Chapter Text
Midmorning in Tokyo felt different somehow-- maybe it was because the streets were always emptier than just before schooltime, when the businesspeople in their smart suits filed into the many office buildings lining the street. Maybe it was the buttery aroma of baking goods, a pleasant scent stirring from restaurants and cafes all around as the owners inside prepared for a chaotic lunchtime. But maybe, most likely, it was the way the light fell upon the earth just prior to noon. How, on cloudless days, the concrete reflected it so brightly that one had to take shelter under store awnings just to see through the brightness, and on days that there were clouds… well, it seemed as if you could follow the golden beams like a stepway into heaven.
Izuku liked to fancy himself a morning person. He rose with the sun, looked forward to inhaling the dewy scents, and breathed air so clear that sometimes it helped his mind find a similar peace. It was a reminder that he had another whole day to work hard and better himself. Another whole day to achieve a new personal best and take one more step towards being the hero he wanted to be one day, to help people.
And even better than that, this particular morning was pretty special. It was the start of a new day, to be sure, and one he’d be spending with someone who brought out the very best in him.
The crowd parted just ahead, a familiar pink and black costume appearing suddenly in the street. A smile bloomed unbidden on his face. As the Ryukyu Agency’s glass door swung shut behind her, their eyes met, his chest tightening as her expression lit up. It wasn’t just the approaching spring’s heat that warmed Izuku then-- he still couldn’t believe that anyone, let alone someone as wonderful as Ochako Uraraka, would smile that widely just because they saw him. Even the thought alone made him a little more conscious of the way his knees shook under her gaze. “Oh, Deku-kun! You’re here!”
“Hey, Uraraka-san!” he called, running the last few steps to close their distance. She waved, falling into step as she led him down the street from the office she’d be calling her home base for the next few weeks. “Sorry I’m so late-- I really underestimated how much Endeavor-san had to brief me on. I guess breakfast is a little out of the question…”
She laughed at him, bright and bubbly, and he blushed even though he knew it wasn’t mean-spirited. Ochako always thought the strangest things were funny. “Nah, it’s totally okay. You’re super in-demand now, can ya believe it?” He shook his head, the heat in his cheeks ever rising, as her bell-like voice only grew more musical. “I can’t believe you’d stand a girl up though, here I thought you were a gentleman.”
“N-No! Oh, no, no-- please don’t-- I wouldn’t, would never--”
“No worries, you can make it up to me later.”
He sputtered out more apologies, but the twinkle in her brown irises forced him to avert his gaze, covering his mouth as he tried to will his color away. She was teasing him. It wasn’t incredibly often she pulled his strings just to get a reaction, but they hadn’t been able to see each other a whole lot lately either, what with another round of term finals, New Years’ break, and field exercises in preparation for another bout of work studies. She never embarrassed him on purpose, but sometimes she was too mischievous to resist.
Never thought teasing could be so-- good-natured...
But then, she’d taught him a lot of things.
“What was that, Deku?” she asked, pausing whatever tangent she’d gone off on-- presumably about the lunch they were about to eat. It wasn’t as if Izuku hadn’t been listening, but he’d admittedly been caught off-guard by the secure happiness she seemed to radiate his way and how shiny her hair looked in the sun. Whoa…
He’d always thought she was pretty, but since she’d saved him during Joint Training back in November he caught himself practically magnetized by the way she smiled a gentle smile only for him, used a soft tone he only heard during their conversations, or rested her hands anywhere along his arms when she didn’t do that to anyone else. Except for maybe Asui, but she described their relationship as sister-like. She’d begun referring to him in a very particular way, though: best friend.
Izuku had never had a best friend before. But just remembering the way she’d first said it, not quite able to meet his eyes as she trembled in his doorway after that horrible incident, filled him with a warmth he couldn’t hope to measure, ever. You’re my best friend. I just want you to know that I’m here for you. They’d both turned beacon-red and she’d run off before he could blink, and if this was what it meant to have a best friend Izuku wasn’t sure if it was good for his heart or not. But the thought of having someone in his corner, someone who protected him and just liked being around him, well… he could get used to it! “Ah-- oh, I was wondering if you have any suggestions about food, that’s all!”
She pursed her lips, contemplative. Izuku ducked again, bashful, as he stole a smile away at the funny expression. “Well, we’ll be doing office work today, so we don’t have to eat light or anything. There’s ramen, if you’re in the mood for that.”
“Oh!” He perked up. He liked ramen, even if no one made it quite as well as his mother. “Gosh, I haven’t had anything but the instant kind in forever. That sounds perfect.”
“Great! I’ll get some, too-- and they have mochi, so it couldn’t be better!”
She bounced ahead, Izuku nearly having to jog to keep up as they turned a corner onto an even buiser street. After a couple blocks, she slowed, waving him into one of the open-air stalls so popular in the Tokyo shopping districts. His smile grew even wider as he and Ochako placed their orders, grabbing seats across from one another at one of the few tables under the awning.
“Me and Tsu eat here pretty often,” she said, tearing off bits of her yakitori with her teeth. He felt a little bad for causing her to skip breakfast, based on how ravenously she ate. “I’m pretty sure I’ve tried, like, everything. What do you think?”
He hummed, raising his chopsticks and taking a bite. Man, she really hadn’t been kidding when she said this place was good! “It’s heartier than what I’m used to, but in a good way.” She nodded, like she fully expected him to say that. He should’ve guessed./ “I really like it. But-- ah! Speaking of As-- Tsu-san--”
“--chan!”
