Chapter 4: Volume 2, pt 2 Dice Roll
"So, you say you've never had a quirk before the exam? Yet you attempted it anyways?"
"U-uh-huh."
"Such bravery and conviction! No wonder the class selected you for representative. Your difficulties have molded your personality far more than even generations of heroes could shape mine."
"I'm glad you got it in the end though. You seem better suited to it."
Iida considered, but before he could respond: Uraraka pushed into the conversation, just as bubbly as ever.
"But you're still gonna be a great hero, Deku! You don't rely on your quirk like we do, and that means you don't have any bad habits to break!"
Izuku nodded timidly, still a little nervous around the girls.
"Oh! That reminds me," Iida said, snapping his fingers as he remembered, "Your case is quite rare, correct? How did your friends and family react to its appearance?"
Uraraka layed her arms across the back of the seat, so she could stay in the conversation, earning a series of arm-slashes from Iida for improper posture while Izuku explained.
"Well… my mom thought it was really cool. She thinks it's related to her quirk of attracting small objects, but more like a repulsion to the planet. I don't really have anyone else…"
"What about Kacchan over there?" interjected Tsu, similarly leaning over her chair, "I know he's kind of a dunce, but you gave him a cute nickname."
"You say that again, froggy girl, and I'll cook you into a soup!"
"Yeah, Kacchan doesn't like that name, especially when it spreads. I don't know how he feels about it. I was planning to talk to him after class, but after the training day with All Might he's been avoiding me," Izuku mumbled.
Sero and Kaminari looked at one another, grinned, and before anyone else could say anything: started to chant "Kacchan!" The entirety of the bus was quick to follow, including the less social students. Jiro pulled out her earplugs, looked around, and half-heartedly picked up the chant as well.
It took about three seconds after Koda joined in with small pumps of his fists in beat with the two syllables for Bakugo to explode. Literally. His hand was shoved out the open window by Kirishima so the detonation merely shook their path rather than killing them all. The swerving which ensued killed the chant, but not his anger.
"I don't care that he grew a pair of balls alongside a new quirk, it's still an underdeveloped piece of garbage that'll never get him anywhere but a sidekick slot!" Bakugo screamed, slamming his fist onto his knee in one of the open seats, "I'll be the one to surpass All Might, and you can float off behind me like the dirt you are!"
Another, much more awkward silence followed, broken by Tsu.
"You've got quite the inferiority complex there, doncha?"
Aizawa's restraint bandages flew from the front seat to restrain the explosive student before he went on a killing spree, and he glared back at the group.
"Student Rep.: keep order back there. Bakugo: calm down. Asui: don't antagonize him."
The glare stopped the laughter building in the back, producing a final, lasting silence until they stopped in front of the USJ. With the students spreading out, Izuku and his little knot of friendlies struck up conversation again.
"Hey, Uraraka?"
"Yes Deku?"
"When are you free to train? Kacchan's right, I am behind, and I'm pretty sure you're one of the best teachers I could pick."
He blushed, realizing how it sounded, and turned away. Tsu looked between the flattered Uraraka and the embarrassed Izuku, and commented in her usual blunt way: "You two have a really weird relationship. Your quirks are kind of similar too. Are you related?"
Uraraka shook her head, as did Izuku.
"I don't think so."
"You must be soulmates then," Tsu remarked, walking on with Iida and saying nothing more.
The two paused in their steps, watching her go and adamantly not looking at the other. They quickly walked on to catch up to the others, placing a few students between them to make sure they didn't give Tsu anymore ammo for her crazy theories.
Entering into the structure, the class' jaws collectively dropped at the array of equipment and situation areas.
"This really is Universal Studios Japan," Kaminari gasped, looking over to what appeared to be a waterslide on steroids.
"Within these walls are every disaster and accident you can imagine," came a voice from the side of the entryway, drawing every eye to it.
"I designed it myself, and named it: The Unforeseen Simulation Joint!" said the voice, evidently coming from a helmeted and space-suit covered person, barring the bright yellow boots.
"It's the Space Hero: Thirteen!" squeaked Deku, jumping up and letting his quirk float him as Uraraka caught his fingers to keep him from floating away with an equal noise of unrestrained joy.
"I love Thirteen!" agreed Uraraka, pulling Izuku down on her other side so the two could nerd-out a bit without interrupting the class not immediately nearby to them, "She's the Gentlewomanly hero who does her best work in rescue scenarios! Just imagine the well-mannered wisdom we'll receive!"
They didn't notice Aizawa and Thirteen's muttered conversation, and by the time their attention returned to the front, it was complete.
"Now, before we start I have one or two points I'd like to cover," she said, holding up the appropriate number of fingers, "Or three… or four… maybe five?"
While the rest of the class seemed to wilt a little as the "quick briefing" started to sound like it was expanding into a lecture, Izuku and Uraraka seemed to be vibrating with anticipation at hearing the hero speak even more. Tsu glanced at them and then leaned over to Tokoyami, the nearest person she could see who seemed to have also noticed.
"Soulmates, called it," she muttered, earning a solemn nod from the bird-headed student.
"As I'm sure at least some of you are aware, my quirk is named Black Hole. It can suck in and tear anything apart."
"You've used it to save nearly ten thousand people from various disasters!" Izuku prompted, earning a head-nod from Uraraka so intense it looked like she had three heads all vibrating together.
"Indeed," Thirteen said, channeling her inner Teal'c, "However, it is only because of careful training that I could do so. My quirk is much better suited to doing harm, and could easily kill if given but a moment of misplaced timing. I don't doubt some of you have similar abilities, quirk or otherwise."
Holding up a finger, Thirteen directed their attention to the grounds, continuing to speak to the now silent and contemplative class.
"In today's superhuman society, quirks are heavily monitored and restricted to ensure safety against the uncontrollable or easily destructive abilities granted at random to various people. This is a stable system, but we must always remember: one wrong move, one misplaced quirk: and people will die."
The class collectively swallowed, and Deku looked down at his hands. He couldn't use a quirk which could harm others so easily, yet, but he was capable of hurting normal people with what he had. His physical prowess might not be able to handle One-for-All yet, but even with what he had he could probably knock someone out with a good strike. Not to mention, if he managed to get a hang of his float, he could probably drop someone, even unintentionally, and shift a heroic rescue to one of screams and very unpleasant imagery.
