todoroki shouted, sending another wave of ice at Izuku. He beat his wings, soaring up and above it easily and landing on a new pillar.
“You want serious? Fine .” Izuku leveled his gaze at the man below him, dropping his persona. “Then let me give you a history lesson, Todoroki, about one of my relatives: daughter of Silverlight, sister to Gallant. I am, of course, talking about Frostheart. The first, but certainly not the last, supervillain in my family.”
Todoroki paused for a moment at least, furrowing his brow.
“Perhaps you learned about it in school. I learned about it on my own, once I found out what my quirk was.” Izuku hopped to another perch as a pillar of ice streaked towards him, not stopping his tale. “Frostheart rampaged across Japan and, while it was put to shame by the carnage wreaked by Terrorflame a generation later, it was one of the worst crime sprees since quirks began to appear.”
“Stop talking!” Todoroki yelled, charging at Izuku again on the back of an ice wave. He wasn’t prepared for Izuku’s increased speed- or was he just slower? Either way, he didn’t get out of the way before Izuku slammed him square in the stomach with a full-bodied punch, knocking him from his perch and streaking towards the ground, but not before he touched Izuku again.
Even slow, Todoroki was still dangerous. Izuku flexed again, letting the ice crack and slide off his body.
Izuku shivered; he couldn’t take too many more of those. That quirk was really something else.
Todoroki managed to touch another pillar of ice in the winter wonderland he had created in the ring, sending a wall down with him to catch him and let him skate to the ground, even as he coughed to catch his breath.
He’s unsettled, making mistakes.
“Frostheart made her lair at the peak of Mt. Fuji. A squad of ten heroes was dispatched to bring her to justice as she fortified herself.” Izuku glared down at the man bitterly. “Of the ten, seven lost their lives that day.”
Todoroki glared at him, panting… and shivering.
Interesting.
His body was running cold. While Todoroki refused to use his flames, every use of his quirk slowed him down more and more. Izuku assumed it worked the other way around; each side negates the drawback of the other, allowing Todoroki to have little limitations beyond his own stamina.
Izuku eyed him across the field; if he could get him to break free of his psychological shackles, Todoroki could be an unparalleled hero.
At least he wasn’t attacking... for now.
“It took Gallant, her own brother, to finally take her down. He loved his sister, but he did what he had to do. That’s what makes someone a hero.” Izuku hopped down from his ice pillar so he was on even footing with Todoroki. “Imagine, if you would, you were part of that assault team. Your ice… would have done nothing. Worse than nothing, your ice would have just given her home field advantage.”
Todoroki paused for a moment, analyzing him. “I… I wouldn’t have gone on the mission. There are other heroes that would have gone.”
“Fair enough,” Izuku admitted, “but let’s say that you were on patrol when Frostheart attacked. She just... slammed down in the middle of a busy street right in front of you and started freezing people solid. You would have been helpless, not because of your quirk, but because of your choice .” Izuku took another step towards Todoroki. “How many people would you allow to die for that choice?”
“Why are you doing this?” Todoroki asked, his voice full of anger. “Did my scumbag of a father put you up to this?”
Bastard.
“No,” Izuku declared. “Forget Endeavor. This is about you. ”
Todoroki was silent. Izuku saw that he was finally hearing his words.
Now was the time for action.
“Why are you here at UA?” Izuku asked simply. “Because I’m here to be a hero. I’m here to learn how to be the best I can be… and that means doing whatever it takes to get there.” Izuku kicked off, running towards Todoroki. “I know what I want! And that’s why I’ll beat you right here, right now!”
“WHAT DO YOU WANT?!”
Momo’s hand shook slightly as she held Kyouka’s jack between herself and Pony. Zu and Todoroki were evenly matched, it seemed. Both had only landed a few hits on each other, but the hits were solid. Zu was making a show of breaking free of the ice both times he got frozen, but she could see the chill on his breath.
She could see the chill on both of their breaths.
But more importantly, Zu seemed to be… intentionally dragging it out. Try as she might, she couldn’t think of a way Todoroki could reliably defend against his poison breath… not without his fire. His fire could heat the air, creating a draft to pull the gas away from him, but Todoroki refused to use it. He made that clear in their preparations before the cavalry battle.
‘When I’m in battle, I never use my left side,’ he told her.
Everything Zu was saying- the taunting, the gloating, the history lesson- he was trying to get him to break that vow. He was trying to get Todoroki to use his fire… but why?
She remembered something he said during training last week.
‘It’s my job as class rep to make sure you all grow into the best heroes you can be.’
A noble sentiment, to be sure, but that didn’t explain… all this.
Maybe Ochako or Mina would know.
Either way, right now… she had a friend to cheer for.
‘What I want…?’
Shouto knew the answer… at least he thought he did. Midoriya’s words were resonating with him for some reason. Something in the way he spoke told Shouto that he… he understood , at least a little bit.
A long-repressed memory made it’s way to the surface. For the first time in over a decade, he remembered his mother kindly, her face not full of fear or hate.
“You still want to be a hero, don’t you, Shouto?”
He did, but what did that mean?
Almost out of reflex, he shot another blast of ice at the man rapidly closing on him, but Midoriya launched into the air, spinning around the shards and doing a front-flip in mid air right above him, bringing his weighty tail down at startling speeds.
Shouto threw up a barrier of ice to block the attack, which it did, but was shattered in the process. The force from the contact threw him backward, towards the edge of the arena. He created a cradle of ice to catch him, preventing him from being tossed out of the ring.
“You know, you may not believe me and you may not understand why… but I hate my quirk too,” Midoriya almost whispered across the space between them.
He was wrong. For some reason… Shouto did believe him.
“I want nothing more than to be to able to use my quirk freely, without fear, but I can’t!” He sounded almost… desperate.
“This was the hand I was dealt but I have to make the best of it! I don’t have a choice!” His right arm bulked up larger as his voice grew in volume.
‘Why?’
“I am not my quirk!” he declared at the top of his lungs. His left arm followed his right.
He heard his mother’s voice again.
“You are not a prisoner of your lineage.”
“I will take this damn quirk and I will break it! I will make it my own!” His voice was filled with passion. “I WILL DEFY THE BURDEN PLACED ON MY SHOULDERS! I WILL DEFY IT AND BECOME WHO I WAS MEANT TO BE!” The rest of his body grew to match his arms; Midoriya stood over ten feet tall at this point, a towering mix of man and dragon. “I’LL BE A HERO!”
‘Defy...? How?’
No. No this was wrong. He couldn’t use it.
He couldn’t betray his mother.
Shouto found his voice. “I’ll… I’ll never use his power.” His words were well-practiced over the years, but for some reason, they felt almost foreign in his mouth.
“IT’S NOT HIS POWER!” Midoriya bellowed at him. “IT’S YOUR’S! YOUR QUIRK, NOT HIS, NOT ANYBODY ELSE’S!”
Suddenly, it all came crashing back. Everything he had forgotten.
He remembered sitting on the couch with his mother when he was only five. They were watching an interview with All Might; even back then, he was larger than life. Shouto looked up to him more than anyone else.
“Children often do inherit quirks from their parents, or develop similar power sets, but the most important thing to remember is that a quirk is what you make of it,” All Might said. “Regardless of your history, you decide how you use it. That’s what I mean when I say I am here! Only you can decide to become a hero, no one else.”
“You still want to be a hero, don’t you?” his mother asked, petting his hair. “Just remember…”
“Stay true to yourself.”
Shouto’s breathing picked up.
“It’s okay to use your power…”
‘ My power…’
“To become who you want to be.”
His left side burst to life, flames pouring forth and illuminating the entire arena. Nearby ice began to melt just from the heat flowing from his body. In a moment, his spark became an inferno, causing his opponent to shield his eyes slightly.
“I- I know what I want,” Shouto choked out, tears beginning to roll down his face. “I want to be a hero!”
“YES!” Midoriya shouted in triumph. “That’s it!” He took to the air, diving backwards and landing on the massive glacier Shouto has used to start the fight.
As the flames burned the frost from his right side, so too did they burn away the weight on his shoulders. For the first time in over a decade… he felt free.
He couldn’t help but smile.
From his vantage point, Midoriya was smiling too.
“You’ve let go of your burdens… ” His eyes burst to life with an intensity he had never seen before. The glow was so fierce that his slitted pupils were impossible to see beneath the yellow-green light burning within. “You’ve inspired me! You aren’t holding back any longer… and neither will I!”
Midoriya’s arms slammed down as his body began to grow larger and larger.
For that moment, everything else ceased to exist. It was just him and Midoriya.
“COME AT ME WITH YOUR FULL POWER, TODOROKI!”
“All Might, we should stop this!” Cementoss called over the microphone.
Toshinori was of a mind to agree with him. These were two of the most powerful students at UA, even outside of their year, and they were preparing to go at it at full blast.
“You aren’t holding back any longer… and neither will I!”
Young Midoriya doubled over and began to transform.
He remembered what the boy’s father told him. ‘No, he’s going too far! He’ll hurt himself!’
“You’re right, Cementoss,” he responded finally. “We shoul-”
Young Midoriya’s eyes snapped to him, giving him a look he couldn’t mistake.
He had to do this. Not just for himself, but for Young Todoroki as well.
Toshinori balked. What should he do? He was a teacher, yes, but he understood the hard path to become a hero.
“...Not yet,” he said over the radio.
Hisashi was going to kill him.
Young Midoriya kicked off from the glacier with such force that the massive iceberg shattered into a thousand pieces. Even as he soared through the air, his body bulked up and his wings lengthened.
At the same time, Young Todoroki sent a massive stream of ice shooting out at the dragon, even as he raised his left arm, which was engulfed in flames.
Young Midoriya unleashed a literal earth-shaking roar as he swerved over the wall of frost. Green gas poured forth from his open mouth, but the heat from the searing flames was creating an updraft Toshinori had only seen when he used one of his smashes. The gas was ripped skyward as the dragon streaked towards Young Todoroki like a massive, green bullet.
For a moment, Young Midoriya was the size he was at the USJ. A real, massive dragon, just like his father.
He could just barely make on the smile on both students’ faces before everything went white.
A massive rush of air burst through the stadium like a bomb had gone off in the middle of the arena. If he didn’t weigh 600 pounds, he surely would have been blown away by the rapidly expanding air.
In hindsight, he was glad he held back Cementoss. Any walls he would have erected might have created deadly flying debris when Young Midoriya and Young Todoroki had their final clash.
“What the heck is going on down there?” Present Mic asked over the loudspeaker. “I can’t see a thing. And what was that explosion?”
Midnight answered promptly. “The air was cooled from all of Todoroki’s ice and then his fire caused a rapid expansion. Such a drastic change in temperature caused winds powerful enough that you might say they caused a localized typhoon for a moment.”
“How hot did that fire get?!” Present Mic asked, astounded. “And since when did you become a weather expert?”
Midnight huffed. “I graduated from UA just like you did. Maybe if you had paid better attention in physics class, Hizashi-”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Present Mic muttered dismissively. “Look, the smoke’s clearing!”
Toshinori waved his hand, casually blowing the rest of the smoke away.
“Oh, you couldn’t have done that sooner, All Might?”
At the edge of the arena stood Young Midoriya, his form much more normal sized.
His right arm was still noticeably larger as it reached down to the ground.
Beneath it, his shoulders just outside the ring, was Young Todoroki.
Toshinori raised his arm high, so quickly he created a small breeze. “Young Todoroki is out of bounds, Young Midoriya advances to the grand finals!”
There was a beat of silence before the crowd erupted in cheers.
Shouto coughed a few times as the weight on his chest kept him flat on his back. Midoriya had shrunk down like a popped balloon as soon as he had slammed into Shouto, but it had been enough.
Midoriya had won.
Shouto had lost.
He didn’t feel sad, however. For the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel a crushing weight on his shoulders.
The vicious glow in Midoriya’s eyes was fluctuating, fading and returning erratically, and he seemed to be having trouble holding any amount of his transformation.
“Todoroki, you’ve lost,” Midoriya pointed out astutely. He leaned back, removing his massive claw from Shouto’s chest. “In your quest to outdo us all with only half your power, you’ve fallen behind. I won’t allow that.”
‘Won’t allow ?’
Midoriya reached his left arm down, offering it to Shouto. “You can either continue on your path, or you can take my hand and embark on a new journey. If you don’t want to be like Endeavor, then you’ll accept my help. Only with others helping us can we become the best we can be. Take my hand and we’ll become heroes together.”
Shouto stared at his hand for a few seconds before he reached out and grabbed it. Midoriya hoisted him to his feet with a tired, beaten smile on his face.
“Thank you,” Midoriya muttered as he let go of his quirk, ending his transformation fully.
“Shouldn’t I be the one than-”
Midoriya suddenly clutched his head with both hands as a horrific scream tore from his throat. If not for Shouto quickly reacting to grab onto him, he would have collapsed to the ground.
Midoriya stood there panting for a few moments, propped up by Shouto. “You used your full transformation despite telling us it could hospitalize you again,” Shouto observed. “Why?”
Midoriya looked over at him, his vision slightly unfocused. “It… it wasn’t right for me to hold back when you weren’t. You deserved it. Besides, if I didn’t, you would have blown me away. I barely made it through.”
Shouto stared, blinking for a few moments. “Can I take you to Recovery Girl?” he asked finally.
Midoriya nodded slowly. “Thank you, Todoroki.”
“Hmm,” Shouto huffed. “Call me Shouto.”
Midoriya’s vision turned up to his, eyes wide. “... Izuku,” he breathed after a moment.
Shouto nodded and began to help Izuku move across the stage.
He had lost, there was no doubt about that.
He held his left arm out, letting a small fire spark to life in his hands. For once, he didn’t hate it. With this power, he would become a hero.
Shouto had lost the match, he had lost the tournament.
But he had won so much more.
Notes:
This fight went on longer than I thought, so I decided to post it as its own chapter.
See you next time for Ochako vs. Katsuki!
:)
Chapter 37: Standing Tall
Summary:
Ochako vs. Katsuki
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Young Todoroki is out of bounds, Young Midoriya advances to the grand finals!”
There was a beat of silence before the crowd erupted in cheers.
But 1-A remained silent, each of the students caught in various stages of shock and awe.
“He… he transformed again,” Mina said slowly, the first to speak.
“The full one,” Kaminari muttered. “Like at the USJ.”
Pony stood up from her seat in worry. “But I thought said he couldn’t!”
“Or he’d get put into a hospital again,” Iida followed.
“Or worse ,” Bakugou finished, with a bitter edge to his voice. “Fucking dumbass, I swear.”
“Oh, Greenhorn…” Hadou sounded as worried as everyone else. “He’s still standing, that’s a good sign.”
“He drew out the fight until Todoroki used his fire,” Ochako observed with worry in her voice.
Kaminari scratched his head. “He told us that he never uses his fire. I wonder what Midoriya said to him. They looked like they were talking, yeah?”
“Yeah, they totally did,” Satou agreed. “Jirou, did y-
Midori screamed so loud that they heard it up in their lofty seats.
A cacophony of gasps and worried shouts rang out from Mina and the other students. Down below, Midori was hunched over, gasping in pain as Todoroki held him up.
“Dammit!” Bakugou yelled, standing up in a flash.
Mina and Ochako were right behind him, hurrying to go down and check on the man.
“Now hold on,” Iida began, causing the three of them to pause as he walked over. “While I understand your desire to check on Izuku, you two-” He pointed at Ochako and Bakugou- “are next up. You need to go to your waiting rooms or you’ll be disqualified.”
Ochako’s shoulders slumped as Bakugou clicked his tongue.
“Hey, don’t worry,” Mina said, touching Ochako’s arm. “I’ll go check up on him. You go get ready to kick Bakugou’s butt. I’ll be watching!” She winked, causing Ochako to smile a bit.
“You’re right,” Ochako admitted before turning to Bakugou and shooting him a determined glare.
Bakugou shook his head and began walking away. “If you want to face Izuku next round then you’re gonna have to work for it. You better not hold back.”
Ochako nodded before beginning to walk off herself.
Mina smiled wide; both of her partners made her so proud. But speaking of partners, she had an incredibly reckless man to check up on.
Mina shot a glance at the tall, raven-haired woman in the front row who was looking back at her with a face full of worry. “Yaomomo, wanna come?”
Momo hesitated for only a second before nodding and standing up. “I would like to see that he is okay, yes.”
Kiri hopped up too. “He was there for me when I was in the nurse’s office, I’ll be there for him.”
"Me too!” Pony declared, standing up next to Momo.
Kyouka rose as well, fiddling with one of her jacks.“Yeah, fine, I’ll come.”
Tsuyu followed silently as several others began to stand up as well.
“Hey, hey!” Hadou called over the group. “I’m sure he appreciates the support, but you’re gonna crowd him! I’m cutting you off at three, so Iida, Ashido, Yaoyorozu. Sorry, but the rest of you can check on him later.”
“What? Aw, come on!” Kiri groaned as she flopped back in her seat. “Mina, you better tell Aniki I wanted to come check on him!”
Mina smiled kindly. “I will, don’t worry. I’ll let him know all of you wanted to come.”
“Let us not delay, Ashido,” Iida remarked. “Who knows how long he will remain conscious. He looked... unwell.”
Momo nodded. “Right. Let’s go.”
Ochako stared at her open hand as she walked to her waiting room. She ran her eyes over the pads on her fingertips, flexing her fingers one at a time as she slowly counted them.
‘One, two, three, four…’
Five. Five pads on her fingers. If she could touch Bakugou with all five, she would win. If she couldn’t, she would lose.
That was the bottom line.
She had known that for a while, of course; most of her fights would come down to that fact. She had managed to get clever with Mina, but her fight with Eiko was much more typical. Ochako wouldn’t be able to get Bakugou to let her increase his mass, not after he watched her do it to Mina; he was much too clever for that.
She would have to find a way to get close to him.
Ochako furrowed her brow; she had a plan, but it was a bit of a long shot. Even with a plan, beating him would be difficult. He had been trained for most of his life by Stormclaw, while she hadn’t had much formal training at all. It was clear she couldn’t beat him in a stand-up fight.
Diversion would be key.
Ochako took a deep breath as she entered the waiting room. She had many reasons to want to win, not the least of which was to make Deku and Mina proud. Ochako wanted that, but it went far beyond that.
She promised Deku that she would stand between him and danger, so she had to face this challenge head-on. She had to come out on top.
Not just for him and Mina…
She had to prove to herself that she had what it takes to be a hero, to be the best. She couldn’t stand up to Terrorflame when he nearly killed Deku, but she could stand up here.
Ochako remembered what she had felt back in that hospital.
How dare she stand next to Deku when he’s giving his all, fighting against his very nature to become a hero, while she is just trying to make money?
That was less than two weeks ago- even though it felt so much longer- and she wasn’t over that yet. Not by a long shot.
But this was the first step in proving to herself that she could begin to move beyond that.
After seeing Deku’s sacrifice and how Mina relied on her in the Conflagration Zone, she knew, deep in her heart, that she wanted to be a hero for more than just money.
If she could stand tall and beat Bakugou, then that told her that maybe she could do that. Ochako didn’t have anything against the man; he was gruff and a little mean, but he wasn’t a villain by a long shot. But to her, he represented a challenge, and a nearly impossible one at that.
If she had the heart, the will, the drive to stand tall against the literal inferno that was his Explosion, then she would begin to believe that she could move past her selfishness.
If she failed… well, then she would pick herself back up. If there was one thing she learned from her parents, it was how to keep going when life knocked you down.
Ochako lowered her head. ‘My parents…’ she thought. That was the reason she wanted to be a hero in the first place; so that she could give them the comfortable life they deserved. Was it wrong of her to try and discard her desire for money?
She refocused herself. No, that was nonsense; she could do both. She wanted to save people, to protect them, to help them. Making money was a way for her to do that for her parents.
Right?
Ochako breathed deep as she stretched. She remembered what her dad told her time and time again, that they were happy if she was happy.
They had sacrificed so much for her over their lives and now she was here at UA, at the base of the mountain, preparing to climb.
So that was that. They wanted her to have this opportunity, they wanted her to succeed for herself.
But it wasn’t just herself. She wanted to win for Mina and for Deku too. She wanted to win for her parents.
Because putting others first was the purpose of a hero.
To be a hero, to succeed for them, she had to succeed for herself, and to succeed for herself, she had to succeed for them.
She was thinking herself in circles; this wasn’t fixing anything, but it was helping her to quiet her doubts a little, at least for the time being. Ochako laughed a little to herself as she pulled her foot up her back, stretching her quad. Maybe she should take some of her own advice; she had Deku and Mina now, she should talk to them about it.
But that was enough reflecting for now. She had a match to win.
The trio was halfway to the infirmary when Iida suddenly began to vibrate. Before Mina or Momo could ask, he whipped out his cell phone and looked at it intensely.
“I apologize, I must take this,” he explained. “I will catch up with you after.”
The two women nodded as he hurried off for some privacy, leaving them alone to walk down together.
There was a thick silence between them for a few minutes, the only sound in the hallway coming from their footsteps and the echoing noise from the crowd outside. Mina could feel the stiff tension coming from her classmate, the question of Momo’s strange behavior looming over the both of them; Momo wondering if Mina would ask her about it, and Mina wondering if Momo wanted to talk about it.
Mina was friends with Momo, sure, but she didn’t know if she was the best person to talk to her about what she was dealing with right now. Midori had a much deeper connection with her, not that Mina knew what that connection was beyond that they knew each other when they were younger.
She thought back to that first day in the dorms, when she was introducing Midori to everyone and he had actually bowed to Momo a bit with a ‘Miss Yaoyorozu, it’s a pleasure to see you again’. Momo had laughed a little, seemingly charmed by his odd bout of formality, but the way that those two had interacted over the past few weeks… Mina could tell there was something a little deeper.
So no, she wouldn’t talk to Momo about what was bugging her, although it was painfully obvious to the shorter woman that Momo was dealing with regrets from her loss to Todoroki. Instead, Mina opted to try and help her… move on, to regain some sense of normalcy or stability.
Mina knew that Momo wanted to be a hero; there would be no reason for her to join the UA hero course otherwise. Which meant that she wanted to help people, right? Mina had a good idea what to ask for, too.
She had always been an average student. Her grades were never the best, but they were never terrible; she couldn’t have gotten into UA if she wasn’t competent enough to have passed the grueling written exam. However, her old ‘average’ scores were going to be severely subpar in a class filled with the best and brightest; she knew that.
Mina was naturally bright, but she wasn’t anything special, not like Midori or Momo; she could tell their minds were almost bursting with intelligence. Her ability to sort of just… glide through her primary and secondary education with acceptable scores may have worked then… but Mina was smart enough to know that she had picked up some bad habits.
Or rather, a lack of habits.
Mina’s studying discipline was barely there; she would rather do almost anything than sit down with a textbook or take notes in class. She couldn’t afford to do that in college. Momo on the other hand…
Mina had seen her notes; they were immaculate and comprehensive. Hopefully, she would be willing to help Mina out.
And if that meant she would get to spend more time with Momo, all the better.
“Yaomomo?,” Mina began softly.
Momo’s eyes darted down to her face nervously. “Yes?”
“Can I ask a favor?”
Momo tilted her head slightly. “Of course, what can I do for you?”
“Well…” Mina muttered coyly.
“It’s alright,” Momo said in a motherly tone that warmed Mina’s heart.
She smiled up at the raven-haired woman. “I’ve never been a very good student, you see. I was wondering if you could…”
“If I could help you study?” Momo finished. “I would love to!”
Mina was stunned by her enthusiasm. “R-really?” It wasn’t often she got flustered, but she wasn’t expecting a response like this.
“Of course!” Momo was sparkling . Perhaps she was just relieved that Mina wasn’t talking about her loss. “I would be honored to assist you, we could meet regularly! It would be such a good opportunity to-” She clasped her hands in front of her. “Oh! I have some new teas you just have to try!”
Forget trying to make her feel better, Mina couldn’t believe how well this was working out. In her excitement, she threw her arms around Momo’s waist, pulling her into a hug, but keeping her head back from the woman’s impressive chest. “Thank you!”
“It’s r-really nothing,” Momo stuttered, hesitating for a moment before she returned the hug, placing on hand on Mina’s back and another on the back of her head.
Now Mina was no slouch in the chest department- she was pretty proud of her bust- but Momo was another story altogether and, because of her height, Momo’s chest was at face level to Mina. Her eyes widened as she felt herself being pulled gently into the soft expanse. Mina could feel her face burning with her lilac blush; did Momo know what she was doing?!
After a few seconds, they broke apart and they quickly resumed their trek down to see Midori. Silence once again dominated the atmosphere, but it was a much different silence. This wasn’t a tense feeling, but an embarrassed one.
Mina shot a glance up at Momo’s face. Her cheeks were flush with blood, her blush unmistakable.
‘She did know what she was doing!’
Momo was screaming inside her head as she and Mina finished their journey to the infirmary. Did Mina realize she was pressing her chest into her stomach? She had pulled Mina in a little closer, trying to move some of the incredibly distracting pressure away from her stomach by leaning forward, but it was no use. All that had done was accidentally shove Mina’s face into her own chest.
Not that she didn’t like the sensation of the woman trapped between her-
‘No, Momo. Bad.’ She straightened herself up slightly, trying to clear her mind. ‘It is undignified to act so… so wanton .’
Momo’s eyes glanced down as her willpower momentarily failed, spying the purple blush on Mina’s cheeks. ‘Oh no, that’s so adorable.’
She sighed tersely, looking away as her own face heated up again. ‘It’s just hormones, Momo. Blame the hormones.’ Whose bright idea was it to shove a bunch of 18-year-olds into a dorm together, anyway?
Her frustrations were quickly forgotten as she opened the door and stepped inside with Mina. Resting on the bed right inside was Zu.
He looked exhausted and beat to hell, but he was still awake, if just barely. He was struggling to breathe, like it took conscious, focused effort each time his chest rose and fell. His eyes were intense and his teeth were grit, his heavy breath filtering through his fanged mouth.
“Midori!” Mina cried, hurrying over to him. She looked like she wanted to throw her arms around him, but the slightly unhinged look on his face gave her pause. “Are you alright?”
“I’m… fine…” he hissed between his teeth.
“That’s a lie,” Momo muttered as she approached him on the other side of his bed. “You look exhausted.”
He shook his head roughly, the motions far from smooth.
“Why aren’t you resting, you should be sleeping.” Momo looked over to Recovery Girl, who was watching with a look that was simultaneously sympathetic and disappointing, something only a world-wise woman such as herself could pull off. “Should he be resting?”
“ Absolutely he should be,” she agreed. “But he refuses.”
“They… watched me,” he managed so say between labored breaths. “I’m… watching… them.”
Momo glanced over to where his vision was focused: the television on the far wall.
Her heart squeezed a little. It was endearing to see him struggling so hard to support his friends.
But wait, that reminded her.
“Zu…” she began, touching his arm gently. “Why did you push yourself so hard against Todoroki? You could have won so much easier.” She looked away. “You don’t have to answer now, but I want to know. What drives you?”
He breathed deep, his eyes closing for a moment before he wrenched them open again. “M-Mina,” was all he said, asking her to speak for him.
Mina nodded, rubbing her fingers affectionately along Zu’s face, causing him to lean into her hand a little. “Shh, I’ll handle it,” she cooed affectionately. The woman turned her head slightly so she was looking at Momo instead.
“First things first though…” Her eyebrow raised curiously. “Zu?”
Momo blushed slightly, averting her gaze. “Uh… it was an old nickname. He… he had an episode earlier. Before his match.”
Mina’s eyes widened. “An episode… is that why he was missing his shir-” She froze and her eyes went even wider. “ Did you calm him down by calling him Zu? ”
“Y-yes…” Momo admitted.
“Oh, Midori…” Mina’s smile grew wide as she leaned down and whispered something into Zu’s ear. Even in his exhausted state, she saw some green creep into his cheeks. That was apparently all the confirmation Mina needed, as she turned back to Momo shortly after.
“You know, the three of us agreed that more people could join us if we were all okay with it.” She winked as Momo’s face turned crimson. “Just saying.”
Momo’s brain was short circuiting. ‘Join? Zu and Mina and Ochako?’ She thought back to the envy she felt back in the hospital when she watched Mina and Ochako snuggle, imagining what it would feel like to be surrounded by both of them, their soft, yet firm bodies keeping her warm and safe. It was possible to have not only that, but to have Zu as well?
She looked down slowly, moving her vision over the man she had been… interested in for most of her life. The three of them had been incredibly friendly and supportive of her since they met, not to mention all the memories she shared with Zu. During Hell Week, she had spent a day with both Mina and Ochako, and she would be lying if she tried to say that they hadn’t bonded during that time together then in addition to the hospital.
She hadn’t had too many friends in high school due to her focus and how intimidating some found her, so she definitely considered the three of them some of her best friends, as pathetic as it sounded. It felt so foolish, but she felt a connection between them. They hadn’t ever thought anything bad about her, not like she thought about herself. None of the girls had; they’d done nothing but support and encourage her. They relied on her, trusted her, saw her as this strong, confident woman even when she was the furthest from it.
God, it was so desperate and needy but… it sounded nice. Being able to hold them close, to tell them how much she appreciated them, to tell them how grateful she was for making UA feel like home already...
No, no, this was madness. It made no sense, it was far too good to be true. Her brain was firing a thousand times a second, alternating between hope, confusion, dismissal, lust and every thought in between at seemingly random.
Hormones really were the worst.
“Woah, Yaomomo,” Mina said, interrupting her thoughts. “I can see the steam coming out of your ears. It’s fine, don’t worry about it. We can talk about it later, right now I should explain what exactly Midori was doing out there.” She straightened herself up as Momo fanned herself, trying to calm down. When did it get so hot in this room?
“You see, Midori- or I guess his quirk? But he is his quirk, but he’s not, but- not important. We- us- our class, we’re-”
“We’re ready to begin our penultimate match here for today!” Present Mic’s voice echoed from the television.
“Good word,” Midnight remarked.
“Oops,” Mina muttered, laughing awkwardly. “I’ll tell you after, okay?”
Momo nodded, looking at the struggling man in the bed between them and then to the television as Bakugou and Ochako made their way to the ring.
Ochako’s heart was pounding in her ears as she stepped onto the concrete stage. Present Mic and Midnight were speaking, but just like most of the other fighters that day, she wasn’t listening. Instead, her entire focus was on the blonde man in front of her. Her opponent. Her obstacle. Her test.
Her quirk had limitations; she could only use it on things she was touching. She knew that, understood it.
But she wasn’t at UA to learn about her limitations. She was here to learn how to overcome them.
Plus Ultra style.
“Begin!”
Ochako kicked off, running towards Bakugou as fast as she could. While planning, she considered reducing her weight to give herself a mobility advantage, but the risks were too great. With less mass, one of his blasts could easily blow her out of the ring. The upside simply wasn’t worth the downside, especially when you considered the nausea it would give her.
Bakugou narrowed his eyes and pulled his right arm back, ready to blow her away. He was no idiot, he knew the stakes when it came to her quirk. He just had to keep her away, which meant the burden of winning was on her. She had to make things happen, not him.
She lunged as he threw his hand forward, trying to dodge his blast, but to no avail. She was blasted as a massive smoke cloud billowed from his hands.
Just as she planned.
Right before he had let loose his explosion, she had dragged her hands along the ground, removing the mass from some of the concrete and holding it inside herself. Due to the increased mass, she wasn’t blasted back very far at all… much less than he expected.
But damn did it hurt .
She touched her arm and shoved the excess mass back into the floor as she lunged out of the smoke. Bakugou’s eyes went wide as she reappeared much sooner than he had anticipated.
Her open hand extended towards him, reaching to touch his shoulder.
In a flash, he reacted. His right hand shot up and grabbed her wrist as his left hand curled into a fist and slammed into her ribs, driving the wind out of her lungs.
While she gasped, he jumped back, distancing himself before she could swing at him with her left palm.
Both students took a moment to catch their breaths. Ochako wiped her mouth as she panted, glaring at her opponent, who looked a little unsettled that she had gotten so close to winning so quickly.
His reactions had been too quick, which shouldn’t have surprised her. The amount of training he had received from a top hero put him in a different class than her when it came to close quarters combat. If they got involved in a straight brawl, he would wipe the floor with her. She did have the advantage of reach… but he had his quirk.
No, a straight up fight wasn’t an option. She had to keep up with her diversion.
Ochako dashed forward again, keeping herself low to maximize the amount of damage he did to the ground. She drew the mass into herself again as she was met with another explosion. This time, Bakugou didn’t let up. As soon as the smoke cleared itself enough for him to see her again, he was ready with another blast.
She cried out in pain as she was driven back, the explosions causing her whole body to burn and scream.
Bakugou’s plan was just what she had expected. Keep his distance and wear her down. Unless she could get past his defenses, she had no shot. It was just a matter of time.
She winced slightly as she breathed. She didn’t have too many chances left.
But Ochako wasn’t done. Her plan was nearly ready to go.
Once more into the breach.
Again, Bakugou met her charge with a staggering explosion. She vaguely noted that Midnight was shouting at someone in the stands, but she didn’t care enough to listen. Whatever they were saying wasn’t relevant; all that mattered was her mission. Heroes stayed focused.
The smoke billowed around her, concealing her again. She heard Bakugou backing away to make sure she couldn’t touch him, preparing himself to blow her back again.
An idea came to her as she released her additional mass again. She opened up her jacket and threw it in front of her, touching it and pulling enough of the mass out of it that it floated gently in the air. Quietly as she could, she shifted far to her left, to the edge of the smoke cloud.
An explosion went off. That was her signal.
Ochako burst out of the smoke, Bakugou’s eyes widening as she appeared behind him.
Her hand reached out as she lunged toward the surprised man.
One of her fingers touched the man. Two fingers, three, f-
Ochako was flung backwards as Bakugou let loose a blast in her face.
She flew through the air, slamming into the ground and skidding several feet before she stopped. Ochako grit her teeth again and pulled herself up.
Damn she was hurting. If it wasn’t for her training with Eiko during Hell Week, she might not have been able to pull herself up. ‘Remember what Eiko taught you. Focus.’
Her quirk was flagging as well. The constant ebb and flow of mass throughout her body was taking its toll, not to mention the strain of holding the miniature asteroid belt above the arena aloft.
Ochako took solace that she only needed one more round of rubble for her trap to be ready. Just one mo-
“Woah! What’s that floating above the battlefield?!”
“ Dammit! ” Ochako hissed, cursing Present Mic under her breath. Why did he need to give it away?”
Bakugou’s vision snapped upward. He took a stunned step backward as he saw the mass of debris floating above, ready to strike.
Well, it was now or never. Ochako slammed her fingers together, finally releasing her quirk. Her plan was to release it while he was focused on her, preventing him from being able to react, but now he had plenty of time.
Ochako knew he had the firepower to blow that meteor storm out of the sky. She had to distract him or… or something. She had to think fast.
Her eyes widened. ‘That’s it! Thanks, Yanagi!’
Time seemed to slow down as Bakugou reached his right arm to the sky.
Ochako bent down and slipped off one of her shoes, touching it with all five fingers to remove some of its mass, but leaving just enough to keep it from flying off into the sky.
Bakugou’s left arm reached up to brace his right.
She took aim and flung the near-massless shoe as hard as she could.
Small explosions popped off in his hands as he amassed power, preparing to unleash a monster blast.
She slammed her fingers together again. Tears began to stream down her face as she pushed with all her might, willing her exhausted quirk to keep the shoe at speed, even as she returned its mass to it.
Right before he could ignite his explosion, the shoe slammed into his gut.
Ochako began to run forward, every step causing her body to scream in protest. Bakugou coughed and sputtered, staggered by her attack, his counter fading in his fingertips as his body spasmed from the sudden interruption. He attempted to raise his hand to the sky again, but rubble began to slam down all around him, the massive chunks of falling concrete barely missing his body. One caught him in the shoulder and wrenched his arm away, causing him to grunt in pain and annoyance.
Left. Right. As fast as she could, she willed her legs forward. Already, her opponent was recovering, holding his left hand above him to protect his head as rubble continued to fall around and on him. She knew where the gaps in the meteor shower were, allowing her a clear path to her target.
Ochako planted her feet and jumped.
Bakugou brought his hand up to his waist, preparing to blow her away.
She stretched with all of her might.
Small firecrackers popped off in his hand
One finger made contact with his chest. A second. A third.
His eyes went wide as rocks continued to slam down around them.
Her pinky touched his chest. Four.
The explosion began. It was too late to stop it.
Five.
She pulled with all of her might. Her quirk shrieked.
Sir Isaac Newton did the rest.
Without his mass, Bakugou streaked backward with incredible speed, slamming into the wall of the stadium outside the ring. With her increased mass, she wasn’t flung very far, but she still felt the brunt of the blast, which was strong enough to blow the rest of the falling debris to ineffectual bits.
She slammed into the ground hard. Her body screamed and ached. Tears dripped from her face as she choked back a sobbing wail. She wanted nothing more than to lie there forever.
But she couldn’t do that.
Heroes didn’t lie down when the going got tough. If she didn’t stand up, the match would be a draw.
Ochako remembered what Eiko taught her about enduring pain. She tried to focus on something that didn’t hurt, but everything hurt. She tried to isolate the sensations within her mind, but she was so exhausted she could barely keep here eyes open.
Then she remembered what- and who- she was fighting for. Image of her classmates flashed in her mind; those who supported her. Tsuyu, Kyouka, Eiko, Momo….
She dragged her hands together, releasing her quirk. She heard Bakugou grunt as he fell to the ground and felt his weight lifted from her body. Even without any additional mass, every inch she moved felt like dragging her arms through magma, fire shooting through her senses with even the most minute motion. Slowly, painfully, she slid her hands to her shoulders and pushed up.
Her mind was filled with pink hair and green horns as she pulled her knees underneath her.
Ochako pushed with all her might. She couldn’t hold back her scream as her body cried out for mercy.
Flashing before her were memories of her mother and her father. How they encouraged her and smiled for her, even when she knew things weren’t alright.
Ochako staggered to her feet. She took a steadying step as she thrust her right arm to the sky, holding her fist high in triumph.
“Young Bakugou is out of bounds! Young Uraraka… wiiiiiins!”
‘Daddy…’
She began to pitch backwards.
‘I did it.’
Her vision went black.
Notes:
Next time: Izuku vs. Ochako!
Chapter 38: Love and War
Summary:
The conclusion of the festival and the aftermath.
AKA
The chapter where the author begins to justify his rating.
Notes:
This is... a long one. Nearly 16k words.
However, half of that is ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) but it is clearly marked. Even if you don't want to read that, it is still an 8k word long chapter.
A special thanks to my betas who stuck with me through this... ordeal.
I hope you enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Momo stared at the screen in disbelief. “She… she did it.” Her heart swelled with pride as she saw Ochako’s fist hanging in the air.
Then Ochako passed out, collapsing back onto the concrete.
“Oh…” Mina sighed, worry in her voice. “Did you see her win, Mi-”
Both women turned to the man in the bed between them. No sooner had All Might declared Ochako the winner than had Zu finally fallen asleep.
Mina sighed again, although this time was more affectionate than worried. “It’ll be him versus Ochako for the finals… and they’re both unconscious. Bakugou and Todoroki barely look worse for wear in comparison.” She nodded at the screen, where the blonde man was hurrying back onto the stage to help pick up his opponent. He looked more shaken than actually hurt.
Momo nodded. “They both had to fight so hard to win. I don’t know if they’ll have anything left for their fight.”
Ryukyu laughed dryly; she had shown up just after the match had started along with Zu’s parents. “Whatever he does have left, he’ll be sure to give it. There’s no quit in that boy… for better or for worse.
Inko, as she insisted on them calling her, was sitting next to Mina, rubbing Zu’s head affectionately. “He doesn’t know when to stop himself sometimes.”
“The boy does what he feels is right,” Stormclaw added. “That’s all he’s ever wanted to do. Sometimes we disagree on what ‘right’ means, but he’s got a big heart.”
Mina looked up at the man at the foot of the bed. “What do you mean, disagree?”
Stormclaw sighed, looking at his son. “Ryuko and I overheard what he was saying to the Todoroki boy. Izuku was trying to get him to use his fire the entire time. It nearly cost him the match and might cost him the finals, but he got through to him.” He shook his head. “He could have won quite easily, but decided to try and save Todoroki instead. In his shoes, I probably would have just won and dealt with the other stuff later.”
Momo furrowed her brow. “Perhaps he thought that the fight would be the best opportunity to get through to him. You said it yourself, he wanted to ‘save’ him. How can that not be the right thing?”
Stormclaw laughed knowingly. “Now you’re getting it. That’s exactly what Izuku was thinking, I’d wager. And notice, I only said we disagreed, I never said he was wrong . Whenever he and I butt horns about stuff like this, he usually wins. Always has, ever since he was a little boy. He’s a smart kid and he’s always been able to read people better than me.”
“That’s very true,” Inko agreed, “but it has also made him very stubborn. When he gets an idea in his head, it’s almost impossible to get him to change his mind. If there’s something that he feels is right, he’s going to do it, or…” She looked down and rubbed her fingers through her unconscious son’s hair, trailing off.
Something about the conversation stirred an old memory in Momo’s mind. One she often tried to ignore, just because it made her feel such confusing emotions. She couldn’t remember it exactly, not after so many years, but the feelings it elicited… those were still there.
Momo was only about seven, but she had already seen her fair share of fancy dinner parties; her parents hosted them monthly, for one reason or another. She knew the drill by now: be quiet and smile, then run off and be quiet somewhere else. It was always a dreadfully boring time, but she wasn’t one to misbehave. She had gotten used to being ignored by now, anyway.
But something was different this time. Momo saw something she had never seen before, at least not at one of these gatherings: a child. One her age, no less. He was dressed in a black suit, wearing a small, emerald-green tie. It looked a little loose on him, which made sense; he was still a growing boy.
He was standing next to a tall man with light bronze hair and a shorter woman with dark green hair. The man had a pair of black horns sticking out from his hair and as he smiled and shook her father’s hand, she could see the fangs in his mouth. The boy’s hair was green as well, but a bit lighter than his mother’s. He too had a pair of horns, but instead of starting at the top of his head, behind his hairline like his father, they were above his eyes, near his hairline. Instead of swooping backwards, the green, ridged protrusions swept more outward. His big, green eyes were filled with wonder and his excited smile showed Momo he had small fangs as well.
The two of them spent most of the party together. At first, Momo was certain it was out of necessity, rather than anything else, as she was the only person other than him younger than 30 in the entire ballroom. However, as the night went on, she found herself genuinely enjoying his company more and more.
Momo caught herself time and time again doing something she rarely did, which, looking back, was kind of sad.
She was smiling.
Momo’s face was graced with a wide, genuine smile as she spent time with her new friend Izuku. He had bitten his tongue trying to pronounce ‘Yaoyorozu’, so she offered ‘Momo’ as an easier alternative. He agreed, but only on the condition that she called him ‘Izuku’.
She was taught to always be so prim and proper, to be reserved and refined, but Izuku didn’t seem very interested in that at the time. He wanted to talk about her quirk, about her favorite heroes, her parents, her school, her friends, and anything else he could think about. His genuine interest and excitement was infectious.
For the first time she could remember, she understood how to be a kid.
She regretted when he had to go, although her parents weren’t too pleased with him, as the two of them had knocked over a waiter when he had riled her up enough to chase after him in an impromptu game of tag. His father, the hero Stormclaw, was laughing too hard to apologize at the time, but his mother was nothing if not gracious and embarrassed.
Her parents tried to be mad at the two of them, but after seeing the smile beaming across her face, they relented. She didn’t think they had ever seen her that happy.
Momo felt the warmth he put in her start to fade as soon as he left the house, like the sun setting after a long day on the beach. She returned to her room to turn in for the night and made a bold decision; a decision that would later make her want to suppress the memory out of embarrassment.
Her prowess with her quirk was still limited, but she could make simple things fairly well. Most of the stuffed animals in her room were her own creations, so she had practice.
And so, after a few botched attempts, she held up her creation in front of her proudly: a small stuffed Izuku.
Momo blushed as the memory faded from her mind again. Her Zu plushy had become faded and worn over the years, but she still knew where it was. It had been years since she had held it in her hands physically, but it still held a special place in her heart. When she was younger and feeling sad or lonely, she would sometimes pull it out of where she kept it and play with it a little. It made her feel better.
In the grand scheme of things, they never spent very much time together- they only met at parties, so only a few times a year on average- but the time they did share was always something she enjoyed immensely. However, it didn’t last. At one party back when they were 12, Zu told her that they wouldn’t be seeing each other anymore. He promised to see her at UA when they both got in, but his father was taking a step back from the limelight while he recovered from his injury, so they wouldn’t be attending any other parties for the foreseeable future.
They had made some attempts to stay in contact with texting and such, but as the months passed, they messaged each other less and less... until one day they stopped. The loss of her friend had hit Momo relatively hard, but she was a refined, mature young woman and she got over it. She had locked those emotions away for years and thrown away the key as she focused herself on her studies and her training.
That diligence paid off, of course. She had excelled at the recommendation exam, beating out multiple other exceptional students for the spot in 1-A.
But there was still that nagging in the back of her mind. She had hoped that her former friend had decided to go to Shiketsu, or perhaps a school in a different country. At the very least, she hoped he would have been placed in 1-B.
But no, Zu was put in 1-A with her. When he had greeted her that fateful Saturday, she felt the beast that was her confused emotions begin to struggle against its chains. Over all the years of their friendship, she had kept her feelings under wraps. He never knew how much she enjoyed his visits, he never knew that he was one of her only friends, and he never knew that she made a stuffed toy in his likeness.
It would have been much simpler if he had left her alone, if he had let the past stay in the past; that’s why she tried so hard to distance herself from him.
But dammit, despite her best efforts, he had wormed his way back into her heart.
After she saved him at the USJ, she felt compelled to check on him at the hospital, where she got caught up in the plan to spend the entire week there. Then he shared one of his deepest secrets with her and… and…
Everything had happened so fast.
In the end, her feelings for him were back and stronger than ever. He made her feel wanted, he made her feel comfortable, he made her feel strong and capable, just like he always had.
Now the only question was… did he feel the same way about her?
Momo shook her head, dispelling the thought.
Even if by some miracle he did, it’s not like she deserved it.
The next thing Ochako knew, she was waking up in Recovery Girl’s infirmary in the stadium.
She groaned slightly as a dull ache filled her body, causing Mina to gasp. “Ochako! You’re awake!”
Ochako blinked, sitting up slowly in her bed. Mina was sitting at her right, smiling gently at her, while Momo was on her left. She smiled weakly at them both, causing Mina to giggle and Momo to blush slightly.
Ochako’s cheeks lit up a little as well. This was the first time since their training together that they had been this close, and it looked like neither of them had completely recovered from what had happened that day.
She looked around, hoping to put the embarrassing memory out of her mind. To her right was another bed, where she saw a familiar green mop of hair. Sitting around Deku was Stormclaw, Inko, Ryukyu and Bakugou. Recovery Girl and All Might were on the far side of the room, watching and waiting.
“What happened?” was her first question.
“Well after you won, you kinda passed out,” Mina explained. “Bakugou helped to pick you up and then All Might carried you here. That was an hour ago.”
“An hour?!” Ochako exclaimed, waking up fully. “But the finals!”
All Might began to walk over to her bed. “That’s why I stuck around, Young Uraraka. I’m here to see if the two of you are okay to compete. This is an athletic competition, we don’t want anybody to suffer any permanent damage.” He looked her over with a concerned expression. “Recovery Girl says you’re fine physically, but how do you feel?”
Ochako sighed, rolling her neck a little. How did she feel?
Well, her quirk felt like it was all but spent. She had maybe a few more uses out of it, but that would depend on what she touched. The rest of her body was in better shape. After resting, she was still exhausted, but she didn’t feel like she was about to collapse again.
Ochako took a deep breath. “I’m not here to give up. I’ll fight.”
She saw a proud smile grow on All Might’s face. “Very good. All that remains now is…” He trailed off as he gestured over to Deku.
“How is he?” Ochako asked quietly.
Recovery Girl sighed. “He’s not very wounded- his scales protected him from most of the damage- but he’s utterly exhausted. There’s no way to know if he’s up to continue until he wakes up. And no, I don’t know when that will be.”
Ryukyu stroked her chin a couple times then glanced over at Mina with a raised eyebrow. She beckoned the pink girl over and whispered something in her ear, causing Mina’s eyes to widen slightly, then narrow as she grew a small smirk.
Mina nodded and moved over to the head of Deku’s bed. She leaned in and touched his face gently before whispering something into his ear and planting a small kiss on his cheek.
There was a pregnant pause in the room, each pair of eyes looking expectantly at the unconscious man and his girlfriend.
After several seconds, a low noise escaped Deku’s throat and his head shifted a little on his pillow. He groaned much like Ochako had earlier as he opened his eyes.
He looked around, locking eyes with Mina above him. A small smile grew on his face, but Ochako noticed the absence of the barely-perceptible glow that was always there when he talked to Mina or her. Was his quirk that tired?
“Hey, everyone,” he said finally. “How long was I out?”
“An hour,” his mother answered.
He leaned back and closed his eyes again. “Crap…” His eyes opened back up. “Have I been disqualified?”
Stormclaw chuckled. “No,” he said simply.
Deku exhaled. “Alright, good.” He sat up in bed and kicked his legs over the side. “Let’s get to it, then.”
“Woah, woah, there,” Ryukyu shot back, placing a hand on his chest. “You just woke up, slow down.”
Inko leaned closer. “Izuku… how are you feeling?”
“I’m fine,” Deku answered.
“Don’t lie to your mother,” Inko deadpanned, causing Deku to flinch.
“Okay, maybe I’m a little tired,” he muttered, averting his gaze.
“Make a claw.”
Deku looked up to Bakugou, who was glaring at him. “What?”
“Make. A claw,” Bakugou repeated.
Deku looked down at his hand and furrowed his brow. Ochako saw a few scales form on his wrist and hand, but he quickly hissed softly and released his quirk. “Yeah, okay no, that’s not happening. Feels like I’m straining a pulled muscle.”
“Call it,” Bakugou snapped, turning to All Might. “He’s in no condition to fight.”
“That’s not your decision!” Deku cried out. “I’m not going to give up.” He turned and looked straight at Ochako. “I want to fight.”
The determination in his eyes reminded her of why she fell for him. She nodded. “I want to fight, too.”
Mina looked back and forth between the two of them with a worried expression on her face. “Are you sure, you two?”
Ochako and Deku nodded simultaneously, staring at each other with fire in their eyes.
All Might laughed boisterously. “How can I refuse?! I’ll let Present Mic know that we’ll get started in twenty minutes.” He saluted with two fingers and left the room, ducking slightly to get through the door.
Inko leaned over and hugged her son. “If you’re sure…”
“I am,” Deku affirmed.
Stormclaw stood up with an affectionate, fatherly smile on his face as he ruffled Deku’s hair. “I can’t say I approve, but I can’t say I’m surprised, either. We’ll leave you to get ready. Make us proud, Son.”
Deku nodded slowly. “I will.”
The three other adults filtered out, leaving just the five students and Recovery Girl. Deku finally stood up, wobbling slightly at Bakugou moved to steady him. He got his footing and rolled his neck before flexing his arms and legs, stretching himself. “I’m alright, I’m alright.”
Bakugou shook his head as he backed up. “Come on, we’ll get you stretched out properly in the waiting room.”
Deku nodded, turning and following his friend out of the room. At the door, he turned around and stared straight at Ochako. He didn’t say anything, but his passionate expression told her everything. If she wanted to win, she would have to take it from him.
She felt the fire within her burn a little brighter. She clenched her fist and glared back at him, nodding to tell him that she understood.
Deku thanked Recovery Girl and left, the door closing behind him.
Ochako swung her legs over the bed and stood up herself, looking at Mina and Momo, silently asking them to accompany her to her own waiting room. They nodded and followed her out as she too thanked Recovery Girl for taking care of her.
The three women were silent as they walked through the tunnels of the stadium. Present Mic’s voice echoed around them, hyping the crowd up for the grand finals.
Ochako hoped she wouldn’t disappoint them, but she wasn’t sure what she could do. She was exhausted and wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight, even if she could squeeze her quirk for more today. She hoped Deku was more exhausted than she was: that was her only real hope.
Or was it? Her fight with Bakugou… it had proved some things to her. Nobody would have picked her to beat him, but she had done it anyway. Sure, she had gotten lucky in some ways, but in others… that was all her.
For the first time in her life, she was grateful that she had grown so tall. If Ochako had been even an inch shorter, she wouldn’t have been able to reach him with her final, desperate gambit.
So, maybe she could beat Deku. Maybe if she tried hard enough, she could beat him in her ragged state. She would have to come up with something… or maybe just think on her feet. If it came down to a brawl, she would be in the same situation as she was in against Bakugou; there was just no way she could win in a straight up fight with a man who had a decade of formal training on her.
No… she would need to think of something.
Whatever happened, she would give her all. Anything else would disrespect not only herself, but also her loved ones; that included Deku.
Izuku was exhausted. There was no getting around that.
His quirk was dormant, sleeping in the back of his mind. He felt a little annoyed that his quirk got to nap while he had a fight ahead of him. A large part of him wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep for approximately a decade, but the part of him that was in the pilot’s seat was determined to press on.
“Hey,” Izuku began, “you’re not upset you lost, are you?”
Katsuki huffed. “Nah. Of course I wanted to win, but I gave it my all and I came up short. Simple as that. Your girlfriend is no joke.”
“Yeah, she is, isn’t she?” Izuku agreed, sighing happily.
“Besides, it would be boring if I was already the best one here,” Katsuki said flatly. “I lost, but that just means I have more to learn, more to improve on. We’re here for four years and we’ve barely begun.” He pounded his fist into his palm, letting off a small puff of smoke. “Next year will be a different story.”
“That’s a good way to look at it,” Izuku noted approvingly. “Who knows what you’ll be capable of next year. Also, they probably only put us up against each other in a simple one-versus-one fight because we’re first years. We aren’t familiar with all of our classmates’ quirks yet. Who knows what they’ll have us do next year.”
Katsuki nodded. “Remember that foam sword fight they had?”
Izuku laughed, although less so than he normally would have, due to his exhausted state. “Yeah…”
They walked in silence the rest of the way to the waiting room. Once there, Katsuki helped Izuku stretch out, like he had thousands of times before. Afterwards, he still felt stiff and slow, due to overexertion of his quirk in the previous match; quirks were physical abilities at the end of the day, of which Katsuki was quick to remind him. He may not be injured , but he was beat to hell in other ways.
“So,” Katsuki began, breaking the silence, “what’s your plan?”
Izuku looked down. “I’m not sure.”
“Bullshit, you always have a plan.”
“You know that’s not true,” Izuku countered. “I fly by the seat of my pants more often than not.”
“Yeah,” Katsuki admitted. “You move before your brain does sometimes. But you know what I meant. When you know something’s coming, you always have a plan.”
Izuku nodded. “I guess I’m just gonna go out there and fight her while avoiding her hands. I have to assume she can still use her quirk and I’m too beat to use mine.”
He wasn’t lying. He really didn’t have a better plan than that. Perhaps it was because he was almost too tired to think, or maybe he just didn’t see any options other than ‘don’t let her touch you’. His quirk being asleep wasn’t doing him any favors. One thing was certain, however: whatever happened, he would give his all. Anything else would disrespect not only himself, but also his loved ones; that included Ochako.
“You wouldn’t be in this state if you hadn’t gone overboard against Icyhot,” Katsuki growled.
“I know, but I had to,” Izuku explained weakly. “I had to get through to him. And once I did, how could I hold back if he wasn’t?”
Katsuki glared at him for a few moments and then suddenly swung his fist at him, stopping an inch in front of his face. Izuku lurched back, much too slowly to actually avoid it if Katsuki had meant to hit him.
“You’re slow,” he observed. “You’re a dumbass for trying to fight when you’re in this state.”
“Like you’d do anything different,” Izuku responded, heading for the door as the signal was given for him to enter the stadium.
Katsuki smirked. “I didn’t say that I didn’t approve, Deku. ”
Izuku smiled back and chuckled as he closed the door and headed into the stadium. As he walked, he looked down at his hand and formed a single green scale.
‘You know what? I think I finally know what to call you.’
Izuku stared at Ochako from across the arena. Both were already panting slightly, a mixture of adrenaline combined with the strain both of them were undertaking to keep pushing forward. He felt like he did after one of Hadou’s endurance training courses, but normally, he got to rest when he felt this beat up.
Ochako looked like she was handling it better, but no matter how you looked at it, this wasn’t going to be a graceful display by either combatant.
Izuku didn’t even hear All Might declare the beginning of the round, he just saw Ochako start to move towards him.
Unlike the previous rounds, neither of them ran. They both walked slowly and cautiously towards the other, each very aware how dangerous the other was. In one touch, she could potentially end this, while if he got a good hit in, he could knock her out. No way around it, he was physically stronger than Ochako thanks to his years of training.
They moved closer until they were about six feet away from each other, then they began to pace slowly. Both of them had passion burning in their eyes, even as their bodies groaned in protest.
Izuku would normally be content to let Ochako make the first move, but he didn’t know if he could play the long game. He could probably counter her, but Katsuki was right, he was slow right now.
He stepped forward and took a swing. It was small and controlled, allowing him to pull it back when he saw her lunge for his arm with her open hand. She missed by a mile, but he got confirmation that yes, she could still use her quirk.
Unless it was a bluff, of course. However, he couldn’t afford to take that chance.
He jabbed again, causing Ochako to swing at his arm again. This time, as he pulled his arm back nearly instantly and swung with his other, catching her in her exposed ribs.
He let out a sigh of relief as he felt solid contact. Hopefully, she would fall over and they would be done with it.
She stumbled back, away from the hit, but kept her balance. He raised an eyebrow as she settled back in, ready to continue the fight. Maybe she wasn’t as exhausted as he thought she was.
He stepped forward, ready to strike again. As he swung, he saw her weight shift.
She was going for a kick.
He moved to block, but his damned body was too sluggish. Her right leg slammed into his left side, causing him to stumble back like she had. The contact was much more solid than he expected.
In the back of his mind, he felt his quirk stir the smallest amount. Damn, she made him proud.
He panted as he resumed his slow, circling dance with Ochako. “That was a good kick,” he observed. “When did you learn how to do that?”
She smirked weakly. “Iida taught me. Gave me some pointers when we got paired up last week.”
Izuku narrowed his eyes slightly; Hell Week had done more to improve her than it had him. Then again, it’s a lot easier to improve when you’re a novice. She had a lot to learn and had done her best to absorb what she could. While he had done the same, it wasn’t to the degree that she had.
He stepped forward again, more cautiously this time. Her leg swung forward again, but this time he was ready. He blocked it, albeit with greater difficulty than he normally would have, and drove his fist into her thigh, knocking her off balance and causing her to collapse to her knees.
Izuku dashed forward to press his advantage, but jumped back as she swiped at him with her left hand. It was frustrating; he had the advantage of strength and training, but with her quirk, he couldn’t leverage it very well at all. It didn’t help that she had learned how to use the superior reach her longer legs gave her, even if it was still relatively rudimentary.
Ochako pulled herself back to her feet, grimacing at the bruise he had likely put on her leg. Izuku glared at her, trying to think.
He just had to keep trying. Eventually, she would give him an opening. She couldn’t keep up her defense forever.
She seemed to have the same thought, as she suddenly went on the offensive. She stepped forward this time, kicking with her left leg. As Izuku blocked it, she pulled back and put her back into a lunge with her right hand.
He barely dodged out of the way; Ochako was able to put three of her fingers on him due to his slowed reflexes before he pulled away. His sloppy, sluggish footwork meant that he didn’t have the footing to dodge a second time when she turned her momentum into another kick. She drove her heel into his gut, knocking him down to the ground.
She moved in to continue her assault, but he wasn’t about to let that happen. As soon as she stepped into range, he slammed his shin into her ankles, locking her up and tripping her.
Ochako hit the ground hard as Izuku rolled away and slowly scrambled to his feet.
“Stay down ,” he ordered as he caught his breath while she groaned on the ground.
She glared at him as she managed to stand back up. “Not until I’ve won.”
Izuku bared one of his fangs in a snarl and dashed forward- or at least as fast as he could will his legs to move at present- as she steadied herself yet again. She lunged her right hand toward him, but he shot under her grip and grabbed her wrist with his left hand. He reached out and did the same with his right, holding both of her arms out wide and keeping her fingers away from him.
They stared at each other for a moment before he pulled hard on his quirk, willing the energy to pool inside his chest. Izuku inhaled deeply, causing Ochako’s eyes to widen.
He exhaled, but only a small puff of faint green gas came out before he sputtered and began to cough. His quirk screeched in protest in his mind as the rest of his body felt like it had caught on fire.
Ochako coughed once as the gas hit her in the face, but as Izuku recovered from his botched attempt at using his quirk, she did something that surprised him.
She threw her head back and slammed it forward, driving her forehead into his face.
Izuku stumbled backwards, his hands automatically moving to his face to try and hold in the pain.
The two of them stood still for a few moments, each of them recovering from their attack, as Ochako herself was rubbing her forehead.
Izuku pulled his hands away slowly, feeling the green blood dripping down his face from his nose. It wasn’t broken, but that had really hurt.
If the crowd was cheering, Izuku didn’t hear it. Nothing existed outside of him and Ochako. Whoever stayed standing was going to be the champion and he… he really wanted that prize.
He moved towards her as they both dropped into their battle stances again.
She tried to feint a kick again, but Izuku blocked it and caught her in the stomach with a low punch, hitting her hard enough and retreating quickly enough to avoid her clumsy swipes.
Ochako’s eyes widened as she leaned over slightly and heaved, but she managed to keep her stomach’s contents where they belonged for now. She spat to the side as she leveled her glare at him again.
Izuku was watching her fingers closely when a thought crossed his mind.
He ran through his experience with her quirk. The way she held the ball at the quirk assessment test, the way she always ate her meals with one pinky extended out- an adorable habit, if you asked him- and the way she wore mittens to bed…
Her quirk activation was involuntary. That gave him an idea.
Izuku could take her trump card out of the game if he forced her to touch something with all five fingers.
He stepped forward, faking a punch so she swiped at him again, trying to find contact. Instead of avoiding it entirely, he went under it, grabbing her by the wrist again and pulling it across her body.
Izuku twisted her around and drove his right hand into her side, causing her to cry out in pain. He followed up with a foot to the back of her leg, driving her to the ground as her knees gave out.
The combination of attacks caused his vision to unfocus for a moment from the strain, but he kept at it.
Izuku reached forward and grabbed her right hand while he stepped on her left wrist. He pushed down, forcing her fingers to splay as he pressed them into the ground.
Ochako screamed in pain as her quirk activated, pulling mass out of the ground.
He let his guard down for a moment as his willpower temporarily failed.
Which in hindsight, was a mistake.
Even through her pain, she twisted her hips and kicked her leg back, catching him in the shin with her right foot.
He jerked back as fast as he could, but it wasn’t fast enough. Ochako screamed again through grit teeth as he felt his body growing heavier for the second before he could break contact.
Izuku stepped backward, away from the woman on the ground as he tried to cope with the new mass in his body. It wasn’t much, but he could definitely feel it. He was sluggish before, he hated to think how hard it would be to move now.
Ochako dragged herself to her feet again, tears leaking from her eyes from the pain he had put her through. She touched her arm with her hand, renewing her anguish as she pushed the weight he had forced her to gain out of her body.
“They’re… really going at it,” Kaminari muttered.
Sero rubbed his chin. “They’re both almost quirkless right now, huh? They’re just beating the hell out of each other.”
“It’s kinda hard to watch,” Mineta added. “They’re not holding back at all.”
Eiko stood up, putting a hand to her chest. “Of course not!” she declared. “They’re both giving it their all! Anything less would be an insult to their opponent! That, my fellow classmates, is chivalry! No regrets!”
“How… are you still standing ?” Deku asked, gasping for breath.
“You can thank… Eiko. That girl knows how to endure pain.” Ochako was standing, yes, but she didn’t know how much longer that was going to be the case. She didn’t know what was keeping her going, but she hoped it stuck around.
She didn’t think she could feel her legs right now. Maybe she just didn’t have the mental bandwidth at the moment.
“I won’t lose,” he shot back, spitting green blood out of his mouth.
Ochako grimaced, taking a deep breath. “I won’t give you a choice.”
She saw a smallest of smiles creep onto his face and she realized she was smiling a little as well.
Deku moved forward, slower than he had before. She had only managed to put a little bit of weight into him, but anything would give her a better chance than nothing.
Ochako stepped back as he swung his fist at her, but she didn’t attack back. Even if she could touch him, the thought of enduring that pain again so soon was something she wasn’t prepared for. She needed a breather.
But sometimes you don’t get those sorts of luxuries.
Deku swung again, missing wide once more, but closer than before. A third swing came even closer as he pursued her slowly across the arena. They continued their clumsy, graceless dance for what felt like an eternity, but was likely closer to 20 or 30 seconds. Each attack he tried was closer to the mark, and each time she attacked back, he dodged a little easier.
She swiped her right leg at him again, but he blocked it and gave her another bruise on her thigh, sending her to her knees again.
Ochako struggled, but she managed to pull herself up again… somehow. What was keeping her going?
She glared at Deku… and then realized what it was.
“I told you…” she began, causing him to pause. “That I’m going to be the one standing between you and danger next time…” She put all her willpower behind one final stand, one final push. “Which means I have to beat you, Deku. I have to win this if I’m going to be the person who saves you!”
His eyes widened ever-so-slightly.
“So what’s keeping me going, you ask?” She grit her teeth. “ You are. I’m standing for you, Izuku.”
Deku’s eyes widened a little further as the smile grew wider on his face. A small spark ignited in his eyes for a moment, that faint, green glow that was so familiar to her.
He moved forward again, rearing his fist back to strike at her.
A thought crossed Ochako’s mind as she felt her body scream in pain with every motion.
Deku had gotten used to the weight.
His fist flew forward.
Ochako slammed her fingers together.
The weight that Deku had gotten used to vanished.
He lurched forward, caught off balance.
She lunged to intercept.
She grabbed his right arm with both of her hands, screaming in agony as she pulled on her quirk one more time.
She hadn’t felt pain like this since the entrance exam.
The weight drained from him, or at least as much as she could manage without passing out.
But it was enough. The damage was done.
He wasn’t as light as she had made Bakugou, but he was close.
Deku was stunned, his face slowly moving up to hers. In his eyes, she expected to see several emotions… surprise, anger, anguish, perhaps even betrayal…
But instead, she only saw affection and a strange, unfamiliar hunger deep within.
The moment between them seemed to last for an eternity.
Deku opened his mouth slowly. “I love you.”
The look in his eyes made something in the deep part of her brain burn to life. A surge of confidence poured into her, causing her to smile down on him.
“I know.”
Ochako pulled her leg back and drove it into his stomach, sending him soaring out of the arena. She saw him struggle, perhaps trying to form a wing on his back, but he couldn’t do it. Deku fell onto the grass, his landing relatively gentle thanks to his lesser mass.
Ochako clapped her fingers together, returning his weight to him as tears of agony poured down her face. That was it. Her quirk was done. If she could use it tomorrow, she would be surprised.
“Ochako Uraraka is your champion!!!”
With the fight over and her adrenaline crashing out of her system, she suddenly became aware of the rest of the world again. The cheers were deafening, but as she flinched, realization washed over her.
She had done it. She had won.
But she didn’t have time to bask in her victory; there was something more important she had to take care of right now.
Every step was agony; all the hits that Deku had landed on her were becoming more and more painful with every breath she took. That didn’t stop her as she hurried down to the steps and over to wear Deku was pulling himself up off the ground.
She kneeled down and put a hand on his shoulder, startling him slightly. “I love you too,” she whispered.
“I’m…” He looked up at her, tears flowing slowly from his face. “...So proud of you. I knew you could do it.”
There wasn’t a doubt in her heart that he had given it his all, just like she knew that she herself had given it her all. But even so…
“I feel like I’ve cheated,” she admitted softly. “If you could use your quirk… there’s no way I could have won. I had no right to wi-”
“Shhh…” he muttered. “You didn’t make me go overboard against Shouto. Remember the first day of class? Today… it was an endurance test, too. I flew through the first and second event, used a transformation I wasn’t taught how to use in the second event, then overexerted myself against Shinsou, even if it wasn’t my intention. And then after all that, I used my full transformation again. None of that is your fault.”
Deku looked up at her, his face wet with tears. “I pushed myself too hard today and I paid the price. You paced yourself better and beat me, fair and square. I have no regrets.”
She felt her heart clench as new tears formed in her eyes as well. “Me neither.” Ochako pulled him up to his feet, both of them leaning on each other for support as the crowd’s cheers renewed, apparently inspired by her act of sportsmanship.
The two of them limped out of the arena together, arms over each other’s shoulders.
They walked down the hallway together, Ochako enjoying the contact and the feeling of deep satisfaction slowly growing inside of her, warming her like a cup of hot chocolate.
Something sweet sounded nice right about now.
As the echoes of the crowd faded as they trudged deeper into the stadium, something else was dominating Ochako’s mind.
That feeling she had just felt.
“Deku…” she muttered, causing him to look up at her. “That look you gave me when I… when I grabbed you.”
The faintest trace of green entered his face. “Oh, u-uh, w-what about it? I’m sorry if it-”
“No.” She cut him off.
The two stared at each other for a second as Ochako felt the fire inside return slowly. She felt the desire to do something… but she didn’t know if she had the courage.
No, if she wanted to be a hero, she had to be able to act. ‘Come on, Ochako, just like you’ve seen on TV.’
Ochako turned to face him squarely and reached over, grabbing both of his wrists in her hands, making sure to keep her pinkies clear to avoid any further pain.
She lifted his arms up and pushed them back, pressing his back against the wall as she pinned his wrists above his head. His face was growing greener by the second.
“No, Deku,” she whispered, her voice deeper and huskier than she knew it could ever be. “I want you to look at me like that more … a lot more. I don’t know why… but I do.”
He stared at her, his eyes wide as the tiny sparks of his quirk burned like a dying flame before vanishing again.
She felt her mouth dry up slightly; a sensation she was more familiar with.
Ochako leaned in to kiss him… but he moved his head away.
She furrowed her brow, concern filling her mind.
His eyes had that look again. That hungry, desperate look that made her whole body feel like it was heating up, especially in her-
“If you want me to do that…” he whispered. “Then you’ll have to make me.”
The heat grew stronger.
She moved her face towards his once more, but he pulled away again, evading her even as his back and shoulders remained pinned to the wall. If he wanted to, he could have easily escaped her grip, but he didn’t.
Again Ochako tried, but again Deku turned aside, avoiding her lips.
Incensed, she released on of his hands and grabbed his jaw firmly, holding him still as her lips finally found their target.
Lighting shot through her body as he melted into her. She slowly moved her hand from his face, returning it to his wrist to keep him pressed up against the wall. Ochako shifted forward, pushing her body fully against his as she drove her tongue into his mouth.
This was unlike anything she had ever experienced. The pain her body felt was utterly overwhelmed by the absolute ecstasy that was flooding every corner of her mind. Deku pushed back softly, trying to eliminate any space that still remained between them as he fought her for every inch her tongue tried to take in his mouth.
The power she held over him was intoxicating. His tongue resisted her advances, his arms struggled weakly in her grips, his body tried to push hers away slightly, but at the same time, his lips were locked with hers as tightly as he could manage. He wasn’t trying to resist, he wasn’t trying to stop her… he was just reminding her that she was in control right now. She felt one of his legs was wrap around one of hers to pull her closer, and heard a primal, needy noise rumble up from his throat.
Those noises were because of her. She was causing him to feel that way.
Even if it wasn’t intentional, he was doing everything he could to rile her up… and oh , it was working .
After a good thirty seconds, she pulled back, both of them panting as saliva continued to connect their mouths through thin strands. A part of her didn’t want to stop there; it urged her to continue, demanded it, but she pushed it down. She had already been far more bold than she had ever imagined herself to be.
“Ochako…” was all Deku could say, his voice full of that same desire she saw in his eyes. His face was greener than she had seen in a long time.
“Izuku,” she responded. Ochako was positive her own face was red enough to compete with Eiko’s hair.
They stared into each other’s eyes for what felt like years. She saw emotion after emotion race through his mind before he finally settled on just staring at her like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Such was the affection looking up at her that an unbidden thought crossed her mind.
‘Is this how he’ll look at me on our wedding day?’
She screamed internally as she tried to wrangle her disobedient mind, but before her face could turn any redder, a sudden hiss from a nearby pipe broke their enraptured trance.
“We… we should go to Recovery Girl,” he muttered as she quickly let go of his hands and stepped away from him, both of them averting their gaze.
“R-right.” Her face felt like it was about to catch on fire.
Toshinori waved and laughed as the crowd cheered loudly, ready for the award ceremony to start. The other contestants were gathered around in a group as the podium began to rise from underground amidst fanfares and cheers.
Standing on the third place podium were Young Todoroki and Young Bakugou. Toshinori had known those two were going to finish well, but he wasn’t expecting for neither of them to make it to the grand finals. It just went to show you how much potential 1-A had this year.
On the second place podium, Young Midoriya stood, covered in white bandages now that he didn’t need to fight any longer.
Between the three students was the first place podium, where Young Uraraka stood tall above the rest. She too was covered in bandages, but they didn’t dull her smile.
He chuckled to himself; Toshinori recognized those exceptionally tight wrappings as the product of a very irritated Recovery Girl. He had been on the other end of her aggravated speeches to guess the riot act she had read to the two young students.
“Without further ado, let’s get to it!” he yelled, taking a bronze medal from Midnight, who was standing near him.
He approached Young Todoroki first. “You used your fire,” he observed.
The young man nodded slowly. “Some things I thought were true turned out to be anything but,” he explained. “I have a lot to think about.” He looked down, avoiding Toshinori’s gaze.
He leaned down, placing the medal around his neck and then giving the student a large hug. “Do what you need to do. Congratulations.”
He took a second medal and turned to Young Bakugou. “You showed impressive drive, young man. I’ll admit I thought I had you pegged pretty well, but you surprised me several times today.” He leaned down and placed the medal on his neck. “Congratulations.”
Young Bakugou clicked his tongue and looked away, doing a relatively poor job at hiding his smile. “Yeah, whatever. Thanks, I guess,” he muttered as Toshinori wrapped him in a hug as well.
He stepped to the far podium and retrieved the silver medal from Midnight. “Young Midoriya,” he began with a chuckle. “Your father scolded me severely for not stopping you in your fight against Young Todoroki.”
The boy’s eyes went wide. “Oh! Uh, I’m sorry, I just-”
Toshinori laughed loudly. “No need to apologize! I understand.” He placed the medal on his neck and leaned in for a hug. “Congratulations.”
He held the hug a little longer as he whispered. “You have done a remarkable job with your family ‘gift’, young man. I knew you could do it.”
Toshinori pulled back as Young Midoriya stared at him with tears beginning to leak from his eyes. “Oh, and don’t worry. Your father’s chastisement was mostly the worries of a father. It lacked much real bite.”
He moved to the center podium as his heart swelled with even more pride. He took the gold medal and looked into Young Uraraka’s big, joy-filled eyes. “You did it,” he said simply.
She nodded as some tears welled in her eyes. “I did it.”
He smiled widely at her. “When you talked to me in that hospital, you spoke to me as someone with conviction… and today you proved that your heart could back up those words.” He placed the gold medal around her neck and leaned in for a hug. “I’m so proud of you. Keep true to what you believe in and you’ll do great things one day. We can teach you a lot here at UA, but you are born with your heart.”
He stepped back and looked between the four of them. “You’ll all make great heroes one day.” He turned to the students behind him, gesturing widely. “All of you will! I’d like to thank you all for an absolutely fantastic festival! Your performances ensured that today will go down as one of the all-time great Sports Festivals! Let’s give it up one more time for not only our finalists, but all of our contestants here today! Say it with me, folks!”
“PLUS ULTRA!”
After the award ceremony, Midori invited Ochako and Mina to have dinner with his family, which he said included Bakugou by default. He invited Momo too, but she politely declined.
Mina asked where Bakugou’s parents were, and was informed that they were overseas on a business trip. ‘Didn’t stop the old hag from screaming my ear off between matches over the phone,’ he had remarked. Mina could tell by the way his face softened slightly that his hostility towards his parents was just an act.
Stormclaw took them out to a fairly nice place and, of course, insisted on paying for everything. Ochako barely had the energy to attempt any sort of refusal, so instead she just accepted his generosity gratefully.
Mina sat between Ochako and Midori on the car ride to and from the restaurant, while Bakugou rode in the front; both ways, they both fell asleep on her, each with a head resting on her shoulder. It was nice how something so simple made her feel so wanted.
When Stormclaw dropped the four of them off at the dorms, Bakugou and Mina had to basically carry the other two inside. They rode the elevator to the second floor and dropped Midori off at his room, then rode up to the fourth where the rest of them lived. After grabbing their shower supplies and a change of clothes, they each returned to the ground floor and enjoyed a nice, warm, relaxing, well-deserved shower.
Their showers were silent, nobody really having the energy to speak, but Mina smiled at the look of slight disbelief that was stuck on Ochako’s face. She gave Ochako a big hug as they left the showers, letting the poor woman lean on her slightly to help keep her on her feet for as long as possible.
All four of them took the elevator to the fourth floor again and, after saying goodnight to Bakugou, the three of them headed for Ochako’s room, at Mina’s insistence. Neither Ochako or Midori were in much of a state to argue. She pulled Ochako’s plain green covers back and wordlessly nudged the brunette into her bed, then hopped over her, nuzzling herself into Ochako’s left while Midori collapsed onto Ochako’s right.
“Goodnight,” Mina whispered as she pulled the covers up. “I love you both.”
The other two mumbled back a rough approximation of ‘love you too’ before both of their eyes closed. Even asleep, Midori seemed to instinctually snuggle up onto Ochako, nuzzling himself into her neck.
Mina’s eyes closed not long after.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Smut has arrived. Continue at your own risk.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Mina was awoken early in the morning by a soft noise. She opened her eyes, barely able to make out Midori creeping across the room and out the door, closing it gently behind him.
Now, this wasn’t that strange; it was the opposite, in fact. Midori had almost made a habit of sneaking out early. Several times over their week-and-change of sleeping together, he had crept out of bed and left for around an hour or so, only to return and sneak back like nothing happened.
Mina had waited patiently for him to tell her what was going on, but he seemed content to pretend like it never happened.
But tonight, with Ochako so tired Mina doubted she could wake her if she wanted to, Mina resolved to investigate; it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. She slid down from Ochako’s side to the foot of the bed and slowly cracked the door, putting pressure on it in the right spots to keep it from making any noise.
So maybe Mina had practice, so what?
Originally, she had thought that it was just Midori having to go to the bathroom, but no. He was gone too long and it was too frequent. Something in her gut told her it was something else.
She peeked her head around the corner, spying the door to the stairs closing gently. Mina slunk forward, making sure she kept far enough behind that she didn’t alert him to her presence. With how tired he was, she guessed his perception would be lessened as well.
However, that caused her to worry slightly as she closed the door behind her. Midori was exhausted , she was sure that tonight of all nights he wouldn’t have snuck out, but here they were. Just what was going on?
She kept two flights behind him, listening for him opening any doors. Just as she suspected, he opened the door to the second floor.
He was heading for his own room.
Was this something to do with his quirk? Did he need to check in with his hero merchandise to see that it was all there? Maybe he could move some of it to Mina’s and Ochako’s rooms if it would help.
Once the door closed down below, she picked up the pace, not wanting to fall too far behind him. She peered through the window in the door and saw him unlocking his room and heading inside, his head down as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Maybe she could wait outside his room or something for him to come out; it’s not like he gave her one of his keys or anything.
She crept forward and sat down on the soft carpet, completely awake from all the adrenaline pumping through her. There was something so exciting about sneaking around; she felt like a spy in a movie.
Mina heard him moving around inside a little, but she couldn’t tell what was happening from a few dulled noises. She sat there for a few minutes and found herself getting more and more impatient. Maybe she should just knock and get it over with. She was his concerned girlfriend and he was doing something very odd.
Or maybe…
Her hand reached out and tested the doorknob.
It moved.
Midori had forgotten to lock the door behind him. Maybe he was confident that nobody would follow him, or maybe he had just forgotten in his tired state. Either way, could she afford to waste this chance?
She pulled back, biting her thumb as she thought. Should she open it up? Should she knock? Should she head back to bed and act like nothing happened? Or head back and talk to him in the morning?
No, it was now or never. She wouldn’t get an opportunity like this again and knocking might just wake up Aoyama next door. Beyond the obvious awkwardness that would cause, she was sure that Aoyama would be furious if anybody interrupted his beauty sleep.
She could respect that.
‘Here goes nothing…’
Mina slowly turned the handle, pushing the door open slowly. Unlike Ochako’s door, his door was well-oiled enough to not make much noise at all. She had also tested that, of course.
The room slowly came into view and, now that her eyes had fully adjusted to the dim light of the early morning, she could make out Midori sitting on his bed.
But what exactly was he do-
“Oh my God.”
Midori whipped around, his eyes as wide as possible as he desperately tried to cover himself up with a white towel.
“M-MINA?!” he whisper-shouted. “ WHAT A-ARE YOU DOING HERE?! ”
“Oh my God,” she repeated.
Midori was doing his best broccoli impression, she was sure, even if she couldn’t exactly tell in the light.
“ Did you follow me? ” he asked, his voice full of fear and bewilderment.
She nodded slowly, finally willing her legs to move as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. “Y-yeah.”
He looked so confused. “Why?!”
She moved forward, trying to keep her eyes from drifting down from his face. “Uh, I was- I wanted to, uh-”
A thick silence hung in the air for a few moments.
“Were you jerking it?”
She could basically feel the heat coming off his face.
The silence hung for a while longer yet.
He finally hung his head. “Y-yeah.”
Mina reached up and slapped herself, refocusing on why she had come here. She was positive her face was as purple as his was green. “Is that why you’ve been sneaking out?”
He flinched. “Oh, y-you’ve noticed that?”
“I’m sure Ochako has, too,” she said with a soft chuckle. “While I’m impressed a dude your size is a stealthy as you are… you’re still a big guy. It’s hard not to notice when a weight like that leaves the bed.”
“I was t-trying not to disturb you…”
“So let me get this straight.” Mina turned his lamp on, shining light into the room.
Yeah, he was green.
She cocked a hip.“You’ve been sneaking out a half-dozen times over the past what… ten or so days to come down to your room and masturbate? ”
He shied away from her slightly. “I’m sorry, it’s just-”
“Yeah, no, I want to hear this.”
“It’s…” Midori looked away, still desperately clutching the towel covering his upper legs and stomach. He looked like he was thinking hard.
‘Heh. Hard.’
“It’s my quirk,” he finally admitted.
Well, that wasn’t what she was expecting. “What?” It was almost more of a statement than a question.
“My quirk it… I…” Midori was floundering around, trying to find the right words.
“Izuku, babe,” Mina said, smiling and moving over to sit next to him. He flinched and scooted away slightly. “Just say it. I won’t judge you or anything, I promise. Stop beating around the bush.”
He sighed, looking down at the floor. It took him a good thirty seconds of silence to work up the courage to speak again. “My quirk gives me an overactive libido. If I don’t have regular release, it causes... issues. I get distracted, I get irritable, I get antsy. It’s been worse- a lot worse- since I started dating you two.”
“That’s a little flattering,” she admitted, as she pulled her feet up onto the bed and faced him head-on. “But why does your quirk make you horny?”
Her blunt word choice caused him to recoil, but she did it intentionally. He needed to get this out in the open, even if she had to drag him kicking and screaming.
He took a few steadying breaths. “I’m… not sure, honestly. But apparently it’s something all the people in my family- at least those with full dragon quirks- have to deal with. At least that’s what my dad told me.”
She rocked back and forth slowly on his bed. “What, the men with dragon quirks all have to deal with this?”
“...not just the men.”
Mina froze and felt her face warm up again. “So wait, are you telling me that Ryukyu-”
Midori nodded quickly. “Please keep that a secret, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Oh, I won’t tell anyone,” Mina agreed, “but you’re telling me that Ryukyu, the number nine hero, has to get herself off nearly nightly just to keep her focus?”
‘Do not think about your fav pro hero mastur-’ Her face flushed a little more. ‘Goddammit.’
“N-no,” he stuttered. “At least I don’t think so. From what I can tell… I have it a lot worse than anyone else.”
“Oh, so it’s something about your quir-” Mina froze as a thought crossed her mind. “You hoard people… does your quirk want you to have kids?”
Midori tried to hide his face and clutch onto his towel at the same time, but he didn’t have enough hands. He opted to keep the towel secure. “Y-yeah, that’s basically it. All of our instincts push us to have kids, but mine are much, much more insistent about it.”
Mina tapped her chin. “Alright, let me see if I understand,” she began. “Your quirk makes you have an exceptionally high sex drive because it wants you to have a bunch of kids.” He nodded nervously. “And that problem has been getting worse ever since you started dating a pair of sexy ladies,” she continued with a wink. He blushed a little harder somehow and nodded again. “And so you sneak out to let off some steam or your quirk won’t let you sleep or focus in class?”
He nodded a third time.
She looked at him, furrowing her brow. “I see. Well then, I have one more question for you.”
“Are you mad at me?” he asked shyly.
“What?!” Mina jerked back slightly. “No!”
“You don’t think it’s-”
She put a hand on his face, cupping his cheek slightly. “Midori, listen to me. There is nothing wrong with masturbating. It’s natural, it’s even healthy.”
He didn’t say anything.
“Can I ask my question now?” she asked, still rubbing his face gently.
Midori nodded.
“Why?”
He looked at her suddenly. “Why? Why wh-”
“Why…” she whispered, cutting him off as she leaned into his ear, “are you sneaking out instead of coming to your girlfriends with your problem?”
He froze up, stiff as a board, while his face ascended to new levels of viridescence. He tried to say something, but nothing came out aside from vague sputterings.
“Wow, I’ve turned you into broccoli before, but I hadn’t broken you,” she noted with a giggle.
As his shock continued to render him speechless, she continued. “Midori, I’m dating you because of who you are. I love you and I’d still date you even if you didn’t look like…” She gestured to his body. “ ...that. But wow, it uh, it doesn’t hurt.”
“W-wha?” His vow of silence finally broke.
“Oh my God,” Mina muttered, feeling a little exasperated. “Izuku, I am sexually attracted to you.”
“...Oh.”
“Oh?” she repeated. “And are you sexually attracted to me?”
He averted his gaze further, but nodded.
She reached out and put a hand on his far cheek, pulling his vision back to hers. His eyes were glowing brightly. “Then what’s the problem?”
“I, uh, I-” The poor man was short-circuiting.
“Shhhh,” she whispered soothingly. “It’s fine. I know you’re nervous. I’ll take it slow.” She leaned in, getting close to his ear. “Let me make you feel good, Izuku.~”
His eyes burned brighter. She could almost hear the argument between himself and his instincts that was certainly going on in his mind.
“I want to do this, Izuku,” she insisted. “But only if you do, too. Do you want me to help you?”
“I… I…” He hesitated, looking back to her face and away again.
“You’re not going to hurt my feelings if you say no,” she reassured him. “I only want to do this if you’re comfortable.”
“...yes...” He was so quiet she could barely hear him.
Her heart started beating even faster than it had been. This wasn’t her first rodeo, but she felt a connection to Midori that she hadn’t felt with her previous boyfriends.
Mina scooted closer, pushing herself up against his arm. “You have to remove the towel.”
He hesitated.
“Do you want me to do it?”
He nodded.
Mina smiled kindly and reached down slowly, gripping the edge of the towel and pulling gently. Midori held onto it for a second before letting go, allowing her to pull it back and reveal…
A bunch of scales.
“What? Where is-” Mina looked up at her boyfriend’s face, her expression half-annoyed and half-amused. “You stop that. Let your quirk go and-” She leaned in closer- “ let me see it. ”
Midori hesitated again. “A-are you sure?” His voice was getting a huskier.
“ Very, ” she whispered.
He nodded and breathed out, relaxing himself. The scales began to recede, staring at the edges and working their way toward the middle. If she didn’t know any better, she would say he was dragging it out, teasing her with the anticipation.
Soon… it began to appear. It grew as the transformation ended, slowly returning him to his human form.
His very impressive human form.
It took several long, torturous moments for him to reach full mast again. And what a sight it was.
“...Wow,” was all she could say. It was larger than anything she had seen before, and not by a small margin. She glanced down at her forearm, doing a quick mental comparison. “That’s…”
“It-”
Mina immediately heard the self-deprecating tone of his voice and pressed a finger to his lips before he could finish the first word. “Shush. I love it.” She leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Listen to me. I love you and I want to do this.”
“Y-you don’t think it’s weird?” he asked.
“I think it’s beautiful,” she assured him.
Mina reached out and ran a few of her fingers along its length. Midori shivered slightly as soon as she touched it, his breathing becoming slightly more labored. The heat coming off of it was exciting to say the least. She felt her chest tighten in anticipation and the familiar heat beginning to build between her legs.
She ran her fingers down it a few more times, enjoying the reactions she was eliciting out of the man who, just a few hours ago, smashed into Todoroki as a massive, powerful dragon. Yet here he was, trembling under her touch. It was cute… but she hoped that she could pull him out of that shell. Mina had seen him act so confident, so bold, so powerful… once she got him to understand just how she felt about him and about this… well, maybe he could show her some of that again.
But only when he was ready. The last thing she wanted to do would be to rush things and make him uncomfortable or hurt his feelings.
She slowly reached her fingers out and across, her heart rate picking up as she realized her fingers couldn’t wrap entirely around it- not even close. She could feel her pulse pounding away beneath her underwear. Damn, this was getting her all worked up, too.
Mina began to slowly move her hand, traveling up and down it’s length with smooth strokes as he tried to keep himself calm with deep breaths. This was unlike anything she had dealt with before, that’s for sure. This thing she was holding…
That tantalizing, infuriating, needy feeling was pouring through her again. She began to feel empty, like she needed something to grip onto, something to fill her up.
Mina bit her lip as she ran her eyes down his length. Yeah, that would do. That would do nicely.
But later.
The weight was something she was coming to terms with still. Once the time came to go… further, she would be the one who would need to take things slow. She doubted she would have trouble getting wet enough, but just the size of the thing would give her pause.
Yeah, there was no doubt. This definitely belonged on a man like Midori. It was powerful and a little terrifying, just like he was, but at the same time, it made her feel so, so happy.
Mina picked up the pace a little, savoring the sensation of him squirming under her touch. She became acutely aware of the smell that was filling the room; the distinctly manly smell, if she were to take a page out of Kiri’s book.
His squirming became more dramatic as she went faster, moving her hand from base all the way to tip. It would take more than two hands for her to cover this thing. ‘Maybe if Ochako helped?’
Midori began to breathe faster and harder. He turned his head away, averting his gaze as she felt him twitch once in her hand. She had enough experience to know what that meant: he was getting close.
Mina reached her other hand up and touched the back of his head, running her fingers through her hair. “Izuku,” she began, her voice a low, needy whisper, “look at me.” She pushed his head slightly, helping him to turn back around. His eyes were glowing brightly, a strange mixture of emotions on his face.
She leaned in and kissed him softly, biting his lower lip softly as she pulled back. His hot breath was mixing with hers, causing the heat below to intensify. When did her panties get so uncomfortable?
“M-Mina,” he managed to get out. “C-close.”
Her heart was pounding in her ears as she felt it twitch faster in her hand. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”
“T-towel-”
“What? Oh, right.” She pulled her left hand back from his head and grabbed the towel he was using to protect his modesty.
His eyes closed as he breathed in sharply. A low rumble echoed up from his chest as she felt him tense and swell in her hand.
Mina pulled the towel over and wrapped it around his tip, keeping him from making a mess.
His breathing was erratic as he continued to twitch rhythmically in her hand. She lost count of how many times he had pulsed in her hand, but she wasn’t exactly focused on numbers at the present. She was much more interested in seeing the look of relaxed bliss that spread over his face as his eyes slowly opened again.
She wasn’t counting, but she knew that his orgasm had been intense . She could feel the extra weight in the towel and even with it covered, the smell was overpowering, dominating her senses. Her brain felt like it was working on overdrive and the pulsing down below was only getting more and more intense, seemingly angry that it wasn’t getting any attention.
Mina pulled her hand from his length, keeping the other hand holding the towel as he rode out the final waves of his orgasm, panting like he had just ran a sprint. She reached up and pulled him down, planting a kiss firmly on his lips, sucking what little air he had out of him.
His eyes snapped open, the light inside them doubling in intensity as his tongue entered her mouth, firmly supplanting hers.
It seemed like a fire had begun to burn underneath the man. Only time would tell if she would come to regret starting that fire… but her money was firmly on ‘no’.
He broke off the kiss quicker than she had hoped as he began to take deep breaths, trying to recover the air that she had stolen from him over the past several minutes.
“Mina…” he finally spoke, his voice deep and calm. “That was… I love you.”
Mina felt her heart flutter even as her emptiness grew deeper. “I love you too, Izuku,” she replied, finally pulling the towel away and taking a few moments to make sure she cleaned him up well enough. His length was softening slowly, shrinking down a more manageable, but still impressive size.
Midori slowly leaned backward onto his elbows as he finally began to catch his breath. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose, but his eyes suddenly snapped back open and he bolted upright.
“That smell,” was all he said. “It’s back.”
Mina blinked, her eyes traveling down to his legs where she saw him beginning to grow again. ‘It wasn’t even soft yet! What kind of refractory period is that ?!’
“The smell you told me about,” he clarified. “You told me that it-” Midori’s scales flashed back, hiding himself again as he turned to face her fully. “It means that-” He reached out and put his hands on her shoulders. “Mina, can I- uh…” He trailed off looking away and taking a deep breath before turning back to her. “I want to make you feel good, too.”
“Oooh~ Is that so?” she responded, her face warming up even as she smirked. “Well, I for one would love it if my boyfriend were to return the favor.” Truth be told, she was a little nervous, but she couldn’t let him know that. He needed her to be confident for him. Mina leaned in a little closer, her mouth only inches from him. “What were you thinking?”
“I…” He looked down, then away. “I, uh, I…”
“Izuku,” she cooed, cupping his chin and kissing him softly on the lips. “You can say whatever you want. I’m not going to judge you and I’m not going to let you do anything that’s going to make me uncomfortable. Just… tell me what you’re thinking and we’ll go from there.”
He smiled shyly, his face pointing down, but his eyes peering up at her face. “I don’t deserve you.”
“Oh, hush,” she giggled. “Would you like it if I started talking about how much bigger and stronger and smarter you are than me?” His eyes widened, but she planted a kiss on his forehead before he could speak. “One of these days you’re going to have to believe me when I say ‘I love you’, alright?”
“I do believe you!” he said earnestly, hesitating for a moment before sighing. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I’ll try not to put myself down anymore.”
She smiled, moving a little closer to him so their bodies were touching. “I know it’s not easy, and I know it’s not going to change overnight, but I also know that you’re trying, and that’s all we can ask from you.” She hugged him warmly for a few seconds before backing away slightly, touching his chin with one finger. “Now… about what you wanted to do to me~”
Midori gulped and closed his eyes, seemingly building up his courage. “I…” His eyes opened back up, they were glowing brighter. “I want to t-taste you.”
“Oh. Oh. ” Now it was Mina’s turn to blush and have her eyes widen. “You… you want to…taste me?” She felt herself pulse hard down below as her chest tightened further. “You want to e-eat me out?”
Midori recoiled slightly. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t-”
Mina reached up and grabbed his face with both hands. “Whenever I think I have the best boyfriend, you keep finding ways to get better.”
His face grew greener. “O-oh.” He stared into her eyes, blinking slowly as her anticipation only grew more with each passing second. “S-so, you would be okay with-”
“Oh God , yes !” she responded, trying to keep her voice down. “If you want to put your tongue to work, I will put your tongue to work. ”
He just sat there, blinking and nodding slowly.
Her excitement waned for a second as she remembered her… problem. “Uh, but by the way, cause of my quirk, I’m a little… acidic, you know?” She poked two fingers together once or twice. “All my previous partners they… after a while their tongues start tingling and well… you get the idea. It’s nothing dangerous, just uncomfortable. Just a word of warning, okay?”
He nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
“Oh, I know that,” she said with a small giggle. “You always do.”
Mina rolled back, lifting her legs off the bed and beginning to pull down her pajama pants. She savored the absolutely star-struck look on Midori’s face as he watched her pants pass down her thighs and over her knees.
“Don’t look away,” she whispered as he began to avert his gaze. “Right now, this is all for you. I want you to watch.”
He nodded once. “O-okay.”
Mina tossed her pants to the side, leaving her wearing nothing but her top and her panties. They were simple, but cute and functional, and she always liked that shade of pink. Her confidence grew slightly as she saw his breathing pick up and his eyes glow brighter.
She reached back, propping up his pillows on his headboard and leaning into them as she slowly spread her legs apart. Even though this wasn’t her first time, she still felt exposed. However, her nervousness was dwarfed by how safe Midori made her feel, so she didn’t worry about it much.
Mina lifted a finger and beckoned him slowly. “Come closer, my dragon,” she whispered with a slight giggle.
Midori reached down and pulled his own pajama pants up, then swung his legs around so he was kneeling on his bed. Then slowly, cautiously, he began to move towards her.
His nervousness was cute, but it served the unintentional double purpose of making her wait longer than she wanted. He was teasing her without meaning to and she didn’t know if she loved it, hated it, or both.
“I… I don’t know where to start,” he admitted. “I’ve never…”
“I’ll teach you,” she reassured him. “Don’t worry, I’m excited to get the opportunity to train my dragon just how I want. Something tells me that you’re going to be a very generous lover once we get through that shell of yours.”
“S-sorry,” he muttered.
Mina smiled kindly. “Don’t be. I don’t want you to rush it. The last thing we want you to do is to feel pressured. Take it at your own pace, I won’t be upset.” She said that and she truly meant that, but the heat had only gotten worse, the pulsing had only gotten worse. She needed relief, but she was forcing herself to wait for him.
Midori breathed out and nodded. “So uh, where do I start?”
‘Ram your tongue as deep into me as you can’ was what her brain wanted her to say, but she held her tongue. “Start by building up anticipation. Foreplay is always important.” She ran her fingers gently down the insides of her thighs. “Come here and kiss me, work your way up my legs.”
Midori nodded again, listening intently. He moved his face down, closer and closer. A very insistent part of her wanted to grab him by the horns and slam him into her crotch, but she resisted again.
She was so sensitive, she could feel his breath even through her panties. At this rate, she was going to have issues lasting very long at all once he got to the main course.
His lips touched her inner thigh, sending sparks shooting up her spine. She reached down and tousled his hair gently, urging him silently to continue. Midori’s lips pressed into her thigh again, further up this time. Another kiss brought him even closer as she let out a soft whine that she couldn’t contain. Even though she knew it was all in her mind, it felt like the intervals were just getting longer and longer.
Another kiss had him dangerously close to her center and his head brushed against her underwear. While his kisses were shooting off sparks, the contact, slight as it was, sent an entire lightning bolt crashing through her mind.
Unintentionally, her body squeezed. She pulled harshly on a handful of hair, while her legs pressed his face in from both sides. Mina quickly regained her composure, letting her legs fall apart once more.
Midori pulled back and looked at her in concern. “Was.. was that good?”
She could only nod furiously as she bit her finger, trying to keep in further moans. Truth be told, Mina was a little embarrassed with how easily she was reacting to his touch. This wasn’t her first time in this position, but… it was her first time with someone she cared for this much. Maybe that made all the difference. Regardless of the truth, she needed more.
“Kiss it,” she whispered, pulling her finger away for a moment. Her voice was rough and full of desire, which only seemed to encourage the man. He leaned in, only hesitating once before planting a kiss on her underwear, only that thin veil of fabric separating their skin.
Again, she spasmed, arching her back and moaning into her finger. For a moment, her patience failed. “I-I need, Izuku please. More… ” She gripped the back of his head and pulled down firmly, pressing him closer to her pulsating core.
He inhaled deeply and she felt his horns grow slightly across his head pressed into her thighs. Mina gasped slightly; she didn’t know how much she needed that until right then. The idea that her scent, that her sex, was getting him so riled up that his quirk had to come out… yeah, that was hot.
Maybe she could entice him to let a little more out later.
But again, later.
He kissed her twice more, each time eliciting the same reaction. She was already panting softly. “N-now, it’s time to go further,” she whispered, her voice unsteady. “It’s time to get what you wanted, Izuku.”
He looked up at her from between her legs, his eyes filled with both desire and concern. Mina nodded gently, encouraging him to continue.
She felt his hand creep forward and tug at the side of her underwear, causing her heart to beat even harder in her chest.
This was actually happening.
She felt the cool air rush past her as she was finally exposed, sending a shiver up her spine. The air mixed with his hot breath, exciting her even further.
Gently, ever so gently, his tongue reached out and ran up her lips, parting them slightly and causing her to bite hard into her finger. Her heart was absolutely racing now, each heartbeat pulsing through her core with such intensity, she was half-worried Midori would be able to hear it.
She had done this several times before, but something about this made her feel so… she didn’t know how to really describe it. She felt exposed, but safe, nervous, but excited. Maybe this was just what love felt like?
He licked her again, this time with more intensity. A third and a fourth upward stroke came, each longer and more confident than the last. Without meaning to, each lick was getting closer and closer to her pearl and she could barely handle the anticipation. It was swollen, engorged with blood and desperate for attention.
And Mina wasn’t the kind of person to just hope he noticed. “Izuku, higher. See that button above? Give that special attention.”
He nodded, the look in his eyes less nervous and more curious and determined. Already, he was getting into it. Leave it to Midori to have his passion for learning bleed through here.
Midori’s tongue snaked up with another lick, longer than the rest. Her chest tightened, like a spring stretching out slightly. He really was a quick learner.
Instead of stopping where the rest had, his tongue went further, finally giving her pearl the stimulation it so desperately was demanding.
She squealed, whining into her hand as she clamped it over her mouth to keep her voice down. Her legs half-locked around the back of his head and her eyes fluttered from the intensity.
‘Patience, Mina, patience. You have to hold out, he needs to learn. Calm down, calm down.’
Seeing how she reacted, he licked again. His tongue was clumsy, but she was so aroused right now that anything he did felt like the touch of an angel. That spring inside of her was being pulled with every heavenly stroke of his tongue, even more so as he began to mix in licks to her folds with his attention to her bud.
Alright, she didn’t have this much patience. If he was going to get the full experience, it was going to have to be a crash course.
“Izuku- Izuku,” she began, daring to take her hand away from her mouth. “Lean back for a bit.”
“Did I do something wrong?” he asked immediately, his courage faltering.
“No, no,” she cooed. “The opposite. You’re doing very, very well…”
‘Almost too well,’ she thought to herself.
He leaned back, a look of confusion and concern growing on his face. Mina reached down and began to pull her panties down. She wanted to take them off slowly, to tease him and give him a show, but she was so riled up she wound up almost melting them off.
Midori was… stunned.
He stared at her, his eyes wide and his jaw hanging open. Mina thought that she might feel exposed, but that look in his eye only made her feel like she was the queen of the world.
Mina leaned back down and spread her legs apart. “Now… come here, lover boy.”
As her scent, now fully exposed, permeated the air, she saw the light in his eyes glow even more intensely. He licked his lips quickly before leaning back in, his eyes focused.
He started with another lick and another pass over her pearl, but she needed to teach him more. Mina reached down and grabbed the back of his head with both hands, pulling him in slowly, but firmly, into her. He didn’t resist and soon she had pressed him completely up against herself.
Mina ground into his face, urging him to continue his task while helping to relieve the pressure that continued to build within her. After what felt like hours, but was only mere seconds, he got the idea.
His tongue reached out inside of her, causing her mind to blank slightly as ecstasy crashed over and through her. Her boyfriend began exploring her slowly, his tongue inexperienced, but eager. Her back arched as that spring pulled tighter still, the pressure inside her building.
With both hands on his head, she couldn’t keep her moan contained, so she just did her best to keep it as quiet as she could. However, as she voiced her pleasure, she felt him move closer and his tongue move deeper, seemingly emboldened by her moan.
Every centimeter he explored was like riding on a cloud and crashing through a raging river at the same time. She had never felt anything like this before. If this was what it was like to be with Midori…
Soon, her mind was able to focus less and less on her desire to teach as pleasure took up more of her mental bandwidth. Her coherence lessened as he pressed further in and her breathing became more erratic
“ More~ ”, she moaned, pushing her head back into the pillow and running her fingers through his hair. “ Deeper~ ”
Midori answered the call valiantly, his tongue stretching deeper.
Much deeper.
And… wider?
Her eyes snapped wide as she pushed him back firmly. He looked up at her with his head tilted slightly, and a long, slightly green tongue hanging out of his mouth.
“Oh… my… God. ” His tongue was longer than any human’s ever had the right to be; there was no way he could fit that thing back in his mouth. She hadn’t considered that he would have been able to do that, but looking back, it seemed so obvious. The tip tapered to a fork, deepening her fascination as an idea came to her.
“I-” He was cut off as she grabbed his head and dragged him back down as hard as she could, begging him to continue.
His tongue began to push deeper again, filling her and shooting off fireworks in her mind. Mina felt him begin to transform it further, stretching it longer and wider as he began to hit all of her spots by just being there. She ground her pearl into his face, gyrating her hips as she was wound tighter and tighter.
He bulged larger one more time. Her whole body was trembling now and her breath came out ragged.
That was it, she was at her limit.
Mina threw her arms behind her and grabbed one of the pillows she was laying on, pulling it over her mouth as she screamed .
Her walls clamped down on his tongue, holding him in place as her spring snapped back.
Wave after wave of pleasure rolled over her as everything around her ceased to exist. It felt like a firework had been set off in her lap, and she couldn’t help but scream into the pillow. She could feel every heartbeat pulsing through her core like a shockwave, and she was finding it hard to breathe. Her screams were transforming into needy whines as she continued to rub herself against Midori’s face, trying to chase the sensation for as long as possible.
Nothing had ever felt this good before, not even close . ‘This is what a real orgasm feels like? I will never let this man go!’
She didn’t want this feeling to ever end.
“Oh fuck ! This is amazing... ” she moaned with a shaky voice as stars began to dance across her vision.
She had lost all track of time. Wave after wave, swell after swell, spasm after spasm coursed through her body, rendering her helpless to the pleasure. She felt like she was losing her mind and it was all thanks to Midori.
After what felt like an eternity, she finally came down from her high, still twitching slightly. She softly pushed against his head to signal him to ease off, as she was starting to grow sensitive. She felt the utterly bizarre- but not entirely unpleasant- sensation of his tongue shrinking down inside of her as he pulled out and smiled nervously at her.
“So… I did okay?” he asked quietly.
Mina dropped back down onto the mattress and sighed contentedly, then giggled and rolled into Midori as he lay down next to her. She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “ Okay? I’d say you did better than okay . That was something … you’re a natural.”
“Oh.” He smiled softly. “T-thanks.”
Mina mumbled happily and shifted further into him, trying to convey physically just how much she was in love with him right now. His arms wrapped around her, making her feel safe and protected; she could feel his love through the contact, too.
Mina smirked through lidded eyes and cupped his cheek, kissing him slowly and passionately on the lips. Pulling away, she licked her own lips leisurely. “Hmm. I taste good, huh?”
Midori nodded slowly, his eyes wide. The blush that had finally been fading slightly from his cheeks was growing again.
She giggled and nuzzled into his chest, taking comfort from his warmth and his smell. They lay there together for several minutes, silently enjoying each other’s presence as they basked in the afterglow of their tryst.
Mina’s trance was broken by a small sniffle; she moved her vision up and saw a few tears leaking from Midori’s face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice full of concern. “Did we go too fast?”
He shook his head quickly. “No, no, I’m… just so happy right now. I never thought I could be this happy… I love you so much.” He smiled wide, even as he leaked another tear.
Mina felt herself fall for him a little harder. “I love you too,” she whispered, wiping his face with her finger and moving up so her arms were wrapped around his neck instead of his chest.
They relaxed a little longer as the morning light came creeping into his window.
Mina sighed happily again. If someone had told her a month ago that she would be here and this happy… well, she might have kissed them on the spot. The only thing that could make this better was…
“Hey,” she began, her smirk reappearing.
He pulled back and looked down at her inquisitively.
“Last week, when we had some alone time and after she had opened up enough to me, Ochako and I started talking about some of our fantasies.” Mina saw his eyes go wide again.
She walked two of her fingers up his chest before lightly tapping him on the nose. “Would you like to help fulfill one of hers?”
Notes:
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
See you guys next time!
:)
Chapter 39: Rewards Well-Earned
Summary:
After the festival, things calm down.
Notes:
This is another hefty one.
I know some people don't like to read smut, so I've made sure that the chapter is still written with those people in mind.
Those of you that do read smut... well, you get something extra to read on top of the chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
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Starting off smutty this time. Skip ahead to the next line if don’t wish to read.
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Ochako woke up to a strange sensation. Her heart was beating faster, which was odd, and she felt particularly flush. Maybe it was because she had been so tired last night, she couldn’t bring herself to get into her normal pajamas. She broke out the night dress that her mother bought for her when she left for the dorms and collapsed into bed, not even bothering to put on any underwear. She wasn’t used to sleeping like that, so maybe that was causing this weird feeling between her legs.
Her eyes blinked open as she looked down, trying to make out exactly what was going on in the bright morning light that was indirectly illuminating her room. She spotted a familiar green head of hair between her legs.
Ochako’s eyes snapped wide as she realized that the ‘strange sensation’ was Deku slowly kissing up her thigh, moving closer and closer to her-
Her eyes slowly closed down as a small, satisfied smile grew across her face. ‘Oh, I’m havin' this dream again. This is one of my favorites…’
She reached down and ran her fingers through Deku’s hair, wrapping both of her hands around his head while he continued his journey up her thighs. Each kiss was causing her core to heat up further as blood rushed down below. She bit her lip softly as the anticipation built.
Her dreams weren’t normally this… slow, but she appreciated the build up. It made it feel so much more real. Maybe her subconscious was rewarding her for a job well done yesterday.
After what felt like a lifetime, Deku finally made it to his goal and he began to plant kisses around her pulsating lips, the pounding desire only deepening as she felt his breath against her. Her pearl was tingling harder with every kiss he planted, growing from all the blood coursing through her, preparing her for what she wanted next.
Ochako inhaled sharply and squealed as his tongue made its initial contact, parting her folds lightly. The sensation was so much greater than it normally was when she had this dream; ‘maybe I should exhaust myself more often? A little reward for goin’ Plus Ultra?’ She didn’t have any other explanation for why everything seemed so much more real, at least none within the realm of possibilities she was willing to consider.
She often had lucid dreams, but they had traditionally been mostly of her flying over her home town with her quirk or finally getting to meet Thirteen or other fantasies such as that. However, ever since she came to UA, her dreams had gotten… more adult. This wasn’t the first time Deku had been between her legs, although it was also sometimes Mina. There was even that night last week where she had dreamed of Pony and Momo, but that was beside the point.
This was almost something else. The sensations were so much stronger, so much clearer. She didn’t have that sluggish feeling she always had in dreams, which was odd, but she was feeling far too good to worry about that right now. Anything else could wait.
Speaking of waiting, she was tired of it. Deku had been working her folds, creeping closer and closer to her nub with every lick, causing her chest to tighten with anticipation and her heart to beat faster. “Deku…” she whined, urging her dream-boyfriend to stop teasing her.
Ochako furrowed her brow as he pulled back, peeking over her nightgown to look at her. His eyes were glowing brightly and his horns were larger, causing her heart to squeeze tighter. Why did she enjoy horns so much?
What was more important is that hungry look in his eyes was back, just like it had been in their match. At this point, she finally recognized the look.
It was lust.
And she loved it.
But this wasn’t the real Deku, so she didn’t need to be gentle. It was a little irritating that her dream was being as playful as it was, so she reached down and grabbed him by the horns, causing his eyes to widen as she pulled him down hard, back between her legs. “Stop teasing,” she hissed.
He only resisted slightly before his tongue began to stroke up her folds again, satisfying her desire but causing it to deepen at the same time. He began to finally give attention to her pearl, causing electricity to shoot up her spine, making her legs and arms spasm slightly. As he continued with his long, slow strokes, her breathing became more labored and she felt a strange tightness forming in her stomach.
It was different than the tightness of nervousness, anxiety or anticipation. It felt more… primal. She had felt it before when she relieved stress during ‘personal time’, but it was always fleeting. Her curious internet searches had told her that it was the start of an orgasm, but try as she might, she had never been able to get there.
If Deku could finally help her do that, well…
She began to feel empty inside, like she needed something to fill her up.
And Ochako had just the thing in mind to help that problem. This was her dream, right? So she could do what she wanted.
Her legs wrapped around his head and flexed as she pulled on his horns harder. “Get in there,” she growled, her voice full of desire.
It didn’t take long for Deku to obey, causing Ochako to throw her head back on her pillow as his tongue began to slowly alleviate her crushing emptiness. His horns lengthened and thickened in her hands, allowing her to readjust and get a better grip.
She didn’t know what had caused her mind to be so lewd today, but she wasn’t going to look a gift-wet-dream in the mouth.
Oh, he was good. Better than he ever had been in any of her previous dreams. Her legs tightened as she tried to will him deeper. She began to gyrate her hips, rubbing herself on his face to intensify the sensations coursing through her.
Then Deku went deeper, only as he could in a dream; she felt his tongue begin to lengthen inside of her.
Lengthen and widen.
Oh, she really did have a dirty mind.
Deku’s tongue stretched further into her, thickening as it went. It pressed up against all of her most sensitive spots and soon was filling her up completely, more than in her wildest dreams.
Well, any of her previous wildest dreams, at least.
Even so, she still wanted more. Her leg fully locked behind his head as she arched her back, pulling him deeper and grinding herself harder on his face. That tightness in her stomach began to strengthen, like something was building inside of her. She panted harder and harder as she chased after the feeling, urging it to continue growing.
However, as she focused on it, it only seemed to move further away. Whenever she stopped thinking about it and focused more on the absolutely unreal sensation of dream-Deku buried impossibly deep inside of her, it seemed to come closer.
It was maddening.
She figured that she would have to give in to her baser instincts and focus less on the future, but more on the now.
There was no reason to feel shame in her dream.
She unlocked her legs and let Deku pull back. He panted softly, perhaps a little out of breath from his delve into her depths. As his long, green tongue pulled back, she felt it flutter over her nub again, but this time, it felt so much stronger. It was like there were two, dexterous tongues working on her simultaneously.
She pushed his head back and gasped as she saw the forked tip of his tongue slowly shrinking back into his mouth. Just when she thought she couldn't get any more depraved…
“Flip over,” Ochako ordered, deciding to throw restraint to the wind as she chased after her impulses.
Deku rolled over as Ochako flipped herself around, firmly planting her soaked, pulsing folds over his mouth again from above, her thighs wrapped around his head.
She made eye contact with him as his eyes widened in shock. She rubbed his hair and gripped his handleba- horns again. “Back to work,” she whispered, her voice heavy with lust.
His tongue began to grow again, entering her and beginning the agonizing process of tightening the spring again, chasing after that holy grail. She held his horns tightly as she rolled her hips, stimulating herself all over his face as he kept filling her up.
Ochako would never have the courage to do this in real life, so she had to enjoy it while she could. She was absolutely using Deku, pleasuring herself with little regard for him; she wasn’t hurting him nor abusing him, even in a dream she would never do that, but she was throwing all of her inhibitions away and chasing after her desire.
The look in his eyes as she looked down again was… breathtaking. The absolute lust and love in his eyes dwarfed anything she had seen before. Her heart swelled, filling with emotion and overflowing; seeming to force her to speak as it overwhelmed her.
“I love you so much, Deku,” she began, her voice low and soft. “This is absolutely amazing.”
She saw his cheeks move slightly, a smile forming underneath her. He couldn’t exactly respond with his tongue indisposed.
She moaned from deep within as he hit a particularly explosive spot, sending fireworks shooting off in her mind. “Ohhhhh God … And after we’re done, you know what’s next. You’re going to fill me up again with something very different, but no less amazing.”
Talking and getting her emotions out seemed to make the spring pull tighter; maybe there was something about being honest with herself. Either way, she was spurred onward.
“Then you’ll fill me up proper ,” she moaned. “I wonder what it feels like. I bet you cum a whole lot, don’t you, Deku?”
The look in his eyes became more intense as they grew brighter. His tongue dug into her more earnestly. Maybe it was some sort of feedback loop: the more honest she was, the more her mind rewarded her.
“You’ll make a mess of me, won’t you?” she continued, arching her back as she inhaled sharply. “Then I’ll get all big and swollen with our baby. You’re going to make a great daddy, Izuku.”
She nearly screamed as his tongue bulged larger, stretching her out like never before. Yeah, playing into her bizarre kink made her feel it so much stronger, Dream-Deku was reacting harder than ever; it was clear that her theory was correct.
His arms wrapped around her thighs, pulling her down harder onto him as her thighs squeezed his head. She was entirely full, her mind was going blank with pleasure and lightning was shooting over every inch of her skin.
That spring, that rabbit fleeing her grip, finally came into reach.
She grabbed it with both hands as her world went white.
If it wasn’t for her firm grip on Deku’s horns, she would have fallen backward onto the bed. She held on for dear life as a scream began to escape her lungs, urged on by the flashes of pleasure blasting through her mind with every heartbeat.
Then, suddenly, right before she could shriek, something clamped over her mouth. She recognized the soft, luscious lips of Mina lock over her own as her dream-girlfriend gripped her head tightly.
Deku and Mina? This was the best dream she’d ever had.
It was all she could do to stay conscious as her orgasm continued to crash over her mind and through her body. The only thing Ochako could comprehend at the moment was Deku, Mina and the pure pleasure coursing through every nerve in her body. Her toes curled, her legs shook, her knuckles turned white around Deku’s horns, and her eyelids fluttered erratically.
The orgasm peaked and Ochako was pretty sure she actually blacked out for a second, held up by her two lovers until she regained some semblance of control of her body.
She rode out the waves, panting heavily as Mina finally broke contact. She was panting and sweating like she had just sprinted a dozen times around the dorm as her mind slowly began to recover. The world slowly came back into view, seeming to melt into existence at the edges of her awareness as the final throes of her climax pulsed through her.
Ochako began to catch her breath, hunching over Deku and finally pulling herself up slightly as she started to feel over-sensitive and swollen.
“What. A. Dream,” she muttered.
“Dream?” Mina asked. “Oh boy, not again.”
Ochako squeaked.
She whipped around, rubbing the spot where Mina had pinched-
Her eyes shot wide open.
“Morning, Ochako,” Mina cooed with a knowing, but exasperated, smile.
Mina reacted in a flash, clamping her hand over Ochako’s mouth as Ochako flung herself off of Deku as fast as she could, nearly falling off the bed before Mina caught her.
“I- Wha- You-” Ochako was sputtering, confusion and horror smashing through her mind as she tried to comprehend that it—everything—had been real.
“Shhh, shhh,” Mina whispered, trying to calm her. “It’s okay. Breathe .”
“What?!” Ochako finally managed to put together a single coherent word.
Mina smirked. “Remember when I asked you if I had permission to get Midori to fulfill your ‘wake me up by eating me out’ fantasy?”
Ochako’s mind grabbed onto the memory, desperate for something to hold on to as she reeled. “Y-yes, but, but-” Ochako was sure her face was neon red at this point. “ I didn’t think you could actually do it! ”
Mina shrugged her shoulders. “That’s your fault. Don’t underestimate me.” She smiled wide and pecked Ochako on the cheek. “But hey, don’t worry about it. You did nothing wrong. He looks like he enjoyed it.”
Ochako slowly turned to look at Deku, who had propped himself up on his elbows. His hair was a mess and his eyes were half-open and distant while his face and mouth were covered—dripping, even—with Ochako’s juices. The man looked absolutely dazed, his tongue slowly peeking out to lick at her juices on his lips.
“Damn,” Mina remarked, sounding impressed, “and I thought you sucked the soul out of him back when we started dating. You really rode him hard, huh?”
Ochako broke out of Mina’s grasp and lunged over Deku, leaning over him. “D-Deku, I’m s-so sorry, I didn’t m-”
She was cut off as she suddenly found herself on her back, flipped around by his powerful arm and pinned to the bed as he loomed over her. Ochako only had a moment to appreciate the wild look in his eyes before he crashed his lips into hers, his tongue diving in and dominating her mouth absolutely.
She couldn’t speak or move; all she could do was enjoy the passion he was showing her and try to reconcile it with her confusion. She noted the strange taste on his tongue, then realized that it must be her taste.
After several seconds, he pulled back, his eyes opening slowly as she saw his pupils slightly elongated, the hint of his power at their edges. “Never apologize for that,” he declared simply.
The firmness in his voice and the power with which he held her down calmed her doubts and fears. “R-really?” she whispered.
He nodded, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead and running his fingers through her hair. “Really. I love you, Ochako.”
Her heart swelled, assured by the man she loved so much. “A-alright.”