“Tsu-chan! Right!” He managed to fend off the blush this time even if Ochako snickered. “She didn’t want to come?”
Ochako shook her head. “No, she’ll be eating in the lounge today since she has a bunch of reports to file. She was out with Nejire-chan last week on patrols and it was so active she’ll be lucky if she’s off desk duty by June!”
“That’s a bummer, but it’s cool she’s getting so much experience.”
“I know! Oh my gosh, you’ve gotta hear about how they took out this weather-changing villain week before last…”
The world seemed to pause as Ochako leaned across the table, directing conversation back and forth with a practiced ease he could never hope to match. Still, he laughed and asked questions and imagined her experiences in his head as Ochako described the growing dynamics between her and her teammates. She’d had three whole months, give or take, to get used to working alongside Ryukyu and her agency. It seemed like an entirely different world than Endeavor’s, where he was in a state of constant competition with not only himself but Kacchan and Todoroki as well. Or even Sir Nighteye’s, where in the days leading up to Eri’s rescue he was reminded again and again that he wasn’t worthy of All Might’s power.
Smile a bit strained, he reached for his glass, throat inexplicably dry. Ochako seemed happy. He was glad. She didn’t deserve something that stressful, with how hard she worked already. “You really seem to like it here,” he told her, as he finished up another anecdote.
Her eyes softened, just a touch. Like they always did when she spoke from her heart. “I do. I dunno if it’s where I want to stay permanently, but for now I’m having so much fun with Tsu, Nejire, and the others. Oh, Deku! I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone! They’re gonna love you, I know it.”
A shock raced down his sternum, right into his chest. Izuku squeezed his eyes shut, body going rigid as he waved his hands at her. “W-W-What makes you say that?”
“Cause you’re you! Duh,” she answered, as if that explained anything. But she continued, not giving him a chance to decipher her words. “You know Nejire okay, but she was happy Endeavor sent you instead of Bakugo or Todoroki because you’re… well, much easier to get along with. Not to mention Ryukyu. I don’t think I told you, but she was way impressed with how you fought at the Yakuza raid. As for the rest, it’ll be different from Endeavor’s office, at least from what you said about it. Ryukyu has less sidekicks, and most are out doing assignments for the Commission--”
Izuku’s head spun. Information overload. Finally, she took a breath, and he seized the opportunity to focus in on anything not about himself. “The Commission?”
“Yup! Prestigious stuff, right?” He nodded vigorously. The Hero Public Commission only handled the most important cases directly, usually stuff that had the potential to affect the whole country. He could only imagine what kind of missions they were on. “Ryukyu’s actually coming back later this week to help monitor suspicious activity nearby-- which is why you’re here, of course-- so you’ll get to see her soon, too! But I’m still gonna introduce you to everyone!”
He sighed good-naturedly. There really was no stopping Typhoon Ochako, uplifting whirlwind extraordinaire.
“Mr. Inoshishi is the doorman, but he has a Quirk that turns him into a giant so he’s basically like our bouncer. Super nice guy, though. Miss Chage, Ryukyu’s secretary, makes the best tea ever-- she knows the perfect brew for however you’re feeling. Nejire-chan will probably still be busy, but I know Tsu will enjoy seeing you. Now that I think of it, I dunno if the other interns will be there…”
Izuku paused, wide-eyed, as his occupied chopsticks drooped away from his mouth. “Other interns? I had no idea UA had others sent to Ryukyu this term.”
“Oh, they didn’t. They’re Shiketsu and Ketsubetsu students.”
Izuku finished his bite, memories tumbling across his mind.
He supposed it had been a little narrow-minded for him not to realize it-- UA may have been the national, premiere school for heroics training, but it certainly wasn’t the only one. Even though the licensing exam where he’d first encountered students of both academies had been brutal, he felt a strange sense of camaraderie with them. Things were getting more and more dangerous with each passing day, and the exam’s dual purpose had been to give them clearance to serve as stopgaps during emergencies where pros couldn’t arrive to the scene in time and to serve as extra hands for those pros in their agencies. They’d all worked extremely hard to acquire their provisional licenses and get scouted for these work studies. And, in some ways, students from those schools had worked even harder-- UA had a platform for exposure no other programs did, and on top of that they were the youngest classes ever to apply.
Maybe it had to do with location, but thinking back on it, maybe it was pretty weird that he hadn’t run into any other schools during his varied work studies. Not that any of his mentors were particularly liberal with their choices, or anything. In fact… he’d been handpicked every time, as had Ochako.
“Do you guys work together a lot?” he asked, curious. Would their fighting styles be informed by their curriculum? Were certain classes taken earlier or later? What kinds of Quirks did they have-- surely they were as powerful as UA students!
“Sometimes? Usually, though, we just team up with people we know we work well with, so I’m actually out with Nejire-chan a lot. Sometimes I get paired with Abe-chan, or Hirano-chan when we’re short on people. Enkeimoto-san gets paired up with Ryukyu’s head sidekick a lot. They’re-- y’know, fine.” Izuku glanced up, taking note of how she shrugged as she rattled off names. That was weird. It wasn’t like Ochako to act so blase, especially about the people she interacted with. “Abe and Hirano bring us all snacks from this little cafe next to Shiketsu when they come to visit, so they’re pretty cool in my book!”
“So the other one’s from Ketsubutsu, then…?”
“Yeah, but-- oh, Deku, look-- I just kept talking and talking!” She shot up, nearly knocking her chair over. Izuku yelped as she grabbed his wrist, while he snatched his last chicken cutlet from the bowl as she pulled him back toward the street. “I’m so sorry! We’re gonna be late!”