"You learned from Aizawa's training to begin implementing your power into your actions more seamlessly, now that you'll be expected to. From All Might, you learned to implement them against others with similar strength, and to see how deadly your own power is. But today you'll be learning the bread-and-butter of being a hero: how to save lives. I hope that by the time you leave this facility, you'll understand why you were given the gifts you have. You quirks are not meant to inflict harm, but instead: to help people around you."
The empassioned speech couldn't help but inspire some clapping, and Uraraka actually cheered a little.
"She's so awesome!" she hissed to Izuku, earning a nod of agreement and a large grin.
They were both exceptionally excited to learn how to help others with their kit.
"Right," grumbled Aizawa, "Now, first thing's-"
Deku and the two heroes tensed, all of them glancing down at the foyer in unison as some kind of dark gas began to spiral from nowhere.
"Stay close and don't move!" Eraserhead screamed, "stay with Thirteen!"
Pulling out an odd set of goggles, Eraserhead stepped towards the stairs with dark intent.
"What's going on? Some kind of robots like from the entrance exam?" someone asked, probably Kirishima.
Deku shook his head, narrowing his eyes down at the mop of unruly and unexpectedly diverse figures emerging from the gaseous portal. He couldn't see many details, but the stances they held proved one thing beyond a doubt.
"They're villains," he mumbled, feeling his body tense up alongside everyone else's.
Not one student doubted that whoever the ruffians were, they were best described as pure evil. Even Bakugo's fury seemed inadequate to resist their aura of menace.
"Villains?" Kaminari laughed, denial evident in his half-smile, "Th-there's no way. No villain would be dumb enough to invade a school for heroes. Right?"
Rather than indulge him, Yaoyorozu glanced to Thirteen with a sharp expression.
"There are sensors to detect intruders into the school, aren't there?"
"Of course," the hero said, stepping forward to hold the line between them and the stairs, "But none of them are going off. One of them must have a quirk to disable electronics or interrupt radio waves. Probably one of the first out."
"They obviously aren't so moronic as to invade without a plan then," the mix-haired boy, Todoroki, said, "They picked a time and place away from the main campus, made sure to prevent a response, and brought a force of numbers to overwhelm unknown skill."
"Doesn't matter," Eraserhead growled, gripping his scarf of capture cloth, "Thirteen: start evacuating. Kaminari: try to get a signal out with your quirk. Maybe you can punch through another quirk's jamming."
"Y-yes sir," the electric-student agreed, placing a hand to his earphone.
"B-but Sensei!" Deku protested, seeing their teacher step to the edge of the stairs, "Your style relies on hit-and-fade tactics! Erasure and quick capture! Against that many, and in the open, you can't possibly-"
"No good hero is a one-trick-pony," he said, quietly but firmly.
Deku swallowed, feeling the words settle in his stomach. It was meant to be a reassurance, but in that moment he knew it was also a lesson.
Before he could react to it though, Eraserhead leapt down the stairs, his angle and legs prepped for a second jump halfway down the stairs. The Villains at the bottom seemed to scoff and prepare to devastate him, only to appear mildly stunned as he crashed into their ranks. The first trio fell to his attacks, being smashed into one another at forces surprising for being caused by cloth and leverage. As larger and hetero-morphic quirked enemies began to swarm him, he surprised the class again by actually punching them and otherwise using basic boxing and martial arts to disable and evade them.
"Even against so many-" Deku muttered, awed.
"No time to analyze, get back to the bus!" Thirteen yelled, gesturing the group towards the doors.
Uraraka snatched Deku's hand, pulling him towards the door as his emotions began to overwhelm his better sense. He shook himself and glanced to her, nodding his thanks. She gave him a smile and released his hand, turning to face forward and hiding her cheeks from view.
"I'm afraid your escape would be against the wishes of my employers," an echoing voice came, emerging from the smoke which had brought the villains in, now appearing between the class and the doorway.
"My humblest apologies," the shadow continued, "I believe introductions are in order, and my compatriots are a bit… uncivilized, in such matters. We are the League of Villains. Please forgive our audacious intrusion, but we have come to U.A., this bastion of heroism and learning, to end the life of one All Might. You no doubt recognize him as the Symbol of Peace. We had it on good authority he would be present here today, but it seems his itinerary was… revised. Regardless, my mission today remains unchanged, and I do again apologize for this unpleasantness."
The shadow began to spike and swirl outwards, creating tendrils of darkness which spread towards the class. Before they got very far though, a pair of figures launched themselves towards it. Bakugou and Kirishima.
"Man, you just love the sound of your own autotune voice, don'cha, you discount Butler!" the former screamed, unleashing an explosive frontal attack.
At the same time, Kirishima's sharpened arms lanced out, trying to cut through the center of the fog. The two grinned in triumph as the smoke swirled away, but died away when it reformed and began to expand again.
"Quite good," the shadow praised, his voice now echoing from all around them, "Even though merely students, your skill is that of the best."
"Get back you two!" screamed Thirteen, but it was too late.
The dark smog encircled all of them, surrounding them and tearing them apart.
"Please, do writhe in torment until your very last breath, everyone," came the cackling words.
Without warning, Ochaco found herself in midair, falling towards some water. Snapping her hands together, she felt her inertia slow and then halt, anti-gravity coming into effect on her body. Her motion sickness kicked in almost immediately, but for a moment she managed to see the whole scene of the Flood Zone beneath her.
The two people closest to her had been sucked with her, namely the grape-haired Mineta and Deku. They were falling straight for the water as well, with the purple student screaming for his life. The two struck the water, and Ochaco realized there were other things in the pool with them. She almost screamed herself, seeing something very sharklike heading for the mop of familiar green hair, when he jetted past the enemy and into Mineta's body.
It was like he'd suddenly produced jet engines from his feet, soaring through the water before meeting his classmate. She watched a little longer as the two blasted free of the water, Deku using his ungainly floating to get them free, before glancing down at the ship below her. If she wasn't careful, she'd be in the same boat before long.