“Think about it,” Mina began, rolling over next to Ochako. “If Midori didn’t want you to do that, do you think you could’ve made him do it?” She reached up and ran a finger along Deku’s defined arm muscles. “I don’t think we could ever make him do something he didn’t want to do.”
Deku averted his gaze slightly. “Uh, that’s more true than you think, actually.”
Ochako cocked her head. “What do you mean?”
“You see…” He leaned back, rubbing his head and allowing Ochako to sit back up. “My family, our quirks… they’re proud. Bordering on arrogant. We do not appreciate being forced to do anything. If someone tries to force me to do something to keep me from doing something I want to do… well, you’ll know. Word of advice: don’t try to imprison a dragon.”
Ochako actually felt… relieved. “So that… what I did… you were okay with it?”
Deku nodded, smiling as he blushed. “Uh, y-yeah, I did. It made me feel… really loved, you know? You looked like you were enjoying it a lot and… and it was me who made you feel that way. I can’t think of a better feeling than that.”
“It’s cause we’re his hoard ,” Mina giggled, wrapping her arms around Deku and pecking him on the cheek. “You love to see us happy, don’t you?”
Deku nodded, smiling awkwardly. “M-more than anything.”
Mina leaned over and licked his face. “Mmm. Ochako, you taste good. Can I wake you up like that sometime?”
Ochako squeaked and covered her face with her hands.
“O~cha~ko~”
Dammit . Yeah, that sounded nice. Ochako nodded once.
Mina giggled and fell back down onto Ochako’s side, bringing Deku down with her onto her other side. “Looking forward to it.”
Deku nuzzled back into her side, like he had never left. His contented smile warmed her heart as his cheek rested on her shoulder.
A thought crossed Ochako’s mind. “H-hey, I thought you said you never had a girlfriend before,” she said, pursing her lips and furrowing her brow.
Deku blinked. “I… I haven’t?”
“Then…” Her face was turning red again. “Then h-how-”
“How was he so good?” Mina finished. “Well… I taught him.”
Her hands covered her face again. “W-what?!”
Mina snuggled up a little closer. “Well, you know how Midori has been sneaking out at night?”
Ochako furrowed her brow again. “Yeah?” She felt Deku tense up slightly.
“Turns out…” Mina cooed, walking her fingers over Ochako’s stomach. “He’s been sneaking out to go and let off some stress .”
Ochako blushed harder, her mind once again filled with what she had seen at the hospital.
“And I followed him,” Mina continued. “Caught him in the act, helped him finish and then gave him a little lesson that he applied to you. You were the second, which means as he gets more practice, he'll be even better,” she finished, casual as could be.
“O-oh.” Ochako looked up at the ceiling, too embarrassed to meet the gaze of either of her partners.
“So,” Mina began, poking her slightly, “Miss Uraraka wants to get pregnant, huh?”
Ochako’s mind shorted out for a moment. “I s-said that out loud, did I?”
Mina giggled. “Now, first things first: do not be ashamed of your fetishes. It’s not your fault you’re into what you’re into. I don’t blame you, either. Midori’s quite the catch.”
“I..I…”
“Wanting to get pregnant… it’s kind of natural, right?” Mina postulated. “But again, I have my kinks, you have your kinks. Don’t let anyone shame you for them, alright? They’re natural .”
Deku was silent throughout this entire thing, but she could feel him squirming.
“Oh, but you’re on birth control though, right?” Mina asked, her voice more serious.
“Of course!” Ochako burst out, slightly indignant. “I made an appointment with Recovery girl on the second day of class to make sure my prescription would still work here! And it’s not like I actually want to get pregnant… anytime soon, at least. Not until I’ve graduated and become a hero and all that. I’m not goin’ to throw my dreams and goals away like that.”
“Good,” Mina said with finality. “Did you know that Midori wants to have kids, too?”
Deku froze up at her side.
“And I don’t mean just you know, wants to have kids someday, no no, you see, it’s his quirk. It wants him to have babies,” Mina continued as Deku pulled away slightly. “That’s why he’s been sneaking off and letting off some steam. He's been getting so horny, he has to get relief or he can't function properly."
Ochako gasped. "I… I had no idea. That's awful!"
"That's what I thought," Mina agreed. "It's kind of flattering that he thinks we're so hot that he can't think straight."
'She's not wrong,' Ochako thought as she bit her thumb slightly. 'It is flatterin'...'
She blinked. "But… why has he been leaving for so long? It… I didn't think it takes that long for guys…" She trailed off, saying more than she meant to say.
"That's… actually a good point." Mina sat up and looked at Deku curiously. "Why did it take so long for you to come back?"
Deku began turning green again, his color spreading from his cheeks to cover his whole face. "W-well, you s-see, it…" He trailed off, looking away.
Mina sighed. "Midori, I gave you a handjob, you ate me out and then Ochako rode your face until you were barely coherent. You can tell us anything, I promise."
Deku sighed as well. "O-okay. I…" He squeezed his eyes shut. "I have to uh, do it more than once to get it to calm down. Like… three times or more. It takes a while."
"Oh." Mina paused, blinking. " Oh. "
Deku looked worried. "Is that ba-"
Mina whipped around, grabbing Ochako by the cheeks. " Do you understand how lucky we are?" she asked, her face very close to Ochako's.
"Uh…"
"Most guys can go once, maybe twice before they're done for a while." She pressed her face closer. "He's saying he can go three or more times and I can attest that his refractory period barely exists. It's like he was built for this!"
"Oh. Oh. "
"I'm actually curious," Mina began, backing off of Ochako slightly and turning back to Deku. "What kind of porn do you watch?"
Deku poked his fingers together, muttering under his breath, psyching himself up to continue the conversation. "I… I don't."
"Oh, bullshit," Mina said, rolling her eyes. " Everyone watches porn. Well, everyone with a sex drive, and I know you have one. I watch porn, Ochako watches porn; you don't have to be ashamed or embarrassed."
"It's not that," he muttered. "I'm telling the truth. I know I say this a lot, but it's… it's my quirk. I can't get into it, because my quirk gets all frustrated because I can't have them. They're not real, not to me, you know? All it does is make me more tense and irritates my quirk."
"Oh," Mina said yet again. " Oh. " The pink woman slowly turned to Ochako. "You know what this means, right?"
Ochako gulped. "It's up to us to t-take care of him?"
Mina smiled slyly. "Exactly." She turned back to Deku with a look of fake annoyance on your face. "Why didn't you tell me that you weren't satisfied?"
He flinched slightly, smiling sheepishly. "I-if it makes you feel better, p-pleasuring the two of you has helped a lot, actually. Like, a lot, a lot. Seeing you both so happy… it really made me happy. It satisfied me, calmed my quirk down."
"You're not fully satisfied though, are you?" Mina asked, raising an eyebrow. "I saw you getting hard again before you hid it."
Ochako sputtered. "Hid it?"
"Oh!" Mina's eyes sparkled. "Yeah! Check it, Midori's been transforming his crotch to hide his junk. He doesn't have a dick in dragon mode."
Ochako looked over to see Deku looking hard to his left, averting his gaze as much as he could. "Uh, i-it's fine, Mina. You don't need to-"
"But I want to," she interrupted. "You satisfied me, let me satisfy you." Mina leaned over to Ochako. "Want to help?"
Ochako breathed deeply, steeling herself. She closed her eyes tight and nodded once. Was she really about to do this?
"B-but-"
Mina reached over and touched Deku's leg. "Midori, I want to make you feel good because I love you. I'm not going to pressure you, but I don't want you to hold back for my sake."
Ochako felt her competitive spirit flare along with her desire to take care of Deku. She wasn't going to let Mina be the only one to… do that. "Or m-mine," she muttered. "I w-want to help you."
She took another deep breath and looked up to meet Deku's eyes. "You made me feel amazin', Deku. I want to return the favor!" She could hardly believe the words coming out of her mouth, but she meant them. "It's our fault you're like this, right? Let us help." She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face as she spoke, using all of her willpower to keep herself talking.
"I-if you really want to…" he muttered, looking down and gripping the sheets tightly.
"Yes!" Mina whisper-cheered, whipping her legs over the bed and standing up. "Come on, Ocha."
Ochako followed and Mina kneeled down on the floor and patted the ground next to her. "Now get over here, Midori," the continued, gesturing to the bed in front of her.
She kneeled down next to Mina as Deku nodded and shifted over towards them, his legs hanging over and touching the floor.
He looked nervous as hell, but he was still moving forward. The bright glow in his eyes probably had something to do with it.
“Come on, Midori~” Mina teased. “Don’t you enjoy the sight of your two beautiful girlfriends kneeling down in front of you?”
Deku took a strained breath and gulped, before turning to glance at them. Ochako put on her best seductive look, but she wasn’t very experienced. He looked away again as his breathing picked up in intensity.
She wasn’t going to lie: seeing him react like that to her and Mina made her feel really good.
“Stop teasing us,” Mina whined. “I wanna see it again!”
Ochako’s heart was pounding with equal parts nerves and excitement. Deku slowly stood up, his hands shaking. He reached and cautiously lowered his pajama pants, not looking at either of the women the entire time. It was both maddening and adorable how slowly he was going.
“I uh, see what you mean,” Ochako mumbled to Mina as Deku’s scales came into view.
“ Midori …” she scolded, putting her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest.
Ochako was suddenly hit by a wave of guilt. “W-wait, actually. H-hold on.”
Mina dropped her teasing persona and looked over to her, concern in her eyes. “Are we going too fast? Do you not want to do this?”
Ochako shook her head. “N-no, nothing like that.” She looked up at Deku and then averted her eyes again. “I just… I need to come clean about something.”
“Oh… Is this about the hospital?” Mina asked.
“Y-yeah.” Ochako looked up at Deku again, who was looking incredibly confused. “D-Deku, when you w-were asleep I… I touched you.”
“Don’t put it like that!” Mina groaned. “Explain.”
“I liked to take naps next to you,” Ochako admitted. “Sometimes, I would take naps o-on you.” She didn’t dare look up at him again. “Once, after I woke up, you, uh, you-”
“You were at full mast,” Mina finished.
“Mina!” Ochako whined.
“What?!”
“You can’t just say that!”
Mina rolled her eyes, even as a small smile tugged at her lips. “Do I need to remind you who just rode-”
“No you don’t!” Ochako squeaked. She took several deep breaths, fanning herself. “Uh, so yeah, Deku, you were, uh, yeah, and I… I… IthoughtitwasadreamsoItoucheditI’msosorry!”
“Oh.” That was all Deku said.
“I’m so sorry,” she repeated.
“I… thought that was a dream,” he said softly. “A really nice dream.” Her eyes went wide. “Did you… did you fall asleep with your hair in my face?”
Ochako looked up, stunned out of her embarrassment. “Y-yeah, my hair got in your face while I slept or something.”
Deku looked away. “S-so it was real…”
Mina cooed. “Aw, the smell of your hair turned him on, even in a coma. That’s kinda romantic… I think.”
“Look, Ochako,” Deku began, chuckling awkwardly. “I f-forgive you. Don’t worry about it, okay? But uh, thanks for telling me.”
"You two are so wholesome it's unbelievable," Mina huffed, crossing her arms but smirking slightly.
"Mina…" Ochako said softly.
"Oh, you know I love it," Mina admitted. "But now that that's out of the way…" She looked up at Deku with a smirk.
" Please let me see it ?" Mina's voice was husky and full of desire. The sudden change took Ochako aback for a moment.
The effect on Deku was immediate. He blinked slowly, the glow brightening as he breathed deeply. As he exhaled, his scales began to shrink away, creeping up his legs and towards his center. The anticipation was causing her mouth to dry up and she instinctively licked her lips.
Eventually, painfully slowly, his length began to form, growing out as the scales receded. Ochako felt her jaw open slightly.
She had seen it covered before, but seeing it in all its glory in front of her was something else. It was… wow.
“It’s something else, right?” Mina muttered knowingly.
Ochako gulped and nodded. She was pretty sure she could get her hand around that thing, but it would certainly take more than a couple hands to cover up regardless. Ochako had never seen anything like it… and to think it was there for her was almost too much.
She had discovered her pregnancy fetish several years ago during some self-exploration on the internet, but this was the first time she really knew what she wanted to use. This… thing out of her dreams attached to the man of her dreams…
Between this and the way he had sent her to heaven earlier… it left her speechless. She was in love, she was in lust, she was in everything there and in between.
Mina reached out and grabbed it, even though she didn’t really come close to wrapping around it. Her mind was filled with fantasizing how it would feel stretching her out and hitting all of her spots like his tongue had.
She felt Mina reach down and gently grab her hand before slowly dragging it toward the hypnotizing obelisk in front of her. Ochako hesitated, pulling back for a moment before continuing under her own power.
She could feel the heat flowing off it before her fingers touched and the smell began to dominate the air. Her brain began shutting off her perception outside of the task in front of her as she felt his musk began to fill her mind.
Finally, her fingers touched, except for her pinky, and everything suddenly became so much more real. Her fingers wrapped around, but just barely; just what was she getting herself into? She was helping boyfriend like he had helped her. She had feared that she would feel dirty or scandalized or wrong , but everything just felt right about it because it was Deku. Deku and Mina.
Mina’s calm voice broke her out of her trance. “Alright, now move your hand.” Mina stroked down slowly and smoothly, as an example for her.
Ochako nodded, feeling her competitive spirit burn a little brighter as she set her mind on making Deku feel good.
Their two hands fit comfortably on his length, allowing the two of them to move with ease. Her heart only beat faster and her confidence only grew as Deku squirmed slightly under their grip and began to breathe harder.
“Good, good,” Mina praised her softly. “You’re a quick learner. You can’t be rough on the skin. How do those finger pads feel, Izuku?”
His answer was hissing between his teeth and throwing his head back in apparent pleasure.
“I’ll take that as a ‘very good’,” Mina said seductively. Ochako felt… proud that she got a reaction like that out of him.
“Now, don’t forget these,” Mina said calmly, continuing her lesson. She reached underneath and began running her fingers along the twin orbs hanging there, causing Deku to twitch in her hand.
They certainly… matched the rest of him. They were bigger than anything she had ever seen before in any of the videos she watched; each one was roughly comparable to his impressive girth.
“Come on, don’t be shy,” she encouraged, “there’s one for you, too.”
Ochako reached her other hand out slowly. The heat down there was much more intense than from his exposed length and the smell was almost overpowering. The scent was something incredible, manly and oppressive, but so undeniably ‘Deku’. She cupped the orb that Mina wasn’t, rolling it gently in her palm. She felt its weight and its size. ‘Oh, the things he could do to me with this thing,’ she thought as she ran her fingers down his unbending length, ‘and then these would give me the endin’ I want.’
Mina continued the lesson. “That’s it, give them a little attention but be gentle. They’re very sensitive, nothing kills a mood faster than squeezing one of them too hard, believe me. See how he’s squirming? That means we’re doing good.”
Deku fell backwards onto the bed, propping himself up on his elbows again as he hissed louder. She felt his length twitch in her hand, filling her with more confidence and pride.
Their stroking continued, becoming faster as they synced up and formed a rhythm. Mina showed Ochako how to give the tip some attention as well, causing Deku to shift more and more under their assault, even putting one hand over his face to try and contain himself. It was so sublimely satisfying to watch him squirm.
He began twitching more frequently and his hips even thrust forward a small amount a few times, chasing after the contact of their hands.
“And now, watch this…” Mina almost whispered, her voice full of lust. Ochako nearly gasped as Mina’s mouth opened and her tongue extended forward, giving the tip of Deku’s length a single, sensual lick.
He twitched hard in their hands and inhaled sharply. “M-Mina!” he hissed through grit teeth.
Mina winked at Ochako as she began planting a few more small kisses on his head, interspersed with more slow licks. The whole while, the two of them were continuing their massage.
His twitches became more frequent and more intense as he began to grunt softly. Ochako had a good idea what that meant.
“T-towel-” he muttered.
“Oh no, not this time,” Mina retorted.
“Wha-” His confusion was cut short as she reached underneath with one hand and gave a small, gentle but firm squeeze while she took the head of his length into her mouth, wrapping her lips around it tightly.
Ochako was actually impressed she got it inside her mouth, subconsciously feeling her own mouth with her tongue, imagining it was her in that position.
Deku let out what amounted to a low roar as Ochako felt his shaft bulge in her fingers and his orbs tense underneath.
Pulse after pulse pounded through Deku as Mina held firm. Ochako’s jaw dropped and her eyes went wide as Mina’s own eyes rolled back slowly in her head and her eyelids fluttered. She looked almost… intoxicated with pleasure.
Mina’s throat was moving, swallowing as Deku continued his orgasm. Ochako was getting a little nervous; the videos she had watched, the guys were normally done by now. Just what kind of beast was Deku?
Mina’s cheeks bulged the slightest amount as she stopped swallowing. Deku was panting for air, a few more twitches and bulges travelling erratically through him as he finished. The pink woman’s eyes slowly opened as her own chest rose and fell heavily.
She pulled back with a faint, theatrical ‘pop’ as she smacked her lips together. She looked over at Ochako with half-lidded eyes and beckoned her over with a finger as she opened her mouth slightly, showing a thick white liquid on her tongue.
Ochako was frozen for a moment as her mind short-circuited again, but then, with Mina’s lips no longer keeping it contained, the smell began to fill the air. She was shaken back awake and moved slowly towards Mina, half out of desire and half out of sheer curiosity.
Mina’s hand reached out and slowly cupped Ochako’s head, bringing her in for a kiss.
Their lips locked and their tongues touched, giving Ochako a taste of Deku she had only ever dreamed about, and even then only a few times.
The taste was… hard to describe, but she could say that she loved it. Maybe it was just because it was his, or maybe because she was so worked up, but she couldn’t deny how much she was enjoying the taste of it mixing with Mina’s tongue.
Mina pulled her tongue back slowly, leaving the gift with Ochako as she reached a finger up to close Ochako’s mouth. She understood, swallowing the small amount left behind; a shiver ran up her spine out of the sheer sensuality and lasciviousness.
Ochako smiled nervously down at Mina, who was grinning proudly back at her. “You go, girl,” the shorter woman whispered, running a hand through Ochako’s hair.
The two of them turned to look at Deku, who was staring down at them with wide eyes… and at ‘full mast’.
Ochako blinked. “But wait, I thought…”
“What did I say?” Mina sighed.
Deku gasped slightly and rapidly activated his quirk, giving Ochako and Mina a very strange show as he almost instantly vanished, replacing himself with scales and plates. “S-sorry about that. You two were… amazing.” He still sounded a little out of breath. “A-and don’t worry,” he began again, looking at Mina’s slightly frustrated expression. “I’m good now, I promise. I’m 100% calm. More than I normally ever am, in fact. This was… unbelievable.”
“But you’re still hard,” Mina countered.
“Yeah, w-well, that happens,” Deku explained. “I normally only need two-to-three to be good to go, but I can go for more. After helping you two out, I am totally satisfied. I promise.”
‘Go for more?’ Ochako thought. Mina was obviously wondering the same thing as she turned her vision and locked eyes with her.
Deku didn’t have any doubt in his voice and the glow in his eyes had faded considerably. The women decided he was telling the truth and nodded to each other. Deku rapidly pulled his pants back up as they stood and climbed back onto the bed.
“Thanks for helping me,” Ochako said to Mina as they cuddled up onto Deku’s sides.
Mina smiled kindly. “No problem. It’s my responsibility to teach you both, yeah?”
“You seemed pretty confident,” Ochako responded softly.
“Really? Guess I’m good at faking it.”
“Wait, what?” Ochako and Deku asked at the same time.
Mina laughed awkwardly. “I was horrendously nervous the entire time. I’m not super experienced or anything, you know? I’ve done some stuff, but not a whole lot.”
Deku matched her laugh. “Compared to Ochako and me…”
Mina smiled. “I’m just glad I could help you both have a good first experience.”
Deku looked over to Ochako and jerked his head towards Mina. She got the idea.
Ochako rolled over Deku and Mina, putting the pink woman firmly in the middle. They both leaned down and planted a kiss on the shorter woman, causing her to mewl happily.
“I love you, Mina,” Deku whispered into her hear, planting another kiss on her head.
“I love you, too,” Ochako added, “thank you for everything.”
Mina was absolutely beaming and her eyes were the tiniest bit wet. “I love you both, too. Can we stay in bed for a while? Let’s have a nice, lazy day.”
Deku and Ochako nodded as they cuddled up even tighter against her under the early morning glow.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Now on with the show!
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Katsuki finished his late breakfast quietly, not disturbing the calm that was permeating the common room of the dorm. About half the class was downstairs, eating or just finishing up; it seems Katsuki wasn’t the only one to sleep in today.
He kept thinking about his loss yesterday. It was his fault for underestimating what Uraraka could do, simple as that. He wasn’t upset or bitter; rather, he was thinking about his loss to see how he could do better next time.
That’s what he’d always done whenever he was beaten: get better. It would be impossible to count how many times Izuku had handed him his ass over the years, but it was about the same number of times he had kicked Izuku’s ass. That didn’t count all the times Uncle Hisashi put him in the dirt during sparring matches.
No, he was used to losing. It meant that he had something to improve on, which meant he had a clear path forward. It would honestly be a problem if he ever stopped losing; he might lose track of what he needed to work on.
That’s why he needed to go to UA. He needed people like Izuku, Uraraka, Uptown, Icyhot, and everyone else around to keep pushing him forward. He used to think some people were beneath him, but Stormclaw had taught him that everyone has something to teach, even if they don’t know it.
He just got a little frustrated trying to find what that something was sometimes.
Regardless, the thing he prided himself most on was his strength. He would learn from people, but he wouldn’t take handouts. He would take help, but not charity. Even if the person felt he had ‘earned it’, he usually rejected any gifts given. Katsuki lived a simple life; it kept him focused.
That was the idea, anyway. His life was often complicated by other people, which is why he limited the number of people in his life. He just sometimes wished his best friend wasn’t such a trouble magnet.
A massive crash echoed from upstairs, like a door slamming.
Katsuki sighed. Right on time.
He heard stomping from the staircase, like someone taking the steps three at a time, followed by another door slamming.
“Uh… who is that?” Shitty-Hair asked.
“Or what ?” Sparkplug added.
“Shut up,” Katsuki huffed. “It’s not a damn animal.”
Pounding echoed from above, like someone knocking on a door hard enough to break wood.
“Did someone break in?” Tape-Arms asked. “Should we get Aizawa?”
Katsuki scoffed. “Just wait.”
A window opened up on the third floor and there was a sudden crash from outside the front door. Like clockwork, the door flew open and Izuku stomped in, his eyes wide and blazing while his horns inched back across his head. He was shirtless, his wings furled behind him, twitching.
“Where is Iida? ” he demanded.
Katsuki knew this was coming. It was just a matter of time until Izuku checked his phone.
The rest of the class were freaking out slightly; it was up to Katsuki to keep things under control.
Katsuki moved closer to him. “He’s not here.”
“What?”
Shitty-Hair was brave enough to step forward towards the snarling man. “Hadou said that he took her aside and told her that he had a family issue come up and he had to leave. As far as I know, he never came back.”
“Whe-”
“You know we don’t know that,” Katsuki snapped, interrupting him. “You’re just going to have to wait.”
Izuku snarled, scales flashing and fading across his face. Several of their classmates recoiled slightly.
“What’s going on?” Sparkplug asked. “Something wrong with Iida?”
Suddenly the door to the stairs flew open as Uraraka and Ashido sprinted into the room, panting slightly.
“Oi, is this your dog?” Katsuki called out, rolling his eyes. “He’s been growling at me.”
Izuku’s anger faded slightly as he blinked in confusion. He looked over at the women and the glow in his eyes immediately faded a little. Izuku seemed to realize what was going on and shook his head, taking a deep breath and letting his wings vanish.
“Uh, sorry about that,” he muttered, looking embarrassed.
Uraraka hurried up to him, Ashido hot on her heels. “What was that, Deku? You can’t just run off and scare us like that!”
He flinched. “S-sorry, I was just worried about Iida.”
Ashido walked up and shoved his shirt into his hands. “Why?”
“Ingenium was Stain’s latest victim,” Katsuki explained.
“The hero killer?” Jacks asked.
“Oh, I heard about that,” Sparkplug began. “I mean, that sucks, but why are you worried about Iida. Was he a big fan of Ingenium or something?”
Katsuki resisted the urge to put his palm through his own face.
Izuku sighed. “You could say that,” he said grimly, his voice ringing out over the otherwise silent hall. “Ingenium was one of the most important things in his life. Ingenium was his everything, he was who he aspired to be.”
There was a pause.
Izuku looked up, his eyes staring into the souls of the rest of them as he scanned the room. “I suppose it’s not exactly common knowledge, most people don’t know the actual names of heroes.” The rest of the class could feel the hammer falling. “Ingenium’s name is Tensei Iida and he’s our classmate’s older brother.”
There was a collective gasp from a good half-dozen students.
Katsuki’s eyebrow twitched. “How did you all not know that?!” he shouted. “They have almost the same quirk and his damn costume looks almost identical!”
“Kacchan, come on.”
Sparkplug laughed awkwardly. “Besides, it’s not like everyone who has a similar quirk is related, right? I mean, Todoroki isn’t related to Endeavor, right?”
About four people began to speak before the blonde idiot spoke again. “Joke! That was a joke!”
“Is now really the time for that?” Jacks chastised him, pointing at him with her quirk accusingly. “Be more sensitive, idiot!”
“Jeeze, sorry, sorry,” he mumbled. “Just trying to lighten the mood…”
“I think it’s super manly to be that worried about Iida,” Shitty-Hair cheered, trying to distract people from glaring at the blonde. “But like Bakubro said, we can’t do anything for him. We just gotta wait for him to get back.”
Izuku sighed again. “You’re right, you’re right.”
“I don’t have the energy for this,” Katsuki sighed. “I’m going back to bed.”
He began to walk back towards the elevator, glancing at Izuku as he did so.
He gave him their ‘you okay?’ look.
Izuku nodded slightly, the corner of his mouth turning up.
The elevator doors closed behind Katsuki as he headed back upstairs, looking forward to a quiet day.
Izuku and his girlfriends had settled onto a couch on the far side of the common room after lunch, content to relax the day away. Ochako was leaning on him slightly while Mina was stretched across their laps with Izuku petting her hair again.
He really wanted to relax, but he still had so much on his mind. Even after Ochako and Mina had helped to ‘calm’ his quirk, his instincts were still grumbling. He was thinking about Iida, about Momo, about Pony, about himself. The festival had really put a lot of strain on his hoard.
However, he knew if he weathered the storm, he and his hoard would come out stronger, and that was the point of UA, right?
Izuku noticed that Mina had put her phone down and was looking towards the far side of the room. He followed her vision, noticing she was looking at their shortest classmate. He cocked an eyebrow; what did Mineta do now?
“You know,” she began softly so nobody else could hear but the three of them, “I’ve been thinking. Remember the first day of class? The quirk assessment test?”
Ochako put her phone down too. “What about it?”
Mina kicked her feet a little. “Midori, remember when Mineta was ogling Ochako? You got all upset—I know now it was because of your instincts—and I was pretty disgusted by it, too.”
“Yeah?” he answered, unsure where she was going with it.
She turned up to look at him. “Well… weren’t we kinda doing the same thing?”
“I…” Izuku thought for a moment. “I guess we were, yeah.”
Mina rolled back over. “What makes it okay when we look at Ocha like that but not when he does it?”
“We-” He stopped himself. “Nothing, I guess.”
Well, that felt bad.
Izuku sighed. “I kinda have an excuse in that my quirk had already ‘claimed’ her. But I’m supposed to be better than that. We really were leering at her just as bad, weren’t we?”
Ochako was sitting there silently, listening with a concerned look.
Mina flipped over again and looked up at him. “The stuff he did in the locker room was over the line, obviously, not to mention the perverted remarks he makes when you’re not around.”
Izuku’s eyebrow twitched. “The what ?”
“Oh hush, we can take care of ourselves,” Mina said dismissively as she reached up and began to play with his hair. “But yeah, we shouldn’t really get on him for staring at all the hot women in this class when all of us—including you, Ocha—are staring at them just as much. Hormones are no fun for anybody, you know?”
Izuku huffed. “You’re right. I’ll… try and be more lenient on his looking. The other stuff though…”
“Oh yeah, go ahead and keep working on that,” Mina said, rolling her eyes as she wrapped a lock of his hair around one of his horns. “The day I don’t have to sigh because that boy has said something lecherous to me or one of the other girls will be a good day.”
Ochako spoke up, clearly eager to change the subject. “We should do something with these days off we have.”
“Like a date?” Mina asked.
“Y-yeah, something like that.”
“We could go shopping,” Mina suggested.
Ochako averted her eyes. “I… I don’t have the money for that.” She noticed Izuku beginning to open his mouth. “And I don’t want handouts. We can do stuff that doesn't cost money.”
Izuku thought for a moment. “That actually reminds me. My mother wants you two to come over for dinner on Saturday. She said something about you helping her cook?” He looked down to Mina.
The woman on his lap smiled wide, her eyes lighting up. “Oh, yeah! She invited me over when you were in that coma. I’m sure Ochako can come, too.”
“I’ll ask, but I’m sure you’re right,” Izuku agreed. “But for doing something… there’s a really good hiking trail I know of a little bit outside of town. We could do that.”
“We could go camping!” Mina immediately suggested, sitting up in his lap. “The weather is supposed to be good this week, why not?”
Izuku scratched his chin. “Hmm, I want to be at the festival on Thursday to watch Hadou compete, but we could do tomorrow night? We’d have to leave pretty early that morning so I could get back to watch, but that could work. Ochako?”
She looked halfway between eager and nervous. “I’d love to, but I don’t have any camping gear.”
“I have a tent,” Izuku began, going over what he needed in his head. “I’ve got stuff to make food, a spare backpack you could borrow, oh, and a sleeping bag, of course. The only thing I don’t have is some hiking shoes for you.”
Mina tapped him on the nose. “First of all, we probably only need two sleeping bags if we zip them together. And as for shoes, we could see if Yaomomo could make you some.”
At that moment, the elevator dinged.
“Oh, speak of the devil,” Mina remarked.
Mo stepped out of the elevator, her gaze cool and distant as she approached the kitchen. She had missed the lunch that Izuku and Satou had made, but there were still some leftovers. He had made a plate for her, of course, but he wasn’t entirely surprised when she hadn’t come down to grab it.
Depressed.
‘I know.’ That familiar dull ache had returned.
Mo picked up the plate of food and put it in the microwave, slowly pressing the buttons and watching it spin dispassionately.
Loss of confidence.
‘I know .’ His head began to pound.
She picked up the plate, stopping the microwave a second before it finished and turning to walk back to the elevator. The doors closed without Momo saying a word or making eye contact with anyone the entire time.
Hurting. Mine. Hurting. Fix. HURTING.
Izuku hissed and grabbed his head. ‘Shut up ! I know!’
His head had been pounding most of the previous day, but with the events to both distract and tire him out, it had been mostly manageable… save for that one little incident before his match with Shouto.
That had almost been really bad, but then… then Momo came along like a guardian angel sent from on high to save him.
MINE. FIX.
He flinched, clutching his head with both hands and clenching his teeth.
“Deku!” Her voice caused his headache to subside slightly as his quirk stopped to listen. “Deku, are you alright?”
"I'm f-fine," he managed to hiss between his teeth as he forced a smile. "It's nothing."
"I thought we talked about lying, Midori," Mina scolded. "Hmmm… this is about Yaomomo, isn't it?"
Izuku looked away. "N-no."
Ochako put a hand on his thigh. "Then why did your eyes start glowing the moment she showed up? Your quirk is yelling at you to do something, talk to us."
“Oh!” Mina interrupted, before Izuku could talk. “I bet his quirk is upset because she’s been down ever since she lost.”
Ochako nodded. “You can’t stand to see any of us sad, can you?” She smiled. “That’s so you.”
Mina raised an eyebrow. “Well, what’re you waiting for? You’ve got a knack for making people feel better; go talk to her!”
“I don’t know what I would even say to her,” he muttered, leaning his head back onto the couch.
Ochako put her head on his shoulder. “I don’t believe that for a second. Even if it was true, I’m sure you’d think of something. I already tried to talk to her, but she didn’t seem to want to discuss it, at least not with me.”
Mina made a noise of agreement in his lap. “She doesn’t want to talk about it, but I think she needs to. And you are the one to do it. You have a connection to her that none of us have. Especially after she calmed you down and all.”
Ochako froze. “Wait, what?”
“Oh, right,” Mina began, “kinda forgot about that. Forgot about a lot actually. Uh, first things first: Midori, most people in class wanted to come down and check on you after your match against Todoroki, but Hadou limited us to not crowd you.”
Izuku blinked as his quirk hummed happily, relieving some of the pressure in his head. “Oh. That’s really nice of them.”
“And I’m supposed to tell Yaomomo about that…” Mina trailed off, counting a few things on her fingers. “But yeah, Ochako, Big-Mean-and-Green here had another episode .”
“What?” Ochako gasped. “Why?”
“I… can’t tell you,” Izuku muttered. “It’s a secret, sorry.” He saw them begin to protest. “It’s not my secret. I would tell you if it was,” he lied. “It’s not my place to share.”
Ochako and Mina looked at each other and sighed. “If you say so,” the brunette said softly. “Can you at least tell us what happened?”
“Well, I was having another freakout like I did at the battle trial,” he explained. “I had managed to stagger off to a backroom, but I was tearing it up. My instincts were screaming at me, but then I uh, heard a voice cut through the noise.”
Ochako gasped again. “Yaomomo?”
Izuku nodded. “She, uh, can do the same thing you both can,” he admitted.
“And get this,” Mina interrupted. “She called him ‘Zu’. How cute is that ?”
“About as cute as ‘Izuchan’,” Ochako added with a giggle.
Izuku groaned.
“So, wait,” Ochako began, her brow furrowing. “It’s gotta be the nicknames, right? Deku, Midori, Zu… That’s gotta be what lets us calm you down.”
“It’s not that simple,” Izuku argued. “Kacchan has plenty of nicknames for me, but he doesn’t have the same effect that the two—three, I mean—of you have on me.”
“Maybe it’s cause we’re girls?” Mina postulated.
Izuku shook his head. “Ryuko calls me nicknames too, that’s not it.”
“Why do you have so many nicknames?” Ochako wondered aloud.
“Wait.” Mina sat up, turning around in Ochako’s lap to look at him. “Does it only work for people you’ve got the hots for?”
Ochako’s eyes went wide as the two women looked at each other. “If that’s true, that means…”
“Yaomomo…” Mina finished, both of them slowly turning back to face him.
Izuku stood up from the couch as fast as reasonably possible and hurried off to the kitchen. “I-I’ll go talk to Mo, s-see you later.”
He mentally cursed himself for using her nickname. Izuku quickly began looking through the cabinets in the kitchen for what he needed. If he was going to talk to her, he had an idea how to best do it.
Even as he searched, he poured a little of his quirk into his hearing, listening to his girlfriends discreetly.
“Mo?” Mina said. “God, that’s just as cute.”
Ochako giggled. “Zu and Mo. I like it.”
“But yeah, do you think Midori’s got a crush on Yaomomo?”
“Maybe,” Ochako answered. “It would make sense, why we can calm him down but others can’t. Maybe they’ve had a secret crush on each other for years.”
Mina squealed a bit as Izuku’s stomach dropped. “Oooh, wouldn’t that be romantic?”
Sure, Izuku had a bit of a crush on Momo when they were younger, but it was entirely unrequited. Momo was just being nice to him when they hung out, that’s all.
“I mean, you’ve got a crush on her, too,” Mina teased, “so I know you’d be happy about it.”
It was very hard for Izuku to not drop what he was holding.
“Mina!” Ochako scolded. “You c-can’t just say that!”
“Oh, boo. Look at me in the eyes and deny it,” Mina challenged.
“F-fine. You win. I do have a c-crush on her.” Ochako sighed. “After we trained together last week, it’s only gotten worse, too.”
“Ugh, same. I told you about my training with her, right?”
Ochako laughed. “Yeah, you did. I hope Deku can make her feel better, she doesn’t deserve to be sad.”
“Think how nice it would be to add her to our cuddle piles,” Mina wondered dreamily. “That sweetheart deserves all the hugs in the world and I want to give them to her.”
Ochako sighed again. “S-same.”
Izuku could feel his cheeks heating up. He shut his quirk off, even though it caused his headache to intensify. He didn’t want to hear anymore, didn’t know if he could handle hearing anymore.
He instead decided to focus on the task at hand, even as his quirk rumbled impatiently.
‘Positive outlets, Izuku. Positive outlets.'
Kyouka finally wandered downstairs after spending most of the day sleeping. The elevator door closed as she walked past them and she was barely able to catch a glimpse of Midoriya holding something in his hands before they shut entirely.
“Kyouka! Psst!”
She turned to her right at the whisper, so faint that only she could have heard it. Pony was sitting on a couch near the stairs with a nervous look in her eyes. Raising an eyebrow, she walked over and sat down next to the American, hoping everything was alright.
Pony looked around once, making sure there was nobody immediately near them. “You got here at good time. Izzy just leave.”
“Yeah?” Kyouka grew a small smile. Pony’s Japanese was getting better, but there was something endearing about her broken speech. Her eagerness only made it more adorable.
“Izzy was on couch with Ochako and Mina. Ochako leaning against him, Mina on both laps.” Pony was talking like she was some sort of spy relaying classified information.
Kyouka’s eyes widened. “You think they’re both dating him? It makes sense, they’re always hanging around him.” She glanced over at the couch on the far side of the room, where Mina was reclining on Ochako’s lap, the two of them talking quietly.
“We should ask,” Pony suggested directly.
“What?!” Kyouka hissed, her face reddening. “We can’t just ask !”
Pony tilted her head. “Why not?” God, she was cute.
She took a deep breath. “I mean… I guess we could. ”
“We should,” Pony said firmly. “I want to, but still not good at Japanese.”
Kyouka blinked. She had to admit, to come to another country that spoke an entirely different language to go to school… it was pretty badass, especially with how well Pony was handling it. How could she back down when the fish out of water was so determined to go forward? “Alright, let’s go. What’s the worst that could happen?”
The two nodded and walked over to the far side of the room. Ochako and Mina saw them approaching, stopping their conversation and smiling kindly at them.
“Hey!” Ochako greeted them warmly.
“What’s up?” Mina followed.
Pony nudged Kyouka slightly with her hooved foot. “I got a question to ask,” she began simply.
“‘Kay,” Mina responded, sitting up with a smile. “Shoot!”
“Are… are you both dating Midoriya?”
Ochako’s face began to redden. Mina, on the other hand, just smiled wider. “Yep!”
Kyouka’s brow furrowed. “O-oh.”
Mina raised an eyebrow curiously. “What?”
“I told you we just ask,” Pony muttered.
Kyouka smirked nervously, trying to keep her blush from her face. “I was just expecting you to be more resistant about telling us, that’s all. We had basically already figured it out.”
Mina looked confused. “I mean, it’s not a secret or anything. The three of us are in a polyamorous relationship.”
“It’s not a secret?” Kyouka cocked her hip. “Mina, I would have expected you to tell all of us the moment you got a boyfriend.”
“She’s got you there,” Ochako said to the woman on her lap… her girlfriend.
Mina rolled her eyes. “Midori asked me to not go tell everyone. I agreed, but told him that I wasn’t going to lie to people. He just doesn’t want a lot of attention drawn to us.”
“I feel the same way,” Ochako mumbled, her blush deepening.
Kyouka nodded approvingly. “Not making a big deal of it but standing by it without shame. Respect.”
Mina’s smile grew cruel and teasing quicker than should have been possible. “You should talk to Midori about it. I know you’ve got a crush on him and all. We’re not opposed to adding more.”
Kyouka’s cool persona cracked and shattered as her face lit up. “I—I do not!” she hissed, her jacks coiling up like snakes ready to strike.
“Uh huh,” Mina responded, rolling her eyes.
“What you mean, ‘adding more’?” Pony asked curiously. Her lack of blush probably meant that most of the conversation was going over her head.
Right?
“Well, Pony,” Mina began, talking a little slower. “If Ochako, Midori and I all agree, we can add more to the relationship. We’re in a closed relationship, but the door isn’t locked.”
Pony nodded. “I see. That’s very interesting.” She turned to Kyouka, looking up at her with her big eyes. “So if Kyouka has crush on Izzy and he has crush, and if she has crush on the two and you have crush back, then all could date?”
Kyouka was too stunned to speak; vague sputtering escaped her throat instead of any actual words. She desperately tried to keep her cool, but images of her being smothered in hugs between the three of them kept sprouting up as fast as she could dismiss them.
Mina nodded. “Exactly. The same goes for you.”
Pony seemed taken aback, like she hadn’t even considered the idea. “I—I think I no understand you right.”
Kyouka put one of her jacks in her mouth and bit on it hard enough to shock herself back to reality. “H-hey, I haven’t had lunch, I’m gonna go… do… that…” She turned and walked off to the kitchen, doing her best to resist the urge to sprint away.
Pony simply turned away as well, a look of genuine confusion on her face as she walked to the elevator and headed back upstairs.
Ochako and Mina exchanged looks that Kyouka couldn’t exactly read and then went back to talking.
Momo was sitting in her room, trying to read one of her favorite romance novels. Unfortunately, she wasn’t having much luck. Every time she tried to read a page, her eyes would glaze over and her mind would drift back to her failure the previous day.
She knew locking herself in her room was bad for her mental state, but she couldn't bring herself to leave. She couldn’t bring herself to go out and see the rest of her class.
They all had looked up to her, beyond just her vice representative position. She had emerged as a true leader in 1-A… only to let them all down.
She tried to tell herself that Todoroki was an unbelievable opponent, one that she did very well against considering the circumstances, but in its clouded state, her mind only twisted that attempt at logic.
If Todoroki was so powerful, so unbeatable, why was she even here? Why did she deserve to be at UA when people like him and Bakugou and Ochako and Z-
She flinched as there came a sudden knocking on her door, breaking her out of her thoughts. As she listened, something deep within her stirred as there was something… familiar in the rhythm.
Something that reminded her of far off times.
Suddenly, she was eleven again, greeting guests at her family mansion, waiting for her friend to show up.
“Go away,” she groaned from her bed, rolling to her other side.
“But, Madam, your tea will get cold!” he called from the other side of the door with an exaggeratedly posh accent.
A part of her wanted to laugh like she used to, while the other just wanted to be alone.
“Madam? Should I bring you something else? Maybe some caviar? ” He exaggerated the accent even more at the end, testing her resolve to stay silent.
How was something so childish making her feel this way?
Maybe… maybe she should play along. Like the old times. Just this once.
“...Tea would be wonderful, Jeeves, ” she responded, sitting up on her bed as she called him with the silly name he had given himself back in the day. “Do come in, the door isn’t locked.”
Zu pushed the door open with his back, carrying a tray with a teapot and a teacup, as he had announced. “Wonderful to see you, madam. How was your day?” He carried himself in a refined manner as exaggerated as his accent.
She was honestly surprised he could still pull the whole act off after all these years.
“Terrible, Jeeves, just terrible .” She leaned onto her arms her mood began to climb ever so slowly. “They told me there weren’t any new gold-infused diamonds I could buy, can you believe that?”
“Oh my heavens!” He set the tray to her desk. “That is truly terrible!” He picked up the pot and started pouring it to the cup, making a show out of it. A shadow of a smile twitched on Momo’s face as she watched him pour the liquid in a way no sensible human would. “Would you wish to go club some seals? It may improve your mood, if I may be so bold.”
“Yes, Jeeves, I would love that.” She played along, flicking her loose hair in-character. “Would you kindly fuel my private jet that runs on the blood of orphans?”
“Gladly, madam. It will be my pleasure!” He passed her the cup of tea to her, not a single drop spilled even with his earlier stunt. “Until I can acquire the bodies would you like a cup of your favorite tea?”
“I would, thank you, Jeeves.” She took the cup in her hands, smiling softly at him before taking a sip.
The brand she loved, brewed the way she loved, and delivered the way she loved.
She sighed contently, forgetting her worries and failures for a moment as she remembered all the good memories she had with Zu.
After a long, comfortable silence, she looked up from her tea. “Thank you, Zu… I needed that.” She smiled back at him, her features brightening as her mood rose.
He smiled back in return, his pearly white fangs glinting in the afternoon light. “There’s that smile I missed.”
A beat passed between them, as they both seemed to notice just how affectionately they were looking at each other.
They both averted their gaze started blushing softly, becoming more and more flustered with each passing second.
‘Do I…’ Momo stole a glance back at the boy blushing a beautiful green in front of her, ‘...D-does he?’
His eyes were glowing brightly as they darted back and forth, giving her the distinct impression he was thinking hard about something, or perhaps to something.
He breathed out for a second, attempting to calm himself down. “Mind if I sit here?” He gestured at her bed, getting a swift nod in reply. “Please talk to me frankly; are you alright?”
“I’m… better, thanks to you.” She sighed again. “Just like old times.”
“I… I meant it, you know? I really did miss seeing you smile like that. I guess it was kind of a selfish reason to help, honestly.” He shrugged sheepishly, earning another chuckle from Momo.
“I’m sorry you had to see me like this,” she offered sadly. “I’m all sorts of a mess right now.”
“Hey, I’ve seen worse,” he shot back. “Usually only on a mirror, though.”
She laughed again. Genuine, grinning laughter.
The laugh faded but her smile didn’t, at least not for a little while. Another comfortable silence hung in the air before she spoke again quietly. “You’ve always known how to make me laugh.”
Zu jokingly shrugged. “Call it a talent.” His smile faded slowly into a more serious expression.“You know you shouldn’t lock yourself away like this.”
“I… do know that, yes. It’s just that… after my failu—”
He was facing her, his eyes blazing and his face only inches from hers as his hands gripped her shoulders gently. “You didn’t fail . You lost .” He raised a finger up. “I know you are more than smart enough to know the difference.”
She had told herself that a hundred times, but hearing it from someone else, hearing it from him… it began to finally sink in.
He smiled softly. “Now you know what not to do. Every loss, every ‘failure’... that’s an opportunity to learn and do better.” He leaned back. “And I’ll be the first to admit that I am not looking forward to facing you next year. Todoroki was one thing, but you? No thank you.”
She threw a pillow at him as she laughed again. “After all these years, you’re still the sweet talker, huh?” Her cheeks were hurting from her sustained smile, as if she was out of practice. “All these years and you still know what to say and do.”
He jokingly acted like the pillow nearly knocked him over. “I just do what I think is right and hope it works out in the end!” He peeked over the pillow with a smirk. “I’m just good at faking it.”
She looked down, her smile faltering but not disappearing. “I know I’m not in the same league as you, but thank you.”
Zu scoffed. “That’s not true at all. Remember that evening after the quirk assessment test? When I told Ochako her quirk terrified me?”
Momo nodded slowly.
“Your quirk is just as scary, sorry for not saying it then.” His expression was genuine. Honest. “You may think that Ochako, Todoroki and I are powerhouses, but I can guarantee that you’re up there, too.” He leaned closer again, touching her shoulder. “The moment you lose this self-doubt and fear, you will become something truly terrifying.”
She blinked slowly, her mouth hanging open. “You… you really think so?”
He chuckled. “I can hardly believe you don’t see it yourself. I thank the powers that be every day that they made you a hero and not a villain. We wouldn’t stand a chance. I’ve never heard of something as versatile and useful as ‘Creation’. Mo, you are a brilliant woman with a quirk to match. I genuinely believe that with all of my heart and mind.”
She felt her face heating up and her heart beating faster. Her old feelings, her old childish crush… it was back. She admitted it: it was back. “You’re just saying that,” she muttered, trying weakly to dismiss his praise. Her bleak mood was resisting the joy that wanted to fill her heart.
“Not true.” He looked at her again, his glowing eyes piercing her soul. “And I can prove it.”
Momo recoiled slightly, confused, yet curious.
“I like to be in control,” he began, causing her to perk up immediately.
‘Just like me…’
“But if I had to pick someone to give it up to, that person would be you.”
She laughed once, her eyebrow raising in confusion.
“After our election on the first week, I asked Aizawa for my vote card back. He looked at me suspiciously, but obliged.” Zu reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small sheet of paper, the same paper they had voted on. “I held onto it, waiting for a time to use it.”
She felt her chest tighten. What was he saying?
“You got three votes, Mo. One, I assume was from you. The other, I’m not certain; perhaps Jirou or Pony. The third…” He held out the piece of paper to her.
Momo slowly opened the folded sheet, gasping softly as she revealed her own name.
“That third vote was mine. I believe in you, Mo.”
Her hand trembled slightly. She felt the last shadows of doubt finally burn away. “You… you would trust me this much?”
“Would?” He smiled. “I do trust you that much. You saved my life, Mo. You didn't forget that, did you?”
“Well, no…”
“But hey, I wrote that down before you saved my life.” His expression softened. “I’ve known you for a long time. I know I can count on you.”
Zu reached a finger up and pressed it to her nose gently. “And you’ve never let me down. Especially not at the festival. Do you know how close you got to beating Shouto? I had to nearly hospitalize myself again to do that, and you almost had him down for the count in less than ten seconds. A couple more years at this school… who could stand against you?”
Her arms suddenly felt very empty, but there was another thing she had to get off her chest. “I… Zu, at the USJ, I feel like I need to tell you that uh—” She averted her gaze slightly. “—When you first transformed, I was terrified of you. I doubted you, I thought you were a monster. I quickly learned I was wrong, but—”
“Stop.” Zu’s voice was firm. “I do not hold that against you at all. You were in a high stress situation and I am, admittedly, very frightening, especially when my quirk takes control. I would say ‘I am a monster’, but I’m afraid Ochako or Mina would somehow hear me and start yelling at me. But it’s a little true,” he admitted with a small smile, “my quirk is dangerous if I don’t have control of it. I’m trying my hardest, but I couldn’t do it— can’t do it—without people like Ochako and Mina… and you.”
That was it. Momo reached out and threw her arms around him, bringing him in for a tight hug. She didn’t care that she was pressing her chest into his, she didn’t care that she could feel his muscles. This was a hug of pure affection, joy and gratitude.
“Thank you, Zu. I’m so happy we were put in the same class.”
He returned the hug equally, his arms firm, but gentle. “Me too, Mo. Me too.”
They sat there for a while, their chins hooked over each other’s shoulders while they held each other close. His warmth filled her, seeming to burn away all of her doubts and fears. She never wanted the hug to end, but then…
A low, growling rumble.
Momo and Zu both blinked, pulling back and looking at each other. Her face was red with embarrassment as her stomach growled again.
“Uh, I haven’t had much to eat today,” she admitted softly.
Zu smiled wide again and stood up. “Then I’ll start dinner early. Want to join me?”
She stood up as well, smiling back as she looked down on him. “I will in a moment. I need to take care of something first.”
“Understood,” he said with a nod. He picked up the now-cold tea and headed for the door. “See you soon.”
The door closed behind him and Momo let out a relieved, affectionate sigh. She waited a few moments to give Zu time to walk away before she kneeled down and reached under her bed, pulling out an old, locked briefcase.
She created the key for the lock out of her hand and opened it gently, placing the key with the pile of others just like it inside.
Momo gazed affectionately down at the worn, green plushy sitting in the case for a moment before focusing on her arms, preparing herself to use her quirk.
With a sparkling, multicolored light, a new creation formed in her hands.
She placed the brand-new Zu plushy, complete with his UA uniform, next to her old one and shut the lid.
Momo fastened the lock securely and slid the case under her bed again before standing up and heading for the door, looking forward to another one of Zu’s delicious meals.
Notes:
See you guys next time for the camping trip!
:)
Chapter 40: Nature and Nurture
Summary:
The camping trip.
Notes:
Special thanks to Rushelers on the discord server for pointing out a fairly large mistake I made this chapter regarding dragon lore.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku awoke to the sound of his alarm blaring.
“Today is here! Today is here! Today is here!”
He reached his hand over and swiped on his phone to turn off All Might’s exuberant voice, waking up the brunette sleeping on that side of him in the process.
A few small noises escaped Ochako’s throat as he squirmed awake, her eyes blinking open slowly. She focused as she looked at Izuku, a smile growing across both of their faces.
Izuku whispered. “I lo—”
“Iloveyou,” she rushed out.
Izuku blinked, taken aback. Ochako leaned in and kissed him on the nose. “I won that time.”
He smiled again, rubbing her back with his arm. “It’s not a contest…”
“You’re just a sore loser,” she teased, moving her head down and kissing him slowly on the lips. They remained locked for a time, each of them closing their eyes and opening them only after they broke apart.
“Are you ready for today?” Izuku asked, savoring Ochako’s taste.
Ochako giggled. “I think you should ask Mina.”
He glanced over at the woman snuggled into his left side. She was still fast asleep.
“Mina,” he called out softly. “It’s time to get up.”
The pink woman muttered some rough approximation of human language and buried herself deeper into Izuku’s side.
“Come on, my dad is going to be here in an hour, we gotta get dressed.”
“Five more minutes…” she muttered, muffled by Izuku’s body. “You’re too comfy…”
Waking up with both of his girlfriends always made his quirk happy. As they showed their early morning affection, his instincts always hummed with satisfaction in his head, making sure he started each day off in a good mood.
Izuku lifted his arm around Ochako, rolling over so he was facing Mina fully. He wrapped both his arms around her and pulled her up the bed, causing her to whine quietly.
Her whines stopped when he pressed his lips to hers, kissing her deeply. She moaned softly and began to kiss back, waking up slowly. Izuku began firmly pushing up with his left arm, slowly raising them up into a sitting position. Seemingly instinctively, Mina chased the contact, not wanting to break her lips from his. After several more seconds of kissing, he pulled back and her eyes finally fluttered open.
“Ready to get up?” he asked with a smile.
She nodded dumbly, blinking a few times.
Ochako threw her arms around him from behind, pressing herself into him. “You’re going to spoil her,” she warning jokingly.
“I’m going to spoil both of you,” Izuku corrected, leaning back into the contact as Ochako giggled. After a few seconds of enjoying each other’s warmth, Izuku slowly broke her hug. “We’ve gotta get up or we’re gonna spend all day cuddling.”
Mina leaned forward, trying to hug Izuku before he stopped her. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“Don’t tempt me, foul demon,” Izuku rebutted in a fake-serious tone.
Mina giggled, waking up a little more. “I’ll steal your soul yet, foolish mortal!”
Izuku rolled out of bed and began to change into his clothes for the day. He was simultaneously embarrassed and flattered by the way his girlfriends stopped to watch him pull his shirt off and change out of his pajama pants. After he finished, the women finally began to move and change as well.
Izuku averted his gaze, not wanting to cause them any discomfort.
Mina wasn’t having any of that.
“Midori, you turn around and appreciate us like we appreciated you right this instant,” she demanded.
He jumped a little and gulped before slowly turning around. Ochako was already half changed, buttoning up her shirt as she blushed slightly. His eyes were drawn down, where she wasn’t wearing pants. Izuku had a hard time breaking his vision away from her legs, admiring their tone and length. He couldn't deny that he loved her hips just as much, their width causing a particularly primal part of his quirk to pulse greedily.
He finally managed to look over at Mina, who was smirking at him proudly. She wasn’t wearing anything other than her bra and panties, proudly displaying her impressive bust and healthy thighs. While Ochako’s chest was nothing to scoff at, Mina’s was second only to Mo’s in the class, and while her legs didn’t have the length that Ochako’s had, her hips were almost as wide but made Izuku turn just as green.
Both women had athletic bodies, their arms and shoulders toned, but not overly muscular. Mina held a little more fat around her thighs and backside, but there was no mistaking the strength of her legs. Ochako had more muscle in her long legs, causing her to look both elegant and powerful in equal measure. Between the two of them, Izuku was blessed with two beautifully curvy women, albeit in different ways.
Mine.
"Mmhmm," Mina hummed to Ochako, snapping Izuku out of his trance. "That face. He just wants to eat us up. Look at his eyes glow."
“It’s flatterin’,” Ochako admitted shyly. “I’ve never had anyone look at me like that before you two…”
“What about Mineta?” Mina suggested.
Ochako shuddered. “N-no! This is way different!”
“Really? Why?” Mina cocked her head. Izuku could tell she was playing dumb, trying to get something out of Ochako.
Ochako was too flustered to notice. “W-well, I guess it’s because you two uh, love me? And I-I love you both?”
Mina leaned over and hugged Ochako. “That’s exactly right. You’re making us happy this way, you know?”
“Y-yeah!” Ochako seemed to gain a little of her confidence back. “I like makin’ you two happy! And it feels nice that I can do that just by bein’ here.”
They finished getting dressed in relative silence, enjoying each other’s quiet company in the early morning. The trio headed downstairs as silently as they could, using Ochako’s quirk to prevent their backpacks full of equipment from jangling. Momo had been more than happy to help make the things that the girls needed for the camping trip after the hearty—and fattening—meal that Izuku had made, such as a pair of sturdy hiking boots for Ochako. She even went the extra mile and made sun hats for the two girls, complete with two holes for Mina’s horns to stick out.
Ochako had invited Momo to come with them and, surprisingly, she seemed open to the idea. However, she had to decline as her parents wanted to see her, especially after she had spent the entire of their previous week off at the hospital with Izuku. Katsuki was also unavailable to go, as his parents were flying back that day.
The three of them stepped through the door of their dorm and into the early morning air, the sun just beginning to peek over the horizon. “How long until your dad gets here?” Mina asked.
Izuku leaned back and looked up at the sky with a coy smile. “Oh… any time now.”
Ochako let her quirk go slowly, each of them feeling the weight returning to their backpacks. “Where are we goin’ again?”
“A forest that my dad owns,” Izuku explained. “I grew up playing there.”
“So you must know the place pretty well,” Mina guessed.
Izuku nodded fondly. “Like the back of my hand.”
Mina leaned over to him. “So… what’s the place we’re camping look like?”
“And spoil the surprise?” Izuku responded.
“Oh boo, fine.”
Ochako scratched her head. “Now that I think about it, the gates for UA don’t open for another hour or so. How’s your dad going to get his car in here?”
Izuku smiled wider. “Who said anything about a car?”
“Wait, you don’t mean—”
The beating of wings finally became audible to those who didn’t have a dragon quirk enhancing their hearing. Stormclaw came into vision over the trees, heading straight for them.
“No way…” Ochako muttered.
Mina was beaming. “We have the coolest boyfriend.”
Stormclaw circled overhead once, dropping in altitude gently before landing in front of them, as quietly as a massive dragon could. His bright green eyes looked down on the three students kindly. “Ready?” his father asked.
Izuku nodded. “Ready.” He turned to his girlfriends and gestured towards his father. “After you.”
Stormclaw landed on the edge of his forest property, letting Ochako, Mina and Deku slide off his back. Both Ochako and Mina’s legs were shaking something awful when they hit the ground, nearly giving out before Deku wrapped one of his strong arms around each of them, giving them the support they needed until they could steady themselves.
“Don’t worry,” he said with a smile, “it gets easier each time you do it.”
“I’ll be back here around eight tomorrow morning,” Stormclaw said to Deku. “Be safe.”
“We will,” Deku assured him.
Stormclaw smirked. “And be sure to use prot-”
“DAD!” Deku yelled, already turning green.
Stormclaw began laughing, which was a little unsettling, but Ochako couldn’t help but giggle at how flustered her boyfriend had gotten. He kept chucklng as he took off into the air, heading back towards Musutafu. Deku turned back around to face Ochako and Mina, smiling nervously and trying to push the blush from his face. “Ready?” he asked.
Ochako nodded. “Yep, we—Deku, your eyes are glowin’. You alright?”
“Oh, that,” Deku laughed, grateful for a change of subject, and turned his now-slitted eyes to her. “I’m at home in the forest; my quirk is basically frolicing in my head. I’m gonna be letting it out to play all day.”
“You make it sound like you’ve got an actual dragon up there,” Mina pointed out, cocking her hip.
Deku rubbed his head. “Ah, it’s just a figure of speech. All of my family has favorite environments that their quirks run extra hot in. It lets us use our quirks more without putting in extra effort. We’re more in-tune with them there.”
“Really?” Ochako asked. “So you love nature?”
“Just forests,” Deku explained. “My dad’s quirk favors the shoreline, while Ryuko loves hills. It seems to be based on what color we are; my grandfather loves the coast as well, while his father loved deserts.”
“Deserts?” Mina repeated. “Not many of those around here.”
Deku laughed. “Right. Gallant would take vacations every year to a different one. I remember watching an interview after he went to the Sahara for the first time; he was positively glowing.” He smiled fondly at the memory for a few moments before he returned to the present. “Well, no sense standing around; we have quite a hike ahead of us!”
Midori wasn’t kidding; the hike was no joke. However, none of them complained, as it was still far, far easier than what they had to deal with during Hell Week. They had been at it for several hours, only taking a few breaks as they began climbing up a large hill. Or a small mountain. It really depended on who you were talking to; Mina wasn’t a geologist, or whoever it was that made those decisions.
During one of their breaks, Mina had found a beetle with ‘horns’ kinda like hers. She picked it up and ran over to Ochako. “Look, it’s just like me! It’s a Mini-Mina!” She had held it out to Ochako for her to touch it, but she didn’t seem to be into the idea. Mina, of course, did the only sensible thing and began to chase Ochako around the trail with the beetle, giggling the whole time. Midori had nearly doubled over with laughter when Ochako used her quirk to jump into a tree out of Mina’s reach. Ochako tried to look mad, but she was smiling too hard to really pull it off.
They had seen a lot of wildlife on their trek so far, from pheasants to rabbits to deer and more, but she had noticed something odd: whenever they heard or saw Midori, they all ran. She originally attributed this to their general skittishness, but over the afternoon, she realized that it was something else.
About an hour before noon, Midori walked off the path to use the bathroom. Mina and Ochako were waiting around when Mina spotted a deer off the path the other way. She silently pointed it out to Ochako and the two of them crept closer to the animal, keeping their movements slow and steady. The deer looked up and began watching them, but stayed put. It let the girls get within about fifty feet of it before Mina chose to stop pushing her luck. They stayed like that for a minute or so, Ochako and Mina watching the deer alternate between grazing and looking back at them.
Then Midori returned to the trail. She saw the deer’s vision snap past the women back to the man over a hundred feet behind them for only a moment before it took off, running as fast as it could in the opposite direction.
It was clear: the animals weren’t running from Ochako or Mina; it was only Midori.
The two women returned to the trail and Mina brought it up, her curiosity too strong for her to let it go. “Midori, why are all the animals scared of you?” She figured it was a weird question; maybe he wouldn’t even know what she was talking about.
“Oh, that’s simple,” he said instead, causing her to do a double-take. She didn’t see a trace of mirth in his glowing eyes. “I’m a predator.”
Ochako giggled nervously. “What do you mean?”
“I’m a predator,” he repeated as he began walking up the trail. “They know it. It’s an instinct thing, I guess. Er, theirs, not mine.”
Mina raised an eyebrow. “You’re telling me that they can tell what your quirk is?”
“Not exactly,” Midori said, looking over his shoulder. “I’m guessing it's the way I carry myself, or maybe it's horns, or maybe it’s my eyes; it might even be a combination.” He shrugged. “It’s not like their fears are unfounded.”
“Explain,” Mina demanded.
Midori smiled fondly. “I used to hunt here all the time. It was a great way to not only train me with my quirk, but it was a fantastic outlet for my instincts. The game here is some of the best I’ve ever had, too.”
“You don’t mean with a gun or somethin’, do you?” Ochako asked, seeming to know the answer.
Midori rubbed his head. “Uh no, not exactly.”
“That’s pretty hardcore,” Mina admitted.
Ochako laughed. “I used to go huntin’ with my gran’dad. There’s somethin’ satisfyin’ about eatin’ somethin’ you’ve caught yourself, huh?”
Mina cracked a grin. “I bet Kyouka would think it was badass.”
Midori flinched a little. “O-oh, you think so?”
“Yeah!” Ochako agreed. “Think about it: your boyfriend coming back with somethin’ he’s hunted with his bare hands? Makes me feel like a warrior princess out of one of those old fantasy novels.”
Midori laughed. “I’m glad you see it that way! A lot of people are weirded out when they hear it.”
Mina’s eyes snapped to her boyfriend. “But you didn’t hesitate to tell us.”
“Er, uh, no, I guess I didn’t.”
Mina dashed forward and threw a hug around her boyfriend, snaking her arms between his pack and his back. “You’re learning to trust us! I’m so proud of you!”
“Oh.” Midori seemed surprised. “I… didn’t even think about it. I guess I am, huh?”
Ochako walked over and planted a kiss on his cheek as she hugged him around the shoulders. “You don’t know how happy that makes me.”
“And me!” Mina added.
Midori looked like he was going to start crying. “I-I’m glad. Thanks for being so good to me,” he said quietly.
Mina squeezed him once more before breaking her hug. “I’m sure Ochako and I feel the same way. Now, Mister Predator, how much farther to the top?”
Midori wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. “Not too much farther now. Probably another hour or so? We’ll eat lunch once we get there.”
“Then there’s no time to lose!” Ochako declared. “I’m already getting hungry!
The three of them reached the top of the wooded hill just as the sun reached the highest point in the sky. Deku led Ochako and Mina to a shady spot under a tree and sat down, looking out over the forest fondly.
Ochako couldn’t help but stare as the three of them set down their packs; the view was absolutely spectacular. She could see for miles in every direction, an ocean of green stretched out before her.
“Deku, this is…”
“Beautiful,” Mina finished.
He smiled knowingly. “It’s been too long since I’ve been back here. My dad and I ate more meals than I can count under this very tree.”
Ochako sat down on his left as Mina sat on his right. They both leaned into him, enjoying the peaceful contact. Deku pulled out three sandwiches from his backpack and handed them out. They ate in silence, each of them appreciating the sound of the wind blowing and the birds chirping in the trees.
Ochako finished her sandwich and looked over at Deku, surprised to see a few tears leaking from his eyes.
Well, maybe she wasn’t that surprised.
She shifted, scooting a little closer so she was fully pressed into his side, her arm wrapping around him as she rested her head on his. On Deku’s right, Mina mirrored Ochako, putting her arm around him as well and resting her head on his shoulder.
Deku’s head slumped as a few more tears rolled down his cheeks. He looked over the forest, his eyes glowing brighter than they had.
“Thank you,” Ochako began softly, “for sharin’ this place with us. For sharin’ this… memory with us.”
Mina sighed. “I can’t wait to come back here all the time.”
“If you had told me a month ago that I would be sitting here with two women who loved me like you two do…” Deku trailed off, but Ochako knew what he was trying to say.
They sat there in silence for several more minutes. There may not have been words, but each of them could feel the love in the air.
Finally, Deku took a deep breath and stood up slowly, stretching himself up into the air. Ochako didn’t feel bad at all about grabbing an eyeful of his abs as his shirt lifted up. She glanced over at Mina, who was doing the same thing, causing both of them to smirk softly.
“Well, time to get to the campsite,” Deku said, leaning over from side to side, stretching his muscles.
“We’re not camping here?” Mina asked.
“Nope!” Deku pointed out to the west. “See that big gap in the trees over there?”
Ochako deflated a little. “That has to be at least five miles!”
“More like six, I think,” Deku clarified.
Mina hoisted up her backpack. “Well, let’s get going then! I wanna get there before nightfall!”
“Oh, that’ll be easy,” Deku said confidently as he began to take off his shirt.
Ochako and Mina both stared, equal parts confused and enraptured by the defined muscles on his back.
He turned around, both women’s vision snapping up to stare at his blazing eyes.
“You didn’t forget who you were with, did you?”
His wings burst from his back, kicking up a breeze.
“OhmyGodIloveyou,” Mina rushed out in a single breath.
“Two dragon rides in one day?” Ochako asked, grinning. “Aren’t we just the luckiest two girls in the world!”
Deku rubbed the back of his head, blushing slightly. “It’s really nothing. You’ll get used to them if you stick around me long enough.”
Mina smirked. “Oh, we plan to. But uh, can you carry both of us?”
“Oh yeah,” Deku shot back immediately, not even considering otherwise. “No problem. But if Ochako would want to lighten the load, I wouldn’t say no.”
Ochako nodded. “Sure!” She pressed her fingers to the three backpacks, taking their weight away before she touched Mina, making her float off the ground slightly.
“Woah, this is still weird,” Mina whined as Ochako grabbed her by the wrist to keep her from floating away.
She began to touch herself when Deku stopped her. “Hey, no need. I don’t want you to get sick.”
Ochako smiled softly. “You sure you can carry me and fly?”
“You’ve seen me carry Kacchan, right?” Scales grew along Deku’s exposed skin as his entire body bulked up and grew. She actually had to look up at him as he smiled widely, his face still mostly human. “It’ll be no problem. Promise.”
Ochako nodded, lifting Mina up onto Deku’s back, the pink woman wrapping her arms around his neck and shoulders. Deku leaned over, giving Ochako space to climb onto his broad back; she did so, locking her legs around his midsection and her hands around Mina’s waist.
“Ready?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.
“Ready!” Ochako and Mina responded simultaneously.
Deku’s wings rose up slowly, the dense, lithe muscles along the ‘arm’ that made up his wing tensing. She and Mina felt the powerful sinews in his back preparing to beat his wings and Ochako herself could feel his thick thighs bulging as he readied himself.
Then, in one thunderous motion, the three of them shot into the sky.
As she considered just how much strength Deku possessed in his body—especially when he was using his quirk—she felt herself beginning to blush.
However, those thoughts quickly vanished, replaced by the thrill of flight. Deku beat his wings slowly, almost lazily as Ochako and Mina cheered, smiles wide on their faces.
Ochako looked around; while the view on top of the hill was spectacular, this was something else entirely. The wind whipped through her hair as she looked out over the seemingly endless trees flying by underneath her. For a moment, she pictured herself in her hero costume, riding a fully transformed Deku into battle with Mina at her side. She felt powerful, like with Deku and Mina, she could do anything.
Deku turned slightly, banking to the left as they soared past a tree slightly taller than the rest. He began to beat his wings faster, gaining in altitude for about thirty seconds before pitching forward and diving down, laughing as Ochako and Mina clutched onto him tighter.
Despite the high speeds and turns, Ochako never felt like she was in danger of falling off. He was very conscious of her and Mina’s balance, and his scales gave great traction. However, she could tell that it wouldn’t take much before her legs would begin to get rubbed raw. They were already a little sensitive from riding Stormclaw all the way out here, but it seemed like Deku had that in mind.
He banked hard to the right as the came upon the clearing he had pointed out at the peak of the hill. Ochako and Mina gasped again as a great, crystal-clear lake came into view, glistening beautifully in the midday sun.
Deku began to slowly lose altitude as they crossed over the lake. Ochako felt like she could almost reach down and touch the water, but she knew it was much further than it appeared. He unfurled his wings wide, letting them act as parachutes as they approached the shoreline. The slowed more and more until they finally returned to ground, where Deku’s powerful legs absorbed most of the shock of landing.
He knelt down and let Ochako and Mina slide off his back. The women kept a hand on him to steady themselves as they got their land-legs back underneath them. Ochako guessed it was the adrenaline that made her weak in the knees, but she was smiling too wide to really care about it at the moment.
Mina cheered again as Ochako released her quirk. “That was awesome! I’m so jealous you get to do that all the time!”
“Heh, yeah,” Deku muttered, rubbing the back of his head as he smiled. “Jirou said the same thing.”
Mina’s smirk grew again. “I’m telling you, that girl has it bad for you. You should have seen her when Pony and her tried to ‘confront’ us yesterday.”
His vision snapped down to Mina’s, his eyes glowing brighter.
“Oh, it was so cute!” Mina squealed. “This was after you went up to go take that tea to ‘Mo’,”—Mina winked—“Kyouka and Pony came over to Ochako and I and thought they were going to catch us in a lie or something.”
“Well, Kyouka did,” Ochako clarified. “Pony just seemed curious.”
Mina sighed. “That girl…” She shook her head. “I don’t know if I would be able to do it. Go to a different country for school, I mean. Pony’s tough.”
“In more ways than one,” Ochako added.
“Oh yeah,” Mina agreed. “We trained together on… Friday of last week, I think. The whole week is kind of a blur. Anyway … remember how that warp villain guy had one of her horns sticking out of him?”
Ochako nodded. “Iida told me the story when I trained with him on Wednesday. He said that she was the bravest out of anyone there. She stood her ground and stared the villain down; Iida said it was a little intimidatin’. She did what was necessary and stopped the villain by warpin’ anyone else away by stabbin’ him and… he said she was saying somethin’ while she did it.”
“What, in English?” Deku asked as he shrunk back down.
Ochako nodded. “Iida said he couldn’t follow what she was sayin’ in the moment, but it sounded like… poetry? The weird thing is that the villain responded in kind.” Ochako rubbed her chin and shrugged. “The point is that Pony is a badass. She has the determination to come live in Japan for school and still had the grit to glare down a villain and stop him.”
“For sure,” Mina agreed again, “but we’re getting sidetracked. Kyouka and her came up and confronted us. When I told her that yes, we were dating you, she was surprised I just came out and admitted it. Then…” Mina leaned over, smirking at Deku. “Then I told her that she could join if she wanted to.” Mina began cackling. “You should have seen her! She turned so red!”
Ochako couldn’t help but laugh a little too. “She bit her jack to try and calm herself down. She’s so cool all the time it’s extra adorable when she cracks and shows her softer side.”
“I just wish I knew her better,” Mina admitted. “She seems really cool, but I haven’t really had the time to really get to know her. I trained with her on Thursday, which was a ton of fun, but still.”
Ochako sighed again. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
Deku had just been standing there, absorbing all of the information Ochako and Mina were throwing at him with a very focused expression on his face. Ochako guessed that since they were his ‘hoard’, he wanted to know everything he could.
“Anyway,” Mina said, “we could stand here and talk about girls all day, but shouldn’t we set up camp?”
Deku’s face relaxed. “You’re right. I’ll set up the fire pit, can you two set up the tent?”
Ochako and her girlfriend nodded and set down their packs, ready to help.
It only took about a half hour to get everything set up, giving the three of them plenty of time to relax and enjoy the beautiful lake. After the terror of the USJ, the nervous uncertainty of the week in the hospital, the grueling Hell Week and the excitement of the Sports Festival, Mina welcomed the opportunity to truly relax. She loved the opportunity to lounge around, skip rocks, take sun-warmed naps and talk peacefully with the two people she cared more about than anything outside her family.
Around five, Ochako and Mina had stepped into the lake to wash the sweat and dirt of the day off themselves. Once they finished and were drying off, her stomach rumbled, which Midori heard. There was something really endearing about how he snapped to attention.
“Time for dinner, then,” he declared. “Ochako, could you get the fire going?”
“Ugh,” she fake-whined. “Why can’t you just breathe fire like a normal dragon?”
Midori smiled knowingly, shaking his head. “Mina, could you get the food? It’s in my backpack.”
Mina nodded, hopping up from the blanket she was laying on and heading over to his bag. She rummaged through it for a moment, pushing his clothes aside. Her brow furrowed as she leaned in a little closer, trying to find wherever he had stashed dinner.
Finally, she gave up. “Midori, I can’t find it!”
“Hmm, I must have forgotten it. What a shame.”
Mina whipped around to her boyfriend, her face a mixture of confusion and disbelief. “Are you se-”
Midori had already taken his shirt off and was kicking his shoes to the side as he pulled his shorts down. His body was covered in scales, keeping Mina from sneaking any peeks at anything. He smirked at her as he flexed his fingers, showing off the fins he had grown between them. “I guess I’ll have to figure something out.” He smirked with an exaggerated shrug, taking a moment to appreciate Mina’s stunned look before he turned around and dashed toward the lake, jumping into the air and diving into the water with practiced grace.
It took a few moments for Mina to come back to her senses. “God, he’s hot,” she mumbled, causing Ochako to giggle behind her.
Ochako tapped her on the shoulder. “Come on, I’ll show you how to build a fire like my gran’dad did.”
Mina nodded and hurried off to help, glancing back over the lake, where the only evidence that Midori was down there were a few ripples on the surface.
After several minutes, the women got the fire going and sat down next to it, staring over the lake as it shone in the setting sunlight. Their relaxed gazes snapped to a disturbance in the middle of a lake, where a few seconds later, Midori burst forth, carrying a fish in his fully-draconic maw. He flipped the fish into the air, opening wide and catching it in his curved jaw, seeming to swallow it whole before he dove back underneath the water.
“He looks so happy out here,” Ochako observed quietly.
Mina nodded. “Like he said, this is his natural environment.”
There was a long, peaceful silence as they watched the lake. “A house in the forest would be nice, wouldn’t it? Quiet, beautiful, clean air…”
“Oh yeah,” Mina agreed. “Imagine falling asleep to the sound of a trickling creek or watching the snowfall in the winter.”
There was another beat of silence before both Mina and Ochako began to blush. “Did we just?” Ochako asked softly.
Mina laughed nervously. “It might be a little early for us to be thinking about where we are gonna live once we’re a family, yeah?”
“Y-yeah,” Ochako agreed.
Before Mina could turn too much more purple at the thought of her future, a noise in front of them grabbed her attention. The water at the shore broke and Midori emerged, glistening, dripping and carrying an armful of large fish. “Who knows how to filet a fish?” he asked, smiling as his scales faded from his head and chest.
Ochako and Mina didn’t answer at first, too enraptured by their shirtless, wet, predator of a boyfriend who had gone out and hunted food for them with his bare hands. Mina could sympathize with Ochako feeling like a ‘warrior princess’ now. She felt like a queen, like Midori and Ochako would conquer the world with her and for her.
“Uh…?”
Mina and Ochako both jumped back to attention, scrambling up from their seats. “Oh, uh, yeah! I do!” Mina declared.
He smiled at her, his eyes still burning brightly. She saw a clear membrane slowly retracting across them sideways—likely what let him see normally underwater. “Great! Let’s get to work.”
“We’ll handle it,” Ochako declared firmly. “You just relax. We’re not gonna let you do everything’! We’re a team!”
Midori smiled warmly as his eyes flashed for a second, which was just further confirmation for Mina’s suspicions that he enjoyed his hoard taking care of him as much as he enjoyed taking care of his hoard. “Thank you,” he said finally, “I appreciate it.”
Mina showed Ochako the best way to prepare and cook the fish while Midori relaxed nearby, watching them work with pure adoration and affection in his eyes. After a busy day in the outdoors, the grilled fish tasted especially great, if Mina did say so herself.
After they had eaten and cleaned up, it wasn’t long before sunlight rapidly left the campground, thanks to its location between low mountain peaks. The temperature began to drop gradually and Mina felt the exhaustion of their hike really begin to catch up to her.
Between her exhaustion, the chill and the hearty meal, she was ready for bed. Midori seemed to notice, as he moved over to her and knelt down, planting a kiss on her forehead and reaching his arm under her back and legs. He picked her up in a bridal carry, causing her to shudder the smallest amount as she felt his powerful muscles lift her with ease.
“Can you make sure you douse the fire, Ochako?” he asked quietly.
Ochako walked over and ran her hand through Mina’s hair. “Sure. I’ll be right behind you.”
“I’m not a damsel,” Mina pouted playfully. “I can walk.”
Midori laughed softly as he smiled down at her. “Just because you’re not a princess doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be treated like one sometimes.”
Her expression softened and she nuzzled into him as a wide smile grew on her face. “You’re such a dork.”
“H-hey!”
She reached up and ran a hand along one of his horns. “I never said I didn’t like it…”
Midori let her down as they reached the tent, but not before he leaned in and kissed her lovingly on the lips. Mina chased after the contact as long as she could, but as she got her feet back underneath her, she settled for hugging him around his chest. “Thank you,” she muttered softly. “Today was wonderful.”
She felt hands tracing up her arms and realized Ochako was on the other side of Midori. Her head poked over his shoulder, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek. “Same goes for me. Thanks for sharin’ all of this with us.”
Mina saw some wetness form in his eyes. “I told you that I’d spoil you both, didn’t I?” He smiled softly. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. This used to be my favorite place in the world.”
“Used to?” Ochako asked with a suddenly worried tone. “What happened?”
Midori smiled a little wider. “I got a new favorite place: wherever you two are.”
Ochako and Mina groaned simultaneously. Mina reached up and pulled him down, giving him a kiss on the lips. “Like I said: dork .”
Suddenly, both Midori and Mina’s eyes went wide as they felt their weight being taken from them. Behind them, Ochako lifted both of them up and began to push—or perhaps carry—them inside the tent. “I’m tired of standin’ out here. I want my cuddles.”
Ochako zipped the flap up behind them as she placed her boyfriend and girlfriend on the air mattress with the two sleeping bags that Mina and Ochako had zipped together into one giant bag. “Now, get into your pajamas!” she ordered as she let her quirk go, her smile clear even through the darkness.
They changed relatively quickly, despite being nearly blind inside the tent. Mina may have ‘accidentally’ tripped and grabbed Ochako’s butt, but who could really blame her? She tried to do the same to Midori, but he caught her hands.
“Careful,” he warned.
“It’s not fair that you can see in the dark,” she pouted.
Midori chuckled as he let her hands go. “Who’s sleeping in the middle?”
“You,” Mina answered immediately.
“Yep, you,” Ochako confirmed.
“But I slept there last night,” he protested.
Mina reached over until she found his chest and began to trace her fingers up and down it. “We both think you deserve it again. Listen to your girlfriends.”
Midori tried to protest weakly, but soon just sighed and gave in, opening the sleeping bag and slipping in. Ochako and Mina took their places on each side of him and nuzzled in. Mina felt all her worries melt away, just like she always did when she cuddled up to one of her lovers.
“You know,” Ochako began, her voice barely over a whisper, “being with you two is my favorite place too.”
Mina giggled. “You’re both dorks.”
“So this isn’t your favorite place?” Midori asked.
She burrowed a little deeper into his side, taking in his warmth and smell. Underneath his arm, she felt protected and loved, and at his side she felt stronger and more confident.
“I never said that…”
Ochako reached her arm across Midori’s chest, tracing her mittened hand down Mina’s hair and onto her face. “Does that make you a dork, too?”
“It means I love you,” Mina responded evasively.
Midori laughed. “We should do this more often. It was… really nice to spend the whole day with you two like this.”
“It was like a mini-vacation,” Ochako agreed. “I felt so relaxed.”
Mina reached up and began to slowly pet one of Midori’s horns; Ochako followed suit shortly after. As their boyfriend purred, he slowly closed his eyes. “I love you both…” he mumbled, trailing off.
Ochako and Mina both kissed him on the cheek, Mina having to crane her neck to reach. “I love you both,” Mina repeated.
“I love you both, too,” Ochako finished.
In the peace of the forest, with the lake lapping calmly outside, in the darkness of nature without any lights, in a warm embrace, punctuated only by the purring of Midori and the calm breathing of Ochako, Mina fell asleep.
Notes:
See you guys next time!
:)
Chapter 41: The Calm Before
Summary:
The stage is set for the next act.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku woke up Thursday morning to the chirping of birds. He cracked his eyes open slowly as he rubbed his hands up and down the backs of his lovers. Ochako and Mina both began to stir, nuzzling deeper into him and making adorable noises. “Come on, we have to get up,” he whispered. “We gotta get back in time to meet my dad.”
Ochako pushed herself up on her elbow and rubbed her eyes with her other hand. “What time is it? Didn’t your dad say we had to be back by eight?”
“It’s a bit past seven,” Izuku answered after checking his phone.
“Seven?!” Ochako woke up a little from her worry. “We’ll never make that hike in time!”
Izuku cracked a playful smile. “Who said anything about hiking?”
Mina shot out of his arms. “I’m up!” she yelled, her smile manic. Before Izuku could say anything, she had grabbed his face and planted a firm kiss on his lips, causing his quirk to roar to life with an intensity that was almost painful. She broke the kiss and smiled widely. “Come on, let’s go!” She scrambled out of the sleeping bag and began frantically dressing herself for the day.
Ochako couldn’t help but giggle as Izuku stared dumbly, a small smile growing on his face. The brunette leaned over and pecked him on the forehead. “I guess we better get goin’, huh?”
Izuku nodded and got out of the sleeping bag. He flexed his quirk over most of his body, covering himself in scales as he pulled his clothes off and packed them away. “Can you girls take care of the tent? I have to go do something real quick.”
“Sure!” Mina chirped happily as she brushed Ochako’s hair. Not everyone was like Mina and Izuku and could rock the ‘bedhead’ look, after all.
“Thanks,” Izuku responded as he unzipped the tent and stepped out into the crisp air of the valley. He stretched himself tall, causing his arms and legs to twitch a little as he warmed them up. Izuku made sure his body was stretched and ready before he started jogging toward the lake again. As he approached, he picked up the pace and pushed more of his quirk through his body.
Izuku felt his fins growing between his fingers and toes as his tail and head stretched out. A clear membrane grew over his eyes as his fangs lengthened, finishing his transformation. Izuku jumped forward and dove into the clear mountain lake, the cold water rushing past him and through his gills.
His quirk pulsed stronger, melting into him as he set his sights on the hunt.
He used to do this all the time when he was younger, but he didn’t realize until yesterday that these hunts were his dad teaching him to work with his quirk. Out here in nature, where it was just Izuku and a few other people, he could put everything else out of his mind. There was no villains, no Endeavor, no surprises. There was just him, his quirk, and the hunt.
There were no words spoken by his quirk, because no words needed to be spoken. In this moment, he and his quirk were one once more.
Izuku felt alive.
He rocketed through the waters like a torpedo, his arms, legs and tail all serving to guide and propel him. He looked around and felt for vibrations in the wa—
There . Motion to his right.
Izuku turned with inhuman speed and shot toward the fish. In a flash, he opened his maw and struck.
There was nothing quite like the rush he got when he finally caught his prey.
With another powerful kick, he burst through the surface of the lake and with a flick of his head, he tossed the fish into the air, opened his maw, and swallowed his breakfast in a single bite. As he returned to shore, he saw his girlfriends beginning to deconstruct the tent. Truth be told, he felt a little bad leaving the work to them, but he wanted some food in his belly if he was going to fly them back.
“Mina, could you toss me the towel out of my backpack?” he asked as he approached the women.
“Sure!” she responded, reaching into his backpack and underhanding the towel to him. “You know, this was much nicer than our last camping trip."
Izuku looked at her with confusion as he dried his body off.
“When you were in the coma,” Ochako explained. “Mina said it was kinda like campin’—”
“But without the tents or fire or lack of running water, yeah!” Mina unhooked the last strap from the tentpole, causing the entire thing to collapse. “But now I have both of you! And you’re not in a coma, and we actually had a bed big enough for us…” She began to collapse the poles and stuff them back in their bag. “No offense, Ochako. Cuddling with you on the couch was nice, but it was muuuuch nicer here.”
Ochako giggled. “None taken.”
Izuku smiled and shook his head silently as he finished drying off and moved to help the women finish cleaning up the campsite. They finished packing up the tent and reorganizing everything into their backpacks in no time with three pairs of hands helping out.
He was checking the straps on Mina’s backpack when his ears twitched and his instincts flared.
Izuku whipped around, claws instantly forming on his hands as scales flowed up his neck and face.
“Midori, what’s—” Mina’s question was cut off as she screamed.
Standing on the edge of the camp was a large bear.
Izuku pushed more of his quirk throughout his body, growing himself to about eight feet tall as he stomped toward the intruder. He grew and unfurled his wings wide, making himself look as large as possible. Poison gas vented from his maw as he reared back and unleashed a deep, earth-shaking roar.
The bear flinched hard and turned around, running out of the camp as fast as he could.
Izuku kept up his intimidation as he focused on his smell and hearing, making sure the bear was far gone before he finally relaxed. He let out a deep breath as he shrunk back down to his normal size. “Sorry about that.” He looked over to see Mina smiling and looking at her phone while Ochako smiled softly. “Uh…?”
Mina put her phone away. “I’m showing that video to the rest of the girls!”
“Please don’t,” Izuku pleaded.
Ochako tilted her head slightly. “Why not?”
Izuku sighed as he knelt down to finish securing Mina’s backpack. “I don’t… want them to see me reacting that way.”
Ochako knelt down in front of him, tracing down his face with a few of her fingers. “You just protected us, what’s wrong with that?”
“I know that my more… aggressive tendencies unnerve some of them. Mo especially.” He ran a hand through his hair. “She was terrified of me at the USJ and when the rest of you explained that you weren’t afraid of me, she looked guilty.”
Mina moved over to his back and put her arms around him. “You can’t help that. I think she knows better now, though.”
Izuku leaned into the contact slightly. “I hope so. I don’t want her to be afraid of me.”
“Because you liiike her?” Mina teased, pressing herself into his back further.
“I, uh, um—” Izuku sighed. “It’s not the only reason, but yeah…” He paused, feeling guilty. “I know that’s greedy and terrible of me, you two are already more than enough and—”
Ochako put a finger to his lips. “Shh…”
“It’s okay, Midori,” Mina cooed in his ear. “We like her, too.”
Izuku already knew that, but hearing them say it directly to him made it just that much more real. “B-but I already have both of you, I couldn’t—”
“You’re so cute when you’re loyal,” Mina teased.
Izuku blinked. “I’m always loyal! I’ve never—”
He was interrupted again, this time by Ochako pecking him on the cheek. “And you’re always cute.”
“Did…” Izuku looked between the women slowly. “Did you plan that?”
Mina giggled. “Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies.”
Izuku couldn’t help but laugh as well.
“But we have been talking about it. About her ,” Mina continued. “And we wanted to ask you about her.”
“W-what about her?” Izuku had a very good idea what Mina was getting at, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Mina leaned in even closer, her softness sending electricity up and down his body as she whispered into his ear. “About expanding your hoard, my dragon.”
“No. No, no, no.”
Yes. YES.
Izuku was trying to fight back his quirk, which was bucking against his control. His eyes were flashing erratically as a dull headache began.
“Mina!” Ochako scolded. “You’re doin’ that on purpose.”
“Sorry…” Mina definitely did not sound sorry.
“Deku, what’s wrong?” Ochako asked, reaching out to cup his face again. “I know you like Momo. We like Momo. What Mina is meanin’ to say is that she’s asking for our permission to try and start the process of seeing if Momo wants to join us. That’s all.” Ochako looked away. “Truth be told, I’m as nervous as you are.”
“B-but shouldn’t Mo make that decision herself?” Izuku was running out of ways to refute Mina.
“I think she needs the push,” Mina explained. “She’s not like Tsu, who’s just going to join us when she finally feels like it. Momo needs someone to help her realize it’s okay to be happy. I’m not going to force her into it or try and manipulate her, I’m just going to show her that the way is open if she wants.”
Izuku paled. “Wait, back up. Tsu?” That couldn’t be true.
Yes.
“Izuchan…” Ochako muttered under her breath with a small chuckle.
“Shouldn’t your quirk be noticing this stuff?” Mina asked. “You’re supposed to be the big, bad manipulator here!”
Izuku flinched a little. “I, uh, well, my quirk says a lot of things about a lot of people. I try to ignore it most of the time when it comes to stuff like that.”
“Why?” Ochako asked.
He sighed. “Making friends is fine, but tricking people into being attracted to me or even dating? That’s just wrong. You’re not just things to be collected like my quirk thinks, you are all living people with hopes and dreams and you deserve so much more than that.”
They are mine.
There was a silence before Ochako spoke again. “What about people who like you because of who you are?”
“Like we do,” Mina interjected before Izuku could respond.
“I… can’t accept that,” Izuku said finally. “I can barely accept you two. After so many years of being rejected by everyone except for my family and Kacchan’s, I still can’t believe that some people actually like me for me. You two are the exception, not the rule. I’m happy with you two, I don’t need more, I don’t deserve more, I don’t want more.”
His quirk pulsed with indignation.
Mina squeezed him a little harder. “Are you trying to convince us or yourself?”
“Was it that obvious?” Izuku asked softly.
Ochako took Izuku’s hands and guided him up slowly, Mina hanging off his back like a cape before she could wrap her legs around his waist. “Deku, I feel the same way. It’s like it’s too good to be true, right?”
Izuku nodded, looking up into her eyes.
“Again,” Mina emphasized, “I’m not going to bend Momo to my will or anything. I’m just checking with you two to see if it’s okay for me to look into things and maybe move some stuff along. If it doesn’t work out, no harm done, but if it does work out, who are we to deny ourselves happiness?”
Izuku finally relented. “Alright. You can try.”
Mina hugged him tighter and squealed in joy.
“I wouldn’t underestimate her,” Ochako warned.
Izuku laughed dryly. “Oh, I know not to underestimate either of you. That’s what has me so worried.”
Izuku flew his girlfriends back to the entrance of the forest, arriving just a few minutes before his father did. His mother was riding on him this time, eager to greet them with a breakfast she had made for them and brought in a basket. They ate happily and then returned to the dorm on dragon-back, dashing inside to change and shower before heading back outside to walk to the final day of the Sports Festival, where Hadou would be competing.
Izuku’s father had purchased another box and Ryuko joined them again, of course, as she wanted to cheer on her star intern. He hoped that his family would go easy on teasing him with Ochako and Mina actually there, but he was woefully mistaken.
Playing pranks was in Ryuko’s nature, by virtue of her instincts, and Hisashi was obligated by international father law to tease Izuku about his girlfriends. They didn’t want to embarrass their guests, of course, so both of them settled for teasing Izuku in low whispers that only he could hear, thanks to his quirk. It must have been quite entertaining to them to watch Ochako and Mina’s confusion whenever Izuku failed to contain any physical reactions to their jabs. Mina noticed the smile that Ryuko wasn’t trying very hard to hide every time Izuku would blush seemingly randomly, so he was pretty sure she had an idea of what was going on.
Izuku even thought he caught Ryuko winking at Mina once.
The festival was… on another level. While Izuku and Shouto had certainly had dramatic shows of power, not to mention Katsuki, Ochako, and many other of his classmates… but it all paled in comparison to what the seniors of UA could do. After watching the skill and strength of the upperclassmen, it put into perspective just how far Izuku had to go.
He had more raw power than some of them—or rather, he would once he got his transformation under control—and Shouto was more powerful than many of them, but Izuku would put every one of his classmates at a disadvantage against the 4th-years. They simply had skill and experience that he didn’t.
And his quirk wanted it.
So much power.
‘I can only gain that skill and experience with time. I must be patient.’
I have the raw strength. I need to know how to apply it. None would stand in my way.
‘That’s why I need to continue through UA. There’s no better place to teach me how to control my quirk. I have access to resources here I can’t find anywhere else. Like All Might!’
Not fast enough. I can do better.
Izuku furrowed his brow. ‘How can I do better?’
A vision formed in his mind. A woman with periwinkle blue hair and an adorable, energetic smile.
‘Hadou?’
Hadou. She has the experience, skill, and power I want.
‘She’s my TA already and there are plenty of heroes—like All Might —who are more experienced. I don’t see…’
His instincts pushed his mind to consider something more. Izuku’s mind was filled with visions of her generous chest and her wide hips packed onto a body two inches shorter than Mina. Her body was toned by years of training, leaving her strong and fit, while her face was gorgeous and her lips made him want to kiss them for days.
She can be more. She will be more.
‘What?! Why?! What’s the point?!’
She has much value.
‘I can get her ‘value’ without lusting after her.’
Izuku’s mind was directed to the memory of Hadou sitting on his lap, petting his horns while she shoved his face into her soft, comforting bust.
Izuku was glad that nobody could see him activate his quirk underneath his pants.
She is a jewel. She belongs in my collection. She belongs in my hoard. She is mine.
Izuku hated these thoughts. He stood up from his seat between Ochako and Mina, making some half-hearted excuse about needing some air before heading for the door. He needed a distraction to keep himself from thinking about Hadou. Where he would find that distraction, he didn’t know, but sitting in that room wasn’t doing him any favors.
He set out pacing around the upper level of the stadium, looking through hero news and discussions on his phone as a way to get his mind off of Hadou.
Izuku read through a report on the situation around Musutafu; the article talked about the significant increase of heroes nearby to protect the UA Sports Festival in the wake of the USJ incident and covered several incidents of local villains getting beatdowns from heroes not normally seen in the area. He skipped over the forum theorizing about Endeavor’s maximum temperature, as the mere thought of the man sent angry pulses through his mind as his quirk snarled. Izuku let an article about Miruko distract him, fascinated by the way—
“Greenhorn!”
Izuku froze. This wasn’t happening. He was having a nightmare again.
Hadou, in her gym uniform, ran up to him with a wide smile. “Did you watch me out there?”
“Uh, y-yeah, you were amazing,” Izuku stuttered, trying to contain his bucking quirk.
“Thanks!” she chirped. “But hey, I haven’t been able to talk with you in private since I got back. You got a minute?” She was a little quieter and more somber, but he didn’t know if there was a force in the universe that could completely dull her sparkle.
“Sure,” Izuku responded, trying to force a smile onto his face.
Hadou grabbed him by the hand and dragged him off to a side hallway, causing his nerves to worsen. She turned around and looked up at him, their eyes staring into each other’s.
“Greenhorn, I heard about the USJ and I was so worried… but this isn’t about me. Are you okay?” She was genuinely concerned.
He smiled, trying to placate her worries. “I am. Truly. It was scary, terrifying even, but I did what I had to do to protect everyone. In the end, everyone came out of it relatively unscathed.”
“Except for you!” she shot back. “You put yourself in a coma!”
“It was that or lose some of my classmates,” Izuku said quietly. “I don’t regret what I did. I would do it all over again if I had to.”
“I know you would,” Hadou almost whispered. “That’s what makes you ‘you’. Like that time you jumped in front of that bee that was chasing me!” She giggled as he blushed slightly. “But I don’t want you to keep hurting yourself.”
“W-what should—”
“I want you to get better!” she explained. “I’ve learned a lot here at UA, with your cousin, and overseas and I want to teach you! You can’t imagine how happy I was when I found out I got assigned to your class!” She was bouncing up and down with excitement.
“O-oh… I, uh, thank you.” Izuku really wished his quirk would stop pulsing so painfully in his head.
She stopped bouncing and gained a heartfelt look on her face. “I care about you, Greenhorn. It’s going to be my personal goal to teach you everything I can. Don’t think that means you can slack off, though! I’m going to push you harder than everyone else!”
Izuku raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that favoritism?”
“Hmm, I guess you’re right.” Hadou thought for a moment. “Well, anybody else who wants to join is welcome to, but you don’t get a choice! You are now officially enrolled in Nejire’s Extracurricular Training!”
Oh, this wasn’t how Izuku saw his day going. “T-thank you, Had—”
“Ah!” She shot a finger toward him accusingly. “What have I told you a hundred times?!”
“N-not to call you Hadou?” he offered sheepishly.
“No, I told you to call me Nejire.” She cocked her hip and tapped her foot expectantly. “I want to hear you say it this time.”
“Hadou, please.”
“Say it!” she demanded with a pout on her face. How was she so adorable and beautiful at the same time?
Izuku sighed, resigning himself to defeat. “N—” He gulped. “N-Nejire.”
His eyes flashed.
Mine.
‘Oh no.’
“Good!” Her pout vanished, replaced by her cheerful grin. She rushed forward and threw her arms around him, pulling Izuku into a deep hug as his own arms reflexively wrapped around her.
He could feel her warmth and the toned musculature from years of brutal training under his cousin and the UA faculty; Izuku knew her stamina was greater than most pro heroes, due to her quirk’s reliance upon it. However, even with how fit she was, he was distracted by just how soft she felt, especially with her prodigious chest pressing against his abs.
It wasn’t fair. He had spent all that time trying to corral and dismiss his quirk, just for her to come along and give it exactly what it wanted.
She pulled back finally. “Now, let’s go see your family! Come on!” She grabbed him by the hand and hurried off, dragging him behind her.
He didn’t like the low rumble his quirk was making in his mind as they walked back to his family’s luxury box.
It sounded almost like deep laughter.
The dinner at Midori’s house was almost marred by disaster before it began. Ochako received a call the day before, Friday, and was stunned to hear that her parents were coming into town the following day. Midori, however, didn’t hesitate to invite her parents as well. Ochako seemed a little unsure, but she called her parents back and asked them if they wanted to have dinner at Stormclaw’s house.
Suffice to say, they were stunned.
But they accepted.
Ochako left the dorm earlier in the day to meet with her parents and Mina was secretly a little disappointed that she wasn’t going to see Ochako tell them about her relationship. Mina was stunned when Ochako told her that she hadn’t told her parents that she was dating the two of them, but Mina simply chalked it up to nerves.
Mina rode with Bakugou and Midori over to his house and… honestly, she was expecting something a little more. The location was amazing and the house was nice—much nicer than her family’s—but she had a much grander image in her head. The house was large, make no mistake, but it had an air of modesty about it. The three students were greeted at the door by Inko, who gave each of them a big hug.
Bakugou and Stormclaw settled into the dining room next to the kitchen, where there was a large window overlooking the beach outside, while Midori and Mina set to helping Inko cook. Once she got to work, her opinions on the home changed slightly. While the building itself wasn’t particularly large or expensive, the interior was decked out with every modern convenience she had ever heard of and some she hadn’t.
Mina considered herself an adequate cook, but her boyfriend and his mother were something else. They worked together like an impeccable team and were smiling the entire time. Both were eager to help her learn, of course, and were very patient when she struggled. Mina felt like she had learned more in an hour than she had the past few years of self-instruction.
“Hey, Third-Place,” Bakugou called over while Inko was helping Mina prepare some vegetables. “When’s dinner?”
Midori rolled his eyes. “Hey now, I think you’re Third-Place. I got second at the festival and you got third. Or did you conveniently forget that already?”
“Whatever,” Bakugou sneered dismissively. “That’s just cause you never had to face me and you know it.”
“Is that so?” Midori responded.
Bakugou’s smirked. “We both know I’d win.”
“Oh yeah?” Midori had stepped a little closer.
“Hey!” Inko called tersely. “No fighting in the house.”
“Sorry, Auntie.”
“Sorry, Mom.”
Bakugou and Midori looked at each other for a few seconds, then large smiles began to grow on their faces. Before Mina could question, the two of them made a mad dash for the back door and threw it open, sprinting outside and onto the beach. Mina watched them begin to spar on the sand out of the large window, a wild grin on each of their faces.
Inko shook her head, but she was smiling. “I swear, those boys are still children sometimes. Hisashi?”
The man stood up, chuckling. “I’ll go keep an eye on them. I’m sure they’re eager to see how much they’ve grown since starting UA, anyway.” He made his way to the door and walked out after the two students, smiling the whole way.
Inko sighed contentedly. “You know, I haven’t seen Izuku happy like that in a long time. He’s always been cheerful and playful when he’s at home, but there’s been a shadow looming over him for years.” She turned to Mina with a motherly smile. “That shadow is more or less gone and that’s thanks to you and Uraraka, I think. Thank you.”
Mina began to blush. “Oh, it’s nothing, Mamadoriya. He makes me really happy too, same with Ochako. He’s a really great guy.”
“Most people were afraid of him,” Inko explained softly as she continued to work. “There’s something naturally intimidating about him beyond just his physical appearance. He has an aura about him that causes people to feel uneasy or fearful. You two girls and—from what he’s told us—most of the rest of your class have been nothing but good to him.”
“I don’t see how those other kids in his class could be that afraid of him,” Mina responded. “Sure, I get what they were afraid of, but he’s so much nicer than he is scary.”
Inko laughed softly. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that it took hero course students to realize that.”
They worked in a peaceful silence for a few more minutes before Mina spoke again. “He keeps talking about how dangerous he is, how violent his instincts can be, but he’s honestly done a good job at containing it. I almost feel like he’s exaggerating it sometimes. I know he’s not, because of the USJ and such, but…”
The mood darkened slightly and Inko spoke in a much more serious tone. “Again, that’s because of you girls. And he’s been in a controlled environment.”
“A controlled environment?” Mina asked. “The USJ didn’t seem like that.”
“No, it didn’t,” Inko agreed. “And you saw how that went. My poor baby…” Inko put her knife down for a moment and turned to Mina. “You all are doing your internships soon. That will be the next big test for him. He’ll be out in the wild, relatively. He’ll be with his father, but he’ll be exposed to so many unknown factors. I know my baby boy will do his best, but it’s in my nature to worry.”
“Oh, I see,” Mina muttered, nodding. “He’s interning with Stormclaw so he doesn’t get shoved into a completely unknown situation.”
Inko smiled. “Exactly. Baby steps. He’ll get exposure, but who better to help him with his instincts than his father?”
Mina stared out the window at her boyfriend, who was shooting a blast of poison gas into the air. Stormclaw was nearby and held some device in his hand like he was measuring something. “He’s going to be stepping into unknown and dangerous waters.”
“And Izuku knows that,” Inko added. “But with people like you to help him, I know he’ll succeed. Even if you don’t keep dating him, just being his friend means the world to him.”
Mina began to blush again. “Oh, well, I don’t have any intentions of breaking up with him…”
“I know,” Inko said kindly, “but you’re young. Things happen. Maybe you’ll find out in a week or ten that you just aren’t right for each other. There’s just no way to know. But regardless of what happens, know that your friendship is invaluable. Izuku barely talks about anything but you and Uraraka when he calls us.”
Mina’s heart swelled with pride. “I’m so happy that I’m helping him. He means a lot to me and I want to help him as much as I can.”
Inko washed her hands off and began to write something on a small piece of paper. “Here, this is my number. If you, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu or anybody else that he winds up telling has questions about how to help him, please let me know. I have quite a bit of experience with my own husband; I know what it’s like to be in a relationship with a dragon.”
Mina couldn’t help but hug Inko. “Thank you!”
Inko returned the hug in the warm, kind way that only mothers could. “You are very welcome. Now, let’s finish preparing, the Urarakas will be here soon.”
The meal at Deku’s house was incredible, but she couldn’t enjoy it fully. Not with her thoughts weighing heavily on her mind. Mina and Deku could tell something was up, but they allowed her to maintain her act during the meal to let Ochako save face.
The meal was incredible and so was the house. Ochako could only imagine having the money to a house like that on a private beach. Each room of the house was probably more expensive than her parent’s entire apartment.
And that just made her feel worse.
The whole dinner passed in a bit of a blur, as Ochako battled between trying to force herself to enjoy the evening and the weight of her heart. At the end of it, she couldn’t really remember much of what happened.
Her parents seemed to have a good time, although she could tell that her mood was affecting them as well, which was to be expected. They were the reason she was feeling this way.
The evening came to a close with her parents exchanging pleasantries with Deku’s parents and Bakugou’s parents, as well as a gracious invitation from Inko for them to return whenever they were in town. Her parents were heading back to the train station alone, leaving her to ride back to UA with the rest of her classmates; they couldn’t really afford to stay overnight anyway.
She hugged them both goodbye, holding tight to each of them.
“Ochako,” her father finally said, looking down on her. “We’re sorry that we—”
“No,” Ochako interrupted him. “It’s fine. I’m… thankful you brought it up. You two only know what’s best for me, I know that. Thank you. I had a lot of fun today, I promise. I love you both.” She hugged him one last time and then bent down to hug her mother.
“We love you too,” her mother returned. “We’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
“Okay,” Ochako answered. “Travel safe.”
“We will,” her father assured her as her parents got into the taxi and began to drive away.
She watched the car pull out of the lengthy drive and turn away before she walked back to the front porch of Deku’s house, where the others were waiting for her. No words were exchanged, but Mina and Deku kept themselves close to her, providing silent comfort as they all got into Stormclaw’s car and rode back to the dorms.
Once they arrived, Deku and Bakugou exchanged a silent glance, communicating more than she could guess in an instant. The blonde nodded and headed inside, while Deku whipped his shirt off and put a firm arm around both Ochako and Mina. Wings sprouted from his back as he took to the sky, dragging them both with him.
Ochako wasn’t exactly surprised. She had a feeling something like this was coming.
Deku landed on the roof and let go, quickly putting his shirt back on as he and Mina turned to face her. "What's wrong?" he asked directly.
Ochako sighed. "Can we sit down?"
“Of course,” Deku responded instantly, his eyes glowing bright. She was sure that her being upset was driving his quirk crazy. It was nice to know that her happiness was always his top concern; she wouldn’t have to ever worry about him being inattentive.
“Why do you two want to be heroes?” she asked quietly.
“I don’t like bullies,” Mina answered quickly from her right, not even having to think. “And there aren’t any worse bullies than the villains who terrorize innocent people. I want to protect people from those who would use their power to hurt others.”
Deku stared into the night sky with a grim determination on her left. “I want to save people and be like All Might and my dad. I want people to hear the beating of my wings and feel safe. I want to defy the path laid out before me and be the greatest hero.”
Ochako looked down, her words almost failing her. “You two have such noble motives compared to mine. I, uh…” She gulped. Deku reached out and grabbed her hand softly. “I wanted to do it for the m-money.”
There. She said it.
“My family hasn’t ever had a lot of money, you know?” she continued, trying to justify herself in front of the others. “I always saw how they looked exhausted and stressed all the time. They tried to shield me from the reality, but you can’t do that forever. I hope you two don’t think less of me…”
“Of course not!” Mina exclaimed, putting her hands on Ochako’s shoulders. “You want to provide for your family, there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, I’m proud of you for having such a down-to-earth goal. You’re more grounded than either of us.”
Ochako tried to smile, like All Might told her. “Y-yeah, exactly. I want to give my mom and dad the easy life that they deserve. I want to be a hero and I’ll take care of them!”
“That sounds heroic to me,” Mina cooed. “You want to help people, top to bottom. Is that what you were worried about?”
She realized Deku hadn’t said anything yet. Her heart sank slightly, worried that he might have a less flattering opinion of her.
Ochako looked to her left and saw him shaking slightly. The smile on his face made her worried still, but in an entirely different way. “Um, Deku?”
He threw his head back and began to laugh a loud, unrestrained laugh. He let her hands go and stood up, throwing his arms wide as he continued to laugh into the night sky.
Mina was concerned as well. “Midori? Are you… okay?”
“You were worried about being greedy?” he finally asked, still laughing.
She felt a little hurt. “Why are you laughin’ at me?”
“That’s not it,” Deku explained, his laughter dying slowly. “Ochako, my entire family revolves around that ‘greed’.”
Mina and Ochako’s eyes widened slightly.
“Remember what I told you on the night we started dating?” he asked. “We’re greedy. All of us. The only reason any of us can be heroes is because heroes get paid. If it was just for free, I don’t know if any of us could do it.”
Mina tilted her head. “Wait, even the uh, what was it, uh, the quirks like your dad and cousin.”
“Metallic?” Ochako suggested.
“Yeah, that!” Mina snapped her fingers. “Even them?”
Deku nodded. “Even them. Our desire to grow our hoards is at the forefront of our minds at nearly all times. If being a hero didn’t pay, we would find other ways to use our quirks, I suspect.” He sat back down next to Ochako and his smile quickly faded. “It’s especially important for me. Since my quirk is chromatic, it doesn’t have that degree of altruism and ‘goodness’ that the metallics do. My father and cousin will do pro bono work from time to time, but I don’t know if I could convince my quirk to do the same.”
“When you put it that way,” Ochako muttered, “it does make sense.”
He turned to her with his smile completely gone. “That’s not the only thing weighing down on you. What else?”
She flinched. Was it that obvious?
“My parents were… pretty surprised when I told them I was datin’ you,” she began, looking at Mina. “Then even more surprised when I told them I was datin’ both of you. Before I say anything else, I just want to say that my parents are great people. They love me and want what’s best for me. That’s all they’ve ever wanted. They’ve made sacrifice after sacrifice to make sure I was taken care of the best that they could.”
Mina nodded along, not exactly sure where Ochako was going.
“They’re also very practical people. They had to be, to do what had to be done while I was growin’ up. They’re… concerned about a few things. Firstly…” She turned to look at Deku. “They were concerned that I was datin’ you for your family’s money. Ah! Let me rephrase!” She saw the look of shock on Deku’s face. “They didn’t think I was, but they had to ask to make sure. They thought I was better than that and they were right, but they were just worried.”
Ochako looked down with a small smile. “I’m grateful that they’re looking out for me. The other thing was… I told them some stuff. Not any of the uh…” She began to blush a little. “More intimate stuff, but I told them that we cuddled and about the campin’ trip and such. My parents don’t want to see me get hurt and they’re concerned that, well, this might just be ‘puppy love’, you know?”
“Passionate and intense feelings fueled by inexperience and hormones that in the end are, in fact, rather shallow,” Deku clarified, sounding like a textbook. She noticed how intensely his eyes were glowing.
“Y-yeah. That.”
Deku looked up into the stars shining above, or at least those that he could see through all the light pollution. “I’ve been concerned about the same thing.”
Ochako’s jaw dropped. “R-really?”
Mina squeezed her hand a little. “Same here. It would be pretty silly to not be worried about that.”
“Do you think…?” She couldn’t bear to finish the question.
“I don’t think it is,” Deku responded. “But maybe it is. I don’t think people realize they’re in ‘puppy love’ until it’s too late. And after all, we’re just a bunch of dumb teenagers, right?” He laughed dryly. “Ryuko is always telling me that.”
That didn’t exactly bolster Ochako’s confidence. “What do we do?”
Mina reached over and hugged her fully. “We keep going the way we have been. I feel like our connection is deeper than that, but our relationship is still new. These past few weeks have been the happiest of my life and if we keep going like this, then I don’t see us going anywhere but up.”
Deku laughed once. “My mom and I had a long talk the other day. Once she stopped crying about how her ‘baby boy was growing up’, she talked to me about love. The heart of her advice was this: love isn’t a place, it’s a journey. We can’t get complacent, we have to keep working at it every day. I’m not exactly sure I 100% know what that means, but I’ll do my best to figure it out.”
He put his arms around her as well. “I have no intention of letting either of you go. In the short time I’ve known you, I’ve become a better person in almost every way. I promise to keep trying every day to make us work and to make us better.”
“Me too,” Mina added.
Between the two of them, she felt so safe and warm, but she also felt confident and supported. Mina and Deku made her feel good on every level. “Me three.”
Izuku stood up, gently pulling Ochako and Mina up with him. “Let’s get ready for bed. It’s Mina’s turn to be in the middle.”
Ochako looked down at her two lovers and felt her heart swell. “Right! And uh, thank you both. For everything.”
The next day went fairly smoothly. Izuku woke up with his girlfriends and spent some time enjoying their company before getting up and making breakfast for the rest of his classmates. He trained with Katsuki, Eiko and Satou for much of the rest of the morning, spent the early afternoon swimming with Tsuyu and spent the latter part of the day catching up on his studying with Momo in the common room.
Dinner was prepared by Satou and Mina, the latter of which was eager to test out the new skills that Izuku’s mother had taught her. It wasn’t the greatest thing he had ever tasted, but it was still very good. He could taste some of his mother’s influence in the dish, which was very welcome. Every day seemed to make Heights Alliance seem more like home.
Tomorrow, classes started up again, which meant Izuku had some class representative responsibilities to handle.
He stood up tall and waved his hand wide as people finished their dinners. “Hey, everyone! Listen up for a bit!”
Izuku looked around the room, making sure all nineteen pairs of eyes were on him. “I hope all of you have been paying attention to the syllabus, but just in case you haven’t, let me remind you: this upcoming week we are preparing for our internships that begin the following week. That all starts with us picking our hero names tomorrow!”
Murmurs shot up around the room; Izuku could tell that some of them had, in fact, not been reading the syllabus. “Keep in mind that these names could and very likely will stick, so don’t just show up with something half-baked. Put some thought into it, alright? We are students at the most prestigious hero university in the nation, we should act like it! That means supporting each other; so please, ask each other for help if you need some ideas! I’m looking forward to hearing what each of you chooses tomorrow!” He smiled wide. “That’s all!”
He watched carefully as his classmates began to talk amongst themselves in earnest. Izuku himself had already settled on his name, but judging from the looks on several of his classmates’ faces, many hadn’t.
Mina was talking with Eiko, Sero and Katsuki, while Ochako was talking with Iida and Tsuyu. Jirou, Momo and Pony were discussing quietly, while Tokoyami, Kouda, Shouji and Satou were doing the same. Aoyama had a look on his face that told Izuku he was already very confident in his name, while Mineta and Kaminari were walking towards the stairs, talking excitedly.
What caught Izuku’s eye the most was Hagakure and Shouto. The man was sitting peacefully on one of the couches, deep in thought, when the woman hopped up to him and began bubbling at him. Izuku put a little of his quirk into his ears to listen in.
“Hey, Todoroki! Could you give me a hand?” she asked happily.
Shouto blinked. “Uh… sure. What do you need?”
“Well, I’m not sure what I want my hero name to be,” Hagakure explained. “I was gonna go with ‘Invisible Girl’ or something, but Midoriya wants me to do better than that. You’re real smart, could you help?”
“Um… I guess?” Shouto responded, seemingly unused to female attention.
Izuku could sympathize.
“Great!” she exclaimed, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him off toward the elevator. “Let me tell you about my quirk!”
Shouto seemed completely out of his element. “It’s not just invisibility…?”
Izuku couldn’t help but crack a smile as the elevator doors shut behind them.
He turned back to the rest of the class and smiled wider.
Tomorrow, he would show his hero name off to the world. Then, soon after, it would be time for internships. It was thanks to Katsuki, Ochako, Mina, and more that he had gotten this far, but it wasn’t time for him to slow down. If anything, he needed to run towards his goal even faster.
Tomorrow was that next big step.
Notes:
See you all next time!
:)
Chapter 42: A Rose by Any Other Name
Summary:
Hero names!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Aizawa flung the door of 1-A’s classroom open and stepped inside, his body no longer covered by bandages. Izuku would have normally expected Iida to stand up and greet the man and wish him well, but he wasn’t exactly in the mood for that. Ever since his brother was taken down by Stain, Iida was subdued. Izuku couldn’t blame him, of course, but it definitely put a damper on the whole class atmosphere.
“I’m happy to see you well, sir,” Momo said from the back of the room.
“Yeah, thanks,” Aizawa said dismissively. “Down to business. Today is an important day for all of you; one that could potentially affect your entire hero career.”
The class sat silently, listening.
“I see you all read the syllabus,” Aizawa continued, a small note of approval in his voice. “Good. Then let’s not waste any more time. Midnight will oversee your hero name selections and then we will discuss internships. Remember that these code names should embody the type of hero that you wish to be. Think of All Might for example.”
He paused, looking around the room. “This name is likely to stick and it’s what will give people their first impressions about you. There’s a lot in a name, so choose wisely. Good luck.”
With a wave, Aizawa left as quickly as he arrived, letting an exuberant Midnight and chipper Nejire into the room after him.
“Good morning, students!” Midnight called joyfully.
“Good morning, professor,” the class responded in unison.
Nejire smiled and hummed happily as she handed a stack of five whiteboards and markers to the first person in each row.
“As Aizawa said,” Midnight began, “you’ll be selecting your hero names today. I have final approval over your selections, but you’re a bunch of smart young adults, right? I’m sure you’ll all make wonderful choices. Now, unless there are any questions…?” She looked around the room, but saw no hands. “Excellent. I’ll give you some time to think over your selections and then we’ll start by taking volunteers.”
The class set to work scribbling on their whiteboards with earnest while Izuku stared down at his own whiteboard and marker with a small smile on his face. He held up his left hand and formed scales across it, admiring the color and sheen of his scales. A sigh escaped his lungs as he reminisced about all he had gone through to get to this point.
This name was more than just a code name for him. Because of his instincts, he had to be extra careful to choose correctly.
Izuku closed his eyes and thought back on his life. He thought about the incident in school when he and Katsuki were kids, the time when his father lost his arm, when he met All Might for the first time. He recalled the entrance exam where he had first met Ochako and had saved and been saved by her. He thought back to the battle trial where he had to fight his instincts and his confessions with Ochako and Mina.
His quirk pulsed with power.
Izuku remembered the USJ. The fury he felt when Kurogiri had threatened his class, the way he had rescued Tsuyu and Mineta and the way he had stopped Shigaraki from killing her by talking him down. He remembered Terrorflame and the way he had thrown away all of his reservations and fully embraced his instincts. He remembered every earthshaking blow in their deadly duel and how he had struck the first solid attack and pumped poison into the villain’s veins.
He remembered how Terrorflame had just been toying with him.
His quirk pulsed harder, scales growing at the edges of his face.
He remembered All Might saving him and the flurry of half-coherent memories of all his classmates visiting and speaking with him. He remembered waking up surrounded by people he cared about and who cared for him.
He remembered Ochako and Mina confessing their love to him and his reciprocation.
His horns grew thicker and longer on his head.
He thought back about Nejire joining the class as a TA and the hell she put the class through that week. He remembered Ochako’s speech and him winning the race with ease. He ran through the cavalry battle again, grimacing slightly as he remembered how furious he had been when Shouto had stolen his headband, which he still had stashed safely in his room back at the dorms, thank you.
He remembered Shouto telling him about his monster of a father and how he had learned of Monoma hurting Pony. He remembered the cold fury when he had first introduced the world to his breath as he punished Monoma for his insolence. He hadn’t even felt satisfaction, it was simply the natural order. Those who harmed his hoard were to be punished.
He remembered his “fight” with Shinsou and how his instincts had fully merged with him once again. He remembered meeting Endeavor and barely being able to contain himself before Momo saved him. He remembered his fight with Shouto and his victory in more ways than one.