It was all he could do not to mourn the unfinished ramen-- still, he chose not to mention that he still had forty-five minutes until his appointment with Kirin.
Ochako had glanced at the clock before she dragged him away.
The short walk back to Ryukyu’s passed just as the walk from it had-- with Ochako explaining and joking and babbling and babbling while Izuku hung off her every word. He felt so at home here. Walking the streets, alongside a trusted partner, in full costume as the early spring breeze swept his bangs into his eyes, he wondered if he had more of these kinds of moments to look forward to. He hoped so. After a while, though, Ochako slowed to a halt, ending their leisurely stroll all too soon. Izuku looked up at the tinted glass windows looming over the street. “Shuakuaresu Police…?”
She nodded. “Yup! Gimme just a second, I had to send something up here to get approved. You can wait out here, or come inside if ya want--”
“O-Oh, I can wait!”
“If you’re sure-- I’ll be right back!”
Ochako ran into the building, and about fifteen minutes later bounced out again, Izuku looking up from the bench he’d sat down on. The beaming smile on her face commanded his attention even from the newest Team Lurker interview flashing across the Hero News Network app. He saved it to read later. “Thanks for waiting, sorry it took so long!”
“Did you get everything you needed?”
“Mmhm!” She nodded as he stood and began walking alongside her, continuing the last few blocks to the agency headquarters. Sure enough, she waved a laminated packet in her hand. “You’re looking at a very official set of papers-- you see, Deku-kun, Ryukuyu decided that Tsu-chan and I are such good communicators that we can start PR training.”
His mouth hung open. “Really? That’s so cool! Gosh, Endeavor-san won’t let any of us within ten feet of a reporter…”
Not that Izuku blamed him, or anything. He thought back to the one Public Relations lesson they’d had just prior to winter break, where he’d frozen on-screen until he started rambling off his encyclopedic list of All Might facts. He was still embarrassed he’d scored amongst the lowest in their class that day. Ochako, though, was a natural. She always seemed a little flustered being the center of attention, but she played it off with such a likability that even Mt. Lady had barely noticed. He figured she’d be really good at this type of thing.
“You flatter me, Deku,” she giggled, and he flushed, realizing he said all of that out loud. Crap. He still wasn’t quite used to the fact that she could decipher his tangents now. “It’s no big deal, if I’m being honest. Ryukyu just wanted me to draft our agencies’ joint statement for the police. She said it’s good that I learn how, and that this was a perfect opportunity since I’ll be working with Endeavor’s representative on this case-- which is you, of course.”
Teaming up again with Uraraka-san--
He couldn’t ask for a better partner. It was maybe a bit naive, but they worked so well together he was willing to take on any challenge, as long as he had her to watch his back. And of course, with him watching hers, too. “I’m glad you were able to get it approved!”
“Wanna read it?”
She sounded so eager he couldn’t possibly say no. So, flipping through some of the documents until he found his target, Izuku smiled. They were interns, so even though this was pretty trivial in the grand scheme of things, firsts were always so important. Every day, they took steps that brought them closer to being pros! Ochako had so many of those necessary skills already. She clearly had this one as well, because this statement was nearly indistinguishable from the countless reports he’d helped to file back at Endeavor’s.
He was about to tell her as much, too, when he looked up to speak and paused.
Ochako tilted her head, following his gaze to the storefront beside them.
Just down the street, pink frilly awnings framed a brightly-decorated florist shop, with pots and small shrubs spilling out from the store onto the pavement out front. Beyond those, a tiny wooden ladder stood propped against the wall. Two small boots perched towards the top of it, a short, elderly lady leaning away from one of the awnings, with what looked like a rolled-up poster balanced precariously across the rungs.
She shifted. The ladder wobbled--
He and Ochako were moving before the woman realized what was happening.
She opened her eyes, looking up from where she’d pitched sideways off the ladder and into thin air. Izuku could only imagine her surprise. She blinked a few times, definitely confused about how the ground was still ten feet away, and how she wasn’t moving any closer to it.
Her startled gaze landed on Izuku, who now firmly gripped the ladder at ground-level. He pointed ahead of her sheepishly. She lifted her head, only to come face-to-face with big brown eyes and a cheerful smile. She groaned. “Oh, it’s your Quirk!”
Ochako laughed. “Sorry to rush in like that, ma’am! Didn’t want ya to fall, though!”
“No, dear, thank you- - I can’t afford any broken bones at this age!”
Ochako helped her back on the ladder, Izuku spotting as he tucked their documents under his arm in order to fully concentrate on the women above. At the lady’s direction, Ochako took the opposite end of the poster and floated away so that they could unfurl it without any wrinkles, helping to maneuver it into place. As she pinned it in place the lady descended, Izuku taking her hand to help her regain her balance on solid ground.
He heard a call of “Release!” and just like that, Ochako was beside them again.
“Sorry for the trouble, young ones,” the woman said, refixing her salt-and-pepper ponytail. Now that she stood beside them, Izuku could see she was shorter than them both. “Normally I don’t have to worry about stuff like that happening, but I’m afraid both of my assistants called in sick today--”
Oh, so that explained why she was doing something so dangerous alone!