Releasing herself, Ochaco fell for a few seconds before reactivating her quirk and rising again at a new angle. She tried to glide down towards the deck, feeling her body fighting against her with each drop and return to floating. By the time she'd managed to hit the surface and get her feet, Deku and Mineta were already somehow on board.
Holding up a finger, she threw up a little over the side, earning a disgusted whine from one of the swirling villains. She quickly wiped her mouth on a nearby deck towel and then nodded to her friend and classmate.
"Thank you… Midoriya," Mineta grumbled, seeming similarly out of sorts.
But Deku was already distracted, his eyes darting around as he muttered.
"They know our schedule. Probably got it during the media attack… maybe they even caused it to get the distraction in place," he noted, glancing out at the swirling villains, most of them careful to remain away from the rainbow-colored refuse.
"Y-yeah, but All Might'll just come in and stop 'em," Mineta protested, sitting down by the wall, "We just have to wait for him."
Ochaco almost let herself get caught up in the optimism, but felt a thought nag at the back of her mind.
"But…" she mumbled, "If they planned this far ahead… maybe they planned on how to deal with him too?"
Deku nodded solemnly, his eyes flicking over to the distant melee between the land-based villains and Eraserhead.
"They wouldn't just come here to get beaten, not with this level of planning. You're right, Uraraka. Besides, I don't think we could hold out that long."
"What do you mean?! You can do your fly-y thing and bounce around the air, and we'll be fine!" Mineta protested.
"We can't," Deku apologized, "I only just tried that out of desperation, and I can already tell I'd get exhausted with a passenger after a few minutes. Not to mention Uraraka probably can't stay up with us."
Mineta began to protest, and Deku shifted to muttering and thinking to himself faster than Ochaco could understand, when something caught her eye. She turned and glanced at the water, and felt her blood run cold.
"D-Deku?" she asked quietly, "I think we're running out of time."
She pointed, and the two looked at the oncoming swarm of aquatic villains. They were closing in now, no longer stunned at their quick retreat.
"Then we'd better get going now," Deku decided, clenching his fists, "If there's even a slight chance- no, even if there's no way they could kill All Might, we can't afford to sit here. It's time we prove why we're here. We have to fight!"
He seemed so serious, and yet his face was still so much like a teddy bear that Ochaco had to restrain herself from laughing. Then he set his jaw, and the cuteness faded into unwavering resolve. She nodded and felt her own posture and aura shift to one of tense readiness.
Mineta began to complain and squeal in fear, but Deku ignored him. He pointed out at the swimming villains, then to Ochaco and finally to himself.
"They brought a lot of water-based villains. They had to know what environments were here. But they sent the two fliers here, in a place where we could easily escape. We have to assume they only know the terrain and a few things about us, not the details. That means we have an advantage."
He turned to Mineta.
"They don't know what your quirk is, and they probably only guessed about ours. We can surprise them, and if we use it well: we can get back to the group and fight with numbers."
"My quirk is no good here! See?" Mineta wailed, beginning to pull off bulbs and throw them into the water at an incredible speed.
They bounced and floated along in the water, and to their amazement: seemed to worry the villains, who swam back from them.
"Th-they just stick to things, or bounce off me…" he groaned, continuing to throw in a panic.
Mineta started to scream and cry about some perverted life regrets, when Ochaco noticed Deku grin.
"Uraraka? I think I have a plan. Can you float yourself and Mineta for about a minute?" he asked.
Ochaco swallowed and nodded.
"Whatever you need from me, Deku!" she promised.
"Then when I tell you to go: you go!" he yelled, bracing his foot against the railing, "Mineta, get yourself a bounce!"
Mineta seemed to dully recognize his words, and twisted around to start throwing balls at the wall beside them. They stuck to the material and began to pile up, Ochaco touched his shoulder and then held him down by his shoes as he continued to build up a bouncing surface.
A scream of rage came from behind her, and Ochaco turned to see Deku flying almost straight up and yelling in a kind of imitation of Bakugou's usual yells for death. Then he stopped, and fell. He twisted in midair, falling into a streamlined position with his fingers down, then abruptly vanished. A sonic boom echoed from where he'd been, shattering glass and making many of the aquatic enemies hold their ears.
"Go!" was the only echoing word Ochaco could make out in the din.
Ochaco spun once and threw Mineta at his makeshift trampoline, quickly floating herself as he rebounded and launched at her. She held out her hands and caught ahold of his as he rocketed by, tugging her free and towards safety.
A deafening explosion sounded behind them, and a whirlpool formed directly below where Deku had vanished, sucking in Mineta's balls and all of the villains, even tugging at the ship a little. Ochaco and Mineta's inertia began to fail, and they got a good view of the compacting mass of cursing limbs and foam.
Another blast caught their attention, and a body rocketed up into them, knocking the pair out of the sky. Ochaco screamed in pain as whatever it was hit her side, but gasped in recognition at the green-haired boy now falling beside her. She blinked at the pulverised hands he had, wondering how he'd suddenly hurt himself. Then she realized what he'd done.
Deku had somehow floated with the same force he had during the entrance exam, or at least some of it, only oriented downwards instead of up. He'd blasted straight to the floor of the pool and probably tried to brace himself as he'd hit it. Then he'd redirected and managed to hit them, giving them the last little push towards land.
Ochaco felt amazed at his ingenuity for only a moment however, before she hit the water in the shallows and suddenly her priority became swimming.
"Oh gods we're alive!" screamed Mineta, pulling himself free and trying to run towards Aizawa.
"Mineta, wait!" groaned Deku, trying to follow but wincing with each movement of his devastated hands.
The grape-haired student actually listened, his eyes slightly enamored with Deku for some reason.
"We- we'd just get in his way," he groaned, managing to get onto his stomach and lay out his arms slightly, "We need… to wait for an opening."
Ochaco grimaced at the purple and black color of his hands and looked around for something to set them with. Then her eyes alighted on Mineta.
"Mineta: can you help me? I need your quirk," she prompted him, pulling Deku up a little more.
The purple pervert nodded and offered a ball. Ochaco held up Deku's hand and eased the palm onto the sphere.
"Put his fingers down carefully. It'll help keep them in line," she mumbled, careful to keep them from touching until they were ready to be kept in place.