He remembered losing to Ochako and being so proud.
He thought about his family and all they had done for him, both good and bad. His father, his mother, Ryuko, Aunt Saori, Uncle Seizou… Uncle Hatsuo.
He remembered Ochako calming him down at the battle trial, Mina being able to stop him when he had lashed out at her for breaking into his lair, and Momo saving him at the festival.
After everything he had done and with everything he wanted to do and who he wanted to be, there was no other name he could choose.
Something about it felt right.
A hero name.
‘Something for people to call me when they see me coming.’
A name to inspire and to cause fear.
'A name that embodies who I am and what I aspire to be.’
With a fanged grin, his eyes opened, reptilian slits replacing his round human irises as they glowed with potent green light.
My name.
Ochako finished writing her name down on her whiteboard fairly quickly. She had thought of this name years ago and she was still proud of it, so it had to be a good one, right? Sure, it was a little bit of a pun, but it fit.
She glanced around the room, seeing most people still writing or debating internally. However, what really caught her eyes was Deku. She watched him sit completely still with his eyes closed, seemingly deep in thought. Her eyebrow raised slightly as she saw scales forming on the edge of his face and his horns growing slightly. Deku was clearly engaging with his instincts, which was to be expected. Ochako had been there in the hospital when Stormclaw had spoken to Deku about their hero names; Deku wasn’t just picking a name for people to call him, he was picking a name to call himself.
Ochako smiled. She was sure whatever he picked would be great. She looked forward to calling him and Mina by their hero names and hoped they would like her choice too. The three of them had kept their choices secret on purpose, hoping to surprise the others in class.
Several more minutes passed and it seemed everyone had finished. Midnight glanced over the class appraisingly before asking for volunteers. With his patented flair, Aoyama was the first person to raise his hand, seemingly eager to get it over with, or perhaps just to show off.
Aoyama almost pranced to the podium and held his whiteboard close to his chest. “Prepare to be dazzled!” he declared.
Yeah, it was the latter option.
He flipped the board over proudly. “I am the Shining Hero: Soleil!”
Ochako blinked. That actually… wasn’t bad. She was expecting something much more pretentious out of the blonde; maybe Deku’s speech the previous night had done some good. The class seemed to share her sentiments and murmured approvingly.
“I like it!” Midnight cheered. “It has a flair that can’t be denied!”
Aoyama sparkled as he smirked. How did he do that?
There was a noted pause in the class as Aoyama took his seat and Midnight asked for another volunteer. Ochako saw Mina’s hand begin to raise, but Tsuyu’s was faster.
The greenette walked to the front of the class and paused at the podium for just a moment. “I’ve known since elementary school what I wanted to be called,” she explained as she turned the board around. “I’ll be the Rainy Season Hero: Froppy.”
More murmurs of approval shot around the classroom. “It’s adorable!” Midnight squealed. “And so friendly! I like it!”
The class agreed as Mina yelled “Yeah! Froppy!”
Cheers of ‘Froppy! Froppy!’ went off around the room, Ochako joining in eagerly. She felt her heart swell as Tsuyu’s mouth turned up into a small smile as she saw everyone supporting her so whole-heartedly.
She sat down, carrying her shoulders a little higher than she had before as she walked back to her seat. The awkward, hesitant ice that had settled over the class had been shattered by Tsuyu, leaving everyone excited rather than nervous.
Student after student raised their hand to go up. Shouji was the Tentacle Hero: Tentacole, Sero became the Taping Hero: Cellophane, Tokoyami became the Jet-Black Hero: Tsukuyomi, and Kouda quietly called himself the Petting Hero: Anima.
“My turn!” Eiko declared as she slammed the board on the podium. “I’m the Sturdy Hero: Red Riot!”
“Oh, is that inspired by Crimson Riot?” Midnight asked.
Eiko nodded confidently. “Absolutely! He’s my idol and my inspiration. I’m going to be a chivalrous hero who stands strong no matter what and always gives their all just like him!”
Ochako sighed. There was something so undeniably cute and, honestly, attractive about Eiko’s enthusiasm and determination. In many ways it reminded her of Deku; maybe that was why she liked it so much.
Momo went next and became the Everything Hero: Creati. Ochako loved the way she had begun to carry herself more proudly and confidently after Deku had talked with her last week. It made her even more beautiful than normal and really reminded her just how powerful Momo was. With her brain and her quirk, was there anything she couldn’t do?
Kaminari became the Lightning Hero: Chargebolt and Satou called himself the Sweets Hero: Sugarman. Ochako nodded. It was classic.
Mineta had to hold the sign above his head to show it above the podium. The Fresh-Picked Hero: Grape Juice wasn’t exactly Ochako’s favorite name, but maybe she was just letting her bias against the little creep get the better of her judgement.
Mina walked up next, holding the sign proudly with her distinctive energetic smile. “Acid Hero: Alien Queen!”
Ochako furrowed her brow. ‘Alien Queen’ sounded a little scary for the adorable woman she called her girlfriend, but Mina wasn’t one to shy away from that sort of thing. Unfortunately for Mina, Midnight seemed to share her reservations.
“I’m not approving that one,” Midnight muttered, “even if I wasn’t worried about copyright laws coming down on you.”
Tsuyu tilted her head. “How can you copyright something so generic?”
Midnight shrugged. “Look, I’m not a lawyer. Pick something else, Ashi-”
Mina was excitedly rubbing the whiteboard with the sleeve of her uniform and quickly turned it back around with a massive grin. It now read ‘Acid Hero: Queen’.
Ochako’s mouth opened slightly. God, she loved that woman.
Midnight pondered for a second. “I… like it! Approved!”
Mina squealed and jumped up and down a little as she hurried back to her seat.
All in all, it seemed that everyone in class was getting into the hero names. Well, everyone except the man sitting in front of her.
Ochako knew that Iida was going through a tough time. She had done her best to comfort him and be there for him ever since he returned to the dorms, but there wasn’t much she could actually do for him. He had been silent ever since class started, staring at his blank white board like it was going to tell him the answers to his problems. Or maybe like the whiteboard was his problem.
Tenya wasn’t really listening to the rest of his classmates. He knew that was inexcusable, but he couldn't help himself right now. He had more important things on his mind right now.
The thing being the same thing he had burned into his mind for an entire week at this point.
Tensei.
Tensei laying in a hospital bed, tubes and other medical equipment covering nearly every square inch of his body as he slowly recovered.
Although, to Tenya, ‘recover’ was a cruel, untrue word. Tensei would never recover. He would never be the same again. His career, his future, his life as he knew it was all over.
And it was all because of that bastard Stain.
Rage and fury were emotions that were mostly foreign to Tenya. He had felt anger and indignation when the villains had attacked the USJ, but those were overshadowed by his determination to help his classmates. It wasn’t anger that drove him to run as fast as he did back to find All Might and the other faculty when he had escaped the USJ, but duty, righteousness and perhaps a bit of fear.
When he had walked out of the arena under Shinsou’s control and lost the tournament, he had felt angry, but that was again overshadowed by his disappointment, sorrow and shame.
He had felt anger before, but this was beyond that. Rage and fury and hatred clawed at his heart and his mind, not dominating him, but always lurking below. Every day... it grew stronger.
But the time for revenge was later.
Why was he sitting here in class while his brother couldn’t even breathe on his own? Why was he getting ready to pick his hero name when his brother couldn’t ever be a hero again? It wasn’t fair. He would give anything to trade places with Tensei; it was only right.
But he couldn’t. He didn’t get that choice.
Tenya shook his head and gripped his marker hard enough that he might have almost broke it. There was no point thinking himself in the same circles he had been trapped in for a week again. It was time to get this over with.
His hand shook as he wrote. Every single stroke felt like blasphemy, but he pushed himself forward. He just wanted it over with. He wanted the pain to stop. As he finished, he looked down at what he wrote with revulsion. Not for what he had written, but for daring to think himself worthy.
He remembered Midoriya’s words. They had seemed wise at the time, but it wasn’t until later that he realized just how profound they were.
“Iida, lean on your family for strength, because some day, they may rely on you for your strength.”
He shot his hand into the air to go next, using all of his willpower not to throw the whiteboard onto the ground.
‘This isn’t about you,’ Tenya repeated to himself for the thousandth time as he walked to the front. ‘This is about Tensei. You can still walk. You can still be a hero. Do it for him.’
He paused at the podium, staring at the whiteboard one more time. It was now or never. Once he turned it around, there was no going back.
Midnight was standing behind him and saw what was written down. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and whispered quietly. “Tensei could not be more proud of you. You might not see it now, but you’re doing the right thing, I promise you.”
She was right. He couldn't see it.
But again, this wasn’t about him. This was about his brother and doing what he wanted, no matter how wrong it felt to Tenya.
It was the least he could do, but it was also the most he could do. He couldn’t help his brother, but he could at least fulfil his wishes.
Tenya turned the board around and tried to speak, but found his throat unwilling to make any noise.
However, the entire class saw the sign. The damned, blasphemous, arrogant sign that nobody deserved to be holding.
The sign that read ‘Turbo Hero: Ingenium’.
The class was silent as Iida held the sign, but everyone understood the implications. Izuku noted the anguish and frustration in his eyes, but he also saw the rage and hatred beneath them. Now wasn’t the time to help him, but Izuku wasn’t about to let Iida go through this alone. His hoard was suffering and all of Izuku wanted to see him healed.
Iida sat down and there was a small pause before anyone dared to raise their hands.
It was Jirou who finally broke the silence, walking up to the podium and holding the sign that read ‘Hearing Hero: Heartjack’ with a small smile. Izuku liked the name.
Pony raised her hand next, stepping up with her sign in hand. Izuku had noticed her trying to write the name in kanji several times, but erasing it as she made mistakes. Finally, she had made a crude approximation of her name, but had wound up writing it in English as well underneath for good measure. “I’m Horned Hero: Stampede,” she declared firmly, her voice steady and determined. Izuku really admired her tenacity and drive. It was something he could really learn from her. Maybe it was time to finally organize those English lessons he had talked about the first week of class.
Ochako walked up as Pony sat down, holding her sign nervously. He had loved Mina’s hero name and he was sure that Ochako would pick something that suited her. She was a simple girl in many ways, but it suited her. She turned the sign around with an unsure smile; it read ‘Gravity Hero: Uravity.’ Izuku’s smile nearly fell off his face as he grinned wide, which seemed to bolster Ochako’s confidence as she glanced over at him. She smiled back softly and quickly retreated to her desk. God, he loved that woman.
That left only four students. Hagakure hurried up to the podium and held her sign close to her chest. “I was going to go with something less cool, but then someone gave me a hand coming up with a much better hero name!” She turned the sign around and held it proudly. “I’m the Stealth Hero: Spectrum!”
“Oooh, it feels like a secret agent code name!” Midnight cooed. “Really playing into that infiltrator motif, I approve!”
‘Spectrum?’ Izuku thought curiously. She had told Shouto that she was going to ‘tell him about her quirk’, which meant that there was certainly more to her quirk than met the eye. Or rather, didn’t meet the eye.
Puns are beneath me.
‘Oh, hush. I’m not nearly that proud.’
But I should be.
Izuku rolled his eyes as Shouto walked up with his sign. He noted with curiosity and approval the small glance and smaller smile that Shouto shot at Hagakure when he unceremoniously turned his sign around. It read ‘Elemental Hero: Flashpoint’.
Izuku’s quirk pulsed with satisfaction in the back of his mind. He was certain that Shouto was going to go with something unimaginative or overly simple, or maybe even something to explicitly spite his old man. He even had thought that Shouto might just go with his name; that would have truly been terrible.
Izuku remembered the explosion and blinding light from the final clash of their fight at the festival. Yeah, Flashpoint was a good name for him. Hagakure had done well to help him out and Izuku would be certain to nurture their relationship in the future; it would be good for the both of them.
Katsuki looked back at him, as the two of them were the only ones left. Izuku gave him a small look that silently communicated that he was free to go up. “You’re going with that old name from when we were kids, right?”
“Go to hell,” Katsuki hissed as he stood up.
“Aw, come on,” Izuku teased with a small chuckle. “King Explosion Murder is a great name.”
“Fuck off.” The dirty look he shot at Izuku was only marred by the small smirk on his face.
With one hand, he placed the sign on the podium and glared at the class, daring anyone to say anything. “Explosive Hero: Ground Zero,” he declared flatly.
“Ooh, that’s one of the best ones so far,” Midnight chirped approvingly. “I must say, your entire class has been excellent. With the exception of Ashido, I haven’t had to turn anyone down. That might be a new record!” She looked over at Izuku. “That is, assuming you chose wisely, Midoriya.”
Izuku smiled confidently as he stood up. He was sure he had.
Why had Izuku waited to be last? Maybe he had a flair for the dramatic or maybe he just wanted to observe all of his hoard. Whatever the reason, he walked up to the podium and looked over the classroom.
“I’ve been thinking this over for a while,” Izuku began, “and I’ve finally got it. Some of you might be expecting me to go with something like my father, Stormclaw or my grandfather, Thunderwing. Something like Poisonmaw or Venomfang.” He shot a quick glance at Shouto, who smiled slightly in recognition of the fake name he had used during their bout. “While I considered those, I decided that they weren’t right for me.”
Izuku stood up a little taller. “Instead, I took a page out of my great-grandfather, Gallant’s book.” He looked over at Eiko, whose eyes were widening in surprise and whose mouth was curving into a huge grin. “This name defines who I am and what my path is. It is a central tenet of my very existence, in the face of all manner of foes.”
Izuku turned his sign around and slammed it on the podium, patting the top of the whiteboard once confidently with his hand as he gazed over the class with a fanged grin.
“I am the Green Dragon Hero: Defiant.”
Notes:
See you guys next time to find out where people are going to intern!
:)
Chapter 43: Diverged Roads
Summary:
The students pick what hero they want to intern with.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
After all the commotion had died down, Midnight spoke up again. “I’d say this class has been my best class ever for hero names! I applaud you all for your selections and I look forward to watching you grow into strong and capable heroes.” She winked and headed for the door. “Now sit tight, I’m sure Aizawa will be ba-”
The door slid open, revealing their teacher standing there with a large stack of folders and papers.
“Were you waiting…?” Midnight asked.
Aizawa barely acknowledged her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Have they finished picking their names?”
“They have,” Midnight answered, raising an eyebrow incredulously, “and I must say, they’ve done very well. Here.” She handed him a sheet with their names on it.
“Excellent.” Aizawa took the paper and walked past her into the room. Midnight rolled her eyes and walked out, closing the door behind her, leaving the students alone with Aizawa and Nejire.
Aizawa took a moment to look over the hero names. If he had any thoughts about any of them, his face didn’t give anything away. The man had mastered the poker face; or maybe it was simply that he was just that tired all the time.
“Good work,” he said approvingly as he pulled out a small device and scanned the paper, before pressing a button and projecting everyone’s names on the board with their chosen hero names.
Yuuga Aoyama - Shining Hero: Soleil
Mina Ashido - Acid Hero: Queen
Tsuyu Asui - Rainy Season Hero: Froppy
Tenya Iida - Turbo Hero: Ingenium
Ochako Uraraka - Gravity Hero: Uravity
Pony Tsunotori - Horned Hero: Stampede
Denki Kaminari - Lightning Hero: Chargebolt
Eiko Kirishima - Sturdy Hero: Red Riot
Kouji Kouda - Petting Hero: Anima
Rikidou Satou - Sweets Hero: Sugarman
Mezou Shouji - Tentacle Hero: Tentacole
Kyouka Jirou - Hearing Hero: Heartjack
Hanta Sero - Taping Hero: Cellophane
Fumikage Tokoyami - Jet-Black Hero: Tsukuyomi
Shouto Todoroki - Elemental Hero: Flashpoint
Tooru Hagakure - Stealth Hero: Spectrum
Katsuki Bakugou - Explosive Hero: Ground Zero
Izuku Midoriya - Green Dragon Hero: Defiant
Minoru Mineta - Fresh-Picked Hero: Grape Juice
Momo Yaoyorozu - Everything Hero: Creati
Aizawa paused for a moment to examine the names once more before he turned back around. “Now we’ll hand out your offers. As you all read the syllabus, I don’t need to go over the specifics. You’ll be heading off a week from today for a five-day internship with the hero you have selected. Each of these forms have three spots on them, ordered by preference. They’ll be used if a hero changes their mind about taking you or takes someone else in your stead. In addition, even if you received no offers, we have heroes who are willing to take you. You’ll all be getting real experience next week, don’t worry about that. Hadou, please hand these out to the first two rows.”
He handed one stack of folders and papers to Nejire and then began to hand out his own stack to the rows on his right. Izuku took the folder, but he didn’t have any real intention of reading it. His internship had been decided long ago. Even if his father wasn’t the smartest choice—which it was—there was no way that Izuku would miss the opportunity of finally living out his oldest childhood dream of being a hero alongside his father.
However, he had a job to do. Izuku had to make sure that everyone else made good decisions on who they were going to intern with; he wished he could have known who most of his class were going to get offers from, but it couldn’t be helped. He would just have to be quick.
“Look over your offers carefully,” Aizawa concluded. “They’re due by end-of-day Wednesday. Good luck.” The man stuffed his hands in his pockets as he left the classroom.
Izuku quickly filled out the first line of his form with ‘Stormclaw’ and set it aside. That was all he needed to do before he began to scan the classroom and observe his hoard. The rest of the students were all shuffling through their pages and folders, eagerly looking to see who had taken notice of them. It was with particular interest he watched Mina on the far side of the room, who was frantically shuffling through her papers.
She clearly didn’t find what she was looking for, as she slumped down with a disappointed huff. Izuku could only smile, because he knew what was coming next.
Nejire walked over to Mina’s desk slowly, holding her hands behind her back and sauntering with an exaggerated sway. “Heeeey Ashido,” she began coyly.
Mina looked up, a little deflated. “Yes, Hadou?”
“Sorry about this, but she wanted me to see your reaction so I could tell her,” Nejire explained, holding something out to Mina.
“She…?” Mina asked, before looking down at the letter and spotting the seal of Ryuko’s hero agency standing proudly on the letter in Nejire’s hand.
Mina shrieked in excitement, causing every head in the classroom to whip over to her as she snatched the letter from Nejire like a kid on Christmas morning. “Thank you thank you thank you! Ahhh, I’m so excited!”
“Mina, what is it?” Tsuyu asked curiously from behind her.
The woman whipped around as she stood up and held up the letter proudly. “I just got an offer from Ryukyu!”
Murmurs of amazement and some of jealousy shot out from around the room. “Oh, congratulations,” Tsuyu said calmly.
“Yeah, good for you!” Eiko agreed. “I bet you’ll learn a lot from the number nine!”
Mina couldn’t contain her excitement any longer and grabbed Nejire around the waist and back, lifting her up into a great hug. “Thank you!” she squealed again.
Nejire just giggled. “Don’t think it’s gonna be easy! Ryukyu and I are gonna make Hell Week feel like a vacation!”
Mina’s eyes opened and she suddenly seemed to notice she was shoving Nejire’s impressive bust into her face. She quickly dropped the blue-haired woman and Izuku could make out the traces of lilac blush on her face. “O-oh, that’s right, you work for Ryukyu, don’t you?”
“Yep! ” Nejire exclaimed excitedly, giggling as she always did. Yet this time it felt… sinister. “It’s been a while since Ryukyu had a new intern! It’s gonna be soooo fuuuun!”
Mina paled as the rest of the class laughed. “You know, I was a little jealous,” Kyouka remarked with a smirk, “but I think I just kinda feel sorry for you now.”
Izuku smiled sympathetically as Mina looked over to him for help. Sure, Ryuko and especially Nejire were going to push her hard, but she would come out stronger and better on the other side. Izuku had no doubts that Mina could handle it. He nodded, which seemed to reassure her. Mina turned back to Nejire and nodded. “I’m looking forward to it.”
His quirk pulsed in approval as he looked at her determined glare.
Mine.
Izuku stood up and turned around, walking down his aisle while glancing at sheets. Mineta had already written down Mt. Lady as his first choice, which made Izuku smirk. He doubted he would get a whole lot of practical experience with the relatively-new hero, but he had a feeling the experience would be good for him in other ways.
He stopped at Mo’s desk, looking down at her selections. They were far from the sparsest in the class, but they were also far from the large stack that Izuku and Katsuki had on their desks. “Having trouble?” he asked kindly.
“I haven’t even heard of most of these agencies,” Momo said despondently as she flipped through the pages. Izuku’s eyes widened as he noticed a familiar name.
“Stop,” he ordered suddenly. “Go back, what was that one?”
“Uh…” Momo stalled as she turned the pages back. “This one?”
Izuku smiled wide as he looked down at the page. “Sir Nighteye…” He thought for a moment, his quirk flowing smoothly through his mind. “That would be an excellent choice for you.”
“You think so?” she asked. “Wasn’t he All Might’s sidekick? I hadn’t really considered him…”
“Before you go into any challenge, what are the most important thing you can have?” he asked. “As in, you specifically . What do you want more than anything before you approach something?”
Mo thought for only a moment. “Knowledge. I want to know as much as I can so I can be as prepared as possible. My quirk relies on it.”
“Exactly!” Izuku agreed. “Do you know what Sir’s quirk is?”
“I… can’t say that I do,” Momo admitted, rubbing her chin. “He was always overshadowed by All Might when I read about him.”
“It’s called Foresight,” Izuku explained. “And it lets him see the future.”
Mo gasped.
Izuku smiled. “Now you’re getting it. He is just an ordinary man outside of his knowledge and preparations, but because of his mind and his quirk, he is a reliable and respected pro.”
Mo’s eyes grew that sparkle that he lov— liked —so much. “Thank you, Zu! I’ll be sure to put him as my first choice!”
Izuku smiled wide as he turned to continue his prowl. Next was Shouto, who was staring stoically at the paper in his hand. Izuku glanced down and saw the last name he wanted to see. “You’re thinking about going with your father?”
Shouto kept staring as Izuku kneeled down to his eye level. “He’s a scumbag, but he’s the number two hero. He would also be an excellent choice to teach me how to use my fire.”
“I see…” Izuku muttered. He understood, but he didn’t approve.
“But he wouldn’t be the only one,” Shouto continued. “And I must say, the other option is far more intriguing.” He flipped over another piece of paper and Izuku’s stomach plummeted.
“Purifier.”
Shouto nodded. “He’s your uncle, is he not?”
“He… is,” Izuku admitted slowly.
“It would be a valuable lesson to see a different fire quirk in use up close.” Shouto turned to look at him for the first time. “And your family has intrigued me, Izuku. I think the experience would be invaluable. And it would piss off my old man.”
Izuku didn’t like the idea of Shouto going with Uncle Hatsuo much more than him going with Endeavor, but he couldn't deny the logic of his argument. “Well, I wish you luck, then,” Izuku finished as he stood up and walked up the aisle slowly.
Satou and Kouda didn’t have many options, as they didn’t perform very well at the festival. A quick glance at their papers showed Izuku that they had made acceptable choices and he didn’t need to give them any input. When he glanced over at Tokoyami’s page, he found himself taken aback.
“Hawks?” Izuku asked, unable to contain his surprise.
“Yes,” Tokoyami muttered flatly. “I’m as surprised as you that I got an offer from the number three hero. Do you think it’s because of the…” He trailed off, pointing at his bird-shaped head.
Izuku raised an eyebrow. “I certainly hope not. Either way, Hawks is rapidly rising through the ranks. That would be an excellent place for you to go.”
“Hmm, I surmised the same thing,” Tokoyami agreed. “Thank you for your input.”
Izuku nodded awkwardly and continued up the aisle. Eiko had picked Fourth Kind, of which Izuku approved; the strict hero would be a perfect teacher for the woman. Sero and Kaminari had also chosen fine heroes, but Jirou’s choice caused him to hesitate. “Death Arms?” he asked.
“What’s with the helicopter parenting?” she retorted.
“I’m just doing my duty as class rep,” Izuku explained, covering up his true intentions.
“Whatever.” Jirou bought it. “But yeah, Death Arms. I want some real hands-on experience and a brawler like him seems like a good choice.”
Izuku rubbed his chin and nodded. “Smart.”
“Oh, uh, thanks,” Kyouka said softly, looking down at her desk.
He passed by Shouji, glancing approvingly at his choice before stopping at Pony’s desk. As he suspected, she was having trouble.
“Oh, Izzy!” she squeaked. “You help me?”
“We can speak English,” Izuku began.
She sighed in relief. “Thanks. I wish I was learning faster, but it’s hard.”
Izuku nodded. “Japanese is not easy. You are doing well and learning quickly.”
“Thanks, that means a lot,” she smiled at him, blushing slightly. “Do you have any advice for me? I can’t read half of these hero names.”
“Sure,” Izuku responded, shifting through her papers slightly. His quirk began to flow again as he rapidly considered her options.
Suddenly, inspiration struck as he looked at a name that he hadn’t considered yet.
“This would actually be a good choice for you,” Izuku explained.
“U.. Uwa…” Pony began to try and sound the name out.
“Uwabami,” Izuku finished.
“I was getting it!” Pony shot back with a small pout.
“Sorry,” he said with a laugh. “She is what is known as an ‘idol hero’. She is almost more celebrity than hero some days.”
Pony furrowed her brow. “I don’t want to be like that.”
“I know you do not,” he continued. “But something like this would be a very good way to get you more into Japanese culture and our language. It would be a bit of a crash-course—I think that is the term—but it could prove very useful.”
“Immersion…” Pony’s eyes widened in understanding. “Tossed into the deep end and told to swim… Yeah, that could be invaluable!”
“And those snakes on her head are her quirk,” Izuku explained. “She can send them out and control them, like you. Also, she is not all celebrity. When people need help, she does not hesitate. She just has a…”
“Persona?” Pony finished, smiling up at Izuku.
“Yes, thank you. Are you still offering English lessons?” he asked.
“If you’re offering Japanese lessons,” she replied. “Thanks for everything, Izzy. I really appreciate it.”
Izuku smiled kindly. “No problem. Good luck.” He turned to make his way down the final aisle.
Aoyama had chosen… well enough. The man wasn’t exactly prone to taking his advice anyway. Mina had already made up her mind, clearly, and mewled happily when he ruffled her hair as he passed.
Tsuyu was next; he intentionally took the path that put her near the end of his patrol. The woman looked up at him with her big, beau—eyes. Her big eyes.
“Hi, Izuchan,” Tsuyu said calmly, like she always did.
His quirk couldn’t decide if he should be irritated that she had given him such a ‘cutesy’ name, or if it was endearing that a woman like her would do so. “Hi, Tsu. How are your choices?”
“They’re fine,” she responded. “I want to do something with water, of course, so I think I might go with Selkie.”
Izuku tapped his chin. “That wouldn’t be a bad choice, but I might have a better one.”
She looked back up at him and tilted her head. God, she was cute. “What do you mean?”
Izuku’s smile was almost mischievous as he opened up his uniform jacket and pulled out a letter. “Here,” he said simply, handing it to her.
Tsuyu took the letter with a curious expression that quickly turned to disbelief as she recognized the seal on it. “This is…”
“How would you like to intern with my father with me?” Izuku asked with a smirk.
“Stormclaw…” she muttered. “That would be a dream come true. Thank you!”
Izuku smiled widely. “I’m looking forward to it. It didn’t take me much convincing to get him to extend you the offer, so don’t think this is just because you’re my friend. He’s already impressed by you.”
Tsuyu smiled up at him so hard her eyes closed tight. “I’ll do my best. Your father didn’t make a mistake.”
Izuku nodded and left her behind to look at the last two students on this side of the room. He knew that Iida wasn’t going to be receptive to any sort of advice from him, but he still looked down at his sheet.
He only saw one name down. Manual.
Why? Izuku was certain that Iida had received better offers. In fact, Izuku could see a better offer sticking out of the folder on his desk. Manual was relatively small time and his quirk and hero style weren’t compatible with Iida’s at all.
Izuku’s quirk went into overdrive has he began to think hard. The Ingenium Hero Agency didn’t dissolve overnight. Iida’s brother had a veritable fleet of sidekicks, some of which were more powerful and more prominent than Manual was. There was no apparent logical explanation for Iida’s choice, but Iida obviously had a reason.
Wait. Manual’s agency was in Hosu, which was where Ingenium—the previous Ingenium—was attacked.
Izuku’s eyes pulsed with light.
Stain.
Izuku had studied Stain’s MO like many others; he always stuck around in a place and took down several heroes before moving on… and Iida’s brother was the first. It was almost a certainty that Stain was still there.
Iida wanted to go after Stain.
Izuku would absolutely not allow this.
He had to decide how to go about it, because Iida wouldn’t listen to him. Izuku figured his best bet would be to talk to his teachers; maybe Iida would listen to them.
Last on this side was Ochako, who was looking a little down. “How’re you doing?” he asked.
“Oh, Deku!” She apparently hadn’t noticed him. “Oh, I’m alright. I didn’t get that many offers, not nearly as many as you or Todoroki. I guess most pros could tell that I didn’t deserve to win the festival.”
Izuku kneeled down. “Hey, I’ve already told you that's ridiculous. You didn’t cheat, so as far as I’m concerned, that golden medal hanging in your room is rightfully yours.” He had to admit, his quirk had been eyeing the medal greedily, but he managed to convince himself that because Ochako was a part of his hoard, her treasure was his treasure too. Besides, her keeping it made her happier and reminded her to keep pushing herself, both of which were things he wanted.
“I guess… but I had hoped that I would have gotten a few offers from the top ten. Maybe that was just wishful thinking,” she huffed.
“None from the top ten?” Izuku repeated, surprised. “None at all?”
“Well, none so far,” Ochako clarified. “I haven’t finished going through them all.”
She turned over one of the last pieces of paper and her eyes went wide. “M-Miruko?!”
Izuku’s eyes went wide as well. “That’s amazing! She’s number seven!”
“B-but why?” she asked, her hands shaking. “Why me?”
Izuku rubbed his chest softly. “Those kicks of yours weren’t anything to laugh at. She might have taken notice of that.”
Ochako looked down. “Oh…”
“You’ll do great, believe me,” Izuku said reassuringly, rubbing her shoulder. “I don’t have a doubt in my mind.”
She smiled softly as she wrote Miruko’s name on her form. “Thanks, Deku. I’ll do my best.”
Izuku patted her shoulder one last time before he stood up and turned to walk back to his seat. “Hey Kacchan,” Izuku called as he walked, “did you hear? Ochako got an invite from Miruko! Try not to be too jealous.”
Izuku had expected Katsuki to scoff at him, but instead he was met with a smug smirk. “Why would I be jealous that my second -favorite hero gave someone else an offer?”
Izuku’s eyes went wide as he nearly ran across the classroom. “ No .”
Katsuki held up the paper to him with a low chuckle as Izuku snatched it and read it over.
There was no doubt. That was his seal. That was his handwriting. That was his signature.
Katsuki leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk. “That’s right. You’re looking at All Might’s first-ever intern.”
It was later in the afternoon that Izuku finally caught up to his teacher outside the faculty lounge. “Professor Aizawa!” he called, jogging up to him.
“Midoriya,” he responded flatly. “What is it?”
Izuku got straight to the point. “It’s about Iida.”
Aizawa’s eyebrow raised; one of the few reactions Izuku had been able to get out of the man. “What about him?”
Izuku looked around, making sure they were alone. “I am afraid that Iida intends to do something incredibly dangerous. It might not be my place, but he chose Manual to intern at, despite him being a rather poor matchup for him. However, Manual works in Hosu, which is where the Hero Killer is. I think Iida intends to confront Stain, or to at least find him.”
Aizawa looked at him flatly. “Impressive reasoning. Keep honing that skill; it will serve you well.”
“Oh, uh thank you,” Izuku responded quickly,” but about Iida…”
“We have it under control,” Aizawa said simply.
“...You do?”
Aizawa nodded. “Your concern is appreciated. Your classmates chose well by making you their rep.”
“Thank you again, sir, but if I may inquire…”
“Midoriya, I assume you are familiar with the President of UA, correct?” Aizawa began.
“President Nezu?” Midoriya responded. “Of course.” His eyes went wide. “Oh, I see. Nezu already foresaw this.”
“Not exactly,” Aizawa continued. “I did. UA has been teaching students for a long while and this isn’t the first time something tragic has happened to one of my students. I brought up my concerns that Iida was in a vulnerable state at our faculty meeting earlier and Nezu agreed with me. We came up with a plan to guide Iida in a better direction. All Might offered to take care of it and Nezu approved, so we’ll see what comes of that. The information that he picked Manual is just confirmation of what we already suspected.”
Aizawa turned to walk away. “Besides, I have final approval of your choices. Did you really think I would let one of my students make such a foolish and downright dangerous decision? I almost feel like I should be insulted, Midoriya.” There was a hint of levity in his voice.
Izuku shot down into a shallow bow. “I apologize, Professor. I didn’t mean anything of the sort.”
“I know,” Aizawa responded with finality as he walked down the hall. “You’re a good kid, Midoriya.”
Izuku turned as well, hurrying off to make it to his next class with a lighter heart than before. He was glad that the faculty at UA were looking out for his hoard, too.
Tenya’s hand shook as he gripped his pen so tightly it might break—an apparently common theme today. His frustration was boiling over and all he really wanted to do was cry.
How could this happen to him? All Tenya wanted was to see justice done, but it seemed there was a conspiracy against him.
He slowly crossed out Manual’s name from his top choice as his rage burned.
There was no way he could turn down an offer given to him in person from All Might himself. Maybe if he hadn’t taken the name Ingenium, he could convince himself otherwise, but he already had committed that crime. It would be an inexcusable blemish on Tensei’s reputation if the first thing Tenya did with it was to scorn not only the number one hero, but his teacher.
His respect for All Might battled with his burning desire to see that monster taken down, but with his respect for Tensei and his desire to do the name Ingenium proud joining the fight, there was no way he could win.
Stain would have to wait for another day.
A single tear fell from his eyes as he wrote a new name on his form so firmly that he nearly tore the paper.
‘Gran Torino’.
Notes:
See you guys next time!
:)
Any of you who don't remember Izuku's uncle, I point you to Chapter 4 for a refresher, if you wish.
Chapter 44: Forward and Back
Summary:
Things move forward.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Tomura scratched at his neck nervously as he paced back and forth in the dimly-lit bar that he called home.
Kurogiri watched him carefully as he cleaned a glass from behind the counter. “You seem more agitated than normal, Tomura Shigaraki. What is worrying you?”
He stopped pacing long enough to shoot a glance at the amorphous, gaseous man. “...Master said he was going to be calling me shortly.”
“I see,” Kurogiri said slowly. “I have never seen you this perturbed about him calling you before. Is there something the matter?”
Tomura didn’t respond.
A cold snap in May wasn’t the strangest thing in the world; Momo was actually secretly excited that she got to break out some of her favorite jackets for the unseasonably cold weather. However, there was something about the cold snap that neither her nor the rest of 1-A anticipated: just how much it would affect their favorite froggy woman.
Poor Tsuyu apparently did not do well with the cold. Momo dealt with it better than most thanks to her lipid reserves, but Tsuyu was bundled up like it was well below freezing and she was still shivering.
That was intolerable. Momo hated seeing her friends suffer; it was something hard-coded into her. She had been fussing over Tsuyu all week, watching her get more and more drowsy as the temperature dropped further, making her hot tea and making sure she had the best blankets Momo could make. Tsuyu had insisted that she was fine and while she had performed fine during class and their training, especially once she got moving, Momo couldn’t help but fuss like a mother hen.
Saturday morning was the worst of it.
Momo was interrupted halfway through an enthralling chapter of one of her new novels by someone pounding on her door.
Momo had hurried over, worried about what could be causing such a stir. “Eiko? What seems to be the matter?” she asked, looking down at the red-haired woman standing wide-eyed in front of her.
“It’s Tsu!” she exclaimed. “She sounds like she’s really sick or something and you’re like our leader or something so I came to you for help!”
“L-leader?” Momo recoiled slightly. “I suppose I am the vice representative, but-”
“What? Oh yeah, I guess you’re that, too. But come on, you gotta help her!” Eiko dashed off toward the stairs, waving at her to follow.
Momo was stunned for a moment but quickly shut her door and jogged after Eiko.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Mina called from behind, poking her head out of her door further down the hall.
“It’s Tsu!” Momo called back, watching as Ochako poked her head out of the door as well above Mina. She felt a slight pang of envy that she couldn’t be spending nights curled up with them, but the feeling quickly faded as she focused on the job at hand.
Mina and Ochako nodded, their faces full of worry as they closed their door and hurried after Momo.
The four women ran up the stairs to the fifth floor, where they saw Pony standing at the end of the hall, her ear to Tsuyu’s door. “Oh, good, you got Momo. She do not sound good.”
Momo hurried to the door and turned the handle. Or rather, she tried to, but found it locked.
“Let me,” Eiko declared, pushing past Momo and hardening her fist.
Mina jumped forward and put a hand on Eiko’s arm, holding her back. “Now just a minute, Kiri. We don’t need to do that.” She turned to Momo with a hopeful look. “Yaomomo, can you make a lockpick and a tension wrench for me?”
“Wait, what?” Eiko asked, stepping back.
Momo nodded, quickly producing the two items from her forearm. She had learned how to make these years ago, but she had never quite got the handle on lockpicking. In the end, she decided it would be better to put her efforts elsewhere.
Mina took the tools and kneeled down in front of the door, inserting the two and beginning to wiggle one while applying pressure with the other. In a surprisingly short amount of time, the lock turned and clicked.
Momo stepped forward and turned the handle, sliding past Mina as she entered the room.
And was immediately hit by a frigid wall of air.
“Oh my God it’s freezing! ” Ochako whined, hugging her arms tight around her chest.
Eiko stepped back in surprise. “What the hell? Why is it so cold?”
Momo looked over at Tsu, who was buried under her covers, huddling as tightly as she could.
She immediately sprung into action, hurrying over to the shivering woman. “Tsuyu, can you hear me?”
The woman’s eyes opened slightly, looking up at her and nodding slowly. She didn’t look tired, but she looked incredibly sleepy. It was a strange combination.
“Ochako, check the vent,” she ordered, quickly producing a thick winter cap and placing it over Tsuyu’s head. Momo touched the woman’s cheek gentle and felt her heart sink. “Oh, you’re freezing. We need to get you warmed up.”
Ochako reached up and held her hand in front of Tsuyu’s vent. “There’s nothing coming out at all!”
“Dammit, there must have been a mechanical failure or something,” Momo cursed. “Who knows how long she’s been like this…”
“What’s with the pajama party?” a new voice called from the door. The women in the room looked over to see Kyouka and Tooru standing there, peeking in. “We heard you all running up the stairs, what’s- oh my God, did someone open a window?”
“Kyouka, take this and fill it with boiling water,” Momo ordered, creating a thermos and tossing it to Kyouka in the same motion. “We need to warm her up.”
Kyouka blinked for a few moments after she caught the termos. “Uh, yes, Ma’am,” she replied, turning and running off to the kitchen on the ground floor.
Momo turned her head to Mina as she rummaged in the pocket of her pajama pants. “Mina, go into my room. The cabinet on your left, third drawer from the bottom on your right; grab the box of tea and bring it back.” She handed the pink woman her room key firmly.
“On it!” Mina was up and out of the room as fast as she could.
Momo turned back to the rest of the women. “We need to get her out of here, but the less we move her the better. Eiko, is it alright if we put her in your room?”
“Of course!”
“Ochako, if you can make her weightless, we can move her with minimal strain on her body.”
The brunette nodded, moving over to Tsuyu and touching her face gently with all five of her fingers. Momo felt the ground shift ever-so-slightly as a result of the extra mass being pushed into it.
The revelation that her quirk worked that way at the festival was still fresh in Momo’s mind and still fascinated her. Ochako had kept it a secret even during their training together during Hell Week; she was clearly thinking ahead in case she and Momo faced each other. It was an advantage that she valued and she was vindicated in her match with Mina.
Momo reached down and lifted the smaller woman up out of her bed, her brow furrowing in concern as she shivered. She carried Tsuyu as gently as she could out of the room and into Eiko’s, placing her in a sitting position on the redhead’s bed. The warmth of Eiko’s room felt amazing after the relative cold of Tsuyu’s, who seemed to agree, as she immediately became a little more lively.
Tsuyu opened her eyes slowly, looking around the room and smiling softly as Momo wrapped her up in a thick blanket. As she pulled her arms back, Tsuyu grumbled softly. “What, is something- oh!” Momo sat down on the bed next to her. “The body heat is probably comforting.” Tsuyu made a small, satisfied noise as Momo huddled up next to her, putting her arm around the greenette.
Ochako didn’t hesitate to crawl over to the other side of the bed and press herself to Tsuyu’s other side, causing the woman to smile wider.
Ochako and Momo looked down at Tsuyu and then at each other, both of them blushing slightly as they smiled softly. Momo shifted her arm the tiniest amount so she was touching Ochako’s arm as well, hoping the brunette wouldn’t notice. There was something both comforting and a little exciting about being this close to the only other woman who she had ever met that was as tall as she was and something even more exciting about holding a woman a full foot shorter than them between.
It didn’t hurt that they were both beautiful.
Momo smiled and averted her gaze for a moment as Ochako did the same, but then stole a glance back as she dared to reminisce.
She hadn’t spent much time with Ochako since their day together at Hell Week, which was a shame. It had been a hell of a day.
They had gotten paired off together on the third day and had settled in quite well. They spent most of the morning simply sparring, which they both wanted to improve on. Momo wanted to get better at making quick, simple, defensive creations to help her in close-quarters situations and Ochako, well, she was a brawler by-and-large, as her quirk required contact to work. She had also gotten some tips from Iida the previous day on kicking and was very interested in the practice.
Momo had made her some protective gear to allow them to spar without risk of too much injury; especially as Momo was creating steel plates to defend herself. Blocking a kick or a punch with metal was not very pleasant for the other person.
They had sufficiently beaten each other up by midday, Ochako’s superior fitness and her quirk proving a fair match for Momo’s quirk and her formal martial arts training. Hadou had flown by and delivered their food and the two of them had lunch together on a shaded bench in the fake city.
Momo was a little self-conscious about the sheer amount of food she had compared to Ochako, but her friend didn’t seem to judge her. She knew how much Momo relied on the extra calories to use her quirk.
The two of them had sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, both already a little exhausted; Hell Week was no joke. Eventually, Ochako turned to look at Momo, causing her to look over as well.
“You know,” Ochako began, “I was pretty positive I was going to be the tallest girl in my class. I always had been. It’s… nice to look at another woman and not have to look down.”
Momo blinked. “I felt the same way and uh, feel the same way, too.” Momo didn’t tell her that she actually kind of enjoyed everyone having to look up to her and that it gave her a small sense of power and control that thrilled her. That would have been too crass. She wasn’t lying completely; there was something nice about having another woman her height.
“I’ve always been pretty self-conscious about it,” Ochako continued, “but you own it. I want to be more like you.”
“Really?” Momo was taken aback.
“Yeah!” Ochako declared firmly. “I look up to you, you know? I think all of us do, honestly. You and Deku… we couldn't have picked better class reps. I want to have your confidence. It’s pretty clear that I’m not as smart as you—I don’t think anyone in our class is—but I still want to be able to stand with you and Deku and everyone else.” Ochako blinked and then clapped her hands to her face. “Oh! Sorry, I was gushing.”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Momo responded quickly. “It’s flattering, actually. Ochako, you have no reason to be down on yourself. Like Midoriya said, your quirk is incredibly powerful. I heard about the way you saved Aizawa at the USJ and you told us about how you destroyed that robot at the entrance exam. If you want my advice, understand that people look up to you—not just literally—and that you have a duty to protect them. I take pride in that and you should, too.”
Momo momentarily came out of her memories and smiled softly, realizing she had forgotten some of her own advice. Eiko had called her their ‘leader’ and she shouldn’t shy away from that.
“You’re right,” Ochako agreed. “I told Deku that I’m gonna be the one standing between him and danger next time, instead of him protecting me, and I have to make sure I live up to that. I’m not just here for myself, but for others. That’s what being a hero is about.”
Momo smiled softly. “You hold a great deal of respect for Midoriya, don’t you? Beyond just him being your boyfriend.” She felt a pang in her chest and at the time, she wasn’t sure what it had been.
“Well, yeah,” Ochako admitted, looking away. “He’s saved my life twice and he’s… I really look up to him. He’s a real hero.” Ochako shifted closer to her, smiling softly. “I don’t know if I can ever thank you enough for saving him.”
Ochako threw her arms around Momo and pulled her into a tight hug, causing Momo to gasp. The warmth and genuine gratitude and—honestly—affection in her hug made Momo instinctively reach up and hug her back. For the first time, she didn’t have to do anything awkward with her arms or head; she could simply hug her comfortably and sincerely.
“Thank you, Momo. You’re a real hero, too.”
At the time, that sentence had warmed her heart, but now, thinking back, it almost brought a tear to her eye.
After lunch, they spent more time practicing with their quirks. Momo focused on making large, dense objects for Ochako to float, while not just sending them into orbit. With the increased use of her quirk, Momo had to take several snack breaks and she always felt a little self-conscious at the way her body—especially her bust—shrank and grew visibly during training, especially intense training.
Ochako didn’t seem to mind, but there was that one incident near the end of their training. Hadou came by and told them to make one big final push for the day, so Momo decided to give Ochako the biggest, densest thing she could create: a large sphere of iridium, one of the densest metals out there. Osmium was technically denser, but she didn’t want to kill herself and Ochako with a toxic metal oxide, so she went with iridium.
It wasn’t terribly complex to create simple elements, but she had to seriously focus to create the amount of mass she was after. With a final, triumphant push, she created the basketball-sized sphere, letting it crash to the ground with enough force to crush the asphalt. There was no way she was going to hold over 260 pounds up, especially with how tired she was.
Momo looked over at Ochako with a tired smile, but then saw the absolutely stunned look on her face. She was holding her face with both hands, trying to hide her eyes and stare at the same time while her cheeks were absolutely crimson .
It was at this time that Momo realized that she had neglected to turn away when she made her creation and, as she was pushing her quirk to her limit, had habitually opened the front of her hero costume to give herself full access to her lipid stores… which meant Momo had spent the last several seconds fully flashing Ochako.
Momo turned around as fast as she could, covering herself up again as her own face quickly matched the red of her costume.
She didn’t know what was more embarrassing: the fact that she had given Ochako a full display of her… generous assets, which were still among the largest in the class even when she was low on fats…
Or the fact that she felt that, deep down, she enjoyed Ochako staring at her.
Maybe her day with Mina wasn’t a fluke after all.
Momo had respect for Ochako before then, but after their time together, it had developed into something deeper. Sure, she wasn’t as ‘book smart’ as Momo was, but Ochako was far from dumb. She had a naturally deft intuition that made her a quick learner and a truly challenging opponent. Momo was proud to call Ochako her classmate and well, maybe she had grown something of a crush over their long, grueling day.
But Ochako was dating Zu and Mina. That ship had sailed.
Even as she tried to forget it, Mina’s offer made its way back into her mind.
“You want in?”
Thankfully, before she had a full-blown crisis thanks to her wandering mind, Mina and Kyouka arrived, giving Momo and excuse to get back to tending to Tsuyu. She took the tea and the hot thermos and quickly made a drink for her friend. It wasn’t her best work, nor even up to her personal standard, but this tea was functional, not for pleasure.
She handed the thermos to Tsuyu and helped her slowly drink from it.
The results were almost instantaneous. Color returned to Tsuyu’s face and her eyes opened wide for the first time that morning; she was back to her old self, more or less, causing everyone else in the room to sigh in relief.
“Mmm. Thank you all,” she hummed softly, sipping the tea.
Momo wasn’t convinced. “Are you sure you’re alright? We should take you to Recovery Girl at the very least. You had signs of actual hypothermia.”
Tsuyu shook her head. “I’m fine, I promise. It wasn’t hypothermia, I was just slipping into hibernation.”
“You… hibernate?” Mina asked, dumbfounded.
“Well, kinda,” Tsuyu explained. “If I get too cold, I do, but I try to avoid it. By the time I realized that my vent wasn’t working, I was already too cold to really move. Thank you all for helping me.”
Momo sighed again. “Well, if you’re sure. I’d like to keep an eye on you, nonetheless.”
“Hey, I’ve got a good idea!” Tooru chirped. “This is like, one of our last days before our internships, why not spend it together? How about a movie marathon downstairs?”
Tomura flinched as the television kicked to life.
“Tomura Shigaraki.”
“Hello, Master,” Tomura responded, finally sitting down at the stool near the set.
“It is time to discuss the next phase of our operations,” he continued.
That.
That was one of the small changes Tomura had picked up on recently. Instead of calling them ‘your plans’, his master was calling them ‘our plans’. He didn’t like it. Sure, the USJ had been a failure, but he could try again. He felt like a kid whose allowance was being taken away.
“Have you made the preparations that I’ve asked?”
“Yes, Master. Giran reported that everything is in place.”
There was a small pause. “And he’s been paid?”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“I would much rather you handle these things in the future instead of relying entirely upon others.” There was a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Tomura kept his cool. “I do not have the contact network that Giran has. It would have taken me months to do what he was able to do in a day. Isn’t it important that this moves quickly?”
Another pause.
“Very well. I suppose that is worth the money.”
Tomura began to scratch at his neck again.
It was mid-afternoon when they finished the second movie in the trilogy Tooru and Mina had convinced everyone to watch. Momo pretended to be indifferent, but she secretly had a soft spot for high fantasy, so she was enjoying the films much more than she let on. Maybe Mina had noticed, because the woman kept shooting Momo knowing smiles after any particularly impressive or dramatic scenes.
Mina and Ochako had spent the first two movies cuddling with each other peacefully, wrapped under a blanket with Tsuyu against the slight chill that hung in the air, even with the heat on. Momo pretended not to be envious, wishing she was under that blanket with them as well, but apparently, between Zu and Mina, she wasn’t as good at hiding things as she thought.
Between the films, Momo noticed Mina whisper something into Ochako’s ear before she got up to go get snacks. Ochako scooted over to Tsuyu and pulled the blanket closer around them, causing the short woman to ribbit happily and close her eyes. Momo was quite confused about what Mina was up to until she came back and sat down right next to Momo, giving her a warm smile as she offered her a candy.
Not just any candy. Her favorite chocolate bar.
“How did you…?”
Mina smiled wider, leaning into her slightly. “I saw you eating one the first week of school. I bought some while I was out shopping.”
Momo blushed slightly, but took the bar graciously. “That was very kind of you, Mina. Thank you.”
“Shhh, the movie’s starting!” Tooru hissed, waving her sleeve at them.
Mina grabbed the blanket nearby and wrapped it around Momo and her, causing Momo to nearly choke on the chocolate. She tried to open her mouth to say something, but Mina just shushed her with a devious smile.
Mina was what would normally be called uncomfortably close to Momo, but she felt anything but uncomfortable. Truth be told, she felt terrible for feeling so at ease next to Mina and as the movie went on, she began to feel worse. Mostly because Mina kept pushing herself more and more into her.
By halfway through the movie, Mina was fully pressed into Momo, resting her head against Momo’s upper arm comfortably. Her contact filled her with warmth and, for the second time that day, caused her to reminisce.
Mina and Momo were paired up for the first day of Hell Week and, while they had experienced nearly-effortless defeat at the hands of their new TA, they didn't quite have a full appreciation for just how brutal it was going to be.
Hadou was more hands-on the first and second days compared to the rest, so she stopped by to give them some pointers and guidance. While physical development was going to be relatively inconsequential between now and the festival, mental development, such as skill and strategy, were much easier to cultivate in their short time frame. Thus, Hadou set them up to spar for the morning practice, quirkless at first, before working up to full quirk integration.
Momo quickly learned that her partner was no pushover. Her body was lean and skilled, apparently due to her many years as a dancer and acrobat. Momo was able to keep up with her during their initial spars, but once Hadou had them use their quirks, she struggled. Mina was just so maneuverable that it was hard to pin her down. Every time Momo thought she had a good block, Mina would change the angle unpredictably and hit her past her guard.
It became apparent very quickly that Momo had a lot to learn.
She loved that feeling.
She loved being challenged and presented with new opportunities to learn and grow. She was among her happiest when she had a problem to solve.
The problem this time was the speed at which she could use her quirk. Mina was so quick, she could get in through Momo’s guard before she could focus long enough to create a simple shield. Thinking back, it was because of Mina showing her just how much of a glaring weakness it was that she had done that well against Todoroki. The Momo of a month ago couldn't have created that taser nearly as quickly.
Their lunch break was quiet and peaceful. Perhaps too peaceful, because after she finished her food, Mina decided to take a quick nap as the two of them sat under a shady tree. This normally wouldn’t have been a problem, but she had opted to use Momo’s lap as her pillow. Sure, Momo could have said no and asked her to move, but she seemed so content and comfortable; who was she to take that from her?
However, this presented a new problem. Namely, Momo’s titanic struggle to resist running her fingers through the soft, inviting locks of Mina’s hair. It was just so tempting.
Eventually, her resolve weakened to the point where instead of trying to decide if she should do it or not, she was instead looking to see if she could get away with it. Mina seemed to be sleeping soundly, so she reached out and gently ran three fingers through a little bit of her hair.
It was even softer than it looked.
Momo petting Mina’s hair for a few seconds before the woman suddenly shifted, causing Momo to pull her hand back sharply. Fortunately, Mina just seemed to be adjusting herself in her sleep, shifting her head slightly to get more comfortable.
Momo’s heart was pounding like she was about to steal a diamond in a heist movie and sat utterly still for at least a minute, waiting to be sure Mina was still asleep. Slowly, gently, Momo moved her hand back, carefully tousling the pink locks. She didn’t exactly understand why she was doing it, but it made her feel calmer, so it couldn’t be bad, right?
After a few more minutes, Momo grew slightly more bold. She didn’t know if she was more interested in the softness of Mina’s hair, or just the thrill of not getting caught. Maybe it was the idea of her classmate trusting her enough to sleep like this that caused her to feel so bold. Whatever it was, she had grown just a little too bold.
Mina made a small noise, causing Momo to look down and see that her eyes were open. Momo lost herself momentarily in the black sclera and golden irises of her classmate, but quickly recovered and pulled her hand back. “Oh, sorry, Mina. There… there was a bug on you! Yes, a bug. I shooed it away, sorry for waking you up.”
“Oh, thanks.” Mina looked up at her for a few moments with a seemingly blank expression, but Momo suspected there was far more going on in there than she let on. Mina wasn’t exactly a genius, but she was smart enough to get into UA and Momo had learned that there was more than one way to be smart.
Mina pulled herself up, giving Momo a slightly scandalous feeling that her lap was suddenly very lonely. The woman shot Momo another soft look, smiling brightly as she stood up and offered her hand. “Well, we got a lot of Hell Week left, yeah?”
She was right, of course, and it wasn’t about to get any easier. They spent the rest of the afternoon practicing their speed by trying to catch each other around a small obstacle course. Momo would create obstacles for Mina to melt while they both tried to race around and tag the other in the back. At first, Momo didn’t really put up much of a fight. Despite a fairly decent head-start, Mina was able to melt through her creations much faster than she could produce them and catch up.
However, as the afternoon went on, it took longer and longer for Mina to tag her, to the point that Momo was actually almost keeping pace with Mina. Unfortunately, Momo had to tap out before the end, as she had run out of her reserves, but she was damn proud of herself for her rapid improvement.
Mina was clearly proud too, as she almost knocked over Momo when she barrelled into her and gave her a big hug, almost picking the taller woman off the ground. “You did so great, Yaomomo! You’re amazing!”
Momo blushed, recovering from her shock and hugging Mina back gently. She tried not to focus on just how nice it felt to be holding onto Mina and how she was soft and firm in all the right places, but she was too tired to focus on a distraction. Instead, she just decided to enjoy it until Mina broke the hug.
“You know,” Mina began as the two slowly walked back to the entrance of the city at the end of the day, “you’re almost a literal goddess. The way you just… create stuff is so amazing, I can hardly believe it’s real. You’re going to be an amazing hero one day, I just know it.”
A large explosion on the screen shook Momo out of her reverie, reminding her just where she was. Mina looked up at her, concerned by Momo’s small flinch.
Momo shot a small, slightly nervous smile back down at her, causing Mina to giggle and scoot a little closer. Unfortunately, that caused her arm to get pinched in an awkward position, meaning she had to lift it up and put it around Mina to get comfortable again. If she didn’t know any better, she would have suspected that Mina did that on purpose.
Mina leaned in a little closer, getting comfortable up against Momo’s side. There was a small pause before she whispered up at Momo, so quietly that nobody else could hear… at least as long as Kyouka wasn’t listening.
“You can pet my hair again if you want.”
Mina really had done it on purpose. Momo’s heart began to pound a little harder as she realized she hadn’t fooled her at all. She looked down at Mina, who was simply watching the screen as if nothing had happened.
Cautiously, she reached a hand up and slowly passed her fingers through Mina’s locks again, enjoying the strange, soothing sensation. Over the course of the movie, she grew more comfortable, to the point that Mina was resting her head on Momo, leaning into the soothing pressure.
If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought she caught Mina and Ochako exchanging a small, knowing look.
The movie ended around dinner time, where Mina was eager to show off the new recipes she had gotten from Zu’s mother and took it on herself to make food for them all. While she was cooking, Zu and Bakugou arrived back at the dorm from whatever they had been doing all day. Pony had asked Ochako and Mina where he had gone, but all they told them was that he and Bakugou had gone ‘out’. It was nice to know that they were comfortable and trusting enough to not be overbearing, helicopter girlfriends.
Zu and Bakugou stayed for dinner, but left after helping Mina clean up, apparently to watch some new video that had been released. The sun had set by the time the eight women were left alone in the common room, which was when Mina sprung her next trap.
“Hey girls,” she began, saunting over to the couches with her hands behind her back. “Do you know what would really cap this day off perfectly? It’s like a college rite of passage.”
“Uh… Twister?” Kyouka guessed.
“No, but that’s a good idea,” Mina responded. “I’m talking about…” She paused for dramatic effect. “Truth or Dare!”
“Oh, hell yeah!” Eiko declared, hopping up and pounding her fists together. “I’ve never backed down from a dare!”
Mina grew her mischievous, toothy grin. “I’ll keep that in mind…”
“I’m in!” Tooru bubbled. “It’ll be a great way to get to know each other! Plus, I totally have some great questions to ask you all!”
Kyouka shrugged, smirking slightly. “Yeah, sure, why not? I bet you all ask a bunch of lame questions, anyway.”
“Oh ho! Is that a challenge?” Eiko asked, pointing down defiantly at Kyouka.
“Only if you’re up to it,” Kyouka shot back, raising her eyebrows once.
Tsuyu tilted her head slightly. “People have tried to get me to balk on truths before, but it’s never worked. Be careful what you ask.”
“I-I’m in,” Ochako added, sounding a little unsure, but her smile was genuine.
Pony hesitated. “Uh, please try not to use the big words, I’m still learning.”
“Course not,” Kyouka reassured her. “You’re one of us, Pony. We’re not leaving you behind.”
The energy was too infectious for her to say no. “Sure, that sounds… exciting!” Momo finally responded. Truth be told, she wasn’t a fan of the inherent unpredictability of Truth or Dare, but these were her friends. She could trust them.
Right?
“It’s time for you to be more responsible when it comes to funding,” the voice continued. “If I were to be captured or otherwise become unable to assist you, it is imperative that you have a way to continue to fund your operations.”
There was wisdom in that. “What do you suggest?” Tomura asked.
“Once the plan is in motion, there will be chaos. You and your underlings should make good use of that chaos to… acquire valuables. It may be undignified work, but many sacrifices must be made in the course of our machinations.”
“I don’t have any underlings,” Tomura shot back. “They’re either dead or captured.”
His master chuckled softly. “That sounds like something that should be remedied, then. What is a leader without followers?”
Tomura grumbled. “If I were to get this money, where should I keep it? I can’t just open a bank account.”
“Leave that to me,” the voice said, just a little too quickly. “I am here to help you, Tomura Shigaraki. Focus on gaining us followers and executing our plan and I will handle the finances. There is nothing to worry about.”
For some reason, Tomura didn’t believe him.
The evening had gone quite well so far, but it was nearly time for the next step of Mina’s plan. The day had started off in an unexpected way, but it had all worked out. She was, of course, glad that Tsuyu was okay, it was just convenient that the scare got all of the girls together so easily.
Tooru had been all for the idea of a movie night when Mina had subtly suggested it the previous night and had absolutely run with it, leaving Mina with plenty of time and space to maneuver. It also meant hat nobody suspected ulterior motives when Mina suggested Truth or Dare. Well, nobody but her partner in crime, of course. Ochako was nervous about the whole thing, but she trusted Mina.
“Alright, Kiri,” Mina said, about an hour into their game. “Truth or dare?”
“I still can’t believe you made me tell people I dye my hair,” she pouted. “I’m doing a dare this time.”
Mina smirked. “I dare you to go get Midori and bring him here.”
“What?!” Kiri shouted, nearly falling over. “Why?!”
Kyouka sat up a little straighter. “Yeah, what gives?”
“Well, Kiri keeps talking big about not being afraid of a challenge.” Mina shrugged theatrically. “I’m sure none of you are scared of a big scary man being here, right? Think of it as… upping the stakes.”
She saw the rest of the girls shoot glances at each other, even Ochako pretending to be surprised and unsure. Mina had to admit, this was a gamble. She gave herself about 50/50 odds that the girls would be okay with it, but if it didn’t, she had other ideas. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, after all.
“Besides,” Mina continued, “don’t you want the chance to be the one to ask Midori a truth or dare?”
Boom. The uncertainty in the room was immediately turned to curiosity.
“Alright, you got me there,” Kyouka admitted. “The big guy’s a bit secretive, isn’t he? I wouldn’t be opposed to asking him some stuff.”
Eiko nodded. “Yeah, and if he doesn’t want to answer, we get to see him do some dares.”
Tsuyu nodded as well. “I’m okay with it.”
“Me, too,” Ochako added quickly.
“As long as nobody is uncomfortable, him included,” Momo said quietly.
Pony gave a big thumbs up. “Go get Izzy!”
Tooru shrugged. “If everyone else wants to, I guess.”
“Alright,” Eiko finished, standing up, “be right back.”
Notes:
See you guys next time!
;)
Oh and by the way, my good friend Epsilon110 and I actually wrote a crossover! It's self-indulgent and a little silly, but we had a lot of fun. If you want to see what would happen if canon My Hero Academia, Total Command and What's in a Hoard? converged, check out The Man and the Dragon
Chapter 45: Truth or Daring
Summary:
Truth or Dare isn't a game for the weak-willed.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Katsuki looked up from his phone while he was relaxing on Izuku’s bed. “Hey, is I-Expo this year?”
Izuku stopped writing in his notebook and thought for a moment. “Nah, it’s next year. Once every four years, remember?”
“Last time was only three years ago?” Katsuki asked, raising an eyebrow. “Damn. Feels like longer.”
Izuku laughed. “Yeah, a lot’s happened in the past few years.”
Katsuki was quiet for a few seconds. “I still can’t believe All Might gave me an offer.”
“You deserve it,” Izuku said dismissively, hoping to dispel the doubt from his friend’s mind as he looked over from his desk. “Besides, aren’t you excited?”
Katsuki rubbed his forehead. “Of course I am. It’s just a…”
“It’s a big deal,” Izuku finished for his friend. “You’re gonna have a lot of eyes on you, including All Might’s. It’s natural to feel the pressure.”
“Yeah, that.” Katsuki sighed. “The media following us is gonna be a bigger hassle than anything else.”
Izuku smirked. “Well, it’s something you’re gonna have to get used to when you graduate and become the number two hero.”
“Number two, eh?” Katsuki responded, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, after me, of course.”
It was Katsuki’s turn to smirk. “All Might doesn’t seem to think so. Why do you think he gave me the offer instead of you?”
“Well, you’re both blondes,” began Izuku, pretending to wrack his brain for answers. “Other than that, I got no idea.” He shrugged widely.
Katsuki exhaled once in a rough approximation of laughter and looked down at his hands.
Izuku smiled softly. “It’s because he sees the same potential in you that I do. Ask him yourself if you don’t believe me. You’re gonna be one of the greats and All Might is giving you the opportunity to prove it. My dad was so proud when he found out.”
His friend smiled a little. “Thanks, man.” He swung his legs over Izuku’s bed and stood up. “It’s getting late, I’m heading to bed.”
“Night, Third Place,” Izuku said as Katsuki made his way to the door.
That earned another small chuckle from him. “Night, Third Place,” Katsuki returned as he closed the door behind him.
Izuku smiled and turned back to his notebook, continuing his research on Miruko. Ochako was incredibly nervous about interning with a top hero like Miruko, so he hoped to help bolster her confidence as much as possible. She had gone from a fairly simple country girl to being a student at the top university in the country to getting a personal internship with the number seven hero in less than two months. Her being overwhelmed was entirely understandable.
He was writing down a note about one of her special moves when he heard a knock at his door. Izuku stood up and made his way over, calling out. “Did you forget something, Kacch-” He stopped himself as he saw Eiko standing there, looking the tiniest bit nervous. “Oh, Eiko. Can I help you?”
“Hey, Aniki,” she began, “and uh, yeah, you can. You see, the rest of the girls and I are playing Truth or Dare and…”
Izuku’s eyes went slightly wide. Oh no, what kind of dare did she have to do?
“They want me to bring you back.”
Izuku blinked. “Bring me back?”
“Yeah, to the room.” Eiko rubbed her neck. “I was dared to bring you back so you could play with us.”
“...Play?”
“Look, it was Mina’s idea, alright?” Eiko admitted.
“Oh.” Izuku almost laughed. “That explains everything.”
His confusion was replaced with trepidation. Izuku had a pretty good idea of what Mina’s game was here, as Momo was at this game as well. Just because he understood why didn’t mean he had to like it, but he respected it. Mina knew how to play the game.
The door to Mina’s room opened up and the air got still. “I got him!” Eiko called out as she stepped through, followed shortly after by Zu. “Nobody can say I ever backed down from Truth or Dare!”
Zu looked a little hesitant, but he still smiled. “Was that it? I would hate to interrupt your game, I’ll just go...”
Mina wasn’t going to let him go that easily. “No, come on! Kiri got you so you could play with us!”
“Are you sure?” He seemed to know Mina had her talons in him.
Tsuyu tilted her head. “It’s not like this is the first time you’ve played with us. Remember the first day of class?”
“Yeah,” Kyouka agreed, “I missed that one though. You should stay.”
Zu looked sheepish. “Sorry again about that.”
She shrugged. “I already told you not to worry about it. Take a seat, man.”
Momo’s eyes widened slightly when she realized that the only open seat was a pillow Mina had placed between Pony and Momo herself. Had Mina been planning this the whole time?
“Welcome to the game, Midori!” Mina began as Zu took his seat. “ Nothing said here leaves this room. 100% purely confidential! Kiri, your dare has been completed! Your turn!.”
Eiko nodded. “Alright, hmm…” She looked around the room. “Ah, who am I kidding? Aniki, truth or dare?”
Zu sighed. “Uh… truth.”
“Starting off easy, huh?” Eiko smirked. “That’s fine. Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met?”
Zu didn’t miss a beat. “All Might.”
“Oh, that doesn’t count,” Eiko complained. “We’ve all met him.”
Tooru giggled. “You gotta phrase your question better! Midoriya, your turn. You can ask anyone but Eiko.”
Zu rubbed his chin. “Jirou.”
Kyouka raised an eyebrow. “Alright, big guy. Truth.”
“You strike me as someone who’s gone to a few concerts,” Zu began. “What’s the craziest thing that’s happened to you at one?”
There was a murmur of approval around the room; it seemed they were already warming up to him.
Kyouka clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. “There was one time I sent a dude to the hospital.”
“You what ?” Ochako asked, half-horrified and half-curious.
The purple-haired woman scowled. “This dude came up behind me and tried to cop a feel. I elbowed him in the gut, turned around and punched him in the face. I’m pretty sure I broke his nose.”
“Damn!” Eiko yelled.
“Did you get in trouble?” Tsuyu asked.
Kyouka shook her head. “Mosh pits are known for being… rough. It’s kind of a lawless place. There’s no way to prove that he didn’t just catch an elbow somewhere.”
Momo looked over at Zu, who had a strange, hungry look in his eyes for a second as they glowed briefly. He subtly shook his head and the glow faded, but Momo was certain of what she saw.
Kyouka glanced around the room. “Mina. Truth or dare?”
“Let’s do a dare!”
She nodded. “Bold. Okay… Mina, I dare you to let us go through your phone.”
“Oh, dirty!” Mina shot back with a strangely… approving tone. She pulled out her phone and unlocked it, tossing it over to Kyouka. “There’s no nudes on there, sorry.”
The faintest trace of blush appeared on Kyouka’s cheeks, but she took the phone and began to look through. “Ugh, you would have your mom in here as ‘Birthgiver’.”
Mina shrugged. “Don’t knock the classics.”
Tooru was looking over Kyouka’s shoulder. “Man, you text Ochako and Midoriya a lot.”
Tsuyu put a finger to her chin. Momo thought that little quirk was so adorable. “I wouldn’t think texting the people you’re dating would be strange.”
“The what?! ” Eiko sputtered.
Tsuyu turned to Eiko. “Oh, did you not know?”
“I didn’t know either!” Tooru said with an audible pout. “Mina, how could you not tell me?”
Mina rubbed her soft, fluffy pink hair. “Well, Midori didn’t want me spreading it around. Blame him!”
“Hold on,” Eiko said, still wide-eyed. “You’re dating Aniki? I thought he had a thing for Ochako!”
Momo could tell where this is going.
“Well, he does,” Mina explained. “He also has a thing for me. That’s why he’s dating both me and Ochako.”
Ochako’s face was doing its best impression of Eiko’s hair.
Eiko slowly tilted her head. “Wait…”
Mina smiled softly up at Eiko. “It’s called polyamory, Kiri.”
There was a long pause as Eiko stared at Mina and then Zu.
“Right, sorry,” Eiko finally said, holding her head slightly. “I just was surprised.”
Tooru nodded, or at least Momo thought she did. “I didn’t see it coming.”
“Sorry,” Eiko repeated. “Let’s just get back to the game.”
Kyouka nodded and went back to scrolling through Mina’s phone. “This is much less interesting than I thought it would be.”
“Oh, check the videos,” Tooru suggested. “Maybe she filmed Kaminari face-planting a few days ago.”
Kyouka nodded. “Yeah, good idea. Hmm… wait, what’s this? When did you go to a lake, Mina?”
Zu tensed up. “Uh, hold on-”
It was too late, Kyouka had already hit play.
Momo couldn't hear what was happening at first. There was a lot of white noise and shuffling as it seemed Mina was hurrying to film something.
Then there was a roar that peaked the speakers on Mina’s phone.
Momo recognized that roar. “Was that…?”
Kyouka was wide-eyed and slack-jawed. “H-holy shit.”
Momo shot a glance over at Zu, who was currently trying to hide his head in his arms.
Ochako scooted over to Zu while the rest of the women, Momo included gathered around Kyouka and the phone. The tall brunette giggled, rubbing her hand through Zu’s hair. “You’re so cute, Deku. Don’t worry, it’s fine.”
Kyouka moved the phone so everyone could see and hit play again. Several of the women gasped and covered their mouths as they saw a huge bear standing at the edge of the campsite, its fur bristling. Zu had grown massive again, easily over two feet taller than Momo, even before his wings burst from his back and unfurled to make himself look as large as possible.
The earth-shaking roar rang out again, which caused the bear to jump in shock and tear back into the woods.
The video continued on for several more seconds as Zu stood his ground, waiting to make sure the bear was truly gone before he shrank down once more.
“God damn , that was so manly!” Eiko cried out as the video ended. “Look at you stare down that bear like it was nothing!”
“That was great, Izzy!” Pony echoed Eiko’s sentiment.
Zu was still hiding his face. A silence hung in the room as people stared at him until he finally peeked an eye out from behind his arms and saw everyone giving him kind, concerned looks. He slowly lifted his head and smiled back, seemingly surprised by the reception.
After how she had felt at the USJ, Momo guessed that he was used to people freaking out or being scared of him. It was… nice to see him proved wrong. He deserved friends like these.
Kyouka handed Mina her phone back as everyone returned to their spots. Momo had to resist reaching out and offering Zu a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Tooru,” Mina began, not wasting a moment. “Truth or dare?”
“Hmm… truth.”
Mina smirked. “Alright, what’s going on with you and Todoroki?”
Tooru squeaked. “Uh… I don’t know what you’re talking about! We’re just friends. Honest. I helped him pick his hero name after he helped me with mine.”
“Oh, come on,” Mina pried. “You like him, don’t you?”
“Only one question!” Tooru deflected. “Uh… Yaomomo!”
It was only a matter of time. “Truth.” There was no way she was going to let them get her to do something ridiculous.
Tooru shook her arm enthusiastically. “What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever created?”
Momo blanched. There was also no way she was ever going to admit to them that she had made a plushy of Zu. "How incorrigible!"
Tooru shrugged. "You knew what you were getting into when you agreed to play."
“Uh… Da-”
“While you’re within your rights to change to a dare,” Tooru began, cutting her off. “Know that I’m just going to dare you to recreate the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever created.”
“Cutthroat!” Mina hissed. “You make me so proud.”
Momo cupped her face with one, and then both hands as she desperately looked for a way out. Her blush grew as the inevitability crashed down upon her. She had made many… questionable things with her quirk, but there was one that stood out above all the others, especially with Zu sitting right next to her.
“It’s okay,” Pony said softly. “We keep secret.”
Momo sighed, looking over at the American’s big, beautiful eyes. She didn’t dare look at Zu.
“Well, growing up, my parents would often throw large parties and galas,” she began. “Many heroes were invited, including… well, including Stormclaw.”
She had the rapt attention of everyone in the room. “One day, he brought his son along and… well, we became friends.”
“What did you do?” Mina asked, her excitement barely contained.
Momo gulped. “I, uh, well, I didn’t have too many friends growing up, so he was special to me. I… in my childish wistfulness, I perhaps made a small stuffed version of Midoriya.” She squeezed her eyes shut as she forced out the final words of her confession.
Ochako and Mina squealed , Tooru giggled, Kyouka and Eiko chuckled softly, but not unkindly, while Pony made a small ‘aww…’
Momo really wished Zu wasn’t here right now.
Tsuyu ribbited softly. “I was expecting something much worse. Izuchan is very cute, I wouldn’t mind having a plushy of him, too.”
Momo wanted nothing more than to forget this whole thing ever happened. Her face was bright red as her cheeks burned with blush, trying not to think about how nice it would be to hold Zu like she held her stuffed versions of him.
"Ochako!" she said quickly.
Ochako was looking at her almost… lovingly, her smile wide and her eyes full of sparkles. "Yeah?”
“Truth or dare?” Momo whispered nervously.
There was a small pause before Ochako’s eyes widened. “Oh, right! Uh… hmm. Truth?”
Well, Momo had been desperate to get the pressure off of herself, but she hadn’t thought far enough ahead to consider what she would do once Ochako answered. Unfortunately for herself, she had Zu on the brain. “When did you first realize that you liked Z- Midoriya?”
Ochako’s cheeks quickly reddened as Mina giggled. “Oh, we’re getting into these kinds of questions already?”
“You started it!” Tooru protested.
Mina grinned. “So there is something between you and Todoroki!”
“You’re putting words in my mouth!”
“Hey!” Pony said sharply. “Let Ochako talk.”
Ochako looked down, smiling softly as she looked lost in memory. “I guess it started when I first saw him. I thought he was cute and then he saved me at the entrance exam…”
“You saved me!” Zu said in protest, his cheeks colored with his unique blush.
“Don’t interrupt,” Mina chastised.
“But what really made me think there was maybe something between us was at the battle trial on the second day of class,” Ochako continued. “I… but no, it was the USJ when I was sure.”
The girls all nodded in understanding. “I guessed as much,” Kyouka said softly.
“I watch whole thing,” Pony began. “I saw Terrorflame go big and I thought you two going to… but then Izzy swoop in!” She made a big sweeping motion with her arms. “It was so cool!”
Momo thought back to that day, remembering how Zu had stood so defiantly in front of Terrorflame.
Huh. Defiantly.
She smiled softly.
There was a short silence in the room before Ochako spoke again. “Pony, truth or dare?” Momo noted with curiosity that Ochako’s eyes seemed to linger on Pony’s horns.
“Truth.”
Ochako poked her chin, a little like Tsuyu always did. “Hmm. Well, what’s your favorite thing about Japan so far?”
Pony looked down, thinking things over for a minute. “I like food. I like UA. But favorite thing is you all.”
Well, Momo wasn’t ready for that. Her heart squeezed as she and every other woman in the room cooed.
Mina leaned over and gave Pony a big hug, while Zu reached over and rubbed her head gently. “We’re glad you’re here, too,” Zu said, smiling down at the short woman.
Mina squeezed her tight. “I can’t imagine this class without you.”
Pony smiled happily, her cheeks slightly red as Mina released the hug. “Tsu, you next. Truth or dare?”
“Do a dare!” Mina yelled. “Everyone’s doing truths!”
Tsuyu made eye contact with Mina. “Truth.”
“Boo.”
Pony tapped her chin a few times. “What’s the grossest thing you ate?”
Tsuyu only paused for a moment to think. “I ate a really big dragonfly once when I was little.”
“Oh, nasty ,” Kyouka hissed.
Tsuyu nodded. “She asked. I was curious about my quirk so I caught some bugs with my tongue. It was a bad idea.”
Mina looked around. “Okay, that’s everyone, I think. That means we’re on a new round. We’re all free game again.”
Tsuyu turned to the man in the room. “Izuchan.”
Zu thought for a moment. “Dare.”
“Go up onto the roof and show us your biggest poison breath.”
Zu hesitated, seemingly out of habit. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise,” Tsu replied, tilting her he head as she tapped her chin. Momo had to admit she was curious, too.
“Um, alright,” Zu agreed hesitantly as he stood up and began to walk out of the room, followed by all the women. They made their way to the stairs and walked up the two flights to the roof exit, stepping out into the darkness of the night and feeling the chill that still hung in the air. Fortunately, Tsuyu had a winter coat on and the hat Momo had made for her, so she was doing alright.
Zu held out his hand to stop them and then made his way to the other end of the roof, looking back to double-check that there was enough space between the women and him. He planted his feet and let out a long, steady breath as the glow in his eyes grew brighter and his horns stretched across his head. Zu began to inhale, deeper than what seemed possible, then he opened his mouth and bared his fangs as a massive rush of green gas shot into the night sky.
It billowed and churned in the dark sky, Momo barely able to make out where it seemed to lose steam, but it had to be close to a hundred feet. To think he had been hiding it from her for all these years…
“Woah!” Eiko exclaimed. “That’s way bigger than what he did at the festival!”
Ochako jumped up and down. “Way to go, Deku!”
“I mean, that’s neat and all,” Tooru began, “but Tsu, you could have done something way worse! You had Midoriya on a dare!”
Momo found herself agreeing with Tooru. If she had that kind of power over Zu…
Tsuyu blinked at her. “I wanted to see him do this. Besides, I think it’s pretty hot to see him do stuff like that.”
“I know, right?” Mina agreed.
Momo flinched. Tsuyu thought it was hot? Was she interested in Zu as well?
Momo pretended not to notice the sly glance Mina gave her.
After Zu walked back over, rubbing his head and smiling shyly, the nine of them returned to Mina’s room and took their seats. Momo’s mind wasn’t racing, but it was picking up speed. There were variables she didn’t know about and it was causing her to rethink things.
“Yaoyorozu,” Zu said simply, breaking her trance. He had apparently picked up on her not wanting to reveal their nicknames to everyone.
But this was bad. Neither choice was good here. She felt so out of her element.
Momo hated not being in control.
“Um, truth.” The less risky of the two; she could always switch to dare if she didn’t like the question.
Zu looked at her for a few moments, staring into her eyes. She found herself being pulled into them, the rest of the world fading away at the edges as she admired their emerald hue. “...Do you still have that plushy of me?”
Her stomach dropped. Of course, he was going to ask something like that. She couldn’t tell him that, she had to switch to dare, he couldn’t know that-
Or could he?
Some small fire began to burn inside of her as she considered. There was a part of her that wanted him to know that she still had that doll. Maybe it was that small glimmer of hope that she could still be someone to him someday or maybe it was just her not wanting to appear weak in front of her classmates again.
Maybe it was just hormones.
Whatever it was, she remembered what he had said to her last week.
“The moment you lose this self-doubt and fear, you will become something truly terrifying.”
She could do this.
Momo looked over at him and tried to force a small smile. “I… yes.”
He looked at her in awe as the rest of the women cooed and giggled.
Seeing him look at her like that… taking control and being confident… it made her feel good. It made that fire inside burn a little brighter.
Tsuyu looked over from her spot next to Momo. “I’m very serious about wanting a plushy.”
Momo laughed nervously. “Maybe later. Um, Kyouka: truth or dare?”
“Dare,” she answered dryly, smirking still.
“Do you know how to play all those instruments in your room?” Momo asked first.
Kyouka hunched over slightly as she began to look a little embarrassed. “Uh, yeah?”
“I dare you to play us something.”
She hesitated, but the combined peer pressure of eight people looking at her didn’t let that happen. “Fine, give me a few.”
Kyouka returned with an acoustic guitar a few minutes later, taking her spot back on the far side of the room. She had a nervous look on her face that Momo just found adorable .
She took a deep breath and made sure it was in tune before she finally began to play. The room was completely silent as the music filled the air; it began quietly, but as Kyouka continued to play, she seemed to grow in confidence. She began to play louder and more boldly, putting more of her heart into it as the relaxing acoustic noises danced through the room.
Momo smiled as she glanced around the room. Ochako looked completely stunned, while Mina, Tooru, Tsuyu, and Pony were swaying back and forth in time, smiling softly. Zu had his eyes closed as he listened intensely, while Eiko seemed to be fighting back proud tears.
Kyouka finally finished and the notes seemed to hang in the air for a few moments before everyone began to clap and cheer.
“That was amazing!” Pony yelled.
Eiko was definitely fighting back tears. “So beautiful!”
Zu smiled softly at her, with a proud, almost affectionate expression. Momo noticed Kyouka glance at him and begin to blush even harder. Was she interested in Zu, too?
Kyouka put her guitar behind her and nervously tapped her jacks together. “I, uh, thanks, everyone. You’re the first people I’ve ever played in front of besides my parents.”
“We’re honored,” Momo said reassuringly. “That was truly wonderful.”
Kyouka blushed harder as she avoided Momo’s gaze. “T-thanks, Yaomomo. That means a lot.”
“Your turn!” Mina cheered. “Pick me pick me pick me!”
Kyouka smirked. “Tooru.”
“Betrayal!” Mina yelled theatrically.
Tooru giggled. “Dare me!”
“Hmm… I dare you…” Kyouka paused for dramatic effect. “To go haunt one of the guys.”
“On it!” she replied eagerly, standing up and hurrying out of the room.
Mina quickly followed, grinning widely. “I gotta film this. You all stay here, we don’t want the boys getting suspicious.”
“Um...” Zu said slowly.
“You don’t count,” Mina replied. “You’re a co-conspirator.”
It took a bit more than twenty minutes for Mina and Tooru to return, but they were giggling up a storm when they finally did. “Oh man,” Mina said between laughter fits, “you’re gonna love this.”
The girls and Zu gathered around Mina as she pulled up the video on her phone.
The two of them had gone down to the common room, where Tooru had spotted her target. Mina had propped her phone up in an inconspicuous location that gave them a clear view of the room.
Kaminari and Sero were playing some fighting game on the television, both of them gripping controllers tightly and focusing on the screen. Their match was apparently intense… and then Sero started having issues.
“Wait, what?!” he exclaimed as his character, Best Jeanist, was kicked across the screen. “I didn’t press that button!”
“That’s what you get for being a Jeanist main,” Kaminari retorted.
Sero scoffed. “Says the guy who mains Miruko. You know her hitboxes are way off!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kaminari droned. “Just wait until they release the DLC next month with Golden-Age Stormclaw, then you’ll really be whining.”
Sero’s Best Jeanist got punted across the screen again by Miruko’s kick again and stayed down for the count. “It happened again! This controller is busted!”
“Sure, blame the controller,” Kaminari replied, rolling his eyes. “Here, trade me and I’ll still beat you.” He held out the controller to Sero, who took it and gave Kaminari his ‘defective’ one.
They started a new round, with Sero picking Endeavor and Kaminari picking All Might. “Oh, yeah?” Sero sneered.
Kaminari smirked. “It’s the classic!”
“I’ll be number one!” snarled the digital Endeavor.
“Not as long as I am here!” retorted the All Might.
The match went on for a little while and it even seemed like Sero was winning.
Then his controller ‘malfunctioned’ again. Mina barely held in her giggle as Sero started sputtering and ranting as Kaminari pulled ahead and eventually won.
Sero tossed the controller onto the couch in frustration and stood up, walking over to the kitchen to get some food as Kaminari followed, laughing. It seemed like the two men were having good fun and that there wasn’t any actual bad blood between them, which was good to see.
The two men began to make themselves a late-night snack with way more cheese than Momo thought could be healthy… or even appetizing, even with her predisposition toward fatty foods. However, that didn’t go smoothly either. Spoons near Sero fell to the floor, the microwave stopped halfway through its cycle, the salt shaker got replaced with baking soda, and more.
“What is going on ?!” Sero exclaimed in frustration.
Kaminari was starting to get unsettled too. “Dude, you’re like… haunted or something.”
“No way,” Sero retorted, doubt in his voice. “They would have to tell us if someone died in these dorms, right? There aren’t any ghosts here.”
“You believe in ghosts, too?” Kaminari asked.
Suddenly, the window nearby flew open, letting the chill breeze in.
Kaminari and Sero leapt a foot in the air and hugged each other out of fear as they screamed.
Tooru upped the drama. She began to flick the lights on and off and rattle the pots and pans hanging on the wall nearby.
“Oh my God, it really is a ghost!” Sero shouted.
In the background, Mina could be seen shoving her face into a pillow to keep herself from laughing.
Just then, the door to the stairs opened up and Tokoyami entered the room.
“Tokoyami!” Kaminari yelled. “You’re into spooky stuff, right?”
“I… what?” The bird-headed man seemed taken aback.
The door slammed harshly behind him.
“That!” Sero exclaimed. “Dude, there’s a ghost here!”
Mina seemed to sense that the jig was almost up and was making her way casually over to where she had left her phone.
“A ghost?” Tokoyami repeated. “You believe there is a specter of the restless dead haunting this dorm?”
The sink behind them turned itself on.
“How do you explain that?!” Kaminari asked.
Tokoyami raised an eyebrow. “I believe it’s far more likely that our invisible classmate is having some fun at your expense.”
Kaminari and Sero stared at him for a few seconds.
“HAGAKURE?!” Kaminari yelled, wheeling around and looking around the room.
Mina and Tooru began laughing uproariously as they bolted for the stairs.
The video ended as everyone in the room laughed with various degrees of intensity. Momo couldn’t help but cover her mouth and chuckle, while Mina, Eiko, and Tooru were nearly doubled over.
“Oh man,” Mina wheezed, wiping a tear from her eye. “It’s just as funny the second time.”
The group settled down after a few minutes and their game continued. “Mina, the tables are turned. Truth or dare!”
“Dare!” Mina declared confidently.
Tooru thought for a moment. “I dare you to make out with your boyfriend in front of all of us.”
Momo gasped. Tooru was challenging Mina to a game of chicken, trying to get her to back down.
“Fine,” Mina shot back.
Zu sputtered. “H-hold on, don’t I get a say in this?”
“No,” Mina answered flatly as she scooted over and grabbed him by the shirt collar.
Mina’s lips crashed into his as she pulled him down. Zu’s eyes erupted in bright light as their faces pressed together and her hands moved from his collar to the back of his head.
That fire in Momo’s heart grew stronger.
Mina and Zu continued their kiss, making soft noises of pleasure and passion as the kiss deepened. Momo should have felt awkward, scandalized, at least a little offended… but instead she only felt envy; longing for something she couldn't’ have.
She wasn't even sure which one was making her feel more envious.
After what felt like an hour, they pulled apart, a thin strand of saliva connecting their mouths. Mina turned slowly to Tooru, staring her straight in the eyes, or at least where her eyes were probably, as she slowly wiped her mouth.
The entire room was still. “Well damn,” Tooru said, finally breaking the silence, “I wasn’t expecting you to go through with it.”
Mina smirked. “Your mistake. Now, Pony, your turn.”
“Dare.” The American’s voice was steady and determined.
Mina grinned wider. “Lovely. I want you to say something in English to make Midori do his broccoli impression that the rest of us can’t understand.”
Momo was expecting Pony to hesitate or protest, but there wasn’t an inch of quit in her. “Okay.” She turned to Zu, staring him in the eyes as a dusting of blush appeared on her face.
“If I could write the beauty of your eyes, and in fresh numbers number all your graces, the age to come would say ‘This poet lies; such heavenly touches ne’er touched earthly faces.”
Zu’s jaw dropped and his slightly green cheeks grew until his entire face was nearly neon. It wasn’t just what she said, it was how she had said it. Pony spoke with confidence, conviction, and emphasis. That was not the first time she had spoken it out loud, and to have a sonnet—Momo couldn’t remember which one—memorized that soundly that she could just recite that on the spot…
Momo noticed the blush on Pony’s face deepen as she and Zu stared at each other. There was a sparkle in her eyes that she couldn’t mistake. Was… was Pony going after Zu, too?
The fire in her grew larger and she felt like she was going to start physically sweating. It wasn’t jealousy, envy, or even a competitive drive… no, it was something else. She wasn’t sure what it was… but it was building.
Their game continued for a while yet, with truths, dares, laughs, and more, but as the night went on and the time grew late, people started trickling off to bed. Momo had tried to go to bed, but Mina convinced her to stay and it got to the point where it was just Ochako, Mina, Zu, Tsuyu and herself, but then even Tsuyu opted to leave.
“Do you need to stay with one of us?” Ochako asked. “We don’t want you freezing again.”
Tsuyu shook her head. “Maintenance already came out and fixed it. It turns out that one of Mineta’s balls had gotten into the system and jammed my vent. They don’t know how it happened.”
“Oh, that’s why I saw Mineta being dragged away by Aizawa today,” Momo mused.
“Maybe he was crawling through the vents,” Mina suggested. “He could have been trying to spy on you.”
“I don’t want to think about that,” Tsuyu answered, before yawning.
Momo had never seen a cuter yawn. Something about Tsuyu made her just so… precious .
“Goodnight, everyone,” she said softly as she left the room.
“Goodnight,” they all responded as the door closed.
“And then there were four,” Mina muttered, looking around at them. “The dragon and the keepers of the secret.”
“Yeah, until he tells Tsu,” Ochako mumbled.
Zu scoffed. “I’m not going to tell her.”
Mina laughed dryly. “I give you until Wednesday before you tell her.”
“Hmmm,” Ochako began thoughtfully. “I’m gonna say Thursday.”
Zu pouted a little.
It was adorable.
“Whose turn was it?” Ochako asked.
“It was mine,” Momo said succinctly. “And I finally get a chance at Mi-” She stopped herself, looking around the room. “At Zu.”
“So cute,” Mina muttered.
“Truth,” Zu replied.
Momo paused, collecting her thoughts. “What really happened at the battle trial?”
Zu sighed. “My instincts wanted Mineta dead. If Ochako hadn’t been there, I might have actually killed him.”
She gasped. “You...almost killed him?”
“Yeah,” Zu confirmed, nodding sadly. “I had already claimed Ochako and Mina, but Mineta kept leering at them. My instincts saw no value in him and so he was more useful dead. That’s when I found out that Ochako could help control my instincts.”
“You jumped out of the building, though,” Momo pointed out.
Ochako smiled sadly. “He chose to do that rather than risk hurting Mineta.”
“Like a real hero,” Mina added.
Zu smiled softly. “If it wasn’t for Ochako, I might have died. Then, if it wasn’t for Ochako, I might have hurt myself on my rampage. Then, if it wasn’t for Ochako, I might have quit UA.” He looked over at his girlfriend fondly, his eyes filled with gratitude and love.
Momo wished he would look at her like that.
After a small pause, Zu spoke again. “Ochako, truth or dare?”
She yawned. “Lifting all of you guys earlier was tiring. Let’s go easy. Truth.”
"At least you had your quirk," Mina scoffed. "Pony lifted three of us without hers! Who knew she was that strong?"
Zu smiled fondly for a few moments before he turned back to Ochako. “You used to be really self-conscious about your height; what changed your mind?”
Ochako looked down, pulling her knees into her chest. “Well, you’re not totally right; I’m still self-conscious about it. I know you like it, but… anyway. What changed my mind? Part of it was you two.” She looked at Mina and Zu lovingly. “Before I met you, I didn’t think I’d ever find anyone who would be… attracted to me.”
Momo almost felt offended. How could someone as beautiful as Ochako think that?
Ochako looked over at Momo with that same expression. “But what helped me more was you, Yaomomo.”
Momo recoiled slightly, completely taken aback. “Me?”
“Yeah.” Ochako’s blush deepened, spreading from her cheeks to cover most of her face. “I’d never known another woman as tall as me, but you’re so confident and cool. You own it and you’re a badass… I feel inspired to do better just by being near you!”
Momo’s heart skipped a beat. Had she really done all that for Ochako? She… she hadn’t noticed. Did she really feel that way about her?
“Okay, Mina, truth or dare?” Ochako continued, staring down at Mina.
Momo internally swore. Ochako asking Mina meant that she had to pick Momo next. Being the subject of Mina’s teasing glare was never fun.
Mina matched her stare. “Dare.”
“Let me…” Ochako scooted closer. “Pet your horns.”
Was that it? Momo was a little disappointed.
“W-wait,” Mina stuttered.
Wait, what? Mina had made out with Zu without hesitation. What was going on?
“You’re not backing down, are you?” Ochako teased.
It was so bizarre to see the tables turned. What could be giving Mina pause?
Mina looked nervously over at Momo and then back to Ochako. “Fine.” She lowered her head, giving Ochako full access to her fluffy hair.
Ochako reached over with one hand and began to run her fingers along Mina’s hooked horns. Nothing seemed to be really happening at first, but then Mina’s facade started to crack. Her flat expression began to strain and she slowly squeezed her eyes shut and began to breathe a little heavier. Ochako reached her other hand up and began to slowly move her horns around as she danced her fingers across them, careful to never touch with all five at the same time.
Mina looked like she was struggling to keep her voice in, even going so far as to bite her lip.
Seeing Mina being putty in Ochako’s hands… Momo wanted that too. She wanted to be the one that Mina was helpless to stop.
“Okay, that’s enough!” Mina shouted, her cheeks flush with her lilac blush as she pushed Ochako’s hands back. She panted for a few moments, seeming to try and calm the reverberations echoing through her body. “I’m gonna get you back for that.”
Slowly, Mina looked up at Momo and she must have seen the wanton look on her face, as her expression went from disheveled to sinister much too quickly for Momo’s comfort.
"Did you enjoy the show, Yaomomo?"
Confidence. She had to have confidence. Ochako looked to her as an example and Zu trusted her. She could do this.
"I… yes."
Mina looked completely surprised. "Y-you did? I mean, I just wasn't expecting you to admit it.”
Momo had to admit, it felt good to be truthful. She had liked watching it and she had said as much; maybe Tsuyu was onto something. Momo held her ground, making eye contact with Mina even though internally she was screaming.
“Well, in that case…” Mina’s tone became low and seductive. Momo would have found it unbelievably attractive if she didn’t find it so terrifying right now. “You need to return the favor. Truth or dare.”
No. Momo couldn’t back down now. She was taking control and Mina couldn’t stop her. Confidence.
Confidence .
“Dare.” She stared back at Mina defiantly.
Mina’s smirk turned into a full-blown grin.
“I dare you to kiss Midori.”
Everything froze.
Her mind was racing, but like a car with its wheels spinning in different directions.
She couldn’t kiss Zu, he was dating Ochako and Mina… but she wanted to so badly. That fire inside of her burned brighter, urging her forward as her conscious and sensibilities tried to pull her back.
Momo turned slowly to her right, her eyes wide as they caught sight of Zu’s own eyes. They were big, green, and beautiful, just like they always were. He was the man who had been her first, best friend, who had voted for her, who had saved her life at the USJ, who had trusted her with his deepest secret, who had picked her up and put her back together when she was broken and distraught.
That fire burned brighter.
Then it slammed down, crashing into her depths as her walls shattered. The elusive feeling finally made itself known.
It was lust.
Momo cursed whoever invented hormones.
As the fire rose in power, sending blood pounding through her body, she realized that it was now or never. This was her one chance to take what she wanted.
Her body unfroze.
She surged forward.
Zu’s eyes went wide as she crashed into him, slamming her lips into his as she kissed him.
The world ceased to exist as lightning exploded through her mind. He was bowled over by her lunge, his powerful arms instinctively wrapping around her waist to protect her as they fell onto the carpet. Her legs were straddling his as her hands found their place on the side of his head. Her raven hair hung loose, draping down over them and enveloping them in near darkness, which only accentuated the glow of his eyes.
He was letting her do what she wanted. He laid there almost completely still, receiving her kiss passionately but not making any moves of his own.
She was in complete control.
God, he was perfect .
She was finally kissing Zu, something she had wanted on some level or another for a decade or more, and she couldn’t have been happier. His lips locked wonderfully with hers, causing her heart to do backflips in her chest as fireworks continued to erupt in her mind.
Unfortunately, her lungs were less vast than her desire and, much too soon, she had to pull back. Both her and Zu panted slightly as she scooted back slightly, letting him sit up.
“Woah,” Mina almost whispered.
“Ochako,” Momo panted.
“Y-yeah?” Her voice sounded a little heavier than normal.
“Truth or dare?”
There was a pause, but Momo couldn’t see if Ochako was doing anything. She hadn’t broken eye contact with Zu since their kiss had begun. “T-truth.”
Momo licked her lips. “Would you mind if I kissed your boyfriend again?”
“...No.”
Momo moved forward again, but much slower. She locked her lips with Zu’s again, less desperately, but no less passionately. One of her hands moved through his soft hair to the back of his head, while the other moved between his shoulder blades, trying to keep him as close as possible. His own arms wrapped around her, one around her waist and his other on her back, mirroring her desire.
This time, she didn’t keep her tongue to herself. She was woefully inexperienced, but that didn’t matter. Her first kiss was Zu’s and it didn’t seem like he had minded. Her tongue moved forward as he parted his teeth, allowing her entry without any resistance. His tongue batted at hers gently, as if to say ‘it’s okay, do what you want’. Her playful side reared its head; of course she could do what she wanted. She didn’t need his permission, he was her plaything.
As long as he was okay with it, of course.
But he was okay with it. The way he squeezed her and held her and kissed her… the passion and desire was all too clear, even to her.
Was this what she had been missing out on? Was this how she had always felt about him? How utterly foolish she had been.
She pulled her clumsy tongue back, vowing internally to get better; Momo was always seeking challenges and trying to improve herself, why would this be any different?
But then slowly, painfully, but then all at once, the fire subsided and the terrifying realization of what she had done crashed over her. Momo fell backwards off Zu as all of her confidence vanished and was replaced by self-loathing. “I-I’m s-sorry, I didn’t m-mean to-” She looked between Mina and Ochako in horror.
The women were looking back at her in a mixture of confusion and surprise. “What’s wrong?” Mina asked as the two of them scooted closer until the four of them were all within arm’s reach of each other.
“I-I kissed your boyfriend!” Momo sputtered, tears beginning to well in her eyes.
Mina laughed softly. “I dared you to!”
Ochako put her hand on Momo’s shoulder. “You even asked.”
“I-I shouldn’t have!” Momo squeezed her eyes shut. “That was a line I should never have crossed. He’s your boyfriend and even if you told me to, that’s still a gross violation of trust!”
Ochako sat up a little straighter then leaned forward. “Momo.” Her soft tone was filled with shaky confidence, which gave Momo pause. “Do you… do you think you could feel the same way about Mina and I?”
There was a tiny voice in the back of her head screaming, but she didn’t listen. “I…” She thought back to their time together for a moment, about how she had been first struck by her beauty when they met and looked at each other eye-to-eye and how she had admired her ever since. Ochako’s heroic drive and talent was so much greater than her own, how could she not have admired her? “Well, y-yes, bu-”
Her words were cut off as Ochako leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on her lips.
Her lip balm tasted like green tea.
Momo’s jaw fell open as her mind attempted to process whatever had just happened. Clearly she was dreaming or hallucinating or… something. Anything .
Ochako smiled. “Then how about we call him our boyfriend.”
Momo’s mind had been racing for several minutes now, but now the wheels came off and it crashed. That voice in the back of her head screamed louder.
Mina leaned in closer. “I know that ‘love’ is probably too strong for what you feel for us.” She gestured between Ochako and herself. “But if you think you can grow into that one day… if being with us sounds like something you’d want… Then all you have to do is come here and kiss me, too.” Mina winked. “You can even pet my hair again if you want.”
It felt as if that voice in her mind had gotten frustrated and grabbed her by the collar. Mina’s voice echoed through her mind.
“You want in?”
Ochako, Mina… Zu. They were all within an arm’s reach of her and they… they wanted her. All she had to do was…
Momo dared to move forward, her eyes almost squeezed shut as her heart felt like it was going to pound out of her ribcage. Her hand ran through Mina’s hair once, bolstering her confidence before their lips gently met. Momo pulled back quickly, covering her face as her nerves failed her again.
“Mmm.” Mina licked her lips gently. “I’ll take it… for now. You’ll have to give me a real one later, but for now…” She moved forward and wrapped her arms around Momo, causing her to flinch. Ochako’s arms came next, wrapping around her side while the other was suddenly taken by Zu.
Momo was completely surrounded by warm, caring arms and bodies.
And she couldn’t have been happier.
Tears began to fall from her eyes. She didn’t understand what was really happening, nor why they were doing it. What had she done to deserve this? “W-why?”
Zu nuzzled into her neck a little, causing her to squirm slightly, but her heart fluttered.“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, Mo.”
She looked at him, stunned, as he pulled back and looked her in the eyes, tears of his own beginning to fall gently. “You were always a great friend to me and ever since we’ve both been here, you’ve done nothing but impress me and show everyone just how amazing you are… not to mention you saved my life. I…” He paused for a moment. “I think I love you.”
Love.
Zu… loved her? Was that what she had been feeling? In all honesty, she didn’t know, but love was a better guess than anything else.
“You’re a beautiful, stunning woman who somehow has a mind even greater than that. I don’t know if you feel the same way,” he continued, “but I hope that one day, you might.”
That day may come sooner than he thought. She just needed time to think and process everything.
Ochako squeezed her a little tighter. “It tore all of us up when we saw you suffering last week. I don’t want to ever see you like that again.”
“I have to admit,” Mina began, looking up from Momo’s chest. “I felt a little bad about taking Midori from you once I found out how close you two had been. But then after Hell Week, I began to wonder if you might feel something for me, too.” She smiled softly.
Momo did feel something for Ochako and Mina. They were both such wonderful people, but did she deserve them? “I…”
“Do you want to do this?” Ochako asked kindly. “You don’t have to, really. I… I feel bad for kissing you now before asking. I didn’t mean to pressure you.”
Momo felt something begin to slip away. “No! Er, I mean no, you didn’t pressure me. I… I liked it. I think… I think I want to do this.” She was beginning to regain her lost confidence. “Can we just… take it slower?”
“Absolutely,” Zu said firmly. “I… I can’t believe this is real. After all these years… I can’t believe you…” He trailed off.
Momo smiled nervously. “You’ve wanted this?”
“Y-yes.” He nodded slowly. “I just never thought you did.”
“Zu…” Momo cupped his cheek. “You’re the only man I’ve ever even considered. ”
Mina giggled softly. “I bet you had tons of suitors. You’re gorgeous, brilliant, refined… not to mention sexy.”
Momo’s cheeks reddened. “T-thank you, Mina. I… yes. I did. I was never interested. I was much too busy with my studies and my training… and I couldn’t help but compare them to Zu.” She looked over at him, staring into his green eyes. “None of them measured up.”
“That’s so sweet!” Ochako cooed. “Who knew you were such a romantic, Momo?”
Momo averted her gaze. “I, er, well, I am fond of romance novels…”
“So, is this official?” Mina asked, pulling back, causing the other two to release her as well. Momo missed their warmth greatly. “Is this a thing? Can I officially call Yaomomo my girlfriend?” The last word escaped her breathlessly, like she didn’t believe she was actually saying it.
‘Okay, Momo. Confidence.’
She took a deep breath. “If you would have me, I would very much like to join your… r-relationship.”
“Then you have my vote,” Ochako said softly.
“I…” Momo’s confidence failed again as her insecurities came out. “What do you see in me?”
Ochako looked down slightly. “Well, for starters, you’re… um…”
“You’re really hot,” Mina finished.
“Yeah, that,” Ochako affirmed, “but it’s more than that! You’re smart, bold, confident… you always take control of the situation like a real pro and I always feel reassured when you’re around. At the USJ, with Tsu yesterday… it’s kinda like, ‘as long as Momo is here, we’ll be able to handle anything’.”
Momo’s heart squeezed in her chest.
“You’re always so eager to help,” Mina began, sighing dreamily. “You make me want to focus harder on my studies and my training just by watching you. You saved Midori’s life and then stayed with him in the hospital, taking care of not just him, but all of us.” She looked up at her, worry crossing her face. “But I saw how you beat yourself up after your match against Todoroki. I wanted to help you so badly, but I didn’t know how. I want to be there for you, Yaomomo, like you’ve been there for us.”
Tears began to leak from her eyes again.
“Before we do this,” Zu muttered cautiously, “there is something you have to know. About my quirk.”
Momo’s tears slowed as she looked at him in confusion. “Is there more?”
“Yeah.” He looked… guilty. “My quirk… all of my family’s quirks hoard things. Money, gems, historical artifacts, power, and if you’re me… people.”
“People? You hoard…?”
Zu nodded slowly. “I hate it, but that’s how it works. I’ve already claimed everyone in class and… and the value of my hoard is based on them. A hoard is imperative to a dragon and we are constantly driven to grow and improve our hoards.”
Momo had a flash of understanding. “That’s why you pushed yourself so hard against Todoroki. You couldn’t stand him not using his fire.”
“I… yes.” Zu looked confused and then a little frustrated. “Mina, you were supposed to tell her that.”
“Oh. Right.” Mina smiled sheepishly. “Uh, I forgot?”
Zu sighed. “What’s important is that… if you decide to do this, there isn’t any going back, not for me. If you break up with me I… I don’t know what will happen to me. I’m telling you this because I don’t want to own you, I don’t want to control you. You… all of you.” He gestured to Momo and the other two. “You’re far too important and special to be controlled by me. I don’t want to manipulate or guilt-trip you into staying with me because you’re afraid of what will happen to me if you stop.”
He looked up at her, his eyes glowing erratically. “I need you to understand that. I need you to understand what I’m asking of you here. I’m asking that if you ever stop wanting this, that you do not hesitate because of me. I need you to know that you can not and should not stay just because you don’t want to hurt me. You have to promise me that you will do what is best for you . Do you understand?”
Momo couldn’t believe her ears. Zu wasn’t just asking her, he was begging her. “If I ever leave you, if we break up, then it will… hurt you? Like, worse than just normal?”
Zu nodded. “I don’t know what would happen… but it would be bad. Even just thinking about it is causing my instinct to get very, very upset.”
“You’re asking me…” Momo took a deep breath. “If I ever stop wanting this… you want me to leave, despite knowing what it would do to you?”
Zu’s eyes locked with hers. “I would rather be broken then see you hurt.” There was no doubt in his eyes or his voice. “Please, promise me that you’ll do that.”
He would rather see himself torn apart than to see her suffer… and he meant it, too. Maybe that should have made her think twice, maybe it should have given her pause or cause her to back out altogether… but all it did was make her feel all the more sure of her decision.
“I promise,” she said slowly. “I will stay as long as I want to and if that ever changes, I will work to change things. If I remain unhappy, I will leave and go my own way. You have my word.”
Zu closed his eyes. “Thank you. Do you still wish to do this?”
“I do.”
His eyes opened as they burst with light, brighter than she could ever remember. Scales flashed up his neck as his quirk surged. “Then you are mine.”
While previously, his draconic voice had been unsettling and intimidating, now it felt different. She had nothing but affection for the sweet man who happened to have a monster of a quirk. A monster she could help train and hone.
Momo reached forward and ran a hand along one of his horns lovingly. “And you are mine , Zu.”
Mina leaned over and wrapped her arms around Momo’s waist. “She’s a natural dragon tamer.”
“Welcome to the team,” Ochako added with a giggle as she hugged Momo from behind.
Now that the shock was finally wearing off, she became much more aware of Mina and Ochako’s chests pressed up against her. She didn’t have much experience with any besides her own, which she was, of course, aware were quite impressive. She had the largest in class, like she always did; while she was gifted genetically, they were mostly byproducts of her quirk. Before, she was always a little self-conscious of them, but now… well, maybe her new partners would like them.
If she could make them happy, then she was happy. And if her… assets brought them happiness, then she was proud to have it.
It felt nice to be confident.
She should do it more often.
“Well,” Mina began softly, wrapping her fingers around the back of Momo’s neck to hang off her lightly. “It’s getting late. I know you wanted to start things slow, but how about we all get ready for bed and then you join us?”
“Join you?” Momo was hesitant.
“We like to sleep together,” Zu said softly. He saw her blush begin to deepen before he quickly continued. “Uh, not like that!” Momo noticed his eyes glow a little brighter and his face twist slightly, as if he was experiencing a headache.
Ochako giggled behind her. “Momo, he means we cuddle and stuff. It’s really nice. I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do, but cuddling them is probably my favorite thing now. This cold snap has been extra nice for that. We’ve had trouble getting to class on time because we don’t want to get up.”
“Oh.” Momo looked down at Ochako’s arms, which were still wrapped around her. Sleeping in the same bed, holding them close… it seemed so… scandalous. Momo thought back to how envious she had been at the hospital and that little green monster that had been eating her up ever since. It was scandalous, almost lascivious, but she wanted it.
She wanted it bad.
“Alright, that does sound nice,” Momo said, attempting to mask her wanton desire.
Ochako and Mina let her go, much to her dismay and the four of them stood up. She had to admit, she very much enjoyed how Zu and Mina had to look up to look her in the eyes, but there was also something enticing about how Ochako and her were at eye level.
“Meet you all back here,” Mina almost whispered in her excitement. “Hurry up, hurry up!”
Mina almost shoved the other three out of the room before closing the door behind them. Zu smiled up at the two women and then hurried off to his own room, while Momo and Ochako walked toward their rooms at the end of the hall. Momo opened her own door as Ochako gave her a small wave, which she returned before closing her door.
And then she almost lost it.
Half of her wanted to giggle like a schoolgirl, the other wanted to scream until there was no air left in her lungs. What was she thinking? How did a game of Truth or Dare turn into her getting not just one, but three partners? How did, after all these years, she finally start dating Zu?
It was all a blur. They were playing the game and then she blinked and there were three people hugging her, telling her how amazing she was, and that they wanted to be in a relationship with her.
This was madness.
It was madness and she was loving every minute of it.
Her only issue was how out of her element she felt. They were right, the emotions and connections would take time to build, but she already felt something for them. She knew well from her quirk that anything built well was built from the ground-up with the basic parts. These feelings were the building blocks of a relationship and she wanted to see it built.
She just had to figure out how to do that. It’s not like she had ever been in a relationship before..
Momo took off her shirt and reached for her pajamas, but paused, looking at herself in the mirror. She reached up and hefted her breasts, feeling their weight. She had always been ogled for her chest and proportions, but now she had people that she didn’t mind looking. Maybe even eventually, once the time was right, they could do more… intimate things.
She wondered how Mina would look beneath her, and how Ochako’s long legs would look exposed to her. She wondered how it would feel to run her fingers down Zu’s abs and down to his-
Her face turned bright red as she remembered what she had seen in the hospital. Was he really that big? She wondered how it would look, how it would feel, how it would t-
Momo shook her head, wrenching her mind back from the brink. No, now wasn’t the time to think about that. She couldn’t risk ruining this relationship by going too fast or doing things that she or the others weren’t ready to try.
She quickly finished changing into her pajamas and freshening up. Standing outside her door once she finally opened it was both Ochako and Zu, who were waiting patiently.
“There you are,” Ochako bubbled.
“Sorry,” Momo offered weakly.
Zu smiled widely. “No need to apologize. Come on, Mina’s waiting.”
They hadn’t even reached Mina’s door before it flew open, the shorter woman sticking her head out, wearing a shirt much too large for her. Momo smiled softly to herself. It must be one of Ochako’s shirts; perhaps Mina would like to wear one of her own someday?
“Come on, come on,” she urged, waving her hand to the three of them.
They all chuckled softly as they entered, but Momo’s heart was pounding faster and faster with every heartbeat. Was she really about to do this?
“The guest of honor!” Mina declared theatrically, holding her hand out for Momo to take.
She took it and Mina pulled her forward gently, leading her to the bed. “Go ahead and lay down, we’ll take care of the rest.”
Momo blushed, her heart still pounding in her ears as she sat down and swung her legs over the bed.
“Ochako!” she continued, keeping up her flamboyant charade. The woman took her hand with a smile as she directed her to lay on Momo’s left, between her and the wall. Ochako gently pressed herself into Momo under her arm, making her heart… begin to calm down.
Oh my God, were those mittens? Of course, Ochako’s quirk activated when she touched things with all five fingers.
That was adorable .
“Midori!” Mina held her hand out to him as well, which he took gracefully with a bow. Mina placed him on Momo’s right, where he smiled up at her, looking slightly nervous himself. He put himself under her other arm, allowing their bodies to touch.
Despite everything she thought would happen, having Zu laying with her like this only made her feel more comfortable.
“And now for the grand finale!” Mina turned the lights off and almost dove into the bed, wedging herself between Zu and Momo, half-lying on Momo’s stomach and chest as she laid her head to rest on her shoulder.
Ochako pulled the covers up over them as everyone shifted slightly, getting as close and as comfortable as they wanted.
Momo was over the moon. She had three beautiful, caring people holding her close and making her feel like she could take on the world.
She even let out a satisfied sigh.
Mina giggled. “I guess Operation: Momo was a resounding success.”
Ochako made a comfortable noise of agreement from the other side of Momo.
“You planned this?” Momo asked in disbelief.
“In a way,” Mina admitted. “I organized the movie day and the Truth or Dare, hoping to… encourage you.”
Momo was stunned. “You… you planned all this? You knew what would happen? How did you-”
“Woah, woah, Yaomomo.” Mina laughed once. “I just set up the Truth or Dare and gambled on getting Midori involved. Everything else was completely out of my control. How could I have planned for so many different factors? That kind of thing only happens in bad fanfiction.”
“You read fanfiction?” Ochako asked.
“You don’t?” Mina responded incredulously. “Anyway, Yaomomo, you definitely surprised me. I thought I had you pegged, but you were braver and bolder than I ever knew. I wasn’t expecting you to tackle Midori when I dared you to kiss him. Not that I didn’t enjoy the show~”
“Mina…” Zu huffed.
“Oh, and that plushy thing was so adorable!” Mina squealed.
Ochako cooed. “I know, right? Can you make us some?”
“I, yes, I could,” Momo admitted.
Zu reached up and ran his fingers along Momo’s face. She smiled and leaned into the contact slightly. “I can’t believe you made a little doll of me. I had no idea I had such an effect on you.”
“You have a tendency to do that,” Ochako said softly. “You just show up and before anybody realizes, you’re an irreplaceable part of their life.”
“O-oh.” If the lights were on, Momo was sure Zu would have been blushing. “Thank you, Ochako.”
The conversation died down as the four slowly began to drift off to sleep. Momo realized that the happiness in her heart was all due to those key decisions she had made that day.
Confidence.
Again, confidence had been the key. She had strode forward daringly, but far from fearlessly, listening to her heart and taking what she wanted instead of hiding behind her nerves and doubts. If she hadn’t been so bold, she would be sleeping alone right now, her heart aching for what she thought was lost to her, instead of basking in the warmth of people who she cared for and who cared for her.
Just like everyone else on the bed, Momo fell asleep with a soft smile on her face.
Notes:
That was another long one! See you guys next time for the start of the internships!
:)
We broke 75k views! Thank you all for your support!
Chapter 46: Well Begun
Summary:
...is half done. The internships get started.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
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Starting off smutty again. Skip ahead to the next line if don’t wish to read.
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Izuku awoke a little bit before sunrise. He quickly realized what had woken him up, as it was the same thing that woke him up most mornings.
His quirk was swimming in his mind, fidgeting and antsy.
His sense of smell was heightened even beyond its normal levels, filling his mind with the soothing scent of Ochako and Mina, but also another. Mo's scent mixed with the others, agitating his quirk further and causing a tightness in his chest.
Izuku knew this sensation well.
He was horny.
Again, most mornings he woke up like this, but his beautiful and amazing girlfriends which he probably didn't deserve had been nothing if not supportive and ‘caring’.
He felt even worse than normal, which he immediately attributed to Mo’s presence. Ever since he had chosen his name last week, his instincts had been louder in his mind, but they hadn’t felt as hostile. It was like his mind had adapted more overnight, or rather like the gap between his mind and his quirk was less. It still felt like he was sharing a small room with a feral animal sometimes, but the room was larger and the animal had warmed up to him slightly.
Izuku rolled his eyes. That metaphor got away from him.
He tried to think about something else, but it was no use. All he could focus on was the smell of his girlfriends and the uncomfortable tightness in his underwear. The latter was fixed with a quick flex of his quirk, but before he had woken up enough to do that, he felt someone moving against him.
“Mmm,” Mina whispered as she ground her pert, plump backside into Izuku’s crotch. “Good morning to you, too.”
Izuku wasn’t in the state of mind to be timid and bent his head down to kiss Mina’s neck, then dragged his teeth along her beautiful pink skin, grazing his fangs across her neck ever so slightly.
Mina let out a low, growling moan as she reached up and put her arm around his head, dragging her up a little and pushing her back into his chest as she let his bulge slip between her legs. She pressed down, letting him feel the soft, supple pressure and heat from her womanhood and her thighs, causing him to hiss slightly.
With a titanic surge of effort, Izuku pulled back and flexed his quirk in his legs, even as his instincts snarled in frustration. He couldn’t do this with Momo here. She was already uncertain and overwhelmed.
Mina made a small noise of disappointment, but turned over so they were facing each other. “Momo?” she asked simply.
Izuku nodded.
She leaned up and kissed him gently on the cheek. “Probably a good idea. We need to get you taken care of, though.”
“I could always go and take care of myself,” Izuku whispered, running a hand through Mina’s hair.
Mina sighed and nuzzled into his neck as he gently massaged her scalp. “That just sounds like a waste when you have us.”
The other women began to stir, making soft noises as they awoke. Izuku smiled as he saw how Momo and Ochako’s heads had drifted together during the night and how Momo had wrapped up Ochako in her arm, holding her close.
Ochako’s eyes opened first, her gaze dancing over Momo with a smile before looking at Izuku and Mina. She locked eyes with Mina for a second, as if the two were silently communicating, then looked back at Izuku with an expression that was halfway between determined, concerned, and hungry.
Momo opened her eyes slowly and shifted around, trying to move her arms to stretch but finding she couldn’t as one was wrapped around Ochako and the other, Izuku.
Her eyes snapped open. Izuku remembered the feeling.
“It wasn’t a dream,” Mina cooed, leaning over and pecking Momo on the cheek. “How did you sleep?”
Momo blushed bright red and averted her gaze slightly. “Amazingly,” she admitted quietly. “I haven’t slept that well since I came to UA.”
“Mhmm,” Ochako cooed in agreement. “It’s amazin’. You can really get addicted to it~”
God, something about her accent… it did things to Izuku.
Momo looked at her curiously, blinking several times.
Mina giggled. “Yep, Ochako has an accent. Isn’t it cute?”
“...Adorable,” Momo whispered sincerely, staring at the now blushing brunette. “Why do you hide it?”
Ochako sighed. “People assume I’m dumb if I talk normal.”
“No!” Momo whispered, sounding scandalized. She rubbed Ochako’s shoulder gently with her arm, trying to comfort her. “That’s awful. I am quite certain nobody here in our class would think that of you.”
Ochako leaned in and rested her head on Mo’s shoulder, smiling. “Thanks, Momo.”
It made Izuku very, very happy that his hoard was getting along so well.
“Hey, Ochako,” Mina whispered over their raven-haired girlfriend. She nodded her head back towards Izuku then to the side, in the direction of her door. Ochako nodded, understanding what Mina was saying and slowly getting up, even as Momo seemed confused and a little disappointed.
Izuku rolled out of bed too, his cheeks growing slightly green as the impending ‘help session’ grew more imminent. He grabbed his keys, water bottle and phone from Mina’s dresser and waited as Ochako did the same.
“Where are you two going?” Momo asked, a little sadly.
Mina leaned in and put a finger to her chin. “I’ll explain everything. Right now, it’s just you and me.” Mina purred and then giggled, before snuggling up closer to Mo’s side.