Ochako waved her off. “Ah! It’s totally fine! We’re happy to help--”
“Wait a second, I recognize you! You’ve been patrolling with Nejire-chan for the past couple of months, right? You must be one of Ryukyu’s new kids!” She glanced at Izuku, who threw his hands up. “I can’t place where I know you from, but I do…”
Luckily, she chimed in so he didn’t have to. “He’s a friend from Endeavor’s. Only here for a bit, unfortunately, but as helpful as they come!”
“I see! Well, as thanks, why don’t you kids drop by later this week? I’ll have something for you if you do!”
Ochako denied the need for thanks, but at the woman’s insistence, confirmed that she and Izuku would be back before his stint at Ryukyu’s came to an end. Before leaving, Izuku got a glance at the poster Ochako had helped to hang: Spring Irises, Buy One Get One Free!! Both wore grins even bigger than they had been wearing as they continued down the street. A surreal feeling of contentment overcame him.
“You know, Uraraka-san… you're very good at what you do.”
She blinked in confusion, glancing up at him and clearly prompting him to continue. Suddenly nervous, he cleared his throat. “T-That is to say… heroes are supposed to put people at ease, right? It seems like every person you come across is encouraged when you’re around, or you lift their spirits. I-I know it’s that way for me, at least.”
“I-- you-- really?”
From the corner of his eye, he could see that she’d whipped around to face him, hands already moving swiftly to her cheeks. His eyes widened to mirror hers as she drifted off the ground. Why was her blush getting darker? Had he embarrassed her? “U-Uraraka?”
“Oh, Deku-kun-- you really shouldn’t compliment me so casually! Ya might give a girl the wrong idea.”
“Wait, what does that mean?” Heat crept across his own nose. “You compliment me all the time!”
“It’s different!”
“Different how? And what wrong ideas?”
They’d reached the front door of Rykyu’s agency. Just as Izuku was about to make sure he hadn’t accidentally said something weird, Ochako waved him off with a flustered smile, eyes darting anywhere but his direction. She opened the door. “You should only say stuff when ya mean it, that’s all.” And, quieter, before he could even protest that he did, in fact, mean it, “‘Sides, there’s bound to be someone out there who would rather me not be around at all.”
Izuku’s eyebrows pinched together, her words biting at every nerve in his body. This voice was different from the Uraraka he was so used to. Her energy was gone, and so was the cheerfulness he found both beautiful and strong. How… could she say something like that? Every day he spent with her was better than the ones without, just by her being there. How could anyone not want Ochako around?
He didn’t even have time to string together a reply.
A short old man in a nice suit took the door’s weight from Ochako, pushing it fully open and allowing her to release herself again. A dark gray mustache hid a kind smile. “Miss Uravity! I see you found your friend! That’s wonderful. Welcome back!”
“Thank you, Mr. Inoshishi.”
Just like that, her usual natural smile was back as if it had never fumbled at all, leaving Izuku to wonder whether he’d been imagining sadness the whole time-- even though he knew better.
“Ochako-chan!” A familiar voice cut through the storm in his mind. “Hey, hey, hey, did you get everything you needed from the police station?”
Ochako’s eyes finally lit up in a real, noticeable difference from before. So he hadn’t been imagining it. But Nejire’s good spirits were infectious, and Izuku couldn’t help but smile, too. She sat behind the counter, grinning up at them from a stack of papers she ran an ink pen meticulously across. However, something else caught his eye. Izuku peeked above the tall counter, where he could just barely see long black hair bopping toward one end and finally swinging into view. “Yeah, I have the statement done up right here! And I also picked up--”
“Midoriya-chan. Welcome to the agency, kero. I’m glad we get to work with you this week.”
He bowed. “Good to see you, Ts-Tsuyu-chan, Hadou-san! Feels like forever since we’ve seen each other out in the field.”
“Not long enough if you ask me,” Tsuyu responded.
He tried not to take that personal-- after all, their last mission hadn’t exactly been easy-- but he still couldn’t help but sweat a little. It was true that whenever Class 1-A found themselves entangled in trouble, he was always in the thick of it. It wasn’t like his friends hadn’t noticed, either. Nejire, though, giggled. “The look of a wounded child, poor Deku-- don’t let these party poopers fool you, we’re really happy to work with you again!”
“Th-Thanks…”
Oh, now the redness was unhidable for sure.
“We have a station set up for you upstairs,” Ochako chirped. “I just need to grab an access card--”
“We’ll have to go upstairs, kero. The ones down here are all used up.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yup. The other interns all came in today.”
“Did they now…”
“Mm.”
“Well!” Ochako clapped her hands together, whirling in his direction. She’d placed her documents on the counter. Izuku tilted his head, desperately trying to keep up. These girls were already a handful. “I’ll have to run upstairs to get you a badge. Wait here, Deku, we’ll be right back!”
Before he could even offer affirmation, Ochako and Tsuyu disappeared behind a door further down, into what presumably led to a stairwell and the rest of the office building beyond.
“Uraraka!”
Her name resounded through the building. But it was not his voice that called out to her.
She let her bounce carry her a few more steps forward, eventually coming to a pause. But she didn’t turn around. Instead, her posture straightened, her head ducking inward so that her longer strands of brown hair hid her expression completely. “Yes?”
“I need a few minutes about the documents.”
“Oh, sure, I… guess…”
Izuku watched as a young man a couple years older than himself fell into step alongside Ochako. He’d come out of seemingly nowhere. Izuku couldn’t place him as a hero he knew, or even a sidekick, even though he wore a costume-- there was no mistaking the camouflage green military-style greaves, boots, and scarf as anything else. None of these things, though, gave away his Quirk. Much less who he actually was.