She might not be a tactician like Deku, or have an unexpectedly versatile quirk like Mineta's, but she knew how to handle hurt limbs. With luck, Recovery Girl could make him better when they got back.
As Izuku managed to sit up, he noticed two things immediately. The first was that his hands felt better now they were secured. The second that Uraraka was looking at him with a caring intensity he hadn't seen anyone but his mother observe him with before.
She sighed with relief as he blinked at her, but he didn't see anything else from her as some sort of dark shape came flying down the steps and bounced to the top of the pile of unconscious bodies from Eraserhead's attacks. For a moment it almost seemed like he'd won, but in that moment Izuku's eyes found Aizawa.
He was being held down by a hulking black figure, a bird-like beak but with sharpened teeth grinning above him. The other two looked over and gasped.
"I take it: one got away?" came an arrogant drawl from the hand-covered leader.
The foggy body groaned a little, and he sighed.
"In that case, let's bounce. Nomu: break his face and we'll get out of here."
The beast lifted Aizawa's head and smashed it down once more, sending a chilling sound through the cracked concrete.
"They're leaving? W-we're saved!" Mineta managed, rushing to hug Izuku out of joy, only to be intercepted by Uraraka, who quickly forced his head under.
The enemy trio glanced over at the sound, and Uraraka's attempt to silence the boy failing as the leader turned fully towards them.
"Let's leave him a few dead kids though. A thank you present for failing to show up on time and die nicely," the leader cackled.
He lunged at the group, and Izuku's heart stopped as the hand reached for Uraraka, none of them able to react before his fingers met her face. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the man grinned behind his hand and turned back to face the beast "Nomu."
"You're a pretty cool guy, Eraserhead," he praised, without almost any mocking.
Their teacher had managed to lift his head up just enough to reactivate his quirk, freezing the attack before it could hurt Ochaco.
Unable to punch, Deku brought his arms to a cross in front of his face and activated his quirk full-power, trying to blast the Villain away from his friend.
"Get off her!" he screamed, rocketing from the water for a deadly one-foot impact.
The hand-covered villain seemed to almost casually ask for his bodyguard to aid him.
Deku impacted something hard, but felt none of the intense pain he had from his bounce off the pool floor. He looked up to see the Nomu beast standing firm above him, almost completely unaffected by the impact.
"Hm, not bad kid," the leader said, peering around the monster, "Big hero energy with this one. I suppose one "true hero kid" will have to substitute three "hero-in-training kids." Either way-"
Deku realized his impact must have released a water wave or shockwave like his previous blast uses of Float, and kicked his friends back into the water. But now he was on his own.
The skeletal hand stretched towards him, seeming almost unnaturally long, when a reverberating sound shook the area. Everything seemed to pause, and a deep baritone sounded through the entire facility.
"Fear Not. I. Am. Here!"
Chapter 5: Volume 3 Preperations
Uraraka:
Deku, I know you have voice-to-text.
You better answer me, or I'll come looking for you!
Don't make me bombard you with cute text smileys until I run out of texting for the month!
Izuku smiled as Uraraka's texts continued to come in, flexing his stiff hands a little and wondering what he could possibly say to his friend. She was probably worried out of her mind, especially after seeing how damaged his hands were. His mother certainly had been.
Wiggling his digits a bit, and glad he had the day off from school so they could just relax and recover, Izuku typed out a short message back.
You:
Please, no! Spare me! I submit!
He saw the little bubble appear almost instantly, and felt a pang of sorrow. She'd been so desperate to hear from him, she was already replying. He wondered if he'd just worried her that much, or if she was just bored.
Uraraka:
Very well, I shall spare you.
Deku: in exchange for my grace, you now owe me mochi!
And the promise you'll never hurt yourself like that again, so help me!
Izuku felt a little laugh bubble up, and decided to keep playing along. It was, nice, to have a friend who could tease him and still be nice.
You:
Yes, your majesty. Will Lunch Rush's: Mochi Ball Dessert be enough to satisfy your wrath?
Uraraka:
Only because I like you.
If you were anyone else, I'd make you pay for more expensive stuff.
Well, maybe Iida could get away with it too, but he doesn't count.
You two are my besties!
Clutching at his heart, Izuku felt his chest tighten in emotion. She thought he was her bestie? This was in the top five happiest days of his life!
You:
You mean it?
Uraraka:
Of course!
I wouldn't make Iida pay for expensive mochi!
Mostly because he'd do it without thinking.
You:
I mean… us being besties. I've… never had best friends before.
There was a discernible pause in the texts, only because Uraraka had been so quick up until now, and Izuku worried he'd gone too far and somehow driven her off. He relaxed when the three dots reappeared, and her texts resumed with normal speed.
Uraraka:
If you wanna be…
You're like super cool, and Iida's really fun.
Plus, we're floaty-buddies, remember? Gotta watch out for each other!
You:
Always!
Probably should work on the name though.
Uraraka:
Hover-Pals?
Sky-Guys?
Twin Stars?
Gravity Brigade?
Flybys?
Superrabbit and the Pink Marshmallow?
You:
What was that last?
Uraraka:
I mean, didn't you know? Your cute bunny ears on your costume!
Blushing furiously at the idea that Uraraka found him cute when he was wearing his old gear, Izuku felt a small pang that it had been more or less destroyed. Hopefully they'd keep that design in mind with the Beta Model.
You:
Yeah, I guess so. But… that's not a really flattering name for you. You should be, like, Gravity Girl! Or Ultra Uraraka!
Something that shows off how cool you are!
Uraraka:
I'm not *that* cool.
Besides, we aren't picking hero names. We're doing Team names.
Spinning in his chair a little, Izuku considered what she'd said. How could she think she wasn't cool? She was already in his top thirty heroes he'd ever put down in his notepad, and Edgeshot wasn't even that high! He quickly pulled over his Hero Journal and took a picture of the page with her sketch in the center.
You:
Sent an Image
You're Super Cool!
You can even float omnidirectionally, instead of just "up" like I do!
Uraraka's text bubble blinked for a few moments, as if she wasn't quite sure what to say, or maybe just had a lot to put down.