Momo smiled softly down at Mina, turning to face her and wrapping both of her arms around her. Izuku smiled as he walked out of the room with Ochako right behind him, closing the door gently as they began to slowly move down the hall.
Izuku felt slightly awkward, but Ochako wasn’t having it. She snaked her right arm under his left, taking him by the elbow as they walked side by side. “Don’t feel bad, Deku.”
“I can’t help it,” Izuku admitted. “I feel like a burden, you know that.”
Ochako stopped him and grabbed his shoulders, bringing him around so they were facing each other. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips gently, her eyes closed while they tasted each other faintly. Ochako pulled back and looked down at him, smiling softly. “You’re anything but that. I’ll admit I’ve come to… really look forward to these times.”
Izuku blushed harder as they arrived at Ochako’s door. “I guess we don’t have to worry about waking Momo up anymore…”
Ochako sighed dreamily. “No, I guess not.”
She unlocked her door and let him inside, where he sat down on her bed, like he always did. His girlfriend shut and locked the door, before moving over and sitting next to him, leaning on him slightly.
“Do you know what this is?” Ochako asked.
Izuku thought for a moment. “Uh… us having a ‘good time’?”
“Well, yes,” Ochako said with a soft giggle. “But this is the first time it’s just been the two of us. No Mina to help me along.”
Izuku blinked. “You’re right. We don’t have to do this if you don't want, we can wait until Mina is free or I can just take care of myse-”
Ochako put a finger on his lips. “You misunderstand me, Izuku~ ” The way she said it made his chest tighten in anticipation and his mouth dry slightly. “This is my chance to show you how well I can do on my own. This is time for Izuku and Ochako to be completely honest and intimate .”
Izuku gulped as his quirk roared in triumph. “You don’t mean going all the way, do you?”
Ochako blushed and looked away. “N-no. Not yet, at least. I’m still not ready for that.”
“Oh, good. Same,” Izuku huffed, letting out a great sigh.
“Glad we’re on the same page,” Ochako teased. “But now, let’s get started, shall we?”
Izuku leaned over and kissed her. No matter how many times they did this, getting started always sent his heart pounding in his chest.
Ochako broke off her kiss and ran her hand down his thigh as she slipped off the bed, taking her position kneeling in front of him.
His quirk loved seeing her down there. Ochako was a beautiful and amazing woman, but she was also incredibly powerful, in more ways than one. Seeing someone with that much power and strength kneeling in front of him always made his quirk grin widely in his mind.
Ochako took a deep breath as her seductive look gave way to her determined, competitive one. Honestly, Izuku didn’t know which one he preferred.
She reached up and gripped his pajama pants by the waist, snaking her fingers around the hem of his underwear as well. He lifted himself up slightly as she pulled down, exposing his lower half to air as she smiled softly.
“Izuku, you’re still hidin’? Come on, lemme see.”
He nodded and slowly let his quirk release, exposing his length to his eager girlfriend. She looked at it, her expression halfway between a competitive smirk and a seductive smile as she reached out with her right hand.
“It must be so hard, having to worry about this thing all the time,” she cooed.
Izuku furrowed his brow. “Did you just pun at a time like this?”
Ochako winked up at him. “Don’t worry, I’m here to take care of you.”
He inhaled sharply as her fingers made contact, her soft pads adding a new level of tantalizing sensation. She began to stroke slowly, running her hand all the way up and down his length. She had gotten so much better over the weeks with Mina’s guidance and lots of practice.
Ochako bit her lip slightly. “I can’t tell you how much I love your face when I do this. Seeing you react like this makes me feel… so sexy.”
Izuku smiled. “That’s because you aaaa-” He was cut off as she leaned forward and gave his tip a gentle lick.
Ochako giggled, her smile wide on her face. “Enough teasing for now. Let’s get down to business.”
Izuku’s eyes went wide as she leaned forward and opened her mouth, her plump lips wrapping around his tip and beginning to descend slowly as she took more and more of him. He hissed as her tongue danced around the underside of his shaft, causing the tightness in his chest to begin descending down his torso.
Ochako kept moving closer to him, the overwhelming sensation of wet, warm tightness growing more and more as he leaned back on his elbows.
Izuku’s eyes went wide as he felt her finally stop, then sputter and choke. He snapped back upright, pulling himself back as Ochako took several deep breaths.
“Dammit,” she huffed. “Not even halfway.”
Izuku looked down with concern. “Mina said you needed a lot more practice before you tried that,” he reminded her.
“I know, I know,” she muttered, pouting slightly. “I’m gonna take it all one day, mark my words.”
That was the most arousing threat he had ever received.
She caught her breath and settled back in, wrapping her soft lips around him again, but not testing her gag reflex this time. Ochako reached a hand up and gently ran her fingerpads along his orbs, causing them to twitch and seize slightly.
Izuku began to smell a new, but familiar scent. It was one of his favorite smells in the whole world.
She gradually settled into a smooth rhythm, the sensation and sounds draggin Izuku closer and closer to climax over the next several minutes. He was getting close when he suddenly yelped in pain as a sharp sensation ran along his length. “Ow!”
Ochako quickly pulled back, holding a hand in front of her mouth in apology, as if hiding the offending tooth. “Sorry, sorry!”
“It’s fine,” Izuku huffed, the pain quickly subsiding.
Ochako pouted slightly again. “Mina’s gonna scold me…” She put the thought out of her mind and mercifully returned to helping Izuku before his release fell too far away.
Since her mouth couldn’t reach it, she reached a hand up and began to stroke his lower half in combination with her mouth, which quickly caused his tightness to return and build even faster than before. His quirk was enjoying it too much and he couldn’t resist moving a hand down and placing it gently on the back of her head.
“Ochako,” he hissed between grit teeth, signaling to her that he was close.
His bucking and twitching surely gave him away, but she redoubled her efforts, picking up the pace.
He drew closer and closer to that peak, as if being dragged up on a roller coaster before…
Before the drop.
She stopped moving and sealed her lips around his length as lightning exploded in his mind and he climaxed, sending a rush into her mouth. Izuku’s eyes rolled back as he had to prop himself up on his elbows again to keep from collapsing all the way onto her bed.
His orgasms were always powerful, for which he blamed—or thanked—his quirk. He pulsed again and again, his breathing growing heavier and irregular as Ochako kept her mouth tight, taking everything.
She had gotten a decent amount of practice, but there was something about today. Even when she could normally handle him, her eyes went wide and some began to leak out of her mouth. Finally, after what seemed like forever to his pleasure-addled brain, he gave his last few twitches and finally finished.
Ochako leaned back, gazing up at him with a look of pure lust and adoration on her face as she lifted her head up slightly and swallowed… twice. She opened her mouth with a satisfied sigh, then leaned forward and grabbed a nearby towel, cleaning up the mess on her face and on him.
The smell grew in strength. Just how much was she enjoying this?
“Woah…” she muttered. “That was more than normal. Were you pent up or somethin’?”
Izuku shook his head. “You two helped me yesterday, remember?”
“Right…” She put the towel aside and then looked up. “Is it because of Momo?”
“I think so,” he admitted. “Maybe my quirk went into overdrive because we got a new girlfriend?”
Ochako shrugged. “That’s not important right now. What is important…” She stood up slowly, pulling down her own pants as that favorite smell of his began to grow stronger, now that her underwear was no longer blocking it.
She walked forward, stepping onto the bed and shoving her womanhood into his face. She pushed him back, slowly descending until his back was on the bed and her thighs were surrounding his head. Ochako pressed down onto him, her thoroughly wet and pulsing folds covering his mouth and rubbing against his nose.
He pushed his tongue in slowly at first, then paused, feeling her muscles clamp hungrily around him. With a small flex of his quirk, his tongue began to lengthen and thicken, pressing deeper into her as she moaned in pure pleasure.
As much as Ochako enjoyed seeing him react when she pleasured him, he felt just as aroused when she moaned on top of him. She looked down at him, their eyes locking, both silently communicating just how much they loved each other.
It was amazing how much her confidence had changed since the first time they had been intimate with each other. Mina was a compassionate and patient teacher and did nothing but encourage Ochako as she learned the ropes, which had done wonders for her. However, he believed that this morning… her being on her own with him for the first time… that had really helped her grow. She now had irrefutable proof that she could do it and it was showing. This wasn’t the blushing mess from their first kiss.
She began to stroke his horns slowly, encouraging him to continue. A small, mischievous side reared its head as he began to pause for erratic intervals, sometimes his tongue sitting still for ten or fifteen seconds, other times for only one or two.
Ochako bucked on his face during one of the longer breaks, her face flush and her voice dripping with need. “Stop teasing me, Izuku. I’m gonna be on your face all day if you keep this up.”
He had a hard time deciding whether that threat or the previous one was more tantalizing.
Nevertheless, he pushed his tongue larger and explored her deeper, savoring the tangy, but sweet taste that he loved so much. Both her and Mina had such different, but equally enjoyable tastes, which only added to how much he enjoyed pleasuring them.
Her jerks and spasms became more frequent and more needy as she gripped his horns tightly with one hand and grabbed a handful of his hair with the other, pressing herself down firmly and grinding into his face as she pulled him up. Ochako was trying to get him as deep into her as possible, urging him to pleasure her entirely.
Izuku obliged, growing his tongue larger until he felt pressure from all sides and Ochako pulled her hand out of his hair to clamp over her mouth, lest she scream loud enough to wake up the women on the floors above or below. His forked tip pushed deeper until he reached the back of her walls, then danced his tip around the opening to her womb.
According to his research, some women found it painful when their cervix was stimulated, while others found it pleasurable.
Ochako fell into the latter category.
She fell into it hard .
He only danced and teased it for a small while before he felt the tell-tale signs of her own climax breaking over her.
His tongue was squeezed an almost painful amount as her entire depth contracted and her juices began to spray across his face. Pulse after pulse crashed through her, each sending more and more over him as she bit on her shirt, trying to contain her throes of pleasure.
Finally, she pulled back, releasing him and letting his tongue retract back into his mouth, even as she continued to clench erratically in the final waves of her orgasm. Before he fully took it back, he made sure to run it along his face, licking up as much of her taste as he could.
She leaned back on her arms, sitting on his chest as they both panted, recovering the breath they had stolen from each other.
“You’re amazing,” he whispered up at her between heavy breaths.
She smiled widely as her chest heaved up and down. “I was gonna say the same thing about you.”
They both stared at each other for a little longer, then started laughing.
“We’re dorks,” Izuku joked.
“Dorks in love,” she added, causing them both to laugh a little harder.
Ochako slid off him and onto the bed, twisting herself until she was reclining on one arm, looking down at him as she reclined at his side. “Judgin’ from earlier, you’re not gonna be done quickly today, are you?”
Izuku gulped and shook his head. “Uh, no. No, I don’t think so.”
She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. “Challenge accepted.” He stared up at her in awe as she smirked and slid down the bed, back onto the floor for the second round.
It was about two hours later when Zu and Ochako finally returned. Momo’s cheeks had been burning with blush ever since Mina explained that Zu had a rather… interesting issue.
Zu needed to get regular ‘release’.
Well, ‘needed’ was perhaps too strong of a word, but apparently it impacted his ability to think clearly if he was too… aroused.
The word alone made her skin feel like electricity was dancing over it and caused her thighs to rub against each other with a slowly growing need.
The most scandalous part of it all was that she wasn’t nearly as scandalized as she thought she ought to be. The idea of Zu… needing her assistance, even in such a lewd way, was something she was willing to do. Momo even felt a strange sense of pride that her body could bring him pleasure and if what Mina was saying was true, Zu was a fervent believer in reciprocation.
The idea that all of those fantasies she had experienced over the years, especially the recent months, might come true… she hated that she was feeling warmer at the thought of it alone, as the yearning emptiness that she had grown used to spread throughout her body.
‘Calm down,’ she chided herself. If everything went well… that emptiness might not be around too much longer.
But she wasn’t ready to act on those desires yet, not by a long shot. She still had to get her feet under her in this whole ‘relationship’ thing. But one day, once she was comfortable and confident enough, she would act.
That declaration sent shivers throughout her body, her temptation rising but kept in check by her willpower.
As Ochako and Zu walked in, she noticed a few things immediately. Ochako, for one, was absolutely radiant; she was grinning a wide, satisfied grin and her skin was almost glowing. Zu, on the other hand, looked like he had just run a marathon. His hair was a mess and his eyes were hanging half-open; he looked absolutely exhausted, yet he had a small content look in her eyes that made her knees feel weak. He glanced at Ochako, his satisfaction giving way to pure adoration and gratitude.
She wanted him to look like that because of her.
But that could wait. It would have to wait.
She waited years for this, what was a few more weeks?
He half-stumbled into the room and placed his water bottle on Mina’s dresser, the hollow sound telling Momo it was quite empty. Zu moved over to the bedside table and grabbed Mina’s own water bottle, turning it over and downing the entire thing without stopping, only taking a breath once it ran dry as well. Not even Momo’s water bottle was safe, as he quickly downed that one as well.
Zu wiped his mouth and sighed heavily.
Momo felt her face heat up further. Just what had Ochako done to him?
What could she do to him when she finally gave in? She had only done some cursory ‘self-exploration’ over the years; what kind of stuff would she want to do to him?
Momo bit her lip. There was only one way to find out...
“Well,” Mina began brightly, “it looks like you two had fun. Who wants to go get breakfast?”
Zu almost moaned. “Yes, please . That sounds amazing.”
Ochako, on the other hand, blushed slightly. “No thanks, I’m fu- er, I’m not hungry.”
Momo stared at her for a few seconds, tilting her head slowly.
Then her entire face turned neon red.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Now back to our regularly scheduled fanfiction!
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Sunday was nice and relaxing, at least after the… draining events of the early morning. Izuku spent much of it with his new girlfriend, helping Momo to get more comfortable around him and the other women. As it turned out, Momo was something of a cuddlebug, which meant she meshed very well with Mina. After eating lunch together, they spent the rest of the afternoon in Mo’s room, talking and cuddling, simply enjoying each other’s presence.
It was nice.
After dinner, where Izuku, Satou and Eiko cooked for everyone, Mina shoved him off to go spend time with Bakugou, which set off alarm bells in his head. He spotted Mina, Ochako, and Momo talking to Tsuyu in the corner; he assumed they were talking to her about the upcoming internship.
Izuku just hoped they weren’t putting too much nonsense into her mind.
He turned back to his notebook, where he was putting the final touches on his Miruko notes as Katsuki sat nearby, listening to music with one headphone in. To most, it would look like they weren’t even really hanging out, but the two of them had been friends long enough that they could enjoy each other’s company in complete silence. Sometimes, against the hustle and bustle of UA and of modern society, the greatest thing in the world was a small, quiet corner and a friend to sit silently with you.
Izuku wasn’t nearly well-trained enough to hear what the girls were talking about over the buzz of the common room, but he had… an idea.
His quirk pulsed into his mind and he let it in.
Mina is likely positioning things so that Tsuyu joins us next. I remember what she said.
“She’s not like Tsu, who’s just going to join us when she finally feels like it.”
Tsuyu also thinks I’m attractive.
“You’re hot.”
Not a whole lot of room for interpretation there.
The real question is… would I want her? She is without a doubt a beautiful woman with a potent quirk. It’s not nearly as flashy as Todoroki’s, nor as versatile as Mo’s, but it is strong. The advantage of a mutation quirk is that you are constantly practicing with it. You can’t turn it off.
But does she have that special spark? That quality that will make her a true gem of my collection?
Izuku looked over at Tsuyu, studying her from afar.
Perhaps. This week will be the test.
His eyes danced over his girlfriends.
They are all excellent. They can teach me things, make me stronger, but have so much potential on their own. They will make excellent wives one day.
Another point to consider is their ability to… calm me down. Until I fully master myself, I will be a danger to myself and others. Perhaps even then, I can never be fully trusted. Although in the end, who can a man trust but himself?
Tsuyu has shown no signs of being able to do anything of the sort. It can’t just be women I’m attracted to, it has to be something deeper. Ochako… Mina… Mo…
If she doesn’t prove useful, Tsuyu holds potential as a willing thrall. She has shown-
Izuku let out a great breath as he shuddered and flung his quirk off, tossing it back into the depths of his mind. Each time he did that, it became easier, but it was still unsettling, especially when dark thoughts began to surface.
Katsuki looked up at him. “You alright?”
“Yeah,” Izuku muttered. “Just thinking.”
Katsuki nodded and went back to his music.
He felt pathetic sometimes, relying on the women to help him. He was a full grown man that needed someone with him to make sure he didn’t lash out. Izuku prayed that his father could help him, but he knew that this wasn’t a simple thing.
‘Who can a man trust but himself?’ Izuku repeated. He laughed sadly to himself.
He couldn't even do that.
Class 1-A stood out in front of their dorm the following morning in their school uniforms, each holding onto their hero costume cases. Tsuyu made her way over to him, smiling up as the students mingled around, almost jittering with excitement and anticipation.
“Now remember,” Aizawa called over the students. “While you’re out in the field, you’re not just representing yourself, but UA. Be on your best behavior.”
“Yes, sir!” the class responded in unison.
“Very good,” he remarked cooly, but with a hint of approval. “Now, come on. I’ll escort you down to the station.
“Station?” Tsuyu asked quietly from his side. “I didn’t get a ticket.”
Mina looked over, clearly worried. “Hey, me neither.”
“Do you have tickets?” Tsuyu asked, looking up at him.
Izuku smiled down at her. “Not exactly.”
A familiar hum grew louder as a periwinkle and teal woman came flying over the trees. “Hey guys!” Nejire called, landing next to Mina and waving over at Tsuyu and Izuku as the rest of the class moved on.
Izuku gave one last thumbs up to Katsuki and a wave to Ochako and Momo as they walked down the path toward the station, then turned to the small group. He looked over at Mina and smiled.
Mina’s face turned from worry to boisterous excitement as she squealed. “No way!”
Izuku only smiled harder as the beat of wings became audible for everyone else and the sun was blocked out by not one, but two circling dragons.
In a theatrical dance that almost looked practiced, Stormclaw and Ryukyu descended in mirrored spirals, landing on opposite sides of the group. The great bronze and copper dragons looked down at the four students with a small, toothy smirk.
“Oh my God, I’m dreaming,” Mina whispered.
Nejire leaned over and pinched Mina’s arm, causing the pink woman to yelp.
Mina made a trembling noise of excitement and ran over to Ryukyu, jumping up and down like a kid on Christmas morning.
Tsuyu on the other hand, was staring up at Stormclaw. “This is really cool.”
Stormclaw and Ryukyu both laughed deep, booming laughs. They each knelt down, dropping their shoulders to let their passengers on. “It’s alright if I climb on?” Tsuyu asked politely.
Izuku’s father nodded. Tsuyu bent down and hopped up in a single jump, landing squarely between his wings as Izuku climbed up quickly, thanks to his years of practice. Tsuyu and Izuku waved over at Nejire and Mina, who were situated on Ryukyu’s back.
“See you in a week!” Izuku called.
“Stay safe!” Tsuyu added.
Nejire waved with both hands. “We will!”
Mina winked as she flashed a thumbs up. “Good luck, you two~”
Instead of feeling nervous, Izuku laughed loudly. “You’re the one who needs the luck! Let’s see if you can walk by the end of the week!”
Mina’s teasing smile turned into a nervous grimace as Nejire leaned over and put an arm around her, pulling her into a half hug. “I’ll take real good care of her, Greenhorn!”
Izuku nodded and waved one final time as the two dragons beat their wings, ascending into the sky and flying in opposite directions.
As soon as they began to climb, Tsuyu had, seemingly instinctually, leaned back into him. Without thinking, Izuku put one arm around her, bringing her in closer as he secured her.
“Thank you, Izuchan,” she muttered, the smallest hint of unease in her normally flat voice.
He cracked a small smile as his quirk hummed happily. “Don’t worry, everyone’s nervous their first time flying. You’ll get used to it.”
“Are you offering me rides?” she asked.
A month ago, Izuku would have blushed and flustered under such a question from a woman, but right now, he was feeling a little bolder. “If you want, sure.”
She turned slightly and looked up at him with her big, black eyes. They stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments before she turned back to the front. “I’d like that.”
Izuku heard his father laughing quietly.
It wasn’t too much longer before they began to descend and then landed on the beach behind the Stormclaw Agency. Izuku grinned, just like he did every time.
Tsuyu and Izuku slid down Stormclaw’s shoulder and the man rapidly returned to his normal form, looking down at the two young heroes with a smile. “Welcome to the Stormclaw Agency!”
Tsuyu ribbeted softly, her small smile growing. “I’ve always dreamed of coming here. Thank you for inviting me.”
Hisashi laughed. “It’s no problem at all. In fact, we’re happy to have you. I watched your performance at the Sports Festival and was impressed. I look forward to seeing you perform in the water.”
The small woman looked stunned. “I will try not to let you down.”
“I don’t doubt,” Hisashi said warmly as he began to lead them toward the back entrance of the agency, “but don’t feel bad if you do fail. You’re here to learn and failure is a key component of success. Just do your best. That’s all anyone can ask.”
The backdoor slid open as a woman of moderate height and athletic build stepped into the morning sun. She wore her hero costume, a dark blue skin-tight wetsuit with white accents that reminded Izuku of waves, complemented by a blue, hydrodynamic helmet that she wore when out in the field. Her blue eyes peeked out from under the bangs of her shoulder-length, straight white hair and her jovial smile shone brightly in the light. “Good morning!”
“Good morning,” Hisashi returned to one of his most accomplished side kicks. “Miss Asui, this is Riptide.”
“A pleasure to meet you,” Tsuyu responded politely.
Riptide nodded toward the shorter woman. “Likewise, Miss Asui.” She then turned her gaze up at Izuku. “Welcome back.”
“Thank you,” Izuku responded politely. Riptide was always a polite, professional woman, who had been working with his father for close to a decade now. He always felt like Riptide could go and start her own agency if she wanted, but she seemed to think that working under his father was a better gig than starting her own, small-time agency.
Hisashi looked back at Izuku and Tsuyu as they stepped into the agency. “Normally, I show my guests to their quarters, but I think you might know your way around here already?” he asked Izuku lightly.
Izuku smiled softly and nodded. “This way, Tsu.”
“Oh, and once you’re done packing,” Hisashi called after them, “change into your hero costumes and meet us down in the rec room.”
“Yes, sir!” Izuku returned, excited to put on his new uniform for the first time.
Truth be told, he was a little nervous about the sleeping arrangements. Hisashi was… conservative when it came to buying property, as extra space was wasted money in his eyes, so much like the Midoriya residence, the Stormclaw Agency was smaller than most other agencies.
What that meant for Izuku and Tsuyu was that there was only a single guest bedroom. Fortunately there were three beds in it, but it still meant sharing a space with a woman he wasn’t dating and had no intention of dat-
His quirk grumbled in his mind.
Okay, fine, that was probably a lie. But still, he wouldn’t go after her himself. If she came to him, well… he would have to talk to Ochako, Mina, and Momo.
Either way, this wasn’t the time or place to think about it.
I’d rather think about those hips and legs.
Izuku sighed. There was a ‘frog legs’ joke somewhere, but he didn’t want to really find it.
“Are you alright?” Tsuyu asked.
Izuku smiled. “Yeah, just… mentally preparing for the week. It won’t be easy.”
“No doubt,” Tsuyu responded. “I’m glad you’re here with me, though. It will be easier together.”
It was like she was trying to rouse his quirk.
“Agreed. It’ll be nice to work with you again.”
Tsuyu ribbited happily. “That day together in Hell Week was exhausting, but very enlightening. I can’t wait to see what an entire week with you is like.”
Izuku gulped a little. “Likewise.”
They finally arrived at the door, which Izuku opened for his friend. “Here we are. You can have the first pick.”
There were three beds in the room, one to the left, one in the middle, and one on the right. Simple stuff. Izuku assumed Tsuyu would pick the left or right bed, allowing a buffer bed between them.
He assumed incorrectly.
Tsuyu walked straight ahead and put her bag on the bed in the middle, hopping up onto it and feeling how comfortable it was. She looked at Izuku and gave a soft smile.
Izuku tried his best to conceal his trepidation as he walked over to the right bed and put his own bag down. Fortunately there was a small divider between each bed, so there was some degree of separation. The two unpacked in a comfortable silence, then opened up their suitcases.
Izuku smiled down at his new hero uniform. The scaled pants he had been wearing were now joined into a full suit, both parts functional and aesthetic. The lighter green accents on his legs were in homage to the similar marks on his father, but the torso was all him. It was mostly black, but only barely. Lighter green marks stretched down from his chest down his side and another drew along his shoulders. A patch of scales rested on his sternum, but otherwise, the short-sleeves suit was free from scales above the belt. The durable material was all ‘keyed’ to his DNA however, which he tested eagerly by transforming his chest, watching with a grin as his suit vanished and was replaced by his durable, light-green plates.
Satisfied, Izuku stepped out from his corner of the room, looking his costume over one last time with a proud smile. He glanced over at Tsuyu and then almost sputtered as he was greeted with a nearly full view of her bare back. He couldn’t help but stare at her toned, well-defined back muscles—the results of years of swimming—as her tongue reached around behind her and grabbed the zipper sitting at the base of her spine, pulling her suit together.
She turned around and looked up at him as her tongue snaked back into her mouth. “I like your new costume, Izuchan.”
“Thank you, Tsu.”
“I liked it when you were shirtless, though.”
Izuku blinked. “Uh… why?”
She tilted her head slightly. “Because you’re really hot and I liked staring.”
Her bluntness was something Izuku respected, but he wasn’t prepared for her to be so forward. His quirk on the other hand, was loving it.
“O-oh,” was all he could say.
“You can stare back, if you want,” she suggested. “I’m proud of my body. I’ve put a lot of work into it.” Tsuyu turned slightly, modeling one of her legs.
Izuku couldn’t help but look. Her thighs were thick, muscular, and powerful, the result of a lifetime of swimming and jumping, and her backside was similarly sculpted, but still seductively round; it looked like the perfect mix of strong, firm, muscle and soft sexuality, not to mention that it was large enough that it outclassed even Mina’s. He had never really looked at her like this before, but now he had a feeling that he was going to have a hard time not looking at her like she was one of the most attractive women he had ever seen.
Tsuyu ribbited with a tone of satisfaction. “I like it when you look at me like that.”
Izuku tore his eyes away. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t stare.”
“It makes me feel good,” Tsuyu countered. “There’s nothing wrong with complimenting others.”
“Is that what staring is?” Izuku asked.
She blinked. “If you think about it, you thought the person was attractive enough to stare at. That sounds like a compliment to me.”
Izuku nodded his head side to side slightly. “Only if the staring is welcomed, I would say.”
“Fair enough,” she admitted. “Your staring is welcome. Is my staring welcome?”
Izuku recoiled slightly. Not even Mina was this direct. “I, uh.”
Yes.
YES.
“Y-yes, it is.”
Tsuyu smiled widely, her eyes closing slightly. “Good.”
Izuku smiled softly in return. She was, somehow, simultaneously incredibly adorable and distractingly attractive.
This was going to be a long week.
“Let’s not keep my father waiting,” Izuku suggested.
Tsuyu nodded, picking up her headgear and tucking it under one arm. “Lead the way, Izuchan.”
Izuku led his friend down to the main floor and into the recreation room, where Hisashi and Riptide were going through local reports.
“Ah, there you are!” Hisashi exclaimed proudly, walking over to them and clapping Izuku on the shoulder with his one hand. “Look at you! You look like me when I was young!”
Izuku blushed slightly as his heart squeezed. “That’s high praise, sir.”
Hisashi laughed. “This week has been a long time coming, son.” The two Midoriyas looked each other in the eyes for a few moments before Hisashi stepped back and looked down at Tsuyu. “And we’re happy to have you here, too, Miss Asui. Please, don’t let an old man’s sentimentality spoil your time here.”
Tsuyu shook her head. “Not a problem, sir.”
“Good!” Hisashi said with a laugh. “Now, before we start our first day’s activities, you need a proper tour of the place!”
Hisashi walked off with Tsuyu at his heels, Izuku following a little behind with Riptide.
As his father began to show Tsuyu around, Izuku wasn’t exactly enamored. He had been running around these halls for most of his life and instead found his mind wandering, wondering how the rest of his friends were doing on their first day.
Ochako was nervously going over the notes Deku made her one last time as she approached her destination. It was the little things like this that showed how much he cared about her and what made her fall in love with him a little more each day. He could tell just how nervous she was about training under the number seven and had done everything in his power to bolster her confidence. She would miss him over the week, just like she would miss Mina, Momo and all of her classmates, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that she was eager to take advantage of, no matter how nervous it made her.
She checked her invitation again as she arrived at the address. No, she had the right place, but she had expected something… nicer?
Standing in front of her was an old, rundown brick building with only a few, high-up windows and a pair of double metal doors adorning the otherwise dingy facade. She took a deep breath and pulled one of the handles, half-surprised that it was actually unlocked.
Ochako walked inside, placing her backpack and suitcase by the door as she crept inside the barely-lit room.
Outside of the sunlight leaking through the dirty windows, the only light came from a few dim chemical lights bolted to the walls. She was immediately assaulted by the smell of old leather and wood as she looked around the old gym. A tinge of iron and copper tickled her nose, which she suspected might be blood, but hoped was rust. Large heavy punching bags hung from steel girders and a few pairs of boxing gloves were tied on the ropes of a ring on the far side.
This was an old, well-used and well-loved gym. It certainly had character, but she hadn’t expected Miruko to train in a place like this on the edge of town, but now that she was here, she wasn’t that surprised.
Speaking of Miruko, where was she?
As if on cue, she heard a noise from her side. Ochako turned to her right just in time to see a pair of red eyes staring at her from on top of a pile of wrestling mats. As soon as her eyes moved, so did the crouched shape looking down on her.
Miruko dove toward Ochako at terrifying speeds, her foot extended. Ochako barely dove out of the way, landing on the ground, but quickly scrambling to her feet.
“M-Miruko?” Ochako stuttered, gazing down at the smaller, muscular woman glaring up at her a few meters away in a combat stance. Her fluffy, white ears twitched once as her mouth turned up into a confident, intimidating smirk.
“Training begins now!” Miruko declared as she kicked off again, shooting toward Ochako.
Ochako didn’t think she was going to be able to dodge this one.
Pony walked into the brightly lit, glamorous offices of Uwabami with a surprising companion. Itsuka Kendou, the nice, taller, redheaded girl from 1-B had also accepted the pro’s invitation, meaning Pony would have a companion for her daunting week of ‘cultural immersion’.
The two women nodded and walked to the front desk, where there was a woman in her mid-twenties sitting, looking a little bored as she typed away on a computer.
“Excuse me?” Kendou said as the two approached. “We’re here for our internship?”
The woman’s vision snapped up and her boredom flashed away and was replaced by bright-eyed enthusiasm, but Pony could tell that it was forced and practiced, rather than genuine.
“Ah, yes! You must be the students from UA!” She stood up and gestured for them to follow her, leading the two of them down a hallway. They turned and Pony spotted a soundstage through an open door, causing her to raise an eyebrow. Izzy wasn’t kidding when he said she was an ‘idol hero’. Who has their own production studio in their agency?
She hoped Izzy was right about recommending this place...
The assistant took them around a corner and stopped them in front of a large door with Uwabami’s name on it. At least, Pony was pretty sure it was Uwabami’s. She was still getting used to reading it.
She knocked on the door and a voice called back sharply. “What?”
“Miss, your interns are here.”
Pony heard a small gasp. “Excellent! Send them in right away!”
The assistant opened the door for Pony and Kendou, then quickly turned away to leave. Pony noticed her fake smile drop immediately once she had begun to walk away and didn’t think she was looking.
Inside was the pro hero herself, powdering herself in a well-lit dressing room. She turned to face the two students, her smile calm, yet radiant. Uwabami’s hair was blonde, like her own, and of a similar length, although the pro carried it up in a maroon clasp. Unlike Pony, Uwabami’s hair ended with a trio of snakes poking above the back of the pro’s head.
“Oh, I’m so glad you two accepted my offer!” The pro bubbled.
Kendou smiled awkwardly. “Um, we’re looking forward to working with you, miss.”
“Your hair is gorgeous ,” Uwabami responded, as if that was a response. She walked over and looked at Kendou closely. “If you ever lose interest in being a hero, you could be a model. Or you could be both.” She winked, causing Kendou to grimace slightly.
“And then…” Uwabami turned to look down at Pony, then gasped. “The American!”
Pony grew a look of concern.
Uwabami grabbed both of Pony’s hands and held them together in front of her. “Oh, you’re just adorable ! Look at those eyes, I’m sure you have boys fawning all over you.”
Suffice to say, Pony wasn’t expecting something like this.
“I…”
“Oh, we can speak English,” Uwabami interrupted.
Pony blinked. “Really?”
“Of course!” she replied in perfect English. “I have to do interviews in English all the time. It’s the ‘lingua franca’ of the hero world, on top of that. Now, where are you from?”
“I’m from America,” Pony said with a touch of confusion.
Uwabami chuckled softly. “I meant where in America, sweetie. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes that you’re a beautiful, American bombshell.”
Pony blushed slightly. “Oh, um, I’m from Texas, Miss Uwabami.”
“Texas!” She seemed delighted. “Oh, I can work with that. I bet you just look adorable in a cowboy hat.”
Pony smiled. “I like to think so.”
Uwabami smiled even wider. “Can you give me one of those good ol’ Texas accents?”
“I sure can, ma’am,” Pony responded quickly in her best Texan drawl. She wasn’t quite sure why Uwabami was interested in it, but she wanted to make a good impression on the pro she was going to be working under.
Uwabami almost squealed. “Oh, you two are just perfect . This week is going to be great !”
Pony hoped she was right.
“What do you mean ‘I have to make him laugh’ ?” Momo asked Togata incredulously.
The tall, blonde man with the simple face who taught as 1-B’s TA happened to also work for Nighteye. He had spotted her walking toward Nighteye’s Agency and flagged her down. “Sir doesn’t just appreciate humor, he demands it,” Togata explained. “He told me once that humor is a vital part of society and all who work under him must exemplify it.” The man paused, looking away slightly. “He even has a tickle machine for those he feels aren’t humorous enough. It’s… it’s not pleasant.”
“How ghastly!” Momo gasped.
“I know, I know,” Togata said with a slightly sheepish grin, “but that’s just the way Sir is. You can’t say I didn’t warn you!”
Momo inhaled deeply. “Indeed. Thank you for the warning.”
“No problem!” Togata was a cheery sort, which would hopefully make the week more tolerable.
Momo had to admit, even though she had only been dating her new partners for less than two full days, she already missed them. It was a bittersweet feeling, as she was grateful that she had people to miss. She was thinking about them and she was sure they were thinking about her. Momo wondered if the others would be okay if she called them later that night.
She refocused herself.
Zu and the other women were counting on her to succeed here. She had to meet the challenge set before her, she had to nurture her newfound confidence.
‘Think, Momo, think.’
Zu used to tell her jokes when they were little, most of which he got from his cousin. Ryukyu was something of a prankster, apparently, which influenced Zu growing up; his family had always been important to him.
Maybe one day… Momo could be his family, too.
She blinked, recoiling slightly. Momo scolded herself for thinking of marriage so soon into a relationship. This wasn’t the time or place to imagine her beautiful white dress flowing behind her, the flowers adorning-
Momo sighed. Mina was right: she was a romantic.
She had to focus. She had to think back to the jokes Zu told her; what would make someone like Nighteye laugh? Her research over the week, including what Zu helped her with, Nighteye appeared to be an exceedingly austere man, if not outright severe. What kind of humor would a man like that enjoy?
An idea came to her. Maybe…
She just had to remember how it went.
Momo was so focused on thinking and analyzing that she barely registered arriving at Nighteye’s agency. Togata led her inside and introduced her to some of Sir’s other sidekicks, which she greeted politely, but didn’t listen too much to as she continued to roll over decisions in her mind.
Before she really knew it, she was sitting alone in a room with the tall, lanky Sir Nighteye staring back at her. He looked down his glasses at her, appraising her with a disapproving look.
“Tell me a joke,” he said simply.
This was it. Time to be confident.
She remembered how much trust Zu, Ochako and Mina had in her and how amazing they thought she was.
“Very direct,” Momo observed cooly.
He didn’t break eye contact. “I know you entered with Togata. He is an eager young man, who wants the best for everyone. You would do well to emulate him as much as you possibly could.”
Momo kept her cool, returning his steely gaze. “You assume he told me that you appreciated humor.”
Nighteye didn’t reply.
“Very well,” Momo said calmly. “I do have a joke for you.”
Without breaking eye contact, she began. “A man walked into a bar and sat down at a booth near the back. A woman sat there, alone except for a glass of warm drink. ‘Are you the assassin who charges 100,000 yen per bullet?’ he asked. She nodded. ‘I am’. ‘What if you miss?’ he asks. ‘I don’t miss,’ she responds.”
Nighteye didn’t show any signs of emotion.
“He passes over an envelope with 200,000 yen in it. ‘Fine. My wife is cheating on me with my best friend. They’re at the hotel down the road.’ She takes the envelope and counts the money. It’s all there. She picks up her briefcase and leads him outside. They walk to the hotel, then climb the building on the far side of the road. There, she opens her case, assembles her rifle, and takes aim at the hotel.”
Nighteye continued to watch silently, but she could tell he was listening closely.
Momo had to keep calm. Everything depended on her keeping a level head and a level voice.
“He points at the third floor. ‘They’re in room 33. I want you to shoot him through the dick, then shoot her through the head.’ The assassin nods and begins to line up her shot. For several minutes she watched through the scope, but she never took the shot.”
Nighteye adjusted himself slightly, leaning back in preparation for the punchline.
‘Slowly,’ Momo reminded herself. ‘Slowly.’
“The man soon grew irritated. ‘Why haven’t you shot them?’ he asked angrily. ‘Be patient,’ she responded slowly. ‘I’m taking my time to make sure I don’t miss’.”
Utter silence dominated the room.
Nighteye glared at her, his expression hardening somewhat. “An anti-joke. How droll. Unfortunately, I prefer jokes with actual punchlines.”
Momo scoffed. “There very much was a punchline. It is not my fault if you didn’t see it.”
Sir narrowed his eyes. “I see. Then pray tell, what was the punchline?”
Momo smirked ever so slightly. “The punchline was that you were so focused on my joke that you didn’t notice me creating a weapon in my hand.” She lifted the taser above the table, aiming it straight at the hero.
Nighteye’s vision snapped down to the device and then back at her. Slowly, he raised his hand to his face, touching his chin gently in thought. The smallest of smiles crept onto his face as he exhaled air in a small approximation of laughter.
“Very well done, Miss Yaoyorozu,” he said with an undeniable note of approval. He extended a hand to her, which she shook graciously and firmly. “I look forward to our time together.”
Notes:
See you all next time!
And hey, if you like my work, check out the other fics I write in my profile. If you ever find yourself wondering 'hey, it's been a while since Titus updated WiaH' then it's because I've been writing other stuff.
I hope you take a look.
:)
Chapter 47: Perseverance and Perspective
Summary:
Sometimes a change of pace is all you need.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
After the tour, Izuku was standing on the beach outside his father’s agency with the other three. The sun was high in the sky and a sea breeze was washing over them, making Izuku smile wide as he took a deep breath.
“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” Hisashi asked as he took in the late spring air. “Alright, let’s get down to business. Riptide, please put Miss Asui through her paces. We need to know where she stands so we can put her to work.”
Riptide nodded as she put on her helmet. “Yes, sir.” She turned to Tsuyu, giving her a thumbs up. “See that island out there? I’ll race you there.”
Tsuyu nodded and placed her own headwear on as she hopped after Riptide, who was already gunning for the water.
Izuku smiled fondly as they began to race, but then he noticed his focus lingering on how Tsuyu’s powerful legs and backside flexed and pulled as she moved, making his smile falter. It seemed that, now that he had opened that door, it was hard to close it again. This was going to be a long week if he couldn’t stop sneaking peeks at her; his quirk was already starting to grumble in the back of his mind.
A part of him wondered if he had been… underappreciating some of his other classmates. He desperately tried to stop the thoughts, but his quirk pushed forward just as hard, filling his mind with thoughts about Eiko and Pony and Kyouka.
With a surge of willpower, Izuku pulled his mind out of the gutter and looked up at his father, who was watching him with amusement. “You gonna stare at her all day?” he teased.
Izuku didn’t know how to respond. Half of his mind thought the idea of her being attracted to him would be ridiculous, but the other half wanted nothing more. “Sorry, sir.”
“She’s a fine young woman,” Hisashi admitted, “but you already have two girlfriends, don’t you?”
Izuku shifted a little, digging his toes into the sand. “T-three, actually. Yaoyorozu… joined us a few days ago.”
“Hah!” Hisashi yelled, surprising Izuku. “I’ve won my money back!”
“W-what?!”
“Oh, nothing,” he mused evasively. “Shall we get going? We have quite a day ahead of us.”
Izuku narrowed his eyes, but then nodded. “What did you have in mind?”
“Follow me.” Hisashi flexed, his wings appearing rapidly from his back. Izuku’s followed not a moment later and the two kicked off in unison, rising quickly into the air.
With a beat of his wings, he took off down the coastline with Izuku following closely behind and it wasn't long before the sandy beach gave way to rocky outcroppings and jagged cliff faces, twisting and jutting out below them.
Hisashi glanced back and made eye contact with Izuku, then smirked and dove down. Izuku understood, sending more of his quirk through his senses as he followed his father.
The two winged men dodged and weaved around the rocky spires and through the time-worn archways, their wings skimming the pristine water as they raced. Izuku loved the feeling of wind in his hair and the fresh sea air in his lungs, his smile wide as he began to gain ground on his father.
“You’re getting slow!” he yelled as he closed in.
Hisashi looked back and raised an eyebrow, before his wings grew larger and he shot forward, leaving Izuku behind. Not to be outdone, Izuku pushed more of his own quirk into his wings and picked up speed, chasing after his father.
The older, more experienced flyer led Izuku down smaller gaps and took tighter turns, pushing Izuku to his limits. It was clear from the beginning that this was a test and Izuku was determined to do his best, but even he was surprised at how nimble his father was. Hisashi darted between rocks and even at one point took the race underwater, shooting through a small cave before resurfacing.
It was near the end of the course when Hisashi finally took a turn just a little too sharply for Izuku. One of his green wings was clipped by a low-hanging rock, sending him spiraling out of control, falling toward the jagged rocks below.
Before Izuku could even react, he found himself wrapped up in a massive claw. He looked up at his father, who was fully transformed, dragging Izuku in his hand underneath him.
“I had it!” Izuku protested. “I would’ve been fine!”
Hisashi snorted through his nose in a vague noise of acknowledgement before descending down to the remote beach below, depositing Izuku on the sand and quickly returning to his own human form as he landed several feet away.
“You’re still not tucking your wings right,” he warned. “If anything, you’ve gotten sloppier since you started college.”
Izuku sighed. “I haven’t had a lot of chances to practice flying. I’ve been focused on other things.”
“Yes, I suppose you have,” Hisashi mused, looking over the hidden beach. “Your quirk has advanced more than I would have ever thought.”
A peaceful silence fell over the men as they appreciated the serene beauty of their secret spot. Izuku had come here many times with his father in the past; they used it as a sort of private training ground and as a place for them to just… get away sometimes. Here, Izuku felt safe and hidden. There was an undeniable tranquility in how the waves lapped at the sands and rocks, and how the sun shone through the cliffs and outcroppings.
However, if they were here, it also meant that Hisashi had plans.
After a few minutes, his father finally spoke.
“So… Defiant?”
Izuku took a deep breath and nodded. He knew this was coming. “Yes, sir.”
Hisashi turned to look at Izuku, then closed his eyes, taking a deep breath of his own.
His reptilian eyes shot open, glowing with a powerful green light. Bronze scales flashed up his neck and down his arms as lightning crackled faintly between his long, black horns.
Stormclaw opened his mouth slowly, grinning slightly and showing off his elongated fangs, which were also sparking with electricity.
“Can I meet him?”
Tenya double-checked the address. There was no doubt, this was the place.
He took a deep breath, focusing on his duty and his mission, rather than his angst as he knocked on the door.
It slowly creaked open, but he heard no answer, only a small noise coming from inside. He waited patiently for a few moments, but then his curiosity got the better of him and he poked his head inside.
The house was run down, disheveled and dirty. He was a little surprised that it was still standing, and that it didn’t smell worse than it already did.
Kneeling on the floor in the back of the room was a short, older man in a white and yellow costume who was furiously scrubbing at something on the ground. What he first thought was blood, he soon noticed was ketchup; the old man had spilled his lunch all over the floor.
Tenya didn’t consider not helping; it was the right thing to do.
He opened the door fully, announcing his presence and quickly approaching the man. “Good afternoon, sir. My name is Tenya Iida, may I assist you?”
The older man looked up at him, showing Tenya the black mask covering his eyes. “Hmph. Good to see they still teach manners to some of you. Go get that mop over there.”
Tenya wasted no time obeying and with the two of them working, the floor was clean in no time.
“Good work, sonny,” the man said gruffly. “If this hero thing doesn’t work out, you have a bright future as a janitor.”
Tenya bowed to the man. “Thank you, sir. May I assume that you are Gran Torino?”
“All Might said you were a quick one,” Gran responded, albeit little sarcastically. “Yeah, that’s me.”
Tenya continued to bow. “My teacher honors me with his praise. I would like to thank you for agreeing to train me this week.”
“Yeah, yeah,” the old man grumbled dismissively. “You’re a speedster, right? Let’s see how bad All Might’s screwed up your training so far. Go upstairs, claim a bedroom, and get changed into that uniform.”
Tenya had some reservations, but he was taught better than to second-guess an elder, especially someone that All Might himself venerated. He quickly changed into his hero costume, taking a small amount of pride and shame in the shining armor; it still felt like Tensei’s, in a way.
Once he was suited up, he returned down to the lower floor, holding his helmet under his arm. Gran Torino looked him over, nodding approvingly. “Armor is surprisingly rare, which I think is a mistake. Now, before you call me a hypocrite, it slows me down too much. My speed is my armor. Let’s see if it slows you down.”
Gran kicked off from the couch and rocketed onto the wall faster than Tenya could follow. “Er, now , sir? I couldn’t forgive myself if I damaged your house.”
Gran laughed, a little bitterly. “This isn’t my house, young ‘un. You think I live in a hovel like this? I feel like I should be a little insulted!”
Tenya bowed quickly as he began to sweat. “I meant no disrespect, sir!”
Gran laughed again. “Make it up to me by showing me what you’ve learned so far. If you land a single blow on me, I’ll be seriously impressed. I might even tell All Might that you’re an exemplary student.”
Tenya’s eyes widened and he quickly dropped into a combat stance, placing his helmet over his head. “I’ll do my best, sir!”
Katsuki stared out of the window of one of the upper floors of All Might’s hero office. The throngs of reporters and paparazzi were still swarming the front of the building; he was grateful that All Might had jumped the two of them to the roof and avoided all that. He hated the idea of being cornered and asked inane questions by dozens of people.
The door behind him opened and All Might stepped back inside, walking up to him and following Katsuki’s eyes to the reporters. “What are you thinking, Young Bakugou?”
Katsuki was silent for a moment, then huffed. “How do you deal with all of them? How are you supposed to be a hero with all them in the way?”
“A good question!” All Might laughed boisterously. “Truth be told, they’re a little worse than they normally are today; they’ve been even more eager ever since I started teaching.” He sighed softly. “To answer your question, ‘dealing’ with them is an important part of being a hero. We don’t just save people’s bodies, but their minds and hearts. Speaking to the press is the perfect way to help people ‘know’ me.”
Katsuki kept staring down at the press. He didn’t know if he could ever handle that. It seemed so much simpler to stop villains instead of being a celebrity.
“You know, Young Bakugou, I’m not the number one hero because I’ve stopped the most villains.”
Katsuki turned to look at him slowly. “Izuku said that Endeavor has the most solved cases.”
All Might nodded proudly. “Exactly. Endeavor stops more villains than I do, but he’s still the number two because he only focuses on one part of heroics. I give interviews and the like not to inflate my own ego or wallet, but to fortify the spirit of the people. I smile because I want people to feel safe, does that make sense?”
Katsuki rubbed his chin and turned back to the window. “Why’d you pick me?”
“You mean, why did I invite you to be my intern?” All Might asked.
Katsuki nodded the smallest amount.
“That’s quite simple,” he began. “It’s because our quirks are, in some ways, quite similar.”
Katsuki thought for a moment. “They’re both destructive.”
“Exactly!” All Might said with a mix of pride and seriousness. “We both could very easily be very destructive with our quirks. If I’m not careful, I could level buildings and once you’re trained and fully developed, you will likely be the same. It’s important for you to learn control and finesse. Not only that, but I believe you have the makings of a truly great hero. Call it selfish, but I wanted to see your potential myself.”
Katsuki nodded his head slightly. "Well, let’s not wait around any longer, eh? When can we get started?”
All Might smiled widely. “Right now! Follow me.”
He turned and led Katsuki out of the room, but there was still a small voice in the back of his head telling him that All Might wasn't being entirely open with him.
Mina groaned with pain as she hit the ground hard. Again.
“Closer that time!” Hadou cheered. “You’re still leaving yourself too open.”
Mina rolled over and took the shorter woman’s hand as she helped her up off the mat. She shook herself off and rolled her neck, wincing at her already sore muscles and the bruises Hadou had given her.
Ryukyu stood at the edge of the mat, wearing gym clothes like Mina and Hadou. “Are you a dancer?”
“I am,” Mina answered softly, still catching her breath. How did she know that?
Ryukyu smiled. “I thought so. You carry yourself with a certain grace and agility. However, here, it’s not serving you well. You need to carry your arms closer to your body so you can better protect yourself.”
“Oh!” Mina stared in surprise. “Thank you.”
Ryukyu smiled, then nodded at Hadou.
The two women squared up again and Mina tried to apply Ryukyu’s tip. She kept her arms a little closer to her body, adjusting her center of gravity and giving her a little better leverage.
At least in theory.
Even though they were fighting quirkless, Hadou was a monster. She had strength, speed, stamina, and—most importantly—experience on Mina. It was up to her to keep up with and learn from Hadou and Ryukyu as best she could that week.
But even just part of the way through the first day, that was proving to be a challenge.
Hadou shot a few probing jabs at her, testing her adjusted guard; it was remarkable how much a small change could alter the whole fight so dramatically. Hadou began to swing and jab a little harder, but Mina was able to block and deflect all of her blows. Mina began to grin; this was almost easy.
Then Hadou swept her leg and Mina’s back hit the mat again. She groaned as her muscles cried out for mercy once again, rolling a little on the floor.
“Good work on the block,” Ryukyu began with a hint of mirth in her voice, “but you focused too much on your hands and arms. You can’t get tunnel vision in a fight.”
“Yes, Ryukyu,” Mina returned softly, letting her eyes close for a second as she caught her breath.
“No slacking!” Hadou scolded, not unkindly.
Mina opened her eyes to see the blue-eyed woman’s face mere inches from her own, smiling widely at her. She let her eyes move down slightly, to where Hadou’s impressive chest was hanging tantalizingly close. Even in a sports bra, they were still very nice to look at.
Mina wondered if Hadou even realized how close they were to Mina’s face. Or how nice she smelled.
“You look cute when you’re on your back,” Hadou whispered so Ryukyu couldn’t hear.
Mina froze and looked back up at Hadou’s face, just in time to see her wink playfully before leaning back and offering her hand to pull Mina up again. “Oh, cute blush,” Hadou noted as she took a couple steps back and dropped into her ready stance.
Mina shook her head, trying to dispel the lilac dusting on her cheeks before getting ready for another round.
“Again,” Ryukyu instructed.
Mina’s back hit the mat again not ten seconds later.
Shouto thanked the taxi driver as he stepped out of the cab. From the mountain vantage point, he gazed over the city of Sapporo, the largest city on the northern island of Hokkaidou, where Purifier made his home. It had taken Shouto longer to get to his destination than most of his classmates, so the sun was already well into its journey toward the horizon, casting a calm afternoon glow over the mountainside and the city below.
It was a rare, but not unheard of, for a hero to have a more secluded agency. He turned away from the view to look up at the agency that was surrounded by a mostly ornamental wall. It was half-built into the mountainside and looked more like a fortress than a hero’s office.
Shouto hefted his bag over his shoulder and picked up his suitcase with his new hero costume in it. Hagakure had informed him that his old costume was “an abomination” and “should be burned and never spoken of again”.
He smiled softly at the memory. Her eagerness often put a smile on his face.
Truth be told, he agreed with her, at least on the idea that he needed a new costume. His new one had cooling systems on the left side, in addition to the heating system on the right; even if he didn’t mind his old costume too much, it was a relic of a time where he refused to use his fire.
He needed a fresh start. This was the next chapter in his life, the one where he focused on his future and his new friends, rather than his father and his ‘destiny’. Wearing a new costume would help him embrace the new ‘him’.
Maybe he should get a haircut too; Hagakure had suggested something like that.
Shouto began to walk up the steps, appreciating the well-kept flowers and trees that surrounded and adorned the building and walls; Purifier must employ a full-time gardener and groundskeeper. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a faint motion, which he glanced over to see a security camera following his motion.
He was being watched. A sensible precaution, he mused.
Purifier didn’t seem like a paranoid man, but he certainly seemed like a private one. There were very few sightings of him outside of the villains he stopped, and even fewer interviews or statements. He was an esteemed hero who was feared by villains across the island and there were many who thought he was even more powerful than Stormclaw was at his peak, before he lost his arm. There was no doubt that Shouto would be able to learn much from him; he just wished that he knew more about the man.
Shouto found the large, wooden front doors propped open to let the pleasant late-spring breeze in and he stepped inside, finding himself in a decently sized atrium. The stone floor was well lit by natural light and was decorated in a traditional Japanese way that reminded Shouto of home, but not in an unpleasant way.
“Good afternoon,” a voice came from the back of the room as another door opened. “How may we help you?”
Shouto’s vision landed on a smaller, older, bald man wearing simple clothes and a kind smile. “I’m here for my internship.”
The man smiled warmly. “You must be Todoroki. Welcome, welcome!” He quickly descended down a small set of steps and approached Shouto, looking up at him. “I am Reo Sasaki. My wife, Himari, and I serve as stewards, custodians and caretakers of Hatsuo Midoriya and his estate. But please, call us Reo and Himari. We are honored to welcome you.” He bowed deeply and politely.
Shouto wasn’t impressed, but he knew how to be polite. “Thank you. Can you direct me to him?”
“In due time,” Reo said calmly. “First I will show you to your quarters. I’m sure after your long day of travel you must be hungry. I’ll let Himari know to start making something. Do you have any preferences?”
“...Can she make soba?”
“Of course!” he responded quickly. “Now please, follow me.”
Shouto followed Reo deeper into the agency, which was more akin to an upscale mansion than an office, until they arrived at another wooden door.
“Your room, sir. I’ll be back in twenty minutes to collect you; please do make yourself at home.” With that, Reo hurried off without another word.
Shouto watched him turn the corner, then looked back at the heavy door. He pushed it open to find a large, exquisitely furnished room with an expansive window with a beautiful view of the city and mountainside. He moved over to the large bed and placed his packs on it, then inspected his surroundings.
It was larger than his room at home and much more expensively furnished. It had a full bathroom, a door that led onto a balcony, several types of incense ready to be burned, and more than one painting that looked quite valuable.
Purifier certainly spared no expense.
Shouto put his clothes in the dresser and otherwise situated himself before Reo returned, just as he said he would. The kindly man led Shouto down a set of stairs, where he was met with a wonderful smell.
The familiar scent of soba wafted under his nose as he was met with another kind smile, this time of a diminutive older woman, who must certainly be Himari. She wore her graying hair in a tight bun and had a pair of thick glasses on her face which, combined with her comfortable clothing and shawl, gave her an image of the ‘stereotypical grandmother’.
“Please, please, eat up!” she encouraged. “Let me know if you need anything else, or if you don’t like it! I’ll be happy to make anything else.”
Shouto nodded politely. “Thank you.” He sat down and began to slurp the noodles, immediately noticing the undeniable taste of expensive ingredients. It tasted like something that would have cost him several hundred yen at a fancy restaurant, but here he was, getting it for free.
Still, he didn’t appreciate how they were delaying him. Maybe Purifier was out on patrol and they were stalling for time, or perhaps the man simply had a particular way he treated guests.
Be that as it may, he wasn’t keen on waiting any longer than was necessary. He ate his noodles quickly, but not rudely so, then asked the question again. “Can you take me to Purifier?”
Reo nodded. “If you’ve settled in and been fed, then certainly.”
Shouto narrowed his eyes slightly. Perhaps they were just exceedingly polite.
Reo led him up several more flights of stairs to the top of the building, where he came to a large wooden door with a golden dragon head emblazoned on it with what looked like solid gold.
He certainly wasn’t lacking for presentation.
Reo bowed. “He is expecting you. Please, enter when you are ready.” He then turned and left, heading back down the stairs and leaving Shouto alone with the imposing door.
Shouto noted that he hadn't seen any sign that there was anyone else at all in the building. It was true that Purifier didn't have any sidekicks, but this whole place felt a little isolationist. Perhaps that was the goal; Shouto could respect that.
He pushed the door open unceremoniously, stepping into a relatively large room. The floor was mostly wooden and was raised about halfway through the room a few steps high. The far wall was nearly entirely covered by a large window that illuminated the space with the late afternoon sun, shining light on the expensive paintings and sculptures that lined the edges of the room. There was a large desk just up the steps, but more importantly, there was a set of two chairs near the window, one of which was occupied.
A large man, about the same size as his father, sat there, rolling a dark liquid and ice cubes in a tumbler glass. His hair was a golden blonde, interrupted by a set of large golden horns sweeping back through it and another pair jutting out to the sides. As Shouto stepped forward, the man turned to glance at him, fixating him with his golden eyes. His face was stern, not unlike Shouto’s father, with a long, wispy moustache and beard that were long enough to hang off his face.
“Ah, Todoroki.” The man’s voice was calm, almost to the point of being disinterested. “Please, come sit with me.”
“Purifier,” Shouto responded.
The man held up a hand to stop him. “While I’m not in uniform, address me as Midoriya.”
Shouto raised an eyebrow, but nodded and continued into the room, moving up the steps and sitting down in the comfortable chair near Midoriya. He took a small sip of his drink as he looked out the window, not even glancing at Shouto as he sat down.
“When I sent you my offer,” Midoriya began after a while, “I wasn’t expecting you to accept it. I assumed that Endeavor would want to train his son.”
Shouto smiled slightly as he felt a touch of vindictive satisfaction. “He did. However, I wanted an outside perspective, especially after my experience at the Sports Festival.”
Midoriya tensed up slightly, barely enough for Shouto to notice. “Yes, your match with my nephew, I assume.” He put a strange emphasis on the word ‘nephew’, but Shouto couldn’t exactly place what. All the while, he was still staring out the window, looking over the town and swirling his drink lazily.
“Izuku opened my eyes,” Todoroki explained. When he said Izuku’s name, Midoriya’s eyes moved to look at Shouto for a split second. “I was being foolish about several things, but he helped me see things in a different way. I’m hoping that you might do the same.”
There was a silence in the room for several seconds. Midoriya was quite still, not even swirling his glass any longer as he reclined slightly.
“I see,” the man finally said, his voice low and controlled. “I suspect this will be an interesting week for the both of us.”
“A-are you sure?” Izuku asked nervously.
Stormclaw sighed knowingly. “Why else do you think I brought you out here? You have to build trust with your quirk and yourself. I hope you’re not worried that you’re going to hurt me or something, unless you think a few weeks at UA suddenly put you ahead of your old man.”
“Of course not,” Izuku shot back. “I’m just…” He sighed as well. “Right. Trust.”
“Take all the time you need, son.”
Izuku nodded, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. His father was right: he had to get practice with his quirk, and this was a prime opportunity to get it.
He had trusted his quirk a couple times and let it in of his own volition. When he had punched Eiko during Hell Week, then again yesterday, in the dorms, when he was thinking about Tsuyu and his girlfriends.
He could do this.
Izuku opened the sluice gates holding back his quirk, letting it flow through his mind and slowly mesh with his consciousness fully.
There was nothing to be afraid of here.
He was alone with his father in their peaceful refuge, away from anybody he could hurt or scare.
Izuku slowly melted into another as his quirk bubbled to the surface. Green mixed with green until something new came about.
His reptilian eyes snapped open and fixated on Stormclaw.
A silence hung on the beach for several seconds as the two men stared at each other across the sands.
“Defiant, I presume?” Stormclaw finally asked, his voice tinged with a hint of joviality.
Defiant stared back. “I am.”
“It’s nice to finally meet you properly,” he responded. “I am Stormclaw.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I know who you are, Father.”
“Of course you do, but it’s proper for us to introduce ourselves when we first meet.” Stormclaw was standing very still, his shoulders broad as he stared at Defiant. “You should introduce yourself to Ryukyu when you meet her properly, as well.”
“I’ll be sure to do that.”
Stormclaw smiled, rolling his neck as he relaxed slightly. “So, Son, how do you feel?”
Defiant looked down at his hands as he briefly formed two green claws. He turned them over and admired the beautiful color and sheen, then slowly turned his gaze back to Stormclaw. “I feel good. This is… still new to me, but it feels natural.”
“That’s good!” Stormclaw tipped his hand and then took a step forward, testing the waters.
Defiant didn’t dare make any signs of aggression. This was Stormclaw’s territory and even if he wasn’t his beloved father, he was a far more powerful dragon, at least for now. He moved forward as well to show that he meant no harm.
Stormclaw appreciated the gesture, smiling widely as the two closed the distance between them and threw their arms—or arm, in Stormclaw’s case—around each other.
“I’m proud of you, Son. You’re progressing much faster than I did.”
They broke the hug and turned to look at the waves lapping at the beach. “I had to,” Defiant responded. “I didn’t get a choice. It was grow or die.”
Stormclaw sighed. “That’s true. I still can’t believe that you ever had to face Terrorflame. I wish I had been there, so I could protect you, but also so I could have helped put an end to that murderous bastard.”
“I would feel the same way if someone took your life,” Defiant said confidently. “At least he is dead and gone; he won’t be a problem for us any longer.”
There was an almost imperceptible twitch on Stormclaw’s face, but Defiant was looking for it. He had a suspicion that the story of Terrorflame wasn’t quite over, otherwise his father wouldn’t have been so secretive about it.
“Let’s talk about you and your quirk,” Stormclaw began, changing the subject.
Defiant glanced up at him curiously.
“Tell me about your hoard.”
What an interesting question. “My hoard is the most important thing in my life. My family, my class, my girlfriends… they are mine and I will protect them from anybody or anything that tries to hurt or take them.”
“I see,” Stormclaw mused. “How do you plan to do that?”
Another interesting question. Stormclaw obviously had this planned out and was hoping to lead him somewhere. "Whatever it takes, but I find it easiest to twist people with words. If I can control the way they think, then they are easier to manipulate and control. If they think they are acting of their own volition, they will not offer resistance. If I force a man to walk into hell, he will fight against me, but if I convince him that it’s a good idea—or even better, his idea—he will go willingly.”
Stormclaw didn’t look surprised. In fact, he looked like Defiant had said just what he expected. That wasn’t strange; he was his father, after all.
“Yet you haven’t been acting like that. At least, not for the most part.”
Defiant had fallen into a trap of sorts. He snapped his head up to look at his father, who had a look that was a little smug, but mostly serious.
“Think about your outbursts over the years,” Stormclaw continued. “Starting with Katsuki back when you were kids. Think about how you reacted to Mineta in the locker room and on the second day of class. Think about the vast majority of your outbursts. How would you describe them? What emotions dominated them?”
Defiant thought for a moment. “Rage. Anger. Indignation.”
“A far cry from how you described yourself, wouldn’t you say?” Stormclaw smiled knowingly. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were more like Terrorflame or Frostheart.”
Defiant furrowed his brow. He didn’t like that comparison. He felt like he was different from them, but he couldn’t deny Stormclaw’s logic.
“Now, let’s consider two different events,” Stormclaw continued. “The USJ and your match against Shinsou.”
Defiant waited patiently and silently.
“I read the police reports, including the testimonies from several of the students… including one Miss Asui.” Stormclaw turned back to look at the sun shining off the waves. “She told police that you saved both her and Mineta’s life by talking the villain down and convincing him to leave you all alone. Something about… sending a message?”
Defiant looked out at the sea as well, then nodded.
“The rest of the USJ almost goes without saying,” his father continued. “You almost gave up your life to protect everyone from Terrorflame. I was so heartbroken when I heard, but also so unbelievably proud. You really do have the heart of a hero.”
Defiant smiled, feeling a sense of pride swelling within him, and not just from his father’s praise. He should be proud; he protected his hoard. Nobody in his class could have stood up to Terrorflame but him.
“Then there’s the fight at the Sports Festival where you lost yourself.”
He remembered it well. He had twisted Shinsou to his will, sending him on a path that would hopefully ensure his usefulness in the future. Shinsou had the potential to be added to his hoard, if only he refined himself further. Perhaps Shinsou would take him up on his offer for help.
Stormclaw nodded slowly. “You acted in exactly the way you described yourself. You manipulated and convinced him to do something you wanted him to do. That is you. That is Defiant.”
Defiant nodded as well. He agreed completely. It felt much better to bend Shigaraki and Shinsou to his will than for him to have attacked them.
“So, what’s the difference?”
Defiant chuckled once, almost sadly. “It’s almost insultingly obvious, now that you say it.”
“You were never good about looking at yourself,” Stormclaw mused. “You’re always so focused on others that you’ve never had time to worry about yourself.” He reached his arm over and put it around Defiant’s shoulders. “You’re only yourself when you give your quirk outlets. I’ve been saying that for years and you’ve been trying, I know, but hopefully now you realize what that really means.”
Stormclaw paused for a moment. “You can think of us like pressure cookers, in a way. If you don’t give the steam a way to get out in a controlled way, that pressure keeps building up until catastrophic failure. That’s what you’ve been experiencing. You’ve been holding it back out of fear, trepidation, or whatever, and your quirk was building up inside of you. You resisted until you snapped, which is why you were lashing out. You need to recognize that your quirk isn’t going away and you need to learn to live with it.”
Defiant was silent for a while, mulling over his father’s words. He was right, of course, and it made him a little ashamed that he had to have it spelled out like that. “If I learn to trust myself and work with my quirk like this… then I won’t have those outbursts. Instead of flashes of uncontrollable anger, maybe I’ll be able to think and act intelligently. I can’t bludgeon my quirk into being what I want, I have to work with what I have.”
“Exactly,” Stormclaw said proudly. “I must admit, your instincts seem to be stronger than mine were at your age, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you still experience those surges during stressful times. However, as you learn to embrace and use your quirk, you’ll get a better handle on them. This is why mastery over your instincts and your quirk in general is so important.”
Defiant rubbed his chin in thought. So far, especially since he joined UA, his life had been ruled by fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Almost every time he had used his quirk, he was focused on holding back and making sure he didn’t hurt anyone or make people think he was a villain. In some ways, he had good reason to be afraid, especially with how he had acted against Mineta during the Battle Trial. If it hadn’t been for Ochako…
But that was just it. The smiling faces of Ochako, Mina, and Momo appeared in his mind, flanked by Katsuki, Tsuyu, and all his other classmates, making him grow a smile of his own. It was because of them that he had learned to trust and believe in himself.
There was no doubt in his mind: they were the key to his future. Not just his friends, but especially the amazing women who could see his fury and his venom and still look him in the eyes and tell him that they trusted him and loved him… if it wasn’t for them, he wouldn’t be where he was right now.
He wanted to protect his hoard and the best way to do that—no, the only way to do that—would be to work hard until he wasn’t afraid of his quirk. Only when he could fully embrace the green dragon would he be able to consider his training done.
“Thank you,” Defiant whispered sincerely. “It’s… much clearer to me now. Although, it’s also clearer just how far I have to go.”
Stormclaw shook his shoulder then finally let go. “And that’s why you’re here. You have no time to lose, eh? What do you say we test out just how much you’ve learned at UA? Maybe it’ll take a little longer for me to put you in the dirt.”
Defiant turned and looked up at his father, growing a smirk as a claw flashed onto his hand. “You’re on.”
Notes:
See you all next time!
:)
Chapter 48: Steady Ahead
Summary:
The second day of the internships.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The rising sun peeked through the windows of Stormclaw’s agency as Izuku awoke the next morning. His arms moved instinctively for his girlfriends, as he didn’t feel them for some reason. When he found nothing, his mind lurched awake, confusing him for a moment until he remembered where he was.
Izuku also felt that familiar grumble of his quirk in the back of his mind and the tightness in his chest that accompanied the tightness in his pants when he woke up. Despite Mina taking very good care of him the previous morning before they left for their internships, he still felt ansty and pent up.
With a small sigh, he grabbed his phone and opened the group chat between him and his girlfriends. He scrolled back through their conversation the night before, smiling softly as he reread their conversations about the first day. Mina and Ochako were both bruised and sore, while Momo was slightly better off, at least physically. From what she told them, Nighteye had put her through her paces mentally, leaving her drained and exhausted.
Ochako had seemed almost a touch scared of Miruko but was still determined and had thanked him profusely for the notes he had prepared. Mina could hardly stop gushing about how cool Nejire and Ryuko were, and Momo was thankful that Izuku had recommended Nighteye to her. He had fallen asleep with a smile on his face, even after Mina asked him teasingly about how Tsuyu was.
He knew that they were up to something.
Izuku sat up in bed, realizing that he needed to take care of himself before he was supposed to report for training. He flexed his quirk so as to let him walk easier and began to walk toward the door.
He glanced over at Tsuyu, who was still sleeping soundly. His eyes lingered over the peaceful expression on her face and his over-sensitive nose picked up her scent.
She smelled nice.
Izuku shook his head and opened the door as quietly as he could, closing it behind him on his way to the showers. He glanced at his phone again and spotted some messages he hadn’t noticed before.
With a raised eyebrow, he noticed that they were private messages from Mina.
‘Hey babe, I know it’s not gonna be easy to be away from your wonderful girlfriends for a week, so I thought this might make it a little easier. Love you~’
Izuku scrolled down to the next message and nearly dropped his phone.
Mina had sent him over a dozen pictures of her… less than fully clothed.
Nude. She was nude.
She had sent him an array of different poses and angles, emphasizing her luscious lips, large chest, ample behind, and thick, toned thighs. There were even a couple where she was posing with a sign that read ‘Queen & Defiant’ in a big red heart.
Izuku felt his chest tighten more.
He hurried off to the showers.
Yeah, these would help.
At 8:00 sharp, Izuku and Tsuyu were standing on the beach behind the agency after a hearty breakfast provided by none other than Inko, who had come by the agency for the day with his father. As per normal, Hisashi wasted no time getting to work.
“I got good data yesterday,” he began, “and it’s clear that you both have some serious work to do. Don’t fret, that’s exactly why we’re here. Riptide, take Miss Asui out and work on her turning; she needs to be better when there isn’t something to kick off from. Izuku, you’re with me again. Tomorrow we’ll switch it up, but today that’s how it’s gonna be. We’ll meet back here at noon for lunch, then this afternoon…” He smiled widely, looking at Izuku and Tsuyu. “We’re going on patrol.”
Izuku’s face broke out into a wide smile. He had dreamed for years about going on patrol with his father. Honestly, one of his first memories was him asking to go out and ‘beat up bad guys’ with him.
It was a dream come true.
Tsuyu and Riptide both nodded and headed back for the open waters while Izuku and his father watched them leave.
“You did well yesterday,” Hisashi commented. “Let’s see how much you retained. Show me your drake transformation; remember to keep your quirk pushing forward, away from your back.”
After the rigorous drilling Hisashi put Izuku through yesterday, he hoped it would be a lot simpler. Izuku had accidentally used the drake transformation twice during the sports festival—once during the cavalry battle and again against Shinsou—so it was a little easier to pick up.
Izuku glanced toward Tsuyu and Riptide, checking how far away they were. With just him and his father here, he could more easily melt into his quirk.
Slowly, the flowing, dripping power poured through his mind until Izuku ceased to exist. With his body better in-tune with itself, Defiant pushed his quirk forward, scales flowing up his body as his limbs bulged and lengthened. He lowered himself onto all fours as his head became draconic, the green ridge on the back of his neck growing up and down his spine as his tail grew behind him.
The transformation was slower than the times he did it at UA, but it was more controlled, and soon Defiant was standing in front of his father as a full drake.
“Very good!” Hisashi praised. “Obviously we need to work on your speed, but that’s what practice is for. Now, what is the purpose of the drake form?”
A quiz. How droll.
“This form works best in tighter spaces where there’s no room for a full transformation,” Defiant explained. “The enhanced speed and strength also allow for faster ground travel when flight is impractical or impossible.”
Hisashi nodded. “Very true. However, it is also important because its what I like to call a ‘proper’ transformation. Do you know our greatest weakness?”
“Stamina,” Defiant answered directly.
“Exactly right again.” Hisashi’s hand flashed to a bronze, black-tipped claw as he spoke. “Our quirks are incredibly powerful. We’re fast, strong, durable, and have both ranged and melee potential. It seems like the total package at first, but our downfall comes in the form of how much energy it takes to sustain our quirk.”
Defiant huffed. “I know all of this. You’ve explained all of this before.”
“I know I have,” Hisashi continued. “I’m not going senile yet, Son. I’m repeating myself because hearing or seeing something you already ‘know’ again after you’ve had more experience can open up whole new understandings. Think about yesterday. I’ve been telling you your whole life that you need to work with your quirk, but it wasn’t until you had the… experiences that you had at UA that you came to understand what that meant.”
Defiant eyed his father for a moment. “I… see. My apologies.”
Hisashi smiled a little. “Even with all my training and experience, I can still only hold a transformation for so long. That’s why it’s important for us to be as efficient as possible. Back to what I was saying about ‘proper’ forms, there is a reason why my dragon form is more or less the same size every time. Why wouldn’t I use a smaller form if stamina is such a concern, you may wonder.”
Defiant paused. “I… had wondered that, yes. I always just assumed it was to get maximum effectiveness. It is better to use too much power than too little.”
“That’s wise, but it’s not the entire reason,” Hisashi continued. “A full transformation is actually easier to maintain than a major partial transformation. It takes a lot to push it up that far, but once it’s there, something ‘sets’ and it takes less energy to hold it. I’m sure you’ve felt a transformation snap away when you stop focusing on it, right?”
Defiant nodded.
“But once you get up to that full transformation, once you get over that mountain… something holds it in place. It’s like how it’s hard to lift something up onto your shoulder, but easier to carry once it’s there.” Hisashi threw his arms wide. “The full realization of our quirk. Us and our instincts have to spend less energy on holding a half-flex and can focus on the task ahead.”
“So it’s like a muscle?” Defiant asked.
Hisashi rubbed his chin. “Yes in some ways, no in others. However, I am glad you mentioned that because that brings me to my next point.”
Hisashi’s body bulged as he slammed down on all fours—well, threes—and scales flashed across his body. Stormclaw in drake form gazed across at Defiant, his body bulkier and less lanky comparatively.
“This transformation… isn’t as simple,” Stormclaw explained. “My father discovered it, so to speak, or perhaps invented might be more accurate. Either way, he spent years searching and practicing until he perfected it. He taught me and Hatsuo, but I never taught you.” He laughed once. “You really were watching me closely all those years if you were able to do it without instruction.”
“I only did it when my instincts took over,” Defiant admitted. “I didn’t do it myself.”
“They see through your eyes,” Stormclaw added as he stood back up and transformed back.
Hisashi rolled his neck. “I don’t use that transformation very much anymore. Not much use when you only have one arm, eh?” He gestured at Defiant. “You can let that transformation go. It’s time for the next technique.”
Defiant stood up and let his quirk drain away, releasing a sigh as the glow in his eyes subsided.
“Back to the original point,” Hisashi continued. “Efficiency.”
Izuku listened patiently.
Hisashi’s arm bulged slightly larger. “I’m sure you’ve seen me do this before, yes?”
Izuku nodded, rubbing his chin. “Sure. You use it when you don’t need your scal-” Izuku paused, looking down, then back up at his father. “Efficiency. You’re doing a half transformation that gives you the strength and size of shifting your arm but not using the scales to save energy.”
“Exactly!” Hisashi beamed down proudly at his son. “Why waste stamina when you don’t need to use your scales? If you’re not worried about defense, such as lifting some rubble off a trapped civilian, conserving your energy is paramount. Go ahead, try it.”
Izuku nodded, looking down at his arm and focusing. This should be easy, right?
He focused on letting his quirk flow down his arm, letting the power seep into his bones and muscles. His arm bulged, scales growin-
Izuku furrowed his brow and let the scales drop, but his arm shrunk as well.
“They’re intertwined,” he mumbled, trying again and failing again. “Trying to do one without the other is… difficult.”
Hisashi smiled and chuckled a little. “After so much practice doing it normally, it’s not easy. Remember, quirks are physical abilities and, much like a muscle, doing something you haven’t done before is hard. The first time you do an exercise, you struggle to do it even a little, but after weeks of practice, it’s second nature to you. That’s what you gotta do here.”
Izuku nodded, looking back down at his arm and focusing. He clenched his teeth as his power flowed again, slowly growing his arm as he pushed along at a snail’s pace, watching it carefully. Scales began to form and he let a small bit of his quirk fade, but then had to pour a little more on as his arm shrunk.
Like trying to balance on a tightrope, Izuku kept swinging from too much to too little, but somewhere in the middle was his target. He could hold it for a second or two before he fell to one side or the other again.
“That’s good!” Hisashi said, a note of surprise in his voice. “Now, it won’t be more efficient until you can do it as second nature, so you need to keep practicing.”
“It’s only… a little bigger,” Izuku hissed through his teeth as he felt the burn of his quirk in his arm and in his head.
Hisashi nodded, holding up his arm as it bulged almost twice its size without growing scales. “Sure, it’s not much larger now, but with practice, you’ll be able to sustain bigger transformations. There is a limit to how much you can do before you have to grow your scales—about double, as it were—but you have a long way to go before then.”
Izuku’s quirk snapped away as he began to pant slightly. “You wouldn’t think this would be that hard.”
“But it is,” Hisashi added. “It’s worth it, though. Practice until you can do it in your sleep, that’s how to become a hero, Izuku.”
“Yes, sir!” Izuku responded, focusing on his arm again.
Hisashi grew a sly grin. “You can do this on all parts of your body with enough repetitions. Legs, arms… other parts. I tell you what, it’s a great trick for the ladies. That one takes a little more practice, however.”
Izuku sputtered and his quirk snapped away as his face turned bright green. “Dad!” he yelled as Hisashi began to laugh uproariously.
Hisashi looked incredibly pleased with himself. “Son, it’s not only my right, but my obligation as your father to embarass you as much as possible.”
Izuku groaned.
“Now, no slacking!” he ordered, his face still beaming. “Again! Try to hold it longer this time!”
Try as she might, Ochako couldn’t break out of Miruko’s hold. Her face was twisted in pain as she strained and twisted in a vain attempt to escape from the pro’s leg lock. Finally, she slapped the mat, gasping in relief as Miruko released her.
Ochako lay there on the mat for a few seconds as Miruko hopped up. “Damn, you’re strong,” Ochako muttered as she rolled over and pushed herself up.
Miruko laughed once. “Nah, I was barely using anything. These babies can and have crushed concrete before.” She slapped one of her powerful thighs proudly. “I was intentionally only using so much because I wanted you to break out.”
Ochako stood up to her full height and looked down at the pro who was almost a full foot shorter than her. “You wanted me to learn how to get out.”
“Exactly,” Miruko agreed. “Don’t worry, I just wanted to test you first. I’ll show you how to break it.” She stretched herself out a little, rolling and popping her neck. “That’s your biggest weakness.”
“What is?” Ochako asked, taking a drink of water.
“Technique!” Miruko answered directly. “You’ve got the body, the strength, the raw talent, but you have almost no technique. Have you ever been formally trained?”
Ochako averted her gaze nervously. Her parents couldn’t exactly afford much in the way of trainers. “O-only a little.”
“It shows,” Miruko huffed.
There was a silence for several seconds.
“Miruko,” Ochako began quietly, “why did you pick me?”
The pro looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, then took a big drink from her water bottle. “I just told you.”
Ochako must have looked uncertain, because Miruko smirked and then continued.
“You caught my eye during that speech of yours,” she began. “I liked it, telling everyone they better come at you with everything or get out of your way.” She smirked. “In so many words.”
“I watched you in that race; coming in third place against that competition was all well and good, but not anything truly impressive. You began to lose my interest in the second event; Endeavor’s kid and Stormclaw’s kid stole the show on that one, but you tried that ballsy move to go after them in mid-air. I respected that.”
Ochako felt a twinge of protectiveness; she knew Deku didn’t like being referred to as ‘Stormclaw’s kid’.
Miruko chuckled a little. “Then the final round started. Now that was the good stuff. You got beat to hell in that first match, but you ended standing over her with your foot on her back, just like I do. Next match you took that gut shot like a champ and tossed that redhead out.” Miruko’s red eyes flashed up to Ochako’s. “Then that match against the explosive kid.”
Miruko laughed a little harder. “Oh ho ho. That got me out of my seat! Damn, that was intense. People thought you were on the ropes, then BOOM !” Miruko punched the air and laughed. “I saw those tears on your face, kid. You never let up, didn’t give him a chance to recover. You took that blast that sent him out of the arena and when you pushed yourself back up… that’s when I knew.”
Ochako’s eyes were wide.
“And then you won!” Miruko stomped the ground, shaking the building a little. “That was the icing on the cake. You both were beat to hell but you both gave it your all. No quit. No regrets. Just you and your drive to win.”
“I didn’t really deserve it,” Ochako muttered. “If Deku could have used his quirk, I wouldn't have stood a chance.”
Miruko laughed. “I know that! Everyone watching knew that. Do you think that matters?”
“I… what?”
“The only people who give a damn about who won are the civilians and shitty heroes. Besides, you won fair and square; anyone who gets on you about not ‘deserving’ the victory can go to hell.” Miruko was staring at her very seriously. “The real pros care about your drive, your skills, your talent. You could have lost to that boy in a second and I still would’ve sent you the offer.”
Ochako was in disbelief. “Winning doesn’t matter?”
Miruko smirked up at her. “At that festival? Not really. It so happens that those with the most drive are often the winners, so it normally works out. Regardless, you showed me that you have what it takes to be a top hero, but you didn’t have the training. That’s why I chose you. That’s why you’re here.”
Miruko stomped again. “You’re here so I can kick your ass into shape."
Ochako smiled confidently. "I'll do my best to make it hard on you."
"That's the spirit!" Miruko smirked widely. "But hey, I'm curious, what's up between you and the Midoriya kid? I saw you two talking a bunch during your match. Were you taunting him?"
Ochako blushed a little. "Not exactly."
Miruko raised an eyebrow and cocked her hip. "Ah, you have the hots for him, huh?"
Ochako blushed a little harder. "We're dating, actually."
Miruko looked surprised. "Were you dating then?"
"Y-yeah."
"You two were dating and you still beat the hell out of each other like that?"
Ochako nodded firmly. "If either of us held back, that would seriously upset the other. We're at UA to become heroes, and nothing's gonna hold us back from that, including each other. He pushes me, I push him."
Miruko smirked wider than ever, to the point where she almost looked insane. "I knew I made the right choice. Now come on, I'll show you how to break that hold; try not to get pinned as quickly this time."
“Oh,” Miruko began as she hopped up and down a little, “and tomorrow we’re gonna go on patrol. But I tell you what, I saw that costume of yours and I gotta say, it does not fit you.”
Ochako deflated a little. “What do you mean?”
Miruko raised her eyebrows knowingly. “I think you need something a little more… stylish. I had my people whip something up. It’ll be ready tomorrow.”
Ochako’s eyes went wide. Miruko made her a new costume?
“I’ll earn that gift,” Ochako declared confidently.
Miruko laughed loudly as she cracked her knuckles. “I’ll make sure you do.”
Patrolling with his father was the greatest thing Izuku could ask for. The entire afternoon they had flown together, with Tsuyu and Riptide dashing through the waves beneath. Sometimes the dragons had flown off to take care of one call, or the women would dash off on their own for another call, but all in all, the afternoon was rather quiet. No villain attacks, just routine patrols, a few minor incidents, and calm waves.
After getting back to the agency, Inko invited the four of them to the Midoriya house for dinner. Tsuyu seemed quite excited about it, surprising Izuku with the amount of emotion that she showed. She had a wide smile and was rocking back and forth slightly the entire car ride to Izuku’s home, making him smile as well.
Once there, Inko formally invited Tsuyu into their home, which she graciously accepted and was nothing but polite and courteous, as she normally was.
Inko told them that dinner would be ready in a bit less than an hour and implied that Izuku should find some way to entertain their guest.
Luckily, Izuku had just the idea.
Izuku walked up to his father who was standing in the sunroom overlooking the beach and spoke in a hushed tone. “Can I show Tsuyu your collection in the bay?”
Hisashi thought for a moment, glancing over at Tsuyu as his eyes flashed an almost-imperceptible amount.
“Sure,” he said finally, “but don’t be late for dinner.”
Izuku nodded. “Will do. Thanks!”
He walked back over to Tsuyu in the living room, who was looking up at him curiously. “Can I show you something?” he asked.
She nodded immediately, hopping up from the couch and following him as he walked toward the back door. “What is it, Izuchan?”
Izuku held the door open for her as they stepped out onto the walkway leading down to the beach. “My dad has a… collection out here in the bay. I thought you might like to see it.”
Tsuyu stared at him with her big, black eyes and nodded slowly.
They walked down the path together and stepped onto the sands. Izuku always liked coming home here, as it gave him a sense of nostalgia that always made him smile. This was where it had all begun; his very first transformation had happened right here on this beach.
To think that he would be here now.
“Izuchan?” Tsuyu asked, looking over the calm bay as the setting sun shone down. “I don’t see anything.”
Izuku looked down at the short woman with a smile.
She looked up at him and then back at the water. “Oh, it’s underwater. That’s really cool. Good thing we’re still in our costumes.”
He smiled wider as he began to jog toward the water with Tsuyu right behind him. His quirk flowed through him as scales grew along his body and his gills formed along his neck, but he maintained control.
He still didn’t trust Defiant enough to be around Tsuyu alone.
Izuku jumped into the air and dove into the water, Tsuyu splashing down next to him. Izuku turned to glance at his friend, making sure he caught her eye through her nearly-invisible goggles on her face before turning sharply and swimming quickly for deeper waters.
Tsuyu caught on immediately and dashed after him, closing the distance in only a few seconds.
“Try to keep up!” he called back through the water as his webbed hands and feet pulled him around a boulder, following the path he and his father used to race all the time.
Izuku had learned during Hell Week that Tsuyu was no slouch in the water, but he was surprised with how much she had improved. Two days with Riptide had really done her good. He was planning on taking it a little slow to give her a chance, but he quickly found that he didn’t need to give her too much of a handicap.
Deeper and deeper they swam, twisting around boulders and dashing through rocky archways. Izuku knew the course by heart, but Tsuyu was doing her best to keep up with him. Fortunately for her, the many years of Izuku’s practice had left telltale signs of the path. There were gouges in rocks where Izuku’s claws had planted themselves time and time again, and gaps in foliage where he had passed through, although some of that had begun to grow back from his absence.
The race was a lot closer than he expected, even if he was sandbagging a little to keep it competitive, but as they rounded the final bend into the home stretch, he was confident that he had her beat.
Izuku swam forward as fast as he could in the final straightaway, the finish line looming ever closer.
Then he heard a noise.
Sound travels over four times faster in the water than in air, which took some getting used to as he trained in the ocean, but now that he had, Izuku could tell what was happening.
Tsuyu had swung up onto a rock and planted her feet.
He didn’t dare gaze back for risk of losing speed, but the rush of water told him all he needed to know.
Tsuyu was gaining on him, and fast. Just how powerful were her legs?
Izuku regretted underestimating his friend.
He reached out a hand toward the large, flat rock that marked the end, but then a green flash shot past him. Tsuyu’s hand slapped the rock less than a second before his did, but the speeds they were going meant that neither had time to properly catch themselves.
Tsuyu and Izuku crashed into each other and Izuku panicked.
In an instant, his quirk rushed forward and drowned him out.
Defiant reached his arms out and grabbed onto Tsuyu, pulling her close as his body bulged larger. His wings sprouted from his back, acting as massive brakes to kill their momentum as he flipped over and dug his claws into the rock, quickly bringing them to a halt.
The only sound piercing the waters for several seconds were the residual eddies and Defiant’s heavy breaths as he forced water through his gills.
Defiant looked down at the woman pressed to his chest, his eyes flashing over her to make sure she was unharmed. Thankfully, she seemed uninjured.
Tsuyu’s face was pressed into his chest as he held her close, her one eye staring up at his face as she sat there silently.
“You will be safe as long as I am here,” Defiant declared down at her, squeezing his arms in what amounted to a large hug to emphasize his point.
Slowly, one of Tsuyu’s hands reached up to his face. He watched it curiously as her finger drew closer, then pressed gently into one of the sharp fangs lining his draconic maw.
His quirk drained away, settling to the back of his mind as Izuku reasserted full control over himself. He hadn’t even realized his head had transformed.
“Tsuyu, are you alright?” he asked softly as he released his arms finally, letting her right herself in the water and plant herself on the rock.
Tsuyu blinked at him a few times, the faintest of blushes appearing on her cheeks. “Thank you for saving me.”
“You are welc-”
“It was pretty hot.”
Izuku froze, looking down at the green-haired woman. “Uh…”
“You’re very strong,” she continued. “It was nice when you held me. I felt safe.”
“So, you can breathe in salt water?” he asked, desperate to change the subject.
Tsuyu didn’t miss a beat. “No, just freshwater. My suit has scrubbers that filter it so I can breath,” she explained, tugging on her sleeve. “It’s not perfect, so I can’t stay down here forever. I’ll eventually run out of breath.”
An excuse to move things along? Perfect.
Izuku reached out and took Tsuyu by the shoulder and turned her around, holding his other hand wide.
The look on her face was priceless.
In front of them, down below the cliff where they were standing, was Stormclaw’s collection.
Dozens of shipwrecks, from modern ships to archaic wooden hulls, lined the underwater valley, surrounded by the rainbow of coral that Stormclaw had spent decades maintaining. The multicolored plants and rocks created a beautiful array of colors in the oceanic garden as the evening sun pierced the clear, calm water perfectly, framing the display in glistening, brilliant light.
Izuku watched Tsuyu’s face as her jaw dropped. Her hand shook slightly as she raised it to her mouth and he saw a beautiful sparkle in her eye.
He smiled proudly to himself. Because Tsuyu was so calm and subdued, any show of emotion from her was that much sweeter and more powerful.
“Izuchan… this is amazing,” she finally said, her voice full of awe.
He kicked off gently, floating up into the water as he gave her a small tug, urging her to join him.
Tsuyu nodded, following him as they swam down toward the well-curated gallery. She barely spoke as he took her from ship to ship, showing off the pearls, gems and other treasures that Stormclaw stored within. Izuku told her the history of some of the shipwrecks and of some of the sunken artifacts, reciting from the countless times his father had told him the same things.
After nearly half an hour of swimming around, Izuku knew it was time to go, lest they be late for dinner and he incur his mother’s wrath.
There were some things even dragons feared.
Izuku brought Tsuyu to the middle of the valley, where the great swathes of colorful coral came together like a huge, underwater flower. They both looked up at the beauty from all sides, appreciating the perfect framing and aesthetics of the collection.
His father was meticulous with his hoard. Not a pearl out of place.
Tsuyu sighed softly as she leaned over, resting her head on Izuku’s arm for a moment.
“You know, Izuchan,” she began slowly, “this is pretty romantic.”
Izuku froze up.
Was it? He was just trying to show his friend something he thought was beautiful. He hadn’t meant for it to be romantic.
...Did he?
“L-let’s go, Tsuyu,” Izuku muttered weakly. “We don’t want to be late for dinner.”
Mina trudged back into Ryukyu’s hero agency with her shoulders slumped and her head down.
She wasn’t sad—far from it, actually—she was exhausted.
Hadou skipped up to her, letting Mina put some weight on her and helping her move inside. Mina’s face was beaming as she looked down at the shorter woman. “Thanks, Hadou.”
“No problem!” she bubbled back. “You did real good out there for your first time on patrol! I made way more mistakes on my first go!”
“Really?” Mina asked weakly.
Hadou nodded furiously. How did she still have so much energy? “Uh huh!”
Mina sighed with a hint of satisfaction, feeling the itchiness in her hands and feet from using her quirk too much. “You really kicked butt out there. That one big villain didn’t stand a chance.”
Hadou giggled lightly. “Aw, shucks, you’re gonna make me blush. I really liked that wall run move you did to get at that flying guy. You’re really athletic.”
Mina hissed in pain as Hadou sat her down on a couch. “I sure don’t feel athletic right now. I’m gonna be sore tomorrow. And the next day. And probably the next day.”
“Well too bad!” Hadou declared. “We’re going back on patrol tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day.”
Mina groaned, but smiled weakly.
The door opened again as Ryukyu stepped in, her own face showing some signs of exhaustion. “Good work out there today, girls. Ashido, you exceeded my expectations.”
Mina’s heart soared with pride. “Thank you very much.”
“That means my expectations will rise tomorrow.”
Mina’s heart plummeted back down.
“Yes, ma’am.” She sunk deeper into the couch, letting the comfy cushions devour her sore body.
The copper-haired woman smiled down at her. “I do have something that might make it easier for you.”
Mina looked up curiously.
“Izuku told me all about you,” she began with a teasing grin. Mina still wasn’t sure she liked being on the other end of that smile.
“O-oh yeah?”
“Uh huh. He told me aaaaaaaaall about your favorite hero.”
Mina blushed a little. “W-well, it’s true.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Ryukyu continued, “I’m flattered! In fact, I have a little… present for you.”
Mina perked up a little. “A present?”
Ryukyu hefted up a case, not unlike the case Mina kept her costume in.
“I had my team design a new suit for you.”
Mina’s eyes went wide. “You… what ?!”
The pro began to laugh as she opened the case. “Oh, your face makes this all worth it. Look, it’s both fashionable and functional!”
Ryukyu lifted it up out of the case and held it up to Mina.
She squealed.
“Oh, Ryukyu, I love it!”
Wednesday morning went much the same way that Tuesday had for Izuku and Tsuyu, except that Izuku spent the morning getting drilled by Riptide while Tsuyu got time training under Hisashi.
Izuku was always impressed with how well Riptide moved through the water, even without her quirk. He learned several things from her, but he still wasn’t happy with his progress; he made a mental note to ask Tsuyu if she’d be willing to train him back at UA.
They had lunch on the beach together before getting ready to patrol in the afternoon again, but then suddenly, Riptide tensed up.
The white-haired woman held her finger to her ear as she listened intensely to something.
“Sir,” she said firmly, looking at Hisashi as she acted with pure professionalism. “Reports of piracy nearby; several cargo ships have been robbed by what they described as ‘octopus and squid people’.
Hisashi looked at the three of them before locking eyes with Izuku. He saw the glow in his father’s eyes brighten as Hisashi melted away.
His energy was completely different; even though he still looked the same, Izuku could tell that it was now Stormclaw, with all his experience and all his power, that was standing in front of him.
“Let’s go.”
Notes:
Announcement: In celebration of the 1 year anniversary of this fic coming up on 1/1/2020, December will be 'What's in a Hoard? Month' or if you prefer, What's in a Month?
During that month, I will put all of my other fics on hiatus and will only be writing this, all culminating with a chapter on the anniversary.
See you next time!
:)
Chapter 49: Izuchan
Summary:
Tsuyu and Izuku go on an adventure. Hijinks ensue.
Notes:
Today is the first day of What's in a Month or Hoard in a Month or What's in a Hoard Month or Ho Ho Hoard Month or Drakecember or any of the other suggestions from the people on the discord (Link at the end).
This month I'll be focusing exclusively on this story, all culminating with a chapter on 1/1/2020, the 1 year anniversary.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“So, Creati,” Togata began as the two walked down the city street in uniform. “Why do you want to be a hero?”
Momo looked over at the slightly-shorter upperclassman with a curious expression.
Togata smiled. “It’s the most basic question for a hero student!”
“Of course,” Momo said with a polite nod. “Well, my quirk is quite versatile; with enough planning and experience, there will seldom be a situation that I cannot assist and excel in. From combat to rescue to medical aid and more, I will be able to help.”
“No, no,” Togata said with a laugh. “Those are reasons why you might be a good hero, but why do you want to be one? What in your heart and mind made you want to go down this path? If you just wanted to help, you could have just gotten a civilian quirk license.”
Momo furrowed her brow. “I… huh.”
“You’ve never thought about it?” Togata said with a knowing smile.
Momo bit her lip for a moment. “No, I suppose not… not really .”
Togata laughed brightly. “Truth be told, I’m not surprised! That’s just how it is for some people, especially recommended students, from my experience. Some people just assume that they’re gonna be a hero, or they get told that by their parents and they were never really given a choice. I’m sure you’ve put in hours and hours of hard work to get to where you are, but you never really thought about why .”
Momo was stunned. “That’s… exactly what happened, yes. I was always told that I would make a great hero one day; I never really considered any other options. I just… took it for granted, as you said.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing!” Togata exclaimed. “Like I said, you aren’t alone. But that is a reason there are a lot of freshman dropouts at hero schools. This is the time when you’re finally confronted with that question: why do you want to be a hero? If you can’t find a good answer, you should look elsewhere for your future, but if you do find that answer, you’ll find a whole new drive and purpose!”
Momo rubbed her chin. Her whole life, she had been so focused on becoming a hero, she never thought about why she wanted to do it. She had missed the forest for the trees, as it were.
He gave her a thumbs up. “Don’t be sad! College is a time of growth, exploration, and self-discovery; you’ll find your answer, one way or the other.”
“Thank you, Togata,” Momo said softly, but firmly. “I’ll be certain to look until I find it.”
Great wings grew from Stormclaw’s back as the four of them ran toward the water. With well-practiced motions, Riptide handed Tsuyu something, then jumped and landed on Stormclaw’s back as he took to the air and glanced back at Izuchan, clearly telling him to do the same thing.
Tsuyu looked down at the small earpiece and then glanced up at Izuchan. “Looks like I’m getting that ride sooner than I thought.”
“Looks like it,” he huffed as he grew his own wings, his eyes beginning to glow brighter.
He crouched down as Tsuyu hopped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing his sides with her thighs. His pants melted into his legs as he transformed them, the powerful muscle growing as he prepared himself.
In a single motion, Izuchan shot into the air with Tsuyu on his back, his wings beginning to beat and bear them higher into the sky as they chased after Stormclaw.
They reached a comfortable cruising altitude as they soared on Stormclaw’s left, perhaps to cover his weaker side. Both Midoriyas were still mostly humanoid, nothing betraying their quirks other than their glowing eyes and wings.
Tsuyu thought back to what Riptide had told her the previous day during their training when she had caught her staring at Izuchan and Stormclaw training.
“You’ve been staring a while, Froppy,” she noted.
Tsuyu turned back and ribbited up at the white-haired woman. “I was watching Izuchan.”
Riptide chuckled. “I can see that. Are you close to him?”
“Sorta,” Tsuyu explained. “He and I are friends, but I’m not one of his girlfriends yet.”
“Girlfriends?”
Tsuyu tilted her head slightly. “Sure. Izuchan, Ochako, Mina, and Momo are all in a relationship. They’re all very cute.”
“I see,” Riptide mumbled. “Look, I feel like I should warn you about the Midoriyas.”
“Warn?” Tsuyu repeated, blinking slowly.
The pro nodded. “Stormclaw is a wonderful person, a great hero, and I greatly enjoy working for him, don’t get me wrong, but him and his son are mentally… different than most.”
Tsuyu continued to stare at the woman, prompting her to continue.
“Again, they’re not bad people, but I’ve just noticed that they’re… different, like I said,” Riptide continued awkwardly. “They’ll get hung up on unusual things and get ansty at seemingly odd times. I sometimes wonder if the dragon in them is only skin deep. Look, what I’m trying to say is that you just gotta be careful. There’s more going on in their heads than they let on, that’s all I can say. Stormclaw is a very kind, but a very private and secretive man. I really don’t know anything more.”
Tsuyu had already known something like that was going on. She had watched him at school, at the USJ, at the Sports Festival; it was clear that he wasn’t a ‘normal’ man, but that didn’t really matter to her. She was far from a ‘normal’ woman, after all.
Perhaps Riptide hadn’t noticed it yet… somehow , but Tsuyu’s quirk had done things to her mind just like Izuchan’s had. Her emotions were muted, her face was far from the most expressive, she had a habit of ribbiting whenever she spoke, and she had impulses and urges that weren’t exactly par for the course. It was like her base instincts were different than most people’s.
Tsuyu had noticed it the most at the USJ when he had protected her and Mineta from that villain. At the time, she hadn't realized what exactly she was feeling, but once they had escaped with their lives, and during that week when Izuchan was in a coma, she had figured it out, at least to a degree.
There was no denying it: Izuchan was a predator. He was a predator and her mind recognized it.
It made sense, in a way. She was a frog, and he was a dragon. She was prey and he was a predator.
However, that danger sense tugging at the back of her mind had been confused when he had reached out and ran his fingers through her hair and patted her head. Logically, she knew that he was her friend and would protect her, but at that point, her ‘animal’ brain knew it too, at least partially.
There was that hint of fight-or-flight whenever she saw him transform, but instead of fear, it came through as excitement. She got a small adrenaline rush from it and it honestly just made him more attractive.
The tug of one small part of her mind wanting to run while the rest knew that—like he said the previous night after their race—he would protect her made him very distracting in more than one way.
That, plus his genuine and selfless nature, had solidified her desire to be in a relationship with him. Mina was very keen when it came to these things, it seemed.
But this wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things. There were villains out there and she had to focus on stopping them.
“Froppy!” came Riptide’s voice through the radio. “Can you hear me?”
Tsuyu put a finger to her ear and pressed the earpiece. “I can.”
“Good. Listen up: we’ve got more information now. I just heard from Selkie, another pro in the area, that they were stowaways that turned violent upon discovery. They robbed the ship of valuable cargo and stole a smaller boat. They also trapped Selkie for a while and he and his crew lost track of them, so that’s why they’re enlisting us. We’re going to spread out and search; luckily they have a general idea of where to look, so you two head northwest, we’ll head north.”
“Understood,” Tsuyu responded. “Okay, Izuchan, we’re splitting up. We’re heading northwest and looking for the criminals.”
Izuchan turned his head slightly to look up at her, his glowing eye staring into hers. He nodded once, then banked to the left as Stormclaw did the same.
“Good luck, you two,” Stormclaw growled out as he soared overhead. “Keep an eye out for any ships. Be thorough; we can’t afford to let them escape.”
“They won’t escape,” Izuchan responded firmly. “Good hunting.”
Stormclaw and Riptide began to grow smaller and smaller as the two pairs put more distance between them.
Tsuyu and Izuchan began to scan the waves and horizon, looking for anything that might be the pirates, silent beyond the regular beating of his wings and the rush of air over them.
The sea was calm and the sun was bright, but she couldn’t help but feel a grim weight pressing down on her. There were real villains out there, and they were rushing to find them; this wasn’t like anything they had done before. This wasn’t like the USJ, when they were fighting to escape, or any of their training in class, when there wasn’t any real danger.
But Tsuyu wasn’t alone. She was competent and confident in herself, but she also had Izuchan with her, who was powerful, skilled, and protective.
She remembered what he had said the previous evening.
“You will be safe as long as I am here.”
He had said it in his deep, draconic voice, the same voice that sent that froggy part of her brain into a panic, but the way he had held her and the utter confidence with which he spoke had filled her with nothing but comfort and warmth.
Over a half hour passed in tense silence as both of them scanned the water. Sometimes they would spot something that turned out to be a small island or a buoy, but they didn’t see any ships.
Eventually, even Tsuyu got a little antsy.
“Am I the first person you’ve given a ride to?” she asked, breaking the silence.
Izuchan glanced up at her for a moment before resuming his search. “No. Ochako, Mina, and Jirou have all gotten a ride.”
“It’s very nice,” she said flatly. “I wouldn’t mind riding more often.”
Izuchan looked like he was about to say something when an explosion rang out in the distance.
His head snapped forward as both of the students looked around for the source of the noise. Their gaze landed on a fishing vessel that had just come into view on the far side of an island, both of them immediately noticing the smoke beginning to billow into the sky.
Izuchan turned and dove down, tucking his wings as Tsuyu tightened her grip on his back. They shot downward toward the vessel, the wind whipping through her long hair until his wings steadily moved back out, catching the air and slowing their speed as they began to circle the ship.
It was already beginning to sink and list to one side, which meant they had no time to lose.
“Bring us in, Izuchan,” Tsuyu called out. “There might be people trapped on board.”
He nodded. “Right!”
Izuchan banked toward the ship and glided down onto the slanted deck, letting Tsuyu hop off. She saw him begin to look around in worry. “Where is everyone?”
“If we don’t see them, they must be below deck,” Tsuyu reasoned. She looked around the deck for a few seconds before her eyes landed on the lifeboat, which was tangled up in ropes. “You get that into the water and I’ll go look for the crew.”
Izuchan hesitated for a moment, seeming to be thinking things through, but Tsuyu was already moving. She found the stairs leading below deck and hopped down them, hurrying further into the depths. The ship was listing more all the time; she didn’t have all day.
“Hello?!” Tsuyu called out, not seeing anyone. “Is there anyone down here?” There was a chance that the ship was already abandoned.
Suddenly, she heard a muffled noise followed by a soft pounding. She jumped forward, trying to find where the sound was coming from, but was having trouble.
“I can hear you!” she yelled. “Keep making noise!”
As she hopped past a door opening up into the cargo hold, she glanced and saw the massive hole blown in the hull and the water pouring in. To her, it seemed like this was no accident.
The ship made a sickening groaning noise that made her quicken her pace. Finally, she found the source of the pounding: a sealed steel door near the bottom of the ship.
“Hello?” she called, hitting the door back. “Are you in there?”
“Oh, thank God!” someone returned from the other side in a panicked voice. “How did you find us? We thought we were dead. Please, can you get us out of here? The door is locked!”
Tsuyu looked down and saw the handle had been crushed and snapped off; there was no way she was going to unlock it.
“Stand back!” she warned, backing up and finding a place to brace herself.
With a thundering crash, she slammed a foot into the door, denting it. She pulled back and drove forward again, the steel groaning under the assault from her powerful legs. The third kick snapped one of the hinges, and the fourth completely knocked the door free, sending it crashing back into the room.
Tsuyu hopped inside, wincing slightly at her sore foot. There were a half dozen men in the room, each of them with a few cuts and bruises about their bodies. “Come on!” she called, waving a hand at them.”
The men nodded and stormed past her, right as the ship groaned again and a horrifying grinding noise was all the warning Tsuyu and the crew received before the ship tipped almost entirely to one side, throwing them into a wall.
Tsuyu quickly stood up on what used to be the wall of the ship and hopped up to the door, crawling through and beginning to help the crew stand back up. “Hurry!” she warned, urging them forward.
They scrambled forward, clamoring into doorways as they made a mad dash for the stairs, but the water was beginning to rise. Tsuyu stayed behind the crew to make sure they all made it through the doors before hopping through herself, but even she was getting concerned about the rising water.
The last of the crew crawled through the final door and began to scramble up to the surface when suddenly, the ship shifted again.
The vessel struck rocks as it sank and began to buckle. The groaning and scraping of metal echoed through the ship as Tsuyu saw the bulkhead in front of her begin to buckle.
She jumped forward as fast as she could as the ship collapsed around her, leaping through the final doorway toward the stairs and freedom.
Her body cleared the portal before it closed.
Her hair didn’t.
One of the loops on her long hair snagged on a broken pipe, jerking her backward violently as the doorway was crushed and her forward motion was arrested. Another deafening groan from the ship drowned out all the other noise as she tried to free herself, but to no avail. She glanced back and saw that her hair was trapped on the other side of the pancaked door; there was no way to unhook herself.
Tsuyu wasn’t one to panic, but she was quite aware that this wasn’t a good situation. She knew that she could almost certainly plant her legs and push through, but tearing out all of her hair like that was likely to scalp her.
Well, if it was that or be crushed to death, there wasn’t much of a choice.
At least the crew had all gotten out.
She planted her feet behind her and prepared to push when a sudden rush of water distracted her. Before she could realize what was happening, the pressure on her head suddenly ceased and her entire body jerked forward.
“I’ve got you.”
Tsuyu felt Izuchan’s powerful arms grab her and pull her forward. She looked down at the clawed hand holding her side and then back at the door, where most of her hair was still floating.
In only a few powerful strokes, they shot through the stairwell and burst out into the sun. He pulled her away from the ship as it listed further and began to disappear entirely beneath the surface of the water.
“Are you alright?” Izuchan asked as he let her go.
Tsuyu began to tread water next to him, but didn’t answer at first, as she was more focused on looking for the civilians. Her vision fell on them sitting in the lifeboat, safe and sound.
She sighed in relief and looked up to Izuchan with a small smile. “I’m fine, thank you for saving me.”
The light in his eyes dimmed slightly as his scales receded away from his face and neck. “I’m… really sorry about your hair, Tsu. I shouldn’t have acted so rashly.”
Tsuyu blinked twice. “If you hadn’t acted so quickly, I might have gotten hurt or worse. Don’t apologize for it.” She reached her hand back and felt her hair.
It hung just above her shoulders and she could feel the jagged edges from Izuchan’s claws. She still had the bangs framing her face and hanging down between her eyes, but around back, she had lost well over two feet of hair. She swished her head around a little, feeling the sudden lack of weight and the ease of motion.
“I kinda like it,” she admitted, ribbiting softly.
Izuchan blinked a few times. “R-really? But your hair was so beautiful and I just slashed it away.”
That made Tsuyu smile a little wider. “I thought it was beautiful, too. I’m glad to hear you liked it. But what’s done is done, and regardless, I had actually been thinking about doing something like this for a little bit.”
“You were?” Izuchan asked. “Was it because it was slowing you down?”
She nodded. “There’s a reason professional swimmers wear those caps. It doesn’t make much sense for me to have long hair when I’m wanting to be an aquatic hero. I just hadn’t done anything yet because I was being sentimental. I’m glad you were there to save me, or that sentimentality might have gotten me hurt.”
Izuchan looked down and smiled a little. “I’m just happy you’re okay.”
“Do you still think I’m beautiful without my long hair?” she asked directly.
Izuchan froze up, looking over at her quickly, then away as he turned a little green. “I-I do. The hair looks… nice on you.”
She ribbited happily. He was so adorable.
“Something I noticed,” Izuchan began suddenly, looking to change the subject. “During all that, I was listening closely and I noticed that your heartbeat didn’t raise too much. How did you stay calm during all that? You almost died!”
Tsuyu put a finger to her chin and tilted her head a little. “There’s no point in panicking, I guess. When things go wrong, the most important thing to do is keep your head on straight. I had to take care of my siblings a lot growing up and I learned that staying calm was the best thing to do if things went wrong. Also, other people panic less when there’s someone collected nearby.”
Izuchan’s eyes glowed a little as he looked intensely at her. “Just be calm? It’s that simple for you?”
“Not exactly,” she said with a ribbit. “Sure, it helps that my quirk mutes my emotions a little compared to other people, but it’s something I’ve practiced. It may sound mundane or domestic, but after stuff like Satsuki setting the microwave on fire for the fifth time trying to make popcorn, I started to learn how to stay calm during a crisis. Nothing makes kids cry more than someone older freaking out.”
Izuchan smiled wider. “I’ll try to learn from your example, then. Thank you, Tsu.”
Tsuyu closed her eyes and smiled. “Let’s see how the crew are doing.”
Izuchan nodded and the two swam over to the lifeboat, where one of the crew was just getting off the phone.
“Alright, the Coast Guard knows where we are and are on their way,” he declared to the rest of the crew. “Thank God for waterproof phones, eh?” He noticed the two students approaching and smiled widely.
“Is everyone alright?” Izuchan asked.
The men all murmured and nodded. “Other than a few bruises and scrapes,” one man said, “we’re all fine. If you guys hadn’t been there… I don’t wanna think about it. How’d you find us, anyway?”
“We were already in the area,” Tsuyu explained. “We were looking for a villain on the run when we heard the explosion.”
The man narrowed his eyes. “A villain? Does he have an octopus quirk?”
Izuchan’s eyes lit up brighter. “That matches the description. Was he here?”
The men all grumbled. “Yeah, he’s the bastard who locked us below deck and rigged the explosive. I don’t know why; we didn’t do anything to him.”
“He might have been trying to distract us or slow us down,” Izuchan surmised. “Did you see which way he went?”
The men pointed toward the west. “He was heading for the shore.”
Tsuyu nodded as she swam over and climbed onto Izuchan’s back again. “Will you all be okay here?”
“Sure will,” the man said confidently. “The Coast Guard is already on their way. Thanks again, we owe you our lives.”
Izuchan smiled as his wings grew. “That’s what heroes do.”
With a surge of power and speed, Izuchan lifted off into the air with Tsuyu on his back. They circled around the lifeboat once, waving at the crew before turning to the west and flying off after the villain.
“Good.”
Shouto finally let his flames die as he panted, his clothes drenched in sweat from a long day of training. It was Wednesday and Shouto still hadn’t left Midoriya’s mansion; he had spent almost every waking moment training instead. The hero had left somewhat frequently to respond to calls and for routine patrols, but Shouto was always training.
It made sense, even if he was getting a little sick of being trapped inside. He had spent years intentionally ignoring his fire; he needed all the practice he could get.
Shouto grabbed a water bottle and began to drain it in big gulps, replenishing the water he had sweated out.
“Your control has improved,” Midoriya began as he stepped over toward Shouto, “but you still have much work to do.”
That much seemed obvious.
“If I didn’t know any better…” Midoriya turned and looked side-eyed down at him. “Considering your control over your ice, I would say that you’ve only just begun to use your fire.”
“I have,” Shouto answered directly. “Up until the Sports Festival, I never used it in combat.”
If Midoriya was surprised, he didn’t show it. “And why was that?”
“I hated it,” Shouto explained. “It took… a friend to show me that I shouldn’t.”
There was a pause as Midoriya’s golden eyes narrowed. “Your match against my nephew?”
Shouto nodded once.
“What is he to you?” Midoriya asked simply.
Shouto looked up at the man with his usual stoic expression. “Izuku is a friend. He’s saved me twice: first from Terrorflame and then from myself.”
“Indeed,” Midoriya mused flatly. “What were you two saying down there in your match? You looked quite animated.”
Midoriya was quite curious about Izuku and he got the distinct impression that he didn’t care much for his nephew. It seemed Shouto wasn’t the only one with a less-than-ideal family life.
“Izuku talked about how he… hated his quirk.”
One of Midoriya’s eyebrows raised.
“He told me about how he would… break his quirk and make it his own. He would defy the burden on his shoulders and become a hero, like he was meant to be.”
Shouto smiled softly. “He showed me that I could do that, too.”
After an uncomfortably long pause, Midoriya stood up straight and began to walk away. “I see. Continue the exercises I gave you, I will test you on them later.”
With that, Midoriya left the training room, leaving Shouto alone once again.
Tsuyu had reported in to Riptide and told them what they had learned from the crew. Apparently, the group had split up and they were pursuing one, which left the other to Izuku and Tsuyu.
So be it.
Izuku soared over the waves with Tsuyu on his back, using the rising air currents to conserve as much energy as possible as they scanned for the villain. Izuku was beginning to lose hope after nearly an hour of looking, but then something caught his eye.
Sitting in the shadow of some jagged rocks was a ship anchored, clearly hoping to avoid notice. It was small, having only a single-room cabin; it was a sort of light fishing vessel, which would hardly draw much attention.
Suspicious, if nothing else.
“We’re heading down, let Riptide know where we are,” Izuku warned as he began to bank and let them fall gently toward the waves.
“Right,” Tsuyu responded as she pressed the radio in her ear.
While she spoke, Izuku pushed more of his power into his eyes as he scanned the ship, spotting someone standing on the back deck.
It looked like a woman crossed with a squid; she wore a yellow rain jacket and was clearly standing guard. She matched the description that Riptide had given Tsuyu, so he felt safe assuming that she was at the very least an accomplice.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have any way to reach her quickly and quietly, but he knew someone who did.
Izuku drifted down, using the rocks to hide himself and Tsuyu, and splashed down into the water. His wings vanished as the two of them dove down and swam toward the ship.
“When we get close, grab the lookout and bring her down here.”
Tsuyu nodded as the two approached silently, both of them peeking the top of their heads out of the water as they got close, then dipping back down.
This was it.
It was time for Defiant to make his debut.
He just had to trust and work with his quirk.
Izuku closed his eyes and breathed, letting water flow past his gills as he let his quirk flow freely into his mind. His consciousness fell into the dripping power, melting and molding into something very different, but very familiar.
Defiant opened his eyes and glanced over at Tsuyu, nodding for her to go ahead.
Her tongue shot out like a rocket, wrapping around the woman and dragging her into the water before she could react.
Defiant’s maw stretched out as his teeth sharpened and elongated. Tsuyu brought the woman close as she got her bearings and began to struggle. He reached out his clawed hands and gripped the sides of the woman’s face, his glowing eyes staring into her soul.
“Cooperate and we won’t have to get rough with you,” he threatened slowly and smoothly, a small, predatory grin growing on his face and exposing his razor-sharp fangs.
The woman’s eyes went wide as she stared up at Defiant and stopped struggling.
“Good.” Defiant leaned in a little closer. “Now, is the octopus man on that ship?”
She hesitated for a second, then nodded.
“Is there anyone else up there?”
She shook her head.
“Do you have a feeling of what will happen to you if I find out you’re lying?”
She nodded.
“Good.”
Tsuyu reached into one of her pouches on her costume and pulled out a pair of heavy duty zip-tie handcuffs. Defiant glanced over at her with a curious expression, to which she just shrugged. “Riptide mentioned I should carry stuff to capture people with; she gave me these to carry.”
Defiant nodded as Tsuyu moved in and cuffed the woman’s wrists and ankles together, then pulled out a thick cloth and gagged her. The pair swam back to one of the rocks and slowly breached the surface, placing the woman on one of the rocks and then sinking back beneath the water.
They swam back to the ship and Defiant placed his hand on Tsuyu’s shoulders. “I’m going to try and talk him down, but keep in mind that we don’t know what’s up there, so stay behind me. I will protect you.” Defiant let most of his outward transformations fade away, leaving him looking fairly ‘normal’ and less threatening.
Tsuyu looked into his eyes for a moment too long and nodded.
They swam forward and reached up together, grabbing onto the back of the boat and pulling themselves up. Defiant swung forward and landed heavily in the middle of the deck while Tsuyu hung behind, near the back.
The cabin was dark, but Defiant could see into it clearly.
Lurking in the shadows was a large man wearing a maroon jacket and a red hood. His yellow eyes glared at Defiant, but what was more immediately noticeable was the pair of large light-red tentacles covered in suckers and hanging from his face. Where his nose should have been was instead a smaller tentacle that completed his octopus aesthetic, and he had four arms, each pair with a webbing that wasn’t dissimilar to Shouji.
He noticed Defiant staring straight at him, studying his features, and narrowed his eyes.
“Yes, I can see you,” Defiant said calmly. “Come on out here so we can have a nice chat.”
The man slowly moved forward, rising to his full height as he stepped out into the open. He looked slightly down on Defiant, comparable to Stormclaw in height.
“What’s there to talk about?” he snarled derisively. “I thought I had gotten away with it, but it seems that’s not the case.”
Defiant held his ground. “Not quite.”
“So what, they can only send a couple of kids after me?” He bristled up, his face tentacles waving erratically and menacingly. “Are you all that’s left here to stop me?”
Defiant kept his eyes steady on the man, not showing any signs of emotion. The villain was clearly tense, full of nerves, and looking for a way out. If he offered what the man wanted, he could begin to twist him.
“We are,” he began calmly, “for now. You know the whole Coast Guard and several heroes are out searching for you, including Selkie and Stormclaw.”
The villain’s face tensed almost imperceptibly. Defiant was on the right track.
“Now that we’ve found you, it’s only a matter of time until they converge on this position.”
Rage spiked and the villain began to move.
“That is, unless we send them elsewhere.”
He froze, looking down at Defiant first with surprise, then with suspicion.
Hopefully, Tsuyu would trust him and follow his lead.
“I’m honestly more concerned about the cargo you stole than about you. If you leave it behind, I’ll tell the others that you ‘escaped’.” Defiant raised a knowing eyebrow. “I’m just an intern, they’ll easily believe that I screwed up. All you have to do is leave the cargo, get going, and I’ll point them in a different direction. You’ll be on dry land and into the underworld before any of them know what’s happening.”
The real plan, of course, was to get him out into the open and call for backup. Stormclaw could handle this chump with his arm behind his back.
The man appeared to be thinking for a moment, but his gaze narrowed further. “What gives you the idea that you’re in a position to negotiate, brat ?”