He and Ochako stepped out of earshot, Tsuyu having already made her way over to the elevator. Izuku traced the movement of his lips. Realizing that this, too, was a form of eavesdropping, he averted his gaze, watching his friend only from the corner of his eye.
Her brow furrowed, as if she was confused. But… this felt different somehow. Her cheeks were pink again, as pink as when he’d complimented her earlier. But the look in her eyes wasn’t the same as it had been then.
She opened her mouth, and abruptly shut it again. Izuku was torn between wanting to know and not wanting to intrude.
“You could always ask her later,” Nejire’s voice interjected, and he stiffened.
She peered over the counter, quite literally on the edge of her seat, huddling towards him like he was some kind of workplace gossip columnist. He fanned the embarrassment away. Well, at least he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t take their eyes off them. That had to count for something! “N-No, that’s Uraraka’s business, I couldn’t pry like that!”
“Says the boy who’s gawking!”
He slapped his hands across his eyes. “Was I that obvious?”
“No need for all that,” Nejire said with a light laugh, sitting back in the rolling desk chair. “Glad to see all of this--” she made a general gesture-- “hasn’t changed you on the inside, Midoriya. I get concerned for you guys! But about Ochako, I’m sure it’s nothing serious. Maybe one of the documents got messed up. But, oh! I guess you should know-- that’s Enkeimoto. He’ll be working with you two on the Endeavor transfer case.”
“Working with us?”
“Mhm, me and Tsu are doing a case of our own this week, so Kirin decided to have Enkeimoto supervise you two. He’s a third year-- from Ketsubutsu. That should be fine, right?”
Izuku blinked. Ketsubutsu, huh? “Oh, I’m sure it’ll be… okay…”
The young man, Enkeimoto, turned away from Ochako. Green eyes traced her movements as she slipped into the elevator next to Tsuyu, turning around and taking a deep breath once she did. She looked up. Everything else in his field of vision blurred as Izuku’s world called her into focus. He offered a small smile, and she responded with one of her own. It calmed him. Even if it was laced with tiredness. The elevator doors closed, Izuku still so unsure.
“So, you’re the one she’s in love with?”
He jumped.
The voice came from right behind him. While he’d been preoccupied with his friend, the dark form had receded from his tunneled view-- everything sped up again, his surroundings becoming clear. “Wha--” And then, the words directed at him registered.
In love with!?
A pitiful squeak escaped his throat, Izuku flushing to a shade of crimson Kirishima would cry chivalrous tears at. Did he mean Ochako? He had to mean Ochako. Ochako-- i-in love with? As if! Never in a million years would she settle for him! Was it because she was excited to see him? Of course she would be though, they were friends!
Suddenly Izuku was ashamed for even associating with her to embarrass her at this level. “Ack! W-We’re just—I-I mean—I’m Izuku Midoriya—I’m her… classmate. She’s ah, my best—uh, good—um—close? Friend? Heh! Yup…”
Where was she when he needed her? He’d really appreciate being floated into the cold, dark expanse of the final frontier right about now.
“Right… “
Anxiety winding his muscles, Izuku finally turned to face him.
Enkeimoto had seemed all business as he’d walked up to Ochako. Now though, he wore a breezy smile as he leaned against the reception desk, trading quips with Nejire. It was like a complete one-eighty from before. And now, with him facing Izuku’s direction, Izuku was finally able to get a handle on his physical features. He looked… friendly. Good-natured, with the kind of gaze that could put people at ease.
Yet Izuku’s stomach twisted into knots.
Can’t screw up. Can’t make Uraraka look bad.
“H-Hi, nice to meet you,” he said, mechanical bow accompanying. “I hope my services will be helpful…”
“Hmph, so formal.” He rolled his eyes. “And I thought Shiketsu was bad--”
Nejire jabbed him with her pen. “He’s shy!”
“A shy hero? From UA? Please. And especially if he’s friends with Uraraka-- you know, my favorite space case.”
Nejire waved him off. “Midoriya, he isn’t serious.”
“I am, though. She likes Thirteen, doesn’t she?”
Izuku hummed. Space case? That was a… weird way to phrase it. “She has a lot of big dreams.”
“Don’t we all?” He pointed to the documents on the desk. “That’s what she drafted?” Nejire nodded, and Enkeimoto took the papers from their place where Ochako had sat them down. Izuku cleared his throat, gesturing for them. No dice. “I heard good things about what you did during the Shie Hassaiki raid, Midoriya-- very heroic stuff, from how everyone told it. I’m very interested to see you in action myself.”
Of course, Ryukyu-- and not to mention his fellow students-- would have let Enkeimoto know the details on who he’d be working with. Izuku averted his gaze. “C-Can’t wait.”
“Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll need to go read the rest of this to make sure Uraraka did this right.”
Izuku frowned. “Because... you’re our supervisor?”
“Guilty,” he said with a pleasant smile.
Izuku smiled back, chuckling nervously. Enkeimoto turned on his heel, walking back across the lobby towards the stairs. Supervisor-- he supposed it made sense. Nejire’s earlier words echoed in his mind. He’s a third year from Ketsubutsu.
Thinking back to his first encounter with Ketsubutsu students, hadn’t it been the same? Shindo, Nakagame, the others he’d met-- they were friendly in their own strange ways. But there was no mistaking that they meant business. He still wasn’t sure exactly what to make of the “traditional crushing of UA” they’d all took part in, or how to feel about it. Even Todoroki noted that he’d believed the Shiketsu students he’d worked with during supplementary lessons were insulting UA as a whole until Kacchan informed him they were jokes.