Uraraka:
Wow… is that all me? I didn't know you thought I was worth the time to study like that.
You're a really good drawer! You could be an artist hero, if you got the right support gear!
Wait a minute, that's not my costume in the bottom corner.
It looks awesome! Is that like an upgrade?
She continued sending little messages like that for a while, asking questions and praising his analysis. Izuku wondered if he was blushing enough to heat the rice his mother was no doubt cooking in the room over.
His pondering was cut short when Uraraka sent him a question he hadn't considered before.
Uraraka:
Is there a Deku page?
For the first time in his life, Izuku thought about analyzing himself. Why shouldn't he? He'd be a hero too, in a few years, and he couldn't just brute strength his way through. He didn't even know what kinds of support gear he might need yet, since he no longer required a parachute. It had to be corrected!
Pulling over a fresh notepad, he labeled it "Deku 1" and flipped to the first page to begin sketching what he lovingly nicknamed "Alpha Costume." He started describing his battle with Kacchan, his fight with the 0-Point robot, and the events at the USJ, trying to be as objective as possible. He paused, realizing he was too involved.
No matter what he thought of, he was too close to the action. He needed… he needed his friends.
You:
Can I call you?
He was answered by his phone ringing almost immediately. He gulped and hit the answer call icon. Texting his best friend was one thing, but calling a girl in his room?
"MochiMochi?" Uraraka sang, as soon as he put his ear to the receiver.
At once, all of Izuku's tension left and he choked out a laugh. Of course, despite everything: she was still Uraraka.
"What's up, Deku?" she asked, a bit cheekily as he recovered.
"Sorry, it was just… that's a very Uraraka way to answer the phone, Uraraka," he apologized, flipping a page and setting down his pencil, "I um… I never thought about making a page on myself. I was just trying to, but I realized: I'm not exactly sure how I did. If it's not a lot of trouble… could you tell me what you remember about the times I used my quirk around you?"
Uraraka was silent for a moment, but when she answered her voice was as chipper and bright as ever.
"Sure thing Deku! It's always nice to help friends! Oh, you should call Iida and Mineta! They were there too! And what about that grumpy Kat-chan?"
Trying to put aside the image of Bakugo as a housecat, Izuku nodded and wrote down her suggestion. She was so insightful sometimes, and he wondered if he just over-thought things or if she was just gifted at seeing the bigger picture sometimes?
"I think Kacchan's angry with me. Maybe later. But I'll call Iida and Mineta after you, that's a good idea!"
"But first thing's first: what do you want to know?" she asked, her tone shifting to one of curiosity.
"Well, I know this isn't really helpful, but: can you tell me what it looked like I was doing? Was I being too hesitant, or…" he shrugged, before realizing she couldn't see him, "I don't know, I just know I'm missing the bigger picture."
The sounds of deep pondering came from the other end of the line, and Izuku took a moment to get more comfortable in his chair.
"Well, you seemed really bruised up when you hit stuff," Uraraka mused, and he could almost imagine her tapping her chin, "Like when you hit that big robot, or the bottom of the pool. I remember when I was figuring out my costume, I figured I would fall sometimes, so I had my boots made for soft landings."
Her humming came again, and Izuku found it oddly comforting as he wrote down her ideas.
"When we fought Iida and Angry Boy, you were really well-prepared, and you used your parachute really well. You predicted him super well, and you were confident. It was super cool to hear you predict all the stuff that would happen and then see it happen exactly how you said. It was kind of amazing…"
He didn't know when he'd started blushing, nor when he'd started to tear up at being praised. For some reason, he didn't really mind it at the moment.
"B-but at the USJ it was all different!" she quickly moved on, "You were using that new power and stuff. All the bouncy-jetty stuff, ya know? It was super cool how you figured out all the angles and water displacement stuff in like, a few seconds! And then when-"
Izuku heard what might have been a hint of swallowing, as if she'd caught her words and forced them down into her stomach to prevent them from being spoken. He wanted to know what she was going to say, but worried about pushing her.
"...it was really brave when you went to hit the guy who was gonna hurt me…" she finally managed, her voice suddenly very small and not very Ochaco.
"I just… I didn't want to see my bestie get turned to dust," he mumbled lamely.
They sat in an odd silence for a while, before Izuku realized she was probably in very deep thought, and unlike him: didn't have to mutter to do so.
"I'll um, call Iida and Mineta now," he offered, not wanting to interrupt her thought flow.
"Kay… see you tomorrow?"
"Always."
"Yeah. See ya, Deku."
"Bye."
She sounded oddly forlorn there, and for a moment Izuku felt like asking what was wrong. But then the line cut off, and he was left with silence.
Not letting himself dwell on it, he tapped Iida's contact and put his pencil back to the page.
"Midoriya! Are you well? I hadn't heard anything after your injury!" came his sharp voice, and Izuku could almost see his hand chopping away.
"I'm alright," he admitted, feeling some of the tension leave him, "I was just wondering if you could help me with something?"
"Anything, my friend!"
"Well, I was talking to Uraraka about some of my hero notes, and she suggested I make a page for myself. I was wondering if you could tell me what you saw when I fought you and Kacchan?"
"Of course! Such an excellent pursuit; maximizing your skills by reviewing your past actions!"
As it turned out, neither Iida or Mineta saw very much of his quirk use or actions, and could only offer some general observations. Mineta said he was too reckless, while Iida explained his actions seemed to carry tunnel vision when dealing with emotions he hadn't faced. Izuku couldn't exactly fault either of them, but didn't know if their words would help much. Still, he thanked them and went back to his notes.
"Based on what they told me, I'm thinking too much when I fight… Uraraka praised me when I bounced off the pool and caught them, and when I rushed the Nomu thing. But I wasn't thinking too much in those moments, just acting based on what felt right. But All Might first noticed my ability to be a hero when I did just that: saving Kacchan. Does that mean I need to rely more on instincts than pure knowledge? But I only beat Kacchan by knowing him and sticking to a good plan. Then again, I had to improvise a bit when he started to figure me out, but I already knew his style enough to dodge on reflex. Maybe that means I should just study every potential opponent inside and out until I know them subconsciously and then free-style it while my body acts how it should? But that would be impossible, especially with how many secret or unidentified villains there are. I suppose experience will help, but I can't get that in a day."