Defiant froze.
“How about I just take you both with me and force you to unload the cargo for me?” His arms began to stretch longer. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with!”
He swung both of his right arms forward, surprising Defiant with the strength he carried in them. He crashed into the side of the ship, only barely having time to transform his back as his body left a massive dent in the steel.
Defiant was momentarily disoriented and winded, and he was pretty sure he had cracked a rib or two, but he could still hear the villain. “Now, come here, girly. You’re gonna call off that search for me if you don’t want me to start breaking bones.”
He heard Tsuyu kick off from the deck without a moment’s hesitation. The satisfying thud followed by the villain’s angry grunt told Defiant that Tsuyu had landed a solid hit.
They were far from done.
"You bitch! That's the last mistake you'll ever make!"
Defiant began to rise to his feet, still recovering from the wind being knocked out of him. His eyes refocused and he saw Tsuyu hopping around on the nearby rocks, dodging the tentacle-like arms that the villain was swinging at her.
The man’s yellow eyes snapped back to Defiant and he shot one of his arms at him, looking to put Defiant back on the ground.
Tsuyu’s tongue darted after it, wrapping around the arm and pulling it off-target, making it slam wide of Defiant.
However, this was a mistake.
With another one of his arms, he snatched Tsuyu’s tongue, swinging her like a whip and slamming her down into the rocks.
The villain jumped after Tsuyu and pinned her down, his evil eyes staring down at her.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
With one of his left arms, he grabbed Tsuyu’s right, and then with the other…
A sickening crack and a piercing scream echoed through the rocks as Tsuyu’s arm snapped.
And then something snapped inside Defiant, too.
“I only need one of you alive to unload the cargo,” the villain sneered with a dark laugh. “This is the end… for… you…”
The villain turned around slowly as he heard the ship shift in the water. His gaze moved to where Defiant used to be, then up to where his face was currently.
The ship was not designed for people of this size.
Defiant’s quirk was bursting at the seams as he stood nearly fifteen feet tall, his entire body covered in scales and his tail whipping angrily behind him. His dark spikes jutted out of his elbows as venom dripped from his fangs.
It was taking all of his willpower to keep himself this small. Every part of his being was screaming at him to grow larger, to embrace his nature and fully transform, but his Izuku part of him still knew that his mind and body couldn’t handle it yet.
For now, this would do.
Nothing as big as Defiant should have been able to move that fast.
In a blink of an eye, Defiant was on top of the villain, rocks and dust flying into the air as his massive claw wrapped around his neck and pinned him to the wall. With his other hand, he grabbed a pair of tentacles and then threw the villain away from Tsuyu, pitching him back onto the ship, denting the deck with his limp body.
Defiant didn’t give him a moment to recover and before the villain could say a word or even take a breath, he found himself being lifted into the air. One claw was wrapped around his throat again, holding it like a beer bottle, while the other held two of his tentacles tightly. His tail snaked forward and wrapped up the other two, leaving him helpless.
“ Worthless ,” he snarled as his body bulked up even further, his wings threatening to burst from his back as his mind battled to hold back his transformation. “I offered you mercy and you threw it away. What gives me the idea that I can bargain with you, you asked?”
The villain tried to sputter something, but it was hard to talk when you were being choked.
Defiant slowly opened his maw wide, letting the villain see the poison dripping down. “Maybe now you see who you’re dealing with here.”
His mind was screaming at him, different thoughts coming from all sides, but all being rebuffed by the fury pounding through him.
He dug his claws into the villain’s arms. “When a real octopus loses a limb, it grows back. Do yours?”
The villain’s went wide, pure terror filling them as he stared up at Defiant.
The screaming grew louder. The perfect whole was trying to break itself apart, but the bond was too strong. Flashes of Izuku made him hesitate, while flashes of something… baser made him want to savor the kill even longer.
“What say we find out? You broke her arm, but tentacles don’t have any bones to break. I’ll have to make d-”
“Izuchan!”
The screaming stopped.
Defiant’s head snapped back to Tsuyu, who had hopped back onto the boat, her right arm hanging limply at her side. Her face was covered in worry and concern, which looked almost foreign on her face.
He didn’t like that look. She should look happy, or at least calm, but not worried. Not… scared .
He slowly turned his gaze back to the villain, his rage no longer hot and fierce, but cold and calculated. He reared his head back and slammed it forward, cracking the villain on the head with his horns and making him go limp in his hands.
He placed the unconscious villain down on the deck as his anger and his quirk flowed out of him and was quickly replaced by shame and disgust.
Like a drowning man breaching the surface, Izuku broke free as he stumbled backward away from the villain and fell onto the deck.
“Izuchan, are you alright?” Tsuyu asked with concern palpable in her voice. She moved over to him and kneeled down next to him, reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder.
Izuku jumped a little as he quickly swung his legs underneath him and put himself into a kneeling position. “T-Tsu, I’m so, so sorry. I… I don’t know what came over me.”
That was a bold-faced lie, and he was pretty sure Tsuyu knew it.
“I don’t buy that,” she said flatly.
At least he was right about that.
“I guess I owe you an explanation,” he admitted, “but not here. Thank you for… for saving me.”
Tsuyu blinked at him. “What did I do?”
“More than you know,” he answered. His eyes drifted over to her arm and he felt a new wave of guilt and self-loathing wash over him. “Tsuyu, I-”
“It’s okay, Izuchan,” she said calmly. How she could stay calm when her arm was like that was a mystery to him.
Tears began to flow down his face. “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t tried to talk him down, if we had just attacked and I didn’t get thrown to the side, you wouldn’t be like this.”
His quirk may have been quieter, but it was still growling in the back of his mind. There was no escaping his instincts.
“I promised to protect you,” he said softly as he looked down at the deck in shame. “I told you that I would keep you safe, and I failed. I-”
His eyes went wide as he felt her begin to gently pet one of his horns.
“It’s okay,” she repeated as he slowly moved his gaze up to look her in the eyes. “I think it’s really heroic to try and use words instead of violence first. Sure, it didn’t work out this time, but it worked at the USJ. You saved my life, Izuchan, don’t you remember?”
Izuku nodded slowly. How could he forget?
“I want to be a hero,” she continued, “and that means that I’m going to get hurt sometimes. I accepted that a long time ago, and I bet you did, too. As far as I’m concerned, you did protect me. Sure, this hurts a lot, but it can be fixed. If you hadn’t stepped in, well... that can’t be fixed.”
Izuku leaned down, pressing his forehead into hers and gently wrapping one arm around her left shoulder, his hand brushing against her short hair.
“Thank you, Tsu,” he said softly and sincerely.
She ribbited happily and grew a small smile, even though he could see the pain on her face.
Izuku smiled weakly back and then laughed once, marveling sadly at how pathetic he was. “Look at me. You’re the one with a broken arm and I’m the one who’s crying about it. I’m supposed to be comforting you, not the other way around.”
Tsuyu leaned back and tapped him on the nose with her finger. “You’re gonna have to carry me to shore, so don’t think you’re not doing anything for me.”
Izuku smiled a little wider and then looked up into the sky as he heard wingbeats approaching. Coming over the rocks was Stormclaw, a pair of squid people—looking much like the woman they had captured earlier—grasped in his claw and Riptide on his back.
“I’ll take care of you, Tsu,” he said softly, but firmly as he turned back to face her, both of them still kneeling on the deck. “I promise.”
She ribbited happily again. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Notes:
See you all next time! It'll come sooner than usual!
:)
Chapter 50: New Outlooks
Summary:
New costumes, new knowledge, new fears.
Notes:
What's in a Hoard? has just reached 100,000 views! Thank you all for supporting this fic on its 50th chapter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ochako tugged at her new suit as she walked back out into the main room of the rustic gym. While she had hoped for something less skin-tight, she was still unbelievably excited about Miruko’s gift.
“I look so cool!” she chirped, looking over at the approving smirk of Miruko.
The shorter woman laughed. “Of course you do! You look like me, and I look damn cool.”
Ochako did a little spin and looked over herself again. Her torso was covered with a high-waisted black jumpsuit, while she wore white tights over her legs. Her chest had a stylized ‘U’ surrounded by a ring like Saturn, which she supposed was Miruko’s attempt at giving her a logo.
She didn’t hate it.
In true Miruko style, her legs were also covered in thigh-highs, which were fairly tough and thick, offering some protection. Her arms were covered in sleeves that left her shoulders and a little more exposed and her large cuffs had been condensed down into tough gloves that left her fingers exposed. Her belt had been shrunk and so had her neck-guard, leaving her with all her pressure-points still covered, but making her look much less… puffy.
On that same note, the biggest change was with her boots. No longer where they big, bulky things, but sleek, high-tech devices that covered most of her calves. The feet and soles were made of tough metal that meant she wouldn’t be breaking them anytime soon, like she had at the USJ.
“Are these boots really gonna be able to stop my falls?” she asked, a little concerned. She clanged one of her heels against the other calf, feeling the durable metal.
Miruko smirked. “Not as well as your old things, but they’ll get the job done. So, beyond looking badass, what do you think?”
“I feel a lot more… sleek,” she finally said.
“A lot less puffy,” Miruko mumbled. “What were you going for with your old costume? A marshmallow?”
“H-hey!”
Miruko punched her playfully on the arm. “Look, you’re gonna be a brawler, kicking ass and taking names. You can’t have those big, bulky things on you or you’re gonna get caught or something or someone is gonna use them against you. Besides, those boots are gonna leave a serious mark.”
Ochako looked down at them again, kicking the ground lightly. “I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I am!” Miruko exclaimed. “But again, those boots will help you, but they’re not the safety net your others were, nor the crutch. I did that on purpose.”
“On purpose?” Ochako repeated.
Miruko nodded, looking up at the tall woman as her ears twitched. “A lot of people know how to jump. Anyone with a strength quirk knows how to jump.” Miruko poked Ochako’s chest firmly. “Very few people know how to land … and you’re gonna learn.”
It was less of a statement, and more of a threat.
Riptide was helping to bind Tsuyu’s arm while Izuku looked over at his father, who was standing on top of one of the rocks nearby, talking into a phone. He flexed his legs and jumped up to Stormclaw as the man hung up.
“I confirmed with Recovery Girl that you can take her there to get healed up,” Hisashi said as he put his phone back in his leg pouch. The pouch was secured to a piece of highly-stretchable material, allowing it to stay on his thigh even when he transformed.
“When am I gonna get one of those?” Izuku asked, gesturing at the strap and trying not to sound nervous.
“Whenever,” Hisashi said noncommittally. “Do you want one?”
Izuku knew they weren’t cheap, but being able to carry stuff like those cuffs that Tsuyu had—not to mention his phone—would be very useful. “Yes, sir.”
Hisashi nodded, but didn’t look at him. He was continuing to stare down at the pile of four villains tied up on the ship below them.
There was a silence for several seconds, only making Izuku feel worse.
“What happened?” Hisashi asked softly, still looking down at the boat. “Judging by how subdued you are, as well as Froppy’s arm...”
Izuku took a slow, deep breath. “I lost control,” he admitted.
“How so?” Hisashi followed up calmly.
“He hurt Tsu.” Just thinking about it made his quirk growl in the back of his mind. “I was trying to do what you suggested and talk to him. I thought I had him listening, but then he smashed me into the boat and went after Tsu.”
Hisashi’s eyes fell over the dent in the side of the ship. “That’s from you? Looks like it hurt.”
“He’s stronger than he looks,” Izuku explained. “Before I could recover and get back into the fight, he grabbed Tsu, pinned her down, broke her arm and was getting ready to kill her. I… almost lost it completely. I hadn’t felt like that since the USJ; it was all I could do to not transform fully.”
Hisashi nodded, rubbing his chin. “He disrespected you.”
“I guess,” Izuku mumbled.
“He disrespected you by not listening,” Hisashi continued, still not looking at his son, “then disrespected you further by damaging your hoard. It makes sense that your instincts took exception to that.”
Izuku didn’t respond, but he knew that his father was right.
“I take it that Miss Asui stopped you?”
He nodded. “She’s just like the others. I couldn’t control myself; I was fighting as hard as I could, but my body kept moving, Defiant kept moving. Then she spoke and it was like the storm vanished without a trace.”
Hisashi finally looked over at Izuku, his face very serious. “You keep your hoard close, Izuku. Your classmates, those women, having them so close and—by nature of the career they’ve chosen—in the line of fire makes them a liability. They are easily your greatest weakness.”
Izuku gulped.
“But they are also your greatest strength,” Hisashi mused. “You’ve been able to do things and push yourself further than I was ever able to at your age because of them. If Terrorflame had attacked my class in my first year at UA, there is no way I would have been able to stand up to him like you did. I didn’t do nearly as well as you did in my first Sports Festial, nor would I have had as easy of a time stopping this villain. You’ve made spectacular strides in a short time, and I believe they can be directly attributed to your hoard.”
Izuku looked up at his father, who turned to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Dad, I just… you wouldn’t have these issues, you know? You don’t need an… escort just to walk around. What if Tsu hadn’t been there?”
Hisashi squeezed Izuku’s shoulder. “But she was there. You’ve made no mistakes that can’t be fixed, my boy. You’re walking a path that nobody has walked before. Don’t hold yourself to any other standard but your own. You have a unique struggle with high stakes; don’t be ashamed to do what you have to do, because I’m absolutely certain that you have the potential to become one of the greatest heroes of all time, Izuku.”
Izuku felt his chest tighten a little as his eyes grew wet. “H-how long have you been sitting on that one?”
Hisashi laughed, but didn’t answer.
“Hey, you two!” called Riptide from below. “She’s ready to move!”
“Be right there!” Izuku responded.
Hisashi sighed, then squeezed Izuku’s shoulder again. “And about me not having these issues, remember this, Izuku.”
He stared right into Izuku’s eyes as he spoke with grim seriousness, his own eyes glowing slightly.
“There is no such thing as a ‘nice’ dragon.”
Izuku looked up into his father’s eyes for a moment before he nodded. He slowly grew his wings and jumped down to gently pick up Tsuyu, holding her tightly in his arms before taking off again, heading for UA to get her healed.
“Come on, slow poke!” Nejire called out as she dangled her feet off the edge of the building. Next to her, Ryukyu was chuckling softly as they both watched Ashido jog up the fire escape.
“Not… all of us… can fly!” Ashido retorted as she stumbled onto the roof and leaned on a wall to catch her breath.
Ryukyu chuckled lightly. “Maybe you should work on that. Flying makes things much easier.”
Nejire smiled brightly as her eyes fell over Ashido, taking a moment to appreciate her new outfit again. Her cheongsam fluttered slightly in the wind, reminding her of Ryukyu’s own outfit, but unlike the pro’s, Ashido’s was styled roughly in the colors of her old costume; mostly in green with purple trim.
Nejire thought that the old paint-splotch design was cute, but a little gaudy.
Ryukyu had taken the idea of her boots and expanded on them, giving her elbow-length gloves with a spout useful for extending the distance she could shoot her acid, as well as knee-length boots that enhanced her mobility.
Nejire was still giggling from the memory of Ashido power-sliding between a villain’s legs earlier that day and punching him in the junk as she slid through.
All of that was accented by her cute white domino mask, which did little but emphasize her beautiful black and gold eyes.
Nejire caught herself staring a little as the woman sat down on the edge of the building next to her and Ryukyu, but she felt like she could hardly be blamed for that. While Ashido wasn’t as gifted as Nejire in the chest department, she was still a beautiful woman with an exotic allure and a very attractive body, of which she was very aware.
She still blushed a little whenever her mind drifted back to Monday night. Spotting Ashido taking nudes was a total accident, but at least she hadn’t seen Nejire quietly backing out of the room in a panic.
More importantly, her personality was even more attractive than her body, which was impressive. She was perky, energetic, passionate, excitable, and more, much like Nejire herself. She looked forward to getting to know Ashido even further, as she felt like she could become genuine friends with her.
Even further, she was no slouch when it came to heroics. She was taking all of Nejire and Ryukyu’s lessons and advice to heart and giving it her all. Her mastery over her quirk was still rudimentary, but she was very talented with what she did know how to do. She had even impressed Nejire a few times with clever applications of her acid that she hadn’t thought of before. Sure, she didn’t have the most powerful quirk—Ashido wasn't about to take down the huge villains that Nejire could—but she did a lot with what she had, and Ryukyu thought she had a lot of potential.
It became clear fairly quickly that she wasn’t the smartest person, but she was far from dumb. She seemed to be more of a ‘doing’ learner, rather than a ‘listening’ learner, which Nejire could respect, but it also meant that Ryukyu would sometimes have to explain something more than once for Ashido to understand. In the end, she had spirit and drive, which were the most important parts of being a hero. No amount of knowledge would help you when you were staring down the barrel of a villain who wanted you dead.
Ashido had begun to slow down a little the previous afternoon, but the new costume had reinvigorated her. Honestly, Nejire was impressed; she had expected Mina to begin to break much sooner, which was a testament both to her physical fitness and her drive. She expected her to tap out before the end of the week, but she was secretly cheering for her to make it all the way to Friday.
She attributed her drive, at least in part, to her partners, as she was so eager to tell Nejire when they got to talking the previous day. She was dating Greenhorn and Uraraka and Yaoyorozu, which Nejire was stunned by at first; she had never known anyone in person in a polyarmorous relationship.
She had, of course, then peppered Ashido with a thousand questions, which the woman was more than eager to answer. At first, Nejire was a little concerned that Greenhorn had gotten himself a bit of a harem, but the affectionate way that Ashido talked about Uraraka and Yaoyorozu quashed those fears. It was so endearing to hear Ashido’s passion when she talked about them.
Nejire honestly felt closer to her than she did to some people in her own class, and that was only after a couple days of spending time with her.
She gazed up into the setting sun as Ashido quitely ate the sandwich that Ryukyu had handed her for dinner. There were still a few hours left before they would call it quits and head back to the agency; Ashido would need all the energy she could get.
Ashido saw Nejire staring at her and turned to face her, smiling widely before turning back to her food.
That made Nejire smile, too.
‘Greenhorn, you’ve picked a good one.’
Izuku opened the door to their bedroom open with his tail as he carried Tsuyu in his arms. Recovery Girl had healed her up quickly, but her quirk had left his friend exhausted. Especially after the long day they had, Recovery Girl told them both that Tsuyu wasn’t to do anything the next day except rest.
“You know,” Tsuyu spoke up, “there’s something romantic about you carrying me across the threshold in a bridal carry.”
Izuku blushed a little and averted his gaze, closing the door behind them. “I-it’s not that, Tsu.”
She ribbited a little in a rough approximation of a chuckle, exhaustion clear on her face. “I can walk, you know.”
“Yeah, it’s just…”
Tsuyu leaned into him a little, resting her forehead on his chest. “You’re still feeling guilty.”
“Yeah,” Izuku admitted as he squeezed her once and then laid her on her bed. “It’s my fault that you’re like this.”
“Probably,” she ribbited, causing Izuku’s heart to sink. “But that’s okay. You’re not perfect. Nobody is. One day, I’ll mess up and cause you to get hurt. I hope you won’t hold it against me when I do.”
Izuku stared at Tsuyu for a few moments, his quirk flowing in the back of his head. “I wouldn’t, and you’re telling me that you’re not holding it against me." He smiled softly. "Still, I insist on taking care of you.”
“That’s fine,” Tsuyu said, her tongue reaching out and tapping him on the nose. “I’ll insist on taking care of you when you’re hurt.”
Izuku smiled a little wider as he rubbed his nose.
“But I think there’s something you need to tell me, Izuchan.”
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he pulled up a chair and sat down. “I do, yes.”
Tsuyu looked up at him patiently, scooting back a little on the bed so she could sit up against her pillows.
“My quirk is powerful, Tsu,” Izuku began, “I don’t think anyone would argue that. However, it’s not as simple as it seems. My quirk comes with a powerful mental aspect that we call ‘instincts’.”
Tsuyu perked up a little, her head tilting as she put a finger to her chin.
“The dragon transformation puts an incredible strain on my body,” Izuku continued. “As Recovery Girl put it, human brains ‘aren’t equipped to pilot flying lizards the size of small buildings,’ which is where that mental aspect comes in. My quirk essentially powers parts of my brain.”
Tsuyu’s eyes glinted in recognition. “That’s why it hurt so bad when Aizawa shut your quirk off at the USJ.”
Izuku paused for a moment, looking down at Tsuyu and smiling. “Exactly right. When I transform, my quirk has to run more of my brain, especially when I get closer to a full transformation. But my instincts aren’t just passive bystanders. They control part of my brain, which means they control part of my mind. I have… dark thoughts because of them.”
“You have another voice in your mind?” she asked.
Izuku moved his head around weakly. “Yes and no. It’s not a second person, but it’s not necessarily me. The best way I can describe it is that it’s myself, but through a filter; that filter being my quirk.”
Tsuyu tilted her head a little more.
Izuku smiled weakly. “It’s confusing, I know. I’m sure if you talk to Mina, Ochako, or Mo, they’d be able to help you understand. Everyone in my family has these instincts, but they vary from person to person, largely based on their quirk. My family can be divided into two categories: metallic and chromatic. Good and evil.”
“Evil?” Tsuyu repeated, her brow furrowing the smallest amount.
Izuku nodded. He wasn’t as distraught about his quirk as he used to be; Mina and Ochako and more recently, Momo, had helped him believe in himself, but there was still that deep-seated fear that he didn't think would ever go away. “Metallic dragons include bronze, gold, and copper, like my father, uncle and cousin. Chromatic dragons include blue, red, and green, like Fulgurite, Terrorflame… and myself.”
“What do you mean by evil, though?” Tsuyu asked. “You don’t seem evil at all.”
Izuku smiled a little. “Thank you. I'd like to think I'm not evil, but my instincts definitely are, at least at their base level. They make me think terrible things and if I’m not careful, they can make me do terrible things.”
“Like what you were going to do to that villain?”
“Yeah,” Izuku admitted with a sigh. “To properly use my quirk, I have to become one with my instincts. To be at my peak, Izuku and my instincts cease to be and form something new. A new persona, a new person . His name is Defiant.”
Tsuyu was, by all accounts, taking all this rather well. She blinked once, still listening closely. “Your hero name.”
“Defiant isn’t me, nor is he my instincts. He is both, yet neither. It’s confusing, even for me sometimes, but that’s how it is. Sometimes… I can’t control it. When Defiant saw you get hurt, the only thought on his mind was revenge. I had to punish him for hurting my hoard.”
Tsuyu blinked again. “Hoard? Like a big pile of gold coins that you lie on?”
“Not quite,” Izuku chuckled. “A big part of our instincts is our drive to constantly grow our hoards. We all love to hoard wealth, but we all have one thing that we hoard above all else. You saw my father’s hoard; he loves underwater treasures and historical artifacts, but I hoard something different.”
Izuku looked directly into Tsuyu’s big, beautiful eyes. “My collection is people. You are a part of my hoard. You and everyone else in our class.”
Then Tsuyu did something that surprised him. She smiled widely. “That’s sweet.”
“Sweet?” Izuku repeated, a little confused.
“That’s why you protected us at the USJ, right?” Tsuyu asked. “That’s why you pushed yourself so hard at the Sports Festival and why you went around and double checked everyone’s internship choices. You’re driven to protect us.”
Now it was Izuku’s turn to blink. “I… yes. How did you…?”
“It makes sense,” Tsuyu added. “You’re not the only one with ‘instincts’.”
Izuku’s stare became intense. “What do you mean?”
Tsuyu continued in her normal flat tone. “While they’re not the same, nor are they nearly as strong, I completely understand something different in your mind influencing you. I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’m a little different than most people.”
He nodded firmly.
“When I first saw you in transform at the USJ, my mind was yelling ‘predator’ at me. You looked like an alligator or something, which made that froggy part of my brain want me to run away.”
Izuku felt his heart drop again. “I don’t mean to scare you.”
“You don’t scare me anymore, Izuchan,” she said calmly. “I know you’ll protect me and that you’re my friend. I just want you to know that I understand what you’re going through, at least to a point.”
Izuku looked down, but smiled a little. “I hadn’t thought about it like that, but it makes sense now. Thank you again, Tsu.”
“But what happened earlier?” she asked suddenly. “With the villain. You said you lost control, but then you seemed to gain it back.”
Izuku looked back up at her. “That was you. You saved me.”
“Me?” she asked, seemingly a little surprised for the first time.
He nodded again. “As part of my precious hoard, you are incredibly important to me. I want you to be safe, protected, strong, and happy. That gives you… a degree of power over me. When Defiant heard you sound scared and worried, he listened. As soon as he began to attack the villain, I tried to regain control, but my instincts were too strong. It was a terrifying thing, pulling against myself. I felt like my mind was going to break.”
He looked over at her, a small glint of wetness in his eyes. “Then you called my name. Defiant heard you and his rage faded. He knocked the villain out and let go, allowing me to take back control.”
Tsuyu tilted her head again. “Izuchan?”
“It’s the nickname,” Izuku mused softly. “It’s always the nickname. It’s the same thing with Ochako, Mina, and Mo. Deku, Midori, Zu; that’s what lets them help me, control me, save me. It’s not just any nickname, either. It only works if it comes from someone… special to me.”
“I’m special to you?” she asked.
He smiled softly, looking down again. “You are. I admire you for a lot of things, such as your skill with your quirk and your ability in the water. I think you’re… a beautiful and attractive woman, but most of all, I admire your ability to stay calm and collected. In fact, my admiration over that is almost at the point of envy. All I’ve ever wanted is to be able to not worry about my instincts overtaking me. It’s a constant struggle that I’m always afraid I’ll finally lose.”
He looked up at her sadly. “That’s the truth, Tsu. I need help from others, or my instincts will win.”
“I’ll help you,” she said immediately.
“Just like that?”
Her tongue reached out and wrapped around his wrist, pulling it up to her head. Almost without thinking, he began to tussle her newly-shortened hair, causing her to smile widely.
“I already told you that I’ll take care of you. You protect me, I’ll protect you.” She reached up and grabbed his hand, bringing it down and holding it between her own, rubbing her thumbs gently around the back of it. “That’s what heroes do, and that’s what friends do. Thank you for sharing your secret with me, Izuchan, I’ll be there for you, I promise.”
Izuku couldn’t take it anymore and moved forward, wrapping his other arm around her and pulling her in for a tight hug. Her arms moved around him, squeezing him as tight as she could and making him feel her affection. His fingers traced over her defined, powerful back muscles and his sensitive nose fully took in the smell of her hair.
“Thank you. I’ll be there for you, too.”
The television crackled to life, making Tomura jump slightly.
“Tomura Shigaraki.”
“Master.”
“Are you ready to proceed?”
Tomura scratched at his neck. “I’ve been ready since Saturday.” That was when Giran had told them that everything was in place, after all. Tomura had been going stir-crazy ever since, waiting for the signal.
A pause. “Watch your tone.”
A slip. “I apologize, Master, but I have to ask; why did we wait so long?”
A chuckle. “We will only get one shot at this, as we were only able to move the pieces into place because of the heroes’ negligence. After this attack, they will be too vigilant for it to work again, especially on a scale like this, and I would hate to waste the fine doctor’s work. We had to wait until a big enough prize fell into our trap.”
Tomura’s heart rate picked up. “All Might?”
“Unfortunately, no. All Might is too busy parading his new intern around Tokyo, which had far too high of security for us to attempt our plan. However, Stain has proved quite useful in drawing a different fly to Hosu. Endeavor is in the city.”
Tomura scratched a little harder. “The number two, eh? Then I’m going now?”
“No.”
He grumbled.
“It is too late in the day for it to be the most effective. Tonight, you will find the Hero Killer and attempt to recruit him to our cause. You will execute our plan tomorrow at noon.”
“Recruit him?” Tomura asked. “Why?”
“Figure that out for yourself.”
The television disconnected.
Notes:
See you all next time as What's in a Hoard Month continues!
:)
Chapter 51: Tick Tick Boom
Summary:
The League makes their move.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku opened his phone as he lay in his bed, listening to Tsuyu's calm breathing. She had fallen asleep almost as soon as Izuku had released his hug, for which he could hardly blame her.
He opened up the chatroom he and his girlfriends shared, which Mina currently had named "Separation Anxiety can Kiss My Ass".
Hottest Piece of Ass at UA: So, how was your guys day?
Hottest Piece of Ass at UA: Oh my god Mina why
Queen Bitch: Hey hey Midori!
Hottest Piece of Ass at UA has changed their name to Izuku
Queen Bitch: Awww that was a great name!
Izuku: You being the admin of this chat was a mistake
Queen Bitch: I guess you’re right, that title probably belongs to me
Queen Bitch: and it was not! I run this chat like a well oiled machine
Tall GF: Is that what it is?
Tall GF: Oh
Queen Bitch: Don’t you do it
Tall GF has changed their name to Ochako
Izuku: I hate to see what you called Mo
Queen Bitch: …
Tall GF 2: What do you mean ‘what you called Mo’?
Izuku: ...
Ochako: Okay, that’s kinda funny
Tall GF 2: …
Tall GF 2: I’m keeping it
Queen Bitch: See?! Momo gets it
Queen Bitch: At least get something more than your names, that’s so booooooooorinnnng
Ochako: Uh…
Ochako has changed their name to Miruko Cosplayer
Izuku: It’s been a long day, I got nothing
Queen Bitch: That’s okay baby I got you
Izuku: I am afraid
Queen Bitch has changed Izuku’s name to Frogfucker
Frogfucker: MINA NO
Tall GF 2: Oh my
Queen Bitch: Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine
Miruko Cosplayer: pffffft
Queen Bitch has changed Frogfucker’s name to Bad Dragon
Queen Bitch has changed Bad Dragon’s name to Big Dragon
Queen Bitch: Sorry typo
Tall GF 2: MINA
Big Dragon: I guess this is fine
Queen Bitch: Oh wait
Queen Bitch has changed Big Dragon’s name to BDOC
Queen Bitch: The D stands for dragon
Tall GF 2: I don’t know why you needed to clarify that
Miruko Cosplayer: cough
BDOC: Anyway
BDOC: Ochako that name
BDOC: Did you get your costume?
Miruko Cosplayer: See for yourself!
Miruko Cosplayer has sent an image
Izuku’s eyes went wide as the picture loaded, showing off her new Miruko-inspired costume. He felt his quirk growl in approval and a tightness grow in his chest as he ran his eyes over the way the costume emphasized her body.
BDOC: Oh my god
Tall GF 2: Oh my god
Queen Bitch: I can’t believe I have to wait until Saturday to have you crush my head between those thighs
Tall GF 2: …
BDOC: Big same
Miruko Cosplayer: Thanks guys
Tall GF 2: …
Miruko Cosplayer: I’m blushing so hard rn
Queen Bitch: Its okay Momo this is a safe space, you can be horny here
Tall GF 2: I don’t know if my thoughts are appropriate for this chat
Queen Bitch: Those sound like exactly the type of thoughts I want to hear
Miruko Cosplayer: Momo I want to kiss you so badly
BDOC: Also same
BDOC: But Ochako that's pretty bold for you
Miruko Cosplayer: I guess Miruko is rubbing off of me
Queen Bitch: I know I want to rub on you
BDOC: Can anyone else change the name of the chat?
BDOC has changed the chatroom’s name to Real Horny Mina Hours
BDOC: neat
Queen Bitch: Rude
Queen Bitch: But also very true
Queen Bitch has sent an image
Mina had sent a picture of herself in the mirror, showing off her own new costume. The slit in the cheongsam exposed and emphasized her healthy, toned thighs and generous backside, which was further highlighted by her pulling her shorts halfway down and exposing her supple pink skin.
Izuku flexed his quirk across his legs out of reflex.
BDOC: Oh my god
Miruko Cosplayer: Oh my god
Queen Bitch: HA! Now you’re all horny too
Queen Bitch: What do you think Momo
Tall GF 2: You won’t judge me, right?
BDOC: Never
Miruko Cosplayer: No
Queen Bitch: Nope
Tall GF 2: Okay...
Tall GF 2: Mina I think I want to spank you
BDOC: Mo
Miruko Cosplayer: I can’t blame you, that’s a whole lotta butt
Queen Bitch: And here I thought I couldn’t get hornier
BDOC: Mo I love you so much
Miruko Cosplayer: Mina you can always get hornier
Tall GF 2: I almost threw my phone across the room after I typed that
Queen Bitch: Saturday can't come soon enough
BDOC: Okay, sorry to bring the mood down but I gotta change the subject
BDOC: Uh, how was your guys days
Miruko Cosplayer: It was good
Queen Bitch: Ryukyu and Hadou are monsters
Miruko Cosplayer: I have new bruises on top of my old bruises but I feel like I’m learning a lot
Queen Bitch: Midori how do you keep up with these women
Queen Bitch: I hurt in places I didn't know I had and they barely look tired
Miruko Cosplayer: She’s teaching me how to land so I don't rely on my boots as much
Queen Bitch: Momo are you typing a novel there
Miruko Cosplayer: We went on patrol today and she had to hold back pretty hard to let me keep up but seeing her in action is amazing
Queen Bitch: Oh I totally punched a villain in the jingle bells today it was awesome
Tall GF 2: Sir Nighteye is a stern, but effective teacher. I have so far avoided being subjected to the ‘Tickle Machine’, perhaps because I threatened to press charges if he did. He’s helped me think about things that I hadn’t ever done before and pointed me toward some new creations that could help shore up some weakness he’s identified. On the other hand, Togata is one of the nicest men I’ve ever met. He’s a shining example of what a hero should be and he’s helped me notice some other problems I have. Their experience is invaluable and I can’t wait to show you all what I’ve learned.
Queen Bitch: Oh you were typing a novel
Miruko Cosplayer: ‘The jingle bells?’
BDOC: That sounds amazing, Mo
Queen Bitch: He deserved it, don’t worry
Miruko Cosplayer: How did your day go, Deku?
Tall GF 2: Yes, I’m curious as well. How is Tsu doing?
BDOC: Uh… well…
Queen Bitch: Spill it, Midori
BDOC: Let’s say that Mina won the bet.
Tall GF 2: Bet?
Miruko Cosplayer: Oh about telling her your secret?
Queen Bitch: What happened.
BDOC: Well, we just got back from UA, actually. I had to take her to RG for healing
Tall GF 2: Oh no!
Miruko Cosplayer: Did something happen?
Queen Bitch: Are you okay?
BDOC: I’m fine, thanks to Tsu
BDOC: I had another episode
Tall GF 2: You mean…?
BDOC: Defiant got out of hand, yeah
Miruko Cosplayer: Explain. Now.
Queen Bitch: ...
Tall GF 2: He’s been typing a while
Queen Bitch: I can’t take the suspense
BDOC: We got a report about a group of pirates and we went out after them. Turns out they split up, so we had to split up too to find them. Tsuyu and I found a sinking ship and she rescued the crew inside, but got trapped as the ship collapsed. I saved her, but I had to cut her hair to do so. We got back on the trail of the pirates and found the leader. We grabbed his henchwoman and tied her up, then went to confront him. I tried to talk to him and get him to abandon the cargo, but he surprised me and smashed me into the side of the boat. By the time I got back to my feet and got my bearings, he had broken Tsuyu’s arm and was threatening her life.
BDOC: I lost control
Miruko Cosplayer: That’s horrible!
Tall GF 2: What happened?
Tall GF 2: Wait
Tall GF 2: Tsu stopped you, didn’t she?
Queen Bitch: >“I’m fine, thanks to Tsu”
BDOC: I was about to maybe kill that villain when yeah, she stopped me.
BDOC: It’s the nickname again
Miruko Cosplayer: Izuchan
Queen Bitch: Thank god for Tsu
Tall GF 2: I’m so sorry that happened to you
Miruko Cosplayer: I’m sorry we weren’t there to help, but I’m so happy Tsu was able to
BDOC: I didn’t know if my instincts would latch onto her before this week, but they’ve… yeah
BDOC: She’s claimed. Hard.
Tall GF 2: So she knows everything?
BDOC: Basically, yeah
Tall GF 2: Does this mean that she’s going to be joining the relationship?
Queen Bitch: Only if we all agree to it
Miruko Cosplayer: That includes you, Momo
Tall GF 2: Really? But I’m so new, I’d hate to get in your way
Queen Bitch: Say something like that again and I will get Ryukyu to fly me over there so I can slap you
BDOC: You’re as important as anyone else. There’s no seniority or anything here
Miruko Cosplayer: We wouldn’t do anything like that without your ok. You’re part of our team now
Tall GF 2: I’m not sure if I deserve it, but thank you
Queen Bitch: THAT’S IT I’M WAKING UP RYUKYU
Tall GF 2: Please don’t! I’m sorry
BDOC: All in favor of cuddling Mo all day on Saturday
Miruko Cosplayer: Aye
Queen Bitch: Aye
Queen Bitch: The spanking can wait
BDOC: bangs gavel
BDOC: The motion passes
Tall GF 2: I’m actually tearing up a little right now.
BDOC: I love you, Mo. I mean it.
Miruko Cosplayer: We’re not your girlfriends for show
Queen Bitch: Exactly! You don’t have to have your walls up around us
Tall GF 2: Thank you all
Queen Bitch: I’m gonna hug the shit out of you when I see you next
Miruko Cosplayer: You’re gonna have to beat me there
Tall GF 2: I think there’s enough of me for all of you
Queen Bitch: Careful what you say, I have quite the appetite
Miruko Cosplayer: So does Deku
Tall GF 2: And you don’t? I saw you Sunday morning
Queen Bitch: OH HO! I like this Momo
BDOC: I’m gonna have to wake up early tomorrow…
Queen Bitch: Ha! We made the dragon horny
Miruko Cosplayer: Hornier*
Tall GF 2: My heart is actually pounding a little, this is exhilarating.
Miruko Cosplayer: Good!
Tall GF 2: Zu, what did you mean when you said you cut Tsu’s hair?
Queen Bitch: Don’t think I don’t notice you changing the subject
BDOC: Her hair got caught on something and I had to cut it off to get her free or she might’ve been crushed
Miruko Cosplayer: Such a hero
Queen Bitch: Chalk up another life he’s saved
Tall GF 2: What is he up to now? It has to at least be over 6
BDOC: Please don’t keep track of that, you’ve all saved me too
Miruko Cosplayer: That includes Tsu now!
Queen Bitch: How short is it?
BDOC: A bit shorter than her shoulders
Tall GF 2: Aw, that sounds adorable
Miruko Cosplayer: Show us a picture!
BDOC: I don’t have any
Queen Bitch: Didn’t you say you were sharing a room?
BDOC: I’m not taking a picture of her sleeping
Tall GF 2: Tomorrow then.
Miruko Cosplayer: Speaking of tomorrow, we should probably get to bed
BDOC: Agreed, I’m exhausted
Miruko Cosplayer: Goodnight everyone
BDOC: Goodnight
Tall GF 2: Goodnight!
Queen Bitch: I’m serious about that spanking
Miruko Cosplayer: Mina .
Queen Bitch: Goodnight!
Izuku smiled softly, feeling much better as he put his phone on the bedside table and rolled over to go to sleep.
Hopefully tomorrow would be a less exciting day.
Chizome heard a noise behind him in the alleyway, causing him to spin around and draw one of his swords in one motion. His eyes landed on a black and purple wormhole swirling lazily behind him, making him take a cautionary step back as he prepared to move.
The wormhole coalesced into a vaguely humanoid shape as a misty man wearing a tidy suit stood before him, his glowing yellow eyes staring straight at Chizome.
“Who are you?” Chizome spat, gripping a knife behind his back tightly.
The man bowed slightly. “My name is Kurogiri, and I have come here on behalf of my associate, Tomura Shigaraki. He wishes to speak with you and make you an offer. Should you refuse, I will return you here.”
Chizome narrowed his eyes and stared the man down, watching for any crack in his facade.
“Fine,” he said sharply, sheathing his sword. “But if you betray me, you will not live to regret it.”
The man nodded and opened up another gate, allowing Chizome to step through into a small, dimly-lit bar. It was mostly empty, save for a glowing television in the back of the room and a dirty, blue-haired man sitting at the bar with what appeared to be a hand stuck to his face.
“You must be Shigaraki,” Chizome growled as Kurogiri reformed behind the bar.
“Stain,” the man hissed. “The so-called ‘Hero Killer’.”
Chizome narrowed his eyes, staring down the shorter man. “What do you want? I’m only here to sate my curiosity.”
The man swiveled on the barstool so he was facing Chizome. “I want you to join my party.”
“Your party.”
“Yeah,” Shigaraki sneered. “My group. My League of Villains.”
Chizome grit his teeth and one of his hands drifted down to his knife. “You’re a villain? To what end?”
“To what end?” Shigaraki repeated. “Right now, I want to kill All Might. I want to destroy anything that pisses me off, like this bastard.”
He held up a picture of a green-haired man with horns growing from his forehead.
Not just any man.
A Midoriya.
Chizome knew of him. He had his eye on him since the festival. He knew his whole family well.
The Dragons .
Fakes, all of them. They cared for money, first and foremost. Sure, they made a showing of acting noble in front of the public, but he could tell.
He saw the ways their eyes glowed when money was mentioned in interviews or in passing. He saw it in the subtle ticks on their faces and the way they spoke.
Chizome doubted the boy was any better.
“I was a fool to come here,” Chizome snarled. “Your motivations are that of a child. What meaning is there to killing without real conviction? Scum like you is the worst in this society.”
“Kurogiri,” another voice began firmly, coming from the television in the back of the room, “if he makes a move, return him to Hosu.”
“Yes, Master.”
His eyes snapped to the glowing screen and then back to Shigaraki. Who could that be behind the curtain?
Did it matter?
Shigaraki narrowed his eyes as his fingers twitched. “Hey, hey. You’re a villain, just like me.”
“I am nothing like you,” Chizome spat back. “My purge is for the sake of a stronger society. You are throwing a tantrum, lashing out at anything that angers you.”
“You’re really starting to piss me off,” Shigaraki growled.
“The shams that make up this society...” Chizome continued. “The only thing worse is criminals who wield their power in the name of petty mischief.”
He gripped a knife in each hand and stepped forward.
Suddenly, his world went black and he found himself standing in that same dark alleyway in Hosu. The portal closed up behind him as Chizome glared at it, sheathing his knives and turning to continue his hunt.
Chizome wasn’t planning on killing Shigaraki, at least not at first. There were hints of conviction in his eye, but he was trapped beneath layers of petulance and foolishness. Men revealed their true nature when faced with death; he had hoped to break through to the seeds of purpose buried deep within Shigaraki, but it wasn’t to be.
He huffed as he began to climb up a building. Perhaps the ‘Master’ behind the screen didn’t want Shigaraki hurt.
Or maybe he didn’t want him to think.
It was a little before noon the next day when Kurogiri and Shigaraki stepped onto a high rooftop overlooking Hosu.
“Look at them,” Shigaraki said with a low laugh. “Pathetic, disgusting people going about their lives, completely unaware that their doom lurks all around them.”
Kurogiri looked down at the man, watching as he began to laugh his high-pitched, raspy cackle. Shigaraki cared for little but wanton violence and, while the original plan was to see if Stain could instill growth in the man, Master had apparently undergone a change of heart.
He seemed to have had many of those recently.
Master had told Shigaraki afterwards that Stain was an unhinged and unpredictable fanatic and he couldn’t risk him injuring or killing Shigaraki. Kurogiri had some reservations, but he kept them to himself and Shigaraki seemed to accept that excuse without hesitation.
However, there was something else that was bothering Kurogiri. In the past, Master had shared much with Kurogiri, even past what was strictly necessary. He saw the wisdom in Kurogiri understanding the bigger picture and knowing where they were heading.
But in the past few weeks, he had become much more tight-lipped. Kurogiri assumed it was because of the abject failure at the USJ, for which he took full responsibility. If he hadn’t let that student escape, the plan wouldn’t have gone off the rails so terribly.
Kurogiri humbly accepted his punishment without complaint. It would be foolish to question his plans.
However, it did leave him quite curious at the present, and he couldn’t help but inquire.
“Shigaraki, what exactly is going on?” he asked directly.
The man turned around suddenly. “What do you mean?”
“Master has not divulged what the plan here in Hosu actually is ,” Kurogiri clarified.
Understandably, this surprised Shigaraki. “Wait, Master hasn’t told you? Why not?”
“Perhaps he wanted you to tell me,” Kurogiri offered. It was a weak lie, but Shigaraki trusted him almost implicitly. Besides, he wagered the entire world would know the secret soon enough.
Shigaraki blinked once. “Hmm. That makes sense. Master wants me to handle more of the leadership stuff… yeah, that must be it.”
He turned back around and looked over Hosu. “The doctor did two things with Trigger. First, he figured out a way to make it into a gas. Second, he managed to make it last much longer, although Master says it won’t be nearly as effective as the normal stuff. But that’s not everything he did.”
Kurogiri’s eyes widened slightly.
“Do you ever play old games?” Shigaraki asked. “Or read old comics?”
“I do not.”
Shigaraki let out a sinister chuckle. “This next part reminds me of a game I played when I was younger. It was based off a comic book series from the 1900s. You see, the doctor created another drug. Another gas.”
He turned and looked up at Kurogiri, a sadistic smile on his face. “Let’s call it a ‘fear toxin’.”
Kurogiri began to understand. “Judging from that name, it’s something to cause madness and hallucinations in those that inhale it?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Shigaraki answered, turning away again. “Master packed both gasses into these canisters and had me talk to Giran about hiding them in strategic locations all over Hosu, where the population is greatest. With all the smuggling that goes on and all the other villains running around, nobody noticed them.”
Shigaraki reached into his pocket and pulled out a small detonator, tugging at the cap with his thumb. “They’re just sitting there, waiting for the signal. Waiting for my signal.”
He threw his head back in laughter, his manic grin bared wide into the sky. “What will the heroes do when the ones they’re trying to save are the ones they’re trying to stop? Their precious quirks that make them who they are… What will they do when those quirks betray them?”
Shigaraki began to cackle, his grin somehow becoming wider.
Kurogiri was impressed with the scope of Master’s plans, but it just further solidified how much of his trust he had lost, that he wouldn’t share that with him.
Shigaraki stopped laughing and slowly looked over the city again, his fingers dancing over the trigger, but he didn’t press it.
“What are you waiting for?” Kurogiri asked curiously. Of the few virtues that Shigaraki possessed, patience was not among them.
Shigaraki reached into his other pocket and pulled out a simple phone—quite clearly a burner—and waved it knowingly. “I’m waiting on the signal. We have to make sure Endeavor is caught in one of the blasts. Master says the stuff will disperse and become inert too quickly to take that chance.”
As if on cue, the phone buzzed. Kurogiri approached to read over Shigaraki’s shoulder, where he saw a text from an unknown number.
‘Soon’
“He must be near one of the bombs,” Kurogiri mused.
Shigaraki’s fingers twitched nervously around the trigger, clearly getting impatient.
They waited a few minutes in tense silence before the phone buzzed again.
‘Now’
Shigaraki flipped open the cap of the detonator and pressed the button.
Suddenly, all around them and throughout the city, small explosions began to fire off. The distant screaming and shouting began in earnest, accented by the dark purple clouds beginning to ooze over the city.
Shigaraki closed both of his hands, disintegrating both the phone and the detonator as his maniacal laughter began again.
As the clouds loomed closer to them, Kurogiri teleported both of them back to the bar to await the destruction of Hosu.
Pony and Kendou slumped down on the couches in the dressing room after the eighth take of that damned commercial.
She felt like she had tousled and tossed her hair more today than she had her entire life.
Pony reached into her bag and pulled out her phone, hoping she would have a few minutes before Uwabami called them in for another retake or more autographs or something.
She furrowed her brow. Why did she have so many notifications? Most were from the chat group that she shared with the other 1-A girls.
However, she only began to read over a message sent by Kyouka before the door to the dressing room flew open violently.
Uwabami was standing there, looking far more serious than Pony had ever seen her.
“Get changed into your hero uniforms, now ,” she ordered firmly, causing Pony and Kendou to hesitate out of surprise. “There’s been a massive villain attack on Hosu and the government has put out an All-Heroes Bulletin. Every hero available is to converge on Hosu immediately to contain and control the situation.”
Pony’s eyes widened. That must be what the other women had been talking about in the chat room.
Uwabami’s snakes coiled and hissed, clearly agitated and stressed; a reflection of the woman herself.
“This is serious. Hurry. Now !”
Pony and Kendou unfroze, scrambling for their costumes as fast as they could.
Notes:
See you next time!
:)
Chapter 52: The Fires of Hosu
Summary:
The city burns.
Notes:
Apologies for the long delay on this chapter. The holidays are a busy time for many, myself included. I'm hoping to get at least 2 more chapters out by January 1st, but we'll see.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“So, what is this crap?” Young Bakugou asked as they stood on top of a building a few blocks outside of Hosu.
There had been a terrible gas attack on Hosu an hour ago and they were waiting for the all-clear so they could enter and begin rescue operations. All around the city were hundreds of heroes and more were arriving every minute, but sending anyone into the city while the gas was still there would just be making things worse. From what he could see, the gas had long ago dispersed, but the crews on site were making sure before allowing anyone inside.
Toshinori wished they would hurry up; it hurt to look at the city and not being able to help was making it worse. Flames were burning all across the horizon, to the point that the sun was being blocked out, which only made the bright fires stand out more against the haze.
“Do you know what Trigger is, Young Bakugou?” Toshinori asked casually.
To his surprise, his intern scoffed. “Yeah. It’s that drug that makes you nuts but supercharges your quirk.”
Toshinori nodded, rubbing his chin. “They don’t know what it is exactly, but the team I talked to told me that one part of this gas is undeniably Trigger.”
“So there’s a bunch of civilians tweaking out on quirk boosters in there,” Young Bakugou responded harshly. “It sucks that we can’t help them yet, but I’m glad we’re waiting. I don’t want to get touched by that stuff.”
Toshinori’s eyebrow raised slightly. “You know, there was talk a few years back about legalizing the stuff. It would be regulated by the government, of course, but there was serious support for it. The proponents argued that at the very least, research should be legalized so the negative side-effects could be reduced or removed entirely. It never got anywhere, for better or for worse.”
“For better,” Young Bakugou mumbled.
“You wouldn’t want a power boost?” Toshinori asked, wanting to gauge his reaction.
Young Bakugou didn’t even pause to think. “Hell no. I worked for my strength; I don’t take shortcuts or handouts. Any power I have, I’ve earned, and that’s the way I like it. Anything else would make me feel like a fake.”
“Hmm,” Toshinori mused, rubbing his chin as he looked over the raging flames, not giving his intern any tangible reaction.
Just then, his phone buzzed. Toshinori reached into one of his belt pouches and pulled it out, spotting a message from Sorahiko.
‘I’m keeping the boy away from Hosu. I trust you to pick up my slack.’
Toshinori nodded to himself and tucked the phone back away. It was smart for Sorahiko to keep Young Iida back; there was too much at risk with Stain still reported in the area. He shuddered to think how dangerous and unhinged the Hero Killer could be if he was affected by the gas.
He heard a commotion down below and walked to the edge of the building, glancing down to see a space being cleared in the middle of the street. There was a shorter man standing in the center of the clearing wearing a heavy cloak that was split down the middle, half-black and half-white. His face and body were split perfectly down the middle in the same way, white hair and black hair flowing from the middle of his head, and a pure white and pure black eye gazing forward.
Toshinori knew exactly why he was here. “Young Bakugou!” he called, waving the student over. “Have you ever seen the Gemini Hero at work?”
“No,” Young Bakugou answered as he approached the edge of the building and looked down at the man. “Is that Castor or Pollux?”
“Cas-” Toshinori began, before pausing. “No, I think it’s Pollux. I think he’s the one with the black right side. Or is it the other way around? I can never remember.”
Young Bakugou huffed in a rough approximation of dry laughter as they watched the hero’s left side begin to glow. He reached out, light pouring from him as a small, shining portal formed in front of him. A second hand, jet black and letting off a disorienting dark light, appeared in the portal—the left hand of the hero’s twin brother—and clasped the white hand.
Suddenly, there was a massive burst of light as the portal grew to nearly fifty feet wide, creating a shimmering white disk in the middle of the street. Nothing could be seen through the portal except for the form of the Gemini Heroes, one black and white, and the other white and black, holding hands firmly as the power poured from them.
Then people began to walk out of the light, stepping into the dismal smog on the outskirts of the burning city. He saw hero after hero appear, each from the northern end of Japan, including Purifier, who was followed closely by Young Todoroki.
He had heard that Endeavor was in the city when the attack happened; it was good that Purifier was here.
Toshinori didn’t want to think about what would have become of the number two hero if he had been caught by that hellish gas.
Once all the heroes had passed through the portal, the Gemini Heroes unclasped their hands and the glowing disk vanished. A few more minutes passed as the new arrivals took places outside the police line, each of them getting antsier every moment, just like everyone else.
The screech of a megaphone cut through the tense atmosphere as all eyes turned to a police captain standing on top of a car.
“Listen carefully!” the woman called, loudly enough for anyone nearby to hear. “The gas has dispersed and we are ready to allow you into the city for containment and rescue. It appears that the gas has caused anyone who inhaled it to experience hallucinations and psychosis, as well as amplifying their quirk. There’s no way for us to get an antidote this quickly, so we have to try and keep the people trapped inside from hurting themselves or others as best we can.”
The woman pointed to several nearby cases filled with small steel tubes. “We do have sedatives, but our supply is limited. Please restrain who you can and save the sedatives for individuals with exceptionally powerful and uncontrollable quirks. Once I’m done speaking, please all come and take one before you head inside Hosu.”
The captain looked around a little, her eyes lingering on Toshinori for just a moment, which seemed to bolster her nerves. “Now, there are a lot of you here, so there is no need to do anything risky! If you encounter someone with a quirk you can’t handle, please fall back and try to contain the situation until someone more suited arrives. We don’t need any of you getting hurt; we’re here to help people, not for glory.”
“That’s all. Stay safe and good luck.”
Hisashi grabbed two syringes, handing one to Izuku as they began to follow the rest of the heroes pouring into Hosu, now that the police had lifted the quarantine. Asui was still under strict orders from Recovery Girl to rest, so they had left her behind, despite the woman’s protests.
The two had arrived on the west side of Hosu and there weren’t a whole lot of other bigger-name heroes in the area, other than Mt. Lady. He would have expected Endeavor to be there, except he knew that the number two was already in the city when the attack began.
He hoped that Hatsuo had decided to come; there were few others who could stand up to Endeavor’s Hellflame.
There was something inspiring about the giant mass of heroes, all coming together to work toward a single goal. The last time he had seen anything like it was when the last All-Heroes Bulletin was put out, during the final, climactic battle that had brought Terrorflame down.
They jogged with the mass of heroes toward the heart of the city, the horde thinning as people broke off and spread throughout the city. Hisashi wanted to fly, but with all the smoke in the air, it was too dangerous, so both he and his son were grounded for the time being.
Regardless, his instincts were riding high. An added benefit of an All-Heroes Bulletin was the increased pay that it offered. These sorts of disasters were thankfully few and far between, but when they did happen, the government spared no expense making sure all the heroes were properly rewarded. While Stormclaw hadn’t been in the top ten in many years, he was still ranked well-enough to be ensured a solid bonus from the night, assuming all went well.
He glanced down at his son, whose eyes were glowing almost as brightly as his were as they moved together, their quirks pushing their legs to make them run faster and jump higher. Izuku was being driven by something else, as he wasn’t being paid. Hisashi couldn’t say for certain, but he suspected it was a desire to prove himself, both to himself, to Hisashi, and to the world at large.
In many ways, he had failed his ‘debut’ the previous day. If it hadn’t been for Asui, he might have seriously hurt that villain—who he had learned was named Innsmouth—in a way that he couldn’t justify or explain. Izuku hadn’t said as much, but Hisashi inferred that his son was worried that he might have even killed the villain.
Either of those would have likely brought an end to Izuku’s aspiring hero dreams.
However, in other ways, he had succeeded admirably. Those sailors praised Izuku and Asui for their bravery and quick thinking that had saved them from a watery grave. He had also tried to talk Innsmouth down first, which proved that he was at least trying to work with his instincts.
At the end of the day, he was still proud of his son, and he was profoundly grateful for Asui and the other women in Izuku’s life that were doing their best to help him reach his dream. If he had been in a less supportive class, his entire life would be different right now.
He might even be dead. If he didn’t push himself at the USJ…
Hisashi shook his head. This wasn’t the time to worry about these things.
The pair broke from the main mass and began to ran down a side road with a few other heroes. It was here where Hisashi began to see the hell that Hosu had transformed into over the past hour.
They were running through a commercial district, or at least the remains of one. There wasn’t a store that didn’t have its windows smashed and its door broken, as it seemed like a large amount of looting took place. Worse than that were the signs of combat and rampant quirk use that were apparent all around, with cars overturned, trees smashed and burnt, concrete crushed, and worst of all… corpses.
Hisashi counted at least four dead in the first city block and six on the second. The bodies were in various states of broken and bloody, with one torn completely in half, blood staining the road all around it.
The smell of fire, blood and carnage was pungent in the air. Normally he could use his enhanced sense of smell to detect the wounded, but the air was so thick with the scents of the destruction that it would be difficult at best.
His quirk surged with indignation, but he knew that he likely wouldn’t find the culprits here in the city. The villains probably released the gas and fled, not wanting to be affected by it themselves. He guessed that the bastards were sitting in their lairs, watching the news with cruel satisfaction.
No, there wasn’t much he could do about them right now, and even less he could do for the dead. He was here to help those that were still alive and still fighting. He was a hero and he would do his duty to the best of his ability.
Both men jerked their head to the right as they heard a faint moan coming from an alleyway. They immediately stopped and hurried over, Izuku staying a half-step behind Hisashi. Despite it only being early afternoon, the smoke clouding the skies made it feel like night, and the only illumination in the alleyway came from the fires burning in the main street.
Fortunately, he was gifted with night vision. Hisashi quickly located the source of the noise: a young woman trapped underneath some rubble. Izuku spotted her as well and quickly moved over with Hisashi.
The woman’s head jerked up and her eyes were immediately filled with fear. “S-stay back!” she stuttered.
“Don’t worry,” Hisashi said calmly and firmly as he kneeled down in front of her. “We’re heroes, here to stop all this.”
“Heroes?” the woman repeated, blinking slowly. Her eyes focused on Hisashi and a glint of recognition flashed across them. “Wait, Stormclaw?”
He nodded. “Just stay calm. You’re gonna be okay.” It seemed like she had avoided the worst of the gas, or perhaps it had already gone through her system. Either way, she seemed to be mostly in her right mind.
He looked up at Izuku, who quickly moved forward and grabbed onto the rubble that was keeping her trapped. He flexed his quirk, his arms bulging with muscle and scale as he easily lifted the concrete slab off her back.
He noted that Izuku still wasn’t adept at using his quirk without his scales, but it was still very new to him and this wasn’t the place to discuss it.
Hisashi reached down and offered his hand to the woman, who cautiously took it and let him help her back to her feet. She was clearly shaken and bruised, so he let her lean on him as they began to slowly move out of the alleyway. Behind them, Izuku carefully placed the rubble back down so as not to startle the woman or draw attention.
“Thank you,” the woman said quietly as she trudged into the main street at Hisashi’s side.
He smiled as his quirk gave a satisfied hum. “You are welcome. Now, conserve your strength.”
“Stormclaw?! Oh, thank God!”
Hisashi turned his head to the right as a young hero ran up to him. He couldn’t have been more than a few years older than Izuku; clearly fresh out of UA or some other hero program. “What’s wrong?”
The man almost skidded to a stop in front of him. “We’ve got a problem. There’s a huge, swirling water orb thingy a few blocks away! None of us can get inside but there’s someone in the middle. Can you stop him? Here, I’ll take her.”
Hisashi nodded. “We’ll handle it.” At least someone had listened to the police’s request to get help rather than get hurt.
He helped the woman over to the young man, who took her gently, letting her lean against him. “I’ll make sure she gets out safe,” he said, an air of relief in his voice. Hisashi assumed he was grateful that he had something to do that didn’t involve facing whoever was causing the trouble.
Hisashi glanced over at Izuku, who nodded once. The two pushed their quirks into their legs and began to sprint and jump in the direction the young hero had indicated.
It wasn’t long before they saw the problem.
A massive orb of water, churning like a storm, loomed over the nearby buildings. Izuku and Hisashi ran around the corner to find a line of heroes standing several yards back, staring helplessly at the swirling mass. The pair paused alongside them, glancing around at the destroyed buildings and cars before glaring in to see who was at the heart of the storm.
Hisashi didn’t recognize him, but Izuku did.
“That’s Manual!” he shouted. “He’s a hero here in Hosu; he can control water, but I’ve never seen him do something like this!”
“That Trigger is something else,” Hisashi muttered. “Izuku, do you still have that syringe?”
Izuku held up the steel cylinder.
The two men looked at each other and nodded. “Then we have no time to lose,” Hisashi declared, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.
Stormclaw opened his eyes as Defiant did the same. They shared another nod before they dashed forward, leaving the rest of the heroes behind to stare dumbly at them.
“I’ll get his attention, you get close and sedate him,” Stormclaw ordered as both men grew scales along their bodies and webbing between their fingers and toes.
Defiant nodded, growing wings and shooting up into the sky. Stormclaw dove into the orb at ground level, heading straight for Manual as Defiant banked and shot into the water from above, retracting his wings to keep his profile smooth.
Sound travels much faster through water than it does through air, which often disoriented people who weren’t used to it. Normally, aquatic villains were experienced enough in the water, but Manual seemed more like the dry-land type. He opened his draconic maw and unleashed an earth-shaking roar, causing Manual to jerk his head toward Stormclaw.
He saw fear and confusion filling the man’s face; he couldn’t imagine what was going through his mind. Now that he was closer, he could see that there was an air bubble around the man, meaning he couldn’t breath water.
The water itself was swirling and churning, making it difficult for Stormclaw to swim, even with his powerful body. He caught sight of Defiant swimming behind Manual, stalking him and looking for an opening.
Stormclaw unleashed more of his quirk, rapidly growing into his full transformation. With a surge of strength, he pushed forward, cutting through the water and surprising the rampaging hero.
Manual redoubled his efforts, pushing both of his hands toward Stormclaw and shifting the massive weight of the water down on him. However, even on Trigger, Manual couldn’t compete with Stormclaw’s strength.
As the water threw him back, Stormclaw surged forward with all his strength, pushing back toward Manual. The man met Stormclaw’s challenge with all his might, but that was exactly what Stormclaw was after.
With Manual fully distracted, Defiant dove down, streaking through the water with deadly speed. In a flash of motion that triggered Stormclaw’s battle instincts, Defiant crashed into Manual and wrapped him up, completely restraining him with his arm, legs and tail.
In that moment, Manual was completely at Defiant’s mercy. He towered over the pro with his fanged maw mere inches from the hero’s face; with a single motion, Defiant could have ended Manual’s life in a multitude of ways.
There was no doubt in Stormclaw’s mind that his son was a true predator.
Defiant’s free arm swung down, jamming the syringe into Manual’s chest and pressing the button to inject the sedative.
Almost immediately, the water began to lose its shape. Stormclaw turned around and dove out of the water, bellowing at the heroes who were still staring like a bunch of stunned children. “Run!”
The water crashed down, forming a massive wave surging out from the epicenter, where Defiant was still firmly holding Manual.
Stormclaw surged forward and scooped up a literal handful of heroes in his claw, pulling them out of the way as the wave continued its unstoppable onslaught, carrying trees, cars, and rubble along with it.
Finally, the wave lowered and died out, leaving a large number of people coughing and wet, as well as at least one who had a broken arm, but at least everyone was still alive. He placed the heroes he had grabbed down and shrunk back down, letting his quirk retreat and rest.
Hisashi hurried back over to his son, who was carrying the now-unconscious Manual in his arms as the water dripped off both of them.
“Good work,” he said firmly, looking up at his son.
He saw the subtle shift in his son’s eyes as Izuku reemerged. “Thanks, Dad. We make a good team.”
Hisashi laughed. “I never had any doubt about that.”
They both turned as they heard footsteps jogging toward them across the wet pavement. The group of heroes that Hisashi had grabbed were approaching, their expressions mixtures of awe and embarrassment.
“Thanks for saving us,” one of them muttered. “It was pretty dumb of us to just be standing there.”
Hisashi looked over them closer; each of them couldn’t have been older than 25.
“Just learn from your mistakes,” he declared sternly. “You might not have someone like me to save you next time.”
“Right, sorry,” another mumbled sheepishly.
A huge crash echoed from several streets over, causing everyone to jump slightly. As Hisashi and the others looked for the source, they saw a new plume of smoke and fire begin to rise over the rooftops.
“We’ll take him,” one of the young heroes offered. “Thanks again.”
Izuku handed over Manual carefully and the two began to run toward the fire, each glancing at each other with a small smile. Despite the bleak surroundings, it felt nice to work alongside his son.
It made him really proud.
As they cut through an alleyway, they were both stopped in their tracks as the sound of man crying out in pain caught the edges of their enhanced senses. They looked at each other, then Izuku began to move.
“I’ll check on that,” he said firmly. “Those people ahead of us need you.”
Hisashi hated the idea of Izuku going off on his own. It was too dangerous.
“Hold on,” Hisashi ordered. “You can’t just-”
“I’ll be careful,” Izuku retorted. “I’m just gonna look and I’ll come back if it’s anything dangerous. I can’t just leave that person there if I can help.”
Let him go. There is still war to be waged.
Hisashi grimaced. “This isn’t the time to be screwing around.”
Izuku had that look. That damned look that told Hisashi he wasn’t going to change his mind. His options were to let him go, or to follow him.
He is an adult. I can’t protect him forever and there is a greater battle ahead. He stood against Terrorflame, he will be fine.
“Fine,” Hisashi relented. “But if you’re not back soon, I’m coming to find you. I will not be pleased.”
“I’ll do my best!” Izuku called as he transformed his legs and sprinted down a different street.
Hisashi turned back to the pillar of fire and smoke and began to run again.
He had a bad feeling about this.
'Damned instincts.'
Izuku jumped over cars and through side streets as he tried to find the source of the noise. Compared to the other areas of the city, the section looked relatively unscathed. The buildings were shorter and less tightly packed together; perhaps the villains didn’t target the less densely populated areas.
Whatever the reason, Izuku was thankful for the break from the destruction and the dead bodies. He could still hear the chaos and commotion from nearby streets, but he would enjoy this relative tranquility while he could. His father was used to it, and he knew that he would have to get used to it eventually, but it was still unsettling.
It was also nice to have a break from the constant smell of blood. The curse of enhanced senses meant that it was hard to block things out sometimes.
He remembered how Jirou often flinched from sudden loud noises; he supposed they could relate over that.
However, the distinct metallic smell of blood didn’t stay away for very long.
Izuku slowed his pace as he neared the source of the blood, which was leading him into a dark, dank alleyway. He kept himself low and moved stealthily, letting a little more of his quirk out to help him sneak.
He turned the corner and saw a person slumped against the wall in the middle of the alley. He crept forward, pushing more of his quirk to his eyes to get a better look in the darkness as his morbid curiosity got the better of him.
Izuku’s eyes widened. He recognized the man.
The pro hero Native was lying completely still, not breathing at all as blood pooled beneath him.
Why was Native dead when the rest of the area was abandoned? Why was he here alone?
Part of Izuku knew he should turn and run, but he couldn’t help but look around the alleyway. There was no sign of a struggle and Native’s body didn’t look mangled. This wasn’t like anything else Izuku had seen; nothing made sense.
He had stayed too long, he needed to get back to his father.
Izuku heard the faintest noise behind him and barely jumped out of the way as a knife shot past him.
“You’re pretty sneaky,” a gravelly voice said from behind him. “I almost didn’t know you were there.”
Izuku’s quirk surged as he turned around, forming scales all over his body. He saw a shade drop down from a nearby fire escape.
“I was going to let you pass so as not to distract me from my mission,” the man continued as the sound of unsheathing blades echoed throughout the alley. “But then I saw what you were.”
A tall man with crazed eyes and no nose stepped forward into the ambient light of the burning city. Izuku recognized him from news reports and internet forums.
“A Midoriya,” Stain spat.
Kyouka helped a man to his feet as Death Arms lifted the car off him. This wasn’t how she had thought her Thursday would go, but she certainly couldn’t complain that it was boring.
She had seen more death and destruction today than she ever had before, but it didn’t feel as terrible as the USJ had been. Perhaps it was because that danger was more personal. The villains at the USJ were threatening her directly; she had to fight for her life to survive, but here she was mostly on search and rescue. Hosu was certainly a hellscape, but it wasn’t hers. She was just helping to get people out alive.
The worst part was being able to hear the chaos all around her. She couldn’t block it all out.
Death Arms slumped down on a destroyed car to take a breather, pulling out a water bottle and draining it in an instant. They had been at it for a while now, and the stress was beginning to show. After rubbing his neck, he stood back up and looked at his empty bottle.
“I’m gonna get more water,” he grumbled. “You keep looking.”
Kyouka nodded, stabbing jacks into the ground again to search for any more nearby survivors as Death Arms jogged away, but she didn’t hear any.
She didn’t know whether to feel good that they had rescued everyone they could, or bad because there were so few to rescue.
Right before she pulled her jacks out to move on, she caught something.
“A Midoriya.”
Kyouka paused, her brow furrowing. She didn’t recognize that voice.
“Stain?!”
Her eyes went wide. She recognized that voice. That was Midoriya and he was with… Stain? The Hero Killer?
“What are you doing here?” Midoriya asked. “Did you get caught in the gas? No, the gas didn’t hit the less populated areas, where you were probably hiding out.”
Stain made a faint nose of approval. “This storm has brought many fakes right to me. They are numerous, but they are also careless. They only care about the money they will be paid to help. I will cull many more before the day is over.”
Kyouka’s chest tightened. He was just as deranged as the news said.
“They’re here to help!” Midoriya called back defiantly. “Sure, they’re getting paid, but they want to help people!”
“This society is built on greed. I wonder how many of them would be here if they weren’t offered a bonus.”
Kyouka heard the sound of a blade being drawn.
Midoriya was in trouble. He needed help.
Kyouka looked around, but saw nobody. She was all alone. She didn’t have time to wait for Death Arms or get backup.
She pulled her jacks back and began to sprint in the direction of her classmate and the Hero Killer.
Kyouka ran through alleys and across streets, cutting past burning cars and damaged buildings as she closed on her friend.
It wasn’t long before she could hear the men even without being plugged into something.
"This doesn't make sense, I'm not a pro hero! This isn't your MO!"
"You're right, let's see if you can earn your life."
She skidded to a stop right around the corner, peeking around to see Midoriya and Stain staring each other down on the far end of the alley. Midoriya was on the far side, meaning that if she wanted to get to him, she had to get through Stain.
This was madness. Stain was a murderer who had killed pros far more skilled than either Kyouka or Midoriya.
She needed help.
Kyouka pulled out her phone, silently cursing that she had neglected to get most of her classmate’s phone numbers.
Her best bet was the group chat she shared with the other women.
Kyouka sent her location into the chat, along with the message, ‘Midoriya is being attacked by Stain’. She couldn’t afford for there to be any miscommunication.
Stain threw a knife at Midoriya, who managed to dodge out of the way.
There wasn’t any more time to lose. She couldn’t leave Midoriya to face the Hero Killer alone and she didn’t know how long it would take for any help to arrive.
Kyouka steeled herself and ran around the corner.
It was time to be a hero.
Notes:
See you next time!
:)
Chapter 53: Fire and Blood
Summary:
Hosu continues.
Notes:
Well, this is it. The one year anniversary. Thanks to all of you reading this, whether you've been with me since chapter 1, or just picked it up recently.
You're all truly wonderful, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
For most of Shouto’s life, he had hated fire. Just like everyone else, he associated his father with fire, but unlike everyone else—or at least, most people—he knew that his father was a bastard. That man had ensured that Shouto associated fire with pain, suffering, and cruelty.
As he stood in the burning city of Hosu, staring up at the sky darkened by the smoke, and hearing the sounds of the chaos all around, he figured that he had the right idea.
It had been a relatively short time since the police let the heroes into the city and they hadn’t taken a break since. Today was the first time since he had arrived on Monday that he had left the mansion, and he had only been on patrol with Purifier for a couple hours when they got the call about Hosu.
When he was out on patrol, and especially once they had arrived at Hosu, it was like Purifier was a different person. He was still focused, driven, and grim, but he acted with much more intensity than he had at the mansion. Ever since they left on patrol, his eyes had been burning like bright pools of molten gold, and they had only grown brighter since they stepped through the portal into Hosu.
Purifier had wasted absolutely no time getting to work once they were given the go-ahead. He had transformed into that horse-dog-dragon thing that Izuku had used against him at the Sports Festival and whisked him onto his back before dashing into the city. The running mass of heroes had made way for the massive, golden beast and it didn’t take long for them to dive straight into the center of the city.
In many ways, he could compare Purifier to his father. Both were fire heroes, of course, but they were also people with personalities that were less than friendly. While Purifier wasn’t as abusive or severe as his father, Shouto had felt more at-home under Purifier than he had expected when he signed up for the internship.
He couldn’t deny the efficacy of their training methods. In just a few days, Purifier had taught Shouto much about using his fire and gave him new insights that he, nor his father, had considered. It would serve him well, even if his internship wasn’t the most pleasant experience in his life. Purifier was far from cruel, but rather strict and demanding. He was fair, but had high expectations.
In many ways, it was a step up for him.
In Hosu, Purifier’s immunity to fire served him well in the intervening minutes. He was able to run inside the burning buildings to look for survivors when others couldn’t, and he was able to fly around easily despite the heavy smoke in the air that should have choked him. The hero was a man driven by a single purpose, which he chased relentlessly; there would be nobody left behind if he could reach them.
He shared that determination with Shouto’s father. They were heroic, but severely so, unlike All Might or Stormclaw. They worked with an efficiency and a methodical drive that made them intimidating, rather than inspiring.
Something told him that Purifier preferred it that way. He wasn’t the type to give many interviews or spend time rubbing elbows with people. Purifier valued his solitude, which he could appreciate.
Shouto was helping to treat someone’s burns when he heard someone call out.
“Purifier!” the man yelled, running up to the two. It was a police officer.
Purifier stood tall, glaring down at the man with a flat, judging look. “What is it?”
“We found him,” the man continued, panting slightly. “We found Endeavor. We need your help.”
Shouto’s eyes went wide as he stood up. He saw the headline that his father was in the city looking for the Hero Killer, and he had been worried that he had gotten caught up in the attack.
This confirmed his fears.
Shouto had seen how the people in Hosu had been affected by the gas; he could scarcely imagine what would have happened to his father.
“Lead the way,” Purifier said with an edge to his voice that Shouto hadn’t heard before. “Flashpoint, you should stay here.”
“What?” Shouto shot back in surprise. “No way.”
Purifier glanced back and looked at him with his glowing eyes. He looked far more… human than Shouto had ever seen him, his eyes filled with a mix of pain, regret and sorrow, as if he was reliving a painful, far-off memory.
“No son should have to see his father like this,” the man said simply.
Shouto wasn’t having any of it. “I’m coming with you,” he returned firmly.
Purifier looked at him silently for a few seconds, his eyes softer than he had ever seen. “Very well,” he finally answered.
Midoriya’s vision snapped to Kyouka as soon as she rounded the corner, his eyes widening for a brief moment before erupting in light. “Jirou?! What are you doing here?!”
Stain pivoted, glancing back with a hand on one of his bandolier knives. “Who are you?” he growled, sending a chill down her spine.
“You get away from him,” she muttered back, trying to contain the shaking in her legs.
“No, no, no,” Midoriya hissed frantically. “You shouldn’t be here. Go! Run! Get out of here!”
Kyouka’s eyes darted between Midoriya and Stain’s. “And leave you with him? Are you nuts?! We both need to get out of here!”
Stain scoffed. “One of your friends, Dragon? She better not get in my way. My mission remains unchanged.”
“What mission is that?” Midoriya retorted. “I’m not a hero; neither of us are! We’re students , just let us leave!”
“She can leave,” Stain said dismissively, turning his gaze back to Midoriya. “You are my target. You might not be a hero, but you’re a Midoriya.”
“What does that even mean?!” Midoriya called out.
“Stormclaw. Purifier. Ryukyu. I’ve been watching them all for years. They all have that same underlying greed, that same sickness that has corrupted this society.” He drew his sword and leveled it at Midoriya. “They are the rot that needs to be cut out. I am guessing that you’re the same.”
“But you don’t know that,” Midoriya responded, somewhat more calmly.
Kyouka noticed that his eyes were glowing brightly, but a little differently. His eyes had that same glint of intelligence, but it was almost like someone else was looking through them.
“What if I told you that I’m completely different than them?” he continued. “You can’t know without letting me leave. Your mission—perhaps ‘crusade’ is a better word for it—isn’t founded on ‘guesses’, is it?”
Stain smirked. “You’re right. It’s not. However, men reveal their true nature when faced with death. I will put you through that trial. Pass, and I’ll let you live. Fail, and you will die.”
Midoriya stared at Stain for a few moments, then over at Kyouka, then back at the villain. Scales grew across his body as he bulked up and grew several inches taller. His face stretched out into that same draconic humanoid shape he had used at the USJ. “Fine. I accept your trial.”
“Are you nuts?!” Kyouka yelled. “Fuck that ! Excuse me if I don’t think Stain is exactly a fair judge!”
Stain’s eyes snapped back to her. “Run while you can. Interfere with my mission and I will lay you low.”
God, she wanted to run. She wanted to run and never see Stain again, but she couldn’t just leave Midoriya alone with him. She needed to get to him and then the both of them needed to run as fast as they could and find some pros. They were swarming all over the place, it wouldn’t be that hard, but Midoriya was trying to fight this madman for some goddamn reason.
“I won’t let you risk it,” Midoriya responded, his eyes not leaving Stain. “It’s too dangerous.”
Kyouka had officially had enough of whatever weirdness was going through Midoriya’s head. “Of course it’s dangerous, you emerald bastard! How can I call myself a hero if I run off and let you face it alone?!”
Midoriya’s eyes snapped to her and narrowed slightly before returning to Stain. “You are right. Thank you, Jirou.”
Stain huffed. “So be it.”
The man began to run at Midoriya, surprising both of them with his speed. He swung his sword down as Midoriya’s scales flashed and shifted, his blade clashing against Midoriya’s arm, but being deflected by the hardened plates. With his left, Stain gripped a dagger and begun to swing it at Midoriya’s stomach, but a cloud of green gas poured from his mouth, causing Stain to jump back.
The gas cleared slowly as Stain stared Midoriya down. Now that he wasn’t in her classmate’s face, Kyouka could actually help. She quickly jacked into one of her boots and pushed with all her strength, sending her heartbeat pounding through the speakers.
Stain was fast, but he wasn’t supersonic.
The soundwaves smashed into the Hero Killer, jarring him violently and causing him to stumble. Midoriya took the opportunity to attack again, breathing another poison cloud at the man as he grew his wings and charged, fist raised.
Stain was too quick and jumped over Midoriya’s arm, bringing his spiked boot down at the dragon’s shoulder. Fortunately, Midoriya used his wings to twist in a way that normal people couldn’t move, avoiding the Hero Killer’s attack and putting some distance between them.
Thankfully, that move also flipped their positions, leaving Midoriya with his back to Kyouka and allowing her to move up to him.
The man put a hand out as she approached, stopping her approach as he took a deep breath and unleashed a huge torrent of gas, like he had on the roof of the dorm Saturday night. The dark green cloud rolled and roiled around in the alley, churning like a sickly storm.
“Did you get him?” Kyouka asked softly.
“You can hear better than I,” he responded. Man, that voice was cool.
Kyouka’s stomach dropped as she heard Stain moving just as quickly in the gas as he had before.
“Blocking your field of view against an opponent faster than you,” Stain growled, his voice sounding muffled. “Rookie mistake.”
Kyouka heard him rapidly approaching and turned her boot toward him, shooting another blast of sound that dispersed the gas and caused the Hero Killer to stumble back.
“Thank you for covering for my mistake,” Midoriya said, his gaze not leaving Stain. “And thank you for refusing to leave, Heartjack.”
Hearing him say her hero name in that voice bolstered her confidence. She could do this. They could do this.
Kyouka took a deep breath. “I’m with you, Defiant. People will be here soon.”
Both of them refocused on Stain as the gas cleared. A gas mask covered his mouth and nose, which was clearly what had let him survive Midoriya’s attack so easily.
“A mask?”
Stain made a noise of satisfaction behind the gas mask. “I couldn’t be sure that Shigaraki wasn’t going to unleash a second wave of the gas, so I came prepared.”
“Shigaraki?” Midoriya repeated. “So it was the League of Villains that orchestrated this.”
Kyouka looked up at Midoriya to see what he wanted to do; they had just lost one of their big tools to keep him at range.
She only had a fraction of a second to react before a dagger flew right by her face, slicing her cheek open slightly.
Midoriya snarled in anger as he looked at her to make sure she was alright, then back at Stain. His body bulked up further as he took a step to interpose himself further between the villain and Kyouka.
Stain’s piercing eyes focused on her, his aura of madness seeming to grow stronger as he drew another blade. “You’re proving to be quite a nuisance.”
“You will not lay a hand on her while I still breathe,” he declared.
Stain’s eyes seemed to grow more manic. “You cannot stop me. Nobody can stop me.”
“Get a better one-liner.”
Stain jumped again, leaping against the wall and back down toward Midoriya, his sword raised to attack. Kyouka saw her opportunity and shot one of her jacks out, surprising Stain with just how far they could stretch.
She wrapped around his sword arm as his eyes went wide, pulling it back and restricting his motion. Midoriya took the opportunity to almost double the size of his arm and swing his clawed hand forward, cutting through the katana like it was made of paper.
Pieces of metal clattered to the ground as Stain pulled a knife with his other hand and aimed for Kyouka’s extended jack. She quickly released his arm and retracted it as Midoriya surged forward, slamming into Stain and tackling him back into the wall.
Stain swung his blade at Midoriya’s gut, but the man pulled back enough for him to miss. The villain used that moment to drive the heel of his boot into Midoriya’s knee, making him buckle and use his wings to kick away from Stain.
Both men drew themselves back up, panting slightly as they glared at each other.
Stain was getting better at anticipating Midoriya’s movements. Each time they clashed, Stain got closer and closer to hurting him.
They had to end this quickly.
Kyouka shifted her foot to attack Stain again, but this time he was ready. He wasn’t faster than sound, but he was faster than her, and she wasn’t able to dodge the knife he threw at her shin. Pain shot up her leg as the knife smashed through the speakers and embedded itself in her shin.
She looked up in time to see Stain on top of her, another blade drawn and swinging down, aiming right at one of her jacks.
Katsuki squinted at the massive fireball that was swirling like a storm a few blocks away. The damn thing was so bright and so hot, it was like he was staring into the midsummer sun. Even at this distance, he still felt the heat pounding against him.
What he could make out through the shining light wasn’t good. Everything within a hundred feet of Endeavor was completely incinerated. Concrete buildings were crumbled, steel supports were melted, and anyone nearby was certainly dead.
“I didn’t know that Endeavor was capable of that kind of power,” Katsuki mumbled.
“He’s not,” All Might answered from beside him. “At least, not normally. He must have inhaled a large amount of the gas to still be burning like this.”
Katsuki looked up at the man, whose perpetual smile looked far more forced than it normally did. In the glow of the fire, the age lines on All Might’s face looked deeper, reminding Katsuki just how long he had been a hero. This was far from the worst disaster that All MIght had ever seen, but to see him still so affected both comforted and unsettled him.
“Can you do anything?” Katsuki asked, already knowing the answer.
All Might shook his head. “If I were to interfere, I would likely only make things worse. To cut a path through that fire would almost certainly incinerate the nearby blocks. We have to wait for Purifier.”
Katsuki clicked his tongue. Izuku’s uncle was a fine hero, but he was about as personable as rock.
In all honesty, he was more than just a ‘fine’ hero. Purifier was incredibly powerful and had a work ethic that put almost all heroes to shame. It was hard to compare, but Katsuki believed that Purifier was even more powerful than Uncle Hisashi. If he wasn’t such an isolationist and a gruff bastard, he would almost certainly be in the top ten.
“Uh, All Might, sir?” came a nervous voice from behind them. They turned around to see a young looking police officer saluting.
“Calm down, son,” All Might said in a level, almost fatherly voice. “What’s going on?”
The officer nodded once, clearly stressed. “One of them just woke up and Detective Tsukauchi was about to begin interviewing her. He thought you might want to sit in.”
All Might nodded. “Thank you. Come, Young Bakugou.”
The two of them walked over to a small medical tent that had been set up, passing by several unconscious and wounded people who were lying on cots and stretchers all around. All Might lifted the flap and ducked inside, followed quickly by Katsuki.
Sitting on a chair in the middle of the room was a fairly nondescript man with a badge on his vest. His trenchcoat and hat were slung over the chair, as it was much too hot to be wearing them.
“Detective,” All Might said professionally.
The man looked up and nodded. “Thank you for coming, All Might. Who is this?” he asked, gesturing at Katsuki.
All Might clapped him gently on the shoulder. “This is Young Bakugou, the intern I told you about.”
Katsuki raised an eyebrow.
“Ah, right,” Tsukauchi said, nodding along. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, young man. All Might and I go way back. Unfortunately, we don’t have time for pleasantries right now.”
He turned away from the two and over to the bed he was sitting beside, pulling out a notebook as he looked at the woman sitting in it.
Katsuki recognized her. She was one of Endeavor’s sidekicks.
“Can you state your name for the record, please?” Tsukauchi asked.
The woman nodded. “Moe Kamiji. Hero name: Burnin’.”
She was well-known for her boisterous and brash personality, but right now, she seemed like an entirely different person. Her hair, the same color of burning copper, usually floated around her head in wild strands, lending to her ‘fiery’ persona, but right now it was all hanging loose and limply around her head. Her red-and-orange-ringed eyes were filled with sorrow and regret and her shoulders were slumped.
She looked like hell.
“Can you tell us what happened?” Tsukauchi continued calmly. “Anything can help.”
Burnin’ nodded again. “We were patrolling around Hosu—Endeavor and several of us, I mean—looking for the Hero Killer. We were passing under an overpass when suddenly… I don’t know what happened. I was hanging back a little, posing for some kids who wanted a picture, when there was suddenly this explosion. I whipped around to see this huge burst of dark gas enveloping the boss and a bunch of the others.”
She paused, taking a shaky breath. “Endeavor worked quickly, unleashing a huge plume of fire to pull as much of the gas up and away as he could, but I saw him coughing and sputtering. He was… right at the epicenter of that gas. He… yelled, ‘Run!’ and so I reached down, grabbed the two kids and bolted. I didn’t look back, I just kept running and running and I could feel the heat growing behind me and…”
She stopped again, centering herself with a breath. “That’s the last thing I remember. Are those kids okay?”
Tsukauchi nodded. “They’re going to be fine. Some of the other heroes found you collapsed on top of them just outside the fireball.”
Burnin’ sighed in relief. “If you didn’t find anyone else… anybody who was still there… there’s no way that they…”
“We have found some others,” Tsukauchi answered. “We’ll fill you in on the details later, but thank you for what you’ve given us.”
Burnin’ nodded and looked down, staring at her charred uniform silently.
All Might and Tsukauchi exchanged a glance before he led Katsuki out of the tent. Before Katsuki could say anything, All Might pointed back toward the fireball. “Ah, he’s arrived.”
Katsuki looked over to see Purifier standing perfectly still, staring into the cataclysmic inferno with Icyhot standing right next to him. They approached them, Purifier only turning to look at them as they got near.
“All Might,” he said flatly.
“Purifier.”
His glowing golden eyes looked down at Katsuki and narrowed slightly. “Bakugou.”
“Purifier,” Katsuki responded, mimicking All Might. What a dick.
“He’s still in there,” All Might explained. “We don’t know what’s going on in there, but judging from the other people we’ve encountered…”
Purifier nodded. “I understand.”
He stepped forward, closer to the fire as he held up the syringe in his hand. Scales grew all over his body as he bulked up, growing in size and strength as he wrapped the sedative in his massive hand. He glanced back with that wizened, judgemental face of his, those long, thick whiskers hanging from his draconic maw. “I will do my best to not frighten him.”
With that, he began to walk slowly into the fire, not even pausing as he hit the event horizon and Katsuki lost sight of him, having to avert his gaze.
Next to him, Icyhot sighed heavily.
Katsuki didn’t really know what to say, but he felt like he should say something . “Purifier can handle this,” he finally settle on. “Nothing Endeavor can do can hurt him.”
Icyhot didn’t look at him, but kept staring forward. “I am not worried about Purifier.”
“Worried?” Katsuki repeated. “I always got the impression you weren’t fond of your old man.”
Icyhot’s expression hardened. “He is a bastard, but he is still my father. I don’t wish him death,” he muttered coldly.
Katsuki got the message and shut up. He really didn’t have a way with words, not like Izuku, and he should have known better than to have opened his fat mouth.
Hopefully Izuku was doing alright.
A flash of green and a clatter of blade against scale caused Kyouka to wince slightly.
Midoriya had dove in front of her, his arm bulging massively, almost the size of his entire body as it extended past her face to block the blade. Stain twisted his knife and found purchase in Midoriya’s forearm, causing the man to snarl as one of his emerald scales fell to the ground.
Faster than she had ever seen, Midoriya swung his arm forward, catching Stain in the chest and hurling him back down the alleyway. Stain turned in mid-air and landed on his feet, holding the knife in front of his face.
Kyouka looked down and saw the small rivulets of green blood flowing down his scales as Midoriya squared up to stain.
“You hurt what’s mine,” Midoriya snarled.
Kyouka remembered him saying the same thing back when they sparred against 1-B. It felt… different this time. Midoriya sounded just as angry, if not more so, but it was more of a cold fury, rather than a hot rage.
Stain pulled off his gas mask, letting it hang around his neck as he began to extend his tongue toward the knife in his hands. His long, bumpy, disgusting tongue.
Gross.
“Be careful what you put in your mouth,” Midoriya warned. “You don’t know where that’s been.”
Stain licked the green blood and suddenly Midoriya gasped sharply.
“What did you do?!” he asked, a note of rage and fear in his voice.
Kyouka’s heart began to beat faster as she looked up at the massive, draconic man. “What’s wrong?! Are you okay?!”
Midoriya was twitching all over. “I can’t move a muscle. It must be his quirk. When he licked my blood… That coincides with what experts surmised his quirk must be. Jirou, you have to run now. I can’t protect you while he has me paralyzed.”
Not this again. “I said fuck that then, and I’ll say fuck that now. What kind of princess do you take me for? You think I’ll let you take a knife for me and then just run?”
Midoriya snarled, but didn’t respond.
While her words were brave, she wasn’t feeling that confident. She couldn’t move her left leg much without extreme pain, and she was down to one functional speaker.
She would just have to do what she could and hope that help would arrive in time.
Kyouka stumbled over to a nearby dumpster, leaning on it for support as she pointed her good leg at Stain and let loose a blast of sound. The man stumbled and almost fell down, which was more than she had been able to do before.
In fact, Stain looked unsteady as a whole.
His tongue was hanging loosely out of his mouth and his breathing appeared to be more labored than it had been.
“I warned you,” Midoriya muttered with a low, sinister growl.
Kyouka was confused for only a moment. “What the…? Oh! Your blood!”
She remembered his speech at the festival, explaining that his blood was poisonous, although he was a little edgier than that at the time.
“It wasn’t much,” Midoriya explained in a low voice, still unable to move. “But it should affect him for a little bit.”
Stain steadied himself, clutching his serrated blade tightly as his crazed eyes leveled on Kyouka once more. “Thith will not thtop my cruthade.”
…
Kyouka blinked once before letting out an airy laugh. “Oh my God, it’s Thtain. This would be hilarious if it wasn’t so terrifying.”
Stain began to charge again, his tongue flapping loosely in the wind as he closed on her. He was moving erratically to avoid the aim of her boot, but she had a better idea.
She put her right leg behind her left knee and waited until Stain was right on top of her.
Then she pushed with all her might.
The dumpster slammed forward, the edge catching Stain in the stomach as trash flew everywhere. He grunted in pain as he flew backwards, crashing into the ground and rolling once.
Okay, that felt really good. Kyouka couldn’t help but smile a little, even with how scared she was.
Stain rose up slowly, drool falling from his mouth as he inhaled deeply, pulling back the breath Kyouka had knocked out of him. His fanatical eyes stared into Kyouka’s soul, wiping the smile from her face faster than Aizawa ever was able.
He stood there for several seconds, letting his body recover and letting Midoriya’s poison run its course. Like he said, it wasn’t much, and Stain began to look like his normal, insane self much quicker than Kyouka would have liked.
She didn’t have another dumpster to throw at him. She had to think fast.
Then, right as Stain prepared to dash at her and Midoriya again, he suddenly flinched and jumped backwards as another dumpster crashed down from the sky.
Kyouka’s gaze flew upward, wondering where the hell that could have-
Standing on the edge of the roof, gazing down with stoic fury on her face, was Ochako.
In that moment, Kyouka had never found her more beautiful.
Ochako jumped down, landing first on a fire escape, and then the ground, pulling herself to her full height with her back to Kyouka and Midoriya.
“Ochako? What are you doing here?!” Midoriya asked.
“Don’t worry,” Ochako responded, glancing over her shoulder and forcing a smile onto her face. “I’m going to save you both.”
Kyouka heard something else approaching, like a meteor falling from the sky.
With a massive crash that made Kyouka cover her ears, the dumpster that Ochako had thrown down was crushed like a pancake. As the dust cleared, Kyouka’s eyes widened further.
Slowly rising to her full height was Miruko. She was a couple inches shorter than Kyouka, if you discounted the ears, but she was much more muscular. Even without that, she had a presence that made her seem like she would tower over All Might himself.
Miruko pointed at Stain as her tail and ears twitched excitedly.
“And I’m here to kick your ugly ass!”
Notes:
Sorry for another cliffhanger! I'm not actually that sorry, but I hope you're not too upset.
That being said, this brings WiaH month to a close, meaning I'll be picking up my other stories again! Announcement about that coming soon, but make sure to join the discord to stay up to date with me and my stories!
Chapter 54: A Darkness in the Light
Summary:
Hosu begins to burn out.
Notes:
Happy birthday, Jade!
See the end note for an important announcement.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ochako was sitting on a burnt-out car when she felt her phone buzz. Miruko was giving her a moment to rest, so she pulled it out, hoping it was one of the girls with good news.
Her heart plummeted when she saw Kyouka's message.
‘Midoriya is being attacked by Stain.'
Deku was being attacked by the Hero Killer? No, this wouldn't stand. She made a promise to him and she intended to keep it.
"Next time, I’ll be the one standing between you and danger.”
Ochako stood up, fire in her eyes as she put her phone away and adjusted her hardened gloves.
"What's gotten into you?" Miruko asked casually, sauntering up to Ochako as she stretched one of her arms.
Ochako looked down at the muscular pro and spoke her mind. "Deku is being attacked by the Hero Killer and I'm going to save him. Kyouka sent the location and I-"
"Woah, woah, woah," Miruko said harshly. "Did you just say your boyfriend is being attacked by Stain?"
Ochako nodded firmly. "I'm going to help him. I made a pro-"
"And you have his location?" Miruko asked, interrupting her again.
"Yes, and I'm-"
"What the hell are you waiting for, then?! Lead the way!" Miruko ordered with a gleam in her eye.
Ochako blinked in surprise for a moment before she regained her fierce demeanor and nodded. "This way," she responded, removing the weight from her body and jumping into the air.
Defiant watched Ochako turn and smile back at Jirou and him. “Don’t worry. I’m going to save you both,” she declared.
His heart beat a little faster. Yes, she deserved to be a crown jewel in his hoard.
Seconds later, Miruko crashed down further in the alleyway, staring down Stain with a confident smirk. “And I’m here to kick your ugly ass!”
Defiant let out a small sigh. A pro was here; she would help protect his hoard as well. Even so, he couldn’t take any chances.
“Ochako, listen carefully,” Defiant began, causing his girlfriend to glance back at him again. “I can’t move. I can’t protect you.”
Ochako smirked a little, but he could hear the stress in her voice. “Didn’t you hear me? I’m gonna be the one protecting you, Defiant.”
Oh, her saying his name made him very happy, but that was a matter for later.
“Miruko!” Defiant called out. “Don’t let Stain cut you!”
“Oh, thanks for the advice,” Miruko shot back sarcastically.
“It’s his quirk! If he licks any of your blood, you’ll be paralyzed!” he explained.
Miruko glanced back at him before lowering herself into a combat stance, seeming more serious than ever.
Stain held two knives in front of him as he glared at Miruko with wild eyes. "Miruko! You fake! You mutht be purged!"
Well, at least his blood was still affecting Stain somewhat.
"They never told me you had a lisp," Miruko scoffed.
Miruko jumped off toward Stain, swinging her leg at him but missing wide. Defiant could tell that she was just probing him and testing his defenses. She jumped around him, making the Hero Killer dance all around to avoid her attacks.
He was fast, but he wasn't 'Miruko' fast.
However, Stain was handling himself rather well. His fighting style was almost entirely different compared to when he had been fighting Defiant and Jirou; he was using his blades to zone Miruko out, fighting defensively rather than going after her aggressively.
Both of them knew that all it would take was one cut from his knife to end it all.
Ochako moved over to Defiant, moving her hand toward him to remove his weight. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
“I have to help her,” Defiant growled.
Jirou looked up at him nervously. “Can you move?”
His body twitched as he huffed angrily. “No.”
“She’s in the top ten,” Jirou continued, “she can handle Stain.”
Defiant glared at the fight in front of him, watching Miruko deftly dodge another blade. “I don’t think anyone can handle Stain alone. She’s good, but she’s not perfect. If she makes one mistake…”
Ochako looked at him, then back at Miruko. She pulled her hand back and turned away as she began to walk towards the fight.
No, he wouldn’t allow that. He couldn’t let her get hurt. “Ochako, what are you doing?! Get back here!”
He hated being trapped. His quirk raged and bucked, but Stain’s quirk held fast.
Ochako glanced back, defiance and determination burning in her eyes. “If you think she needs help, then I’m going to help her. I’m not going to sit by while people are in trouble; that’s not what a hero does. I’m going to help, no matter what you want me to do.”
Defiant caught Stain’s eyes glance over to Ochako and study her for a moment before shooting back to Miruko as she leveled another kick at him.
He snarled, but then he remembered what Tsuyu and his father had said to him just a day before. His hoard were important to him, but they were on a dangerous path. They were going to get hurt, they were going to get cut and bruised and break their bones, but that didn’t mean he had to treat them like delicate china.
Izuku knew that, but Defiant wasn’t sure. To lose one of them would be to lose a part of himself, like if his father lost a priceless artifact. They could never be replaced.
It’s not like he had a choice in the matter right now; he still couldn’t move. Even if he could, he doubted he could stop Ochako. She had that fire in her that reminded him of himself, for better and for worse.
Jirou tried to move too, but she hissed in pain when she put any weight on her left leg. She sighed and leaned back onto the wall before sliding down to the ground with a defeated expression on her face.
At least she wasn’t going anywhere.
Ochako pressed her fingers to her arm as she got closer to the battle, reducing her weight and improving her mobility. She picked up the dumpster that Jirou had blasted at Stain earlier and held it above her head as Miruko locked eyes with her.
The Rabbit Hero jumped back, giving Ochako room to hurl the dumpster at Stain. He was barely able to react in time, but managed to jump to the side to avoid Ochako’s attack.
However, Miruko was waiting for him. Stain’s dodge put him out of position, leaving him unable to properly avoid her kick.
For the first time, Miruko found solid contact. Her leg was driven into Stain’s side, driving him backwards. Judging from what Defiant could hear, Miruko had at least cracked a rib or two.
To Stain’s frustrating credit, he kept his balance, skidding to a stop halfway between Defiant and the women.
Miruko looked over at Ochako and nodded. “Remember what I taught you, kid.”
The two women began to run toward Stain as he steeled himself, seeming to shake off Miruko’s blow. Miruko jumped high off one of the walls while Ochako stayed low, removing more weight from herself as she picked up speed.
In a flurry of motion that Defiant could barely follow, Miruko dove down at Stain, who seemed to be focusing on her most of all. To his credit, that was probably the right decision. One more solid strike from Miruko would almost certainly end the fight.
Stain was able to dodge her, but at the same time, Ochako had swung her leg from the other side, pressing her fingers together to return the weight to her leg. She must have pushed hard with her quirk because her leg didn’t lose any speed as it collided with Stain’s back as he twisted away from Miruko.
The man stumbled forward, slamming into the wall as Miruko skidded past. Defiant felt a surge of pride; Ochako was doing it.
Then his pride turned to horror as he saw Stain slowly raising a dagger to his mouth, licking the crimson blood on its edge.
Enji burned.
He burned more than he ever had before.
Every inch of his body seared with power, the power he had been searching for all these years, the power he had been chasing after.
But it was wrong.
It was all wrong.
No matter how hot he burned, the demons still tormented him.
They beat him and burned him. They kicked him down and yelled at him to get back up.
All around him, he saw his family. He saw Rei and Fuyumi, he saw Touya and Natsuo, he saw Shouto; all of them sitting around a table.
Eating, laughing, smiling.
He saw the demons arrive and burn it all down, time and time again.
Laughter turned into screams of terror. Smiles turned into flame-charred bones.
Happiness turned into hatred.
All because of the demons.
The demons that wore his face.
He saw his agency rising above him, towering like a pillar of hell as flames erupted from every window and smoke billowed from the doors.
The demons poured from the agency like the legions of the damned as his sidekicks screamed.
He watched his sidekicks get burned alive by the demons. He watched their skin blacken and char until it fell off their bones, only for them to be reborn and tortured again, like some sicker, more twisted Sisyphean curse.
Try as he might, his flames wouldn’t burn down the agency. His strength did nothing to the demons, but if he stopped burning, the demons closed in like vultures over his corpse.
For all his power, he was powerless, but he could do nothing but keep burning.
A young Shouto loomed above him, his face unblemished and happy.
Then his face turned despondent, then angry, then scared. A demon grabbed him by the shirt and brought his hand down to his face, searing the child’s eye as he laughed.
The haunting, echoing screams of his son pounded in his skull like a million jackhammers, making him feel like his head was going to explode.
Enji tried to stop the demon, to pull him away from his son, but his hands just passed through the demon.
Once the screaming stopped, the demon dropped Shouto to the ground. His son laid there motionless, his head rolling to the side as the skin fell off his face, exposing the entire left side of his skull. Shouto’s dead eyes stared into his soul as the demon stepped over his corpse and grabbed Enji by the throat.
“̖̦̄̑Y͕̾o̪̓u ̺̟͐̃n͚͙̂̀ev̢͈̽e̟͑r͖͇̓̌ ̼̈́care̖̺̊̐d ̻̙͘̕b̦̳́͐ḛ͑͜͠f̗̔o̺̔r̖̥͌͞e̺̰̔̉,͍͠ ̪̻̿wh͛͜y̰͘ ͙̂͌ͅp̡̪̌̎ŕ̬͙̏e̳͈̍̊t̟̹̾̾ȩ̕n̯̕d̘̑ t͟o͕̍ ̼͔̇͞s͓̻͛͗t͍͍̆̕ar͋͢t ̦͚̋̚c̺͖̅̌a̧̛r͚̯̄͐i̺̭͌̃n̯̮̋͞g͔̙̃͘ ͖͖̑̑n̪̕o̬̭͛͊w̦̽͢͞?”
Enji couldn’t speak, he could only make a pathetic sputtering noise.
The demon pulled him up so he was staring into his own sneering face. Enji burned hotter, but the demon only laughed.
It reached its hand toward him, placing it over his left eye.
Flames erupted from the demon’s hand as a searing pain flared across his face. A hellish flame dug into his very soul as he clawed at the demon’s arm, but he could do nothing.
He couldn’t even scream.
Finally, the flames stopped and the demon dropped him to the ground. He felt weak as he reached up to his face and touched his left cheek, feeling the charred, cauterized flesh.
He burned in anger. He burned in despair. He burned in fear.
But he continued to burn.
Then, from the edges of his vision, another demon began to approach.
It seemed more solid than the others.
More terrifying.
More hateful.
It wore his face, but it glowed more golden than the rest.
This was the leader of the demons.
If he destroyed this one, the screams would stop. The torment would stop.
He pulled his power forward, directing it all toward the demon. It stopped for a moment, but only just, before continuing its march towards him.
His flames burned hotter and hotter. Red turned into orange. Orange turned into white. White turned into blue as he pushed with all of his might.
The demon reached him and put a hand on his shoulder. Enji went to shove it and found that for once, he could touch the demon.
He shoved the demon’s arm away and tried to punch him, but he was so exhausted that his movements were sluggish.
The demon grew in size, dwarfing Enji as he stared down at him.
With one hand, the demon pinned him down, and with the other, he stabbed him in the chest with a dagger made of pure hatred.
“R̠̀e̺̫͋͞s̡̠̆̍t͖̩̾ ̜̱́̐ṅ̨̤̓ö̲w̦̉̉͢.͍̣̍̑”͕̒͆`
The light began to fade.
And then Enji burned no more.
Ochako hadn’t fully righted herself when she froze up, causing her to collapse onto the ground.
“You worked my blind thpot,” Stain lisped. “Not bad. You theem to have the makingth of a hero, tho I’ll leave you alive for now. Thtay out of my way.”
Hearing that, Kyouka relaxed a little. Stain was a fanatic, but he was fanatical to a code. Ochako was safe… ish.
Even so, one glance at her told Kyouka that she wasn’t exactly happy about it. Ochako’s face was twisted into a combination of anger and desperation, but try as she might, she couldn’t move at all, just like Midoriya.
Kyouka looked up at Midoriya, who looked like he was about to snap. Venom was dripping from his fangs as he struggled against Stain’s quirk, but it seemed to all be in vain.
“I’m okay, Deku,” Ochako called over through grit teeth. Kyouka could hear the frustration in her voice, which she could understand. Both of them were out of commission, and she doubted Ochako felt any better being helpless than she did.
Midoriya seemed to calm down slightly, but he still looked pissed . She definitely didn’t want to be in his way if he looked at her like that, but there was something heartening about a very angry dragon trying to protect you.
Suddenly, Midoriya’s eyes went wide. She looked down at his arm, which was moving.
Midoriya could move again.
There was a pause as she saw an idea flash through his slitted eyes. Midoriya moved his arm back to where it had been paralyzed and stood completely still. Why? Clearly he had a plan, but...
To her left, Miruko was still fighting with Stain, throwing kicks and jabs at him while dodging all of his blades. Kyouka was surprised at first—she was sure that Miruko could wipe the floor with Stain if she put more effort into it-- but then she saw the cold, calculating look in Miruko’s eyes. Everything was completely intentional.
The woman wasn’t taking any chances and neither was Stain. Both of them were very aware that a single blow from the other would very likely be the end of the fight, so both of them were on the defensive and looking for an opening. Whoever screwed up first would be history, and as Midoriya said, she wasn’t perfect.
Kyouka also noticed that Miruko was slowly making her way over to Ochako, to make sure Stain stayed away from her. As she neared the woman, Miruko threw out a wide kick, causing Stain to jump back.
Which is when Midoriya spoke up.
“You really are pathetic, Stain,” he growled.
Stain momentarily turned his attention on Midoriya, his fanatical eyes blazing with righteous anger.
Kyouka’s eyes went wide. Midoriya was bluffing; laying an ambush in plain sight.
Miruko seized the moment and quickly picked up Ochako, hopping her a ways down the alleyway.
“You’re trying to kill me and Miruko, yet the only people you’ve managed to put down are the two you aren’t after. I’ve been standing here at your mercy this whole time and you’ve done nothing but play patty cake with Miruko.”
“Kid, what are you doing?!” Miruko yelled as she placed Ochako back on the ground.
Taking the opportunity while Miruko was busy, Stain began to charge toward Midoriya, his knives ready to sink into his chest.
Right before Stain could strike, Midoriya’s right arm suddenly moved forward, his black claws flashing in the ambient glow of the fires.
Stain’s surprised expression lasted for only a moment before he managed to react, planting his feet and trying to dodge back from the attack, but Midoriya had caught him off guard just enough.
Midoriya’s claws raked across Stain’s chest, rending flesh with a sickening sound that was all too clear to Kyouka. Stain had managed to avoid the worst of the claws, but blood was still running heavily down his chest as he jumped backward.
“You’re getting slower,” Midoriya sneered as he pulled himself to his full height and began to grow slightly, his horns stretching back further across his head. “Miruko has been wearing you down, drawing out the fight to force you to make a mistake. She’s not number seven just because she’s powerful.”
As if on cue, Miruko’s foot made contact with Stain’s back, sending him shooting forward down the alley. Midoriya dodged out of the way as the Hero Killer crashed into a wall, slumping down.
Miruko looked up at the nearly nine-foot-tall man next to her with a smirk. “I didn’t know Stormclaw’s kid was in my fan club.”
“He’s not done yet,” Midoriya warned, his eyes still glaring at Stain like a predator stalking his prey.
Indeed, Stain was somehow dragging himself back up to his feet. His mouth hung open and drool poured from his maw, which only enhanced his absolutely crazed appearance.
“You will not ethcape judgement!” he yelled, taking a steadying step and drawing his last two daggers.
He looked shaky, but now wasn’t the time to get cocky and make mistakes. Miruko and Midoriya dropped into combat stances, ready to finally put Stain down.
Then the man gasped out in pain as a heavy thud echoed through the alleyway and he collapsed forward onto the ground with the air driven out of his body. A moment later, he grunted again as two crooked horns embedded themselves in his wrists, causing the blades to fall from his grasp.
Kyouka’s vision whipped to the end of the alleyway, where she saw Momo and Pony standing there, fire burning in their eyes. Momo held what looked like oversized pawns, which must have been what had knocked Stain down.
Not a moment later, Kyouka heard a familiar sound from above her. She looked up to see Hadou soar over the building she was leaning on with some cargo in tow. Mina and Eiko each hung from one of her arms, but jumped off as the cleared the building.
“Looks like the cavalry's here,” Midoriya growled with an undeniable hint of satisfaction. “I don’t think your trial is going to reach a verdict, Stain.”
Mina’s feet and hands dug into the wall as she used her acid to slow her descent, landing right in front of Kyouka as Eiko hardened herself and crashed down like a meteor, smashing the concrete ground into pieces.
“Are we too late?” Eiko asked as she looked down at the battered and bleeding Hero Killer.
Stain managed to pull his head up, but it was all over for him. Momo and Pony were approaching from behind, while Mina, Midoriya, Eiko and Miruko surrounded him from the front and Hadou hovered overhead, her twisting energy at the ready.
His beady eyes were hazy and unfocused as Miruko walked over to him, looking down at him with contempt.
“Stay down, Ugly,” she snarled as she brought her foot down on his face, finally knocking him unconscious.
There was a pause before a collective breath was let out by everyone there.
Midoriya wasted no time before he began to move again. He turned around and began to run back down the alleyway, yelling over his shoulder as he jogged toward Ochako. “Hadou, check on Jirou!”
Their TA hovered down and landed next to Kyouka, kneeling down and looking at her with a concerned, but kind expression. “How are you doing?”
Kyouka managed to smirk weakly as she gestured at the blade buried deep in her left leg. “This knife hurts like hell, but I know better than to just pull it out. Give me a hand up?”
Hadou nodded, reaching over and beginning to pull Kyouka up with surprising ease. Although, now that she thought about it, she shouldn’t be surprised that Hadou was in great physical shape.
She helped Kyouka steady herself and made sure to give her all the support she needed to keep her weight off her left leg. All around her, the other women were listening to Miruko, who was showing them how to properly restrain Stain with some rope and handcuffs Momo made. Hadou began to slowly lead her out of the alleyway when something caught her eye.
Kyouka looked down and saw a single green scale shining in the flickering light.
Perhaps she was feeling sentimental as the adrenaline left her system, but she couldn’t resist reaching her jack down and picking it up. She dragged it back and dropped it into her open hand, admiring the color and sheen.
This was the scale that Midoriya had shed for her. He had protected her, made sure she was safe, but he hadn’t treated her like a damsel.
She smirked. At least, not after she yelled at him a little. She had come to save him, after all.
They had leaned on each other, working like a team to survive the hell that was Stain.
It had felt… damn good.
She turned the scale over a few times in her hand as she slowly hobbled down the alleyway back to the main street. It was such a beautiful emerald color.
Hmm. Emerald.
She looked back and saw Midoriya crouched over Ochako at the end of the alleyway. He was back in his human form with his forehead pressed against hers, his hands holding onto the side of her face as they stared into each other’s eyes. Their eyes were strained and they were clearly having some kind of very serious heart to heart.
Kyouka maybe could have listened in on what they were saying, but she decided to leave them with their privacy.
She turned back, smiling softly to herself as she put the scale in her pocket.
‘Thanks, Emerald.’
Notes:
See you next time!
I also got a TVTropes! See the note at the end of the fic to check it out, and feel free to contribute!
Chapter 55: Progress
Summary:
The aftershocks are already felt.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Kyouka hissed sharply as Hadou led her out into the street. Now that the fighting was over and the danger had passed, she found it hard to be distracted from the throbbing pain shooting up her leg. She was led over to a car and Hadou lifted her carefully onto the hood, making sure to keep pressure off her injury.
Behind them was the rest of the women, including Miruko dragging Stain’s unconscious body. He was bound tightly, with handcuffs that Momo made ensuring there was no chance of escape if he managed to wake up.
“Um, Miruko?” Pony asked. “What should we do about the body back in the alleyway?”
Kyouka felt bad, but in the excitement and danger of the fight, she had forgotten about it.
“Leave him,” Miruko said gruffly. “There’s nothing we can do for him, and the police will want the crime scene as untouched as possible.”
“Yaoyorozu, can you make something to put under her leg?” Hadou asked as she lifted Kyouka’s leg up, her voice much more commanding than normal. “We need to make sure it’s elevated until the paramedics can get here.”
Momo nodded quickly and made an inflatable rubber pillow, pulling it out of her stomach and pressing a button on the side of it, causing the pillow to rapidly inflate. She walked over to Kyouka and placed it under her leg, allowing Hadou to set it down gently.
“Alright, let’s take a look at you,” Hadou muttered, turning Kyouka’s leg slightly. “Hmm. It’s definitely in the bone, there’s no way we’re gonna pull out before you get to the hospital. Good news is that you’re not bleeding much at all, so you’re gonna be totally fine. You’ll be up and walking tomorrow, I bet!”
“That’s great!” Mina cheered.
“Are you a doctor?” Pony asked.
Kyouka smiled a bit when Pony spoke. Even after just a week, she was already speaking a little smoother.
Hadou shook her head. “I’ve just got some training and seen some stuff. Don’t worry, Jirou, I’ve been hurt much worse than that and been back in school the next day! You’ll be fine!”
Kyouka smiled a little as she leaned back and closed her eyes for a moment, letting out a deep breath.
“You made it,” Momo said softly as she and the other women gathered around the car.
“Barely,” Kyouka responded with a huff. “That was damn intense.”
“So, what happened?!” Eiko asked excitedly.
Kyouka cracked one eye open and tried to sit up, but Hadou put a finger on her sternum and pushed her back down. “You can tell us from down there,” she chastised lightly.
“Right, sorry,” Kyouka muttered softly, leaning back onto the car. Her brow furrowed as she felt something soft beneath her head—something that definitely wasn’t there a few moments ago.
She turned her head slightly and saw a small pillow. Above her, Momo was blushing slightly as she smiled down at her, pulling her hand back quickly.
“Thanks, Yaomomo,” Kyouka said with a small smile.
“My pleasure,” she returned with a nod.
Kyouka adjusted herself slightly and let out another sigh. “So, I’m here with Death Arms, right? He’s probably freaking the fuck out right now, but I don’t have his number, so there’s not much I can do about that…”
“You’re with Death Arms?” Miruko asked. “I can message him on the Hero Network and let him know I’ve got you. Keep him from giving himself an aneurysm, at least.”
Kyouka blinked. “Oh, that would be great, thank you.”
Miruko laughed sharply. “He’s still gonna chew you out. Nothing I can do about that.”
“Right,” Kyouka mumbled, groaning a little. “Anyway, I was listening for more victims, but I heard Midoriya talking to Stain instead. I took off running as fast as I could to find him.”
“By yourself?” Momo asked, worry in her voice.
“There wasn’t anyone around,” Kyouka explained. “If I had waited, who knows what would have happened to him? I mean, I called you all, right? I’m not totally reckless.”
“Says the woman with the knife in her leg,” Mina said with a laugh.
Kyouka rolled her eyes as Mina stuck out her tongue. “I got there and Midoriya and Stain were having this back and forth. He was saying some crap about real heroes and fake heroes, saying that Midoriya and his family were all greedy and the scum of society or something, I wasn’t really listening.”
She noticed Mina bristle a little bit. She was his girlfriend, after all; it made sense for her to be protective. What was odd was she also noticed Momo do the same thing, and the two women exchanging a look.
“I tried to get him to run,” Kyouka continued, “but he wouldn’t listen. He seemed intent on fighting him, maybe to prove something, I don’t know.”
“What?” Mina asked in disbelief. “Oh, you thick-skulled-”
“He made the right call,” Miruko said, interrupting her.
The rest of the women seemed surprised. “Really?” Momo asked.
Miruko nodded as she continued to use her phone. “Stain was faster than him. Running would have just put his back on the danger and left him vulnerable.”
“Yeah,” Eiko said, crashing her fists together. “And it totally wouldn’t have been manly to run!”
Hadou sashayed over and tapped Eiko on the nose with a finger. “You gotta know when you’re outgunned, Kirishima! There’s no shame in waiting for backup.”
“He tried to get me to run,” Kyouka added. “I told him there was no way I was gonna leave him to fight Stain alone.”
“Also manly!” Eiko cheered.
“You’re funny,” Hadou said suddenly, giggling as she looked up at Eiko. “I like you.”
Mina raised an intrigued eyebrow at Hadou before turning back to Kyouka. “I knew you were a badass, but damn. Standing up to Stain like that couldn’t have been easy.”
Kyouka laughed and shook her head against the pillow. “No way. Midoriya and I fought pretty well together, but Stain was tough. We got a few good shots in, but he kept coming. He even had a gas mask so Midoriya’s breath didn’t do anything.”
“What?!” Pony exclaimed. “What are chances of that?”
“Oh, he said it-”
Kyouka’s eyes went wide for a moment as she remembered what Stain said. “He said something about Shigaraki!”
“That bastard from the USJ?” Mina gasped.
Miruko’s ears twitched as she put her phone away. “The League’s involved with this? Can’t say I’m surprised. The police will want to hear your testimonies, especially if Stain said anything like that.”
Kyouka nodded. “Understood. Anyway, I used one of my jacks to grab his arms so Midoriya could break his sword, and he took exception to that. The asshole started coming for me, that’s when he got this knife in my leg. Then he tried to take a swing at my jack.” She shook her left jack a little for emphasis.
“Oh no,” Momo said breathlessly. “That must have been terrifying.”
She was right, but Kyouka tried to hide it. “A little, yeah. Honestly, I don’t think he could have cut them. They’re pretty tough.”
Miruko cocked her hip. “You don’t think a guy with a blade could cut those ear thingies?”
“Like I said, they’re tough,” Kyouka answered, letting her jack move down and punch through the steel hood of the car like it was paper. “I’ve gotten them caught in stuff over the years, especially growing up. They’ll hurt, but no permanent damage so far. I also think they can grow back.”
“Woah, really?” Hadou asked in awe. “That’s so cool! Wait, how do you know that?”
Kyouka rocked her head back and forth. “Technically I don’t know for sure. My mom has basically the same quirk as me and when she was younger, a villain cut one of her jacks off while it was holding her hostage to get away from a hero. It grew back, so I assume mine will, too.”
“Let’s not test that theory, please,” Momo said firmly.
“Agreed,” Kyouka offered weakly. “Midoriya made sure I didn’t test it today. Faster than I could really see, he threw his arm in front of the blade and blocked it. Bad thing was, Stain finally got a good hit on him. Drew blood.”
“Which is how Stain’s quirk works,” Miruko scoffed. “I’m glad he told me.”
“What does it do?” Momo asked.
“Paralyzes you,” Kyouka answered. “He licked Midoriya’s blood and he froze up. Couldn’t move a muscle for a while.”
Pony gasped. “So he was helpless?”
Kyouka nodded. “But Midoriya’s blood is poison, so it made him unsteady and gave him a lisp, which was hilarious, but I had to keep Stain off him for a little bit. He was dangerous even when loopy.”
“On one leg?” Eiko asked. “Man, you’re so cool!”
Kyouka blushed a little harder and clicked her jacks together nervously. “Y-yeah. But we were basically done for when Ochako and Miruko arrived. Thanks for the save, by the way.”
Miruko smirked. “It’s what I do. Save people and kick ass.”
“Damn, yeah it is,” Kyouka said with a relieved sigh. “Watching you in person is way different than in a video. You’re something else.”
“First the dragon and now you,” Miruko chuckled. “My fanclub is getting bigger every day.”