He wouldn’t soon forget what All Might had said when he brought it up during their next meeting, either. Sometimes those students have to work harder, because they don’t have the platform UA does.
Izuku chided himself. His anxieties had been proven wrong before, like with Nighteye, or even someone like Iida, who’d become one of his closest friends. He shouldn’t let himself get intimidated so easily…
“Welcome to the team, Midoriya!”
He breathed, finally. See? It’s fine!
They’d all worked hard to get here, after all.
A smile remained frozen on Izuku’s face.
He had only just started to relax, when yet another unexpected voice called out to him from behind.
“Deku?”
Izuku whirled around, once again throwing his arms up in surrender. He dropped them immediately, though, upon seeing that it was Ochako-- who had paused in front of the open elevator, head tilted like she’d seen something she had a hard time believing.
“U-Uraraka--”
“I got you a badge.” She crept forward, stiffly holding the plastic keycard to him. He took it, examining the look on her face as he did.
“Hey, are you okay--”
“Mmhm!” She smiled brightly. “Kirin is ready to see us. Got everything you need for the briefing?”
“Oh, uh, yeah, I think so…”
“Right this way!”
She gestured to the elevator, letting him file in ahead of her. He was just able to catch her glance at Enketmoto’s retreating form, eyes once again flashing with something he didn’t recognize in her.
Was she unsure, too? It was rare that they both couldn’t get a handle on someone.
But just like that, the elevator doors slipped shut, and the moment was gone.
“So what did Enkeimoto-san talk to you about?”
Izuku looked across the elevator car at her, as they began their slow climb up to the top floor. Ochako wasn’t looking at him directly. Instead, her brown eyes lifted on slightly from the wooden paneling beneath them, as she offered a tiny smile like the one he saw earlier.
It took a second to find his words. “N-Nothing much. Introduced himself, was all. Is he normally so-- all over the place?”
He hissed out the last part. Man, were these cutthroat types scary.
“He… is, yeah. I guess Nejire-chan told you that he’ll be working with us this week?”
“Um, yeah.”
She nodded, slowly. Her gaze fell back down to the ground. “If you really want to see someone good at what they do, he’s the one to watch. Out of all the new interns Ryukyu took on this semester, she was most excited to see what he could do. He was one of the highest scorers in the licensing exam he took. You’ll probably enjoy working with him. Everybody else does.”
Izuku pressed his lips together. She was babbling again. “Hey, are you sure you’re okay? Did something happen when you came up here a few minutes ago?”
“Huh? Psh, no, why?” She giggled, clasping her hands behind her back, eyes darting towards the door. As if she would pounce the moment it was open. “I am a little nervous, Deku-kun, but can you blame me? Keeping up with you is gonna be hard!”
“Wait, how come? Uraraka, please, I’m so confus--”
Ding!
His hypothesis was proven correct.
She quickly murmured something about following, so he did, practically having to jog to keep pace with his friend as she turned a corner towards what looked like a series of board rooms. One hour in, and he was already exhausted. Were things always this high-strung here? Or was it because Ryukyu was absent?
Ochako paused a little ways down from him, Izuku nearly panting as he caught up.
A woman in an iridescent jumpsuit with long blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail blocked the doorway, speaking calmly to Tsuyu, who’d obviously been waiting for them. Izuku recognized the older heroine immediately. This was Kirin, Ryukyu’s head sidekick, and one of the people he’d been most excited to meet given how highly Ochako had spoken about her. Not to mention how incredible she was in action!
They exchanged hellos and introductions, Izuku holding himself back from gushing about that cool battle she’d fought against the mecha villain Deus Ex. With barely-contained enthusiasm, he promised to make the Ryukyu Agency proud.
“Well aren’t you a go-getter!” she laughed. “It’s no wonder you and Uravity work well together.”
“That’s more Uraraka-san than me,” he replied sheepishly as he watched Tsuyu bid Ochako a good afternoon. “She’s so nice that I’m sure she could get along with anyone.”
“Certainly. We’re a well-oiled machine here! Shall we get you set up for the briefing?”
Izuku nodded as she stepped back inside the room. “Yes! Uraraka, are you… coming…”
He swiveled his head in both directions. Just like that, Ochako had disappeared.
With a frown, he stepped outside of the board room again. It wasn’t like her to just up and go missing like that, especially just before something important. She had to be around here somewhere. Eyebrows narrowing, he sidled to the far end of the hallway, where muffled voices swung around the corner to meet his ears.
“--you realize what inaccurate information can do to our case?”
“I had it checked before--”
“That’s not an excuse!”
That was Ochako. And he had a feeling he knew the other voice, too.
Careful not to make any noise, Izuku peeked around the corner. Sure enough, there was Ochako, standing just down the hallway. Across from her was Enkeimoto, holding the documents from earlier. There was no mistaking the look in Ochako’s eyes this time. They were narrowed, apprehensive, and downcast, a combination he’d only seen his friend wear a handful of times, and only then when they were in real, genuine danger.
What was going on? She’d been kind of off ever since she’d talked to Enkeimoto that morning. Had something bad happened?
He shouldn't be eavesdropping, but...
Enkeimoto gestured to the papers. “I told you what to put into the statement-- very clearly, at the top, here-- minimal threat. Imagine my surprise when I read the release only to find out that you identified the threat as ‘severe.’ I mean, seriously, Uraraka? What makes you think you have the authority to go and change it like that?”