He blinked and realized that during his muttering he'd begun to float away from his desk, and was now sitting, cross-legged, on the ceiling. Remembering that Uraraka's floating objects tended to move upwards, probably due to the centrifugal forces apparent when Gravity left, he realized he'd probably just done the same.
Easing himself back down, he stopped midway and remained almost perfectly stationary between the ceiling and floor.
"Floating like I just was could be considered 0%... My quirk was on, but I wasn't directing it, so I just floated around like Uraraka's power does to things. But what I'm doing now, directing my body to occupy a single point, or maybe just to not be pulled by the force of spin is like... 1%. And when I go full power to fly at something like the enemies… I suppose that must be 100%. So, does that mean I can control how much force I put into my Float? Could I… could I fly for real at maybe 30%? Then again, I only seem to be able to move "up" from the orientation of my chest to my head… I think. But right now I have to be moving "down" as well as "up" to counteract gravity, yet also be stationary... "
Instead of trying to float towards the wall, like he would if he was going full power, Izuku tried to mimic what he was doing with the floor, and imagined the wall was "down." He eased himself towards it, and then away, grinning wildly.
"It's not much, but if I can control just this 1% of my Float, that means I can learn to modulate its power to exactly what I need!"
Deciding to test himself a little, he tried moving between the walls like he was swimming, pushing off with a bit of force each time to build up a little speed. When he was sure his mother was going to hear him bouncing back and forth, he tried a final push, trying to Float in the opposite direction to counter his speed.
He slowed, but only as fast as he'd moved before, and ended up crashing face-first into the wall.
"Izuku?! Are you alright in there?" his mother called, worriedly.
"I'm okay!" he called back, wondering if he was lying or not, "Just trying to practice floating a bit. I promise not to break anything!"
He heard a soft chuckle, and realized the comment was unneeded. His room was filled with All Might memorabilia, and he'd never so much as bent a hair on any of the golden heads.
Pushing off with force again, Izuku felt the fear of running into the wall again race through him, and used it to push a little bit more out of his quirk. Maybe 3%, if he was being generous, but it did the trick. He stopped dead, his limbs moving forward a little at the sudden stop.
Breathing hard, he realized that while Float was powerful enough to punch him through steel, it still tired him out like walking or running. Pushing his control was evidently something he'd have to work on.
"I can't float with intent for very long, maybe a few minutes, and Uraraka has trouble lifting large amounts or herself… maybe we can train our endurance together! But if we fall after running past our limits, we might get hurt. Uraraka better wear her boots, since they cushion her falls. I wonder why her gloves don't have the same function. I suppose legs are better suited to cushion blows than…"
His leg-related thoughts were cut short as he ran out of strength and collapsed on the ground.
"Ouch."
"Everyone's so excited…" Deku mumbled, Iida smirking beside him.
"And you aren't?" the bespectacled student said, waving him towards the door, "Come on, let's go to lunch."
Ochaco was still processing Aizawa's words on why it was so important to do well at the Sports Festival, realizing it was truly time to begin her hero career. It was time to transform from just Ochaco into something more. She had to show the world: they weren't dealing with the average gravity hero anymore. She was going to rise above, and become a legend; a legend which villains would fear.
"Deku… Iida…" she whispered darkly, catching their attention.
She turned to them and set her jaw, feeling herself swell with determination.
"What happened to your face, Uraraka?!"
"What the…? You're not looking very Uraraka, Uraraka," Mina mumbled, her expression a little confused.
She ignored their remarks and raised her hand in declaration.
"Everyone! I'm gonna crush this!" she exclaimed, channeling the ambient Kat-chan and drawing out a few raised fists in those around her.
She noticed Deku doing so as well, his expression a little confused but with a cute grin, and continued to pump her fist with her friends. Of course, she couldn't really stay there all day, and she was rather hungry, so she decided to transition from open statement to action.
"Deku-kun!" she exclaimed, pointing directly at him, "This week we're gonna train like no one's ever trained before, and crush the competition with the power of Gravity!"
The plain-looking boy she'd set her sights on began to look flustered and confused, but that was all part of the plan. She marched forward and grabbed his arm, tugging him towards the door.
"Training!" she shouted, dragging Deku away with Iida in tow.
"help…" he whispered to the class as they exited.
When she was out of the room, Ochaco let her intense mood fade and giggled. She let go of Deku so he could stand up.
"Sorry, got a bit swept up, ya know?" she apologized, grinning and placing her fingers together in the way she liked to do.
"It's okay," he assured her, looking away and seeming just as nervous as before, "Um… can I ask you- I mean, would you mind if I… Why do you want to be a hero, Uraraka?"
Her energy wilted just a bit. She didn't really know how to state her reasons, especially when Deku's and Iida's were so selfless.
"Um… I guess you could say… for the money…" she trailed off.
"...Money?!" Deku exclaimed, surprised etched on his face, "You wanna be a hero for the money?!"
"I mean, ultimately, yeah…" she muttered, itching at her head with a little shame.
"I'm sorry, I know it seems selfish and base, especially with your guys' really noble motivations and all…"
"But why? There is really nothing wrong with seeking a more comfortable lifestyle!" Iida interjected on her behalf.
"Y-yeah, it's just a little unexpected, that's all…" Deku mumbled, apologetically.
Ochaco felt her heart tingle with joy as she realized she had nothing to worry about. These were her best friends, and they wouldn't think any less of her if she'd said she wanted to be a hero for the girls, like Mineta. Tears stung at her eyes, and she pulled them into a quick hug before explaining her motivations a little more.
"So, you can actually fly now?" Ochaco asked, moving her rook forward and taking a pawn.
"Yep. Not really fast, and I'm a little better at stopping than moving, but I don't just go wherever my head's pointing at mach 11 or just kind of drift like before," Deku confirmed, shifting his knight over to take her rook.
"Damn…" she hissed, wondering how she'd missed his trap, "Well, at least you'll be able to show that off at the festival. I have to make do with whatever they have, so depending on what's in the area: I could be out of luck."
Deku smirked, stretching a little as he waited for her to make another move.