“Well, yeah,” Kyouka muttered, blushing a little harder. “You saved my life, that kinda earns some brownie points, yeah?”
Miruko laughed again. “Wasn’t just me. Uraraka helped, too. She’s a quick learner.”
“Yeah…” Kyouka mumbled, reliving the memory of Ochako appearing on the rooftop and jumping down in front of her. That wasn’t something she was going to be forgetting anytime soon.
“You still there?” Mina asked, waving a hand in front of her face.
Kyouka blinked. “Oh, sorry. Where was I? Right. Uh, Miruko and Ochako fought Stain for a bit, but Ochako got paralyzed. His quirk ended on Midoriya a little after, but he didn’t move. He laid in wait and taunted Stain. He rushed Midoriya and got a surprise claw to the chest, then a surprise foot to the back. That’s when you all showed up. Badass entrances, by the way. I wish I had it on video.”
“Same!” Hadou cheered. “You all did great and looked good doing it!”
Suddenly, the bubbly air of their TA dulled. She looked down at Kyouka with a very kind, soft expression on her face, her beautiful periwinkle eyes gazing right at her. “But in all seriousness, thank you for saving Greenhorn. He’s bullheaded, but he’s very important to me. I’ll thank him later for saving you. I don’t want any of my students getting hurt.”
“Aw…” Mina cooed. “You’re such a good TA.”
Hadou turned around and bowed slightly to Miruko. “And thank you for saving my students.”
“Yeah, well, just make sure you mention it to your boss, alright?” Miruko said with a wink.
Wait, why did she wink?
Before Kyouka could think any further, Mina had moved closer to her. She leaned down and put her arms around Kyouka as best she could, holding her in a tight, warm, and very soft hug. “Thank you for staying safe and being a hero,” Mina said quietly.
Kyouka blushed a little. “No probl-”
She was cut off as Mina leaned in and planted a small kiss on her cheek. “And that’s for saving my boyfriend.”
Kyouka’s face lit up hard enough that her red face paint disappeared.
There was a silence in the street for a few moments as everyone processed what just happened.
Pony said something in English that Kyouka couldn’t understand, but it sounded like poetry.
Momo cleared her throat as she looked like she was psyching herself up for something. “Um, yes, thank you, Kyouka. You’ll forgive me if I don’t kiss you, though.”
Kyouka didn’t understand the strange longing sensation that suddenly formed in her chest.
Wait.
Eiko spoke up first. “Woah, woah, what does that mean? Am I reading too much into it, or…?”
Momo took a deep breath, bolstering herself again. “I thanked Kyouka for saving m-my boyfriend.”
Kyouka’s jaw dropped. “W-wait. Y-you, too?”
Momo nodded.
Eiko looked as stunned as Kyouka. “T-they’re taking more?” she whispered under her breath, quietly enough that only Kyouka could hear.
“Why you surprised?” Pony asked Kyouka. “Mina said that others can join!”
“I g-guess,” Kyouka stuttered. She just didn’t expect it so soon. Apparently, the trio had become a foursome when she wasn’t looking, and with Momo of all people. Lucky bastards.
“Oh, did you all not know?” Hadou asked. “Ashido was talking about it all week! Oh! What else do I know that you don’t? You all know that Uraraka is dating them too, right? Oh, was that a secret?”
“Y-yeah, we knew that,” Eiko mumbled.
“Where is Ochako, anyway?” Mina asked, seemingly very pleased with all the chaos. “And Midori, for that matter.”
“You did not fail me.”
Ochako stared up into Izuku’s eyes as her face twisted in frustration. He moved his hands slightly on her cheeks, pressing his forehead further into her own.
“You did not fail yourself.”
Ochako’s defiance burned in her eyes as she glared up at him. She wasn’t defying him, she was defying herself. He could see the torment on her face as her mind and heart struggled with each other, which was in turn causing his quirk to snarl in frustration.
“If you hadn’t come when you did,” Izuku said softly, but firmly, “Jirou and I would have been injured, if not killed. You saved both of us. You did. If you hadn’t come and if you hadn’t brought Miruko, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
A tear began to leak from Ochako’s eye as her frustration boiled over.
“I remember what you told me,” he continued. “You promised you would stand between me and danger the next time. And you did. You did.”
“He tossed me aside like I was nothin’,” she muttered through clenched teeth. “I couldn’t protect you. Not like you protected me from Terrorflame.”
“But you did,” he answered, stroking one of her hairs out of her face. “You did exactly what I did. You held out long enough against a far superior opponent to save everyone. Terrorflame was toying with me. You know that. He could have killed me at any point, but he didn’t. Stain was serious and you still took him on.”
“You still did somethin’,” she hissed. “You have that scar because you did somethin’. You saved Mina and I from that monster twice .”
“And you saved Jirou and I twice,” Izuku retorted. “That dumpster saved us, and Miruko being here saved us. If it was anyone but you, things would have been much different. Think of how long it took Mo, or Pony, or Nejire, Eiko, and Mina to get here. If it was anyone but you, I would be dead right now.”
Ochako sighed and the fight left her body. “You’re right. We’re heroes, we shouldn’t be gettin’ hung up on stuff like this. I just… made that promise and wanted to make good on it.”
“And you did ,” Izuku repeated. “Come on, Ochako, what would you say if our positions were reversed right now?”
She thought for a moment and then let out a small laugh, which sounded like the chorus of angels to Izuku’s ears. “You’re right. Today’s just been a long and… pretty depressin’ day.”
“You can say that again,” Izuku muttered. “This attack was monstrous.”
There was a long pause between them. In the silence, he couldn’t help but hear the fires still crackling around him.
“Thank you, Deku,” Ochako mumbled quietly after a time. “For helpin’ me. It’s like you were readin’ my mind.”
Izuku smiled, stroking her cheek and wiping away another tear. “I can be perceptive when I want to be, or when I let my quirk do it’s thing. You might see me like this more often; I’m learning to be more… receptive to my quirk. That’s in no small part to you, Ochako. You talked about saving me? You save me every single day, just by accepting me. By loving me.”
Ochako laughed again. “You dork.”
“Can’t argue that,” he muttered. “Can you move?”
“No,” she huffed. “How long does this last?”
Izuku leaned back, rubbing his chin. “I’m not sure. I’m pretty sure I was already freed by now. Maybe the time Stain paralyzes people is dependent on other factors.”
“Well, that’s just great,” she grumbled. “Can you lift me up?”
Izuku smiled and moved around, putting his arms underneath her and lifting her in a bridal carry. He began to carry her out of the alleyway when she suddenly gasped.
“Oh my God, is that guy dead?!” she exclaimed. “Was he here the whole time? I didn’t notice him!”
Izuku nodded sadly. “Native was his hero name. I… didn’t get here in time. Stain had already gotten him. He was a fine hero; he’ll be missed greatly. He didn’t deserve that.” Izuku felt like he should be sadder, but the stressful events of the day had left him feeling emotionally dull. All he wanted to do right now was curl up with his hoard and sleep.
“I guess… if I didn’t get here,” she began, “then that might have been you or Kyouka.”
Izuku squeezed her in his arms once. “Exactly. You’re the only reason my story didn’t end here today.”
Ochako nodded with a small smile as they continued walking. Izuku could tell that she still wasn’t totally over her ‘failure’, but it was past his ability to fix, at least at that time. She needed affirmation and encouragement from other sources, not just from him.
However, for now, he was satisfied. His hoard was safe. Not only was it safe, it had performed amazingly. Jirou had fought alongside him bravely and had saved him several times, Ochako had saved his and Jirou’s life, and then the others had shown up to put the final nail in Stain. Or perhaps the final ‘horn’ was more appropriate, considering Pony.
Jirou was injured, but she would heal. The only one he was truly worried about at the moment was Ochako, but in a way, he was proud of how hard she was taking it. Her drive to succeed, perform and protect was always powerful, but it had gotten even stronger since they had started dating.
His hoard would truly grow mighty indeed with a gem like her both in it and protecting it.
Izuku carried Ochako out of the alleyway and into the street, where the rest of the women were waiting.
“There you are!” Nejire exclaimed.
Pony jumped up a little. “Izzy! Ochako!”
Izuku smiled over at the women as he carefully moved to the car that Jirou was laying on and placed Ochako next to her. He turned around and promptly bowed deeply. “Thank you all for saving me. I owe you my life.”
“Hey, no problem, Aniki,” Eiko responded, seeming a little… off for some reason. “You saved all our lives at the USJ, it’s only fair. Not like Mina and I did much, anyway. He was already down when we got there!”
Izuku waved his hands defensively. “Ah, no, please don’t keep track! Keeping score isn’t going to do anyone any favors; please just accept my thanks!”
“Ah, that’s manly as hell!” Eiko cried out, holding a fist over her heart.
“Yeah, don’t sweat it, Kiri,” Mina added as she walked over to Ochako and began looking her over. “We showed up and that’s what counts. I’m sure Midori is grateful for that.”
“Definitely,” Izuku responded. “Thank you, Red Riot.”
The red-haired woman beamed proudly, although there was still something off about her.
Mina picked up one of Ochako’s arms and moved it around. “So like, you’re still paralyzed?”
“Yes…” Ochako sighed, looking up at Mina.
Jirou adjusted herself a little next to Ochako. “That’s weird, Midoriya was free a lot sooner than this.”
Ochako sighed again. “Yeah, he said that, too.”
Mina let go of Ochako’s arm and watched as it stayed in place. A mischievous grin grew across her face as she picked up her other arm and began moving it around as well.
“Mina…” Ochako muttered, not liking her grin any more than Izuku did.
“What?” she responded innocently, leaving Ochako’s arm in the air like she was flexing.
Momo chuckled politely behind her hand. “Mina, she’s not one of those poseable action figures, leave her alone.”
“Then why does she pose like one?” Mina asked, not stopping for a moment.
Izuku saw the darkness lingering behind Ochako’s eyes fade slightly as she tried to hold back the smile that was growing on her face. He smiled himself and turned back to the rest of the women, shaking his head as Mina made Ochako dab against her will, which caused Jirou to start laughing.
“Oh, what was that thing you threw, M- Yaoyorozu?” Izuku quickly caught himself.
Momo, who was trying to hold back her own laughter as Mina continued to mess with her paralyzed girlfriend, turned to him with a slightly apologetic look. “Ah, um, they know, Zu.”
“Oh.” That explained why Eiko was acting odd. “I see.”
“Yeah,” Pony agreed, “Yaomomo said she dating you now.”
Izuku rubbed his head. “Uh, yes. As of Saturday.”
“Oh, after the truth or dare game?” Jirou interjected. “That makes sense. There was all sorts of sexual tension in that room.”
“You guys played truth or dare?!” Nejire gasped. “And you didn’t invite me?!”
Izuku was grateful for the inadvertent subject change.
“You can come to the next one,” Mina chirped. “I’m sure we’ll do it again, it was way too much fun.”
Izuku was simultaneously looking forward to and dreading the idea of Nejire in a truth or dare game, so he decided not to think about it. “Oh, and Miruko,” he began, bowing to the pro who was watching the students with muted curiosity, “please accept my personal thanks. If it wasn’t for you, many of my friends would have been hurt or worse. You have my gratitude.”
Miruko scoffed loudly, waving her head. “Eh, don’t sweat it, kid. It’s what we do.” She smiled a little, nodding her head toward him. “But you’re welcome.”
Momo cleared her throat, causing Izuku to jump slightly and turn back toward her. “Oh, right, sorry. Er, what was that thing?”
She proudly held up a small black object. “It’s a Hyper-Density Seal.”
Izuku slapped his forehead. “Oh, of course! Nighteye uses those all the time!”
She tossed one to him, which he caught, then nearly dropped as the weight pulled down. “Woah, these really are dense!”
“There’s a joke about you there,” Mina quipped as she made Ochako play peekaboo, “but I’m too busy to find it right now.”
Izuku rolled his eyes and looked over at Pony, who was staring up at him with a soft smile. “Thank you too, Stampede.”
“It was no problem, Izzy,” she responded happily, vibrating slightly as he said her hero name. “I just glad you are okay!”
Izuku smiled wider, reaching over and ruffling her hair gently, eliciting a happy mewl from the American. “Your Japanese is already a lot better. Has your internship gone well?”
“You were right about it being trial by fire,” she said, before the smile suddenly vanished from her face, replaced with that stern fire that she had shown before. “But before today, I learn nothing about being a hero! I am not going to fall behind, and you owe me! This your fault!”
There was a yelp from behind him, causing him to turn around. Ochako’s paralysis had finally worn off and Mina was currently floating above her, prevented from flying off into the sky only by Ochako’s hand around her wrist. Both women were staring at each other with expressions halfway between mischievous, playful, and affectionate.
“Yeah, that’s fair, Pony,” Izuku said, chucking softly as he turned back to her. “I’m glad that you found it helpful though. I’ll be sure to-”
“Hey!” Nejire interrupted, clapping her hands together excitedly. “You should totally come join the extra training that I’m making Greenhorn do!”
Izuku’s eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea!” He turned to the rest of the women and opened his arms wide. “In fact, all of you should come! Nejire is going to put me through extra training, and I know you’d all like the opportunity to learn from one of the best at UA!”
The women began to mutter excitedly, each of them nodding and looking around at the others. As they all agreed to join him in his training, he found himself getting a little sentimental, the sounds dulling slightly as he began to think.
This is where he was happiest; caring for and talking with his hoard was what made him happier than anything else. His instincts had been humming happily in his mind ever since he exited that alleyway with Ochako in his arms, pleased with how his hoard was bonding both with him and each other.
Momo was gazing fondly at Ochako and Mina, who were both giggling as Mina’s weight was returned to her. He was still in moderate disbelief that Momo had feelings for him after all these years, but he was unbelievably grateful and was eager to solidify their fledgling relationship. She had been uncertain about her feelings for Ochako and Mina, but judging by the way she was looking at them, he wouldn’t have to worry too much about it.
Jirou was watching the others with a soft smile, even though he could tell the pain of her injury was still in the forefront of her mind. She had saved him, no doubt about it, and he had plans to encourage her friendship with him and the other women. If what Mina said was true, and she did have a crush on him… Ah, but perhaps that was too greedy.
Eiko was looking between Mina and Izuku with a slightly confused expression hid behind her smile, seemingly deep in thought about something. He had gotten the distinct impression that Eiko had feelings for Mina, which if that was true, he could-
He pulled himself back again, causing his instincts to grumble slightly.
Pony and Nejire were chatting about America, Nejire excitedly telling Pony about all the things she saw while she was training over there. Pony had seemed so shy in the first week, but now that she was getting more comfortable, she was opening up like a flower blooming. Perhaps now she would be more willing to talk about those underlying issues she hinted at during the Sports Festival.
Izuku smiled softly to himself as he basked in the warmth of his hoard, a total, primal satisfaction rolling through his mind; this must be how his father felt when he swam through his underwater garden.
A roar echoed in the distance, causing Izuku to stiffen up.
Speak of the devil.
“What was that?” Eiko asked, turning to the noise defensively.
Izuku looked over at Jirou. “You might want to cover your ears.” The woman cocked an eyebrow before nodding, her jacks retracting as she clamped her hands over them. Izuku planted his feet and let his quirk flow through his neck, chest and head as his scales flashed and his head transformed. He took a deep breath and unleashed his own roar, shaking the ground slightly.
“Ow, watch it!” Miruko snapped at him, covering her own large, fluffy ears defensively.
Izuku winced, hunching down apologetically. “Sorry, Miruko…”
“What was that about?” Pony asked curiously.
Mina sauntered up to her and leaned on her shoulder. “I bet that’s his dad,” she whispered into her ear.
“ Ohhhh …”
It was only a few moments later when the heavy wingbeats of Stormclaw began to echo through the abandoned street and only a few moments later that the massive dragon crashed down nearby, shrinking back to his human form without breaking stride.
His father looked a combination of furious and worried as he stomped up to Izuku, lighting crackling between his horns. “Where have you been?” he snarled.
Izuku cowed slightly, giving the older, stronger dragon the deference he warranted. “I got attacked,” he explained, gesturing down to the unconscious villain at Miruko’s side. “Miruko and my friends saved my life.”
Stormclaw glanced down at Stain, then did a double take, his eyes going wide as his raging quirk faded.
“Stain?” Hisashi asked. “You… oh my God.” He moved forward and threw his arm around Izuku, pulling him in close.
“Aw…” Nejire cooed.
“You said your friends saved you?” he asked, letting Izuku go. He turned to his classmates and gave a small bow. “You have saved my son’s life again. Thank you all.”
“It’s our pleasure,” Momo responded politely.
“It’s what heroes are supposed to do,” Ochako added. “He’s done the same for us.”
Hisashi smiled widely. “You may just be students, but you’re all true heroes to me.” He then turned to Miruko and bowed to her. “And thank you too, Miruko. It calms this father’s heart to know you were here.”
Miruko nodded, smirking confidently. “No problem, old timer. Your son’s got some talent, you’ve trained him well.”
Hisashi reached over and ruffled Izuku’s hair. “He sure does.”
Miruko rolled her shoulders as her smirk dropped. “Police and paramedics are on the way. They’ll want to take statements from all of us and they’ll want to take anyone injured to the hospital.”
“It was barely a scratch!” Ochako objected. “I’m fine.” Izuku felt the same way; Stain had hardly touched him.
“You were affected by an unknown quirk,” Miruko shot back. “It’s standard procedure for you to be held overnight for monitoring. Don’t bitch, it just makes it worse. No amount of complaining will get you out of it, trust me.”
Ochako deflated. “Yes, Miruko.”
“Ah, don’t be like that,” the pro retorted, walking over and punching the taller woman on the arm. “Buck up, Uraraka, you did good today.”
She smiled a little at that. “Thank you.”
Noise from the far end of the street caught Izuku’s attention, where he saw police and paramedics hurrying toward them.
“Alright,” Hisashi said loudly, taking control. “Be respectful and let them do their job. Answer questions as best you can and do what they say. Congratulations to all of you, you survived.”
The man steepled his fingers as he watched the news broadcast later that evening.
The one-horned man was expectedly grim as he looked into the camera. “We return to our ongoing coverage of the crisis on Hosu city, going live to our reporter in the field.”
“Thankfully, whatever caused this madness seems to have passed,” the woman began, the camera showing her standing in the smoldering city, “and the people of Hosu are returning to normal. Unfortunately, the police have told us that the official death toll in Hosu has reached over 3,000 and is continuing to rise as they explore more of the city. They have no guesses as to how high the numbers will go, but it is safe to say that this is the biggest tragedy Japan has experienced since Terrorflame.”
The man grew a soft, satisfied smirk.
The main caster took back over as the camera returned to the studio. “Even as the fires still burn, the same question is being asked by countless people across the nation: ‘how could this have happened?’. Several politicians have already come forward, denouncing the attack as a gross failure on the part of the Hero Association, calling for further oversight from the Hero Public Safety Commission, as well as increased powers for the police.”
The man’s smirk grew. It was humorous how quickly the people began to turn on their heroes. A small seed of doubt would quickly fester, growing into uncertainty, fear, and tribalism. People who were afraid were people who were easy to manipulate.
“At a press conference minutes ago, the police provided us with all the new information they could. Several eyewitnesses have come forward and said that right before the attack, they saw two men matching the description of Tomura Shigaraki and Kurogiri, two men associated with the League of Villains who attacked UA several weeks ago.”
Ah, free publicity. It saved him the trouble of having to take credit.
“During the attack, Stain surfaced, but was defeated by Miruko and some promising young students from UA. Details are limited, as police efforts are focused on Hosu, but the end of the Hero Killer is a small light in this otherwise oppressive darkness. In addition, the police stated that they have reason to believe that Stain was working with the League.”
The man paused. The police believed that Stain was involved with the League? A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.
He pressed a button, causing the screen next to him to spring to life.
“Kurogiri.”
The misty man on the far side of the screen tensed up and quickly turned to the camera. “Yes, master?”
“The police believe that Stain is involved with the League. I want you to see to it that those rumors are fostered. We will use his… cult to further our own gains. He is in no position to dispute our claims.”
“At once, master,” Kurogiri replied immediately. “It will be done. But, it wo-”
“Price is no concern,” he said calmly. “This is worth it. Do well, and the League will blossom with fresh blood.”
“Yes, master.”
The man cut the connection, leaning back in his chair and sighing as he felt his head pounding slightly.
Damned headaches.
He would have to ask the doctor for more painkillers today.
Notes:
And thus, Hosu officially ends.
See you guys next time! :)
Chapter 56: Boldness
Summary:
Sometimes all it takes is a little courage.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Jirou came walking back into the hospital room with slouched shoulders and an embarrassed look on her face, but Izuku could see the glint of fire still burning in her eyes.
“Man, we could hear him yelling all the way back in here,” Ochako muttered. “You think Death Arms would be more understanding about why you ran off.”
Jirou flopped back onto her bed, sighing heavily as she rolled over onto her back and sat back up, looking over at Izuku and Ochako. “He’s a pretty high-strung guy, actually. Likes things done right and hates it when you do stuff without thinking. I told him why I did it and that Midoriya might not be alive if I didn’t run off, but he wasn’t very sympathetic.”
The three of them had stayed overnight at the hospital, each of them monitored by equipment overnight. At least they had all been put in the same room, so each other’s company had helped to pass the time well enough. Things were even relatively peaceful until Death Arms arrived and almost dragged Jirou out of the room to reprimand her.
“Why not?” Ochako asked, crossing her arms from her place on her bed. “You saved Deku’s life!”
Jirou sighed again, rubbing her freshly-healed leg absentmindedly. She had been walking on it just fine, thankfully. “He said ‘sure, this time, but that’s not always gonna fly’. He told me that I got lucky and next time I should think before I do anything rash. ‘You’re not All Might, you can’t save everyone. Acting without thinking is how you get killed. You can’t save anyone if you’re dead’.
Ochako furrowed her brow and pouted a little. “A hero should try to save everyone.”
It’s too dangerous. She must be protected.
“Ochako is right,” Izuku said, ignoring his instincts and causing them to snarl in frustration. “We have to try and be the best we can be. We have to try to save everyone, even if we can’t.”
“I would rather fail than not try,” Ochako added, nodding.
His instincts bucked again.
They’re not ready. They are not All Might.
Izuku sighed, rubbing his head slightly.
“You alright?” Jirou asked. “I thought the doctors gave you the all-clear.”
“I’m fine,” he responded, ignoring the suspicious look that Ochako was giving him. “What I was going to say next is that, while we should try to be our best, we shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss what Death Arms said. He’s not saying it to be mean, he’s probably saying it because he’s seen overeager young heroes get killed by doing stuff like what you did, Jirou.”
Jirou hung her shoulders a little. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“Don’t get down,” Izuku continued, waving his hands back and forth, “but think about it. We don’t want to become cynical, but we also don’t want to become blind idealists. Often the sweet spot is somewhere in the middle.”
Better.
Ochako tapped her chin a few times. “So we strive to be like All Might, but we gotta have reasonable expectations. I can get behind that, although it’s frustrating when you hit a wall.”
Izuku saw the pain still lingering behind her eyes; she wasn’t over doubting herself quite yet.
Jirou leaned back and flopped onto her bed. “Then I guess we just gotta train harder, yeah? I mean, we’ve only been at UA for like, less than half a semester. We can’t expect ourselves to be all that just yet, which is what Death Arms was saying, I guess.”
“And that’s why we need to take advantage of Nejire’s offer,” Izuku added. “We have to be the best we can be, and there isn’t a student at UA better to learn from than her.”
If I can’t keep them out of harm’s way, then I have to make sure that nothing can stand before their power. I can’t keep my hoard hidden, so I must make it invincible.
“Agreed,” Ochako said with a firm nod.
Jirou propped herself up on an elbow, glancing over at Izuku. “Just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there. I didn’t like sitting there on the ground while the rest of you fought.”
“Tell me about it,” Ochako huffed.
Before Izuku could say anything else, the door opened again. The students looked over to see Miruko standing there in plainclothes, smirking slightly as she glanced over the students.
“Hello, Miruko,” Ochako said dutifully.
Miruko half-rolled her eyes and stepped inside. “How’re you all holding up?”
“We’re fine,” Izuku answered. “No problems at all.”
“Yeah, that’s usually how it goes,” Miruko muttered, rolling her neck. “But that one time that there are complications… you’ll be glad you’re here.”
Izuku exchanged nervous glances with Ochako and Jirou.
“Come with me,” Miruko said, looking over at Ochako. “Let’s talk about yesterday.”
Ochako nodded, standing up without a word and waving to Izuku and Jirou as the two exited the room and closed the door behind them.
A silence hung in the air for a few seconds.
And then a few seconds longer.
He looked over at Jirou and was slightly surprised to see her looking nervous, like she was preparing herself to do something she didn’t really want to do.
“H-hey, Midoriya,” she began awkwardly.
Izuku was looking straight at her, but Jirou was staring determinedly down at her bed, her previously relaxed aura mysteriously and completely absent. What could be making her so stressed?
“I just wanted to s-say thanks… for saving me, that is.”
Izuku blinked and stared for a few seconds in surprise. “I should be the one thanking you! If it wasn't for you hearing me and coming to my aid, then refusing to leave when I tried to get you to run, then I’d probably be dead right now.”
“Yeah, but,” she continued, poking her jacks together bashfully, “like, we fought well together, I guess. You saved me when he tried to really get me. You got paralyzed because of that, and I just…”
She took a deep breath, then slapped herself on both cheeks harshly.
“Jirou…?” Izuku asked, raising an eyebrow. He was getting a little worried now; what could be so hard to say?
She shook her head and let out a heavy sigh as her cheeks grew redder, and not just from the slaps. “Shit. What I’m trying to say is thanks for saving me and thanks for being you… E-Emerald.”
He furrowed his brow. “Eme-”
Izuku’s eyes went wide as realization crashed over him.
MINE.
“Emerald?” he repeated quietly, struggling to restrain his quirk, which was trying to wash over the rest of his mind.
“Y-yeah,” Jirou mumbled, scratching the back of her head as her jacks twisted and turned, squirming as much as she was. “A bunch of other girls have nicknames for you and this one just sorta came to me. It feels kinda right to call you that, I guess. You don’t mind, do you?”
She has accepted her place.
“Of course not,” Izuku said, gritting his teeth slightly as he fought back his quirk. It was running so hot that he had to relieve some of the pressure by enhancing his senses, but if he hadn’t, he wouldn't have been able to hear her mumble.
“Man, his eyes are doing that glowy thing again,” she muttered almost inaudibly as she glanced up at him with bright red cheeks. “That’s so cool.”
There was a slight pause before Izuku cleared his throat and shook his head. “I’m flattered that you like me enough to give me a nickname.”
She chuckled a little, averting her gaze again. “Yeah, well, we fought against a crazed murderer together on one of the worst nights of any of our lives, so maybe I feel like we’ve bonded.”
“I definitely agree,” Izuku said calmly, feeling his quirk hum happily. “We worked well together and I feel closer to you. I hope we can hang out more once we’re back at UA.”
Jirou paused for a few seconds. “I’d like that.”
Izuku smiled.
Her face took on a more aggressive expression as she suddenly glared at him with a furious blush. “Don’t breathe a word of this to the others, alright? This stays between us or I’ll make you wish that Stain got to you instead.” She emphasized her point by jabbing her jacks in his direction like a pair of angry snakes.
He held up his hands defensively. “I promise. I won’t even tell my girlfriends, although I guarantee Mina will flip the first time she hears you call me Emerald.”
“No doubt,” she grumbled, her shoulders dropping again. “Just… thanks for being cool.”
“Same to you,” he hummed happily.
Both of them heard heavy footsteps approaching the door, causing them to fall silent. There was a quick, firm knock followed by the door flinging open.
“I am… HERE TO CHECK ON MY STUDENTS!” All Might declared boisterously as he strode into the room.
“All Might!” Jirou exclaimed.
“And I brought Young Bakugou with me!” he continued, gesturing behind him as Katsuki walked in. He and Izuku locked eyes, communicating more with a single glance than some people could in an entire conversation.
All Might looked over the two patients. “I trust you are well? And where is Young Uraraka?”
“Yeah, we’re all fine,” Izuku answered as he slid off the bed and walked over to the visitors. “And Ochako’s talking to Miruko right now.”
“Ah, I see,” All Might said with a nod. “Regardless, it is good to see you are all unharmed after yesterday’s… harrowing events. That was a dark day, but you all pulled through. I am proud of you all.”
Jirou took a deep breath and nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
All Might snapped his fingers. “Oh, and Young Jirou, your parents are waiting for you downstairs. They very much want to speak with you.”
“Oh, they’re here already?” Jirou asked, sounding surprised and glancing down at her phone. “Wait, why didn’t they just come up with you?”
All Might’s shoulders slumped a little. “Well, this hospital has a policy for the hero wing, that only police, pro heroes, and those accompanying pros can come upstairs. It keeps the paparazzi from sneaking in, you see.”
“Not even family?” Izuku asked, raising an eyebrow. “And why didn’t you just say her parents were with you?”
“I tried,” All Might said with a sigh. “But the nurses didn’t buy it. They’re very strict about this sort of thing. Their logic is that anyone can claim to be family. There is a long vetting process and several forms to fill out before family can come upstairs. Long story short, they’re waiting downstairs, Young Jirou.”
She shrugged. “I’m not gonna complain about an excuse to get out of this room. See you guys back at the dorms tonight, if nothing else. Later.”
The woman hopped off the bed and walked to the door, waving slightly to the three men still inside and then closing the door behind her.
All Might chuckled and looked down at Izuku, shaking his head slightly. “Your father told me what you did. That was brave, but quite foolish. Although, I’m sure you’ve already heard as much from him.”
“Him and many others,” Izuku admitted, hanging his head slightly. “But would you have done anything different?”
“No comment,” All Might said with another chuckle. “Well, unfortunately I can’t stay either. There are many others I need to pay a visit to, but I wanted to make sure Young Bakugou got here without being harassed.”
He began to turn and walk away, but Izuku moved forward and touched his arm. “Um, can I ask you something?”
All Might raised an eyebrow but nodded. His face looked a little more sunken than normal; the horrors of the previous day were likely weighing on him harder than most.
Izuku pushed his quirk through his neck, transforming it so his head rose up to be level with All Might’s, which caused the man to furrow his brow slightly. He leaned in and whispered so Katsuki wouldn’t hear. “Ochako is taking some things from yesterday pretty hard, do you think you could talk to her? She’s worried that she’s failed and I think she needs to hear it from someone other than me.”
All Might paused for a moment, then nodded as Izuku’s neck returned to its normal length. “Certainly.”
Izuku nodded back as the man left, leaving him with Katsuki. He sat back down on the bed as his friend sighed, rubbing his hand through his hair.
“Hell of a week,” Izuku said softly, rubbing his face with his hands.
“That’s for sure,” Katsuki responded. “Glad to see you made it through.”
Izuku smiled. “Same to you. Now, tell me all the details you were too lazy to type out over the phone. Paparazzi would kill to get a week with him like you just had.”
Toshinori rubbed his forehead as he walked through the hallways of the hospital. Yesterday had been a very dark day and it would take a long time for him to get over it, but he was certain that he would never forget it. The idea that the heroes had failed so spectacularly to allow such a devastating attack to take place was unthinkable, although he didn’t necessarily know what they could have done better. The details of exactly what happened were still being pieced together, but one thing he was certain of was that there was going to be political ramifications, but those were out of his control.
Outside of that, his week had been fairly successful. Young Bakugou had shown great progress in their short time together, but he had also answered the important question that Toshinori was secretly asking him. He would have to discuss it with Mirai and Sorahiko when they met on Sunday, but it was safe to say that he wasn’t-
Toshinori’s train of thought was interrupted as he heard Young Uraraka’s voice.
“I just… felt like dead weight, I guess.”
He stopped in his tracks, his eyes following the sound to a half-open door a few paces in front of him.
“Why?” a voice asked flatly.
That was Miruko. Apparently, they were still talking like Young Midoriya said. He should come back later.
“I came in all big and bad, smiling like All Might told me, but then I couldn't pull it off.”
Toshinori raised an eyebrow and looked up and down the hallway. Well, maybe he could eavesdrop just a little.
“So?” Miruko said casually. “You’re a student. You’re still learning. Shit happens.”
Young Uraraka let out a heavy sigh. “I know, I know, it’s just… I want to be the best. I want to be the greatest hero. I want people to see my fearless smile and feel safe.”
Toshinori cocked an eyebrow.
“What’s this about smiling?” Miruko asked curiously.
“All Might told me that the strongest people always smile, because a hero is responsible for saving hearts as well as bodies. That’s why you smile, right? People see your smile and your confidence and they know that they’re gonna be alright because Miruko is there! I wanna be like that!”
“You’re a smart kid, but those are lofty goals,” Miruko remarked with a note of pride. “Sounds like you want to replace All Might.”
“Heh, I guess,” she responded softly. “I didn’t use to feel like that, but after being at UA, with Deku and the others, it just feels… wrong to not aim for the top.”
“Well, you won the festival, and you did well with me this week, so I’d say you’re well on your way. What’s got you so down still?”
Young Uraraka let out another sigh. “I guess… you , in a way.”
“Watch your tongue, Kit,” Miruko shot back, although there was levity in her voice. “Explain.”
“I’ve done well, I admit,” Young Uraraka began, “but it’s always with others helping me. Like Deku saving me at the USJ, or you saving me yesterday. You work alone and you’ve always talked about your individual strength and just… can I be the best if I’m always relying on others?”
Miruko didn’t say anything for a moment. “Look, sure I work alone, and sure I put that act on for the public, but never think for a second I got to where I am without help.”
Toshinori could almost hear Young Uraraka’s incredulity.
“ Everyone has people help them,” Miruko continued. “Do you think I got through college without help? If it wasn’t for the people who cared for me, taught me, trained me, I wouldn’t be shit right now. Hell, even now I still train and practice with other heroes. Anybody who tells you that they got to the top without help is either a liar or a dumbass.”
That was very true. Without Nana, or Sorahiko, or Dave, or Mirai, Toshinori wouldn’t be half the hero he was today.
“Oh.”
Miruko scoffed. “‘Oh’ is right. Look, you’ve got good friends, I saw as much yesterday. Don’t throw them away or I’m gonna come to UA and kick your ass to Shiketsu and back.”
“No, no!” Young Uraraka responded quickly. “I wasn’t going to throw them away! I could never do that, I just wanted to know if I was going about things the right way, I guess.”
“You’re doing fine ,” Miruko emphasized. “You’re not even halfway done with your first semester and you’re already kicking ass, but it’s good to see that you’re not satisfied.”
“Never!” Young Uraraka declared, her voice sounding more full of confidence and happiness than it had. “Not until I’m the best.”
Miruko let out a hearty laugh. “That’s the spirit! But remember, if you want the number one spot, you’re gonna have to go through me, and I’m not gonna take it easy on you.”
“You haven’t taken it easy on me all week,” she retorted with a small whine. “I’m gonna be bruised for days.”
Miruko laughed again. “You’ll thank me later.”
There was a short silence that made Toshinori very aware that he was still eavesdropping.
“You’re a good kid,” Miruko finally said. “Come here.”
“What?” Young Uraraka asked, seeming a little surprised.
Miruko huffed. “It’s called a hug, Kit. If I need to explain this, I take back everything I just said.”
Young Uraraka let out a small laugh and Toshinori heard movement from inside the room.
“Thanks, Miruko. For everything.”
“Yeah, well, don’t let me catch you slacking and wasting all the hard work I’ve put into you.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Young Uraraka declared.
Toshinori finally decided that he needed to leave before his curiosity got him into trouble. As he rounded the corner, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.
‘Your fears are misplaced, Young Midoriya. Young Uraraka is doing just fine,’ he thought to himself with a small smile.
Izuku and his companions waved goodbye to their parents as they stood outside their dorms back at UA that evening. Jirou, Ochako, and himself had all had to go through one last screening before being discharged, and Katsuki had waited for them, meaning that they were back at the dorms a lot later than planned, and were likely among the last to arrive. With a sigh, Izuku turned away from his family and looked back at the dorms, feeling a sense of relief wash over him as he finally returned home.
Back to the lair. Back to my hoard.
He rubbed his chin as the four walked toward the doors. It hadn’t taken long for his instincts to latch onto Heights Alliance as his lair, but that didn’t surprise him. He had only ever lived in another dragon’s lair before. This was the first time he was living away from any other family member, which meant for the first time, he was the king of the jungle, as it were.
A part of him realized that it would cause some slight problems when he moved out once he graduated, but that was a problem for future Izuku.
Ochako opened the door and the four walked inside, where they were immediately greeted by their classmates.
“Hey, you’re back!” Sero called out, waving over from the couch in front of the television.
“Glad to see you’re alright,” Satou added from a table on the other side of the room.
Izuku barely had time to brace himself before a pink missile crashed into his midsection and Mina buried her face into his chest. “Finally!”
Momo walked up behind Mina, smiling at Ochako, then down at Izuku, then over at Jirou and Katsuki. “I am glad to see you have all returned.”
Izuku smiled widely, rubbing Mina’s back as he scanned the room. Sitting on the couch watching television was Sero, Mineta and Eiko, while Aoyama, Kouda and Shouji sat at the table with Satou, the four of them playing some board game. On the floor, Tsuyu was helping to braid Pony’s hair, while Hagakure was sitting on another bean bag chair nearby, seemingly playing on her phone. After the five standing with him, that left four people absent.
He looked down at Mina as she pulled back from her hug. “Where are-”
“Tokoyami headed upstairs about as soon as he came back,” Mina began immediately, as if she had been waiting for the question. “He looked exhausted, so I can’t blame him for that. Kaminari was here a bit ago, but then that girl from 1-B with those vines for hair came by and asked for him. I dunno why, but they left about a half hour ago. You might want to ask Tooru, she was saying something about him earlier.”
Katsuki yawned next to Izuku. “Nevermore has the right idea. I haven’t slept well all week. I’ll catch you guys tomorrow.”
“Yeah, it’s almost nine,” Izuku said with a smirk. “Past your bedtime, Dandy.”
Katsuki lovingly flipped Izuku off as he trudged toward the stairs with a smirk on his face.
“As for the other two,” Momo continued, raising an eyebrow as Katsuki left, “neither Todoroki nor Iida have returned yet. I suspect that they are attending to personal matters, what with both of them having a family member in the hospital right now.”
Izuku furrowed his brow. He had heard about Endeavor from both the news and from what Katsuki had told him earlier, but there was a small part of him that was surprised that Shouto would be with him in the hospital. Perhaps he felt a familial obligation, or perhaps he was fonder for his father than he let on, but without more information, it was pointless to assume anything.
“And asking Tooru isn’t really a suggestion,” Mina added with a whisper. “She’s been a little down today, think we could help with that?”
Izuku’s eyes flashed. “Of course.”
The group moved over to the floor where the three women were sitting and promptly grabbed spots of their own.
“Thank you for this,” Pony said to Tsuyu, her speech still a little stiff.
“No problem,” Tsuyu responded as she finished the last of Pony’s braids. “I’ve always found this sort of thing relaxing.”
Izuku winced a little. It was his fault that she couldn’t braid her own hair anymore. “Tsu, I’m so-”
He was cut off as her tongue smacked his cheek.
“No,” was all she said.
Mina began giggling loudly as she leaned over and tousled Tsuyu’s short hair. “I like your new look.”
“Thanks,” Tsu responded happily, closing her eyes as she smiled. “I do, too.”
Izuku smiled softly as he sank into one of the bean bag chairs next to Hagakure. “Hey, Hagakure, Mina mentioned you might know where Kaminari got off to?”
The woman looked over at him, judging from where her voice was coming from as she spoke. “Yeah, that Shiozaki girl came by and wanted to speak with him. I’m not surprised, not after what happened yesterday.”
“Yesterday?” Momo asked, perking up a little. “Did he run into her in Hosu?”
Hagakure nodded in her normal, exaggerated way. “Kaminari, Sero, Satou and I all came into Hosu from the same place, so we wound up sticking together. Shiozaki was actually already in the city when the gas hit so she was affected; we found this building with vines bursting out of every single window and door and a bunch of other tweaked out people around there. It was… a whole thing.”
Izuku saw the way her shoulders slumped as he spoke. Even without being able to read her face, her body language was telling. “That’s a story for another day. How was your week with Aizawa, otherwise?”
She immediately perked up, putting a smile on his face. “Oh, it was so cool! He taught me a bunch of different combat moves and how to move faster without making a sound, oh and he taught me some really cool tracking tricks! I felt like a secret agent all week!”
“Agent Spectrum, reporting for duty,” Mina growled in a deep, fake-serious voice.
Hagakure giggled, waving her arms as she wiggled in her bean bag chair. “Yeah, just like that!”
The group settled into a happy rhythm of talking and laughing as the night moved on. After a while, Izuku and Mina headed over to the couch where Eiko, Sero and Mineta were hanging out and joined them in watching some trash television show about a bunch of heroes forced to live in a single agency for a month or something; Izuku wasn’t really paying attention.
Around an hour later, the door opened again and Kaminari entered, looking both tired and like he was deep in thought. However, it only took Sero calling his name for him to perk up and move over, jumping over the couch and landing in a spot between Eiko and Izuku.
“Hey, Midoriya,” he began as he rubbed his hands together. “I’ve been wanting to challenge you in the new hero fighter game. I bet my Stormclaw can beat your Stormclaw.” He has seemed to put whatever had happened out there behind him completely, at least for the time being.
Izuku made a note to look into it.
“You’re assuming that’s who I play,” Izuku said with a sly smirk. “How’d you even know I played?”
Kaminari was already off the couch and setting up the console. “Bakugou told me. He’s really good, but I’m better.”
“Oh, you think you’re really something, don’t you?” Izuku asked with a raised eyebrow as he took one of the controllers.
“I am!” he declared confidently, his voice getting louder. “As long as someone isn’t messing with my controller!”
“Not sorry!” Hagakure yelled from the other side of the common room.
Kaminari booted the game up and they got to the character select screen, where the blonde snap-picked Stormclaw. Izuku could only smile as he moved his cursor over to Ryukyu and locked her in, causing Kaminari to scoff.
“You know Ryukyu is like, low-tier, right?” he said snarkily. “She’s basically just a worse Stormclaw.”
“Maybe I want to go easy on you,” Izuku answered coyly. “Can’t just crush you out of the gate, can I?”
Kaminari put a hand to his chest. “You wound me!”
The game got underway as the two digital heroes faced off.
“I’m not going to go easy on you just because you’re my niece,” Stormclaw growled.
“I hope I still get invited to family dinners after I beat you!” Ryukyu retorted.
Izuku couldn’t help but laugh as the match got underway. “I always loved going with them to the recording studio for these things. If you guys think these lines are corny, you should hear some of the ones that don’t make it into the final cut.”
“Man, that’s gotta be so cool,” Kaminari lamented as he blocked one of Izuku’s attacks. “I want to be in one of these things.”
“Well, then you’re at the right place,” Izuku added. “Put maximum effort into your studies and training and eventually one day you’ll get to waste an afternoon saying stupid lines into a microphone.”
There was a silence between them for a few seconds as they continued to fight. Finally, Kaminari said, quite softly, “You think so?”
“Of course!” Izuku responded without hesitation. “You have the potential for sure; if your heart and head are in the right place, you’ll be a great hero one day.”
Izuku noticed a slight falter in the digital Stormclaw, causing him to glance over at Kaminari. His eyes had that distant look, as if he was deep in thought, perhaps even recalling what he had just experienced.
He only snapped back to reality once Izuku smashed him with one of Ryukyu’s supers and sent the Stormclaw crashing to the ground.
Sero was laughing hard. “Low-tier, huh?”
“I was distracted!” Kaminari whined.
“Oh, here comes the excuses again,” Sero said, rolling his eyes. “What distracted you, Ryukyu’s butt? Come on man, that’s his cousin. Have some decorum.”
“Screw you!” Kaminari shouted, elbowing Sero in the side.
Izuku laughed and handed his controller over to Sero to let the two men settle their friendly grudge. He leaned back, putting his arm around Mina as they watched the match and enjoyed the evening. The controllers made their way around the couch and even Mina played a round, even though she hadn’t ever played a fighting game before. Eiko took it relatively easy on her, but in the end, they all had a good time just… being friends, instead of being heroes.
After the day before, it was welcomed.
Even so, eventually they all got tired and drifted off to bed one by one. Hospital beds weren’t exactly the most comfortable, so Izuku was eager to get some real rest himself. He and his three girlfriends got ready for bed and headed for Momo’s room, as Mina was eager to try out her “huge, fluffy, how-did-you-even-get-it-in-here bed”.
They entered Momo’s room and Mina wasted no time dashing forward and diving onto the bed, sighing contentedly as she sunk deep into the soft mattress. Momo and Ochako laughed as Izuku moved over and pushed on her back, causing her to sink in further.
“Careful, you might lose her in there,” Ochako said with a giggle.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
The four of them looked at each other as Izuku pulled Mina out of her fluffy prison.
“Who could that be?” Momo wondered aloud as she walked over to the door.
She opened it up to find Tsuyu standing there in her pajamas, looking up at her with her big, beautiful eyes.
Bring her in.
“Tsu!” Momo exclaimed. “How can we help you? Is everything alright? Is your heat not working again?”
Tsuyu shook her head. “Nothing like that. May I come in?”
“Oh! Of course, of course!” Momo fussed a little, making sure the room was tidy as she let Tsuyu in.
“What’s up?” Ochako asked curiously as she sat down on the bed next to Mina.
“I’m sure Izuchan has already told you that he told me his secret,” Tsuyu began, blunt as ever.
“Ah,” Momo said softly. “Yes, he did.”
“We’re going to have to have a talk about that,” Tsuyu continued, “but not today. I’m very tired, but I just wanted to ask a question.”
“Shoot!” Mina chirped.
“Izuchan and I bonded quite a bit over the week,” she began, “and Mina has offered me a place in your relationship before, in a way. However, I turned her down then and I’m still not confident that it would be the best decision for right now. I don’t think it’s a bad decision, but I’m not sure it’s a good decision, either.”
No. She must join.
“That’s fair,” Izuku admitted, nodding slowly as his eyes glowed. “We definitely bonded.”
“You said you had a question?” Momo asked curiously.
Tsuyu nodded. “I find all of you very attractive. I know that Izuchan finds me attractive, as well. I’m fairly confident about the rest of you, but that’s not really what my question is about.”
“It’s not like you to not get to the point,” Mina pointed out.
“I need to set the foundation,” Tsuyu explained flatly. “If it was just me and Izuchan, I would have no problems trying a relationship. I know Ochako well, and Mina, too. We’ve spent a lot of time together and I feel very comfortable around them. However…”
She turned to Momo, who was looking more than a little concerned as Tsuyu continued. “I do not know you as well as I’d like, Yaomomo. We didn’t have a day at Hell Week together and we just haven’t spent much time with each other.”
“That is true,” Momo said quietly. “Are you saying that I am the problem?”
“Well, kinda,” Tsuyu answered. “But I’m ready to ask my question now.”
She took a deep breath, showing some signs of nervousness that was uncharacteristic for her. Izuku even noticed a small blush on her cheeks.
“Yaomomo, will you go on a date with me?”
A silence hung in the room as everyone was stunned for a moment.
YES!
Mina’s high-pitched squeal broke the quiet as Ochako and Izuku continued to stare. Momo, on the other hand, seemed deep in thought. Tsuyu simply stared up at her as she looked down at the ground and rubbed her chin slowly.
Momo then drew herself up to her full height, taking on her air of refined elegance that Izuku knew and loved so much.
“I would be delighted,” Momo answered gracefully. “However, I am busy tomorrow. Can we do Sunday?”
Tsuyu broke out into a wide smile. “Sure. Thank you.”
“No, thank you ,” Momo said with a slight bow of her head. “I look forward to it.”
Tsuyu nodded firmly. “I’ll see you all tomorrow. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Tsu,” Momo responded sweetly as she left and shut the door behind her.
There was another moment of silence.
“Well!” Mina began with a clap of her hands. “I shouldn’t even be surprised. Tsuyu is just that kind of person and I absolutely love her for it.”
Ochako stood up and gave Momo a big hug. “Thanks for doin’ that.”
“Oh, it really is no problem at all,” Momo responded with a slight blush as she returned the hug.
“Mo in the middle?” Izuku asked as Ochako took Momo by the hand and led her to her bed.
“Sounds good to me!” Mina exclaimed as she rolled over to the side of the bed to give her larger girlfriends room.
Momo blushed a little more as she slipped into the bed and held her arm up for Mina to snuggle up as Ochako climbed over them to cuddle in as well, squishing Mina in a girlfriend sandwich.
“Oh God, I can die happy,” Mina mumbled into Momo’s side.
Izuku couldn’t help but smile widely as he turned the lights off, then climbed in and pressed himself into Momo’s other side. He leaned up and planted a kiss on her cheek, then pulled back but found her hand suddenly holding the back of his head close. Momo leaned in and kissed him on the lips, trying to make up for time lost over the week.
They broke apart and Izuku smiled wide, burrowing in closer as he rested his head on Momo’s shoulder.
“Do I get one of those?” Mina asked quietly.
Momo laughed, then took a deep breath and pulled her head up too, kissing her on the lips, then doing the same to Ochako, leaving both of the women with a goofy grin.
YES!
Izuku had been worried that it might take some time for Momo to acclimate to Ochako and Mina and while those kisses hadn’t been as deep or passionate as the one she had given him, it was still spectacular progress.
“Maybe I already have died,” Mina mused. “This is pretty close to heaven, it feels like.”
“Dork,” Ochako huffed teasingly.
Mina just stuck her tongue out at the woman spooning her.
Izuku looked up at Momo as he remembered something. “Oh, Mo, what are you doing tomorrow? You said you were busy.”
“Oh, well,” Momo began bashfully. She took a deep breath, as if gathering her confidence. “You all promised to spend all day cuddling me tomorrow. I have it in writing on my phone and I’m prepared to enforce it.”
Izuku blinked once before all four of them began to laugh, each of them snuggling in closer and getting more comfortable as they all smiled warmly.
The room fell silent after that, each of them basking in the comfort of the bed and each other. There was still much to be done to shape his hoard and to build it up, but for now, this was enough, especially after the week they had all just experienced.
It didn’t take long for them all to fall into a deep, restful sleep.
Notes:
See you guys next time!
Chapter 57: Shades of Green
Summary:
The Princess and the Frog and the Dragon
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Is it that time again?
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Izuku awoke slowly, the comfort of Momo’s bed second only to the satisfaction he felt sleeping with his hoard again. As soon as his eyes opened and he stirred in the warm morning glow, he felt Momo’s hand scratch his back gently, making him look up into her face. She was already awake, looking down at him nestled into her shoulder with affection in her eyes. He moved up a little closer, allowing her to lean down and kiss him on the forehead.
“Morning,” he whispered.
Momo smiled softly, blush growing on her cheeks. “Good morning.”
On Momo’s far side, Ochako and Mina stirred, each of their eyes opening as they shifted and stretched.
“God, I missed this,” Mina said lazily.
“Same,” Ochako drawled. “Sleepin’ without y’all just ain’t the same.”
Mina’s black and gold eyes traced over Momo, then Izuku, then further down the bed. A seductive smirk grew on her face as she looked back at Izuku. “Looks like someone else missed this too. Little Midori’s happy to see us.”
Izuku became very aware of the tent being pitched further down the bed.
Ochako scoffed as she put her chin on Mina’s head. “Callin’ anything to do with that ‘little’ is a bit misleadin’.”
He began to blush harder as he flexed his quirk, but before he could make “little Midori” vanish, he felt Momo’s nails dig softly into his back.
“Ah, Mina warned me about that,” Momo said, her voice a little forced. “You stop that.”
“Mo?” Izuku asked, looking up at her. She had a blush covering her face and she kept averting her gaze every few seconds, but she was otherwise staring straight at his face.
“I…” she began, taking a deep breath to steady her pounding heart that Izuku could almost hear without his quirk, “would like to, er, take care of you.”
Mina’s face lit up. “Oh ho! Do you think you’re ready?”
Momo took another deep breath through her nose and nodded once. “I am, yes. I’ve been… looking forward to this over this past week. I would like to do it.”
Izuku’s instincts hummed in delight in the back of his mind as they lazily woke up. To keep them contained, he let them flow into his senses, heightening his perception and focusing his mind.
“If you want to,” he said softly, trying to help bolster her confidence, “I’d love that.”
Momo’s blush darkened as he heard her heartrate pick up further before she turned to look at Mina and Ochako. “But, I would like to, uh-”
“You’d like to do it alone?” Mina suggested.
Momo nodded. “If that’s okay?”
“Of course,” Ochako said kindly.
Mina smiled knowingly. “Oh, we know how to entertain oursELVES!”
She yelped as Ochako leaned over her and grabbed fully onto one of her breasts, squishing the soft flesh gently between her fingers. Before she could say anything else, Ochako kissed her fully and Izuku saw her fluffy pink hair begin to float slightly.
Ochako broke the kiss, throwing her covers off and standing up as Mina began to rise toward the ceiling. She grabbed her girlfriend and threw her over her shoulder as she headed for the door, holding one of her legs in her right hand and her pink butt in place with the other.
Mina had a goofy smile on her face as she put her hands on Ochako’s back to prop herself up. “Good luck you two~” she teased as Ochako carried her out of the room like a prize and shut the door behind them.
Izuku and Momo both laid there for a moment before they started laughing. After several seconds, the silence returned and he looked over at his girlfriend, who was looking up at the ceiling and seemingly steeling herself.
“Mo?” Izuku asked again.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” she said softly, “and now it’s finally here.”
Before he could say anything else, she pulled the covers off his chest and rolled over onto him, straddling him and sitting on his hips as she stared down over her nightgown-covered bust. He stared up into her onyx eyes as she looked back into his green, which were glowing more and more each second. He could feel her significant weight, a reminder of her quirk adaptation as she pressed him into the soft bed.
Momo ran a hand over his chest as she smiled slightly. “I’ll admit, I’ve done a lot of… research , as well as some practice , but this will be my first time with someone else. Please be patient with me.”
Izuku lifted a hand and placed it on her hip, holding her side gently. “I’ll go at your pace.”
Momo ran a hand up her thigh and placed it over his as she smiled down at him. He saw a fire begin to burn in her eyes as she leaned down, pressing her generous chest against his collar bone as he felt her weight covering his sternum. She leaned into his ear and whispered. “Then, before we get started, remember what I told you…”
“You are mine .”
She leaned back slightly as Izuku’s quirk surged in his mind. A part of him was indignant at the idea of being subservient to anybody, but he was very aware that Momo wasn’t truly his superior. She was simply having fun, playing a role, living out her fantasies and her preferred way of showing her love and experiencing pleasure, just like how Ochako loved to struggle with him, or how Mina loved him showing off his power. In the end, it was a game, and making his hoard happy was both the goal and the reward.
Let the games begin.
Momo looked slightly taken aback by the glow erupting from his eyes, but then she smiled and moved in to kiss him. Her lips pressed against his as she gripped the sides of his head and bit his lip gently, tugging as she pulled back and stared into his eyes.
“I’m not very experienced with this,” she admitted with a smile, “but that just means I need practice. You’re gonna lie there until I’m satisfied with my progress.”
It wasn’t a request, it was an order, and one with which he was happy to comply. Izuku’s other hand drifted up to rest on her hip as she gripped his head with one hand and ran the other along his horns, making his distinctive ‘purring’ rumble up from his throat while she resumed her kiss. Her tongue began to clumsily bat at his own as she made out with him, causing strands of saliva to connect them whenever she pulled back to breathe or kiss other parts of his face.
Her passion and her love caused his quirk to rumble with satisfaction as she gazed down at him, her black hair draping over his face. It made the rest of the world fade away until the only thing that seemed to exist was Momo.
As she kissed him, a familiar, yet unique smell tickled at his nostrils. By now, he recognized ‘excitement’ when he smelled it, but it was very distinct from Ochako’s and Mina’s. This was Momo’s scent, his Mo’s scent, and he knew that as long as he lived, he would never forget it.
Finally, she pulled back entirely, putting her weight on his hips again as she smirked down at him. Compared to Ochako’s first time, Momo was either much more confident or was simply acting the part quite well. She didn’t have anything on Mina, but that wasn’t surprising, as she didn’t have Mina’s experience.
Momo grabbed the bottom of her nightgown and began to lift it slowly, revealing her panties, then her stomach, which was toned, but under a healthy layer of fat due to her quirk, then finally the bottom of her breasts. They were larger than Mina’s, and the only ones he had ever seen of comparable size were Nejire’s. He couldn’t put a number on them, but he could tell from a glance that his hands wouldn’t come close to being able to grab them entirely.
She saw the transfixed look on his face, which both seemed to bolster her confidence, as well as cause her arousal to tick up, at least if Izuku’s nose was to be trusted. She lifted the nightgown all the way over her head, tossing it to the floor as she placed her hands on Izuku’s abs and rubbed up to his chest.
“Like what you see?” she asked, her face growing redder as she grew more bold. He could see the cracks in her confident facade, but he was determined to help her enjoy herself as much as possible; her first experience should be one to remember.
Izuku nodded, his eyes wide. A few of her cracks healed as she righted her smirk and reached down to grab him by the wrists. Momo lifted his hands up, placing one on each of her breasts and holding them there.
He was right, his hands were nowhere near big enough. Soft flesh poured through his fingers as he squeezed slightly, but there was so much more beyond what he could grab. He felt his hands sink in, causing his heart to beat faster as his face heated up and more blood rushed to the tent he was still pitching behind Momo.
Her confident smirk turned to surprise for a moment as she felt that tent brush against her backside, but then she grew a seductive smile as she pushed herself further back on his body, putting pressure on his manhood as she rubbed herself against it.
“You’ve been quiet ever since we got started,” she said softly, her demeanor dropping as she looked at him with concern, even though he could hear her heart beating just as quickly. “Is something the matter?”
Izuku smirked internally but kept his actual face blank. Time to make his first move in this game.
He opened his mouth slowly, watching her carefully. “You hadn’t given me permission to speak.”
Momo’s concern turned to shock as she processed his words. He felt her scent grow even stronger as blood rushed to her face, but also to her depths, to the point where he could feel the heat radiating off her as she straddled him.
The shock faded away as she bit her lip and chuckled to herself. “Aren’t you just perfect ~”
Izuku smiled at her praise. It was bizarre to be manipulating her into being more assertive, but this strange inversion seemed to be working. His father had told him to work more with his quirk, rather than against it, so why not?
“I think you deserve a reward,” she cooed as she rolled halfway off him and swung her leg over so she was reclining next to him. She held herself up on her left arm as she looked down on him, reaching her right hand toward the bed sheets covering his legs. “I’ve been waiting for this…”
She whispered under her breath, “You got this, you’re almost there,” which made Izuku feel a little bad for hearing what he ‘shouldn’t’. Her hand shook slightly as it grabbed the bedsheet and pulled it back in a single tug, removing the first layer of armor between her and him, leaving only his underwear.
“I must admit,” she began as she stared down at his crotch, “I saw this once before, at the hospital.”
Was she there when Ochako touched him? Izuku looked at her with confusion, but she wasn’t looking at his face.
“I’m finally here,” she continued.
Momo’s expression seemed to say ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’ as she reached forward again and hooked three fingers under the waistband of his underwear and pulled down, freeing his manhood from its fabric prison.
Her face turned even redder as she stared down at it. She slowly bit her lip as her breathing became a little heavier and her eyelids closed ever so slightly.
“Oh, I had imagined, but this…” She finally turned her gaze up to Izuku, hunger in her eyes. “This is far more than I ever thought… oh, you really are special, aren’t you?”
Izuku stared back, letting out a small whine to tell her just how needy he was; he was playing it up a little to try and stoke her fire, which seemed to work. Momo smiled wider as she reached over and placed a single finger on his tip, teasing it gently.
“Just leave it all to me,” she cooed, which he was more than happy to hear. One finger became two became five as she slowly reached around his pulsing shaft, feeling its heat as her fingers barely wrapped around it.
Momo looked slightly intimidated for a moment before she shook it off, beginning to slowly move her hand up and down his length and a frustratingly slow speed. Izuku made a soft moan of pleasure, encouraging her to continue. He saw a small, proud smile grow on her face as she began to move faster, her gentle hand gripping him firmly as she stroked.
Izuku’s breathing began to pick up as she continued, making sure to give her physical reactions to bolster her slowly growing confidence. Her motions were smooth and felt much nicer and more practiced than Ochako’s had on their first time, but she had mentioned that she had ‘practice’.
He bucked once as her hand pulled down, thrusting off the bed slightly as he chased the sensation. Momo smiled even wider for a moment before she collected herself and pulled her hand away, causing him to whine slightly. She pulled herself to a proper kneel and reached a hand below, gently cupping his twin orbs.
“These are… exceptional specimens,” she almost whispered. “In all my research, I’ve never seen anything like this…”
Izuku bucked again, trying to remind her of his need. She rolled her twin prizes around in one hand as the other pressed on his stomach. “None of that,” she scolded lightly. “Keep that up and I’ll make you wait even longer.”
He nodded, noting that she may enjoy chastising him for ‘misbehaving’.
She placed her hand back on his shaft, wrapping her fingers around it slowly before moving her other hand to it as well. With both hands gripping his length, she began to move up and down once again, her pressure firm, but gentle.
Momo’s face was red and he could hear her pounding heart as she looked over at him with needy eyes. “Although, if you’re so eager, maybe I should just give you what you want.”
Izuku’s eyes went wide as he felt a warm wetness begin to cover his shaft. Before he could look, she moved her hands again, causing him to throw his head back and hiss and a bolt of pleasure shot through his mind. It felt like his entire length was being covered in a warm, wet sheathe, like how he imagined actual sex might feel.
“Ah, you like it?” she asked playfully, holding up a hand and showing the smooth liquid flowing from her palm. “I did research into the best kind of lubricants for pleasure, then spent time making sure I could recreate it.”
Izuku should have known better. Momo’s version of ‘practice and research’ was much different than anyone else’s; she was brilliant and diligent, and with her quirk, she could do almost anything. Maybe he was less in control than he thought.
Momo resumed her handjob, stroking up and down his length with both hands and increasing in speed. Izuku hissed again and hit the bed with a fist as a lightning bolt ran up his spine, which caused her to coo in delight.
Izuku grit his teeth, determined to hold out as long as possible, perhaps as an act of defiance. She kept going, stroking him and creating more lube as needed to keep him trapped in a storm of sensation that he had never experienced before, but he wasn’t giving in. Not yet.
Momo felt him pulsing, but he forced himself to hold on. His quirk raged, his horns growing and scales flashing up his chest as he dug his proverbials claws in, resisting the feeling of tightness and pleasure echoing from his shaft.
Finally, after several minutes of torture in paradise, he reached a breaking point.
“M-Mo-” he hissed through his teeth. “I’m-”
“I won’t have you making a mess of my room,” she said firmly. Before he could respond, she removed one hand, brought the other up to his tip, and dragged it down in a single motion. He felt a tightness form over his length and cracked one eye open, spotting a red condom that she had just created down him.
With that, he surrendered.
A low roar rumbled out of his throat as his balls clenched and he erupted into the condom. Pulse after pulse echoed through his body as he released, his every muscle trapped in a flex as all of his determined resistance caught up to him. He couldn’t see and could barely breathe, but he could hear Momo.
“Oh, oh my,” she said, surprise clear in her voice. “A-are you still going?” She waited a few seconds, one hand still gripped loosely around him. “You’re still going. I-is this normal?”
Izuku’s body finally relaxed as one last spasm ran through him and he began to breathe again. He lay there panting as Momo seemed frozen, stunned by what had just happened and not exactly sure how to proceed.
“That was…” She shook her head and straightened her back a little. “I have certainly never come across anything like this in my research. Do you take some sort of supplement or were you backed up or… surely you have an explanation for how, er, productive you are?”
Izuku propped himself up on his elbows so he could look at her better, but he was distracted by the latex covering ‘little Midori’. The tip had ballooned a considerable amount, which made him feel a little proud, in a raunchy way.
“It’s my quirk, Mo,” Izuku explained as he looked up at her concerned, yet curious face. “I’ve always had a ‘productive’ biology, as you put it, as my quirk really wants to have kids.”
Momo nodded a few times. “You hoard people and breeding would both cement the woman’s place at your side and further expand your hoard. That makes sense.”
He raised an eyebrow at her using the word ‘breeding’ like that, but he continued regardless. “It’s gotten a lot worse ever since I started dating Ochako and Mina, and even worse since you joined. Mina thinks it’s my quirk responding to the ‘increased need’ of having more women around me. Her logic being I need to be able to tend to and please all of you.”
“Fascinating,” Momo muttered. “Regardless of her hypothesis, I think it’s clear there is something going on.”
She finally realized she still had a hand on his shaft and that the condom was still stretched over him. With a quickness that implied this was not the first time she had put or removed a condom on something like that, she pulled it off. However, a stream of the thick, white liquid landed on her thumb as she did so. Izuku began to look around for a towel, but then he remembered Momo could just make one. He was about to suggest just that, but paused as he saw her looking at it curiously.
Momo raised her hand to her face as she smelled the mess, which made her pull back not out of revulsion, but of surprise. Izuku sat there silently as she leaned back in, stuck her tongue out and licked a small trail off her finger.
Izuku’s eyes went wide at the same time her own did, but for different reasons. He was surprised with how bold she was acting, but she was surprised by, as far as he could tell, how good it tasted?
Her eyes lit up as she quickly ran her tongue along the rest of her thumb and swallowed. “Oh my, that tastes… heavenly!”
Izuku’s jaw dropped as his quirk roared in the back of his mind. Ochako and Mina ‘enjoyed’ the taste of his seed, but—of their own admission—it was more out of their love for him, rather than the inherent taste. They said it tasted fine , good even, but Momo apparently disagreed.
“Oh, it’s a perfect mix of… and a subtle dash of…” She wasn’t even finishing her thoughts as her mind raced. However, as her eyes fell on the condom she was holding in her other hand, she froze.
‘No way.’
Momo slowly lifted the condom to her mouth and gently tipped it over, letting it flow out as she swallowed once, twice, three times until it was empty.
Izuku was completely stunned. He hadn’t even seen Mina act like that.
Momo sighed contentedly. “Oh my… that was divine. I didn’t know that it was supposed to taste that good!”
Izuku continued to stare.
“Oh, it was so lascivious, but so thrilling at the same time,” she bubbled. “Delicious, satisfying, invigorating!”
She was gushing about it like she had tried a new blend of tea, not done something so… lewd. However, as he began to recover, he noticed that her smell had strengthened even further.
“Now,” Momo said seductively, putting a hand on his chest and pushing him back down, “time to test something else Mina told me about~”
Izuku’s head fell back onto a pillow as Momo swung her leg back over him and crawled up the bed. Unfortunately, this was her first time doing something like that and she accidentally kneed him hard in the armpit, making him flinch and hiss in pain.
“Oh! Sorry, Zu, are you alright?” Momo asked with worry in her voice, her confident persona vanishing.
Izuku let out a heavy breath and nodded. “Yeah, just caught me off guard. I’m good.”
She cupped the side of his face with her hand, still not convinced. “Are you sure? That looked like it hurt.”
He nodded again. “If you want to make it up to me… keep going.”
Momo looked concerned for a moment longer as she watched his face to make sure he was sure. A confident smile from him assured her and she nodded back. With a deep breath and another nod, she tried to climb back into her confidence.
Much more carefully this time, Momo lifted her knees above his arms and placed them above his head, securing his face between her thighs. Her red panties were hovering over his face for but a moment before she lowered herself down, pressing her hot, pulsing folds right over his mouth and nose.
The smell had been growing in strength but now it was overpowering. Momo’s scent poured into his brain, overwhelming the rest of his senses and subduing all thoughts beyond her.
She rubbed herself up and down his face, leaving traces of her juices along the way as a testament to just how aroused she was. “I didn’t think it would feel this good to have you beneath me, but it does. Now, Zu, get to work ~”
Izuku obeyed immediately, eager to taste her. He pushed his tongue against her soft, silken underwear, putting pressure on her pulsing slit and trying to do as much as he could to bring her pleasure.
It was Momo’s turn to hiss in pleasure as her back arched and she pressed her dense weight down further. Her thick, muscular thighs shifted, taking their place firmly around his head, dulling his hearing as they threatened to swallow his head in their soft power. He often found himself in a similar position with Ochako, but this felt different. While Ochako also wanted him to pleasure her as she rode his face, she was playful, competitive, and energetic. Momo, on the other hand, was firm and commanding. Ochako took what she wanted, Momo demanded it.
He loved these women.
“Deeper,” she ordered.
Izuku pressed harder, but her panties were in the way and he couldn’t comply. He looked up to her for what she wanted, barely able to see her face past her breasts.
Momo smirked, seeing his silent question. “Tear them off. I can make more.”
Izuku began to lift a hand up, but she slapped it away. “You have teeth, Zu. Use them.”
His eyes went wide from between her thighs, but he understood. Izuku carefully opened his mouth and grabbed onto the fabric with his teeth, pulling them away from her sensitive flesh before he pushed the smallest bit of his quirk through them, sharpening them and shredding them, exposing the heat hidden behind. She was shaved bare, barely a trace of stubble in sight.
She really had been preparing for this day, it seemed.
“Yes~” she moaned. “The man who stood up to Terrorflame and Stain… and he's lying beneath me. Good boy~”
Izuku wasted no time getting to work, running his tongue up her soaked slit before wrapping it around her sensitive nub, causing her thighs to squeeze tighter around his head as her hands grabbed onto the headboard of the bed for support. While she was reeling from the surge of pleasure, he drove his tongue into her for the first time, causing a needy moan to escape her throat.
He set to using all of the knowledge Mina and Ochako had taught him over the past several weeks to give Momo everything she wanted and more. His forked tongue danced over and teased her clit between delves into her hot, wet depths, teasing and prodding at every fold and savoring every needy pulse. He kept himself from going too deep on this first time to avoid any surprises, but even without that, between his relative experience and how worked up she was, it didn’t take long for her to start panting and mewling.
She was close, he could feel it, so he gave her that one last push. He grew his tongue even longer, letting it snake in and out of her fold while teasing her nub at the same time, causing her thighs to clench powerfully as she arched her back and barely contained a deep moan. Unlike before, her thighs didn’t release, but squeezed harder as she pressed down further, rubbing herself up and down his face as he continued to tongue at her, chasing that peak she was near.
Then her spring snapped and she cried out, her pleasure echoing through the room before she could bring herself to her senses long enough to grab a pillow and cover her face with it. With each pulse that echoed through her core and up her spine, her thighs clenched around his head, making him feel her passion and her strength as she rode out her orgasm.
Pulse after pulse, wave after wave rocked through her. Izuku was stuck in the same proverbial boat with Momo as the storm crashed against them. He could feel every shockwave rolling up her body as she held onto the headboard for dear life.
His face was covered by her juices as her entire body shook a few more times. With one final, raspy breath, her body relaxed and she slumped back onto his chest, both of them panting heavily.
It took over a minute for Momo to get her senses back. She twitched a few times from aftershocks as she came down from her climax before finally letting out a huge sigh.
“Oh, Zu…” Her voice was dripping with affection and admiration, much like his face. “That was… the best orgasm I’ve ever had. None of my toys ever came close.”
Izuku smiled, his face beaming with pride and love as his quirk crooned happily under her praise. Seeing her so pleased was fulfilling in that primal way, ensuring that his hoard would stay with him and continue to grow and prosper.
Momo rolled over and flopped down on her back next to him, staring up at the ceiling with a glow about her. He reached over and grabbed her hand in his, holding it gently and causing her to smile as she gazed upward. They lay there in content silence for a few minutes, but he soon noticed a change in her demeanor, a nervousness that had made itself known.
“Zu, that was amazing,” she began carefully, “but tell me, was that too much? I didn’t mean to get so carried away.”
Izuku rolled over onto his side so he could look down at her. “No, no, nothing like that. That was great, really! Seeing you act so confidently really made me feel special, and those things you did were amazing.”
“I just…” She paused, taking a thoughtful breath. “I got so worked up. At first, I was just acting to try and help myself go through with it, but then once I saw you react under my touch, all the pleasure I was giving you, and then that incredible taste of your… I lost myself. I just started acting out my fantasies on you, not asking what you wanted or anything, and I feel like that was wrong.”
He reached down and stroked a lock of her hair from her face as he smiled kindly. “You acting out what you wanted is exactly what I want. I’m glad you felt so comfortable around me that you could lose yourself like that.”
“You’re just saying that to be nice,” she said softly.
With a rush of motion, Izuku was on top of her, both of her hands pinned over her head as his face hung over her own. She blinked up at him as he opened his mouth, showing off his fangs. “Don’t forget, Mo. You’re mine . You are part of my hoard, and my hoard is my greatest pleasure. Your happiness is my happiness. I will stop at nothing to ensure that you get everything you want and deserve.”
Izuku leaned down, gently grazing his sharp fangs over her neck before running his tongue along it. Momo giggled, shaking her arms gently so he released them before wrapping them around his back and pulling him down.
“Yes, yes, my dragon,” she cooed into his ear. “I want to ensure you’re just as happy and cared for as I am. Promise me you’ll tell me if I go too far or make you uncomfortable?”
“I promise,” Izuku replied without missing a beat.
Her arms squeezed tighter around his back. “And thank you for making my first experience truly wonderful. I’ve been fantasizing about this for… well, a long time, and you blew my expectations out of the water. I love you, Izuku.”
“I love you too, Momo.”
They lay there, Izuku on top of Momo for a minute in silence, each staring into each other’s eyes as they held each other close.
Eventually, Momo broke their stare as she glanced away nervously. “Are you, um, well, Mina mentioned your stamina and, are you done?”
Izuku chuckled, running his hand through her hair gently. “Only if you are.”
She closed her eyes and refocused herself. After a moment, she opened them back up, then rolled over, putting herself back on top as Izuku’s was pressed into the mattress. She winced in pain as her long hair got caught under him for a moment, both of them laughing awkwardly as she freed herself and then looked down at him kindly.
Momo ran a finger over his lips and down his chest. “Then you won’t mind if I get another taste or two, would you?”
Izuku smiled. He had her wrapped around his finger.
It felt good to be wrapped around her finger, too.
Ochako bit her finger as Mina’s tongue licked at her needy pussy. She was laying on her back, her legs wrapped around Mina’s head as she ate her out and made her moan as sparks of pleasure raced up her spine.
“God, I missed this,” she panted. “I missed you .”
Mina’s beautiful eyes stared back with love and a look that said ‘me too’ even as her mouth was preoccupied. Over the weeks, she had gotten quite good at knowing exactly where all of Ochako’s pleasure spots were, and she was quickly bringing her to a climax.
With one final lap of her tongue, Ochako’s legs squeezed and locked, shoving Mina’s face deep into her crotch as her orgasm hit. The waves of pleasure rolled over her as she coated her girlfriend’s mouth and nose with her juices, both of them riding out her climax until Ochako’s legs finally relaxed and Mina was able to pull back and get some air into her lungs.
Mina licked up what she could off her face and rubbed the rest off with a towel before sighing happily. “That was a long week, huh?”
“Mhmm,” Ochako agreed, looking down at the beautiful pink skin on full display before her. “I needed this.”
Mina began to slide up the bed, licking and planting a kiss on one of Ochako’s sensitive nipples before reaching her face and kissing her on the lips. “Me too. I thought about you every night~”
Ochako pushed up and kissed her back. “I’m glad we have time to do this.”
“With midterms coming up sooner than later, we should take all the time we can,” Mina lamented.
“How dare you bring up schoolwork at a time like this?” Ochako asked indignantly. “I would have expected that from Momo, not you!”
Mina giggled. “Sorry, sorry. Don’t worry, we have all day to do whatever we want… and I plan on doing just that~”
“Speakin’ of Momo,” Ochako added as she rolled over and pinned Mina to the bed. “I was surprised Tsu asked her out.”
“Surprised? Yes,” Mina agreed. “Upset? Hell no.”
Ochako kissed Mina’s neck, tracing her way down to her collarbone. “Oh, I’m not upset either. I think Tsuyu would be a great fit. I feel something between us already, and I bet it could grow into more.” She cupped one of Mina’s beautiful breasts and teased the nipple with her tongue.
Mina’s arms wrapped around Ochako’s head and pulled her down into her chest. “I don’t blame her for taking her time; I’m honestly glad she is. Momo basically fell into our lap, but I’d hate for us to rush into anything and find out that it won’t work. That would just be awkward all around and maybe even break Tsu’s heart. I couldn’t bear that.”
“Same,” Ochako said with a sigh. “Slow and steady. All of us need to be sure of our feelin’s before we do anything.”
Mina’s eyes sparkled as she grew a mischievous smile. “I am looking forward to seeing what she can do with that tongue, though~”
“Mina…” Ochako scolded.
“Oh, please,” she huffed. “I’m allowed to be horny when I have a naked woman on top of me. Besides, don’t act like you’re so innocent.”
“Fine, fine,” Ochako admitted. She reached up and gently stroked one of Mina’s horns, causing her to whine softly.
Mina’s nails dug into Ochako’s back. “Playing dirty, are we? Fine. You want to work me up? You better take responsibility. Break me ~”
Ochako smirked. “I’ll do my best!”
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Now back to our regularly scheduled plot!
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Mina and Ochako had wandered back in an hour or so later to find Momo and Zu cuddling on the bed together. After taking showers, they all headed to the common room for breakfast, where Zu and Mina treated their taller girlfriends to a delicious, American-style breakfast. Mina made a point of feeding a strip of raw bacon to Zu before she cooked the rest, while he fried up some eggs.
Ochako and Momo had enjoyed the service, but Momo at least had felt a little guilty because she honestly couldn’t return the favor. It was a bit of an embarrassment, but Momo couldn’t even cook rice. The last time she tried… well, it hadn’t been pretty. All her life, she had been cooked for and now that she was on her own, she felt her shortcoming looming over her. Fortunately, Zu, Satou, and some others had been keen on making food for them almost every day, so she was able to avoid it, but to have such a gap in her knowledge was unacceptable. She was supposed to be a functioning adult one day, and adults had to know how to cook.
Ochako didn’t seem to be a great cook either, or at least she had never really attempted to cook anything as far as Momo knew. Now that she thought about it, Mina and Zu had mentioned how good Mrs. Midoriya was at cooking, and that she had taught Mina some of what she knew. Perhaps she would be willing to teach Momo as well? She could even bring Ochako along for a bonding experience as well as some moral support when she inevitably burned water trying to boil it.
After eating, they returned to Momo’s room and snuggled back down under the covers. As it turned out, she had no need to enforce the cuddling, as Zu, Ochako and Mina were more than eager to comply. A long day of talking, hugging, relaxing, and laughing interspersed with some kissing and some serious discussion was just what she needed after a week under Sir Nighteye. They tried to keep things away from the heavier topics, such as the past week, and Stain specifically, but sometimes their conversation drifted that way. In the end, the knowledge that she could spend a full day with them and not get sick of them was a very good sign, or at least it seemed that way. It wasn’t like Momo had any knowledge of how relationships really worked.
Momo laughed once. To go from absolutely single to being in a relationship with three other people? UA truly was a madhouse.
“Mmn?” Mina mumbled from her spot laying on top of Momo, her head nestled between her breasts.
“Were you asleep?” Momo asked quietly.
Mina adjusted herself a little, her back resting on Momo’s stomach. “Maybe a little…”
“This movie isn’t that bad,” Ochako remarked from beside her as she and Zu were wrapped up together under a blanket.
“No,” Mina admitted, “but Momo’s Momos are very comfortable.”
Momo nearly screamed. “My what ?!”
Zu and Ochako both began laughing hard, making Momo blush harder.
Mina responded by adjusting her head a little and sighing happily.
After a few seconds of confusion, Momo let out a sigh of defeat and reached down to continue petting Mina’s fluffy hair. Her girlfriend mewled under her touch as they all went back to watching the movie, as inane as it was. Momo had lost the plot a while ago and was more focused on her thoughts than what was happening on the screen.
She had set up an expensive projector she brought from home along with a large pull-down screen to watch the movie in her room. It took up much less room than an actual television, and it wasn’t like she had a ton of extra space; who knew the UA dorm rooms would be so small?
She looked over and smiled at Zu, who was cuddled up with Ochako. All day he had been doting and fussing over all of them, making sure they were well fed, comfortable, and otherwise cared for; it felt like she was back home in many ways. Was this what Ochako and Mina had been experiencing ever since they started dating him? Momo was almost envious, but she had the pleasure of having his love now, too.
Momo caught Ochako glancing over at her over Zu’s head, smiling softly before she turned back to the movie. Between that and Mina laying on her, Momo thought that maybe she had their love as well.
And maybe… maybe they had hers as well.
They had only been dating for a week, and it was much too soon to make those sorts of decisions or for her to be sure of her feelings, but the one thing that was certain for the time being is that right now, she was happy.
“So,” Mina began cheerily as she sat on Momo’s bed, “what’re you gonna do on your date?”
Momo finished tying her black belt around her waist and looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a jumpsuit romper that was the same red as her hero costume along with a simple necklace her mother bought her and some practical shoes. To top it all off, she had a burgundy felt hat that she hadn’t ever worn before. It was a cute outfit, not too ostentatious and not too bland, but it felt a little tight, especially around her chest. Momo tugged at the fabric, huffing to herself. She had bought it this past winter; had she really grown this much in just a few months?
“We’re going to a park,” Momo answered. “A picnic, even! Zu is downstairs getting the food ready for me.”
“Of course he is,” Mina said with a laugh. “Midori would wash my clothes if I asked.”
Momo paused, looking at Mina carefully. “Do you really think so?”
Mina rolled her eyes and patted the bed for Momo to sit next to her. “A picnic though? No offense, but I wouldn’t have guessed that from you.”
“Well, if you must know,” Momo responded as she sat down with her back to Mina. “It was Tsu’s suggestion. I merely suggested an alternative location from what she had in mind.”
Mina gathered Momo’s hair up and began to braid it. “This ‘alternative location’ wouldn’t happen to be in a country club or something like that, would it?”
Momo was quiet for a moment. “It… may be something like that.”
They settled into a comfortable flow of conversation about this or that as Mina braided Momo’s hair into a single thick plait hanging down in front of her right shoulder. As 11 o’clock drew nearer—the time she was supposed to meet Tsuyu outside—she found herself growing more and more nervous.
“Mina,” she began softly, “do you have any… advice?”
Mina blinked. “Advice? Like for the date? Honestly, as cliche as it is, just be yourself, Momo.”
“I was hoping for something beyond that,” she said with a sigh.
Mina laughed as she put an arm around Momo’s waist. “Look, if you try to hide yourself from the person you’re trying to date and turn yourself into what you think they might like, it’s not gonna work out. Yeah, sure, you might date each other for a while, but eventually, who you really are is gonna come out. Even if you’re good at hiding things, you’re not gonna be happy while you’re pretending. It’s just stressful, yeah? If they don’t like who you really are, then either it’s not gonna work out now, or it’s not gonna work out later. Trust me, it’s a lot better to be honest from the beginning.”
Momo thought for a moment, and Mina was right. She had tried to create a wall separating herself from Zu by pretending she didn’t care about him anymore. It was draining to constantly have to maintain that facade, and ever since she dropped it, things had improved dramatically. It was only when she started being honest with herself and others that she found herself in her current position.
“You are quite right,” Momo said softly, putting her arms around Mina and pulling her into a hug. “Thank you.”
Mina made a soft mewling noise as she hugged Momo back. “No problem. Remember to have fun and try not to focus on worrying too much! Now, get down there before Tsu wonders where you are.”
“Right, of course,” Momo muttered as she reluctantly released the hug, grabbed her hat and headed for the door. Mina followed her out of the room and down the stairs as they made their way to the common room where Ochako and Zu were waiting for them.
Ochako cooed as she saw them. “Oh, I love your outfit! It looks great on you!”
Zu was studying her clothes and accessories with an intensity she wasn’t expecting. He handed her the basket full of food as he smiled up at her. “You look stunning. I’m sure Tsu will love it.”
Momo took the basket as she blushed under their praise. “Thank you both. I’ll tell you all about it later.”
Zu and Ochako both nodded as they came in for their own hugs. “Have fun,” Zu said softly.
“You’re gonna have a great time,” Ochako whispered.
The hugs broke apart and Momo stood there for a moment before yelping as Mina spanked her playfully.
“Stop stalling! Get out there!” Mina ‘encouraged’ with a grin.
Momo smiled nervously as she nodded, took a deep breath, put on her hat, and headed outside.
She stepped out into the bright late-morning sun and spotted Tsuyu sitting on one of the benches on the porch. She smiled and stood up as she saw Momo, letting her see her own outfit.
Tsuyu was wearing a light yellow dress with green accents along with an oversized, dark olive cardigan. A cute straw hat cast a shadow over her face, accentuated by a white bow on the band. Her outfit combined with her short hair made her look truly adorable, and while Momo was only a couple inches taller than Zu, she had a full foot on Tsuyu, which only made her cuter.
Now that she thought about it, Tsuyu’s posture was a little straighter than it had been. Perhaps her hair was weighing her down more than she thought?
“You look very pretty,” Tsuyu said flatly, in her Tsuyu way.
Momo blushed a little. Were they starting with the compliments already? Wait, she had to remember what Mina said; just act natural. Not only that, she needed to maintain her confidence. Remember what she and Zu had done the previous morning.
“You look beautiful as well,” Momo responded kindly, smiling down at Tsuyu. “You have exceptional taste.”
Tsuyu looked up at her warmly for a few moments before she spoke again. “You seem nervous.”
Momo winced. “Was it that obvious?”
“Yes,” Tsuyu answered. “But don’t feel bad. I’m nervous, too.”
“Really?” Momo asked slowly, blinking a few times. “You don’t seem it.”
Tsuyu ribbited happily. “I don’t show very much emotion, but I assure you, I am nervous.”
That… actually made Momo feel a lot better. She didn’t have to put on a face for Tsuyu at all; she could just be herself, nerves and all. Tsuyu felt the same way, but she wasn’t being weird about it. Honestly, it made her feel calmer.
Momo smiled. Tsuyu had a tendency to do that, she supposed. “Well, shall we, then? It’s not too long of a train ride.”
After a short train ride followed by a trip in a taxi, they arrived at the gates of the Nakamura Nature Reserve, one of the private natural parks set up in the last century or so to maintain some green in a world that was becoming more and more urbanized every year. There were still national parks run by governments, but certain wealthy families took to maintaining their own reserves for more exclusive clientele. After all, those with money were almost always willing to pay for a bit of exclusivity and privacy, especially outside of the city. Those that couldn’t quite afford vacation homes or private yachts could still enjoy nature in relative peace.
The Nakamura park consisted of a small mountain and the surrounding lands, every acre an investment in conservation. The fields, forests, and streams were all protected by patrols of rangers that walked the trails to make sure trespassers or other delinquents didn’t damage what they had worked so hard to preserve over the years and ensured the privacy of other guests.
They entered through the gates and into the modest building that sat at the entrance. The woman sitting at the front desk looked up from her computer with a practiced smile on her face as she prepared to greet them. Her eyes lit up with recognition as she stood up and bowed slightly. “Ah, Miss Yaoyorozu. Please, do go in. Enjoy your day.”
Momo nodded politely as they walked past into the small atrium and back outside, stepping out into a nexus of different trail heads that went all different directions. “Where do you want to go?” she asked her… date .
Tsuyu looked around and spotted the large board with a map on it that showed the different trails. “These all look nice. Do you have any recommendations?”
“The mountain trail is rather difficult,” Momo began, “but the view is beautiful once you get to the peak. Now that the cherry blossoms have gone, the so-called Cherry Trail isn’t as spectacular, and I’ve always found the shade around the lake to be quite enjoyable. I’d recommend one of those three.”
Tsuyu nodded as she listened. “The lake sounds good. It’s… this one?” she asked, pointing at one of the trailheads leading off into the grasslands around them.
“Yes, it’s a beautiful walk. Good choice, Tsu,” Momo said with a smile.
They set off together, Momo carrying the basket while Tsuyu and her walked through the bright late-spring sun. The trail had plenty of shade from the trees as it winded along the wide, slow-moving stream toward the lake. Between the shining sun, the pleasant temperature, and the slight breeze, Momo could hardly imagine a more beautiful day.
“This is amazing,” Tsuyu commented as they crossed over a rustic wooden bridge. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
Momo smiled politely. “Oh, it’s my pleasure. I’m happy that you like it. I must admit, you were quite right when you said that we haven’t spent much time together outside of the whole group of women, and I am glad that we can do so now.”
“Me too,” Tsuyu responded. “UA has been non-stop crazy ever since we arrived. Just think about the first week: Aizawa’s quirk assessment, that battle trial, the lunchroom incident, and then the USJ.”
Momo felt her stomach drop a little as she remembered that day. “Crazy is one way to put it. But we got through it, right?”
“We did, thanks to you,” she said with a ribbit.
“Me?!” Momo gasped. “I barely did anything. Zu is the one who saved all of us.”
Tsuyu nodded, not missing a beat. “He saved me twice, but you were the one who saved him. If it wasn’t for you leaping into action, he wouldn’t have made it, would he?”
Momo remembered what All Might had said back on that fateful Friday.
“The doctors wanted to pass on their thanks for your quick reactions. A few cracked ribs is much better than death, which is what would have happened to Young Midoriya if you hadn’t intervened.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Momo muttered, averting her gaze by watching a few birds fly through a field to her left.
“It’s just like what happened when my heating broke,” Tsuyu continued. “You swooped in as fast as you could and helped me. If it wasn’t for you, I might have wound up in the hospital or something. I don’t feel like I ever properly thanked you for that.”
Momo felt her face heat up again. “Oh, well, no thanks are needed. I’m just happy to help, really.”
Tsuyu smiled kindly, lifting the brim of her hat so she could look up into Momo’s face easier. “That’s what makes you a hero.”
“O-oh,” Momo stammered. “Thank you, Tsu.”
She laughed in her froggy way. “That was a little cheesy, huh? Sorry about that.”
“No, no, it was very sweet,” Momo assured her. “Thank you, really.”
“You’re welcome,” Tsuyu said softly. “I hadn’t had the opportunity to say so yet. Not really.”
Momo wasn’t comfortable receiving all the praise; it made her feel selfish. “You are quite the hero yourself, you know. Zu told me all about the events of your internship. There would be several men at the bottom of the ocean were it not for you, and Zu might even be in jail, from the way he told it.”
“Maybe,” Tsuyu remarked after a moment of thought. “Izuchan seems to be a bit dramatic sometimes.”
“Bordering on melodramatic, yes,” Momo sighed. “He takes his quirk and such very seriously.”
Tsuyu nodded. “He’s a very good speaker, but looking back, it’s good to see that you see that too. It did seem like he was going to seriously hurt that villain, though. Knowing that somehow, that big, 15-foot dragon is Izuchan? It’s a little daunting.”
“And to think I had him purring this morning while I pet his horns,” Momo muttered wistfully. “It’s true; to think all that… potential is buried within his body. It can be frightening at times. Out of all of our first encounters with his instincts getting out of control, I think it’s safe to say yours was one of the most frightening.”
“The way you’re phrasing it almost makes it sound like some sort of initiation,” Tsuyu replied.
Momo smiled sadly. “I suppose it is, in a way. Each of us have had an incident where we’ve discovered that we have the ability to get through to him. Ochako’s was at the battle trial, where she was able to stop him from hurting Mineta. Mina stopped him from hurting her when she broke into his room.”
“Izuchan was going to hurt Mina?” Tsuyu asked, a touch of worry in her voice.
Momo nodded. “She broke into his room and that upset him very much. The way he described it, he was close to seriously hurting her. Mina’s version of the event is much more favorable, but who knows with that woman.”
Tsuyu put her finger to her chin—a tic that Momo found utterly endearing. “That makes sense, I think. Hmm…”
“My ‘incident’,” Momo continued, “was much less dramatic. He was ruining a broom closet in the depths of the sports stadium. If I hadn’t arrived, he may have damaged valuable cleaning ingredients.” She sighed as she laughed sadly to herself.
Tsuyu took a moment or two to think. “Is that why he didn’t have a shirt on when he fought Todoroki?”
“Ah, yes,” Momo replied sheepishly.
“You know,” Tsuyu continued, looking up at Momo again as they began to enter into a forest, “he was almost disqualified for being late to that match. If you hadn’t helped him, he wouldn’t have made it.”
“R-really?” Momo asked, shocked. Nobody had ever said anything to her about it. It made sense, but she just hadn’t ever thought about it.
Tsuyu nodded again. “And don’t think I didn’t notice that Todoroki only started using his fire after that match. I don’t know what Izuchan said to him, but he certainly got through. If you think about it, if you hadn’t helped him, he couldn’t have helped Todoroki.”
Momo’s eyes widened slightly. “I… suppose you’re right, Tsuyu. Thank you again.”
Once again, Tsuyu had turned the praise back on her. Endearing, yet a little frustrating.
A little while later, they stopped at a small pond about halfway to their destination. Momo admired the pristine waters and the sound of birds and other animals calling through the forest. Tsuyu crouched down next to the pond and waited there for a little bit, apparently watching something intensely. Momo tried to follow her vision, but she didn’t see anything until a small motion caught her eye. There was a small green frog sitting just under the water’s surface between some grass, apparently looking back up at Tsuyu.
The two continued to stare at each other for a little while, neither moving beyond their blinking until the frog—the smaller one—hopped closer. It jumped onto a rock next to Tsuyu and looked up at her for another moment before shooting its tongue out and hitting her cheek. Tsuyu smiled wider as the frog quickly hopped away back into the pond.
Momo had normally found frogs and such to be less than desirable, but she couldn’t help but find that whole… exchange anything but adorable. Tsuyu stood up after a few more seconds with a peacefulness that Momo envied about her.
Perhaps she should take a page out of Tsuyu’s book and be blunt about the situation. Yet again, confidence was key. “That was very cute, Tsu.”
Tsuyu rubbited happily. “She seemed just as curious about me as I was about her.”
“That was a female?” Momo asked curiously.
“That was a Japanese gliding frog,” Tsuyu explained. “The women are a good bit bigger than the males and have some different markings.”
Momo grew an interested smile. “I didn’t know you were a herpetologist.”
“I’ve always had an interest in these sorts of things, especially frogs, for obvious reasons,” Tsuyu said bluntly. “I wouldn’t call myself a herpetologist, it’s just a hobby.”
“I think it’s lovely that you have an interest like that,” Momo said proudly. “I admit, I know little about them, but I’m always interested in learning new things. Could you teach me some?”
Tsuyu blinked once. “Sure, I suppose. I’m getting pretty hungry now, though, so could we get to this lake and eat first?”
“Oh, of course! Come now, it’s not much farther.”
“Sorry I’m late,” Toshinori said as he entered the conference room in Mirai’s agency. “There was a villain I had to take care of on my way here.”
It was a modestly sized room with a table in the middle lined with chairs. Mirai—although he wanted most people beyond Toshinori to call him Sir—sat at the head of the table, while Sorahiko sat along one of the sides looking quite annoyed.
Mirai looked over his triangular glasses at him with that same intense glare he always seemed to have. “Sorahiko was nearly about to leave.”
“Does punctuality mean anything to you?!” Sorahiko shouted.
Toshinori winced and quickly took a seat at the foot of the table, the chair groaning slightly under his weight. “My apologies. Are you both ready to begin?”
Sorahiko huffed. “I’ve been ready for nearly a half hour.”
“Right,” Toshinori replied sheepishly. “You both told me some good things about your students, but now that the week is over and Hosu is at least somewhat behind us, I would like to hear your final assessments.”
Sorahiko and Mirai looked at each other, the latter tipping his hand to the older man.
“Fine, I’ll start,” he began gruffly. “That Iida boy is a good kid, but too uptight. I got him to loosen up a little, but his head is in a dark place right now. He has a weight on his shoulders that he’s already having a hard time bearing, although it seems like he’s the only one making himself carry it. If you offered him One For All, he would probably accept, for fear of disappointing you or his brother, but the weight would crush him. Besides, he’s already having a hard time controlling himself at higher speeds. My current recommendation is no for Iida.”
Toshinori rubbed his chin. “I felt the same thing during class. Thank you, sir.”
Mirai pushed his glasses up his nose with one finger as he straightened his shoulders. “Miss Yaoyorozu has incredible potential, both in body and in mind. However, she has problems with confidence and freezing up when put in difficult situations. When she is able to act, she is impressive, especially for a first year student, but that hesitation could cost her dearly.”
“During the first week of class, she was a beacon of confidence,” Toshinori noted. “However, after the USJ she seemed much less sure of herself, and even more so after the Sports Festival.”
Mirai nodded once. “She was born into money. From what I was able to gather, she had everything provided for her when she was a child and I suspect that she wasn’t often given a chance to fail. Those tastes of defeat broke her confidence and she’s still building herself back up; with the proper support and encouragement, she’ll become something truly impressive. I suspect she will be a top ten hero within only a few years. However …”
He tilted his head slightly, looking over his glasses. “I cannot recommend her as your successor. I believe her focus should be on her intelligence and decision making. Her quirk’s strength comes from its flexibility and versatility. It must be wielded with precision, not strength.”
“I can’t argue with that,” Toshinori muttered, rubbing his chin again. “As for Young Bakugou, he is also a fantastic student with amazing potential. He is well-trained and has a good head on his shoulders. I have little doubt that he would benefit greatly from One For All, but I have ruled him out.”
Sorahiko raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“For starters, he essentially told me he wouldn’t accept it.”
Mirai’s glasses flashed as he tensed up. “You told him about your quirk?!”
Toshinori quickly held up his hand defensively. “No, no, nothing of the sort. When we were standing outside of Hosu, waiting to be let in, I asked him about Trigger. I asked him if he would accept a power boost if given to him, and he told me assuredly, emphatically, ‘no’. It’s about as close to confirmation as I can get.”
Mirai relaxed visibly. “I see. That was clever of you.”
“And secondly,” Toshinori continued, “and you both may find this distasteful, but it just didn’t feel right. Something in my gut told me that he wasn’t the one.”
“Come now,” Mirai scoffed, “that is the same reasoning you gave for delaying with Togata. With All For One still out there, we don’t have time for this.”
“Cool your jets, Mirai,” Sorahiko interjected. “I think Toshinori has the right idea.”
“I do?” Toshinori asked, surprised by Sorahiko’s defense.
The short man nodded. “When Nana was talking to me about choosing her successor, we discussed a lot of things. She spoke about your lofty goals and high-minded ideals, Toshinori, but she told me that there was something more to it as well. She always believed in, well, the ‘romance’ of One For All. She believed that those who wielded the quirk never truly died, but lived on through it. When I asked her if she was certain of her choice, she told me she was, she said ‘it felt right’.”
Toshinori was stunned. “Master… said that about me?”
“Course she did!” Sorahiko said with a hearty laugh. “She always believed in you, you knew that. And I know you’ve made her damn proud. What I’m trying to say here is I think that One For All is a little more complex than we might be giving it credit for. If Toshinori says it doesn’t feel right, I think we should respect that.”
There was a tense pause, then Mirai sighed. “Very well.”
“I haven’t ruled Young Togata out,” Toshinori said, trying to be diplomatic, “but I’m still getting to know a lot of my students, and while I have certain gut feelings about some of them, I’m not close to making a decision. Besides, I have time.”
“Perhaps less than we might hope,” Mirai warned. “But that is agreeable for now. Let’s hear about the other candidates you have in mind.”
It was just about half past noon when they arrived at the lake. Technically, the term ‘lake’ was a little hyperbolic, as it was more akin to a glorified pond than a true lake; at its deepest point, Momo’s head would barely be underwater should she stand on the bottom. Regardless of its size, the lake was beautiful. The water was crystal clear and calm, the only motion along the water coming from the slow moving stream feeding in and out of the lake, as well as disturbances from fish breaking the surface and birds hunting. In the middle of the lake was a grassy island dominated by an abnormally large maple that cast its shade over the island in the midday sun. The trees around the shore rustled gracefully as a gentle wind blew over the lake, completing the peaceful scene and filling Momo with a serene calm.
“Woah,” Tsuyu said, a touch of awe in her voice. With how little emotion she showed normally, that little touch felt so much more powerful. “This is beautiful.”
Momo smiled as she looked down at the shorter woman. “Isn’t it? Where would you like to eat?”
Tsuyu looked around for a moment before pointing out onto the water. “That island looks nice.”
“It does,” Momo agreed, furrowing her brow. “But I don’t think we can get out there easily. I could make a boat, but then we’d have to carry it out and that would cause all sorts of issues. Alternatively, I could make-”
“I could get us out there,” Tsuyu interrupted.
“Are you sure?”
Tsuyu blinked once. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do,” Momo replied without hesitation. Tsuyu had been nothing but reliable ever since they met.
“Then get on my back and I’ll jump us over,” she explained.
“I… alright,” Momo replied hesitantly. She was a full foot taller than Tsuyu and much larger in other ways as well, not even including her increased density. “If you’re sure.”
Tsuyu nodded, leaning over slightly so Momo could climb on. “Hook your ankles together around my waist,” she instructed calmly. “Good, now reach your arms around me and grab onto your forearms.”
Momo leaned forward, doing as Tsuyu instructed. As she climbed on, she felt Tsuyu’s back muscles moving to hold her weight and she was impressed by how powerful they felt. Unfortunately, as she leaned forward, Tsuyu’s head was at, well, chest height and she had to take off Tsuyu’s hat and press the back of her head into her cleavage.
“O-oh, the basket,” Momo said nervously, trying to hold her confidence together.
“Got it,” Tsuyu responded quickly as her tongue shot out and grabbed the basket, lifting it up easily and holding it in front of them. “Ready?”
“R-ready."
Tsuyu squatted a few times, getting a feel for the weight on her back. “You’re much heavier than you look.”
Before she could respond, Tsuyu jumped into the air with Momo holding on to her back tightly. Wind rushed through her hair as she saw them nearly eye-level with the tops of the trees surrounding the lake, but they began to descend before she could get a good look around. As quickly as they had jumped, they landed on the shore of the island, Tsuyu’s legs absorbing the impact as they came to an abrupt stop.
“And you are much stronger than you look,” Momo replied breathlessly.
Tsuyu carefully let her step down off her back before placing the basket on a rock and turning to look up at Momo. “Thank you. It’s because of my quirk, of course. I assume that’s why you’re so heavy?”
Momo nodded. “Increased density so I have more lipids to work with.”
“That makes sense,” Tsuyu replied calmly. “Also, you’re blushing a lot. If it makes you feel better, I enjoyed it.”
In shock, Momo looked at Tsuyu’s face for the first time since they landed and noticed that her cheeks had a faint blush on them as well. “Oh? Oh. Um, well, shall we eat?”
Tsuyu nodded, eager to finally put food in her stomach. Momo grabbed the basket as the two made their way to a soft patch of grass in the shade of the maple and sat down on the blanket Momo created. She opened the lid and began to pull out whatever Zu had packed inside.
Sitting on top were two carefully wrapped sandwiches, a bag of chips, a still-cold thermos, two cups, a small plastic container and… a pair of peaches. Momo sighed; of course he packed those. She shook her head as she opened up the container and saw a small collection of cookies—freshly baked by the smell. Just how much effort had Zu put into this?
Momo handed one of the sandwiches to Tsuyu and set out the chips and fruit between them, placing the sweets to the side for now. She gracefully poured a cup of lemonade for both of them before settling back and relaxing. Despite how talkative they had been so far, both seemed willing to eat quietly, simply enjoying the other’s company and the pristine nature around them.
A few bites into her sandwich, Tsuyu reached for one of the fruits. “Peaches?” she asked calmly, shooting a glance up at Momo and causing her to blush slightly. She held it up and took a bite out of the peach, her eyes going slightly wide and a noise of surprise escaping her throat as juices erupted over her chin.
Tsuyu quickly covered her mouth politely. “Juicy,” she commented, before looking around for something.
Momo quickly produced a napkin from her arm and handed it to her, watching coyly as Tsuyu wiped… peach juice from her face. She felt a pang in her heart as a rather lewd image flashed through her mind.
‘Zu, you bastard,’ she thought. There was no way he packed peaches by accident.
The two continued to eat in peaceful, albeit a little more awkward silence for several minutes until it was time for Momo to pull out the cookies. She opened the container and offered it to Tsuyu, who graciously took one of the delicious-smelling treats.
“It’s nice to just… slow down for a bit,” she commented as she held the cookie and looked around.
Momo gazed out over the clear water and took a deep breath of the crisp, fresh air. “It’s rare that I get these opportunities, but yes, it is.”
“You should try to take them more,” Tsuyu responded. “You can’t pour from an empty cup.”
That was wise. Momo had been pressured to succeed for all of her life; she never found much time for relaxation. Wasting time, doing nothing, these were anathema to her goals and her progress.
Momo watched as Tsuyu took a bite of the cookie and hummed happily to herself. Not to be left behind, Momo sampled her own treat, finding it just as enjoyable as Tsuyu had.
“These are really good, Momo,” Tsuyu said politely.
Momo’s shoulders slumped slightly. “Oh, well, I didn’t make them. Zu did. I can’t cook at all.” She didn’t know why she admitted such a thing, but maybe she just had her guard down out here in nature.
“Really?” Tsuyu asked. She put her finger to her chin again and stared at Momo for a few seconds. “Do you have any siblings?”
Momo shook her head. “I’m an only child. Why?”
“That’s a shame. You would’ve been a good sister,” Tsuyu answered.
“Why do you say that?” Momo persisted.
Tsuyu chuckled in her froggy way. “The way you fuss over the other women and me shows me that you’re a very kind and empathetic person. Like how you took charge when I was cold. I wasn’t very aware of things, because I was halfway to hibernation, but when I heard your voice, I knew things would be okay.”
Momo’s heart clenched. “Mina told me the same thing. You all really do see me as some sort of leader, don’t you?”
“Of course we do,” Tsuyu said, with a hint of concern in her voice. Her brow furrowed as she touched her chin and tilted her head. “I’m surprised you don’t see it.”
“I do see it,” Momo sighed, “but I’m not sure if I deserve it.”
Tsuyu blinked once. “Why not?”
Momo bit her lip. She wanted to be in that position, she was completely and utterly thrilled that the other women looked up to her, but she couldn’t in good conscience take on that role if she wasn’t the best suited. It would be a disservice to the others and a disservice to herself. She was trying to work on her confidence, but she had to be careful that confidence didn’t mutate into arrogance.
Because that’s what it had been. Coming into UA as a recommended student, she wasn’t riding high on confidence, it was arrogance. She thought that nothing could have stopped her, but it hadn’t even taken a week for that all to come crashing down. The USJ didn’t damage her confidence, it had damaged her hubris, and the fight against Todoroki had shattered it. With that veneer gone, what did she have left? Just… pieces of what she had been and what could be; pieces she had just now started putting back together with the help of Mina, Zu, Ochako, and others.
“Why me?” she finally answered. “Why not Eiko? She’s so energetic and bold, I could see people following her. Or Ochako? I’ve never seen someone with a heroic drive like hers. Or Mina! She’s so personable and everyone seems to like her; she’s the natural choice. Or why not you? Tsuyu, you would make an excellent leader!”
“Me?” Tsuyu responded, looking surprised for once.
Momo nodded furiously. “Yes, you! The truth is, all my confidence and everything else you all think about me is just a thin facade! Whenever something terrible happens, the first thing I do is freeze and panic. Truly, I envy you, Tsu. You have this ability to stay calm and collected that I just don’t. I’m trying to get better, but I’m not there yet, not by a long shot. What if I freeze up at the wrong moment and someone gets hurt?”
There was a beat of silence before Tsuyu ribbited once and smiled softly. “You know, Izuchan told me the same thing, that he was envious of me, I mean. I’ll tell you the same thing I told him: I attribute much of it to my siblings. My parents work a lot, so I had to take care of them. Early on, I learned that panicking doesn’t really accomplish anything but is often harmful. People tend to stay calm if they’re around someone staying calm. If Satsuki spilled something and I got upset, she would cry, but if I didn’t react, she wouldn’t. I learned to be this way, but you haven’t had that opportunity. Don’t feel bad that you’re not perfect in everything. That’s why we’re at UA, right? To learn.”
Momo was close to tearing up. “I… yes, of course, you’re right. The more experience I have, the less likely I’ll be to freeze up. I just…” She looked over at Tsuyu’s calm face and she felt calmer as well. “I don’t know if I’m ready. Why should I lead if you would do it better? Why wait for me to learn what you already know?”
“Momo, I think you’re going about this the wrong way,” Tsuyu said, tilting her head again. “This isn’t some elected position—you already won that one, technically—the rest of us didn’t meet in a room and secretly declare you our supreme ruler or anything. You don’t have a badge or anything official, nor are we listening and obeying your every word. You’re taking this far too seriously. You are our friend, our classmate, a brilliant woman whose confidence goes a lot deeper than she thinks it does. If there was a group decision to be made, I know exactly who the other women and myself would turn to first, but it is not your job to be perfect nor to take responsibility for all of our decisions."
Tsuyu shifted a little closer on the blanket. “You were the one who impressed everyone on day one by winning Aizawa’s quirk assessment test. You dominated your match of the battle trial. You were the one who kept Izuchan alive and kept our class whole at the USJ. You were the one who saved me when I was having troubles. There is a reason Eiko came to you first. If we’re both being honest here, I find it easier to be calm around you. UA is a new place for all of us, including me, and it’s not easy to be away from your family for the first time, but you make it easier. All of our classmates do, but when you’re in class or at the dorm and you get that confident tone to your voice, I feel a little more at home.”
Momo couldn’t take it anymore. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Tsuyu, not even caring that she was pressing her chest into her. “Thank you, Tsu. I couldn’t sit by while any of you were in trouble, but I feel the same way about you. I feel calmer around you and I honestly look up to you. I hope to be able to emulate you one day.”
Tsuyu hugged her back for several moments before they broke apart, but for some reason, they took each other’s hands, holding them between themselves. “You pointed this out earlier, but I just want to emphasize this. Each of us have different strengths, but each of us also have different flaws. We’re here not just to become heroes, but to help each other become heroes as well. I’m not perfect and neither are you, but we can help each other become better.”
Momo squeezed Tsuyu’s hands. Honestly, she was sounding a little like Zu; perhaps he had rubbed off on her more than she thought, or maybe Tsuyu just had a remarkable head on her shoulders. “Yes, precisely. Building a strong foundation of support and comfort will help us excel, and I am proud to be an anchor for you, as you are an anchor for me.”
Tsuyu squeezed her hands back as they sat there for a few moments. “This got heavy fast, huh?”
Momo felt like she should have felt awkward, but instead she just laughed. “I suppose that is my fault. I do apologize for making this all about me. I honestly feel so selfish.”
“Part of that is my fault, too,” Tsuyu replied. “I kept redirecting the conversation back onto you.”
“Well, then we’ll just have to fix that,” Momo declared confidently. “We have several hours before we need to return and we’ll use them well. How about you tell me more about your family? I’d love to hear about them.”
Tsuyu smiled warmly and knowingly before she began to speak.
It was later in the day when Yaoyorozu and Asui arrived back at the dorms. The sun hadn’t quite set yet, but the shadows were growing longer and a slight chill was creeping into the air. They stopped on the porch in front of the doors and exchanged a few words as they stood there in their nicer attire. Yaoyorozu reached down and grabbed one of Asui’s hands, holding it between them for a few moments as they said some more words. Asui did that adorable little tic where she put her finger on her chin as she spoke up at the much taller woman.
Yaoyorozu looked deep in thought for a moment before she nodded. They seemed to not care if anybody was watching as she leaned down and the two exchanged a quick, chaste kiss on the lips before opening the door and entering their building.
She had been sent by Aizawa to tell 1-A about something, but as she stood there on the path outside of their dorm, Nejire found her mind filled with a hundred new questions.
Notes:
Hey, it's been a while, but hopefully that long-ass chapter made up for it. With this virus thing, I've been busier than ever, even though I'm working from home. Funny how these things work. So far, my city has been pretty insulated from the pandemic, but we're not out of the woods yet. I'll do my best to stay safe.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. See you all next time!
:)
Note: For those of you that didn't get the peach scene, 'Momo' is (phonetically) Japanese for 'peach' ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Chapter 58: Armchair Therapy
Summary:
Midterms and other things.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The door opened and Aizawa walked in, looking as tired as ever, but no worse than normal. Izuku and the rest of 1-A immediately fell quiet, as they had been well trained by their teacher’s piercing glare over the weeks, ready to receive whatever instruction he was going to provide.
“Is there anything before we get started?” he asked, casting his tired eyes over the class.
All eyes moved to Pony as she slowly raised her hand and Aizawa nodded toward her. “It’s nothing huge,” she began quietly, “but something I noticed and it been bothering me.”
Aizawa nodded again, his expression unmoving. “Go on.”
Pony straightened up a little, fortifying her nerves. “Why everyone else in alphabetical order but I’m here?”
Izuku raised an eyebrow. He had noticed that, but hadn’t really given it any thought.
“Oh? And where should you be?” Aizawa asked calmly.
Pony looked behind herself for a moment. “I should be between Sero and Tokoyami, right?”
“Very good,” Aizawa returned with a note of approval. “I was hoping you’d mention that this semester.”
“What do you mean?” Pony asked.
Aizawa almost smirked. “It was a test to see how fast your assimilation was progressing. You’d have to have enough knowledge to notice it and feel confident enough to bring it up. Go on, make the change,” he called out to the class.
Pony froze for a moment before she nodded and stood up with several others. The four students sitting behind her all moved forward, putting Kaminari at the front of the second row, while Shouji moved to the back and left Jirou at the front of the third. Pony took her place in front of Tokoyami, directly next to Izuku.
He smiled over at her as she beamed back, her face a little pink from the embarrassment of being in front of the class.
“Alright, listen up,” Aizawa droned, bringing the class back to order as everyone sat down. “Your midterms are coming up next week, so make sure you’re caught up with your studying. You’re adults now, so I’m not going to go out of my way to police you on this. You’re either gonna do well, or you’re not.”
Izuku was listening carefully. It was hard to imagine that they were already halfway through the semester, but he was grateful that the past several weeks had gone by smoothly. No villain attacks, no big drama, just him, his friends, and hero training. Tsuyu was still taking things slow, which he appreciated. One day, things would progress, but he was content for now.
“Your midterm is going to be purely theoretical,” Aizawa continued. “Pencil and paper tests to make sure you’ve absorbed what we want you to have absorbed so far. Your practical examination will be during your finals.”
Not everything was perfect, of course. Iida had been a different person ever since his return from his internships. Izuku had made effort after effort to get through to him, but nothing had worked. He would put on a mask that would convince most people and often found excuses to avoid his classmates when he could, but Izuku wasn’t going to let it slide.
Aizawa glared over the classroom as they listened. “ However , this doesn’t mean you can slack off on your training. Our curriculum is tough, but you shouldn’t be happy with simple success. You should be aiming for perfection and excellence in everything, regardless of circumstances. If you don’t have that drive, find it or get out. That may sound harsh or dramatic, but when you’re in charge of saving lives, that’s the reality.”
On the contrary, Izuku felt like that was entirely justified. Only the best would do.
“Use the resources you have available to you: your teachers, your TA, each other. Pro heroes don’t exist in a vacuum and neither should you. We are here to help you excel, but we can’t make you. Like I said, you’re adults now, and you need to start acting like it. We’re gonna push you, but it’s up to you to go beyond. Learn what Plus Ultra means for yourself.”
Izuku shot a glance over at Iida, who was listening with a face so rigid it could have easily been made from stone. He looked on sadly as he thought how animated the Iida from the first few weeks of school might have been after Aizawa’s speech. Something involving hand-chopping and bold declarations to be sure, but at the very least, he would have shown some sort of energy.
“That’s all,” Aizawa finished. “Come to me or Hadou if you have questions.” He scanned the classroom for a moment before turning and heading out into the hallway, closing the door behind him and leaving his class alone.
“Well, that was intense,” Kaminari grumbled. “I thought things were supposed to be easy for the first year! All the upperclassmen talk about how easy freshman year was.”
Jirou scoffed. “That just means the next years are even harder than this one. You know, I gotta say, it’s gonna be nice actually being able to see the front of the class. No offense, Shouji, but you’re like, almost a foot and a half taller than me.”
In the back of the room, Shouji shrugged with all six of his arms.
Izuku leaned over to Pony. “Welcome to the neighborhood.”
“Thank you!” she returned cheerily. “I realized it earlier, but I not know if I should say anything to Aizawa. I’m glad I did.”
Izuku smiled warmly. “Me too. Hey, do you think it’s time to finally have those English lessons we talked about on the first week of class?”
Pony nodded. “We put it off long enough. Come to my room after dinner tomorrow. I busy tonight.”
“Sounds good,” Izuku responded as Ectoplasm entered for Math class.
As their last class for the day finished, Izuku was ready to strike. He spotted Iida quickly leaving the room like he had for weeks, using his seat next to the door and his speed to escape back to the dorms before anyone could talk with him. It wasn’t exactly subtle.
However, Izuku had been the nice guy for weeks and he was over it.
No more.
Izuku grabbed his backpack and swiftly headed for the door, passing by Mina, who gave him a knowing nod and a soft smile. He managed to spot Iida rounding the corner down the hall and began walking purposefully after him, determined to actually have a conversation with him.
“Iida!” Izuku called out as he turned the corner after him. He saw Iida’s shoulders flinch slightly, but he otherwise pretended not to hear Izuku as he continued to power walk down the empty hallway.
Insolence.
“Ingenium!” Izuku yelled, his voice firm and demanding.
This caused a more visceral reaction in Iida, as he stopped dead in his tracks and stiffened up. He slowly turned around, forcing a visibly strained smile onto his face as he looked down at Izuku stomping up toward him. “Ah, Midoriya. Can I help you?”
Despite how many times Izuku told him to call him Izuku, Iida had refused to do so. “Yes, you can help me,” Izuku responded directly as he walked up to the taller man.
Iida looked at him expectantly, his stiff facade making him appear anything but calm. It was time to rip off this bandaid.
“You can help me by not pretending any longer,” Izuku said firmly. “You’re not fooling anyone, especially not me. You’re avoiding us, all of us, and it’s not healthy. We are your classmates and your friends. I know you’re upset because of what happened to your brother, but-”
“That’s not it,” Iida said suddenly, interrupting him. His facade had shattered under Izuku’s direct questioning, but instead of looking angry or distraught, he just looked… sad.
My assessment was flawed.
“At least, not mostly,” Iida continued. “Do not mistake me, I am still upset about what happened to Tensei, but I have come to terms with most of it.”
“Then why have you been avoiding all of us?” Izuku asked plainly.
Iida’s head hung a little. “Midoriya, you’ve been a good friend to me, so I’ll answer your frankness with my own. Shame. I have been avoiding you all out of shame.”
Shame? This was something Izuku had considered, but dismissed. What did Iida have to feel shame about?
“Do you know how many in our class were at Hosu?” Iida asked rhetorically. “19. Every one of you besides myself was at that horrible place, doing your best to be heroes and to help people. I was kept away.”
He was held back?!
“I… didn’t know,” Izuku mumbled softly. “I just assumed you were elsewhere in the city. Do you know why?”
“Because I was angry,” Iida answered frankly. “Perhaps it was wise for Gran Torino to keep me away. Perhaps I would have done something rash. Foolish. I can’t say for certain, but I know that during that week, just like I had for every night since Tensei was attacked, I laid awake at night, my mind filled with hatred and anger against the Hero Killer. If I had run into him… I don’t know what I would have done. I ran through that scenario countless times, but…”
Izuku put a hand on Iida’s shoulder. “Trust me, running into Stain was nothing short of horrifying. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
Iida straightened up, pulling away from Izuku’s hand. “Yet, I felt it was my duty to do so. Heroes are supposed to be brave and stand up to villains, no matter how terrifying they may be. I felt it was my duty to confront him after what he did to my brother. He hurt my family and I wanted…”
“Revenge?” Izuku offered.
Iida hung his head again, looking down at the ground. “Yes, that shameful word. I wanted revenge on Stain for what he did to my family. My rage was boiling over and Gran Torino saw that. I suppose between you and him it is clear I’m not very good at hiding emotions.”
“I tend to be good at reading people,” Izuku added as a half joke, trying to maybe lighten the mood a little.
“Regardless, I was angry,” Iida continued. “Furious. Dangerously so, even. Then… then you and the others ran into Stain. You even defeated him. You took my duty and did it for me, shaming me.”
He’s blaming me?!
“It’s not like that,” Izuku began, but Iida held up his hand.
“I know it’s not,” he said with a sad smile. “Do not mistake me, Midoriya, I know you never intended anything of the sort, nor am I blaming you. I am merely explaining how I felt, how I… feel. I feel shame because I could not fight Stain, nor bring him to justice. I feel shame that my anger caused Gran Torino to keep me away from Hosu and kept me from helping people.”
His speech became faster as his breathing grew more frantic. “Because I could not control my emotions, I lost out on not just valuable experience, but a chance to make a difference. If there is a single person who lost their lives in that city that I could have saved if I was there, then I have done nothing less than failed completely as a hero. I have thrice brought shame upon myself and the name Ingenium!”
Iida’s chest was heaving as his bottled-up emotions came pouring out. As Izuku suspected, he needed an outlet, but he hadn’t considered it would be this bad.