She set her jaw. “With all due respect, Ryukyu-san gave me full clearance, and I even asked her to look back over it before I submitted it--”
“And you think wasting resources on two-bit villains while even you yourself said that the Meta Liberation Army is plotting something we can’t find any info on?”
“I have it on good faith that this was a necessary upgrade--”
Izuku’s eyes widened in disbelief. What was he saying? Ochako had been working with Ryukyu for even longer than Enkeimoto had, surely he’d know that she knew what she was doing...
“You know, for as many severe threats your class has dealt with, I gotta wonder if you fought alongside them or bumbled through with your head in the clouds for how alarmist this statement reads--”
A lump settled in his throat as he glanced around again.
Ochako wore that same look she’d worn earlier, in the lobby, eyes searching the air for answers that were not there. A loss for words. A thin frown that swallowed her smile, as she drew inwards on herself.
Before he could think, he found himself halfway down the hall.
“U-U-Uraraka-san?”
Both looked up in his direction. Relief flashed in Ochako’s eyes-- it was gone as soon as it appeared, though, trepidation replacing it.. He hadn’t meant to intrude. But his mouth, just like his feet, started running against better judgement. “U-Um, actually. I was going to ask you the same thing.”
He did know one thing, though.
There was no reason to talk to Ochako in a voice like that. It sounded… way too harsh, way too critical for such a simple mistake… even if she had been mistaken. Perhaps Enkeimoto was just that type of person, but...
It still sounded way too familiar for him to be comfortable with.
Ochako scoffed in disbelief. “What are you talking about?”
He moved closer. Taking a place next to her and leaning to the side, he summoned a cheerful smile-- he could only hope it didn’t look as strained as it felt. He grabbed in her direction pleadingly. Ochako raised an eyebrow, clearly lost as he spun to face Enkeimoto. Every muscle ached with tension. “Please, tell me why you did that!”
“Because,” she murmured, voice small but steady, “based on previous encounters and targets, this team is growing more reckless and showy with every attack they execute. Though the success rate hasn’t been consistent, more reckless means more dangerous… so it’s only a matter of time before they hurt somebody, intentional or not.”
“Ah, okay. That makes sense. H-Heroism 101, right?”
“Right…”
A sneer from just ahead caught his attention. Enkeimoto folded his arms, and suddenly Izuku realized that he towered over him. Intimidating! “Here I was told that you knew what you were doing, Midoriya. Are you interfering with me giving notes?”
“N-Nope! Just that, speaking from experience, Uraraka-san follows her instincts. I trust them, and I’m sure Ryukyu-san does, too.”
“One experience doesn’t make you an expert-- fne, whatever. You better hope that this isn’t a waste of time.”
Enkeimoto walked back in the direction of the board room. Immediately, the concern holding his chest hostage eased, and he could even feel Ochako’s barely-suppressed exhale fan across the nape of his neck. Jittery for a whole different reason, he turned toward her. “Uraraka…”
“Deku…” She blinked up at him, eyes blown wide. She still held her arms close to her, but thankfully, the tension was quickly bleeding out. “How come you did that?”
He sighed, suddenly unable to meet that gaze of hers. “I’m… sorry, for intruding. It’s just-- y-you looked uncomfortable, and--”
“Did I?”
He nodded.
A final breath escaping her, she finally let her shoulders drop. “Why did you ask me why I changed the threat level? You were the one who gave me the info on their previous attacks… I even asked you if it was a good idea in the first place and you agreed.”
“I know. I…”
Curiously, it was surprise that crossed her face next, as she looked from him to where Enkeimoto had been standing… and how Izuku had subtly put himself between them.
He scratched at his hair. “I-I didn’t like what he was insinuating.”
“Oh, it’s… we’re all stressed with Ryukyu being gone so much. It’s a lot to handle with just ourselves. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.”
Izuku bit his lip. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah…”
“Uraraka! Midoriya! There you are-- come on in, we’re ready for the briefing!”
Kirin. She was waiting on them.
Ochako reminded him as much, and, shaking off the encounter, he followed her back down the hallway. He’d just take her word for it.
Ten minutes later, Izuku stood stiffly in front of the audience (well, it wasn’t much of an audience, made up only of Ochako, Kirin, and Enkeimoto, but still), mentally going over what Endeavor had told him to relay. O-Okay. You’ve got this! Just imagine you’re writing out a page of analysis--
“So, our villain team actually looks like a villain duo— Techno and Prototype— who have been robbing parts stores first in Musutafu and then here in Shuakuaresu after hitting most notable sellers in the area. Their motive is unknown, but we do believe the robberies have something to do with their Quirks. Techno’s is called Technopathy, giving him an inherent affinity for electrical machines where he’s able to operate them remotely. Prototype, Quirk named the same, has the ability to create schematics and builds on the fly--”
“Deku?”
“Now as villains you can see why this is a dangerous combination since presumably Techno can use to their advantage any machine that Prototype creates…”
“Deku!”
Izuku glanced up, only to see Ochako grinning sweetly up at him from where she sat at the table. Even Kirin looked amused, although he couldn’t see Enkeimoto’s expression due to the patches of hair falling into his steely gray eyes. He recognized that expression. His explanation had turned into mumbling. Okay so maybe not like analysis…
Enkeimoto looked over his notes. “And Endeavor sent you over here with this?”
“Y-Yes.”
“You said their motive was unknown?”
“Ah, w-we think they’re stealing parts to build homemade support gear—“
“What’s their relationship?”
“Siblings.”