"There's gonna be other people there, and even if there weren't: there's always something you can work with. Unless they stick you in an empty box of concrete, anchored to the ground like nothing else, all it takes is a little ingenuity and you'll have something to work your magic on."
"You're so positive, Deku. Where's this confidence when you're talking about yourself?" she sighed, trying to move her king out of the way.
He shook his head, tapping his rook gently. Groaning, Ochaco moved her piece back and let Deku flick her forehead for almost making an illegal move. Luckily, he was so timid about it she barely felt his finger brush her hair. She was going to hold back on her turns too, but since he'd yet to make a mistake like that and he'd been progressively kicking her butt for the last hour, she was reconsidering.
"I'm… I'm not as cool as you guys. I'm barely even able to use my quirk, but… I mean, just look around. You're already as tough as some pros. Sidekick level at least."
"See that's exactly what I'm talking about. You're so depressing sometimes, and all bubbly about all of us. Come on, I'm about a second away from throwing up all over the floor here, and barring this one: you've won each game for the last half-hour in like, six moves!"
Swallowing, Ochaco tried her knight, smirking as she realized she could get a Check the next move. Deku nodded, as if considering her words, before pushing his queen forward to the end of the board.
"Check."
Ochaco waited for him to answer her other comments, but quickly realized he wasn't going to on his own.
"That's all you have to say? Check?! Deku: you can't be so self-deprecating all the time!"
She stood up and pointed down at him authoritatively.
"I don't allow anyone to bad-talk my bestie! Not even you, Deku-kun!" she informed him.
He blushed a little, and nodded.
"s-sorry…"
Giving his cute apology a serious nod, Ochaco sat back down and smiled normally again.
"Good. Now where were- agh!" she groaned, her face shifting to despair, "Check… blagh…"
She pushed her king out of harm's way, knowing he would just chase her the next turn. But he surprised her, chuckling and moving a pawn forward instead. Ochaco didn't hesitate, and seized her chance, pushing her knight over to place his king in Check.
"Check, Deku!" she cheered, for the first time that day.
Deku grinned and clapped for her, before pushing his king closer to her Knight and worrying her slightly. She pulled back, returning him to Check.
"Check again!"
"Okay," he grinned, pushing his rook across and taking her knight.
"Your tactical wit sickens me," Ochaco groaned, laying back and placing her face in her hands, "Ugh. And speaking of: I think I'm at my limit. Can you help me down?"
Deku reached towards her, then paused and sat back down in his cross-legged posture, shaking his head.
"Uraraka, this is supposed to be Quirk training, right?"
"Mhm..."
"Well, Quirks are like muscles, and you have to use them to train them. But you don't get stronger by just doing what you can. You get stronger by pushing yourself to and past your limits and letting your body heal."
"If I throw up and fall to my death, I'm haunting you," she swore, sitting back up and bouncing just a bit as the centrifugal force of the planet pushed on her weightless body.
"Just look on the bright side: since your whole body's zero-g, the blood doesn't rush to your head, so you don't get head and stomach aches even faster," he prompted, smiling brightly.
"You're too happy for someone who's fallen from the ceiling three times today."
"I'll make you a deal," he deflected, rubbing his bruised shoulder absentmindedly, "If you can win this game: I'll clean everything up myself, instead of together."
"You're going down!" Ochaco vowed, pushing her queen to take his rook in revenge.
Deku smirked and pushed his pawn forward again. She wondered why he was so insistent on having it march to its death against her remaining knight. Deciding it was a distraction, she moved up her queen to just shy of the king.
"Check 3: The Reckoning!"
Pulling his king sideways, Deku's eyes twinkled evilly. Ochaco didn't like it when he smiled with dark intent. It ruined his cinnamon roll factor, which was something she wouldn't stand for.
Deciding to risk her move, she pulled her rook up to try and wall off the king's range. He grinned and pushed his pawn forward again. She placed down two lanes of death, giving his King no choice but to retreat. He pushed towards her rook as he evaded, his confidence never wavering. She glanced back at the rook, seeing if it could switch to the other side, and decided to risk it.
They danced around for a bit, including a clever switch where he got to the other side of her blockade by using a pawn as a shield: his actual destination as opposed to her rook. For a moment afterwards, she thought she had him, but heard him laugh. She looked over to see him push his pawn into the end, picking it up and replacing it with a queen.
"ア,シト," she grumbled.
"Wh-what?"
"Nothing, just… lamenting my crushed hopes and dreams."
Ochaco tried to keep up, but with his king still hiding, and a spare queen to help him chop up her remaining pieces, it was all a staying action. In the end, she knocked over her own king when he quietly reminded her: "Checkmate."
"Good game, Dek-" she broke off, turning away and tilting her head up to release a stream of sparkly-unhappiness from her mouth and down to the floor, "Th-that's the sign we're done…"
Deku unclipped the weights he'd strapped to his body, most of them dangling by ropes he'd found somewhere, letting them fall back down to the easily-replaced concrete. Stepping over to her, he held her shoulders, and when she nodded: shifted around to rub her back a little. It was nice, having a friend who cared so much.
"Right, let's get you down," he conceded, quickly boxing their game and handing it to her.
Taking the chess set, Ochaco let Deku pick her up and curled towards him subconsciously, not remembering the last time she'd felt this much like garbage. He gave her a little squeeze of reassurance, before flipping them and descending slowly to land a few feet away from the vomit.
"Okay, you're good," he verified, glancing around for a moment to make sure no one was around.
Touching the pads of her fingers together, Ochaco felt like a heavy burden was just removed from her entire body.
"R-release…" she whispered.
Every weight she'd been able to float suddenly detached from the ceiling where they'd become stuck, smashing the ground in various spots. She groaned as she saw how much they had to clean.
"Don't worry," Deku soothed, "You can take a rest while I get a mop and bucket. Drink some water, and maybe do some stretches. You'll feel better."
He offered her a water bottle, and Ochaco gave him a thankful smile before laying down and pretending she'd died. Deku chuckled at her antics, before heading off to the janitorial closet.
"I wonder why I'm so bad at chess?" Uraraka mused, sweeping at the concrete powder around one of the impact points.