Comforting him will help form a bond.
“I don’t-” Izuku faltered, placing his hand back on Iida’s shoulder. “You didn’t bring shame upon anybody, especially not yourself. Do you remember what I told you after your loss to Shinsou?”
“I- I do,” Iida choked out, a sudden gulp of air interrupting him. “There is no failure if we keep learning. But I was kept from learning because of my emotions! If I can’t control these selfish feelings, then maybe I’m not suited to being a hero.”
Izuku was silent for a moment. “Why do we become heroes?”
Money. Influence. Women.
“To help people,” Iida answered quietly.
“And do you still want that?”
“Absolutely!” he declared firmly. “It is only because I want to do that, to help people and make my family proud, that I’m this upset!”
Izuku squeezed his shoulder once. “Then I don’t see anything to worry about. If your heart’s in the right place, everything else will follow. We’re still young, Iida. Being irrational and foolish is part of the gig.”
For the first time in weeks, Iida smiled. It was faint and barely there, but it was a smile.“I suppose it is. Even so, I have fallen behind the rest of you.”
“That’s why you need to come to Hadou’s extracurricular training!” Izuku exclaimed. “What’s the point of that quirk of yours if you can’t catch up?”
Iida laughed once; a second victory for Izuku. “I can’t argue with that. Thank you for speaking with me. I do not know how long my stubbornness may have lasted otherwise.” He pulled his glasses off and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “You seem to have this strange way of bringing my emotions to the forefront and getting me to say things. Perhaps it is your way of cutting to the heart of the issue.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Izuku said warmly. “If you can’t be vulnerable around them, who can you be? And besides, I wouldn’t be a very good friend if I just let you stew like this. I’m regretful I didn’t say anything sooner.”
Iida shook his head as he put his glasses back on. “On the contrary, your timing couldn’t have been better. You see, Tensei came home a few days ago, which put me in a better mood. If you had spoken to me sooner, I may have been unreceptive. Besides, I appreciate you giving me space. You’re my friend, not my mother, yes?”
“Fair enough,” Izuku muttered with a chuckle. “Glad to have you back, Iida.”
The taller man held up his hand. “I wouldn’t say that quite yet, but you have definitely opened up the path forward. Thank you again, Midoriya.”
“Izuku,” he tried.
Iida tensed up for a moment before sighing. “Fair enough. Thank you again, Izuku.”
He smiled widely as the two turned to walk down the hallway in the other direction, back toward the lunchroom.
“English is the worst!” Jirou groaned as she rubbed her eyes.
Izuku chuckled as he sat on the floor in Pony’s room with Jirou, Kouda, and Pony herself. It had been a long evening of study and earlier, the room had been packed, but the sun had set several hours ago and most of the other students had trickled off to bed. The only people who didn’t show up for Pony’s help at one point or another were Mina and Momo, who were studying on their own.
Pony had been nothing but a ball of smiles and energy all evening, seemingly thrilled by the number of people who wanted her help. Her rapid progress in learning Japanese was only building her confidence more, which was a treat to see. The sparkle in her big, blue eyes was endearing and enrapturing, second only to her dazzling smile.
“If it make you feel better,” Pony began with a giggle, “a lot of Americans think the same way. They say, uh, how to put this into Japanese… English is like three language in a coat pretending to be one language.”
Izuku laughed at that and even Kouda grew a soft smile. The tall, quiet man had hardly said a word, and had waited until most people had left to show up. It was all but certain he had some form of social anxiety, so Izuku did everything he could to make him feel welcome without making him uncomfortable.
“I feel like such a child,” Jirou huffed. “I’m 18 and I’m learning colors.”
Pony blinked at her once. “That’s how I felt. I still feel like that sometimes.”
Jirou winced. “Oh shit, I’m sorry.”
Izuku smirked teasingly. “That sounds like something you would have given Kaminari crap for saying.”
“Shut up!” she hissed, blushing slightly.
“No, no, it’s fine,” Pony quickly added. “I’m not upset, I just know how you feel.”
Jirou sheepishly went back to studying her book and soon she began to mumble under her breath again. Izuku had first noticed it in the hospital, but now that he was looking for it, he couldn’t help but notice that Jirou muttered a lot. It was faint, only audible if he used his quirk, but it was there. He supposed that she was likely an auditory learner and her quirk allowed her to be very quiet while doing so.
Was she an auditory because of her quirk? Or did her quirk merely make it easier for her? It was a chicken-and-the-egg question, he figured.
As he watched Pony gently show Kouda that infuriating rule about i-before-e—which he felt was weirdly broken almost as much as it was followed—he couldn’t help but listen in to Jirou.
“Red, orange, yellow, green… hmm. Green. That wouldn’t have been a bad nickname, either.”
She continued to review the colors as Izuku snapped off his quirk, not feeling comfortable listening in any further.
Izuku had noticed that Jirou had a better grasp on English than most of her classmates other than Katsuki and Momo. She attributed it to listening to a bunch of English music, but he thought it might be more than that. Jirou had continued to prove herself as someone with a creative and agile mind, and perhaps that helped her pick up new languages. She wasn’t the sponge for knowledge that Izuku or Momo were, but only a fool would think she was anything but smart.
Soon enough, Kouda quietly thanked Pony for her help and headed back to his room, followed shortly by Jirou, which left Izuku and Pony alone.
“Are you leaving too?” she asked in English.
“Only if you want me to,” he responded in kind. “I still have more I want to go over, if that is okay.”
“That’s great!” she exclaimed, before blushing slightly. “Er, I mean, yeah, it’s okay. W-what else did you want to go over?”
Both of them were leaning up against her bed, but Izuku scooted a little closer so she could see his book easier. She shifted closer as well, until her shoulder was pressed into his arm.
She smelled nice.
Ten minutes turned into a half hour, which turned into a full hour before they knew it. Izuku felt his brain absorbing less and less information as he got more and more tired, but he didn’t want to stop. It was nice spending time with Pony alone, which was something he hadn’t ever really gotten to do. Because he was fluent enough in English for her to speak in her native tongue, he felt like he got to see the real Pony.
She was energetic and kind, with a fire burning inside of her that attracted him like a moth. It was hard to imagine that this was the same woman who made Kurogiri and Stain both bleed, but at the same time, it wasn’t hard at all.
His yawns were becoming more and more frequent, as were hers, but neither of them gave any sign of wanting to be done.
Since when was leaning up against a bed this comfortable?
Pony awoke in the middle of the night. At least, she woke up a little. It was more one of those half-awakenings that she wouldn’t remember in the morning.
She didn’t even open her eyes as she slowly returned to something approximating consciousness. There was something strange that had woken her up, but she couldn't quite put her-
Oh, there it is. She had forgotten to take her bra off before going to bed. She hated when she did that.
Pony quickly undid her straps and pulled the bra out of her shirt without taking it off—a feat she was quite proud to have learned. She tossed it to the side and settled back into her bed.
Her bed was normally comfy, but for some reason, it felt like something truly special tonight.
She was asleep again before another thought crossed her mind.
Izuku woke up as the morning sun began to shine through the window. The first thing he noticed was the strange stiffness in his back; he must have slept weirdly. Oh well, nothing some stretching and calisthenics couldn’t fix.
There was a cute yawn in front of him followed by a very quiet, “Man, I haven’t slept that well in forever.”
The second thing Izuku noticed as his eyes shot open was that Pony was sitting in his lap, leaning up against his chest with his arms wrapped around her.
Mine.
“P-Pony?!” Izuku exclaimed.
Pony flinched hard against him. “Izzy?!”
She scrambled out of his arms as he almost jumped to his feet, quickly putting some space between them.
Izuku’s quirk was roaring victoriously in his mind as he tried to calm down his racing heart. He must have fallen asleep studying, but that didn’t explain why she was cuddled up to his chest.
Keep her close.
Okay, he had a pretty good idea.
“I-Izzy, what are you-?” Pony asked, her voice also full of panic.
“I must have fallen asleep!” he replied hurriedly. “I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry!”
Pony and him stood there for a few moments, both of them panting as their minds tried to catch up to everything that had happened.
Finally she took a big, heaving breath. “It’s fine, Izzy. I’m sorry I scared you.”
“No, no, I scared you t-” Izuku’s words caught in his throat as his eyes were involuntarily drawn down to her chest as she breathed.
Those certainly hadn’t been there the previous evening.
Hanging off Pony’s chest, bulging out her shirt, was the largest pair of breasts he had ever seen. They had to be at least the size of her head and were even larger than Momo or Nejire’s. The fact that they were on her 5’1” frame just made them look even larger, especially with how surprisingly perky they looked.
Mine. Mine. MINE.
Pony’s gaze followed his own and she squeaked as she realized what he was looking at. Izuku quickly slammed his eyes shut as her face turned bright red. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to look!”
“Wh-what?” she mumbled. “How? No… wha?”
Izuku heard her scrambling around the room and the shifting of fabric as he stood there, rooted in place and unsure of what to do next.
“You can open your eyes,” Pony said quietly after a little while.
Izuku cracked one open, then the other as she stood there next to her bed, her chest looking much more normal. Or at least, what he thought normal was. She had always been one of the bustier girls in class, more so than Ochako and less than Mina, but that was… something else.
“I… I…” Izuku didn’t know what to say. He was too confused and flustered.
“You weren’t expecting that?” she asked softly.
Izuku gulped and shook his head.
She smiled sadly, looking down. “I guess I did a good job at hiding them, then.”
“I didn’t kn-know-”
“That I had huge fat fucking tits?” she asked sardonically, almost spitting the words. “I was hoping nobody would find out.”
Izuku’s brain finally began to work again as his quirk finally stopped being horny and put itself to good use. Ideas and thoughts raced through his mind as he went over everything Pony had told him. “Does this have to do with that ‘high school insult’?”
Pony nodded. “Izzy… you have to keep this a secret, okay? Please, promise me.”
Izuku nodded firmly, pulling himself upright to appear more sure of himself. “I swear. I will tell nobody, not even my girlfriends. Nobody will know.” He meant it, too.
She visibly relaxed, calmed by his confidence. “Puberty hit me like a truck. I don’t know if it has to do with my quirk, or what—my mom’s kinda busty too, I guess—but you would think that a girl having huge tits would be a good thing, right? Make things easy on her maybe? Wrong. For my entire high school career I was bullied and made fun of by a bunch of other girls.”
Pony put on a mocking air. “Pony? Shouldn’t your name be Cow with those fat udders you’re carrying around? How can you walk with those sandbags weighing you down? Stay away from my boyfriend, whore! Slut! Bitch!”
‘Iida was right,’ Izuku thought to himself. ‘I really do have a knack for getting people to tell me things.’
Pony’s shoulders slumped. “That’s why Monoma got to me so easily. He reopened a wound that had barely begun to heal.”
How dare they?
“That… really happened to you?” Izuku asked, his voice shaky, but from sadness or from anger, he didn’t know.
Pony nodded. “I’m wearing a very expensive minimizer bra, which is why I look somewhat normal. I tried to wear one back in America, but everybody already knew. When they saw me hiding them, I guess they smelled blood in the water. The name-calling got worse until I stopped wearing it.”
How DARE they?!
He was very sure now. It was anger. “Did any of them follow you to UA?” His voice was calm, although otherwise he was anything but.
“What?” Pony asked, clearly surprised. “No, no. I left all of them behind. And before you ask, I didn’t come to Japan just to get away from them. It was just a nice bonus. I have a fresh start here. Nobody knows about these stupid things.”
Izuku’s rage lessened as it was replaced by his own surprise. “Nobody?”
“Nobody,” Pony repeated. “Other than you and Recovery Girl, I guess. That’s why I need you to keep it a secret, Izzy.”
Izuku’s mind was racing. The other women didn’t know?
Good. A secret will bring her closer to me. I can use this.
Izuku shook his head as his quirk bucked with equal parts rage and glee.
“Izzy? Are you okay?” she asked, concern in her voice.
Tell her what she wants to hear.
“I’m fine,” he reassured her. “Pony, I guarantee that the other women wouldn’t do any of those things to you if they found out. Mina might make some lewd jokes, but I know for a fact that they wouldn’t call you names or do anything like that.”
Pony smiled a little at that. “I think you’re right. I’m just… nervous. I feel safe without anybody knowing, and with all this other stuff going on—classes, training, villains —I just haven’t had the energy to do anything about it. When Stain is trying to kill my classmates, who cares that the foreign girl has stupid huge boobs?”
Izuku’s mind was still firing off thought after thought. How had she hidden those from the women? Had she considered a reduction if she hated them so much? Surely she had, Pony was a bright woman. Just what else was she hiding from him?
“Don’t call yourself that,” Izuku said softly. “I know I speak for the rest of our class when I say that we 100% consider you one of us. This class wouldn’t be the same without you. Pony, you are nothing short of irreplaceable, alright?”
Her smile grew wider. “Thank you, Izzy, really. I’m sorry for dumping all of that on you.”
“And if anybody ever makes fun of you,” Izuku continued with a snarl, baring his fangs. “I will personally make sure that-”
Izuku caught himself as his quirk began to leak out. “Um, not that you can’t take care of yourself. I pity whoever stands in your way.”
Pony giggled and moved forward, finally breaking the immobile standoff they had still been having. She put her arms around his chest and squeezed, reminding him of her strength, but also making him feel very comfortable. His own arms went around her back as he leaned down a good bit—after all, he did have 11 inches on her, not counting her horns—and returned her hug.
“I know what you meant,” she mumbled into his chest. “Thank you for being understanding and uh, thank you for caring.”
Gooooood.
Izuku squeezed her tighter. “You deserve every bit of friendship you have here at UA. If America wants you back, they’re gonna have to fight me for you.”
Pony laughed harder at that. “And if villains keep coming after you or the others, I’ll keep fighting them, too. Nobody is taking any of you away from me.”
Well, that went and did it. Izuku felt his Midoriya genes show themselves as tears began to form in the corners of his eyes. He hugged Pony even tighter as she did the same, her enhanced strength showing itself as she threatened to lift him off the ground again.
“I guess we gotta get ready for class,” Izuku muttered after a while, causing the two to finally break apart.
“Yeah,” Pony replied softly, glancing over at the mirror to see her terrible bedhead. “You’re lucky that with your hair you can just roll out of bed and look good.”
“Me and Mina both,” Izuku said with a chuckle, noting that Pony said he ‘looked good’. “See you in class, yeah?”
“See you there,” Pony responded with a nod and a grin.
Izuku grabbed his backpack and slipped out of the room, closing it quietly behind him, hoping to not have woken Eiko up next door. Maybe she took after her quirk and slept like a rock.
As he headed down the stairs to his room, he noticed the twin wet spots on his shirt from where Pony’s eyes had been. He didn’t know what made him feel worse: the fact that those things had happened to her…
Or that his quirk was reveling in the fact that she had made herself vulnerable to him like that.
Nejire hummed happily to herself as she flew over the training ground, watching her students spar with each other. She had been holding these weekly sessions for a month now, and she was already seeing marked improvement. What was even better was that Greenhorn had finally gotten Iida to show up, which meant that all 20 of them were there. It was unfortunate that he had to spend the first few minutes in a bow, profusely apologizing for ‘foolishly spurning the opportunity’ or something like that. People like Iida needed to lighten up; you could be competent and capable without being a stick in the mud.
She had put him up against Bakugou due to his insistence that he be pushed even harder to catch up, and she was happy to see that he was doing alright. As she flew over, she could tell Bakugou was pacing himself, but Iida was making him try more than perhaps he expected. That would be good for both of them.
Uraraka was trying to grab the very elusive Asui while Tokoyami worked at battering down the defenses that Yaoyorozu could create. The entire class was doing their best and she couldn’t be more proud. She had even gotten a compliment from Aizawa about how much her extra effort was paying off.
Nejire stopped to give Satou some advice as he sparred against Kirishima, then she took back to her lazy patrol route. Over in one of the far arenas, she spotted Greenhorn going against Tsunotori and kicking up far more dust than anyone else. She drifted closer and saw him bulked up with a slight transformation and charging forward into the small American, who planted her fee- hooves and received the charge, stopping him in his tracks even as he ground her back a few inches.
She continued to watch with a grin on her face as the deceptively strong Tsunotori sparred with Greenhorn, both of them locking horns—sometimes literally—as they traded blows. When breaktime came, she saw them sitting together, both laughing and chatting as they drank their water and rested.
It warmed her heart to see Greenhorn making friends like that. Sure, he had… three girlfriends, last she checked, but every person that he befriended was just that much better. He had always been a personable and kind boy, but there was a darkness to him that Nejire had noticed as she watched him finish high school. When he didn’t think anyone was looking, or if she watched his face carefully when certain things happened, Nejire could see that something buried beneath. It was similar to what she saw out of Ryukyu sometimes, although his seemed… different.
Poor guy. He deserved friends. Real ones. And UA was the place to finally give them to him.
Nejire wanted to be friends with him, too. She always had, ever since she had met him. If you asked Tamaki, it’s because she wanted to be friends with everyone, but that didn’t change anything. The unfortunate thing was that she had never gotten an opportunity to spend a lot of time around him. Before, she could only see him when he came by Ryukyu’s agency, but now that she was his TA, she had a better opportunity. Maybe she could offer to tutor them or something? She’d just have to find a good excuse to spend more time at the 1-A dorms.
“Hey, Sero!” she yelled. “No slacking! Just because you’ve wrapped Mineta up doesn’t mean you’re done!”
Oh well, thoughts for later. She had work to do.
Momo smiled as she got her graded midterm back. The test had been quite difficult, but thanks to her rigorous training regimen, she had done quite well. She hadn’t gotten perfect, but the bright red ‘1’ at the top of her page told her that nobody did better.
Aizawa was giving them a fairly standard debriefing about the exams before he dismissed them for the day, but she noticed something off in front of her. Zu was… stiff . Stiff and trembling slightly as he looked down at his test. Before she could ponder more on what could be the matter with him, he seized up and slowly turned his head around, gazing over Mineta and staring straight at her with a positively predatory expression in his brightly glowing, slitted eyes.
What had she done to upset him so much?
Aizawa lazily finished his speech and she quickly packed her stuff up and hurried for the door. She grabbed Mina and pulled her outside and around the corner; she would know what was going on.
“Oh, Momo!” Mina exclaimed. “I did so well!” She proudly held up her paper that had a ‘14’ written at the top.
“Oh, that’s… great?” Momo responded carefully. If she had gotten 14th, she would have been inconsolable.
“It’s so much better than I would have done without you!” Mina exclaimed, wrapping her up in a big hug and even lifting her off the ground the smallest amount. “Thank you thank you thank you!”
Momo blushed as she hugged Mina back. “You’re very welcome, Mina. However, I do have a question at the moment. Zu seemed… upset after the test.”
“Upset?” Mina asked, releasing Momo and looking up at her with a raised eyebrow.
Momo nodded. “He was shaking a little, then he looked at me and his quirk was going wild. His eyes were glowing brightly and they were reptilian and-”
“Did he look hungry?” Mina asked, with a smile on her face for some reason. “Like he wanted to eat you up?”
Momo pondered for a moment. “I suppose it could be described like that.”
Mina chuckled softly. “Oh, Momo. How can someone be so smart and so clueless at the same time?”
“Clueless?” Momo repeated indignantly. “What do you mean?”
Mina leaned up and pecked her on the cheek right as Zu rounded the corner, his eyes immediately locking onto Momo.
“Let me see if I can guess,” Mina said smugly. “Midori, what did you get on the midterm?”
“Second.”
Momo wasn’t expecting his draconic voice, but she saw the scales creeping up around his shirt collar. His quirk had to be surging with power right now; it was a little exhilarating just to be near him.
“And what do you normally get?” Mina continued.
“First.”
Mina’s smug grin grew wider. “Have you ever not gotten first on a test like this?”
“No.”
Mina’s toothy grin looked almost as predatory as Zu’s. “Looks like I aced that test. You two have fun~”
“What do you-?” Momo asked as Mina slipped away from her. Her thought was interrupted by Zu surging forward and grabbing onto her head with both hands, his eyes staring into hers with that hungry passion.
Oh.
Ooooooooooooh.
Well, she deserved a reward after doing so well on that test, right?
Notes:
I want to make this point right now before anybody says anything. Some of you might want to call me out or whatever about this Pony reveal, but let me say my piece first.
Pony's situation is based on a real life experience that one of my friends had in high school. She was a smart, funny woman who was 'endowed' with an exceptionally large chest and was ruthlessly bullied for it. Most of those insults in this chapter were things I heard in person. In many ways, this is cathartic for me, so try not to judge too harshly.
Highschoolers are vicious, man.
That being said, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
See you next time :)
Chapter 59: Where There Is Smoke
Summary:
Life gets back to normal for most people, but for some, it will never be the same.
Chapter Text
“Damn bitch, you live like this?”
Ochako and Izuku both stifled a laugh as Momo shrunk underneath Mina’s question. They were all in Momo’s room, staring at the mountain of clothes that covered most of the floor and then some. Izuku and Momo had returned to her room for some ‘alone time’, but he was distracted by a creaking noise coming from her closet. Before she could stop him, his curiosity got the better of him and he touched the handle, which caused the door to fly open and for him to get buried under a veritable mountain of clothes. Ochako and Mina had come running as they heard Momo’s scream and had flung open the door to find Izuku pulling himself out of the pile and Momo looking absolutely mortified.
“So, let me get this straight,” Mina began slowly. “You haven’t done any laundry since you got here?”
Momo was blushing furiously out of embarrassment. “I took it home sometimes but I haven’t had the chance recently.”
Ochako’s eyes slowly filled with realization. “Momo… do you... not know how to do laundry?”
Momo’s face turned as red as Eiko’s hair as she looked down and shook her head once.
Izuku stepped over and put a comforting hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder, causing her to look down at him for a moment before averting her gaze.
“I know I could have just searched for a video or something, but I never did,” she admitted. “I guess it felt silly, like it was shameful for me to not know and I just kept making excuses and letting myself get distracted. It felt wrong to learn how to do laundry when I could have been using that time to focus more on becoming a hero.”
“You gotta give yourself a chance to breathe,” Mina responded as she walked up to Momo and hugged her around the waist. “You can’t be serious all the time or you’ll burn out. We’re still young!”
Momo smiled a little as she put a hand on Mina’s head and ruffled her hair.
Ochako moved to Momo’s other side from Izuku and leaned in, planting a kiss on her cheek. “You know all sorta stuff we don’t know, so don’t feel bad ‘bout us teachin’ you something. How about we all go down as a group so nobody thinks it’s just your clothes?”
Momo sighed, her shoulders relaxing. “That sounds nice. I don’t deserve you all.”
“We all feel that way,” Izuku admitted as he rubbed her back gently.
“And we’re all wrong!” Mina declared boldly. “Now, let's fill up these laundry baskets and get to work! We have a lot to get through.”
Ochako stretched her arms as she lined up on the other side of the ring from Deku, both of them in their gym uniforms. All Might was having them do quirkless sparring for hero class today and she was eager to test out everything she had learned in her internship and from Hadou’s class against Deku properly. All around them, their classmates were pairing off in their own rings in the gym, but all of Ochako’s focus was on Deku. Despite everything, they hadn’t ever fought each other since the Sports Festival, and she was eager to prove herself. She knew that a few months of training, no matter how intense, wouldn’t put her on his level, but she wanted to see how far she had come.
She leveled her gaze at him as she put on gloves so she wouldn’t accidentally use her quirk. Those piercing green eyes were staring into her very soul as his fanged smirk made a fire burn in her chest. This was going to be hard, but she wasn’t going to hold back.
“Are you ready?” he asked as he rolled his neck.
Ochako nodded and the two began to carefully move toward each other. She had the slight height advantage and a reach advantage with her longer legs, so she had to use that to her advantage. Miruko was a short woman, but by carefully using the reach of her legs, she was able to spar with much lankier combatants, such as Stain. Ochako just had to remember what she learned.
Deku began cautiously, making conservative jabs and swings at her while gauging her ability to react. She must have passed his test, because he soon began to come at her harder and faster. Ochako blocked his attacks, but she was quickly on the back foot, just trying to keep up with him, and before she knew what was happening, a quick sweep took her legs out from under her, and her back hit the mat.
“You’ve improved so much!” Deku said proudly as he offered a hand down to pull her up.
Ochako reached out and clasped his wrist as he did the same, yanking her to her feet. “But that’s not good enough, is it, Defiant?” she asked with a grin.
His eyes flashed a little brighter. “Never.”
“Hey, hey,” she warned with a grin. “All Might said no quirks.”
Deku smirked and came at her again. Time and time again, Ochako got knocked down, pinned, or otherwise beaten. Deku had years of training that she didn’t have, both in technique and strength, so it wasn’t much of a contest. As class ticked by, her body began to grow tired, but her spirit didn’t, and neither did Deku’s. Both of them were determined to win each and every round.
It was honestly kind of romantic, in their strange way. Never would she have ever thought that sparring could be considered a date, but she would be lying if she said it didn’t feel that way. ‘Dinner and a movie’ just sounded so droll compared to ‘supper and a spar’.
Ochako had been learning as much as she could as Deku beat her, and had begun to quickly adapt. She was no longer caught off guard by his misdirections and was more adept at keeping her feet grounded against him. Now that she wasn’t quite so off-balance, she was ready to try something.
As he took a step toward her, she surprised him by moving into his space, giving up the spacing she had up until this point worked so hard to preserve. As he tried to back up so she couldn't use her height to leverage him, she responded with a flurry of motion from her legs, catching his foot with her superior reach and sending him crashing to the ground. Ochako maintained her momentum and wound up on top of him, each of her hands pinning down one of his arms as she pinned his legs with her own.
There was silence as they both took a few moments to comprehend where they had ended up. Deku was on his back, Ochako pinning him down, with her face only a few inches from his as her hair hung down, tickling the sides of his face as they both panted slightly.
“That was one of Miruko’s moves,” he said softly, a proud smile growing across his face.
Ochako smiled back. “I’m still practicing it, I’m not nearly as fast or coordinated as her, but I’m trying.”
Her eyes traced over his face before she cocked her head a little. “Hey, are your horns bigger?”
Deku smiled. “Yeah, almost an inch longer each compared to the start of the semester. As I’ve trained my quirk more, they’ve grown larger. Who knows how big they’ll be once I’ve fully mastered my power.”
“I look forward to helping you every step of the way,” she said softly.
They stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments longer before Deku whispered, “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she replied immediately as she leaned in a little closer. Her heart began to beat a little faster as her smile grew; she wanted to kiss him right then and there, as he was pinned underneath her, but this wasn’t the time or place. After another few seconds, she let go of his arms and stood back up, pulling him to his feet as well.
“Suffice to say, I’m impressed,” Deku said as the tinges of green blush disappeared from his face. “That means I’m not going to go easy on you anymore.”
Ochako’s smile vanished as her face paled. “Wait, that was going easy?”
Deku’s eyes flashed once and his fangs glinted in the sun as he smiled widely.
Mina and Tsuyu were taking a quick water break while they sparred, each of them feeling the burn from their exertion. They were also both watching Midori and Ochako fight with distinct pleasure.
Ochako was doing alright for a while, but after she actually managed to pin Midori once—and stay on top of him for a little too long to be an accident—he seemed to flip a switch. Maybe he was going easy on her before, but now he was dominating her more than ever, showing her just how far she still had to go to catch up.
With an emphatic smack, Ochako’s back hit the mat as Midori cut her legs out from under her and hit her in the chest with an open-palmed strike. He followed through, pinning her down and hovering his face over her own in a reversal of her earlier move. Mina couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they were both still smiling.
“I’m envious, ribbit,” Tsuyu said flatly.
Mina grew a smirk and raised an eyebrow as she looked over at her sparring partner. “Oh yeah? You want to be pinned down by Midori~?”
Tsuyu turned to look at Mina and blinked once. “Yes.”
Mina began to laugh, but before she could say anything, Tsuyu spoke again.
“And you do, too.”
Mina sputtered a little, not used to being called out like that. “How did you know?”
Tsuyu did something Mina hadn’t seen much of at all: she smiled. “I didn’t. Thanks for confirming it, though.”
Mina began to laugh even harder. “Oh, you will be mine , little frog. Just you wait. You’ll join us yet.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Tsuyu replied as she turned back to watch Midori and Ochako spar again. “But wait until after finals. I want to focus on that first.”
Mina rolled her eyes playfully. “Ugh, you’re so responsible.”
“I’ll make it up to you later,” Tsuyu said, taking a drink of water.
“Oh?” Mina asked, leaning in. “How~?”
“Hey!” Hadou’s voice came from behind Mina, making her jump. “No slacking! Break’s over!”
Tsuyu smiled again at Mina as she put her water down and returned to the ring, decidedly not answering her question.
Several weeks later, Izuku and the rest of his class were being led by Aizawa into one of the gymnasiums UA housed on its expansive campus. The early summer sun was beating down through the windows as they all lined up in their hero uniforms before their teacher and—to Izuku’s curiosity—the president of UA himself.
“Listen up,” Aizawa began as they all stood at attention. “As you all should know, finals are coming up in a few weeks. To that end, UA has leveraged some of its influence to give you all a very important opportunity.”
Izuku nodded. Finals were looming closer every day, and he was proud to say his hoard was working harder than ever.
“That’s right,” Nezu continued. “This year’s students, especially your class, have gained the interest of many in the hero world, and we have used that to your advantage. This process has taken over a month of effort by myself and the rest of UA’s administrative staff, so, as your professor said, please take full advantage of it!”
Izuku was wondering what ‘it’ was. Nezu had an undeniable flair for the dramatic, it seemed.
Nezu paused, seeming to savor the looks of confusion, curiosity, anticipation, and excitement on the students’ faces. “We have managed to schedule twenty pro heroes to be here today to each have a one-on-one session with one of you!”
Gasps and cheers of disbelief rumbled through the class. Izuku’s eyes went wide as realization washed over him. UA was so cool.
Nezu smiled and continued. “Unlike the internships, where you all picked where you would go, albeit from a pool, this time, the heroes were the ones who chose you all. We worked with who we thought would be a good fit, but in the end, each of you were chosen by someone who is impressed or otherwise interested in you and what you have to offer. Take pride in this, and do well, as if this is successful, that will provide momentum for us to continue this in the future!”
Izuku’s eyes filled with awe as he wondered who could have chosen him, but he didn’t have much time to ponder, as there was a sudden crash from the back of the gym. The whole class whipped around to see the metal door blown off its hinges and crashing into the ground in a heap of crumpled metal.
“URARAKA!” Miruko shouted as she stepped through the door frame, her signature smirk plastered on her face.
Ochako jumped nearly a foot in the air as murmurs began to circle around the rest of the class. Mina and Momo looked at each other and began to giggle, but Izuku turned to look at Nezu, who was watching passively with that little smile of his.
Nezu turned to look up at Izuku with a glint in his eye. “She asked if she could do that.”
Izuku began to smile as well as he turned back to see Ochako quickly hurrying over to meet the much shorter pro hero. “You’ve better have kept up with your training, Kit,” she warned.
“I have!” Ochako said quickly.
I made sure of that.
Miruko’s smirk grew. “I’ll be the judge of that. Come on, no point standing around! Follow me!”
The two almost ran out of the gym as the rest of the heroes started trickling in, each one drawing new gasps and exclamations, although some more than others. Heroes famous and less-so came in single or sometimes in groups as students gradually paired off with them.
But everyone stopped when Endeavor walked through the door, even the other heroes.
Endeavor hadn’t been seen since the Hosu incident over a month prior and the rumors had been relentless ever since. Some claimed that he lost his arm, some claimed he was dead, some claimed he had become a villain, while others claimed he had lost his quirk. Nobody was tactless enough in 1-A to ask Shouto, not even Kaminari, so even they didn’t know.
The number two hero looked… different. His presence was so much less than it was the last time Izuku had seen him; he no longer carried himself in the same way. It was clear that Hosu had changed him. Diminished him. His instincts still grumbled a little, but the fury wasn’t there like it had been last time. Something gave him pause. He had lost twenty or thirty pounds of muscle, and he looked far gaunter than he had previously, as the flames that surrounded his face cast shadows on his features. The most jarring difference was the massive burn scar that covered the side of his face in a grim parallel to Shouto’s own scar.
He shared a silent look with his son, who quickly followed him as he turned and left the gym.
Shouto knew it was going to be awkward when his father arrived that day. After he had ‘rebelled’ when he had picked Purifier for his internship, and he knew there was no way his father would let him get away with it a second time. He doubted UA resisted at all when Endeavor told them he wanted to be the one to train Shouto today.
He looked at his father’s back as he walked in front of him, leading him to wherever they were going. He was still a mountain of a man, by any metric, but he was still far from what he used to be. It was still better than it was, but there was nobody who could look at Endeavor and not see that he was a shadow of his former self.
Shouto still shuddered a little whenever he remembered that first time he saw him at the hospital.
He was standing there with Natsuo and Fuyumi outside of their father’s hospital room. The doctor closed the door and adjusted her glasses as she looked down at the three Todoroki siblings with a grim expression on her face.
“Your father is in no mortal danger,” she began, hoping to alleviate some of their worry. “He is being heavily medicated and is unlikely to wake up until tomorrow, but he will make a full recovery physically.”
Fuyumi nodded along. Her maternal nature made her care for all of them, even including their father.
“However, his quirk is another matter.”
Shouto’s eyes narrowed as his hackles raised for some reason.
“Your father was subjected to an incredibly large dose of the drug known as Trigger,” the doctor continued. “It is a quirk-enhancing substance, but it has some side effects, especially when consumed in large doses in short periods of time. I am trying to find a way to put this gently, but…”
“Don’t,” Natsuo said flatly. “Just tell us the facts.”
The doctor eyed him over, then nodded. “Trigger amplifies the quirk factor, unnaturally so, and sometimes, what is called, ‘peaks’ the quirk factor. This occurs when someone ingests a large quantity, or when someone’s quirk is already near its natural limit. In your father’s case, both were true. A peak occurs when Trigger amplifies a user’s quirk past what their body and their quirk factor can handle, and thus irrevocably damages the quirk in the process.”
Fuyumi gasped as Shouto’s eyes went wide.
The doctor took a deep breath and continued. “With quirk therapy and time, your father will be able to regain some of what was lost, but his quirk will never be the same again. It is difficult to say what the damage is, but preliminary scans show that the damage may be at 30% or even higher. We cannot say for certain until further testing.”
The three Todoroki siblings stood there silently as the doctor looked them over.
“I am sorry for this,” she said softly. “We are doing all that we can, I assure you. Please, let us know if we can do anything for you. You may go in and see him if you wish, but please, do not touch him or any of the equipment.” With another nod from Natsuo, she reluctantly turned around and left them.
The three of them looked at each other and it was Shouto who worked up the courage to turn the handle and lead the others into the room.
His father was lying there in that dark room, wires and tubes connected to him as he slept. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he didn’t feel fear or stress looking at the sleeping form of his father. There was no chance of him waking up and yelling at him or his siblings.
While he didn’t feel fear, he felt something else. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what the twisting, wrenching sensation in his stomach was, but it was definitely unpleasant.
“Shouto…” Fuyumi whispered. “H-his face.”
He couldn’t take his eyes off of it. Scarring the left-hand side of his father’s face was an unmistakable burn scar in the rough shape of a hand. It was like he was looking into a macabre mirror and he couldn’t tear his eyes away.
The days and weeks after his father awoke were dark indeed. He was only able to hear about most of it from Fuyumi, as he had to return to UA to continue school, but his father had first reacted very predictably.
With anger.
Fuyumi had told him about how his father had burned nearly everything in his home gym and was shouting himself hoarse in rage and frustration, but after the flames—both metaphorical and not—had died down, he fell into a deep depression. She told Shouto that she didn’t see him for a week straight, and the only proof she had that he was still alive was that the food she placed outside of his room was sometimes half-eaten.
Eventually he slowly returned to something that could resemble normalcy, but Fuyumi said that he was a different man. He was far more subdued, far less aggressive, and far, far quieter. When he finally emerged from his cave, he looked like hell, even worse than he did now. In the intervening weeks, he had regained some of his muscle mass, but Fuyumi had told him over the phone one night, that it seemed like there was more than just his quirk that wasn’t coming back.
Back in the present, after several minutes of silent walking, they arrived at another large gym, much like the one they had left the rest of 1-A in. He led Shouto inside, revealing a blank, open space for them to practice and train, and as usual, he wasted no time turning around and beginning to order Shouto around.
Or at least, that’s what Shouto thought would come out of his father’s mouth.
“Shouto,” he began quietly, in a tone he had never heard him use before. “Before we get started, I just wanted to say that I’m proud of you.”
That was something he never would have expected to hear. Shouto genuinely didn’t know how to respond.
His father’s eyes were almost empty, but there was a faint trace of emotion in the back as they looked down into Shouto’s.
“And, I know you probably don’t want to hear this from me, but I wanted to be the one to tell you this. I asked Fuyumi not to say anything.” He took a deep breath and averted his gaze downward. “Your mother is coming home.”
Shouto’s eyes flew wide as the words flowed over him like a cold breeze. “W-what?!”
Izuku’s worry about Shouto was tempered as he saw a couple familiar faces walk into the gym. His father and Ryuko were chatting happily to each other, but stopped as they saw Izuku and Mina running toward them.
He crashed into his father with a big hug as Mina stopped just shy of doing that to Ryuko, who instead just beamed up at her and ruffled her soft, pink hair.
“Hey, hey,” Hisashi said as he gave Izuku a hug with his one arm. “You act like you weren’t home for dinner last weekend!”
Izuku grinned sheepishly as he released the hug. “It’s always good to see you, both of you. Especially in your hero uniforms. That’ll always be cool to me.”
Ryuko laughed as she reached over and gave Izuku a hug as well. “Never change, Izuku.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let him,” Mina said with a goofy grin.
“See to it that you don’t!” Ryuko responded. “But hey, I’m not just here to give hugs and ruffle hair. Have you been practicing those moves I showed you?”
Mina nodded furiously, to the point that Izuku was worried she was going to sprain something. “I’ve been looking forward to showing you! Come on!”
Ryuko laughed harder as Mina ran out of the gym. “You don’t even know where we’re going!” Ryuko called as she followed her.
Izuku and Hisashi looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh themselves. He turned around as he heard someone approaching, and looked down to see Tsuyu gazing up at them.
“Oh, Miss Asui,” Hisashi said kindly. “It is good to see you again. How have you been keeping up?”
Tsuyu smiled just a little bit. “I’m doing well. It is good to see you, too, sir.”
At that moment, a broad shape appeared behind Hisashi, causing Izuku to look up from Tsuyu. The intimidating form of Gang Orca stepped through into the gym, causing Izuku’s eyes to sparkle.
Hisashi turned around and grinned up at the number ten pro hero. “Looks like they’ll let just about anyone in here!”
Izuku rolled his eyes.
Gang Orca let out a dry laugh as he reached out a hand and shook Hisashi’s with friendly vigor. “UA needed someone to keep an eye on you.”
Izuku looked down and saw Tsuyu staring up at Gang Orca with the same awe she had when she first saw Hisashi.
To her surprise, Gang Orca looked down and met her gaze. “Ah, you must be Asui, yes?”
She nodded slowly.
“Great,” he said firmly. “I’ll be training you today. Hope you’re ready.”
“You, sir?” Tsuyu asked, disbelief in her voice. “Really?”
Gang Orca laughed again. “Absolutely. Believe it or not, I’ve heard a lot about you from this old dinosaur here.” He thumbed at Hisashi, who acted like he had just been wounded. “I wanted to send you an offer after the festival, but my schedule didn’t allow for it at the time. Are you ready?”
Tsuyu nodded emphatically and hopped after the imposing pro as he turned and gestured for her to follow.
As Gang Orca left, Kaminari approached Izuku and Hisashi with that dopey grin that often lived on his face.
“Hey, Mr. Stormclaw, sir! It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m-”
“You must be Kaminari,” Hisashi said with a fanged grin. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Izuku.”
Kaminari looked like he had just seen an angel. “Y-you know my name?! I m-mean yes! I am Kaminari! Denki Kaminari! Although on the hero circuit, I go by Chargebolt.” He grinned widely up at the pro.
Hisashi glanced over at Izuku with a slight look of disbelief. “You’re just like Izuku described.”
“Super cool and suave?” Denki said confidently. “Midoriya, you’re too kind. Tell you what, I’ve been practicing some of my moves and I think they would impress even you, sir.”
“ Really ?” Hisashi said with distinct interest. “Well, I’m looking forward to you showing me. No time to waste, eh?”
Kaminari’s confidence cracked. “W-wait, now? Today?”
“Of course!” Hisashi responded with a sly grin. “After all, I’m here to train you.”
“R-really?” Denki squeaked.
Izuku stiffened up. “Wait, you’re here for him? Then who’s training me?”
Hisashi’s jovial attitude froze over in an instant. He stood tall and put a hand on Izuku’s shoulder, his eyes trying to convey how serious he was being. “Do your best, son. I’m proud of you, alright?”
Before Izuku could respond, he felt his quirk recoil and hiss like a cornered animal. Looming in the doorway behind his father was a tall, muscular man, whose golden eyes were staring straight at him with a grim, almost disdainful intensity.
Izuku took a half step back as his eyes went wide.
“U-Uncle Hatsuo?”
Purifier.
Notes:
Sorry for the long delay between chapters. Something something unprecedented times, something something escalator.
Chapter 60: The Sins of the Father
Summary:
Defiant, meet Purifier.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Eiko was one of the last people in the gym as she waited for whatever hero had picked her to arrive. She was excited, of course, but her excitement was tempered as she watched Aniki. His uncle had arrived, and it seemed to put the fear of God into him, which she hadn’t expected.
Purifier was a hero, and a good one at that, as far as she knew. Hokkaidou had been under his protection for years and she’d never heard any complaints about him. Truth be told, she hadn’t heard much about him at all.
But she knew something was wrong. Aniki had stared down Terrorflame, he had dominated the Sports Festival up until the very end, he had stood up to Stain… but he was faltering in the face of Purifier.
His father was there and he clearly knew what was happening and wasn’t stopping it, so everything was alright… right? Maybe Purifier was just a taskmaster and trained him really hard.
But Aniki never faltered like that when All Might and Hadou pushed them really hard. He always seemed to enjoy difficult training. So what was the problem? Was there a problem? Was she just overthinking things?
Eiko looked around and saw that, with Aniki nervously following behind Purifier and Kaminari trying not to fanboy as he hurried after Stormclaw, she was the last student there. She looked at Aizawa and Nezu with concern; had she been forgotten?
Nezu, of course, read her mind. The… creature that was the university president smiled up at her with those inhuman eyes. “Your mentor called and said he would be a little late. He should be here shortly.”
Eiko nodded as she turned away before she began to get too creeped out. They waited in awkward silence for a couple more minutes as Eiko’s mind kept wandering back to what was going on with Aniki before a man appeared in the doorway. His black hair was slicked back and had a distinct white streak through the middle, which—when combined with his black mask and green cape—let Eiko know exactly who he was.
“C-Crust?!” she exclaimed.
“Ah!” he declared boldly. “You must be Kirishima!”
“Yeah, yeah that’s me,” Eiko said breathlessly. Did she really warrant the number six hero?
The man quickly approached her, clutching at his chest. “I apologize for my tardiness! It is unbecoming of a hero!”
Eiko quickly bowed. “No apology needed, sir! I am honored you chose to train me!”
“So polite!” Crust exclaimed. “When UA showed me the footage from your fight at the Sports Festival, I knew I had to train you. You have the bleeding heart of a hero!”
Eiko was stunned silent for a few moments before she looked up at his face to see a single tear forming in one of his eyes. She blinked as a single thought crossed her mind.
‘Manly…’
“Come now, no time to waste!” Crust declared as he turned around and began to jog out of the gym. “We’re already behind, but we’ll make up for it!”
Eiko nodded and ran to catch up. “Yes, sir!”
Hisashi had managed to reserve one of the large, empty concrete gyms on UA’s massive campus for the day so he wouldn’t have to worry about errant electricity hurting anyone. In the profile he had read about Kaminari, he had problems controlling and directing his quirk, which meant Hisashi was the perfect person to train him.
The young man was excited and nervous, which he was used to as a hero, especially after Izuku mentioned that Stormclaw was Kaminari’s favorite hero.
Izuku…
Hisashi furrowed his brow as his quirk grumbled. He didn’t like leaving his son with his brother, but he knew Hatsuo wouldn’t dare to actually hurt him. It would be good for Izuku to go through this trial, but that didn’t mean Hisashi had to like it. It would make Izuku stronger, but he didn’t like his son suffering.
“Alright, where do we start?” Kaminari said excitedly, bringing Hisashi back to the present.
Hisashi shoved his son to the back of his mind for the time; worrying wasn’t going to help anything and he had a responsibility to give Kaminari his full attention.
“We’ll start with the basics,” Hisashi responded. “Your file mentioned that you don’t exactly have control over your electricity.”
“Oh my God, Stormclaw read my ‘file’,” Kaminari muttered under his breath, quiet enough that he probably didn’t expect the pro to be able to hear him. “Yeah, that’s right. I can control where it comes out of my body, but once it’s free, it’s on its own. Uh, sir.”
Hisashi nodded. “Have you ever been able to practice it on people?”
“Well, not really,’ he admitted.
“Test dummies and robots don’t work as well for you as other people, do they? They don’t have the same conductivity as a person. You need that practice.” Hisashi’s eyes flashed with green light.
“Yeah, I guess,” Kaminari muttered.
Hisashi waited for a moment.
Realization finally lit up in his eyes. “Oooooh. You’re talking about you!”
Hisashi laughed as he nodded. “Yes. You can shock me as much as you want. You won’t be able to hurt me.”
“Really?! I can put out quite a few volts, you know,” he said with a hint of smugness. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Hisashi felt his quirk surge a little in indignation. “Alright, hit me with everything.”
Kaminari’s confidence faltered. “E-everything? Are you sure?”
“Everything,” Stormclaw answered as he let some scales form up his neck.
He thought for a few moments, psyching himself up before he forced that smirk back on his face. “Alright! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”
A static charge began to grow in the air as the power within Kaminari surged. Electricity crackled off of him as he planted his feet and grinned widely. “Indiscriminate shock! 1.5 million volts!”
He began to throw his arms downward to put the charge into the ground, but Stormclaw stepped forward and grabbed onto one of his wrists, forcing Kaminari’s hand onto Stormclaw’s arm. The lightning erupted from the student and pounded into Stormclaw, coursing through his body and into the ground.
Kaminari’s eyes were full of surprise as Stormclaw stared unflinchingly down toward him while the charge ran its course. That surprise gave way to a vacant stare as Kaminari grew a dopey smile and began to giggle dumbly. Stormclaw let go of him as he began to walk around aimlessly.
Hisashi smirked a little as he watched his temporary protege. With that boast out of the way, he could focus on actually teaching him, at least once he came back to his senses. Hopefully he could teach the boy how to better judge where his electricity would jump.
Although, now that he thought about it, why was Kaminari styling himself as a mid-range fighter? His electricity was centered around his body; he wouldn’t have to worry about where his power was going if he was in contact with people. Maybe a reevaluation was in order.
Unfortunately, with Kaminari in no position to do much of anything for a few minutes, Hiashi’s mind couldn’t help but wander back to his son.
Hopefully Izuku was doing alright.
Hatsuo—no, Purifier stared down at Izuku from atop a rocky outcropping in the forest clearing where he had led Izuku. Not a word was spoken as they had walked here, but Izuku wondered if he would have even heard his uncle if he had said anything; he was too engrossed in his thoughts.
Izuku reasoned that Hatsuo had brought him to one of UA’s forests—a testament to just how absurdly large the campus was—because he wanted Izuku’s instincts to be at the forefront. He didn’t want to give Izuku a chance to be able to hide them, to be able to suppress them. He didn’t want Izuku, he wanted Defiant, and he wanted to crush him.
“Let’s cut the pretense,” Izuku said gruffly. “Why are you here?”
Purifier’s eyes flashed with indignation. “I have been against you attending UA since you were a child. Despite my warnings, your father let you attend anyway.”
“ Your brother trusts me,” Izuku retorted. “He knows me better than you, better than anyone.”
Purifier studied him for a few moments, his glowing, golden eyes seeming to stare into Izuku’s soul. “His love for you blinds him to the dangers. It always has. A chromatic with proper training could spell disaster.”
Izuku’s quirk surged in defiance, but he kept it down. “Aren’t you here to train me? Or did you lie to UA?”
“I’m here to test you, boy ,” Purifier growled harshly. “Because I know you’re just as afraid of that disaster happening as I am.”
Izuku narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t wrong.
“I am here to evaluate that risk; to test you to see how you’re working with your instincts.” Scales began to grow up his neck and head. “I will see how ‘defiant’ you really are.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?”
“Words will not suffice.”
“What, do you plan to beat the evil out of me?” Izuku huffed sardonically.
“I will make you confront the truth of who you are,” Purifier retorted.
“You’re going to be disappointed,” Izuku snarled, his quirk bucking again inside his mind. “I’m going to be a hero, and you can’t stop me.”
Purifier’s eyes began to glow brighter. “I already know what you are. I saw what you were 25 years ago.”
“I am not Terrorflame!” Izuku shouted.
Purifier looked down at his nephew for a few moments. “No, you have the potential to be far, far worse.”
The wind blew through the trees as the two men stared at each other in silence. Izuku was breathing heavier as his quirk—already surging from being in the forest—bucked harder.
I’ll show him.
“I’m not ancient like him,” Izuku argued. “My transformation is smaller than yours!”
“Nothing is certain yet. You are not done growing. You are a threat to everyone around you, including my brother. You are a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Izuku had learned to be nice over the years, thanks to his mother, father, and all of his idols, but thanks to his quirk, he had always kept the ability to be not nice. If Purifier wanted a fight, then Izuku would give it to him. There was no way that he would be able to stand up to the man if they actually fought, but this wasn’t a physical fight, not truly. This was a fight of words, of ideals, and Izuku knew that he could hold his own there.
“I stood against Terrorflame. I fought him. I almost died to keep the ones I care about safe from him!” Izuku stared right into his uncle’s eyes. “Can you say the same?”
Purifier’s eyes flashed and a small puff of smoke vented through his nose as the two Midoriyas continued to glare at each other. “You have a sharp tongue,” he said finally, “but you’ll need more than that. If you truly want to be a hero, you’ll need to prove that you understand your instincts.”
I don’t give a damn what you think.
He felt his quirk trying to pour in as Purifier continued to antagonize him, but he kept his cool. “I’m still learning to control them, but I have help and I’m making progress. I’ll get it done. I know I will.”
“It is true that you stood up to Terrorflame. You also stood up to Stain. Whether these were for selfish reasons, I cannot say, but regardless, I am going to give you a fair chance to prove yourself to me.”
“A fair chance?” Izuku repeated. “So generous of you.”
Purifier rolled his head side to side, stretching out his neck as scales grew along his body and he began to bulk up. “It is time to begin. Let Defiant out.”
Izuku began to draw on his quirk, but he didn’t let himself fall in. Scales grew up his body and down his arms and legs. The crest on his neck grew up his scalp and down his spine as his teeth elongated.
Signalled only by a quick flex, Purifier shot off of the rock he was standing on and toward Izuku. He barely had time to put his arms up before Purifier’s fist slammed into his gut and sent him flying backward across the clearing. Izuku crashed into the ground and bounced once before coming to a stop against a tree, groaning softly.
“Do you think I can’t tell? You won’t be fast enough if you keep pretending,” Purifier growled.
Izuku pulled himself to his feet, his green eyes fixating on Purifier as his quirk began to bubble and flow.
“I am tired of you wasting my time!” Purifier roared. “Show me who you are!”
Ochako’s legs were killing her as she followed Miruko back across the field after a long morning of training. She had seldom been as grateful for a lunch break as she was at that moment. It hadn’t been since the last time she was under Miruko at her internship that she had felt this tired and it was only noon.
“Here, you take a rest on that tree while I go talk hero stuff with Ryukyu,” Miruko said, her eyes filled with an excited glint.
“‘Kay,” Ochako managed to say before she slumped down against the tree with her bagged lunch and felt the relief of finally being off her feet wash through her. It was a good hurt, one that meant she was doing all she could to get better, but that didn’t make her fresh bruises feel any less tender.
She watched lazily as Miruko strode across the field to where Mina and Ryukyu were talking and seemingly just interrupted them. Mina looked over to Ochako’s tree and grew a big smile before grabbing her lunch and hurrying over.
“Hey, babe!” Mina chirped as she plopped down next to Ochako and laid her head on her lap.
Ochako smiled as she reached out and tussled Mina’s hair, which elicited a soft mewl from her girlfriend. “Hey. How was Ryukyu?”
“Great. Awesome. Brutal,” Mina listed as she looked up at her. “I didn’t miss being this tired.”
“Same,” Ochako agreed, “but it feels good t’make progress.”
Mina made a small noise of agreement as she pulled out her sandwich and began to eat. Ochako followed suit as the two almost inhaled their lunches over the next couple of minutes. As the food settled, Ochako continued to silently play with Mina’s hair as she closed her eyes.
As energy flowed back into her system, she felt her core heating up a little, which wasn’t out of the ordinary. Ochako connected all five of her pads on one hand to Mina’s head and took her weight, then pulled her around so she was sitting between Ochako’s legs with her head resting on Ochako’s chest.
“At least take me out to dinner first,” Mina quipped in a low tone.
“Mmm.”
Ochako gave Mina’s weight back and then put her arms around Mina, brushing against her chest as she did so.
Mina scooted herself back a little, nuzzling into Ochako. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Mmm,” Ochako repeated, closing her eyes again. “Horny.”
Mina began to laugh. “Pfft, oh yeah? How come?”
“I’m 18 and I got a sexy woman between m’legs,” Ochako answered directly.
Mina sighed knowingly. “Yeah, hormones are a bitch. I figure we’ll be too tired tonight to do anything, though.”
Ochako laughed once as her eyes opened back up. “No kiddin’. Tonight's gonna be a ‘collapse an’ pass out’ night.”
Her eyes drifted over to the two pros, who were engaged in some sort of conversation. Ryukyu had her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised as she looked down at Miruko. The darker-skinned woman had a look of confidence on her face as she spoke, but Ochako was too far away from them to hear.
“What do you think they’re talkin’ about?” Ochako asked as she continued to watch.
“Hmm?” Mina mumbled as she opened her eyes. “Oh, Miruko is probably hitting on her. Maybe trying to get Ryukyu to go on a date with her.”
“What?” Ochako said, getting as close as she could to surprise in her current state. “How d’ya figure that?”
Mina chuckled a little. “Sometimes you just know these things. Also Miruko said something that gave me a suspicion, which Ryukyu confirmed. Apparently, Miss Bunny has been chasing after her for a few months now.”
Ochako stared at the two curiously. Ryukyu was laughing gently as Miruko rubbed the back of her head, her normal overconfident exterior replaced by a nervous smile. “Wow, are you seeing this?”
Mina shook her head. “I do, but I’m gonna keep it to myself. Ryukyu is already working me hard enough without me teasing her.”
“Would teasing Miruko be worth it?” Ochako mused aloud. “Maybe.”
Mina laughed again. “Look, if you want to tease the bunny, be my guest, but don’t expect me to kiss your bruises afterwards.”
“I’ll have you kiss somewhere else,” Ochako responded with a smirk.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Mina retorted quickly as she twisted her torso around and leaned up for a kiss.
Ochako kissed her softly on the lips and then leaned back as Mina turned back around. Her eyes glanced over Mina’s soft hair and cute horns as she nestled back between Ochako’s chest. The two settled in comfortably and before too long, they fell asleep peacefully beneath the tree.
The next thing Ochako knew, someone was kicking her in the leg.
“Mmm, wha?” she mumbled as her eyes opened.
“Come on, come on,” Miruko barked. “Lunch break’s over, let’s go.”
She blinked a few times as she woke up. “Huh? I thought you said we got a half hour for lunch.”
Miruko laughed. “It’s been a half hour, Sleeping Beauty. Come on, I’m not gonna ask nicely next time.”
Mina had woken up too, and pulled herself up off the ground, which made Ochako miss her touch immediately. She stretched her arms up high, giving Ochako a nice view of her toned legs and her spandex-covered backside as her cheongsam lifted up.
“Good luck, Ochako!” she chirped as she jogged back off to where Ryukyu was waiting for her.
Ochako pulled herself up and followed after Miruko, who was almost walking with a skip in her step. She debated for a moment, but as she tossed away the bags from their lunch in a nearby trash can, Ochako decided to make bad decisions.
“You’re looking cheery,” Ochako said coyly as she looked down at Miruko. “Did someone get a date?”
Miruko faltered for just a moment as a slight blush crept onto her face. It was gone just as quickly as she looked up at Ochako with a smug expression. “I sure did. What, were you trying to tease me? I’m not some schoolgirl, Kit.”
“I’ve never seen you blush before,” Ochako continued, insisting on making life difficult for herself.
“Oh ho,” Miruko said with a laugh. “You’re lucky I like you so much. I’m gonna work you twice as hard for that.”
Ochako grinned as she hopped up and down in her boots. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“I am deeply sorry!” Crust exclaimed as he bowed deeply to Eiko.
“I understand completely, thank you for training me!” Eiko returned as she too bowed deeply toward the pro.
After several seconds of silence, both of them stopped their firm bows and raised up to look at each other again.
“Even so, I am doing you a disservice!” Crust continued. “First I was late, and now I’m leaving early!”
“I’ve already learned so much!” Eiko countered. “And you had hero duties come up! I would never place myself before your responsibilities!”
Crust reached over and placed a firm hand on Eiko’s shoulder as he clenched the other in front of his chest. “You understand the sacrifice that must be undertaken as a hero at such a young age!
Eiko felt a proud tear forming in her eye. “Thank you, sir!”
“No, thank you for being such a shining example of the next generation of heroes!” Crust said emphatically. “And thank you , Miss Hadou, for taking over for me!”
“Not a problem!” Hadou bubbled from a few feet away. “We understand that things come up. Good luck!”
Crust nodded, gave one final salute and nod, and then dashed away, his green cape billowing behind him.
“What a nice guy,” Hadou said with a giggle as the two women watched the pro turn a corner and vanish.
“Yeah, he was awesome!” Eiko said as she pounded her fists together. “I hope I get to work with him again one day.”
Hadou hopped up and down a little. “Alright, let’s continue. You ready to-”
“Actually,” Eiko interrupted, “I have uh, a concern.”
“A concern?” Hadou repeated. “What about? Are you alright?”
Eiko smiled nervously. “Yeah, no, I’m fine. I’m just worried. A-about Aniki. Midoriya.”
Hadou’s brow furrowed as she tilted her head. She really had the ‘beautiful and adorable’ thing down. “Worried about him? What for?”
“Well, um,” Eiko stalled, trying to think of how to put it diplomatically, then giving up. “His uncle. He showed up to train him and Aniki looked all rattled and even his dad looked grim. I’m just really worried about him. You know the Midoriyas, right? What’s going on?”
Hadou nodded along as Eiko spoke, listening very diligently. Even though she had a sort of ditsy persona, Eiko had learned weeks ago that beneath it was a woman who deserved to be in the Big Three by every metric. “I do know the Midoriyas, at least more than most. You know, I’ve been around Ryukyu for four years now, and I’ve been to family dinners and stuff at Greenhorn’s house. I’ve heard them talk about all sorts of things, but I’ve never ever heard them talk about Purifier. I’ve never even seen him around, which is weird because he’s like, Stormclaw’s brother!”
Eiko’s shoulders slumped. “That didn’t exactly ease my worry.”
“Uh, right. Hmm.” Hadou tapped her chin. “Tell you what, how about we go check in on them?”
Eiko blinked. “Wait, really? Now?”
“Sure!” Hadou chirped as yellow energy began to spiral off her feet and she rose into the air. “It’ll be quick. Come on, grab my wrists!”
Eiko nodded, remembering when Hadou had picked her up on the way to help Aniki in Hosu. She reached up and grabbed onto Hadou’s wrists firmly as she gripped onto hers, showing off the surprising strength that years at UA had cultivated.
“Alright, hang on!” Hadou lifted up into the air slowly so as not to pull Eiko’s arms out of their sockets. She began to accelerate gently, showing off her impressive control over her quirk as they soon reached a very quick pace.
Eiko looked down as they flew over where some of her other classmates were training. She recognized Fourth Kind down there with Shouji, she saw Tsuyu training with Gang Orca in one of the massive outdoor pools, she saw Ochako desperately trying to dodge a very riled-up Miruko and felt a little sorry for her. Soon, they began to fly over the trees of one of UA’s forests and Eiko noted how every time she thought she had a grasp on how big UA’s campus was, it seemed to just get bigger.
“I know they’re out here somewhere,” Hadou muttered. “Or at least they’re supposed to be.”
“What about over by that smoke?” Eiko asked.
“Oh yeah, Purifier breathes fire. You think that’d be more common for a whole family of dragons, but eh.” Hadou banked over to the smoke rising from a clearing in the woods and began to descend toward it.
“Let’s not interrupt,” Hadou called down as they passed the treeline. “We’ll just look and see that everything is okay. Then we’ll both be worry-free!”
“Are you worried, too?” Eiko asked.
Hadou didn’t say anything for a moment. “Maybe? Look, the Midoriyas can be reaaaaally scary sometimes and I just want to make sure Greenhorn is doing alright. I’m just… concerned for one of my students!”
As they neared the ground, Hadou let Eiko drop and then landed next to her a good hundred feet or so away from the clearing.
“So, are we just gonna sneak-” Eiko began before she was cut off by a fierce roar that rumbled through the ground.
The two women looked toward the noise, then back at each other. “Think of this like stealth training,” Hadou whispered.
Eiko silently nodded and the two began to walk slowly and quietly toward the clearing. As they neared, Hadou pointed at a bush and motioned for Eiko to get behind it. They both ducked down and peeked through the bush, gazing into the clearing through the trees and smoke. Half of the grass and trees had been burned and were smoldering slightly, and there was a faint acrid smell lingering in the air amongst the smoke.
There was a flash of gold and a loud crack as Purifier sent Aniki crashing into a tree not too far away, snapping it in half. He was in his drake form, as he called it, pulling himself up on all four legs as he shook his draconic head. Eiko could see rivulets of his green blood—some new, some old—tracing down his scales along his body as a puff of green gas vented from his nostrils and he charged back into the clearing.
He dove straight at Purifier, who had no visible transformations. With trained precision and experienced confidence, the pro sidestepped Aniki as he lunged, then transformed his arm into a massive golden claw. With another flash of gold, he drove an open-palmed strike into Aniki’s side, but not before his nephew was able to blast a cloud of poison gas directly into his face.
Aniki hit the ground hard, but righted himself after a bounce and dug his claws into the dirt to stop himself sliding any further back. Purifier’s legs grew scales on them as he jumped out of the cloud and landed on a large rock in the clearing, coughing and choking as Aniki’s poison entered his lungs.
The clearing was silent except for the wind, the crackling of trees, and the panting of two men as they regained their breath. Eiko looked over to Hadou, who glanced back with an unsure expression.
“You are still pretending,” Purifier growled.
Aniki huffed, gas venting from his nostrils. “Are you sore I actually managed to hit you with that gas?”
Purifier didn’t acknowledge that jab. “Your willpower is impressive, but I am tired of waiting. Stop holding back!”
Aniki glared at Purifier, but said nothing as he began to pace slowly around him.
“Are you frightened?” Purifier asked. “Good. But it matters not. You will stop these games or I will start really fighting you.”
“Why are you so insistent?” Aniki retorted.
Smoke billowed violently from Purifier’s nostrils as a snarl rose from his throat. “You impudent child . Your stalling is as pathetic as it is infuriating. I will drag you out of your hiding place by force if necessary.”
Aniki answered his snarl with one of his own as he kept his head low to the ground.
“Fine.” Purifier’s eyes exploded with golden glow as his body surged larger. Great wings burst from his back as his fingers turned to claws and his tail emerged. His four horns grew long and thick, two from the side, and two above as his wispy moustache grew down from his face. Unlike Aniki, his wings streaked along his back and down his tail in twin sails. Purifier’s powerful, sinewy limbs cracked the earth and the stone beneath his feet as in mere seconds, he assumed his fully draconic form. He was larger than Aniki was at the USJ, but nowhere close to Terrorflame’s size at his peak.
“Should we do something?” Eiko whispered.
Hadou had a very serious look on her face. “Ryukyu warned me that I should never interfere with ‘family business’. If you see two Midoriyas hashing it out like this, leave them alone. She was very insistent about it.”
Purifier planted his feet and unleashed a massive, ground-shaking roar that caused Eiko and Hadou to cover their ears. As the echoes dissipated through the trees, Purifier made his first move. With a powerful beat of his flowing wings, he kicked up dust and surged forward toward Aniki, claws extended.
To his credit, Aniki didn’t stand still. He jumped away from the attack, dodging it easily as he landed closer to Eiko and Nejire. Purifier’s long, powerful tail whipped out at him, but he jumped out of the way of that, too. Unfortunately, the tail slammed into a tree, ripping it out of the ground and sending it sailing through the air—straight at the women.
Eiko didn’t think, she didn’t consider or mull over any options, she simply acted. With a single motion, she moved herself in front of Hadou as she activated her quirk and planted her feet. She felt Hadou brace against her back forcefully as the tree slammed into her.
With an echoing crack, the tree splintered and exploded against Eiko, sending a shower of wood into the air all around them as the two women held their ground together. Before Eiko could get her bearings back, she felt her feet pulled out from under her as Hadou pushed her to the ground.
They laid there in silence, holding their breaths and wondering if they had been spotted. As the dragons continued to fight, they began to breathe.
Eiko suddenly realized fully that Hadou was pressed down on top of her. Two large, soft weights were squished against her back, while the upperclassman’s thick, powerful thighs were pressed against the back of her own. The sudden rush of blush to her face was made only worse as Hadou leaned into her ear and she felt her hot breath.
Oh, God, she smelled really good. Scents of lavender, juniper berries and sweet citrus danced about her nose, drowning out the acrid haze and burning smoke in the most wonderful way.
“Thank you,” Hadou whispered softly before slowly pulling herself off of Eiko.
Eiko rolled over in the other direction and pulled herself back up to her knees. This was no time for weird emotions, Aniki was in trouble here.
The two women peeked back around the bush to continue watching. Purifier was standing still, watching Aniki with his narrow eyes, smoke flowing passively from his maw. The much smaller Midoriya was moving slowly, his eyes locked onto his uncle as his tail flitted back and forth.
“You used a full transformation at the USJ,” Purifier said in a low rumble. “Some would call it impressive, I would call it a dire warning. None who came before you could use that much power at your age.”
“It nearly killed me,” Aniki grumbled back.
“Irrelevant.” Purifier took a single step forward, but made no move to attack. “The fact that you could do it at all is too much to ignore. You even did it again at the Sports Festival.”
“My hoard gives me strength beyond what I could manage on my own.”
‘What did that mean?’ Eiko thought.
Purifier looked down at him for a few seconds, seemingly thinking. “You have gained a large hoard long before the rest of us, that is true, and your hoard was directly in danger. That does not explain the festival.”
“Shouto was in danger. From his family. From himself. I am working to save him. My hoard will be perfect. They will be perfect.”
‘They? Is he talking about his girlfriends?’
The great golden dragon let out what Eiko could only guess was a low chuckle. “Defiant, at last.”
Aniki stumbled a little, shaking his head a little.
Purifier snorted indignantly. “Impudence.”
In a flash of motion, Purifier moved forward far faster than anything that large had any right moving. Aniki tried to dodge again, but he wasn’t fast enough, and one of Purifier’s massive claws picked up the green drake like it weighed nothing, slamming Aniki back into a large boulder and holding him there.
Aniki’s form snapped away as he transformed back into a humanoid state. His body was still covered in thick, emerald scales, but his clawed hands could do nothing against the great, golden claw pinning him to the rock.
Eiko began to make a move to go help, but Hadou gripped tightly onto her arm. “I know, Kirishima, I know. You gotta trust me, alright?”
“Are you sure?!” Eiko pleaded.
Hadou bit her lip. “Honestly, not really, but I trust Ryukyu and I don’t think Purifier is really going to hurt him. He’s a hero, right? Look, if you’re gonna hang around the Midoriyas, you’re gonna see a lot of… really weird stuff.”
“How insistent was Ryukyu about not interfering?” Eiko asked nervously.
Hadou’s worry turned into a grim severity she had never seen on the normally bubbly woman. “Very.”
Eiko hesitated, but eventually relented and knelt back down behind the bush.
Purifier leaned his head in closer to Aniki. “Stop. Hiding.”
Aniki answered by snarling and blowing poison gas in Purifier’s face. Or at least, he began to do so before Purifier yanked him roughly off the rock and slammed him back onto it, stopping his breath short.
“I cannot help you if you keep playing these games!” Purifier roared.
A stillness hung in the air as Aniki looked up at Purifier. “Help me?”
“Yes, help you.” Purifier released his claw, letting Aniki drop to the ground. “If you truly wish to defy your nature and become a hero, you will let me do so.”
Aniki picked himself up off the ground and continued to lock eyes with his uncle. Eiko could see the brilliance behind his eyes as thoughts rolled over in his mind.
His glowing green eyes shut for a moment, and when he opened them again, something was a little different, but Eiko couldn’t put her finger on it.
“Defiant.”
“Purifier.”
Purifier nodded, as if something formal had been concluded. “I’ve been waiting for this for longer than you know.”
“I have an idea,” Aniki responded flatly. “Now that you’ve got me, what do you want to say?”
“What do you want?”
Aniki narrowed his glowing eyes. “What do you mean?”
Purifier began to shrink back down until both men were more or less in their normal human forms, save for some scales. He looked down at Aniki and repeated. “What do you want?”
“I want to be a hero.”
“Why?”
“I want to follow in the footsteps of my father. I want people to see my wings and feel safe. I want to protect those who cannot protect themselves and help those in need.”
“More.”
Aniki continued without missing a beat. “I want to stand by my hoard as they grow and become great heroes. I want to guide them and perfect them. I want to protect them and stand beside them.”
“More.”
There was a longer pause this time, but Eiko didn’t think Aniki was thinking. “I want to crush this burden placed upon me. I will break my quirk. I will destroy this yoke that fate has seemed to place upon me. I will defy it and everything that stands in my way. That is why I am Defiant.”
Purifier stroked his chin once and nodded. “Hearing you say this is good. Perhaps you truly mean it.”
“With every fiber of my soul,” Aniki growled.
Eiko couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She glanced over at Hadou, who was looking just as confused. They were both so riveted by the bizarre conversation that neither dared move.
“And what of your dark impulses? I saw you rage during the second round at the festival. I know there has been more, even if my brother will not tell me.” Purifier was looming over Aniki like judge, jury, and executioner.
Aniki hesitated and seemed to falter slightly. “My journey has been far from smooth.”
That answer didn’t seem to satisfy Purifier. “Tell me: how many have you wanted to kill?”
Aniki grit his teeth. “I have acted on none of them. Judge me by my actions! Anything my instincts grumble against my will-”
Purifier suddenly surged a foot taller as his face contorted with anger. “You are your instincts!”
Aniki’s eyes went wide as he looked absolutely stunned.
“That is what I have been trying to get you to understand!” Purifier continued, his eyes glowing like golden suns on his face. “I have tried to lead you here, but apparently I must spell it out! Your instincts are not separate! They are not something else ! They are YOU!”
For the first time that Eiko could remember, Aniki seemed to be truly stunned speechless.
“This is the truth that Stormclaw has never wanted to face! This farce that he and Ryukyu bury their heads in, hiding from the reality of ourselves!” Purifier suddenly grabbed Aniki by the shirt of his hero uniform, lifting him up with ease. “Midoriya is the mask I wear. All of us true dragons wear this mask. Purifier is who I am. Defiant is who you are. The sooner you discard the lie your father has been feeding you and accept this truth, the sooner you can find out who you really are.”
Purifier let Aniki drop back down to his feet. A silence, longer than all the others, hung in the air before he spoke again. “Do you see why I am afraid now?”
Finally, Aniki found words again. “I will die before I see my dream taken from me.”
Man, this was heavy.
Purifier glared down at Aniki before he turned and walked several paces away. “Then it is time for us to continue. Think about what I’ve said. Do not hide who you are from yourself and you will begin to find true understanding.”
Eiko felt Hadou’s tapping on her arm. “Let’s get out of here,” she said softly. “I think we’ve intruded enough, yeah?”
Eiko looked over at the two men one more time. Aniki looked shaken to his very core, but he wasn't in danger. At least not physical danger. “Yeah, alright.”
They crept back through the forest as the sounds of battle erupted behind them once again. When they had gotten far enough away, Hadou lifted Eiko back into the air for them to continue their training.
In a way, Eiko’s worries had been quelled, but in reality, they had just been replaced by a different set. The two women were quiet as they flew back, and Eiko didn’t notice anything going on below her all the while. She was too busy thinking.
The whole… situation around Aniki was far more complicated than she had ever thought. A thousand things had been thrown into question, and she didn’t know how to even begin going about answering them.
However, even with everything she had heard and everything that has happened, she was still utterly and completely certain that she would continue to stand by him. She would be that wall, just like she promised herself.
Katsuki was ready to kick Izuku’s ass. He hadn’t responded to a single one of his texts all day. Katsuki was about one step away from blowing a fuse when he saw Izuku finally walk into the common room.
He looked like hell.
‘Ah, shit.’
Katsuki jumped off the couch and stormed over to Izuku as he trudged toward the stairs. “Where’ve you been?”
Izuku jumped a little, which emphasized just how tired he was. “Oh, Kacchan. Sorry, training went real late and I had to go to Recovery Girl, and, yeah.”
Katsuki glared at him. “Who put you through the ringer?”
Izuku’s tired gaze met his own. “Hatsuo.”
‘Ah, shit .’
Katsuki reached forward and pulled Izuku into a tight hug, which his friend instantly returned. The two men held each other firmly, with Izuku’s grip getting tighter all the time, like he was trying to squeeze energy out of Katsuki.
“Your dad let Purifier get a hold of you?” Katsuki asked as they continued to embrace, their necks over each other’s shoulders.
“Yeah, I’ll… I’ll tell you about it tomorrow, alright?” Izuku said slowly. “I’m exhausted.”
“Yeah, yeah, I feel you,” Katsuki said as he patted Izuku’s back. The two men broke apart and he spied some small tears forming in Izuku’s eyes.
By this time, Izuku’s girlfriends had almost made their way over to them, each of them wearing their own brand of concern.
Izuku looked at them, then down at Katsuki. “Thanks, man. For everything, for all this time.”
Katsuki lightly pushed his shoulder. “You get sappy when you’re tired.”
“I’m always sappy,” Izuku replied with a tired laugh. “You know, I couldn’t ask for a better friend.”
“Damn straight you couldn’t,” Katsuki said with a smirk. "And hey, back at you. I’ll catch you tomorrow, man.”
“Night,” Izuku said with a nod as he walked over to his girlfriends, who immediately began fussing over him.
With no other reason to stay up, Katsuki walked over to the stairs to sleep off the bone-deep exhaustion in his own body. Tomorrow he would figure out what fucking Purifier did to Izuku, and also try to decipher what had put Shitty Hair in a weird mood all evening.
He sighed as he opened his dorm and began to get ready for bed. It was hard, and often tiring work to be friends with people.
But it was worth it.
Notes:
See you all next time :)
Chapter 61: A Rock and a Hard Place
Summary:
The fallout of Purifier and the beginning of finals.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ochako woke up with Deku’s arm around her like she did almost every morning. Mina and Momo were on his left, which meant she got his right side all to herself, and she was using it. Her arms were wrapped tightly around him, pulling herself as close to him as possible. Her legs were wrapped around his, and her head was pushed firmly into his shoulder. She looked like a koala hanging off a Deku tree.
They hadn’t gotten a chance to really talk the previous night, as they were all so exhausted, but they could all tell that something was troubling Deku. The reason she was clinging to him so tightly was because she knew he was hurting, and she wanted to help him as best she could. Until he woke up and they could talk, this was the best option. Hopefully, her affection would seep through and make him feel better.
She looked up at his face and saw that his eyes were open, much to her surprise. Normally when he woke up, he would make this cute growling noise and give one of them a kiss on the forehead, but he was just staring at the ceiling.
He noticed her moving and looked down at her face with a soft smile, but she could still see the worry behind his eyes. Ochako untangled herself from him and drew herself to her full length along the bed so she was looking down at him instead. She propped herself up on her elbow and leaned down to kiss his forehead before gently stroking one of his horns.
They really had gotten bigger since they started dating; each one now extended from above his eyebrows to around his temple, curving along his head like the beginning of a laurel crown. His beautiful green eyes looked up at her, still looking quite humanoid, unlike the permanently-slitted eyes of his father, uncle, and cousin. She wondered when that change happened; perhaps once he had mastered his full transformation? Now that she thought about it, were they thinner than they had been at the start of the year, or was she just seeing things?
Deku closed his eyes as she gently stroked his horn, but the purring that normally rose from his throat was nowhere to be found. She had waited long enough; it was time to figure things out.
“Momo, Mina,” she called firmly, but not too loudly. Momo’s eyes opened softly at her name, but Mina’s flew open. Unlike her normal morning sluggishness, Mina seemed ready to go.
“We’re all awake?” Mina asked. “Great. Midori, talk.”
He nodded as he lay there, his arms wrapped around all three of his girlfriends. Momo propped herself up on her elbow much like Ochako had, forcing Mina to roll over so she was almost on top of Deku, which she didn’t mind.
“My trainer yesterday was Purifier. My uncle Hatsuo,” he began slowly. “He’s… basically always hated me.”
“Hated you?” Ochako repeated.
Momo raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that who Todoroki interned with?”
Deku nodded. “Yes. To both. Do you remember when I explained that chromatics are evil to you all? My father believes that I can be what I want to be, but Hatsuo always thought he was being a fool for training me.”
Ochako furrowed her brow. Nobody should tell Deku what he can’t do.
“He thinks you are doomed to be evil?” Momo asked. “That sounds… defeatist. Does he think you have no control over yourself?”
“He’s seen what chromatics can do,” Deku said softly. “Terrorflame killed his father.”
Mina bristled a little. “Terrorflame killed your dad’s dad too and that doesn’t stop him from loving you. Purifier wants you to, what, give up? Throw away all the work you’ve put in?”
Deku paused before he spoke. “No… No, I think he accepted that I won’t do that, so he wants me to… ‘accept who I am’. In his mind, the dragon is who we are, not the person. To him, he is Purifier, and Hatsuo is the ‘mask’ he wears.”
“But,” Ochako protested, “that’s not how you’ve described it to us. That’s not what your dad said back in the hospital. He’s not Stormclaw.”
“He is sometimes,” Deku mumbled. “Just like I am Defiant sometimes. But… all the time?”
Momo looked deep in thought, but she wasn’t saying anything.
Ochako touched Deku’s horns again. “Deku, we know you have dark thoughts, dark impulses, but that’s not who you are. We fell in love with the kind, considerate, heroic parts of you. You are not your instincts.”
Deku smiled softly, but there was still doubt in his eyes. “Hatsuo said the exact opposite. ‘You are your instincts’.”
“I think I understand,” Momo said suddenly. “To your father, the baseline is Hisashi. He becomes Stormclaw with his quirk. To your uncle, the baseline is Purifier. He can bring Hatsuo out, but he always returns to Purifier.”
Deku looked at Momo fondly. “That’s a good way of putting it.”
“That explains why he hates chromatics so much,” Mina noted. “For him, he can’t escape his quirk, so he thinks you can’t either. That must sound like hell to him.”
Deku’s eyes moved down to Mina. “He said he was afraid. Just like I am. Afraid of what Defiant can do.”
There was a silence in the room. The women looked at each other and then back down to Deku.
Ochako spoke first. “I’ve never thought you were a bad person. Your quirk isn’t you.”
“That line is getting more blurred every day,” Deku responded. “I can’t run from it anymore.”
“You haven’t been running from it since the USJ,” Mina said, running her fingers up his stomach and chest. “You’ve been fighting it.”
Momo reached over and tousled his hair a little. “You know as well as I do that we’re hardest on ourselves. I don’t think you’re as ‘evil’ as you think you are.”
“You’re Defiant, right?” Ochako asked. “You’re not going to let someone tellin’ you that you’re evil stop you from bein’ a hero, are you?”
“No,” Deku said immediately. “Never. I just have a lot to think about. A lot to consider.”
Mina laid her head down on his chest. “So, what do you think? Which one is right? Your father or your uncle?”
Deku paused for a few moments. “Neither. And both. I can never be fully Izuku. My quirk is ever present. But… Defiant isn’t who I am. Not yet, at least.”
“You’re making it sound so final,” Mina huffed, almost pouting. “Midori, as far as I see it, Defiant is new in all of this. You are training your quirk every day, you’re changing every day. None of us are the same people as we were at the start of school.”
Momo gave Mina a small hug. “She’s right. The Defiant of the festival isn’t the Defiant of today, is he?”
Deku thought for a moment. “I… guess not.”
Mina smiled. “There, see? You’re still figuring things out; we’re still figuring things out. This isn’t a question that’s going to be answered snuggling in bed.”
“Yeah,” Ochako agreed. “You told me in the first week that you had an evil quirk. That you were a villain waitin’ to happen, but look at all the good you’ve done! You saved us at the USJ, you saved Tsu, you survived Stain. You’ve helped almost everyone in the class with somethin’. You’re the Deku who does his best, the one who never gives up. You’re the Deku who can do it!”
He smiled wide for the first time, showing off his fangs. “There have been a lot of close calls but… with you all, I’ll make it through. I just don’t know exactly who I am right now.”
“You’re Deku,” Ochako answered.
“You’re Midori,” Mina followed.
“You’re Zu.”
“You’re a hero.”
“You’re our boyfriend,” Mina said with a giggle.
“Our class representative,” Momo added.
“You’re Izuku,” Ochako said firmly.
“You’re Defiant,” Mina continued.
“You’re you,” Momo finished.
Deku’s mouth fell open. “I… did you all practice that?”
Mina giggled. “No, but it was super cool!” She reached over and gave Ochako a high five as they all laughed.
“Thank you all,” Deku almost whispered as he grew his arms longer and wrapped them all up in a tight hug. “I’ll figure it out, but I won’t do it alone.”
Ochako giggled again and kissed him on the lips. “We’ll be beside you.”
He released the hug and they all slumped back down on the bed. They lay there in a comfortable silence for several minutes, each of them enjoying the lack of tension that was now in the air.
“You know,” Momo said after a while, looking down at Mina, “you make very astute observations about people. You find connections that I would never have seen. Why can’t you do that well with your other studies?”
Mina laughed once. “Ha! People are easy. Calculus can suck my dick.”
“You don’t have a dick,” Ochako pointed out.
“No, but that is a fantastic segue!” Mina said with a teasing grin. “Do you know who does have a dick?”
“Um,” Deku mumbled as his face began to turn green, but Ochako saw that excited glint in his eyes.
The three women grinned as they began to move.
Izuku was filled with a wonderful afterglow as he pulled his shirt over his head. His jaw was a little sore, but seeing the goofy, satisfied smiles on the women’s faces was more than worth it. They’d helped him work through his stress and his worry in more than one way, for which he couldn’t be more grateful. His mind was clearer and his quirk was less agitated, meaning he could actually have his head on straight for the rest of the day.
He took a moment to appreciate the smells flowing through the room. The diminishing scents of the women’s satiated desire mixed with their natural scents and the smell of their bodywash and shampoo made his quirk hum like a lazy, content cat.
Mina tossed a towel that Momo had created to the side after wiping herself off and then stretched her arms high. She still wasn’t wearing a shirt and he couldn’t help but glance down at her healthy chest. They were perky and large, smaller only than Momo in their class as far as they knew, but even Momo was smaller than Pony. That secret had stayed a secret, however. He wouldn’t break the trust of any of his hoard. If he included women not in the class, then Momo and Nejire were about the same size, but he didn’t have all day to think about breasts, even if three very nice pairs were in front of him.
Mine.
“You’re a lucky guy,” Mina said with a smirk as she caught him staring. “Three beautiful, sexy women all to yourself.”
He smiled softly. “And each other.”
Ochako grinned as she leaned against Mina and gave her a kiss. “Who could forget?”
“And yeah, I know,” Izuku added. “I’m the luckiest guy in Japan.”
“Gee, Izuku, how come your mom lets you have three girlfriends?” Mina asked in a strange voice.
Izuku blinked. “Um, my mom? What?”
“Forget it,” Mina added quickly. “Are you feeling better?”
He eyed her suspiciously before nodding. “Yes, I am. Thanks for talking with me. I know it’ll be tough, but I have to keep moving forward.”
Momo smiled as she created a perfectly-fitting and very comfortable-looking bra over her own chest. “Exactly. You didn’t let me flounder when I was in turmoil, we won’t let you flounder.”
“God, I’m so glad you’re over that,” Ochako sighed. “It hurt to see you suffering.”
Momo pursed her lips as she created a new pair of underwear to replace her recently destroyed pair. “‘Over’ might be a strong word, but I am making progress. Good progress, thanks to you all.”
Mina reached over and gave Momo a big hug as she looked over at Izuku. “Finals are getting closer. Do you know what that means?”
“The end of our first semester?” Ochako asked.
“Our biggest tests to date?” Momo suggested.
Izuku locked eyes with Mina. “Tsu.”
“We have a winner!” she declared cheerfully. “I’ve been trying to get her more and more used to the idea about being partners with us. Ochako and her are basically best friends, Momo and her have been very friendly ever since that date.”
“It was a very nice date,” Momo said softly.
Mina grinned. “I can’t wait to go on one myself. Where was I? Right. I’ve spent more time with her, hanging out and watching scary movies. She loves them almost as much as Ochako hates them.”
Ochako pouted. “I don’t get what you like about being scared.”
“ Anyway… ” Mina teased as she stuck her tongue out at Ochako. “Midori, you had the internship with her and I know you two have aquatic training once or twice a week, but I was wondering if you wouldn’t want to do something a little more… direct.”
“You’re working on her platonically, but you want her to get more used to the idea of physicality,” Izuku deduced.
Mina sighed dreamily. “God, you’re hot when you’re smart.”
“He’s always smart,” Ochako laughed.
“Your point?” Mina asked with a knowing smirk. “But, yeah. What do you think?”
Izuku rubbed his chin in thought. “I have an idea. It may give me a chance to… practice with Defiant. Or perhaps more accurately, to let Defiant practice.”
“Practice what?” Momo asked.
“One of my biggest strengths is persuasion and manipulation,” he reminded her. “I have a plan to help reinforce what she has waiting for her. I have to go talk to Kacchan first, but after that, I can hunt her down.”
“Poor Tsu,” Mina giggled.
“Don’t worry,” Izuku assured her with a fanged smile. “I’m not going to lay a hand on her.”
Tsuyu was walking down the stairs later that morning when she heard a familiar voice call her name.
“Tsu, I was hoping to run into you.”
She turned to see Izuchan walking toward her, smiling widely with Bakugou at his side. What was he doing going up to the fifth floor? None of his girlfriends were up here.
“Did you need something?” she asked, tipping her head to the side.
His smile widened more, showing off his sharp fangs. His eyes were glowing a little and he looked almost predatory, but it was offset by the kindness on his face. Besides, she trusted him; he had saved her life at least three times. “I just wanted a moment of your time, if that’s alright.”
Bakugou kept walking as he stopped to talk to her. The two men exchanged a nod as the blonde continued up and entered the fifth floor.
“Of course, Izuchan. What’s up?” she responded as the door closed.
“Well, Mina told me about what you told her, about how you were waiting until finals to try anything,” he explained, never losing his grin.
Oh. It was going to be one of those conversations. Tsuyu nodded as her eyes traced slowly over his fangs. “Yeah?”
He chuckled. “Well, finals are almost here and I just wanted to say a few things. We’re in a strange position, wouldn’t you say?”
“What do you mean?” she asked. Tsuyu had a pretty good idea of what he meant, but she felt like being coy for some reason.
“You’ve declared your intentions to be in a relationship with us, haven’t you?” he clarified, moving a little closer to her. “You went on a date with one of our girlfriends. You hit on me back during internship week, and you told Mina that you’d join us after finals. You’re basically already dating us.”
Tsuyu blinked up at him. “I want to focus on finals before I get involved.”
“A noble goal,” Izuchan said in a low voice, much different than his normal way of speaking. “But you do want to get involved.”
She felt her breath getting heavier. “Yes, ribbit.”
His eyes closed as he chuckled softly. When he opened them, they were draconic and glowing with a firm light. “Are you looking forward to it? Us holding you, hugging you, kissing you… Spending the nights snuggled up between Ochako, Mina, Momo, and myself?”
Her heart rate began picking up more and more. She nodded.
“We’re looking forward to it, too,” he growled as he put a hand against the wall on her left side. He leaned down as he moved even closer. His fanged smile and his slitted eyes were making the froggy part of her brain panic, but her feet were rooted in place. “I can hardly wait for my first taste of you, prey.”
“Prey?” she said softly with trepidation. It felt like her mind was running in two different directions. One wanted to run, but the much stronger part was responsible for the heat pooling down in her depths. Honestly, the ‘flight’ part of her was just making her hotter.
He chuckled darkly again as his teeth parted, showing off his sharp fangs even more. “Yes. I am the hunter. And you are the prey. Make no mistake: I always get my prey.”
Her breath hitched as a powerful pulse of desire echoed through her. A low, needy ribbit rose from her throat as she looked up at him with lidded eyes.
Izuchan leaned in closer. His muscular chest and arms were keeping her in place. She could feel his breath on her neck. She couldn’t see it, but she knew his fangs were only inches from her. Her eyes closed and her legs began to shake with anticipation as she tilted her head to the side, almost presenting herself to him.
“But one of the most important parts of being a hunter, ” he began as his voice became deep and draconic, “ is patience .”
There was a beat where time stood still, then she heard the sound of footsteps on stairs. Tsuyu opened her eyes and saw Izuchan walking down the flight away from her, giving her a friendly wave. His draconic eyes were nowhere in sight, and his smile was cheerful and friendly. “Good chat! I’ll talk to you later, Tsu!”
She blinked at him as he waved one last time and disappeared through the door to the fourth floor.
Tsuyu stood there for several moments, her back pushed against the walls as her legs trembled and she panted heavily. The heat in her depths was burning bright and her heart was still racing as she finally managed to move.
She took a step down the stairs, but she realized she had completely forgotten what she was going to do. Her mind was completely filled with thoughts of Izuchan and his girlfriends and her hormones were making it all but impossible for her to think about anything else.
Tsuyu let out a ribbit that was halfway between needy and annoyed as she turned around and began to walk slowly back up to the fifth floor. She needed some ‘alone’ time.
Katsuki knocked on Kirishima’s door firmly. Izuku had found Asui on the stairs, so he didn’t get to hear what his friend wanted to talk to her about, but he had more important things to worry about. He had just finished his chat with Izuku about fucking Purifier , which seemed to have gone surprisingly well. The surly bastard was trying to ‘help’ Izuku in his own frustrating way.
Now it was time to deal with bullet point number two on his ‘exhausting social bullshit’ calendar for the day. Izuku was in a good enough spot and Katsuki made sure his head was still on straight, so it was Kirishima’s turn.
She had been acting weird all last evening after they had gotten back from their training and Katsuki wasn’t the kind of person to let that simmer. He dealt with this crap head on.
The door opened to reveal a messy-haired Kirishima with a sweatband around her head. She was in a tanktop and shorts and he had obviously interrupted her working out, judging by the dumbbells sitting in the middle of her floor.
“Hey, Bakubro, what’s up?” she asked, wiping her forehead with a towel.
“Can we talk?” he asked directly.
“Oh, uh, sure,” Kirishima said as she stepped aside to let him in. He walked over and sat down in the chair at her desk as she closed the door. “What’s the problem, can I help?”
Katsuki shot her a glare. “I’m here to talk about you, Shitty Hair. I don’t do this for just anyone, so be grateful.”
She immediately stiffened up. “About me? What do you mean?”
“Come on,” Katsuki scoffed gruffly, “don’t fuck with me. You came back from training all twisted up. Something’s bugging you and you’re gonna spill it.”
Her eyes went wide. “Oh, you’re uh, concerned for me?”
“Of course I am!” he growled. “You’re my friend, dammit. Now come on. What happened yesterday?”
Kirishima sat down on her bed as she looked down at the ground. “Um, I don’t really think I should talk about it.”
Katsuki sighed. “What’re you always saying? No regrets? Come on, don’t bottle things up. Only weaklings do that.”
“You know, this is the most aggressive help I’ve ever been offered,” she noted. “I guess that’s kinda on brand for you, huh?”
“Look, I beat the stupid out of Izuku a long time ago. When he has a problem, we talk about it. Same goes for me.” He pointed at her directly. “You are still holding onto that stupid. I’m not gonna let you keep going around with all that whatever stuffed in your skull.”
She blinked at him for a few seconds before she cracked a small smile. “Alright, I get it.”
Katsuki nodded. “Good; then talk.”
She sighed, looking down as she rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s about Aniki. So maybe you know something about it, yeah?”
His eyes narrowed.
“Well, I saw him looking all scared when Purifier showed up, and I thought it was weird because it was like, his uncle, but he was all freaked out. I was worried so I told Hadou and she seemed worried too so we flew over to where Aniki and Purifier were training and we overheard them talking.”
‘Oh crap.’
“They were talking about all this weird stuff,” Kirishima continued, “about like, instincts and hoards and like, I don’t even know. It was really weird.”
“ Fuck ,” Katsuki said aloud as he ran his hand down his face.
“You’re best friends with him, have you heard him talk like this before?” she asked concernedly.
He pulled out his phone and unlocked it. “Need to get Izuku here.”
“Woah, woah!” Kirishima exclaimed. “N-no way! I don’t want him to know I overheard that!”
“You don’t understand what you heard,” Katsuki said firmly. How could this have happened? “He needs to know and he needs to talk to you.”
“Um, are you sure?” She looked pale and about as nervous as Izuku did the first time they met All Might.
“Yes. Don’t worry, he’s not going to be mad at you,” Katsuki reassured her as he hit send on his phone.
It was a tense and awkward few minutes that the pair sat in silence until the knock came at the door. Katsuki got up to get it, throwing the door open to see a curious-looking Izuku.
“What’s up?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Come inside,” Katsuki replied, turning away and heading back to his seat.
“Is everything alright, Eiko?” Izuku asked, his voice heavy with worry as he shut the door. Katsuki could see the telltale glow of his worried quirk firing off in his eyes.
“Um, yeah, no, I’m fine,” she mumbled.
Izuku could tell something was off, just like Katsuki could. Honestly, Izuku was so much more intuitive than him when it came to people, that the subtle signs that Katsuki was picking up were probably like blaring sirens to Izuku.
Katsuki ripped the bandage off. “She overheard some of your conversation with Purifier yesterday.”
Izuku’s eyes erupted in a light that he almost never saw. Scales flashed up his neck as his entire body tensed. “What?!”
“Woah, woah, I’m sorry!” Kirishima exclaimed, stunned by his visceral reaction.
Izuku immediately regained control of himself. “No, no, Eiko, it’s fine. I’m not upset with you, that was just… very surprising.”
“How the hell did neither of you notice her?” Katsuki asked. “She’s not exactly the epitome of stealth.”
“Well, Hadou helped-”
Izuku flinched again, which cut her off. “Did you say that Nejire was with you? Did she overhear too?”
Kirishima nodded.
“We were so focused we didn’t notice them,” Izuku groaned as he held his head. He was silent for a few moments as he thought about what to do. “Well, I suppose what’s done is done. I’m glad it was you two if it had to be someone.”
“I…” Kirishima began, “don’t really follow. What’s going on?”
Izuku sat down on the ground and motioned for her to join him, which she did. “Eiko, what you overheard yesterday was my uncle and I having a discussio- argume- a fight about our quirks. You know how Tsu is a bit odd because of her quirk?”
She nodded, concern clear on her face while she listened intently.
“It’s like that, but more subtle. At the same time, it’s much more oppressive. Do you remember when Aizawa erased my quirk at the USJ?”
“Yeah, you got all weird,” Kirishima said softly. “Like you forgot your memories and stuff.”
Izuku nodded. “My quirk actually powers part of my brain. Aizawa gave me a sort of temporary lobotomy with his quirk. The only reason I survived was because my quirk was still weak. Anymore, Aizawa could kill me with just a look.”
She gasped. “Kill you?! No way!”
Katsuki raised an eyebrow. Izuku was laying it on thick; normally he was more subtle and careful about stuff like this.
“It’s true,” Izuku continued with a solemn nod. “My entire family is like this in one way or another. It’s subtle things that make us think or act differently than normal people.”
“What do you mean?” she asked. “You seem pretty normal to me, Aniki.”
He smiled. “That’s good to hear.”
“She overheard the words ‘instincts’ and ‘hoard’,” Katsuki pointed out.
Izuku furrowed his brow. “How much did you hear?”
She paused to think, then told Izuku everything she could remember. As she spoke, Izuku’s brow furrowed more and more. Even Katsuki was surprised by how much she had overheard.
“That is… a lot,” Izuku said with a heavy sigh.
“Sorry again,” she said softly.
He took a deep breath to bolster himself. “I am flattered that you were concerned for me; please do not feel bad. Let me explain.”
“But Momooooo,” Mina whined.
Momo sighed. “You’re the one who wanted help studying, don’t complain when I actually make you do it.”
Mina dramatically collapsed face-first into the math textbook in front of her with another groan.
Ochako leaned over and patted her on the back gently. “Come on, we only have another chapter to get through for today. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
“I’m not gonna make it, go on without me,” she mumbled into the pages.
Momo rolled her eyes. “What if we go do something else, then come back to this later? Maybe you just need time to decompress.”
Mina perked up immediately. “Board games! I just got a new three player game and I want to try it out!”
“That sounds fun,” Ochako giggled, “but we need to finish this homework.”
“One game and then we’ll come back,” Mina bargained.
Momo nodded. “That is acceptable. I’ll just have to beat you quickly so we can get back to business.”
“Winner gets to sleep in the middle tonight?” Ochako suggested.
Mina ran over to her closet and pulled out a box. “You’re on!”
Eiko’s mind was racing. “That’s… wow. Aniki, I had no idea.”
Aniki nodded solemnly. “I know it’s a lot to take in. I hope you don’t think ill of me.”
“Never!” she said immediately. “I look up to you, man. Ever since the USJ, you’ve been an inspiration to me. Knowing you’re struggling with all this stuff just makes me even more impressed.”
He smiled widely. “Thanks, Eiko. That means a lot to me.”
“Can I just say something?” she asked. Aniki nodded. “Your quirks are… I mean, I can just harden, but you’ve got… all of that! It’s just like an old storybook. How does that work?”
Aniki leaned back onto his hands. “I’ve thought about that a lot, actually. I’m thoroughly convinced that a major part of quirks is human imagination.”
“Imagination?” Eiko repeated.
“Sure,” he said with a smile. “Quirks exploded onto the scene about two centuries ago, which any biologist will tell you is far too quickly for any sort of natural evolution like that to take place. Even if you assume that, thanks to our intelligence, our selection was anything but natural, it doesn’t make sense. Take Iida for example; he has a bonafide combustion engine in each of his calves, which is an invention only a century or so older than quirks themselves. Where did the DNA code for that come from? A purely human creation suddenly finds itself coded into the very genetic structure of the Iida family? Impossible if you assume only natural processes. At least, assuming the natural processes that we know exist.”
Eiko considered this for a moment. “So you think that imagination had a part in the creation of quirks because they’re too complex and strange to be anything else?”
He nodded. “Be it magic, a higher power, or something else entirely, humans have somehow begun to embody our own collective mythos and culture in very literal ways. My family is proof of that.”
“I have one last question,” Eiko said as she looked up at him.
“Shoot.”
She took a deep breath. “How can I help?”
His smile grew and she saw a pulse of light from his eyes. “Keep being my friend. Stand by my side and put your all into being a hero. I’ll make sure to keep pushing you and supporting you, so do the same for me. Oh, and keep all of this secret. I’m trusting you with this.”
“I promise,” Eiko declared emphatically. “Your secret is safe with me. I know you didn’t want me to find out about this, but I’m glad you trust me.”
“He was gonna wind up telling you eventually,” Bakugou interjected with a scoff. “He says it’s a big secret, but he tells anybody he gets close to.”
“Wait…” She faltered a little bit.
“Don’t feel bad,” Bakugou added, seeing her doubt, “that just means he trusts you and wants to be close to you.”
“I’m right here, Kacchan,” Aniki muttered.
“Tell me I’m wrong then,” he snarked.
Aniki grumbled, but didn’t say anything.
“Yeah, he’s not that hard to figure out,” Bakugou continued, turning to Eiko. “Other than me, his literal best friend, think about who else he’s told.”
“His girlfriends and Tsu?” Eiko posited.
Bakugou nodded. “You’re in good company. Welcome to the club. Now you don’t have an excuse to not have to deal with Deku’s bullshit.”
“I feel so loved,” Aniki muttered, but he was still grinning. He stood up from the floor and Eiko followed. She looked up into his eyes which were about four inches above her own and glowing with a soft light. She wondered what his quirk was saying.
Aniki leaned forward and gave Eiko a tight hug, hooking his head over her shoulder. She leaned into it and hugged him back, giving him a firm squeeze and holding him there as he did the same. She smiled as the pleasant smell of his hair and clothes filled her nose. After a moment, she realized she could smell Ochako, Mina, and Momo on him as well, and… maybe a hint of Tsu? Either way, he smelled nice, which only added to the comfort of the hug.
The two broke apart and turned to Bakugou, who was still sitting on the chair. He stood up and rolled his neck. “You feeling better now?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Got a lot of things to think about, but yeah, I’m good.”
“Good,” he replied. “You still want my help studying later?”
With everything happening, Eiko had almost forgotten. “Oh yeah, for sure. I’ll come by after lunch?”
He nodded as he and Aniki headed for the door. She gave them a smile and a wave as they left, closing the door behind them and leaving her alone in her room.
She stood there for a moment before she picked up her dumbbell and began to lift again. Aniki was dealing with more than she could ever imagine, but he was still pushing forward. Those things that Purifier had said… some of the things that Aniki had said…
Eiko was determined to be his wall now more than ever. He deserved it.
Shouta was putting the final touches on his notes as Hizashi looked over his shoulder.
“Wait, you’re not putting anyone against me?” he asked, sounding hurt.
“No, I thought these matchups would better test my students,” Shouta explained.
“This isn’t because I forgot about our anniversary last week, is it?” he asked quietly.
Shouta looked up at him and blinked.
Hizashi’s eyebrows dropped. “You forgot too, didn’t you?”
“It’s been a busy semester.”
“Okay, so it’s not that. But come on, why leave me out?” Hizashi whined.
“I already told you,” Shouta said with a sigh. “I think Kan has plans for you, so don’t feel too left out. Maybe I just thought you’d be too much for any of my students.”
“With how much you talk about them?” he asked. “Doubtful. You actually have hope for this year.”
“How dare you?” Shouta said with a small smile as the rest of the teachers and even the president himself began to file into the small conference room.
It took several minutes for them to stop socializing and take their seats before Aizawa could begin speaking. “Thank you all for coming. Let’s get right down to business. I’m setting each of you against a pair of my students for the physical part of their final this semester.”
He ignored the indignant huff from Hizashi.
“My plan is to try and assign students whose strengths are countered by your abilities. I want them to have to think. Any comments before I begin?”
Nobody spoke up.
“Ishiyama,” he began, glancing up at Cementoss, “I’m setting you against Kirishima and Satou. They tend to have single-minded solutions to problems that normally involve brute force. Don’t let them get away with that.”
The stony man nodded.
“Ectoplasm, I’m assigning you Ashido and Asui. They’re two of my most mobile and acrobatic students, but you should be able to overwhelm them.”
“Understood,” Ectoplasm muttered.
“Thirteen, you’ll take on Uraraka and Jirou. Neither of them will be able to get close to you, and even Jirou’s ranged attacks involve a physical part of her.”
“I think that Uraraka girl is a fan of mine,” Thirteen noted. “Don’t worry, I won’t go easy on her.”
“Sero and Mineta both have decent mid-range ability that specialize in capture and immobilization. They need to be challenged by someone who is hard to lock down and dangerous up close. I was thinking Ectoplasm first, but I think you’ll be able to handle this better, Nemuri.”
“Of course you put Mineta against me, Shouta,” Nemuri huffed, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s part of it, too,” he confirmed. “Moving on, Maijima, I’m assigning you Iida and Kouda. You’ll be able to keep the ground disrupted so Iida can’t just run past you, which will force Kouda into action.”
Power Loader gave him a thumbs up.
“Snipe, you’d honestly counter most of my students,” Shouta began.
Snipe chuckled. “Guns tend to do that.”
“Right. I’m assigning Shouji and Tokoyami to you. Shouji’s brute strength won’t be any help out in the open, and Tokoyami’s quirk can be countered by bright light, such as muzzle flash or flashbangs.”
Snipe tipped his hat.
Shouta turned to Vlad King. “Kan, your assignment is one of the trickier ones.”
“You’re giving me the invisible one, aren’t you?” he predicted.
Shouta nodded. “Hagakure and Tsunotori. Tsunotori will try to overwhelm you with a direct assault while Hagakure will try to sneak around. Make them have to think outside the box.”
“I hope you know I’ll return the favor for my finals,” Kan noted.
“My two top students academically are Yaoyorozu and Midoriya. They’re smart; potentially smarter than any students I’ve had before, in fact. However, there is always a bigger fish. Nezu, I’d like you to outthink them.”
“Oh, this will be fun ,” the president chirped. “I’m already looking forward to it.”
“Two of my most powerful students are Bakugou and Todoroki. They both have exceptionally strong quirks and spent their lives being trained by pro heroes. However, they have one of the worst relationships in my class, and don’t work well with others on the best of days. All Might, I’m tasking you with making sure that doesn’t fly.”
All Might smiled widely like he always did. “I’ve noticed the same thing in my classes. I agree with your assessment, Aizawa!”
‘Probably only because Hadou pointed it out,’ Aizawa thought to himself. “The last two students will be handled by myself: Aoyama and Kaminari. They’re my worst students and tend to rely too much on their quirks. That won’t work with me. Truth be told, I was expecting this to be Kaminari and Ashido when I was beginning to prepare this earlier in the semester, but she’s shown rapid improvement in her academics. I believe it has to do with her relationship with my top student, Yaoyorozu.”
“Oh, they’re dating, right?” Nemuri leaned in, clearly interested.
“Why do you care?” Shouta asked.
“Young love is so exciting!” she answered. “So romantic! Oh, I can remember you and Hizashi back in your junior year-”
“That will be all,” Shouta muttered forcefully, cutting her off. “Please let me know if you have any issues or questions. Otherwise, see you all on finals day.”
Notes:
See you all next time :)
Chapter Text
Shouto’s mind was utterly focused on the task at hand. As he rode in the bus to their testing location, he wasn’t thinking about the written test he had taken, nor the revelation that their class was going to a camp for training over the summer, nor his partner. He was focused on the obstacle in front of him.
He hadn’t expected to react like this, but perhaps it made sense.
This was the moment for which he was born. His father married his mother for this. His family suffered for this. With his brothers quirkless and Fuyumi’s quirk deemed too weak, the entire burden of his father’s dream fell upon him. He didn’t give a damn about his father’s plans… he thought.
Things had been confusing for the past several weeks. He was surprised just how much his father’s injury had affected him. With his mother returning home soon and his father providing him positive reinforcement for the first time in his life, it felt like everything was spinning. His solid foundation of what he knew was crumbling and being replaced with uncertainty; he kept up his outward facade of his stoic, stern self, but internally, he was confused and uncertain.
Right now, that uncertainty came to a head with All Might. He had to know. Was all the suffering his family went through worth it? Was all the pain and abuse he suffered worth it? Did he owe his father for training him and making him as powerful as he was today?
All Might had the answers. If Shouto could beat him, then it meant something. What exactly, he wasn’t entirely sure, but something.
He needed to try.
Shouto vaguely noted that Bakugou was trying to say something to him, but he wasn’t listening. Somewhere down this city street was All Might, and Shouto needed to find him.
A low rumble rose in the distance, which caught his attention. He saw windows shatter, concrete sunder, and bridges buckle as a wall of wind rushed toward him. Shouto threw up a massive sheet of ice in an instant, but as the air roared around him and pushed him back, he had to throw up wall after wall as the previous shattered like glass.
As the cataclysm died down, an eerie calm hung in the air, punctuated by the intermittent crumbling of distant buildings. A soft snow fell from the sky from the ice walls that had been vaporized as Shouto panted from the effort. His right side had nearly iced completely over, but he was still moving forward.
He felt Bakugou grab his arm, but he released it quickly when flames erupted over Shouto’s body to warm him back up. It served to get his attention, however, and for the first time, he acknowledged Bakugou.
“What the fuck is up with you?!” Bakugou snarled. “I know you’re normally a moody asshole, but this is something else! Do you even realize what we’re up against?”
“My destiny,” Shouto replied flatly.
Bakugou looked at him like he had just said something ridiculous. “No, dumbass, we’re up against something that will wipe the floor with us if we don’t have a plan! Are you even thinking?”
“If you want to run for the exit, fine,” Shouto said as he continued to walk down the ruined street. “I’m facing All Might. Stay out of my way.”
“Holy shit,” Bakugou muttered in disbelief before Shouto tuned him out again. He registered a few more colorful expletives as he returned his focus to the task before him. He had to do this.
He had to know.
Eiko looked up at the training city with trepidation. She had been in cities like this dozens of times since she started her semester at UA, but today, it felt like she was seeing it for the first time. Satou and her were up against Cementoss and they were standing in a concrete jungle. This was his ideal battlefield.
“What’s the plan?” Satou asked.
Eiko looked up at the far taller man and then back to the buildings around them. “I don’t think we can fight him.”
Satou grumbled. “Two against one? Come on, we got this.”
‘What would Aniki do?’ she thought. He was always encouraging her and the others to think about their fights, and Aizawa wouldn’t have given them an easy test.
Maybe she would have agreed with Satou at the beginning of the semester, but she wasn’t the same person. The past few months had changed her.
“I dunno,” Eiko countered after a moment, “we were both at Hosu. We’re not the ones equipped to handle Cementoss.”
“Running away isn’t heroic,” Satou complained.
“No, it doesn’t feel very manly,” she agreed, “but pointlessly exhausting myself so I can’t help others sounds like something I’d regret. Hmm. Oh! What if we’re rescuing civilians? This is training for us getting innocents away from a villain.”
Satou thought for a moment. “Yeah, I can get behind that.”
Izuku and Momo stepped off their bus and began to walk toward the entrance of their testing facility. Both were deep in thought about their upcoming challenge, but it was Izuku who spoke first.
“There’s a pattern with all of the assignments,” he noted.
“They’re not targeting weaknesses,” Momo deduced, “they’re targeting strengths. That’s why they put us up against Nezu.”
“Because we’re the two smartest students in class,” Izuku followed. “The professors want to neutralize our strengths and make us work outside our comfort zone.”
Momo nodded. “So it stands to reason that Nezu isn’t going to give us time to think, and he’s not going to take it easy on us. Outsmarting him might be off the table.”
Tall gates swung open and the pair stepped into a massive industrial zone. Pipes and machinery stretched into the air like a jungle made of steel; just like a real jungle, it would be almost impossible to find someone that didn’t want to be found.
Izuku closed his eyes and Defiant opened them. “Then we won’t outsmart him.”
“What are you thinking?” Momo asked as she watched him transform into a drake, scales rippling across his skin as they appeared in a verdant rush.
Defiant turned his draconic gaze on her as he lowered a shoulder to the ground to let her climb onto his back. “Let’s hunt our prey.”
Ochako grabbed another boulder with both hands, drained the weight from it, and hurled it down at Thirteen. Just like all the others, the pro effortlessly disintegrated it to pebbles and then to dust as it vanished into darkness. Fortunately for Ochako, the Landslide Zone had no shortage of rubble and rock for her to throw at her opponent.
Thirteen glanced around, but still saw no sign of Kyouka. “You will fail even if your partner escapes, Uraraka. This exercise is about teamwork, not sacrifice.”
“That’s better than neither of us passing!” Ochako called back as she threw another piece of rubble down the hill.
Thirteen grumbled and Ochako felt the power pulling her in increase. She took more weight into herself and dug in her feet into the rubble to stop herself being pulled down the hill, but she couldn’t keep this up forever.
‘C’mon, Kyouka,’ she thought. ‘ Hurry .’
Shouto saw his target up ahead. All Might was standing in the middle of the street smiling, but instead of his normal heroic aura, the energy he was giving off was nothing short of sinister. His sunken eyes and bared teeth looked malicious and intimidating rather than storied and empowering.
“Walking toward me? A bold move,” he noted. “You’ve seen what I can do to a city with a single punch, and that wasn’t even at full strength. How are you going to stand against me, hero ?”
Shouto didn’t answer. He was too focused. All Might wouldn’t be defeated by anything other than his best, so that’s where he started. He thrust his left arm forward and unleashed his most powerful gout of flame that he could muster. The air around him heated up rapidly and his entire body began to feel hot as the pillar of flame surged toward All Might, but the behemoth of a man split it with a single swipe of his hand like he was chopping a board in half.
“You saw me face Terrorflame, did you seriously think that-”
Shouto didn’t give him a chance to recover and had immediately swiped his right arm forward as he pushed every ounce of ice he could muster toward All Might. The relief of his overheated body rapidly cooling was palpable, but he was too focused on his enemy.
A titanic iceberg erupted in the middle of the city, dwarfing the glacier he had created at the Sports Festival. It towered over the buildings and let off a bone-chilling cold that was causing frost to form on the shattered glass strewn over the street.
And All Might was in the middle of it.
Everything was still beyond the faint wind passing through the wrecked buildings and the stomping of boots behind him.
“What, that’s your plan?” Bakugou snarked as he approached.
“It worked,” he replied simply.
Bakugou scoffed. “I thought brain freeze was just a saying, but you really must have it if you think that’ll stop All Might.”
“How do you know?”
“I interned with him,” Bakugou explained sarcastically. “Beyond that?”
The glacier began to rumble as cracks formed on its surface.
“Because I’ve watched the news in the last thirty years,” Bakugou finished.
The ice exploded in a shower of crystalline shards that nearly blinded Shouto as they reflected the bright midday sun. He squinted and saw the towering form of All Might standing in the middle of the street, letting out a breath as he relaxed his bulging chest and arms.
He had flexed the glacier off like it was a cheap t-shirt.
“Alright, my turn,” All Might growled.
Before Shouto could act, All Might appeared before him and grabbed onto his face like his head was a basketball.
Bakugou reacted quickly, throwing up his hand to try and blow All Might off, but Shouto wasn’t about to have him taint this fight. He touched his foot to the ground and shot a sheet of ice at Bakugou, freezing him in place.
“What the fuck ?!” Bakugou snarled.
Even All Might faltered. “Um…”
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” he shouted. “Is your brain split in half like your hair?!”
“This is my fight,” Shouto shot back. “Stay out of it.”
“Young Todoroki, what are you talking about?” All Might asked with confusion and worry in his voice.
“Oh my fucking-” Bakugou broke the ice with an explosion and lunged forward. All Might was seemingly too confused about the interaction to react properly as Bakugou aimed his gauntlet toward him.
“If you’d excuse us for a moment,” Bakugou hissed sardonically. He pulled the pin and unleashed a massive, earthshaking explosion right into All Might’s chest. He lost his grip on Shouto’s face as he was hurled backward in a massive cloud of smoke and fire that threatened to collapse the already structurally damaged buildings around them. Bakugou crashed back into Shouto, throwing him to the ground and knocking the wind out of him. “I need to have a talk with my ‘partner’.”
Bakugou picked him up while he was still dazed and hauled him into an alley before All Might could recover.
Defiant raced through the winding corridors of the industrial zone with Momo on his back. He had picked up Nezu’s scent after they had entered and was following it as fast as he could, but as he crossed over a small clearing, he heard a noise from above.
He jumped back just in time to avoid a metal beam crashing down to the ground. Defiant watched as the entire path forward crumbled and collapsed, ruining the trail he was following.
“You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?” came a voice from a nearby speaker. “I noticed you following the path I took. I can’t have that.”
Momo created a visor on her face and began to look around as Defiant tried to regain the scent. She locked onto something and then created a small sphere in her hand, which she threw into the distance. There was a flash of light and sound that made Defiant recoil slightly.
“EMP for the camera,” she explained. “Can you recover the trail?”
“No,” he grumbled. “That path is blocked, literally as well as metaphorically. It would take too long for us to search for it.”
“Then let’s go up.”
Defiant released his drake transformation as he grew his wings. While most of his draconic features faded, he kept himself about eight feet tall so Momo could hold on easily. Once he felt her secure her grip, he jumped into the air with a beat of his wings. They rose above the machinery, but as soon as they did so, Izuku heard a mechanical whirring in the distance.
He barely was able to dodge out of the way as a large cannon locked onto him and fired at him. Momo held on tight as he swerved to the side to avoid the weapon’s sights, but the danger got his blood boiling.
“Did you think I wouldn’t prepare for you flying?” came Nezu through a speaker.
“He might be there!” Momo pointed out.
Defiant bared his fangs as he soared into the air and dove toward the turret. He pushed more power into his wings as he ducked and rolled to prevent any clear shots on him or his precious cargo. They landed hard on the platform around the turret and Defiant skidded for a few feet before he could stop. Momo jumped off his back as he ran toward the turret and grew his arms massive, using his black claws to cut into it and destroy the interior machinery.
He followed after Momo toward what was apparently the control booth for the gun, but found it deserted beyond his girlfriend.
“What, and leave myself so exposed?” Nezu asked. “Hardly.”
“He’s controlling it remotely,” Defiant noted.
“Maybe I can trace the signal,” Momo muttered as she created a small electronic device and plugged it into the control computer. As it began to work, the machine suddenly sparked and smoked, causing her to jump back.
“I’m sorry heroes, but you’re in my lair now,” Nezu continued over the speakers. He sounded polite, but there was a definite hint of mania in his tone. “I’ve prepared for every contingency. And just in case you were thinking about running, I’ve already blocked and disabled the exits. Before you ask, yes, I can do that. If you wish to win, you’ll need to press on. I have so many more fun surprises for you!”
Momo dropped another EMP grenade behind them as they walked out of room to disable any electronics Nezu was using to monitor them. “No exits? I suppose we have no choice.”
Defiant huffed, venting a little gas from his nose. “We’ll play his game for now. He just needs to slip once and we’ll get him. I trust you.”
Momo smiled as she climbed back onto his back and they took to the skies again.
Eiko felt like she was in a monster movie. She had learned very quickly that, as much as she enjoyed watching them, it was not nearly as fun being the victim in one.
The buildings themselves were lurching at her and her partner like they were alive. Concrete towers were flowing like sentient water and they were barely keeping ahead of it. Cementoss’s quirk grew closer with every step they took as they ran toward the exit and Eiko could tell they weren’t going to make it before it was on them.
“Keep going!” she yelled. “I’ll try to get him off you!”
“But-”
“The civilians, remember?” She grinned widely. “You gotta make sure they make it out!’
Satou nodded as he took another shot of sugar and surged forward. Eiko stopped running and turned around to face the approaching tide with all of her might. She planted her feet and hardened her body as a pillar surged toward her and around her as it was split in half. The concrete pushed her back, but with a surge of effort, she smashed through it, only to be met with another wave.
She broke pillar after pillar, wall after wall, but the tide was unending. As she broke through another wall, the sky suddenly went dark. She looked up to see a veritable tidal wave of concrete above her.
Eiko planted her feet and crossed her arms to block. As it descended upon her, she thought back to her promise.
“Time to be that wall.”
It was becoming harder and harder for Ochako to move her body. The amount of weight she had to take into herself to keep herself from being pulled in was getting to be too much; every motion felt like she was dragging it through wet cement. Thanks to all of her strength training over the semester, she was already far beyond her old weight limit, but she was holding well over triple her normal weight in her body. She was slowing down fast.
“Alright, I think you’ve delayed long enough,” Thirteen said with finality.
Ochako felt the power of Black Hole kick up by several magnitudes as she began to slide down the hill. She reached down and dragged her hands along the ground, pulling as much weight into herself as she could. Rock and rubble crashed past her as she slowed down, but there was no stopping this time.
She looked to her side and finally saw what she needed. Kyouka gave her a thumbs up from behind a rock and Ochako smiled.
“Kyouka, now!”
Thirteen looked to the side quickly, but a moment later, the ground shook violently. A great earthquake echoed from underneath Thirteen as Ochako used all of her strength to pull her hands together and release the weight she had been holding within herself. With the ground sundered and Ochako’s weight gone, the moment had arrived.
She surged forward at the staggered pro hero, tackling Thirteen to the ground and with a click, secured the handcuffs around one of each of their wrists.
They had done it.
Momo kept scanning with her goggles as she watched for hotspots of energy that could be Nezu’s next trap. She was riding on Zu’s back again in his drake form as they stampeded down the tight hallways of the industrial zone, hoping that they were getting closer to Nezu.