"It's because you're too focused on one piece," Izuku guessed, stacking the last of the weights where they belonged and turning back to her, "You were so busy trying to get my king that you didn't see where any of the other pieces were, or how I might want to use them. You have to guess at a lot of possible moves and figure out what your opponent's thinking."
"Kind of like you and Kat-chan?" she surmised, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
"Well- yeah, I guess kind of, but I've been friends with him for a long time, so I don't know if I really can call it prediction at this point," he amended.
"That too, but you have the same problem I do, don't you?" she clarified.
Izuku blinked, trying to figure out what she meant by that. He didn't throw up, he just fell. Unless she meant in chess, but he was always overthinking things when it came to pretty much everything, didn't he?
"I mean, whenever we train and you two are against each other or able to compare scores, you guys look like fated rivals or something," Uraraka continued, fingering the broom and shuffling her feet a little in her adorably embarrassed posture, "Or maybe I'm projecting, I dunno…"
Glancing down at the floor, Izuku didn't see his surroundings as his mind rewound to the last few times he'd been in such situations. That was right, he had been competing with Kacchan, and in more ways than just the other students. Even in just the first battle training, he'd intentionally sent Uraraka off to deal with Iida alone, despite her not being suited to one-on-one combat in enclosed spaces. All so he could duel his bully and prove himself capable.
But he hadn't been doing it for himself, or All Might, or anyone else who really mattered. He'd been doing it for Kacchan, who now hated him more than ever.
"-eku… Deku!"
Izuku shook himself, returning to the present and realizing Uraraka was shouting at him from the floor. Glancing down, he realized that while he'd been pondering and probably muttering something vaguely related, he'd inadvertently activated his 0% Float and begun to drift like something Uraraka had touched. Comically, he'd also stayed in a perfectly straight posture, as if standing, despite being at a 30 degree angle from normal.
"Sorry, I, um… was overthinking things," he apologized, easing himself down.
"You do that a lot," she teased, breathing a sigh of relief, "So; we done for the day?"
"Um… actually, there was one thing I wanted to do, before we ended…" Izuku mumbled, itching at the back of his head.
Was he really considering doing this with a girl? With his best friend Uraraka? Granted, it would be better than with Kacchan, and probably Iida too, but maybe Kaminari or Sato might make better partners for his first time?
"I wondered if we could… maybe, if you want to… spar a little," he whispered, a bit lamely.
"Spar?" Uraraka clarified, tilting her head cutely, "Sure, but I don't really know how we'd do that. I'm not really up for hitting the floor right now."
"Well, I was thinking we could go out to the grass and try it there," he clarified, "And it wouldn't be anything intense. Just… take-down training."
"So, like tackles?"
"Well, I'd take the roll of a villain, and you'd trap me or defeat me somehow. Then we'd switch."
"Oh!" Uraraka beamed, "And since we're pretty much burned out for our quirks, it'll be harder!"
Izuku nodded, and she gave him the thumbs-up.
"Alright!" he cheered, nodding for the open doors, "Wanna race?"
"You'd win, you cheater," she laughed, finishing her sweeping job and going to put the broom away, "Not all of us can have it both ways."
Her comment confused Izuku, and as she walked back from the closed janitor's closet, she realized he didn't know what she meant. Uraraka smiled and poked his chest.
"Deku, your face looks like a teddy bear, but you're also pretty fit. It's really jarring when your shirt is destroyed or missing."
"Oh! I'm sorry."
"Don't be, it's kinda cute," she laughed, jogging towards the shaded grass area a bit outside of the quirk-training gym.
Picking up his pace to keep up with her, Izuku felt his face shift to a bright red. Why was it so hard to deal with girls? Especially Uraraka. The other girls he knew were getting easier to talk to, especially after working with them in class and seeing them as heroes first, but Och- Uraraka never ceased to fluster him.
Swallowing, Izuku tried to get his focus back.
Coming to a stop on the grass, Uraraka bounced a little and brought her hands up in a mock-fighting stance.
"Alright, Villain!" she proclaimed, trying to imitate Iida's intense posture from the Indoors Battle, "I will stop your machinations here! Prepare yourself for my signature combat moves: The Beautiful Tea Child: Ochako-Style!"
Grinning and getting into character himself, Izuku scrunched his face up into his best All Might, but with a more maniacal grin.
"Fear greatly, Citizen! Your hope has departed! For I have appeared!" He proclaimed, holding out his arms in the most pompous stance he could manage.
For a moment, they both stood utterly still. Then the scene broke, with Uraraka literally spitting her laugh across the grass while Deku shook with restrained laughter.
"You can't just play anti-All Might! That's no fair!" she managed, pointing at him, "And your face! How do you even do that? You cast like, impossible shadows!"
"This is coming from Ms. "Beautiful Tea Child?" You tell a villain that much, and they're gonna track you down outside of work hours. What if they catch you napping?" he teased back, holding his diaphragm a little, "Or even worse: cooking."
"How would cooking be worse than sleeping?" Uraraka asked, easing up a little.
Izuku held up his finger authoritatively, his expression intense.
""Household fires from stoves, ovens, and other cooking devices left unattended are a serious hazard. Be sure to turn them off before doing anything else, even fighting villains! No dish is worth your home.""
Uraraka held his gaze for a solid two seconds, before breaking back into uncontrolled laughter and rolling on the ground.
"Y-you can't quote the Thirteen Holiday Special at this time of year!" she gasped, wiping at a few tears, "I'm never gonna be able to un-hear you saying that now, you know that?"
"Then you admit defeat, foolish hero?" he asked, politely.
"Never!"
Managing to get back to her feet, Uraraka got back into her "battle stance" and charged him.
"Ochako-Style!" she called, leaping at him.
Izuku was surprised, and only managed to get his arms up by the time she'd run right into him. Her arms wrapped around his midsection, her head buried in his stomach. She didn't move.
"U-u-u-uraraka?" he asked, turning red.
She twisted around to look up at him, smirking.
"Ochako-style, secret technique: Hug of Destruction."
Izuku had to admit: she'd won. No villain would expect a hug, and with her floating quirk: even if they retaliated, they'd just propel themselves into the air faster.
He also had to admit, it was ultra-effective on him.