She quickly created a large inflatable cushion on her left arm and pulled the cord to trigger the chemical inflation as another steel beam swung down at them. It absorbed the impact as she unhooked it from her arm and left it behind. She created three more EMP grenades and hurled them forward as she detected several more traps in their path, rendering them useless as Zu continued to carry them forward.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. He sniffed the air a few times and then let out a low, predatory growl. “He is close.”
“Then let’s get him,” she encouraged. Surely his ‘lair’ would be the most heavily defended, which is why she began to prepare a creation. Studying this creation was time-consuming, but it had already proved useful. Time for the real thing.
They burst through one last gauntlet and arrived in a courtyard surrounded by high steel walls.
“Welcome, heroes!” Nezu exclaimed through the speakers. “You’ve made it to the heart of my evil lair! This is, of course, where you die. Enjoy!”
Zu’s shrewd gaze snapped upward. “There he is.”
Momo looked up and saw Nezu waving at them through the glass at the top of a large steel tower. Before either of them could do anything else, there was a mechanical cacophony that made Zu recoil and Momo flinch. Dozens and dozens of turrets began to deploy and unfold out of nearly every nook and cranny in the courtyard, from floor to ceiling. The top half of one of the towers unfolded to reveal a massive cannon, even larger than the one that had shot at them earlier.
Momo was very glad she was already halfway through the creation process.
The turrets began to fire and she found herself suddenly on the ground with Zu crouching over her protectively. “Do you have a plan?”
She nodded as rounds bounced all around her. “Yes, cover me for a bit!”
Zu grunted in affirmation as he took a defensive posture around her, trying to block all he could with his hardened scales. As much as he tried, he just wasn’t big enough, and some of the turrets were able to get shots on her. With a creation already in progress, she couldn’t make anything to protect herself, so she was entirely reliant upon him for protection.
“Zu!” she cried out as one struck her in the arm. It hurt, and cut her, but it didn’t pierce her arm. The bullets were modern nonlethal rounds—Nezu didn’t want to actually kill them—but they were still painful and they could still do some damage.
Momo felt Zu freeze for a moment before the sound of bullets was drowned out by an earthshaking roar. The arms that barely covered her surged in size and dwarfed her as the green scales grew thicker and larger. Zu began to block out the sun as every part of him bulged and grew, protecting her with every fiber of his being. As his long, thick tail snaked around her, she realized that at this moment, she felt a little like what Ochako and Mina must have felt like at the USJ.
A massive, fully draconic Zu loomed over and around her, standing in full defiance of the turrets as his name suggested. She heard the heavy reports of the bullets impacting his scales and the ground around her, but she had to focus on the final parts of this creation. Wires and mechanics and supercapacitors were no joke.
She saw small rivulets of blood drip down his arms as he continued to stand over her. She had to finish this quickly. With a final surge of effort, she pulled the front of her costume open and a fully formed EMP generator burst forth. It was around the size of a beach ball, and she definitely felt it; she was pretty sure she lost at least two cup sizes as she pulled it from her chest.
Now, one more piece before she activated it. This creation was much simpler, and as it finished, she called up to her boyfriend.
“Zu! To me!”
He responded after only a moment’s hesitation. His transformation snapped away nearly instantly and she threw her arms around him as a hard plastic dome formed from her back. Momo pulled him to the ground and beneath the shield to protect them as the EMP generator charged up and went off, frying all of the turrets and anything vaguely electronic in the vicinity.
As a silence fell over the courtyard, Momo pushed the shield over and stood up slowly. All the turrets were quite disabled, but as she began to dare to breathe a sigh of relief, she heard a noise above. The largest turret was still active and had just begun to rack another round.
“Of course it’s shielded,” she growled under her breath. “Zu, are-”
She looked down at him and gasped. He was covered in cuts and bruises on nearly every inch of his body and was struggling to get back up.
Righteous indignation filled her as she reached down to her chest and began to create. Momo pulled out a large, metallic tube with the last of her lipid reserves and flipped a switch on the side.
“Oh, that’s one way to do it,” Nezu said softly from above as he looked down at the rocket launcher Momo had created.
She pulled the trigger and a second later, the massive turret exploded in a shower of sparks and scrap.
Momo stood there for a moment as she panted with exhaustion. Her hero uniform was torn or otherwise rather loose, she had a few cuts that were bleeding steadily, and she had just produced two of the most destructive things she had ever used.
That didn’t matter, she needed to keep pushing on.
At that moment, the door of the metal tower opened and Nezu walked outside. Momo turned on him, but he raised his hands in the air.
“Worry not, I surrender!” Nezu said cheerfully. “You’ve both done excellently. Congratulations.”
Momo smiled weakly and barely managed a “thank you, sir,” before she flopped down onto the ground to rest.
Shouto’s back hit the wall as Bakugou held him by the shirt. Despite being five inches shorter than him, Bakugou was staring him right in the eyes.
“Okay, talk, Icyhot,” he demanded. “What the fuck is up with you?”
“What do you mean?” Shouto replied.
“You’ve been talking like a moron since we got off the bus,” he continued. “You sound like you did back at the festival. I thought Izuku got you through that shit!”
How did he know about that? “How did you know about that?”
“I overheard you telling Izuku,” he admitted. “Don’t get it into your head that he told me, Izuku doesn’t spill secrets.”
Shouto fumed. “You’re not supposed- not allowed to know.”
“Well, I do,” Bakugou huffed. “You’re using your fire, what’s the problem?!”
“This is different!” Shouto snapped. “This isn’t about my quirk! It’s about… something else.”
He wasn’t about to tell Bakugou about the pressures on him, but part of what he was saying was true. Thanks to Izuku, he had gotten through some of his issues, but… it wasn’t that simple. His quirk was his own, but now he had a duty—an obligation —to make the pain have a purpose.
Bakugou let go of his shirt. “I’m not a therapist and I’m not trying to be. You want that, talk to Izuku or Hound Dog. I just want you to use your head for a fucking second! We’re wasting time!”
“I have to do this!” Shouto shouted. “I need to know!”
“This isn't about you!” Bakugou retorted as he punched the wall next to him. “This is our final, take it fucking seriously! The entire point is that neither of us can do this on our own!”
“I-”
A knock came on Shouto’s door late that evening. After training with his father, talking to someone was the last thing he wanted to do, so he ignored it.
A few seconds passed and the visitor knocked again. “Todoroki, are you in there?”
He looked up at the door. It was Hagakure. What did she want?
Shouto stood up and opened the door. “Did you need something?”
She looked up at him—or at least he assumed she did, he couldn't see her face. “I wanted to talk to you, if that’s alright.”
“Talk?” he repeated. “Why?”
She huffed a little. “Because you’re my friend, isn’t that reason enough? But also, I noticed you were training with your dad and, well, you’ve been quiet ever since you got back. I haven’t seen you like this since the first few weeks of the semester.”
Shouto blinked. She noticed that? Even so, he really didn’t want to talk to anyone right now, but for once, he didn’t want to be rude. “Uh, I see, but-”
“Come on, Todoroki!” she whined. “You’re upset and you’re not gonna get anywhere hiding in your room. Trust me, I know hiding.”
He averted his gaze for a moment, but then relented. He could at least humor her. “Sure, come on in.”
Shouto stepped aside and let her in. The seemingly-floating t-shirt and pajama pants walked past him and after he closed the door, he felt a hand on his wrist. “Come on, let’s sit and talk. We really need to get you some cushions in here. I bet Yaomomo would be happy to make some for you.”
“I like it this way,” he said softly.
“If you say so,” she hummed as they sat down across from each other. “But alright, let’s talk. What’s on your mind?”
He tried to keep his gaze respectfully at her face, but it was hard to look at nothing. “I… don’t really know.”
“It has to do with your dad, right?” she inquired.
“It’s complicated,” he replied weakly. He wasn’t in the mood to explain everything anyway.
She hesitated before she spoke again. “Can I… admit something? Promise not to be mad?”
“Uh, sure,” he said softly as he blinked in confusion.
“I may have… overheard your conversation with Midoriya. At the festival.”
His heart lurched in his chest. “What?!”
She waved her arms theatrically. “I didn’t mean to! I just noticed that you were upset and I was coming to try and cheer you up but then you were already talking with him and I didn’t mean to overhear but… but I did? Sorry...”
After his initial scare, he thought for a moment. She had known for this long and hadn’t done anything untoward. “It’s fine, Hagakure. I just… didn’t know. What’s done is done.”
“Great!” she bubbled. “Sorry again, but yeah. Um, so, your dad, right?”
He looked past her for a few moments as he lost himself in thought. “Yeah. It was the first time I trained with him since before Hosu. Things were different.”
“Good different or bad different?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” he answered truthfully. “A little of both. It was awkward. I could tell his mind wasn’t fully there, like he was distracted.”
“And normally he’s hyper-focused?”
He nodded. “Single-minded might be a better way to put it. He’s almost one dimensional, but today, it was different. I think it was Mother.”
“Your mom?” she prompted. “What about her?”
Shouto didn’t know why he spoke. Maybe he just needed to get it off his chest. Maybe he wanted to share the good news. “She’s coming home. It’s been so long, I don’t think he knows what to do.”
“Where was she?” she asked quietly.
He hadn’t told anyone this, but with one secret off his chest, another felt easier. “She’s been in a psychiatric ward for over a decade now. Ever since she poured that boiling water on my face.”
“Oh, Todoroki…” she cooed sadly.
“I started visiting her after the festival,” he continued. “She apologized and forgave me for never visiting. It made me feel lighter than I had in years. Now she’s coming home and… I don’t know. I’m happy, but I’m confused. My father is different. My mother is different. Everything is changing.”
It felt good to talk. When he had thought that talking to someone was the last thing he wanted to do, he was wrong.
Hagakure didn’t respond at first. She leaned up onto her knees, reached over, and hugged him tightly.
“Hagakure, what-”
“Shh, don’t talk. Just hug me back,” she said softly.
His arms wouldn’t move for a moment, but then they slowly reached up and curled around her back. She squeezed him gently and he felt a sense of calm wash over him.
“You’ll get through this,” she whispered. “It’ll be okay. You just have to lean on your friends. None of us can do it alone.”
“You’re right,” Shouto said abruptly.
Bakugou raised an eyebrow. “Did that actually get through to you? Maybe Horns is rubbing off on me.”
“Not you,” Shouto corrected as he stood up to his full height. “Hagakure.”
“Whatever. I’ll thank Casper later for you not fucking up my final anymore than you already have.”
“Her name is Hagakure,” he replied tersely.
Bakugou didn’t seem to be listening as he was already walking out of the alleyway. “Now come on, we still need to finish the test.”
Shouto jogged to catch up with him. “What’s your plan? Since you’ve been so insistent.”
“We run for the exit,” he replied simply.
Shouto narrowed his eyes. “If that was the plan, why didn’t you just do that from the beginning while I fought All Might?”
“What, and leave my partner behind like that?” Bakugou scoffed. “Yeah, that would look real good to the teachers. I thought you were supposed to be smart?”
“I wouldn’t have taken you for someone to run from a fight,” Shouto replied.
“All Might is too powerful for us,” he responded.
“And you think Aizawa wanted us to realize that and run?”
“You do have a brain. Fancy that.”
They took off down the street as fast as they could go. Shouto skated along with his ice as Bakugou flew with controlled explosions. They weren’t as fast as Iida or Izuku, but the exit was rapidly approaching.
“Good to see you out of hiding!” came another voice from between them.
Both of them recoiled as All Might seemed to appear out of nowhere. Bakugou brought his hand up to attack him, but two quick punches from All Might smashed his gauntlets into pieces.
“Not letting you get away with that again!” All Might declared as he grabbed Bakugou by the shirt. “Those things sting!”
Shouto tried to freeze All Might, but with Bakugou in the way, he had to hold back on the power. However, in that same moment, the pro seemed to vanish and appear behind him. His ice smashed into a building as All Might picked him up by the left leg and lifted him into the air.
As he hung there, Bakugou clawed at All Might’s face and unleashed a barrage of explosions that made the pro hero wince. Shouto took the momentary distraction to touch his right leg to All Might’s arm and shoot ice over him.
Bakugou shook loose and grabbed onto Shouto before he unleashed another explosion at All Might to pull him free as well. They both took off for the exit again as he staggered back in an explosion-induced daze.
“We’re almost there!” Bakugou shouted.
“It’s good to see you’re finally working together!” All Might shouted from behind them. “It’s unfortunate that…”
As the two boys neared the exit gate, a cacophonous buzzer rang out.
“You took too long,” All Might finished. “I’m sorry, boys.”
Shouto stood there in a stupor. He had failed.
Bakugou was silent for a moment. But only for a moment.
“ FUUUUUCK!!! ”
Ochako picked Kyouka up in a big hug as they finally met back up. She eagerly returned it as they both cheered.
“That was brilliant!” Ochako exclaimed excitedly. “I would never have thought of that!”
“It was nothing,” she deflected as she tried to keep her blush to a minimum. Big woman was holding her tightly and it was making her heart race.
Ochako set her back on the ground and released her. “No, seriously! How else were we supposed to take on Thirteen?”
“Don’t be so humble,” Thirteen interjected. “That was very well done on both of your parts. Uraraka, you completely sold me on that distraction. I was convinced Jirou was running for the exit. And Jirou, that move was expertly timed and executed. You both pass with flying colors and then some!”
Ochako jumped up excitedly on the balls of her feet. While her old costume had been nice, the new one that Miruko had designed for her was something else.
“Come on, Kyouka, let’s see how the others did!”
“Yeah,” she said dumbly.
Ochako reached over and grabbed onto her arm with all five fingers and Kyouka felt the sudden and jarring sensation of her weight leaving her. The taller woman lifted her up and placed Kyouka so she was sitting on her shoulders. “Hold on tight!”
Kyouka desperately tried not to think about Ochako’s head being between her thighs. “Y-yeah, alright. Let’s go!”
Ochako removed her own weight and the two jumped off toward the entrance.
Eiko struggled out of the rubble as Cementoss split it around her.
“I’m sorry, Kirishima,” he said solemnly. “Don’t feel down, you did very well. Better than I expected.”
“Really?!” she replied excitedly as she stretched out her shoulder.
He nodded. “Aizawa expected you two to just come at me head-on and he wanted me to teach you a lesson, but you surprised both of us. There are always things to improve on, but take heart in your progress. I’m sorry that I can’t pass you.”
Eiko grinned as she stood up proudly. “It doesn't feel like failure. I did my best and I have no regrets! I’m just going to keep getting better!”
Cementoss gave her a thumbs-up. “That’s the spirit. You’re going to be a fantastic hero one day. I’m sure of it!”
Eiko beamed even wider.
Izuku groaned as he sat up off the ground. Those bullets were no joke, even through his scales.
“Are you alright?” Nezu asked.
“I’ve had worse,” Izuku replied with a weak smile.
Nezu nodded. “I hadn’t expected that to be your solution, but it worked! Well done both of you.”
“Don’t you think it was a little cruel to close the exits, sir?” Momo asked.
Nezu chuckled. “Oh, I didn’t. That was a bluff!”
Izuku and Momo looked at each other as the president laughed to himself and walked off down a side passage that he had opened up. She pulled out an ultra-caloric food bar from a pouch and ate it in a few bites. He watched her costume visibly grow a little tighter as she restored some of her fat stores.
She didn’t notice him staring at her with loving adoration. Momo was one of the most amazing women he had ever met, and he was proud that she was not only in his hoard, but dating him. This victory was thanks to her. He couldn't have done it without her.
As she finished her food, Momo kneeled down next to him with concern and love in her eyes. “Are you alright, Zu?”
He nodded. “I am, thanks to you.”
She smiled softly. “You went full dragon.”
“Been a while, huh?” he said jokingly. “I couldn’t stop myself. I needed to protect you.”
She leaned in and kissed him on the lips, which seemed to make the pain and aches filling his body diminish significantly. Momo pulled back and he tried to stand up, but she put a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“You carried me nearly the entire test, let me do the walking for once.” She put an arm under his legs and another behind his back as she lifted him up in a princess carry.
He smiled dumbly as his quirk purred in the back of his mind. She was so soft and so strong at the same time.
She leaned in and kissed him on the forehead. “I love you, my dragon.”
Notes:
Been a while! Sorry about that. I kinda got sidetracked with a new story I'm writing! It's a version of MHA where I mix up every single quirk and a bunch of other things too! It's a ton of fun to write, so I hope you enjoy reading it as well.
See you all next time!
Chapter 63: Love Overflowing
Summary:
With finals over, the students take time to love.
Notes:
If you don't like the smut, don't read the smut. I'd rather not hear people complain about it. If its not for you, just skip past it; I always make sure my smut chapters have a full normal chapter size beyond it.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“What do you mean you’re leaving?” Mina whined as she stood in Momo’s bedroom.
“My parents want to congratulate me on passing my finals,” Momo explained as she sat down on her bed. “I haven’t seen them in months; I think it's very reasonable for me to spend a few days at home before we have to go to camp. What’s the problem?”
“Well…” Mina began coyly. She sashayed forward and sat herself down on Momo’s lap, facing her as she straddled Momo’s legs. “We were planning on popping the cork on the champagne that is Midori.”
“What do you mean?” Momo asked.
Mina leaned closer in so her face was inches from Momo’s. “You know. It's been a long semester, and now that we have time, we wanted to go all the way with him. Finally experience Deku’s dicku. Midori’s man meat. Zu’s zucchini.”
“Please stop,” Momo groaned as she tried to suppress a laugh.
“I see you smiling~” Mina teased with a huge grin on her face.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Momo scoffed playfully.
Mina giggled as she placed her arms on Momo’s shoulders and touched their noses together. “That’s like asking me not to breathe.”
“So, what’s the problem?” Momo began as she moved her hands up Mina’s thighs and gripped her softly around the waist. “You’re worried about having sex without me? It hasn’t stopped you before.”
“Well, this is different,” Mina explained. “This is, like, proper and we all want the woman we love there with us.”
Momo understood. She smiled and gave Mina a soft kiss on the lips. “You have my blessing. I hope you three have fun, really. And don’t worry about me, I’ll get mine. Just… tell me all about it, alright? I think he’ll be a different beast entirely.”
“Oh, I hope so,” Mina sighed dreamily.
Momo bit her lip as her imagination began to fire images off through her mind. “Just thinking about it…”
Mina leaned forward and kissed Momo’s neck as she groped her chest through her clothes. “When did you say you were leaving?”
“I have time,” Momo replied, her voice deep and sultry. With a motion, she easily tossed Mina onto the bed proper and moved on top of her. She straddled Mina’s hips as she held up her hand and began to create.
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It’s smut time. If you don’t want to read lewds that don’t exactly constrain themselves to reality (read: light hentai logic), then skip ahead to the next set of lenny faces.
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Mina and the other two were laying on her bed like they often did, simply cuddling and enjoying each other's company and contact. However, Ochako was far more tense this time than she was normally, and Mina guessed Midori knew why. He was giving her extra attention by running his fingers through her hair and gently scratching her head, which she clearly appreciated.
Mina had two goals that evening. One, she wanted to make sure that these two adorable people had an amazing first experience, and two, she wanted to have the most pleasurable night of her life. She had been waiting for months for them to be ready, but she knew she had to be patient a little longer. Both Ochako and Midori were virgins, and she had to be their guide and support.
Well, Mina decided Ochako wasn't getting any calmer and she wasn't getting any less horny herself, so she figured she should go ahead and rip the awkward bandage off.
“Soooooo Midoriiiii,” she began, causing the man to look away from Ochako and down at her, “do you know what I have in mind?”
His eyes flashed green in a most delicious way as his fingers danced across her back. “The nudes you’ve been sending me all day gave me some idea.”
Mina nuzzled into his side a little firmer as she hooked a leg up over his, getting dangerously close to her target. With her head pressed into the left side of his chest, she could feel his heart rate picking up very clearly. “We talked about waiting until after the semester to go all the way, and well…”
“Right…” he said softly, breaking his gaze from Mina and turning it on Ochako. He knew she was the most nervous of the three, but Mina suspected that once they broke through her exterior, that fiery side of her would show itself.
Ochako buried her face in her hands as she turned bright red. Mina smiled and began the process of pulling her out of her shell. “What’s the problem, Ochako? You literally sucked his dick yesterday while he was tongue-deep in you. Just flip it around!”
“I know!” Ochako protested. “It’s just… I don’t know! It feels like a big thing!”
“You and I are both experts at feeling big things,” Mina teased with a toothy grin.
Both Midori and Ochako couldn’t help but laugh, which cut the tension considerably.
“I love you,” Ochako sighed.
Mina grinned proudly, but spoke softly. “I promise, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s just sex.”
“It’s the deepest connection two people can have,” Midori explained. “It feels like a real commitment.”
“It’s certainly a deep connection,” Mina agreed, renewing the laughter from the other two. “Okay sorry, I couldn’t stop myself. Go on.”
Midori was smiling from laughing. “I think Ochako feels like this is a precipice. A commitment. Am I right?”
Ochako considered for a moment. “Yeah… yeah, I think so.”
“I feel the same way,” Midori sighed.
“Okay, now hold on,” Mina began with a touch of indignance, “it’s not. I’ve had sex before, but I broke up with all of them. I don’t have any connection to them, I didn’t make any commitment to them. All they are to me now are guys who stuck their dicks in me and a woman who did things with me. We gave each other pleasure and moved on. You’re not signing some sort of contract by letting Midori stick his dick in you.”
Ochako’s eyes went wide. “I didn’t mean that! Sorry!”
“I know you didn’t,” Mina huffed, “but it’s still true. It’s not this magical thing. It’s just gonna feel really good for both of you and probably make you all goofy for each other, but you two are already all goofy for each other so there’s no problem there.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Ochako deflected. “Sorry, I’m just nervous.”
“I know you are, babe,” Mina cooed. “It’s fine. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
Midori’s green eyes focused on her in a way that made her feel smaller. “As much as you try to hide it, you’re nervous, too.”
Mina cringed a little. “Was it that obvious?”
“To me,” he confirmed.
“Well, yeah, of course I am,” she admitted. “I want to make sure you two have a good experience. It’s a lot of pressure!”
Midori leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “You don’t need to pressure yourself. I don’t want you to sacrifice your enjoyment for us.”
Mina mewled happily and smiled up at him. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m far more excited than I am nervous, and after Ochako gets hers, I am getting mine. I am eager , you two, but you both are first.”
Ochako looked at Mina, then Midori, then back to her. “Alright. I think…. I think I’m ready.”
Mina beamed and clapped her hands together. “Alright, step one: get naked!”
Ochako sat up to get started, but before she could, Midori grabbed onto her chin firmly, but gently, and brought her down for a kiss. Mina smiled as the two shared a deep, passionate embrace that lasted the better part of a minute. They finally broke apart with both of them panting slightly and a strand of saliva connecting the two of them. Midori brushed a strand of hair from her face and smiled warmly at Ochako.
“I love you so much, Ochako,” he whispered.
Ochako almost melted into goo right there, by Mina’s estimate. She stroked one of his horns lovingly as she smiled widely. “I love you too, Deku.”
Mina was in love with dorks and she was relishing every moment. When she was old and gray—or maybe a faded pink—they would still be dorks, and she would still love it.
She was a little surprised at that thought and felt her face warming up.
Midori’s kiss had flipped a switch in Ochako. Her nerves were either gone or suppressed as her face was now covered in an expression both love-drunk and clearly aroused. Ochako stood up off the bed and began to pull her shirt over her head. At Mina’s suggestion, she wasn't wearing a bra, and as she lifted the loose fitting shirt up, she revealed her large breasts laying across her chest. Mina and Midori shared a knowing look before they both returned to admiring them and the rest of her.
Ochako pulled down the gym shorts she was wearing, slowly revealing her wide, enticing hips, that she always got all blushy about whenever Mina referred to them as ‘childbearing’. The only one in class who could really compete with them was Tsuyu herself, as they outdid Mina’s own wide set. She knew how much Midori liked both of their hips, and as Ochako wiggled the shorts down her legs, Mina watched his eyes follow her swaying hips like he was hypnotized.
All that was left were the panties she was wearing, which were Defiant green, a less-than-subtle gesture.
“I’m not the only one who needs to get undressed,” Ochako cooed as she looked seductively at Midori.
The man’s trance was broken and he stood up from the bed as well. With a careful motion that Mina knew well, he pulled his shirt over his head in a way that avoided his horns. He tossed it to the side and looked up at Ochako, who was gazing down at him lovingly, even as Mina was sure her heart was pounding in her chest loud enough for Midori’s enhanced hearing to detect.
Ochako and Mina’s eyes alike devoured his defined arms, chest, and back. The burn scar on his shoulder was just a part of him now, and a part she loved as much as any other. It was a physical reminder of just how much he cared for them, and just how much he was willing to do to protect them.
Just like her, his shorts came next, and he slowly revealed his firm butt and powerful thighs, but Mina’s eyes were staring right at his crotch, where she saw his impressive tent threatening to break free from his underwear.
Ochako licked her lips and reached down, grazing her fingers over the distended fabric as she gave him a kiss on the lips. Mina bit her lip as she saw the bulge grow larger under Ochako’s fingertips as involuntary scales flashed across his neck and his eyes erupted in bright light. She felt the heat pooling in her depths which made her more eager, but her love kept her patient.
The two turned to Mina with expectant gazes, which caused her to leap up and in a flurry of motion, discard all of her clothes to the winds. She tore her shirt off with such speed that it caused her breasts to fly up and land back on her chest with a heavy plap . She beamed at them as her panties landed on her dresser. “There, I won! It was a race, right?”
Midori and Ochako both laughed as they moved to finish undressing. Ochako’s panties hit the floor as Midori’s dick sprang free of its cloth prison, which made Mina’s heat even deeper, but still, she resisted.
Well, a little indulgence, maybe.
Mina sashayed up to her two taller lovers and reached out with a hand each onto their stomachs, slowly moving downward. “Alright, step two is foreplay. You gotta get Ochako nice and ready; the easiest way to kill the entire mood and ruin an evening is to go in dry.”
She shuddered from unpleasant memories.
“With pleasure,” he growled, deeply enough that Mina wondered if she was talking to Midori or Defiant.
Ochako put a finger to his chest and gently pushed him back onto the bed. He landed on his back as she climbed over him and kneeled with her thick, muscular legs squeezing around his head: her favorite position.
“Don’t forget to give the clit special attention!” Mina reminded him as Ochako lowered herself onto his face, even though she knew he didn’t need it. “And while you’re busy there, I’ll just help myself…”
Mina stared hungrily at Midori’s package, which was being tragically ignored as he dove tongue-deep into Ochako. She studied it for a moment and considered her first experience with it and him. She was certain it had grown bigger in the months since they had started dating; there was no doubt in her mind. Both his dick and his heavy balls that hung beneath; she used to be able to hold one easily in the palm of her hand, but now…
Midori flinched as he felt her hands dancing gently over them, and then again as her fingers wrapped around his shaft. For someone so powerful, he was putty in her hands sometimes. It was exciting, but she mostly left that for Ochako and Momo. He had gotten better at being the dominant lover that she wanted, and privately she hoped that today would finally be the day she would finally fully flip that switch.
Mina was a woman who knew what she wanted, and what she wanted was to be pinned down and fucked senseless. Was that so much to ask?
But for now, she wanted to focus on pleasing him. Her lips parted as she gently kissed his twitching head, followed by her tongue tracing along it teasingly. She savored the taste as her hand began to pump slowly further along his length.
Ochako’s nearly constant moans were interrupted by a moan of his own as Mina began to push her lips deeper along his dick, taking care to avoid her teeth. It hit the back of her throat before long, and she looked to see how much she had left to go.
‘Damn,’ she thought.
She pulled back and took a deep breath to prepare herself before she almost dove back onto her prize. Her mouth filled and the thick head pressed against her throat in an instant, but she had suppressed her gag reflex years ago. With careful determination, she began to push deeper.
Mina felt his thighs clench beneath her as she began to take more and more, savoring the full sensation he was giving her. Every inch down her throat filled her with pride, and as she felt his heartbeat throbbing, she began to feel even hotter.
Her tongue danced under his cock as she pushed down further, determined to meet her goal. There was something about the taste, combining with his heartbeat, the sense of fullness, and the knowledge that he was enjoying it immensely that was making her heart beat faster and her spring to begin to coil, even though she wasn’t touching herself.
Slowly, but surely, she could feel an actual orgasm approaching just from giving him a blowjob. She’d only ever read about it online; she hardly believed it was a real thing.
Mina coughed and choked as her body protested the intruder in her throat, but she ignored it. She had practiced too much to give up now.
With one final, determined push, her nose pressed into his shaved mound and she felt a surge of pride. She had done it.
Oh God, it felt like it was in her stomach, but she had done it. Her saliva leaked out of the corners of her mouth as she sputtered and coughed again, but she didn’t care. The eroticism, pride, and sensations were causing her mind to get fuzzy.
Or maybe it was the lack of oxygen.
Regardless, she felt herself getting closer, and she felt him getting closer, too. The throbbing grew more intense, and she felt his already prodigious size grow even thicker in her throat, which pushed her even closer to her orgasm.
As she reached the peak, right before she crashed over, it suddenly snapped away. The incredibly jarring sensation of his cock vanishing made her choke on air as her body instinctively gulped for the air it so desperately needed. She sputtered and gasped as saliva dripped from her mouth and air filled her lungs, and as she looked down, she saw green scales covering crotch.
“You’re… that was too good,” Midori grunted as he lifted Ochako off of his face enough to speak. “ Fuck… ”
The guttural, desperate way he spoke was hot enough that she forgave him for unintentionally robbing her of her orgasm. After all, edging would make the inevitable orgasm she did get even better.
“He’s all ready for you~” she teased as she wiped off her mouth with one of the towels she had the good sense to set out. “Are you ready for him?”
Ochako took a moment to register her words, but when she finally did, she lazily looked over at Mina with the post-orgasm afterglow that she recognized so well.
“That good, huh?” Mina asked.
Ochako nodded slowly.
“Do we need a condom?” Midori asked.
Mina scoffed. “No. We’re both on birth control.”
“Are you sure?”
She respected him being nervous; a baby would be a huge problem for all of them. To help assuage his concerns, she reached over to grab her phone and quickly entered a search.
“It has been…. 82 years since the last time a woman got pregnant on birth control,” Mina informed him. “You don’t need to worry.”
While most technology had stagnated since quirks appeared, no amount of super powers would ever temper humanity’s desire to fuck.
Mina hopped up on the bed and gently grabbed a handful of one of Ochako’s soft breasts, lifting it to her mouth and planting a kiss on her erect nipple. Ochako let out a soft mewl as Mina grinned widely. “Now’s the time for the main event. Are you ready?”
Ochako’s daze faded rapidly as her nerves reasserted themselves. “I… I think?”
Mina slowly put a finger, then a second into Ochako’s folds, causing her to moan again. She pulled them back and saw the lubrication dripping from them before putting her fingers in her mouth and tasting Ochako. “Your body is ready and your man is ready. All you need to do is sit on it.”
Ochako turned around and saw that Midori’s cock had returned and was standing at attention, throbbing angrily after it had had its own orgasm denied.
She turned back to Mina and leaned down to kiss her, as if she could suck Mina’s confidence through her lips, but Mina wasn’t complaining. After, she finally lifted herself from Midori’s chest and shifted herself further down his body until she was positioned above his thighs.
Mina reclined on her side to Midori’s left, taking a back seat to watch her two lovers.
Ochako stared down at it with wide eyes, then slowly looked up at Midori. Their eyes locked and they were frozen there for several long moments until Midori lifted his hand up and offered it to her. Ochako took it, interlocking her fingers between his as Mina saw her confidence return.
“There’s the woman who interned under Miruko,” Mina praised.
Ochako’s gaze shot to Mina for a moment before it returned to Midori’s face, then down to the thick, warm dick between her thighs. With a final, deep breath, Ochako lifted herself up and moved her hips forward, shoving her folds into the side of his shaft. She dragged it up the length until she reached the tip, then lifted herself up a little further, so it was resting at the precipice.
Ochako’s eyes locked onto Midori’s and she began to lower herself down.
Immediately, she gasped and let out a needy moan. Midori hissed as she tightly gripped his head, but there was still so much to go.
After taking a moment to calm down, Ochako took a deep breath and pushed down further, spreading herself out as she impaled herself on her boyfriend. After another few inches, her legs froze again as she threw her head back and moaned.
Mina was getting antsy. Seeing how good it felt for Ochako was making her all the more eager.
After another pause, Ochako continued to lower herself down until she hissed again and froze. Her powerful thighs were shaking from the strain of holding herself up, but it seemed like she had hit a snag, and Mina had a guess what it was.
“You’re pressing… against my womb,” Ochako panted. She looked down at the length she had left and whined. Ochako clearly wanted more, but she was nervous, and looked to Mina.
“You got this, girl,” Mina encouraged as she slowly reached down and began to touch herself. This was getting hot.
She nodded and took a few deep breaths.
“You don’t have to,” Midori offered, even as his eyes glowed with bright light. “Don’t hurt-”
Ochako leaned forward and put a finger to his lips. “Shh. I want to. I’m going to.”
Mina could almost see the thought process behind Ochako’s eyes. Whenever Ochako got that fire in her, it seemed like there wasn’t anything in that world that could stop her.
With a final preparatory breath, Ochako dropped down. Her hips met his with a solid slap and Ochako’s head whipped back as she screamed .
Mina’s eyes were wide as she saw the huge bulge pushing out of Ochako’s otherwise flat and toned stomach. She had taken every inch of him and he was buried in her womb.
‘Thank you, quirks,’ Mina thought to herself. Without them, this wouldn’t be possible. Mina had never been with a guy that big, but the thought of Midori being able to go that deep was exhilarating.
Her entire body was shaking and trembling as a low moan escaped her throat, interrupted only by her giggling softly.
“Ochako!” Midori exclaimed as he finally recovered from the overwhelming sensation of being swallowed so utterly and tightly by Ochako. He sat up, worried that she was in pain, but her hand reached out to his chest and stopped him.
“You lay back down…” Ochako ordered in a husky voice as she turned her half-lidded eyes onto him and pushed, “and let me do this.”
Ochako tried to lift herself up, but her trembling thighs wouldn’t support her weight at the moment. The aftershocks of her sudden orgasm were still echoing through her body. She grit her teeth and shook her head furiously, making her chestnut hair flail all around, which gave her a wild look. After a few frustrated slaps to her thighs, they began to work again and she lifted off his hips a few inches before dropping back down, causing her to moan again.
“This is… incredible,” she panted.
Mina broke her gaze from Ochako’s needy expression to look at Midori, who wasn’t doing much better. The intense focus in his eyes was tempered by the sweat pouring from his brow and his clenched fangs.
God, they were both adorable.
Ochako began pumping herself up and down as fast as her legs could bear to move. Each time her hips crashed down on his and her huge butt jiggled deliciously, she let out a needy moan or mewl, filling the air with the noise of their lovemaking.
Mina was glad that with Momo gone and the rest of the women downstairs watching a movie, they couldn’t hear this.
Well, maybe Kyouka could. She’d never admit it, though.
“Are you alright, Kyouka?” Pony asked. “You’re all red.”
“I’m fine!” Kyouka said far too quickly as she buried herself further into the couch. “Hey could you turn the movie up? I can’t hear it.”
What a bullshit lie. Nobody would believe her.
“Oh, sure!” Eiko replied without missing a beat.
‘Bless your kind heart,’ Kyouka thought as she tried desperately to tune out the noises she was hearing.
After a good five minutes, Ochako fell forward onto Midori. Her healthy breasts were pushed against his collarbone as she panted, catching her breath from her third orgasm of the night. Midori’s arms wrapped around her in a tight hug as his lips found hers and they began to kiss, both of them dripping with desperate need.
“I love you,” he panted.
“I love you,” she returned as she stroked one of his horns gently. “So much. So much.”
They lay there for several minutes without moving before Ochako finally pushed herself back up and began to bounce up and down on his dick again. Each slap of skin was accompanied by a noise of pleasure from one or both of them as Ochako continued pumping Midori’s dick in and out of her womb. Since she began, her strokes had become longer; nearly half his length was coming out of her before she slammed back down, and Mina found herself mesmerized by the way her stomach bulged out every time she hilted him fully.
“Deku… Deku…” she moaned as she reached out for his hand again. He quickly took her hand and intertwined their fingers again as Ochako continued to fuck herself silly on him.
“Our kids are going to be so beautiful,” Ochako continued with need dripping from her words. “I can’t wait to be filled with our kids…”
Ah. There it was. The goofy.
Mina smirked and continued to watch as she continued to finger herself. She had gotten close to orgasm a few times watching them, but pulled back every time. She was due her due soon, very soon, and she wanted to be ready.
God, she felt so empty.
“You- you can’t- say that,” Midori managed to grunt out through clenched teeth. He was trying so hard to hold on for her.
"I want- to get pregnant- on our honeymoon!” she exclaimed as she began to speed up.
“H-honeymoon?” Midori growled.
“I want- to be working- on our second- by our first- anniversary!” she grunted between claps of flesh. “Maybe- we’ll have twins- or better!”
“You can’t say that!” Midori hissed as scales flashed up his body. “Or I’ll- I can’t-”
Ochako saw the desperation on his face and the wild glow in his eyes and pounced. “Yes! I want your babies, Izuku! I want them all!”
“Then take them!” he roared as his hands grabbed onto her waist and held her in place as he erupted inside of her.
Mina thought she could almost hear him, but there was no chance she could hear anything over Ochako’s desperate, victorious moan. She could tell that Ochako was close, but not quite there; the fourth orgasm was proving the hardest to reach, but then her moan stopped dead in her throat.
Midori was continuing to grunt long beyond his normal, unnaturally long duration. He had always been incredibly productive, but this was something else.
Ochako put a shaking hand to her midsection, right where his bulge was jutting out, and Mina saw her eyes go wide.
As Mina watched, her own eyes went wide as well. The bulge on her stomach was getting… less distinct, and she knew exactly what was causing it.
That pushed Ochako over the edge. As her womb literally swelled with Midori’s seed, her eyes rolled back and her entire body began to shake. Her juices sprayed out around his thick, still-pulsating shaft and her legs shook.
As he finally flexed a few last times and his unbelievable orgasm drew to a close, Ochako went limp and fell to the side.
Midori caught her instantly before she could fall too far.
“Damn, Midori,” Mina noted with a whistle. “First time and you made her do that .”
Ochako panted breathlessly as she held up a hand and weakly touched Midori’s arm. A weak smile was plastered on her face, but she looked like a mess and barely coherent.
Mina was profoundly envious.
“I didn’t do anything,” he argued as he began to gently lay her down while still hilted inside of her. “She was the one in control.”
Ochako mumbled something as he kissed her one more time, then placed her head on one of Mina’s pillows.
“That girl loves you,” Mina said fondly. “And you’ve got a killer dick. That’s a dangerous combination.”
Midori made sure Ochako was secure before he finally, gingerly, began to pull himself free, causing Ochako to mewl and hiss with pleasure. As inch after inch of still-hard Midori-meat was freed, Mina was both stunned and impressed that barely any of his seed leaked out of her.
“She’s really holding that in?” Mina wondered in amazement. “She must really want it.”
Now that Ochako was resting and he was free, there was a sudden shift in Midori. His piercing gaze snapped to her and Mina suddenly felt very small.
And very turned on.
“I’m just getting started,” he growled at her.
In a moment, he was on top of her, pinning her to the bed like he pinned her to the ground when she had broken into his room all those months ago.
“What, no apology this time, Midori?” she teased.
“You want this,” he stated.
“God, more than you know~” she moaned as she pushed her head up and kissed him. He kissed her back forcefully, his powerful, draconic tongue leaving no room for argument as he dominated her.
He broke the kiss and pulled back so he was kneeling on the bed and looking down at her. He gripped the base of his dick and patted it above her throbbing, needy pussy. Her mind was going fuzzy again, and she knew this time it was because of how horny she was getting; hormones were a powerful thing.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
Even when he was being this forceful, he was still the kind, considerate man she loved. She couldn’t help but push her hips forward and grind herself along his thick shaft as she felt her heart swell with affection. “Oh, I got myself ready while Ochako was fucking herself stupid. Put it in me, Midori~”
He moved it so the head was poking at her slit, teasing her and sending a tingle up her spine.
“How much do you want?” he asked, seeming to know it was driving her mad.
“Oh, just a bit,” she replied sarcastically. “All of it! Stop teasing!”
“Fine,” he huffed.
With a single thrust, he shoved several inches inside. Mina gasped as some of the emptiness inside of her was suddenly filled.
“ Fuck , you’re thick,” she hissed, slamming her hand on the bed as her body adjusted to him. “Just hold there for a moment. Fuck …”
“I’m barely in,” he said with a low chuckle.
“I know that, just…” She took a deep breath. “Okay, okay. Go on. More.”
A second thrust, harder than the first, filled her up completely. She felt the head push up against her cervix, and her breath caught in her throat. It slowly released in the form of a long, high-pitched mewl as she came down from another near-orgasm. “M-Midori, I…”
“Do you want me to go further?” he asked directly.
She looked down and felt her heart begin to beat faster. “Fuck. There’s still so much outside. Midori, I want you to ram all of that-”
Her words evaporated as he hilted himself in an instant. Mina’s back arched and her fingers dug into her bed as she gripped like she was holding on for dear life. She was right on the edge, about to tip over, but she pulled herself back and held on.
Just edging herself felt amazing. She was almost scared of what her actual orgasm would be like.
Midori held himself still while Mina calmed herself, but when she looked down, she felt herself wind up again. The bulge along her stomach was even bigger than Ochako’s, which made sense because she was eight inches taller than Mina, but that didn't make it any less hot. He was buried so deep, and she could feel every inch. The emptiness she had felt was filled utterly in a way she had never experienced.
"Could anyone else do this?" Midori asked smugly.
Oh, it was going to be like that. The dragon was reasserting his claim on her; maybe he was feeling jealous of her ex-lovers, or maybe he was just leaving into the dominance she loved. Either way, Mina was more than happy to play along.
"Fuck no," she replied breathlessly. "None of them compare to you."
She saw his eyes glow brighter, and kept going.
"You’re—” She moaned— “deeper than any of them ever were. So much bigger. So much better .”
Mina pulled her legs in and wrapped them around his back, locking her ankles to hold him there.
“And I love you more than I ever did any of them. We belong to each other, Midori.”
Despite how corny she was being, she believed what she was saying. All those other flings had the smallest fraction of what she felt for him, and none of them compared to him in terms of size. The best part is that her cheesy improvisation was having its intended effect.
“And don’t you forget it,” he snarled as he leaned down closer to her.
Before she could respond, he pulled back a few inches and rammed back inside, eliciting a needy moan from her.
Fuck , she needed this.
Her legs pulled in tighter as she wordlessly begged him to continue. He was more than eager to oblige, and began fucking her forcefully.
Each thrust sent sensations up her spine and through her whole body. Her toes curled behind his back and her mind began to go blank as his hips repeatedly slammed into her own. She began to get closer and closer to her climax, but as if Midori knew that, he suddenly stopped.
“What a-”
She was interrupted as he began to kiss her deeply. Her heart swelled with affection as his lips pressed into hers, and she couldn’t help but reach up and wrap her arms around him and hold him close with all her might. The sensation from her nipples sent another jolt of pleasure through her as he pressed down on her, making her fingers dig into his back.
He broke the kiss then ran a hand through her messy hair and over one of her horns as he looked down at her fondly.
“I love you,” he said predictably.
That didn’t mean Mina appreciated it any less. In the throes of eroticism and pleasure, he was so overwhelmed with emotion that he stopped so he could express it.
“I love you too,” she whispered back.
Midori looked deep into her eyes, transfixing her with their powerful glow. They had turned draconic, belying just how much his quirk was flowing right then. “What can I do better?”
“Aw…” Mina cooed. His entire focus was on making sure she was pleased as much as he could. Truth be told, he was a little stiff and uncoordinated, but this was his first time. “You’re doing great for a beginner. Try to feel my body and what angle works. Start with longer strokes.”
Midori nodded and leaned back up so he had a better leverage before he pulled out again. Half of his impressive length pulled out, before pushing back in, causing Mina to moan again.
Ochako had never known anything else, but Mina could appreciate his thickness. It had taken a while for her body to stretch to accommodate it, but now its size meant that every inch of her was being stimulated constantly with every thrust. Every moment with him was pleasure, and she worried that her heart would burst with love. Seeing those predatory, slitted eyes so focused on her made her feel small and protected.
Mina coached him as they continued, and it didn’t surprise her in the slightest that he was a quick learner. Midori was normally brilliant, second only to Momo, but when it came to his girlfriends, he was on another level. Nothing was more important than their pleasure and happiness, and Mina loved that.
He genuinely, truly wanted to be with them, and that counted for a whole hell of a lot. That security was intoxicating, and she knew he felt the same way.
“Stop!” she yelled suddenly as he pulled out nearly all the way.
He froze immediately. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No…” she panted. “The opposite. I’m just… not ready to cum yet.”
His concern turned into a smirk. “Oh?”
“Okay, you can start again,” she sighed.
Midori slammed himself back to the base in a single thrust, causing her to gasp as fireworks shot off in her mind again. He leaned down so he was whispering in her ear. “I’m not going to stop this time.”
Mina bit her lip as she locked eyes with him. Midori and her had played this game before, just normally with him eating her out. She knew that if she asked, he would stop, but they were pretending otherwise.
That meant this was it. This was what she was building up toward.
He began jackhammering into her faster than he had ever before. The clapping of his hips smashing into her filled the room but were drowned out by the sounds of her desperate moans.
Midori was pounding with such force and motion that she couldn’t keep her ankles locked and her legs were jostled free. Without missing a beat, he grabbed onto an ankle with each hand and began steadily forcing them down toward her head, pushing her ass up until her ankles were pushed into the bed above her head.
She had never been folded into the mating press before, but now she lamented how much she had been missing. The pleasure seemed to double as his chest pushed into hers and she felt his heavy balls slapping against her ass.
To make matters worse for her, he began to kiss her again. It wasn't fair for him to be this good, but on some level, she knew she shouldn't be surprised.
She felt her peak approaching for the umpteenth time that night. The climax she had denied herself time and time again was imminent; there wasn’t any stopping Midori now.
Her mind was going blank and her eyes were losing focus. Her tongue had gone limp and was hanging out of her mouth as she tried with all her might to simply maintain her grip on reality.
“You… are… mine…” Midori snarled between thrusts, which was overall, just too much.
“I love you, I love you, I love you,” Mina babbled in response. “I need you, Izuku, I need you!’
Ah shit, here came her goofy. It wasn’t her fault that at that moment, she loved Midori with every inch of her mind, body, and soul. It wasn’t her fault that at that moment, she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him and Ochako and Momo. It wasn’t her fault that, if he had pulled a ring out right then, she would have said yes without hesitating.
It had just happened.
“Give me everything,” she moaned. Begged, even. “Everything! EVERYTHING!”
The last thing she saw before her eyes rolled up into her head was his horns and fangs lengthening before he slammed himself into her depths one final time and gave her what she wanted.
Mina had never had an orgasm like this. All but one of her senses shut down; she couldn’t see, hear, taste, or smell. The only thing her mind could process were the waves of sensation emanating from her womb. She felt like she was drowning in pleasure, like her mind would break, like she was on a ship in a storm, but was tied down so she wouldn’t be blown away.
Was she screaming in pleasure? She didn’t know. All she knew was the explosions of mind-bending pleasure that were rocking her mind. That, and the distinct tension growing down below.
Like a balloon being inflated inside of her, Mina was aware of the pressure building in her womb. She could feel his cock bulging with every rhythmic pulse as he filled her up in every sense of the word. There was nowhere for his seed to go, so she swelled.
And she loved it.
As she grew, she wanted more. The wild sensation of stretching under his loving assault made her want to grow bigger, and he didn’t show any signs of stopping. Midori was giving her a need and fulfilling it at the same time, and she could barely handle it.
Her mind-shattering orgasm seemed to be renewed every time he pulsed inside of her. Each moment pushed her closer to the edge as her strength faded like she had just finished running ten miles.
As Midori finally slowed down and eventually stopped, she felt utterly exhausted. Her arms lay lazily at her sides as her tongue hung limply in her mouth and her eyes began to close.
A few things went through her mind then. She was glad that Midori’s quirk meant that her acidic juices wouldn’t cause him any discomfort. She noted that her sheets were almost certainly ruined, but that was a price she was more than willing to pay, especially because Momo could just make more.
But mostly, she just thought how lucky she was, and how much she loved him and everyone else.
Her eyes vaguely made out Ochako reaching around and hugging Midori from behind as he panted.
“Holy hell, Deku… she’s a mess,” she gasped softly.
“I couldn’t stop…” he panted.
A wave of warm afterglow washed over Mina. She may have been happier in this moment than any other in her entire life.
“I want that,” Ochako declared. “I’m going to get more from you, understand?”
Deku chuckled. “Let me get some water… then yeah. I got one more.”
With the satisfaction and exhaustion of the greatest orgasm she had ever experienced, combined with the warmth emanating from her overstuffed womb, she couldn’t hold on any longer.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face.
When Mina woke up, it was dark outside and the lights were off. As she opened her eyes, the only noise she could hear was the steady breathing of her sleeping lovers. She looked around in the darkness to see a truly wonderful sight.
Ochako was laying next to her, cuddled up against her on her back, and Mina saw why. Her belly was fuller than it had been when she fell asleep; she genuinely looked like she was three or four months pregnant.
Mina looked down to her own stomach, where she saw an almost identical sight. Her fingers reached down and traced over the huge bulge, which filled her with a profound sense of affection.
Midori wasn’t apparent at first. He wasn’t laying down next to them, but her mind knew he was there.
Then she realized she was resting against something.
A smile grew across her face as she realized that Midori wasn’t laying next to them, he was laying around them. Ochako and her were laying against the scaled torso of his drake form, his head was resting on the far side of Ochako as his tail was wrapped around Mina and curled around their feet to encircle them.
Despite how tough they were, Midori’s scales were surprisingly comfortable, and as she nuzzled deeper into Ochako’s side and closed her eyes, she quickly fell back asleep.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
You made it to the end! Now that the sin is done, on with the show.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
"So, how was it?" Momo asked Ochako. They were sitting at a table in the common room watching Deku and Mina prepare food for the picnic.
"It was… incredible," Ochako replied dreamily. It had been a few days, but Momo had wanted to hear about it in person. As it was the day she had finally returned from her trip back home, it was also the day that 'Operation: Froggy GF '—as Mina called it—began.
“I told Mina that I suspected he’d be like a different person in the moment,” Momo continued. “Was I right?”
Ochako sighed as she reminisced. “Oh yeah. I mean, he was still the same man we love, of course, but it was so… primal, but at the same time, it was so romantic. You could tell that he wanted to be nowhere else in the world than right there with us.”
“Did he pin Mina down?” she asked.
“Just like she always wanted,” Ochako answered with a smirk. "You know, Mina said that he was way better than she would ever have guessed for a virgin."
"Might have to do with his quirk," Momo suggested. "He's always been very… perceptive when it comes to our wants and needs."
Ochako sighed. "You have no idea. That next morning he was so… doting. He wouldn't let either of us lift a finger. Breakfast in bed. Lunch in bed. Anything we needed he would take care of if he could. Waiting on us hand and foot and making sure we were comfortable… I felt like a princess."
Momo bit her lip as she glanced over at Deku and Mina. "That sounds divine."
"You'll love it," Ochako assured her. "You've got to try it."
Momo chuckled softly. “You’ll have to give me all the juicy details later. It looks like our chefs have finished.”
Deku put a basket on the table between Momo and Ochako as he and Mina smiled down on them. “Alright, ready?”
Ochako nodded. She didn’t know what they would be doing, but she trusted Deku.
“What exactly is the plan?” Momo asked.
“What plan?” Mina asked coyly. Ochako didn’t trust that smile.
“The plan for today,” Momo clarified. “With Tsu.”
“The plan for what?” Mina insisted.
“Mina…” Deku warned.
Momo looked confused before her face fell into pure exasperation. “With Operation: Froggy GF.”
“Ohhh!” Mina exclaimed, grinning widely. “You should have just said so!”
Momo facepalmed. “So… the plan?”
“Oh, no idea!” Mina finally answered. “It’s Midori’s plan.”
Momo nearly fell off her chair as Ochako couldn’t help but laugh.
Deku walked behind Momo and started giving her a shoulder massage, which instantly relaxed her. “The plan is to treat her like she’s already part of the relationship.”
“What do you mean?” Ochako asked.
“Well,” he began, “Tsu is a very straightforward woman. We all know this. She’s already declared her intention very explicitly, so why dance around the issue? Let’s give her what she wants. Assuming there are no last minute objections?”
“Nope!” Mina chirped. “Sounds fun!”
Momo considered for a moment. “No, I think it will be interesting.”
Ochako was the one who hesitated. “Just like that? That seems so… unromantic.”
“I do see what she means,” Momo added.
Deku nodded. “In a way, true. I don’t think Tsu will be one for big confessions like Momo was when she joined. I think she’ll join easily, but will take some time to warm up. Therefore, I think the best course of action is to treat her like the rest of us, act like she belongs, and give her as much as she feels comfortable with. I think she’ll integrate quickly, all things said, but until then, that’s the plan.”
“A blunt plan for a blunt woman,” Momo noted.
“Alright, I trust you, Deku,” Ochako agreed.
“Great!” he exclaimed. “I’ll go get Tsu and then we’ll get going. Don’t want to miss our train.”
“Wait!” Momo exclaimed suddenly. The others paused and looked to her with concern. She dipped her head and began to bluster a little. “I just… before we add Tsu, there is something I’ve wanted to say for a while now, I just… well, you know.”
Momo cleared her throat. Ochako and Mina looked at each other with excitement.
“Mina, Ochako, this is long overdue, but I really do love you both. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and everything you mean to me.” Momo smiled widely as her eyes teared up a little. “And sorry for taking this long to say it.”
“Aww,” Ochako cooed as she and Mina almost jumped over the table to hug her.
“Thank you, Momo!” Mina exclaimed. “But don’t feel bad, we knew you did for a while.”
Momo smiled weakly. “You did?”
“Course we did,” Ochako muttered kindly. “Actions speak louder than words, babe.”
Momo hugged the two back tightly, forcing some of the breath out of their lungs. Ochako glanced over her shoulder at Deku, who was watching the three of them with brightly glowing eyes and an almost sinister grin, but she saw the love permeating beneath. Deku wanted nothing more than for them to care for each other, and his 'schemes' almost always resulted in them being happier.
What a weird situation she was in, but she wouldn't trade it for anything.
“And that’s my class,” Kan finished as he looked across the table. “What about yours?”
Shouta leaned back in his seat. “Most of them did well. Tsunotori and Hagakure gave you troubles, didn’t they?”
Kan barked a laugh. “I don’t know if I’d call them ‘troubles’, but yeah. That Tsunotori is fierce. I didn’t expect her to break out of a blood prison by stabbing herself with her own horn, but damn. She can throw a punch, too. That look in her eyes was almost feral! Played a perfect distraction for Hagakure to handcuff me.”
“Surely you heard her coming?” Shouta prompted.
“I know damn well she interned under you, you smug bastard,” Kan huffed. “You taught her well.”
Shouta allowed himself a small smile.
“Did any of them not pass?” Kan asked, moving the conversation along.
Shouta sighed. “Seven. Seven failures. Two of which I’m disappointed in, none of which I’m surprised with.”
“You expected them all to fail,” Kan accused.
“Mmm. Maybe,” Shouta admitted.
Kan shook his head. “Who didn’t make it?”
“Aoyama and Kaminari did exactly what I expected. They both were frustrated and flustered by me blocking their quirks, but they both impressed me to a degree. Aoyama tried some clever reflection to try and blind me, and Kaminari tried some close-quarters moves that got me to break eye contact a few times. Stormclaw taught him some new tricks.”
Kan huffed in approval. “That pro training day was a good idea.”
“Right,” Shouta agreed as he tapped on his datapad again. “Next, Kirishima and Satou. The latter made his escape thanks to the former’s sacrifice. I have to fail her because she didn’t complete either objective, but I don’t feel good about it.”
“That’s a first,” Kan snarked.
Shouta knew he was just teasing and continued. “She made the best decision in the situation she found herself in. She could have found herself in a different situation, but we don’t always get those choices. She’s improved a lot.”
“Is that pride I hear?”
“Next, Sero and Mineta,” Shouta continued, ignoring Kan again. “These are the disappointments. I gave them an opponent they couldn’t get close to, and Sero failed that almost immediately. Mineta had a… creative idea, but it’s a remarkably bad plan to suffocate yourself in a battle. He passed out before he could reach the end, and not from Kayama’s quirk.”
“Points for trying,” Kan said with a shrug.
“Once he had her stuck, he could have simply made for the exit instead of suffocating himself and running through her,” Shouta retorted. “Regardless, the last group was Bakugou and Todoroki.”
“Two of your star students.”
Shouta nodded. “But lacking with teamwork and communication, especially with each other. Bakugou is better, especially when it comes to Midoriya or Kirishima, but Todoroki surprised me. Reviewing the footage showed him acting in a very uncharacteristic way. Determined to the point of suicidal, almost. Bakugou had to physically drag him away to stop him from trying to overpower All Might.”
Kan shook his head. “Maybe he has a chip on his shoulder from his old man being the perpetual number 2.”
“Maybe,” Shouta admitted as he thought. It was possible. He’d have to keep an eye on it. “Maybe.”
“What’re you planning on doing with them?” Kan asked. Everyone in his class had passed, so Shouta was left with unilateral control on punishment. “Late night extra lessons?”
He thought Kan took it a lot easier on his students than Shouta did on his own, but he wasn’t interested in getting into that argument.
“What, and hamper the already-questionable sleep schedule of college freshmen?” Shouta asked rhetorically. “The extra lessons will be during the designated ‘fun’ activities. They still need their sleep if the training camp is going to be any benefit to them.”
Kan nodded approvingly. “That’s wise. Consequences without hindering their growth. It’ll certainly encourage them to try harder next time.”
“Hopefully they don’t need that encouragement.” Shouta flipped to another page and opened a hologram. “Now, I finally heard back from Mandalay. She said that she’s fine with us bringing the TAs.”
“Good, good,” Kan hummed. “I think it’ll be fun to get out into the woods, don’t you?”
The train ride had been pleasant. Tsuyu had been sandwiched between Izuchan and Ochako, who had been less than mindful of her personal space, but that didn’t bother her. They seemed really comfortable around her, which she wasn’t expecting.
Tsuyu was no fool, and knew what this outing was about. Izuchan and his girlfriends were going to bring her into their relationship properly, and she was curious how they would handle it. At first, she was expecting them to be stiff and formal, and Momo was still that to a degree, but for the most part, they were the same friends she had known for months. They were friendly, casual, and kind.
And a little touchy. She liked that.
Each of them had hugged her at least once before they got to the train, and Izuchan had his arm over her shoulder for most of the hour-long train ride. He had tested the waters a little, but once he saw she was comfortable with it, he had settled in.
To a point, she already felt like she was in the relationship, which she suspected was Izuchan’s plan. Between him and Mina, they were too socially shrewd to do something like this incidentally.
They arrived at a rather remote train station and stepped out into the midmorning sun. It was a beautiful clear day at just about the perfect temperature. She could hardly ask for things to be more idyllic.
“Where are we going?” Ochako asked as she removed the weight from the food basket and tied it to her waist with a rope that Momo created. Izuchan didn’t answer, but instead checked the map on his phone and began to lead them away from the station.
Tsuyu looked up at the much-taller woman. “Do you not know?”
Mina bounded up behind her and put an arm around her. "Nope! Midori is taking all of us on a date!”
Izuchan smirked over his shoulder as he continued to lead them through the small town and eventually to the entrance to a nature reserve.
“I suspected something like this,” Momo said with a polite chuckle.
“Our first real date was at my family’s nature reserve,” Izuchan began, gesturing to Ochako and Mina. “And you took Tsu to another place. I figured it was time for all of us to go to one together.”
There it was again. Tsuyu was being included like she already belonged.
“That’s sweet,” Ochako cooed softly.
Izuchan smiled warmly at her as he turned back around and began to lead them through the gate and down the path. "We want to get there by lunch. I hear it's a spectacular view."
The women all followed, and the walk truly was beautiful as they descended gradually toward the coast. Trees and low hills gave way to flatland and tall grasses as the ground became gradually sandier.
The conversation was mostly focused on their finals. They took turns recounting their experiences, from Izuchan and Momo's harrowing assault on Nezu's fortress, to Mina and Tsuyu's nail-biter against Ectoplasm, to Ochako and Kyouka's gambit against Thirteen.
"Okay, I gotta know," Izuchan began. "Did you think that being able to store and regurgitate things would come in handy so soon?"
Tsuyu looked up at him. "Eventually, yes, but not in the first semester. I've always known it's useful, if niche."
"I'm still screaming about Ochako carrying Kyouka," Mina teased.
"I wasn't thinking!" Ochako protested. "I was just really excited and proud of her!"
"And you were so excited that you swept her off her feet and put her thighs around your head!" Mina dodged a swipe from Ochako, who had reached out to grab her.
"It's not like that!" Ochako argued as she tried to get at Mina, who was now 'hiding' behind Tsuyu. "Kyouka doesn't see me that way!"
"There must have been another reason she was so blushy and flustered after the exam, then," Izuchan deadpanned.
"I catch her staring at my chest at least twice a week," Momo added.
"Do you blame her?" Tsuyu blurted out.
Momo's eyes widened a little and her cheeks darkened with a faint blush as she averted her gaze from Tsuyu.
Mina was chuckling evilly as she whispered something into Tsuyu's ear.
Momo shot Mina a pointed look, but then Tsuyu opened her mouth. "Your Momos are very nice to look at."
Momo's jaw dropped for a half second before she glared at the pink woman behind Tsuyu. "Mina! "
Ochako and Momo shared a look before they both lunged at Mina. Tsuyu wasn't willing to block two women a foot taller than her each, so she quickly and relatively effortlessly jumped into the air.
"Tsuyu, how could yo-!" Mina was cut off as she was all but tackled by Ochako and Momo, who were eager to punish her for her teasing.
Tsuyu had planned to land on her feet, but Izuchan had quickly moved underneath her, and she wasn't about to pass up that opportunity. He caught her gently, holding her in his strong arms in a princess carry.
Nice.
"Do you want me to put you down?" he asked, but his smug tone told Tsuyu he already knew her answer.
"No."
He smiled as he turned around to look at the other women. Tsuyu couldn't help but chuckle as she saw Mina floating upside down above Ochako and Momo, tethered to the latter by a metal chain that was attached to what looked like a steel collar.
"Jokes on you, I'm into this!" Mina huffed as she crossed her arms and looked down at Momo.
"Oh, I know, dear," Momo replied coolly, but with a smile. "Keep up the sass and I'll make you a muzzle, too."
"Don't threaten me with a good time!" Mina yelled back defiantly. "And besides, look at Tsu and I! We're the ones smart enough to get out of walking!"
Ochako quickly reached over and grabbed Momo's arm, holding it for a moment before lifting her up into a princess carry of her own.
"Sorry, Mina, try not to be too envious," Momo cooed as she settled into Ochako’s arms.
Ochako walked up beside Izuchan and smiled at him. "I guess this makes us the dumb ones."
"I'll be dumb with you any day," he replied.
"Deku, you dork," she laughed as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
The five of them continued down the path, with Izuchan carrying Tsuyu and Ochako carrying Momo with Mina trailing in the air behind them.
Momo soon felt bad and let Mina down, but she had gotten used to not walking, so she jumped on Izuchan’s back and hung there in piggyback as they crossed a bridge over a small creek. The talking died down as they all took the time to appreciate the nature around them, from the shining sun, to the gentle breeze rustling the grasses, to the faint smell of the ocean beginning to drift into their senses.
The trail led them down a pass in a large rocky cliff and out onto a beautiful beach. Clear sand stretched almost as far as Tsuyu could see and there wasn’t another soul in sight. Izuchan scanned the sands for a good spot and led them over.
“I have to let you both down,” he warned.
“Disappointing, but acceptable,” Tsuyu replied.
“No,” Mina huffed.
Izuchan placed Tsuyu down, but she felt his touch linger on her hips for a bit longer than was needed before he turned to his other passenger. “If you don’t get off, then you won’t get your reward.”
Mina hopped off in a moment and before she could ask, he placed a deep kiss on her lips, which made her eyes lose a little focus. She giggled goofily as he turned to Ochako.
“I need that woman you’re carrying,” he requested.
“She’s not for sale,” Ochako protested.
“How about a trade, then?” Izuchan walked over and began to lean in to kiss her, but Momo reached up, grabbed his neck and pulled him down to kiss her instead. She hopped herself into his arms and broke the kiss as he let her down.
Ochako looked down at Izuchan with a small pout, but was quickly rewarded by a kiss on each cheek by him and Momo.
Tsuyu definitely felt a pang of envy.
Izuchan looked up at Momo with sly eyes. “The upside of having a goddess like Mo is that I didn’t have to give anything away by bringing a beach umbrella or anything like that. If you would?”
“Oh, you’re terrible,” Momo replied as she laughed behind her hand.
“I packed an extra batch of treats from my mother just for you,” he offered.
“Well, when you put it like that…”
It took less than a minute for Momo to create a beach umbrella big enough to shade all of them, a large blanket, and finally sun hats and sunglasses for herself and the other women. Tsuyu was a little shocked when she saw Izuchan rapidly undressing, but as his shorts fell to reveal swimming trunks, she quickly understood.
“You can make suits for yourself and the others, right?” he asked, smirking at Momo.
She sighed and shook her head in exasperation as she began to undress. Tsuyu saw the red bikini form out of Momo’s skin as she undressed, which was truly surreal. She was dressing from the inside out.
Momo took Ochako and Mina’s ‘orders’ quickly, making the former a tropical colored bikini with a stylish sash on the bottom, while Mina requested a light blue bikini with a bit of frill.
“What would you like, Tsu?” Momo asked politely.
“I’ve always been partial to one-piece suits,” she explained. “They keep me sleeker in the water. I’ll let you pick the colors.”
Momo hesitated as she looked down at her. “I’ll need to take your measurements, if that’s alright. I already know theirs, but…”
“Of course,” Tsuyu replied instantly.
Momo quickly created a measuring tape out of her hand and got to work. Tsuyu enjoyed the feeling of Momo’s hands touching her, and it seemed like her lack of reaction was emboldening Momo. When she finished the measurements, she reached out and tousled Tsuyu’s hair, before letting her fingers rest on her cheek a second too long to be accidental.
“I very much like your shorter hair,” Momo commented.
“Thanks,” she ribbited. “I do too. It reminds me of Izuchan, and it’s much easier to clean and style.”
Momo laughed softly as she quickly made a one-piece swimsuit for Tsuyu, which was styled with thick, horizontal white and green stripes. “I hope you enjoy.”
Tsuyu realized that, while she was distracted with Momo, Ochako and Mina had changed into their swimsuits in plain sight. She was the only one still dressed in her clothes.
Well, she changed in front of them multiple times a week for class, so there was nothing stopping her now. She quickly stripped down and put on the swimsuit as Momo pretended not to watch. As Tsuyu pulled it into position and looked around, she noticed that the other three were staring at her, too. Ochako quickly pretended she wasn’t, but Izuchan and Mina didn’t shy away.
As she locked eyes with Izuchan, she saw slits staring back at her, which made her heart start to race. He slowly paced around until he was on the far side of the water to her, so she was looking up at him with her back to the gentle waves.
He leaned in close to her with a smile that showed off his fangs.
“Run.”
Tsuyu almost instinctively crouched down and jumped back, twisting around in the air as she landed. She heard Izuchan hot on her heels as she jumped again and nearly made it to the ocean. However, as she jumped the third time, hoping to make it into the water, Izuchan tackled her out of mid air and the two splashed into the waves together.
Even as he crashed into her from behind, he did so in a deceptively gentle way. In the moments before they hit the water, he turned her around so she’d land on her back, and he positioned her so that her head would stay above water.
Even when he was roughhousing, he was looking out for her. It was thrilling, but she also felt safe.
But the game wasn’t over yet. As he hesitated for a moment to make sure she was okay, she put her feet on his chest and pushed, shoving him backwards as she went flying into the air and landed further into the water. Tsuyu kicked off and shot away as fast as she could, knowing that he would be right on her heels.
She didn’t even need to look back, as she heard him crash into the water not long after. She made a sharp turn so she was swimming parallel to the shore and glanced back, waiting patiently for him to close the distance.
His piercing green eyes were transfixed on her as he tore through the water after her with webbed claws. Between that and his bared fangs, she seriously felt like he was a predator hunting her.
Before he could grab her, she made another sharp turn toward the shore right as a large wave crashed above them. She hitched a ride and blew past Izuchan before he could react. It only took a few moments for her to nearly reach shore, but as she turned around in the waist-deep water, she didn’t see him.
Her large eyes were scanning the water for any motion, but then she remembered. Her brain clicked a little too late.
Tsuyu’s vision whipped skyward, where she saw Izuchan streaking down toward her with his wings folded behind him and fire in his eyes. Tsuyu tried to jump away, but the soft sand made it hard to move, and she doubted she could get out of the way in time.
Suddenly, another shape flew over her. Izuchan let out a snarling grunt as Ochako full-body tackled him out of the air and crashed into the water with her arms around him. Mina and Momo splashed into the water to either side of Tsuyu as Izuchan and Ochako broke the surface laughing and wrestling.
“Don’t worry, he’ll have to go through us,” Mina declared.
Izuchan got dunked under the water by Ochako, but as she was holding him there, her legs were taken out from under her and she stumbled enough that he was able to get away from her. The water exploded around her as Izuchan launched into the air again and began to fly slowly above them.
“You think you can keep her from me?” he snarked.
Ochako quickly swam back over to the Tsuyu and the others and planted herself in front of them. “We do!”
Ochako took a hold of Tsuyu’s arm while she whispered to the others. “Spread out.”
Mina and Momo both moved away as Tsuyu felt her weight drain away.
"Are you ready?" she asked.
Tsuyu nodded.
Izuchan folded his wings back and dove down towards them, but as he got close, Ochako picked Tsuyu out of the water and threw her at Momo like she was a beach ball.
He couldn't adjust his course and crashed down into the water in the middle of the triangle of women. The splash rained down on all of them as Momo caught Tsuyu gently and held her in her arms. Izuchan lunged out of the spray, but the taller Momo held him back with one arm while she tossed Tsuyu at Mina.
They began to settle into a bit of a rhythm where Mina, Momo, and Ochako played keep-away with Tsuyu as Izuchan made token attempts to grab her. Nobody was under the impression that he was actually trying, but they were all having fun. Tsuyu was laughing and giggling along with the rest of them as she contorted herself in the air to avoid Izuchan's grabbing hands.
After several minutes, Izuchan suddenly transformed his arm into a massive green limb that snatched her out of the air in a moment. He pulled her down and held her gently in a bridal carry as his arm shrank down. She felt her heart swell as he smiled kindly at her and gently rubbed his nose against her own. Around them, the other three closed in and gently hugged Tsuyu and Izuchan as they laughed softly.
Tsuyu felt wonderful. She felt safe, appreciated, and most of all, loved.
But there was something hanging in the air; something that she needed to confront, because it made no sense to not.
"What's going on?" she asked directly.
Izuchan tilted his head a little. "What do you mean?"
"What's happening with me and you all?" she clarified. "Are you all testing me or did I miss something and you think I've already joined you? You've been treating me like I have."
Izuchan began to smile wider and a low laugh rumbled out of his throat when at the same time, Mina groaned in defeat.
"I knew it!" he laughed as Mina pouted.
Tsuyu blinked up at them in confusion.
"Zu and Mina had a bet going," Momo explained. "About whether you would ask that question before or after lunch."
“Oh, you should have known better,” Tsuyu told Mina.
“I know, but I thought that maybe!” Mina whined playfully. “You gotta take the risky bets sometimes!”
“To answer your question,” Izuchan began as he playfully smirked at Mina, then looked down at Tsuyu, who was still in his arms, “I suspected you aren’t someone who would want to have a big ceremonial induction. You declared your intention weeks ago, so it felt strange to act like we had to woo you. I wanted you to feel welcome, like we were just waiting for you to come home.”
“Oh,” Tsuyu said flatly. She ribbited once and looked up at all of them. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome,” Momo replied kindly. “It was a little difficult for me, I must admit, but you make it much easier.”
“Does this mean I’m officially girlfriend to all of you?” Tsuyu inquired.
“If that’s what you want,” Ochako added as she reached a hand under Tsuyu’s short hair and tousled it gently.
“It is,” Tsuyu declared.
“Then, welcome,” Mina replied. “This was a unique way of making it happen, but you’re a unique woman.”
“I feel like I should say something,” Tsuyu said softly.
“Do you feel like saying something?” Izuchan asked.
She thought for a moment. “I don’t know. This is all new to me. Thank you, first and foremost, but anything more… I think that will take time.”
“And that’s fine!” Ochako exclaimed as she moved her hand further up and began to massage Tsuyu’s scalp with her soft fingertips. “It’s at your pace. We’re dating, not married.”
Tsuyu ribbited softly as Ochako sent waves of relaxation through her body.
"I only told them I loved them earlier today," Momo informed her, "so there really is no rush. Spend time with us and find out if you do. Stay if you want, leave if you wish."
"We're always gonna be your friends," Mina assured her, "and we'll be your girlfriends and boyfriend as long as you want."
“On one condition: I get to be the boyfriend,” Izuchan declared firmly, eliciting giggles from the rest.
Tsuyu began to feel a little overwhelmed. There was a lot happening very quickly, and she needed time to consider everything. She knew that she wanted this, but impulsiveness wasn't in her nature.
“Give her some space,” Izuchan ordered suddenly. The women broke away as he placed her back into the water. “Sorry, that was a little much, huh?”
“It’s just a lot to process all at once,” she replied, “but how did you know I was feeling pressured?”
He smiled kindly at her. “I saw it on your face. You’re easy to read when you know what to look for. We’ll give you time to process; I know not to mistake your directness for lack of consideration.”
“Thank you again,” Tsuyu hummed, feeling her heart swell again. Each time it happened, she liked it more and more. She'd never had a significant other before, and now she had four. It was strange territory, and she had to be careful.
But she liked it so far.
Tsuyu nodded. "I'll just need time, like I said. Thank you for having open arms, and I'm sure I'll get there one day."
Mina tapped her chin a few times. "Since this is you, I feel like I should just ask directly. What are you comfortable with now? Hugging? Kissing? Cuddling? Sleeping with us?"
Tsuyu considered for a moment. "Hugging and cuddling sounds nice."
"Gooooooood," Mina muttered darkly as she grew an almost cartoonishly sinister smile. "Another one for the cuddle pile."
"Lunchtime?" Izuchan suggested.
They all agreed and exited the water to retreat back to the umbrella and blanket. With the sun beating down, the early summer day had grown quite hot, and the shade was welcome.
Besides, something in her brain always made her like having something above her head. She had always thought it to be a froggy thing about airborne predators, and considering how Izuchan had swooped down on her more than once that day, she was pretty sure she was right.
They all sat down to eat what Mina and he had made. Ochako sat down across from her, stretching her long, muscular legs out on the spacious blanket. Tsuyu watched them, but when her eyes drifted down from her toned thighs and past her muscular calves, she noticed something.
"Ochako, I never knew you had pads on your toes, too," she noted. The circular, pink pads that dotted her fingers were also present on the bottom of each of her toes.
Ochako held up her hand and wiggled her fingers and toes. "Yep!"
"Toe beans," Tsuyu observed.
"Exactly!" Mina exclaimed. "Maybe you can help me convince her to wear cat ears!"
"Mina, no," Ochako huffed.
Tsuyu couldn't help but agree. "That would be adorable."
Ochako paused and looked at Tsuyu for a moment before growing a little blush and averting her eyes. "Well, maybe."
" Yessssssss ," Mina hissed victoriously.
"I didn't say yes!" Ochako protested.
Mina wagged a finger at her. "But you didn't say no, so that's progress!"
Momo giggled politely and then sighed wistfully. "Aren't they adorable?"
Tsuyu nodded.
Momo reached out and brushed a strand of wet hair from Tsuyu's face, which felt far more intimate than she expected. She leaned into Momo's hand before she pulled it away, and smiled up at her.
"I'm looking forward to this," Tsuyu hummed as Momo petted her gently.
"Me too," she agreed. "I foresee a lot of excitement in our future."
Notes:
Hey guys, been a minute. You know the drill. Life hard, depression bad. Thanks for being patient.
I know this chapter focused really heavily on the relationship stuff, but I've had a lot building up that I needed to pay off. With the summer camp looming, there are going to be some very fun chapters in the future. The plot rolls ever onward. The action will return with earnest.
See you all next time :)
Chapter 64: A Long Walk
Summary:
The Summer Camp begins in earnest from all parties.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku could hardly have been more excited as he sat on the bus with his class, heading toward a ‘summer camp’, as Aizawa put it, for a week of training. He wondered what kind of special training Aizawa had in mind, and who their guest instructors would be, and what kind of ‘fun activities’ Vlad King was talking about… he had a lot of questions, but Aizawa wasn’t willing to answer any of them. His consistent ‘answer’ had been that silent stare they were all used to by now.
He was sitting next to Katsuki, but the whole bus was having one big conversation. They were discussing theories about what they would be doing there, about how Aizawa would surely trick them, and what punishment awaited those who had failed. Looking up at the front of the bus next to Aizawa, Nejire clearly knew things, and was dying to say them, but she kept quiet, despite Mina’s prodding. Before Momo could scold Hagakure for scaring her classmates by suggesting that ‘Aizawa is going to make the fails clean his sleeping bags’, the bus came to an abrupt and peculiar stop.
The students stopped their conversation long enough to look around: they had pulled off at an overlook, gazing out across a veritable sea of trees in the valley below.
"Hey, did the bus break down?" Sero asked Aizawa, who was standing up. "This doesn't look like a camp."
Unsurprisingly, he didn't answer. "Get out. Leave your luggage."
The students had learned well enough over the semester to not question or protest, and obeyed, albeit cautiously.
"I didn't have money on Aizawa tricking us this early," Mina muttered to Izuku as they filed out of the bus.
He narrowed his eyes. "Mhm. I wonder what he's up to…"
Izuku took a moment to sniff the air, pushing his quirk to his nose to enhance his sense of smell. He furrowed his brow, and looked around.
"What’s up?" Katsuki asked.
"I smell two people," he muttered as the class stood together on the dirt. Nejire was nearly bouncing with excitement as she stood next to Aizawa. "My guess is both women. Don't see them, though."
About as soon as he finished speaking, the secret revealed itself. Or rather, themselves.
A rush of dirt came over the side of the overlook, bringing with it two women. The students were shocked as they appeared, but Izuku was already deep inside his own mind.
They were wearing matching uniforms, at least in design, if not color. Headpieces like stylized cat ears, oversized cat paw gloves, a tail he didn't really want to know where it was attached? It was none other than the Wild Wild Pussycats, or at least two of the four.
The brunette with the red uniform was Mandalay, the sort of leader of the famous rescue team, while the blonde in the blue uniform was undoubtedly Pixie Bob. He quizzed himself on their quirks: Mandalay was a true telepath, able to speak into the minds of people near and quite far from her, if he was remembering correctly, but she couldn't read minds or hear messages back from people. Pixie Bob, as she had just demonstrated, was able to manipulate the earth around her to impressive effect.
The question was, however, why were they here? Were they going to be training them? The Pussycats were rescue heroes primarily, so perhaps-
"Deku!" hissed Ochako from his side, snapping him out of it.
He realized he had been muttering again, and quietly thanked Ochako with a nod as he turned his full attention to the pro heroes, who seemed to have just finished posing.
"Welcome to your summer camp!" Mandalay declared.
Pixie Bob smirked. "That's right, you haven't made it quite there yet, but it's not too far. If you squint, you can see it waaaaay over there."
The students turned to look over the railing, seeing nothing but trees as far as the valley stretched. Izuku saw where this was going, and he was getting excited.
"So uh," Kaminari began, "why did we get out? Let's get back on the bus and get there, yeah?"
Pixie Bob's smirk turned more sinister. "Oh, you've gone as far as you will on that bus. If you want to get to camp, you're going to have to get there on foot! And if you want dinner, you're going to have to get there on foot quickly. "
Izuku didn't need to hear anything else. He had already started running toward the edge of the overlook, ripping his school uniform off his chest as wings sprouted from his back. Any excuse to walk—or fly—in a forest was good enough for him.
He jumped into the air, catching the wind in his wings as he tipped over and dove downward, while he heard Mandalay laughing behind him.
"That's the spirit!" she exclaimed. "Come on the rest of you, after him!"
"Let me give you a hand!" Pixie Bob 'offered'. Izuku heard the rush of dirt and the scream of his surprised classmates tipping over the edge. He streaked toward the trees, wings folded behind him with a grin on his face. He unfurled his wings as he neared the ground, catching the wind and turning himself so he was soaring above the trees.
Izuku’s quirk was running hot like it always did in forests, and he was sure his eyes were glowing brightly as he flew happily around the taller trees. He banked around and looked down at his classmates picking themselves up and dusting themselves off at the bottom of the cliff, waving down at the ones looking up at him.
"I'm even more jealous than usual that he can fly," Mina muttered.
"Envious, not jealous," Momo corrected.
"Nerd," Mina retorted.
Jirou froze. "Wait. I hear something coming!"
Izuku’s frolicking ended as he focused on Jirou, his eyes transforming as more of his quirk swelled within him.
She plugged her jacks into the ground and paused. "No, some things. They sound big, too."
Eiko and Katsuki had moved forward immediately, looking through the dense forest. The canopy was so thick, Izuku couldn't see anything, but as he focused on his ears, he heard distant noises.
His first thought was, 'Jirou is incredible.'
His second thought was more focused. He raced toward the sound, hearing what could only be footsteps getting louder and louder. Spotting a break in the canopy, Izuku darted down and landed on a sturdy branch to observe.
A veritable army was marching toward them, each soldier a monster of dirt and clay twenty, thirty, even forty feet tall. They were of all different shapes and sizes, from humanoid to hulking monster to animalistic, moving eerily quietly beyond the noise of their footfalls.
Izuku spotted one a little ways away from the main horde and decided to test it. He transformed more, growing scales all over his body and bulking himself up as he jumped down from his vantage point and darted toward his target. He slammed into it with great force, smashing through it with ease, and breaking through to the other side.
Defiant wasn't expecting to meet so little resistance and nearly crashed into the ground on the far side, but managed to beat his wings hard and pull up in time. He turned back to see the dirt monster crumbling, collapsing back to the ground, but even as he grew a smile, another began to rise in its place.
"This has to be Pixie Bob ," Defiant noted aloud. " I didn't know she could do this, but she is a pro after all."
He rushed back to his classmates with his findings, landing on another tree above them as he released most of his quirk.
"Listen up!" Izuku called, getting the attention of the other 19. "We're facing dirt monsters. They're huge, but hollow and easy to bring down. Problem is, they're endless. Take one down, Pixie Bob makes another."
"So it's a test of endurance," Shouto inferred.
Izuku nodded. "Not just that. Remember what they said: we need to get through this forest quickly. This isn't just testing how long we can fight, but pushing us to keep moving while we do so."
"What's the plan?" Tsuyu asked up at him.
Izuku grinned, showing his fangs. "Our best tool is our teamwork and coordination. Eiko, you're spearheading our defense. Satou, Kaminari, Ochako, Hagakure, Shouji, you're with her; deal with any that get too close. Iida, Tsuyu, Katsuki, use your mobility to protect the flanks. Jirou, keep giving us information so we know where they're coming from. The rest of you, deal some damage. Remember, our primary goal is to keep moving . Any questions? Suggestions?"
"What are you doing?" Momo asked.
He smirked as his quirk flowed back into his body. "Air support."
Defiant jumped back into the sky, circling around his classmates once as they took their places and began to move to meet their assailants before flying back above the treeline.
“Come and get me, you muddy bastards!” Eiko’s defiant shout echoed through the trees, causing Defiant to laugh. Katsuki had definitely rubbed off on her, which wasn’t a bad thing.
A cacophony of noise erupted from the forest below. The sound of lasers, electricity, explosions, and what Defiant was pretty sure was a grenade launcher. He swooped down through a gap in the trees and decapitated a particularly tall dirt monster with his claws, glancing down to look at his class.
Eiko was using her transformed arms to cut the legs out from under a beast, while Satou punched one clean in half. He spied Ochako jumping off a tree and through a monster’s chest, Kaminari frying one, and Hagakure tripping one of them into Shouji who met it with a three-armed punch. Around the edges, Katsuki was exploding them to bits with ease, using the blasts from destroying one to launch himself at the next, while Tsuyu was doing something similar, only using her equally-explosive thighs.
The main part of the group was doing its job, with Mina melting beasts into smoking piles, Mineta and Sero sticking them in place, and Shouto unleashing his incredible power to both burn and freeze the lumbering monsters. Jirou was doing her job perfectly, calling out monsters before they appeared, giving the defenders time to intercept them and even taking out a few herself with her heartbeat blasted through her jacks. Like he suspected, he saw Momo holding a grenade launcher with a trail of spent shells trailing behind her as she created new rounds from her hands as she loaded them. Aoyama was firing lasers as fast as he dared, Pony was turning them into pincushions, and Dark Shadow was tearing them apart. Defiant spotted a dirt monster beginning to form behind the group, flanking the ranged, but before he could do anything, Iida was there, using an engine-powered kick to blow it apart before it had even finished standing up.
As he swooped up back over the trees, he heard Ochako call out to him.
“Deku!” she called. Defiant looked down, spotting her tossing a weightless beast up to him. With a deft mid-air spin, he brought his tail down on the monster, cracking it in half and sending the dust exploding outward.
He paused. Where was Kouda? He hadn’t seen him. He dove down again, using his wings to take out two new beasts, when he heard Jirou call out in panic. “There’s a bunch of them heading at us from over there!”
Izuku banked to meet the new threat, but was instead met by a truly incredible sight. A stampede of nearly every forest animal, from deer to fox to boar, with Kouda himself at the front, riding on a bear like he was heading to war.
The entire class stopped, dumbfounded as the flood of animals crashed through the battalion of Pixie Bob’s monsters, washing over it like a flood. Hawks and owls pecked and clawed at the heads of the beasts, boars and bears knocked them over and trampled them underfoot, while smaller creatures like badgers and foxes overwhelmed the dirt titans with sheer numbers.
The animals cleared out every single monster, then continued on their way, leaving as quickly as they came, save for Kouda’s bear. Then, for a moment, there was silence. The class stared at Kouda, who was looking sheepish, before they erupted into cheers.
“Holy shit, dude!” Kaminari exclaimed, jumping up and down.
“That’s my guy!” Sero yelled, running over and clapping Kouda on the back, who was wearing one of his rare smiles as the rest of the class began to crowd him.
As much as Kouda deserved the praise, Defiant knew that one, the reprieve wouldn’t last long, and two, the attention would overwhelm Kouda soon. “Come on, we have to keep moving! Congratulate Kouda once we make it to camp!”
The other students snapped out of their celebration and quickly began to move, jogging in the direction of the camp. Kouda looked up at Defiant, who gave him a thumbs up, which Kouda returned with a thankful smile.
Defiant grinned as he launched himself back into the air. His hoard was mighty indeed.
Nejire was pretty bored, all things considered. She had arrived with Aizawa and the others at the camp proper several hours ago, helped to unpack the luggage, and got the food ready to be prepared. Obviously the ‘go-fast-or-you-don’t-get-dinner’ ruse was just that, a ruse. Not feeding the students would be counterproductive to training them, but it was a good motivator.
With all that done, all she had to do now was wait. And wait a lot. The other two Pussycats were out making 1-B’s life more difficult, but Mandalay and Pixie Bob had arrived about a half hour ago, as the students had finally gotten outside the effective range of her quirk. Mandalay had a kid with her, who she introduced as Kouta. He was pretty cute, but seemed surly and bitter. Maybe he didn’t want to be dragged out to the forest camp and would rather be home playing games or something. Nejire could sympathize; sometimes she liked to just snuggle with her significant other at home and not do anything else.
Nejire pursed her lips into a small pout. Not that she had a boyfriend or girlfriend right now. She had chased another one off a few months before. That was what, the fifteenth one since she started at UA? Maybe she was doomed to be single. That wouldn’t be the worst thing, she had lots of friends, and there was an appeal in solitude. Maybe she’d get another cat and just become a crazy cat lady. Oh, she could change her hero name to that! It would totally throw off any villains who heard it. ‘Crazy cat lady? She must throw cats or somethi- oh no, spiral lasers?! I was not expecting that!’
She sighed and let her chin fall into her hands, puffing a strand of hair that had fallen into her face. This week was going to be exciting, for sure, but right now, it was just boring. She didn’t even bring her phone, at Nezu’s request. All she had was a high-powered walkie-talkie if she needed to get ahold of Aizawa or UA, and she couldn’t shitpost on a walkie-talkie, or at least, she couldn’t without getting into huge trouble. How was she supposed to send possum memes to Tamaki now?
“You look bored!”
Nejire looked over to see Mirio walking over, a big grin on his face. She jumped up and flew over to him, tackling him into a big hug. “Finally!”
He hugged her back, swinging her around a little. “Sorry we’re late! One of the students forgot to leave her phone at home, so we had to turn around. Vlad King wanted to just break it, but he didn’t want to sour the camp experience with something like that.”
“Wow, they’re taking this seriously,” Nejire muttered as she dropped back down to the ground. “They must be worried after the USJ attack.”
“Between that and Hosu, I think it’s reasonable to be worried,” Mirio agreed. “But let’s not focus on that.”
Nejire nodded. She understood; being a hero was stressful, and it was important to not spend more emotional energy than you had to or you’d burn yourself out. “I hope Tamaki isn’t too lonely with you gone.”
“He said he’d miss you more than me,” Mirio said with a laugh.
Nejire laughed too. “I rank above boyfriend now?”
“Apparently!” Mirio pretended to be hurt. “I think it’s just because you let him snuggle with President Whiskers.”
“In President’s defense, he is very soft.”
Mirio laughed and began to say something else, but at that moment, they heard noises coming from the forest. The two turned to look and saw several filthy, exhausted students emerge from the treelines, followed by many more.
Nejire immediately took to the air, flying toward them, until she saw something else in the air. She darted higher, coming face-to-face with Greenhorn, who she greeted with a big smile.
“You did it!” Nejire cheered.
Greenhorn grinned, looking far less exhausted than the rest of his classmates. “I had no doubt in my mind. My classmates are incredible.”
Nejire winked at him and dropped back down to the ground, greeting the rest of the class. “Welcome to camp! I’m so proud of you all!”
A weak cheer came from the students, several of which were leaning on others for support.
“Congratulations!” came Mandalay’s voice from behind. Nejire turned around to see that Mandalay, Pixie Bob and Kouta had emerged from the main camp building.
Another weak cheer was interrupted by Pixie Bob’s rather sinister laugh. “Don’t get too comfortable! We said you’d get food if you were fast enough, which you were, but we never said we’d make it for you!”
An exhausted, despondent groan that could have shifted tectonic plates arose from the students.
Nejire watched as Greenhorn landed next to Uraraka, who gave him a weak one-armed hug as he rubbed her back with one of his hands. Ashido limped up behind them and inserted herself between the two, causing them both to smile. At that moment, Uraraka spotted Kouta, and said something to her friends Nejire couldn’t hear.
The three walked over to Kouta and introduced themselves with a smile.
“Hey there, I’m Izuku Midoriya,” Greenhorn said politely, but Nejire noticed his eyes narrow slightly. At that moment, Kouta clenched his fist and threw it forward, right at Greenhorn’s crotch, but it seemed that he was ready for it, and blocked the child’s punch with ease.
Mandalay sprung into action, pulling Kouta away and making apologies while Ashido just laughed. Uraraka looked at the resentful kid with deep concern, asking Greenhorn something softly.
However, then Pixie Bob inserted herself into the situation, sauntering up and looking up at Greenhorn as she got close to him. “You handled yourself pretty well out there, kid.”
“Thank you, Miss Pixie Bob,” he replied politely.
Nejire saw a glint in Pixie Bob’s eye. “Oh, and a gentleman, too. I love that in a man~”
Almost instantly, Uraraka inserted herself between the two. She glared sternly down at Pixie Bob and delivered a firm, “Taken.”
“Yep, taken!” Ashido added.
Nejire glanced over to see both Asui and Yaoyorozu watching from one of the other tables, a look of amusement on both of their faces.
Pixie Bob’s dejection made Nejire giggle a little, but then she heard Bakugou shouting at someone about a potato peeler, which made her laugh harder.
Oh, this camp was going to be fun!
Kurogiri appeared in the dark bunker, his portal closing behind him. Several pairs of eyes fell on him, almost glinting like cats in the night. He would feel intimidated if he hadn’t just left the gaze of someone far, far scarier.
“Ugh, finally!” the biggest one grunted, standing up with an excited grin. “Let’s get out of here!”
Kurogiri held a hand up. “Unfortunately, I must ask for your continued patience, Muscular. My master is still looking for the location.”
“How long is that going to take?” the lizard man asked.
“I cannot say for certain, but I suspect only a few days at most. The hacker we have hired promises us that she can crack UA’s security soon.” Kurogiri replied professionally. “Please do not be overeager, we have time to wait for the perfect opportunity. Thanks to our new associate, the jailbreak went completely undetected.”
The schizophrenic one waved his hand.
The girl cocked her head. “Wait, why’d you come here if it wasn’t time?”
Kurogiri produced some papers from inside his tendrils and placed them on a table between the recruited villains. “We are discussing the plan, or at least part of it. We won’t know all of the specifics until the hacker provides them, but we know some things. Both Eraserhead and Vlad King will be there, for example.”
“What about All Might?” Muscular asked eagerly. “I want another shot at breaking his neck.”
“Oh, I’d love to make All Might bleed~ Do you think knives can pierce his skin?”
Kurogiri shook his head at Muscular, ignoring Toga. “No, we don’t believe so. He would not take a week off from heroics.”
Muscular slumped dejectedly back into his chair, which creaked under his weight.
“The priority of the mission is the capture of several key students.” He held up the dossier with their pictures. “A group of you will be assigned to each student, while others will serve as distractions for the pro heroes that will be there. After I warp you into the location, you will work to locate your targets, wherein you will contact Mr. Compress, who will make his way to you and secure the student. Once all the targets have been captured, you will return to the entry point, where I will warp you back out. If you are not there, you will be left behind. Do you understand?”
They all nodded.
“Good,” Kurogiri continued. “Now, please look at the dossier and make yourself familiar with the targets.”
Several of them grabbed a paper and began looking over it.
Twice scratched his head. “Several of these are stupid- make great sense ! But what’s with the girl?”
Kurogiri nodded. “She is of interest to me, and my master agreed with me.”
“The big elephant in the room is him,” Spinner muttered, slapping the paper back on the table and pointing at the image of the green-haired boy. “We all saw what he did at the Sports Festival. He’s no joke.”
“Oh, let me at him!” Muscular snarled. “I’m aching for a good fight!”
“No.”
All eyes turned to the blackest corner of the room. In the darkness, a pair of eyes glowed with a sickly yellow light. The man stepped forward into the light, letting Kurogiri get a good look at him for the first time.
The face surrounding those slitted eyes was gaunt and sunken, to the point that his face looked not too dissimilar from the skull beneath his skin. His hair was black as the void, and interrupted only by two bone-white horns that curved forward from above his ears. He opened up his sneering, fanged mouth, green ooze dripping from his pronounced fangs, and spoke in a deep, unsettling voice.
“You leave my cousin to me.”
Notes:
Hey, y'all remember chapter 4, right?
Anyway, happy anniversary. Hard to believe it's been 3 years already! Thanks for being a fan.
Chapter 65: Giving Fish
Summary:
The first day of camp.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku awoke the next morning early, while it was still dark, unable to sleep in from the excitement. He sat up silently, gently removing his hand from Katsuki’s arm, where it had been resting all night to help him sleep better. With his girlfriends all in the other cabin, having his precious best friend so close to him helped a lot and was probably the only reason he was able to sleep as much as he did.
He looked around the room, noticing that he wasn’t the only person awake, if for no other reason than one of his classmates was missing. Izuku activated his quirk gently, the power flowing into his veins slowly, as if his quirk was also just waking up. He stood up as silently as he could and began to creep out of the cabin, stepping over and around his classmates. Once he got outside, he looked around at the nearby grounds, admiring the peace and quiet before sniffing the air.
Kouda had definitely come this way recently. Izuku followed the scent, creeping along nearly silently past the women’s cabin, past the cabin where the teachers were staying, and a good 100 feet or more beyond that, straight into the nearby woods. When he thought he was getting close to his goal, he pressed himself against a tree and leaned around it, looking out into a clearing where he saw his classmate sitting on a log.
Izuku’s eyes snapped to the squirrel on Kouda’s arm, his quirk rumbling about prey, but he pushed it aside. The quiet man was in his happy place, feeding some nuts to the squirrel while some birds were flocking around, pecking at the seed that Kouda had spread on the ground. The morning sun was peeking through the trees, casting rays of light over the clearing while a cool morning breeze rustled the leaves. It was idyllic, and Izuku was glad to see that there was another student who enjoyed nature as much as himself.
There was nothing here for Izuku to worry about and nothing to be gained by him sticking around. Izuku turned and crept away, leaving Kouda in peace while he tried to figure out what to do now. There was no way he was going back to bed, as he was already far too awake, so he decided to enjoy the beautiful morning by taking a walk.
He took a right and started strolling, making sure he left Kouda in peace, but also staying close enough so he could get back quickly, just in case. Izuku breathed in deep, taking in the clean, crisp air, but something else caught his nose. He sniffed again to be sure and adjusted his course toward the earthy scent, heading deeper into the woods. Soon enough, he heard the trickling of water and quickly came upon a small, clear stream babbling through the forest. Smiling to himself, he sat down next to it, stretching his arms out to lay down and enjoy the morning sunbeams.
However, just as he was relaxing, a rustle of leaves caught his attention. His eyes snapped open as he looked over to see… a pair of brilliant blue eyes staring back at him from only a few feet away.
He would have been impressed that they snuck up on him if they had been human, but instead, it was the eyes of a fellow predator that snuck up on him.
“Hey there, little buddy,” Izuku said softly, growing a small smile as he looked at the cat. It had fluffy white fur along much of its body, with darker coloration around its eyes, ears, and back. It was a beautiful creature.
“You out here all by yourself?” he asked, allowing the cat to make the next move.
It let out a tiny mew and began to approach him slowly.
“Look at you,” he mused. “Your fur is beautiful, you clearly have a home… but no collar. Are you someone’s pet? Maybe one of the Pussycats? That would make sense.”
It meowed again.
He smiled. “You hungry?”
Meow.
“Alright, I think I saw some fish in the stream.” He got up from his spot on the ground and moved closer to the water, looking for movement.
The cat followed him and sat down on the bank next to him, looking up at him for a moment before looking down at the water. It didn’t meow this time, likely not wanting to scare any fish off.
There. Movement. Izuku grew claws as he waited for an opportunity. A pause was all he needed to dart his hand into the water.
A great splash later, which caused the cat to jump back and meow indignantly, Izuku pulled out a small little fish, no more than two or three inches long.
“Sorry about that,” he said with a chuckle, offering it the catch. “You want this?”
The cat sniffed it once and then bit into it, snatching the fish from him before he could change his mind. With tail held high, it rubbed its fluffy body against his leg and then quickly trotted off into the grass to enjoy its free meal.
Izuku smiled and laid back down, content to enjoy the rest of his early morning before he had to head back to camp proper.
“So, what do you think they’ll do to us?” Kirishima asked.
“Who?” Katsuki replied as he cracked another egg. Kirishima and him, along with two students from the other class, had been tasked with prepping breakfast that morning for the rest of the students. The other two were out hauling supplies, leaving just the two 1-A students in the kitchen for the moment. Katsuki wasn’t exactly having the time of his life; cooking was always Izuku’s forte, but he had absorbed enough of Auntie Inko’s lessons to get by. At least eggs were easy enough to cook in large quantities.
“The teachers!”
Katsuki looked over at Kirishima with annoyance on his face. “We’re here to train. They’ll train us.”
“No, I mean us, the people who failed!” Kirishima clarified as she mixed batter in a bowl.
“Oh.” Katsuki grumbled as he poured the eggs into a hot pan. He had almost forgotten that someone had made him fail the exam. Not that he didn’t take responsibility for himself, but come on. If he hadn’t been forced to spend several minutes playing battlefield therapist to that half-and-half idiot, they would have made it to the end with time to spare.
“Well?”
“Shit, I don’t know! Why are you bugging me about it?” Katsuki barked.
“I’m just nervous, I guess!” Kirishima threw her hands up in exasperation. “Kaminari was saying that Aizawa was going to make us sleep upside down like bats! And Mineta said that we were going to have to train naked as punishment!”
Katsuki looked over at the redhead with incredulous disbelief. “As much as forcing some blood into Sparkplug’s brain would probably help, he doesn’t know shit. No more than you or I do. They’ll probably just make us do remedial lessons or something. Aizawa isn’t the kind of professor to do pointless things.”
He stirred the eggs, making sure they didn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. “And as for that little creep, he just wants to see you shirtless. Kick him in the dick if he says it again.”
“I’m not gonna do that,” Kirishima replied with a laugh.
“Fine, I’ll do it,” Katsuki replied with a shrug. “Probably be nicer than what Izuku would do if he found out that little bastard was creeping on you.”
Kirishima laughed again. “That’s probably true.”
Katsuki looked over at the woman and sighed. “No point worrying about what Aizawa is or isn’t going to do. Whatever happens, you’ll face it, right? That’s what you’re always saying.”
“Yeah.” Kirishima sniffed once. “Yeah! You’re right! If anything, I’m glad I failed, so I can face another challenge!”
Katsuki scoffed and rolled his eyes, but a small smirk grew on his face. “I dunno if I’d go that far, but you’ve got the spirit.”
Kirishima flashed those razor teeth of hers in a big dumb grin.
“Don’t forget the milk,” Katsuki reminded her, glancing down at the mixing bowl she was holding.
“Oh, right!”
The forty first-year students were all gathered around after breakfast, waiting for their training to begin. Mina was fiddling with a blue strip of cloth that Hadou had given her; likewise each student had been given a strip of one of several colors, although Mina didn’t understand why. As they mulled about, they gradually gravitated to others with the same color, if for no other reason than out of curiosity and theorizing what they might mean.
“I think it’s a hint for an ARG or something,” Mina suggested, holding up her cloth to the sun to look for any water marks. She was standing in a grassy field with the other four students who were fortunate enough to share a color with her. The rest of the two classes were around, all waiting for their camp activities to begin, or at least for someone to tell them what to do. The chill of the morning was being slowly replaced by the pleasant warmth of the sun, and Mina was thrilled to not be cooped up in a classroom all day.
“That’s… one idea, I guess,” Honenuki, the weird skull-faced student from 1-B muttered.
“Maybe it’s for a team game?” Pony offered, drawing her finger across her forehead like a headband. “Some sort of point thing… like festival!”
Tsuburaba, a wide-eyed student from 1-B looked excited by Pony’s idea. “Ooh, that’d be sick! Maybe it’s both of your ideas, like a team scavenger hunt or something?”
Midori, wonderful boyfriend that he was, spoiled their fun. “I think it’s probably just what instructor we are getting. Look, we’re all in groups of five. Eight groups, eight instructors. That makes the most sense.”
“Eight?” Mina repeated. “Um… Hadou, Aizawa, Mandalay, Pixie Bob…”
“Kan and Togata,” Tsuburaba added.
“You’re forgetting the two other Pussycats,” Midori reminded them, pointing across the field. “Tiger and Ragdoll.”
“Oh yeah,” Honenuki said, nodding slowly, “I think I heard that they were busy doing disaster cleanup yesterday and didn't get here until late.”
Mina looked over to see—judging by their similar uniforms—the four Pussycats. She met Mandalay and Pixie Bob yesterday, but the two new ones were a large, muscular man and a shorter woman with stark white hair. They were both wearing the stylized vests and skirts that Mandalay and Pixie Bob were, albeit in different colors. They were talking to the two teachers and the two TAs, lending more credence to Midori’s boring, lame, no-fun theory.
“Which one’s which?” Pony asked Midori, trusting that he would know.
Midori smiled kindly down at Pony before pointing. “The big one is Tiger. He’s a tough one, stronger than he looks and his quirk lets him stretch his body in crazy ways, like he was made of rubber. The white-haired woman is Ragdoll, she’s got a transformation quirk like mine! She can turn into a caaaaaaaaa-”
Midori’s eyes had gone wide in recognition, and what Mina wanted to call… fear? It was hard for her to say, but something had definitely got his tongue, the word dying in his throat. She watched green creep into his cheeks, which made Mina grow a small smirk and cock an eyebrow; this was a reaction she recognized. Mina was looking forward to finding out just what was causing him such delicious embarassment.
Pony looked up at Midori with understandable concern on her face. “Izzy?”
As if on cue, the eight chaperones broke their huddle and made their way toward the groups of students, providing a suitable distraction away from Midori’s strange behavior.
“Listen up!” Kan, the 1-B professor barked loudly. “You should have each gotten a colored strip of cloth, yes? Good. That color determines who you’ll be reporting to here in a moment.”
“Boo,” Mina grumbled, only a little disappointed.
“Red, you’re with Mandalay. Orange, you’re with Tiger. Green is Pixie Bob. Blue is Ragdoll. Yellow is Togata. Purple is Hadou. Black is Aizawa. White, you’re with me.” Kan looked around at the students. “Work hard today! This isn’t a vacation. You’re here for your own future! Report to your instructor!”
The students all began to move, walking toward their assigned leader. Midori was a little slow to get going, but a slap on the butt from Mina got him to move. She, of course, couldn’t resist leaning in to ask the obvious question. “Something wrong, Midori? You seem… flustered.”
His eyes were darting left and right, but he shook his head and tried to recover. Looking down at her, wearing a fairly convincing mask of normalcy that would probably have fooled Ochako, but not Mina. “I’m alright, thanks.”
“I’m gonna find out~” Mina sing-songed, reminding him that resistance was futile.
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” he muttered.
Before she could retort, they arrived in front of Ragdoll, who was grinning ear to ear. She had big, blue eyes with large pupils that filled nearly the whole iris, and had some darker coloration around the eyes themselves, like a sort of exaggerated eye shadow. Mina noticed the same sort of coloration on her ears; she wasn’t sure if it was natural color or some sort of makeup, but she leaned more toward the former. However, the most noticeable part of her appearance was that smile, and Mina wasn’t even talking about her pronounced canines, but rather the excited energy that seemed to radiate off her.
“Hey there, campers!” she exclaimed boisterously, hopping up and down on alernating feet. “Are you ready to SWEAT?!”
“Yeah!” Mina returned her energy; how could she not? It was infectious!
“That’s the spirit!” Ragdoll clapped her hands together. “The name of the game is endurance! I’m sure you’ve heard the metaphor a thousand times, but quirks are like muscles! And while your normal classes are sort of like a sprint, where you do a bunch in a short period of time because you have to go to your next class or go to lunch or do drugs behind the dorm or whatever, this is going to be more like a marathon!”
She talked fast and energetically, clearly saying what came to mind. This woman was a mess, and Mina loved every second. She also noticed that, now that Ragdoll was looking more or less into the sun, her pupils were shrinking slightly. Normally, she wouldn’t notice such a natural thing, but Ragdoll’s pupils were shrinking horizontally, just like a cat’s eye. How neat.
“You are all going to spend the next… six? Eight? Some amount of hours using your quirk as much as possible!” Ragdoll pulled out a piece of paper. “Which one of you is Ashido?”
“Me!” Mina threw her hand up eagerly, nearly hitting Pony in the face. “Oops, sorry!”
“This sheet says you make acid. That right?”
Mina nodded.
“Great! You’re going to be doing that.”
Mina had gotten so caught up in the instructor’s energy that she hadn’t really processed what she was saying. “Wait. You want me to make acid for eight hours?!”
“I actually think it’s six ‘cause we have a lunch break and stuff,” Ragdoll muttered, rubbing her chin as she looked at the paper. Mina noticed that her nails were longer than normal and visibly came to a point.
Mina laughed nervously. “Like… constantly?”
“Uh huh!” Ragdoll confirmed. “It’s gonna hurt, sorry but like not really sorry because that’s why you’re here! You’re all gonna be hurting!”
Mina looked up at Midori, who was holding his face so emotionless and stern that he looked more like a statue than a man, and then down to Pony, who had a determined fire burning in her eyes. That helped Mina’s confidence quite a bit, and she turned back to Ragdoll and nodded. “Plus Ultra!”
“Exactly!” Ragdoll giggled. “Now… Tsuburaba.”
The man waved his hand.
“Air Walls, huh? You just make the biggest walls you can over and over. Work on that lung capacity! Tsunotori?”
Pony raised her hand. “Me!”
“You can shoot those horns of yours, yeah? Don’t even worry about controlling them, just shoot them off, grow new ones, and repeat.”
“Okay!” Pony agreed without hesitation. Mina had to admire her drive.
“Honenuki,” Ragdoll began, not even waiting for a confirmation. “We’ve got a really big rock—a boulder? What point does a big rock become a boulder? Anyway, you’re gonna soften the whole boulder, then harden it back up, then repeat.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Honenuki said, a clear tone of resignation in his voice.
“And lastly, Midoriya. Dragon quirk!” Ragdoll looked up at Midori with a big grin, bigger than the rest, which Mina noticed. “You’re gonna be transforming a bunch! But like a breathing exercise! Transform, hold, release, repeat! You get me? Oh, and thanks for the fish!”
“Ye-” The word was cut short as her fast words rolled over him. He recovered almost instantly and regained the smile that had temporarily fallen away, but he couldn’t hide the green blush rushing to his cheeks. “Understood.”
“Fish?” Tsuburaba muttered, understandably confused. He looked to Honenuki, who just shrugged.
Mina smelled blood in the water.
“Man, this teacher stuff is easy!” Ragdoll laughed. “But jokes aside, I’ll come by each of you and give you better instructions. Your professors have given me a lot of information about where you’re at and where they think you can be by the end of this. I intend to hit those goals and then some! But I also want to be clear that you’re not here to hurt yourself. Pushing yourself is different than breaking yourself. Damaging yourself on day one is not conducive to further fun on the days to come! With that said, let’s go!”
She turned and led the five of them away from the rest of their classmates, who were slowly breaking off to head in their own directions. Mina caught Momo and Tsuyu’s eyes and gave them a wave, but Ochako was too focused to notice.
Midori tried to walk with the others, but he noticed Mina lagging behind out of the corner of his eye and sighed, knowing exactly what Mina was doing. He slowed his walk and waited until the other three students and Ragdoll had walked several feet ahead.
“I’d ask you to drop it…” he began.
“But you know better,” Mina finished for him. “Now spill!”
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” he reminded her.
Mina chuckled mischeviously. “Then I’ll just ask Ragdoll. She’ll probably tell me and then you’ll have no control over the narrative.”
He sighed again. “Why am I dating you again?”
“Because you think it’s cute when I’m annoying.”
“Fair.” He shook his head as he collected himself, those brilliant green eyes staring forward. “I went on a walk this morning. It was an absolutely beautiful morning; cool breeze, brilliant sun, quiet and peaceful. Truly amazing.”
“As amazing as me?” Mina asked playfully.
“Not even close, of course,” he replied before continuing. “While I was relaxing next to a stream… a cat showed up out of nowhere. I… offered it a fish to be nice.”
“Oh my God.” Mina could barely contain her laughter. “Are you serious?!”
He groaned. “Look, I wasn’t even thinking, alright? I was enjoying the morning so much that I just sort of went with the flow, it felt natural. Ugh.”
Mina chuckled under her breath. “What a teacher’s pet. Gonna have fun telling the others that…”
“Yeah, yeah,” Midori grumbled as they left the clearing and entered the tree line. “Hopefully, Ragdoll works us so hard today that you’ll forget all about it.”
“You could bribe me, I’m sure…” She looked up at him. “But you won’t. You want me to tell the others, don’t you? Cause it’s a funny story that will make them think you’re sweet!”
“I thought you told me that I wasn’t manipulating you all,” he huffed, glaring down at her.
Mina bumped her hip into his leg playfully. “Just reminding you that I can play the game too~”
He held his glare for several seconds before he rolled his eyes and began to walk faster to catch up with the others. “You’re lucky you’re right about you being cute.”
She beamed widely as she followed.
Ochako was surprised she managed to trudge all the way to the rows of tables and benches outside the main camp building before collapsing onto a seat. She was pretty sure she had pushed more weight through her body today than she had in the past month put together, or at least it certainly felt like that.
She let out a noise that was a combination of a sigh of relief and and groan of exhaustion as she let her forehead rest on the dinner table.
“You can say that again,” Eiko huffed as she flopped down on the bench next to her.
“Well said, Uraraka,” Shishida, the hairy man from 1-B agreed. The five people in her group had bonded somewhat that day over their shared struggle beneath Tiger’s demanding gaze.
Fukidashi, the distinctive student with a comic panel for a head didn’t say anything verbally, but the word ‘pain’ written about thirty times all over his face said enough.
“I don’t know about you all,” Kendou said, sitting down nearby, “but I feel great!”
“Really?” Ochako asked flatly.
“No,” Kendou admitted as a tired smile grew on her face. “I’m pretty sure my bones are about to fall out.”
Eiko laughed weakly. “At least a job well done feels good, right? I’m gonna sleep like a rock tonight.”
Ochako resisted making the obvious joke and instead just let the sweet relief of finally resting fill her body. Her feet were killing her. Her hands were killing her. Her everything was killing her. But Eiko was right, it did feel good to know that she had done well today; Tiger had even said so!
The rest of the students trickled in over the next few minutes, each in similar states of exhaustion and soreness. The classes began to slowly shift, moving like sludge as friend groups reconnected and weak bonds forged that day were supplanted by stronger bonds forged over months. Inevitable, really. Ochako felt friendly enough toward Kendou and Shishida and Fukidashi, but that was really nothing compared to how she felt toward, you know, her girlfriends and boyfriend.
However, while she was looking around, Ochako caught sight of the small child that had tried to punch Deku yesterday. Kouta, if she remembered correctly. He was looking at everyone with what Ochako could only describe as disdain, or maybe even hatred. Maybe he was just bitter about being dragged out to the camp, but the intensity of his glare told her that this was something more. Something within Ochako insisted that she help the boy, but she had no idea how, nor did she have the energy to help anyone at the moment.
Before she could continue the thought, Aizawa got everyone’s attention.
“Listen up!” His tired voice called across the more tired students. “Dinner assignments. Kaibara, Kodai, Sero, Midoriya. Report to the kitchen inside. Oh, and good work today everyone. Eat well and rest up. It’s not going to get easier.”
A soft groan rose up from the students at the prospect, and while Ochako shared their sentiments, she also had something to look forward to now. While part of her would have preferred Deku to be sitting next to her, him cooking dinner also sounded really nice.
And she wasn’t the only one who thought that way. Momo sat down next to Ochako and rested her head on Ochako’s shoulder. Ochako, dutiful as always, put in the effort to actually support her girlfriend, which Momo seemed to appreciate. “Even though my mouth is sore, Zu’s cooking sounds quite nice right now.”
“Hard agree,” Ochako mumbled, nearly ready to fall asleep then and there. “Wait, why is your mouth sore?”
“Kinky joke,” Mina grunted as she arrived at the table, sitting down on Ochako’s other side to lean against her as well.
Tsuyu arrived next, sitting down next to Mina and pulling her gently toward herself, giving Ochako a little bit of relief. “You probably ate a lot already. If it makes you feel better, my tongue is also sore.”
“Kinky joke!” Mina repeated lazily, her words slurring together.
“Precisely, Tsu,” Momo replied with a faint smile. “Eat, create, repeat. That was the mantra of today. I suspect you all were in similar situations.”
“My skin hurts,” Mina added, whining softly. “I never want to see my acid again.”
Tsuyu patted Mina’s hair gently, which Mina seemed to appreciate.
They were soon joined by Kyouka, Pony, Kaminari, and a few others, but the table only had room for so many. Each person was given their chance to complain about the gauntlet they had just endured, and everyone else was able to commiserate, which did little to alleviate their pain, but did some bolster their spirit. As time ticked by, the smell of something quite delicious started emanating from the main building, leading to a rumble from more than one stomach.
Fortunately, their patience eventually paid off and the doors opened, with the four students bringing out large containers filled with food. Ochako didn’t care what kind of food or anything else, just that it was sustenance and her body craved it.
If not for the watchful and cowing gazes of Aizawa and Kan, there might have been a stampede for the food, but instead the students lined up in an orderly, if very impatient, queue. Ochako barely paid attention to what she was making, tossing rice, meat, and vegetables into a bowl to devour like it was her first meal in months. She barely made it back to the table before it was completely gone, but she wanted more. Quirks were like ravenous engines, guzzling energy like crazy, and she and everyone else had pushed those engines to the limits today. It was no surprise that when Deku called out, “We have plenty for seconds!”, it appropriately only took seconds for the line to reform as nearly every student went back for more.
However, with her body no longer on the brink of starvation, Ochako’s brain was able to start working a little better again. Her thoughts turned from her own hunger to that of another. She hadn’t seen Kouta since he stalked off around an hour ago, and looking around, she saw everyone else there. Mandalay and the rest of the Pussycats, the TAs, Aizawa and Kan, and all 40 students were sitting around eating, but Kouta was nowhere to be found.
She made her way through the line, loading up another bowl of food, but she didn’t eat it. Instead, she walked over to the table where the Pussycats were eating, looking considerably less tired than the students.
“Mandalay?”
The woman turned around and looked up at Ochako. “Yes, can I help you? Uraraka, right?”
“Um, yes, to both.” Ochako motioned with her head. “Can I speak with you for a second?”
“Oh, of course,” Mandalay replied, a clear note of concern in her voice. She stood up and followed Ochako several feet away from the table. “Is something the matter?”
“Uh, maybe, I dunno,” Ochako began hesitantly. “I wanted to ask about your… cousin? Kouta.”
“Nephew,” she explained with a small, sad sigh. “Did he get into more trouble?”
Ochako shook her head. “I don’t think so. It’s just… I saw him wander off a while ago and I wanted to make sure he was okay. Did he get dinner? I didn’t see him.”
Mandalay’s concern melted into a soft, still slightly sad smile as she looked up at Ochako. “I see. How do I put this… Kouta is not a fan of heroes. He’s gone off to be alone, but he’ll be back.”
“Do you mind if I take this food to him?” Ochako asked.
Mandalay blinked. “Of course not. That’s very kind of you. I warn you, I doubt he’ll be friendly to you.”
“No matter, thank you.” Ochako nodded and went back to the food table to grab a plate, covered the bowl to keep the heat in and the bugs out, then hurried off in the direction she had seen Kouta run off a while ago, hoping he hadn’t gone far. She didn’t have Deku’s nose or Kyouka’s ears, but she could at least get a bird’s eye view… that was, if her quirk wasn’t so tired that the thought of flight made her want to hurl.
Luckily for her, she found a small footpath that led away from the camp and up a hill. The path of least resistance seemed to be the best bet for a child half her height, otherwise he’d be combating bushes taller than he was, so she began walking up the path. With how tired her body was, even this slight incline was a pain, but she kept her focus on Kouta. Being alone and hungry was no way for a child to be.
Soon, the forest gave way to a cliffside looking out over the sea of trees stretching far into the distance. Ochako took a moment to absorb the view in the setting sun, but she didn’t let herself get lost in the natural beauty. Sitting near the edge of the cliff on the far side of the clearing was a small child wearing a red hat.
She walked forward slowly, intentionally kicking a rock to make sure she didn’t sneak up on the child. Ochako didn’t want to crowd him, so she stopped a good fifty feet away and called out to him. “Hey there.”
“Go away,” was his quick and firm response.
Ochako had things she wanted to say to him. She wanted to understand why he hated heroes, wanted to know why he seemed so full of anger, but she kept those thoughts to herself. Pushing things was probably a bad idea. Maybe if Deku or Mina were here, they would know the right words, but Ochako did not.
“I thought you might be hungry,” were the words she settled on. “I brought you some food.”
She placed the covered bowl on a flat spot nearby and turned around, hoping for but not expecting a response. Ochako heard nothing as she left the clearing and headed back down the hill toward the camp. Maybe she’d ask the others what she should do, or maybe that was too much of a burden to put on them while they were already so busy with their training.
Regardless, it didn’t take long for Ochako to return to camp. Deku noticed her almost instantly, standing up and running over to meet her at the edge of the clearing.
“Hey, everything okay? I saw you leave.” He was concerned, which was reasonable, looking up at her with those big, green eyes.
She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, all good.”
He looked at her for a moment, as if deciding whether or not he believed her, but he soon relented. “Alright. Come on, I want to hear about Tiger.”
“Of course you do,” Ochako said with a soft laugh.
“Oh, and if Mina says anything about Ragdoll and a fish, don’t believe her.”
Notes:
*sips drink*
*looks at camera*
what?
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