“How long have they been active?”
“Approximately a month and a half.” Izuku had been present during the very first emergency call about them.
Enkeimoto stared at Izuku, looking down at the documents and back up again. Izuku felt the scrutiny in the pit of his stomach.He’d prepared himself for a grilling, now that he knew how thorough Enkeimoto seemed to be, but still. “So where’s the case info?”
“Uhm… that is the case info?”
“No papers? No file?”
“Well! It was decided by my higher ups that, since the threat was deemed severe, having said first-year intern carry around a physical case file would be… irresponsible at best. So they had me memorize it all. Esentially, I-I am the file, yes.”
A beat of silence hushed the room. And then, Enkeimoto dropped his pen. “Has Endeavor lost it? Sending a first-year intern here to deliver our case by memory?”
“Hey,” Ochako interjected, before Kirin tapped something in on the room’s single laptop..
“That is pretty unusual.”
Izuku scratched at the back of his neck, deciding that maybe he should keep to himself the fact that the whole reason Endeavor’d sent him here in the first place was because he had been knocked out during a call dealing with the villain team-- and the number two hero himself had decided that Kacchan and Todoroki’s subsequent property damage was a direct result of him being incapacitated and therefore unable to stop their negligence. Endeavor was way more scary than their enemies could ever be. He could only count himself lucky he was sent to work with his closest friend on “decision-making skills” instead of being confined to desk duty learning how to file insurance claims like the other two.
“These fucking agents are the real villains here--”
“Can’t we just… pay it?”
Yeah, as far as punishments went he definitely couldn’t complain.
Still, Enkeimoto didn’t look impressed. “And getting an intern who’s fought against real villains once to memorize whole case notes was more responsible?”
Izuku’s expression fell. But before he could say anything, a loud clatter cut him off. A shadow had crossed over Ochako’s face. “You have no idea who Deku’s fought.”
From somewhere, an office phone rang, and Kirin reached across the table to pick up the receiver.
“Again, two-bit villains don’t count.”
“U-Um, guys?”
“You have no idea what he’s been through.”
“Guys--”
“An explosion?” Kirin blinked, lips pursing as she seemingly searched the air for a response. “No, I haven’t seen anything--”
Izuku drew the curtain back.
All three of them froze.
The city leveled out beneath them, all buildings and moving parts and urban semi-clean sprawl. But noticeable above the rest, unmistakable against the vibrant cloudless sky, a plume of black smoke obscured many of the skyscrapers a number of blocks over.
Kirin’s eyes widened. “It wouldn’t happen to be an electronics shop, would it?”
Sirens pierced the air, and Izuku could hear them even now, with half a mile left to go until they reached their destination. The closer they drew to the attack sight, the more chaotic the scene became-- people were fleeing on foot, crashing sounds were growing louder, and the air was becoming heavier to breathe. Smoke was already seeping into the atmosphere, bringing with it a heat Izuku wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to.
“Have you fought these guys yet?” Ochako said, hot on his heels.
He shook his head, throwing a look over his shoulder. He hadn’t yet activated Full Cowling, in order to let her keep pace with him. Enkeimoto and Kirin ran opposite, directing civilians to safety. “Only the last time they hit back home, when they knocked me out.”
“They must be serious business if they took you down.”
She set it without a hint of exaggeration, but Izuku sighed anyway. “I-It was a lucky shot. But yeah, before was just Endeavor’s sidekicks. Now that I think about it, they may have been avoiding confrontation with him-- they never acted when he was away taking care of other villains.”
“Just like Ryuku’s doing now.”
“That’s why they came here. They must be targeting agencies whose heroes are too busy with the League to really pay attention!”
“The last thing people need right now is another reason to be scared, Deku.”
“I know.”
She was right. It was cruel, preying on heroes’ dropped guard and the general unrest that seemed to permeate every aspect of society just as the hope All Might had instilled once had. Endeavor could frame it how he wanted. But Izuku knew the truth. Heroes needed each other, now more than ever, as their ranks were stretched thinner and thinner. This whole pursuit was nothing more than a microcosm of that.
Another crash sounded, closer this time. Screams.
A food truck stood abandoned in the middle of the road-- both Izuku and Ochako cleared it in a single bound, Quirk and support gear boosting their movements respectively. Impact jolted the soles of Izuku’s metal cleats, as Ochako landed gracefully beside him, both running out into the next intersection towards their target. They stumbled to a halt in the center of the scramble crossing.
Izuku’s eyes narrowed.
People streamed around him on both sides, parting for him and Ochako like an island in an ocean, as beyond a cacophony of alarms and flaring lights identified the scene-- as if it could ever be mistaken for anything else, as a thick column of smoke billowed from what seemed like every crevice of the building. Glass, wood, and other debris littered the sidewalk in a whole perimeter around it. Just shead, though, and most importantly, a policeman dragging an ash-covered woman from the shop’s front door called to his fellow officers. “ Building’s clear. No reported casualties.”
That’s good, was Izuku’s first reaction. His next: But what about next time?
Kirin appeared beside him in the next second, breathing heavily from running all the way from agency headquarters. Izuku was right there with her. Enkeimoto, too, materialized in the crowd. His eyes were on the sky. “Look!”
All three followed to where he was pointing.
A dark blur darted back and forth across the sky, level with the building rooftops, but wrapped in smoke so Izuku couldn’t quite see what it was. Bracing one arm with the other, he aimed his knuckles at the strange figure instead. “Delaware Smash: Air Force!”
Compressed air bullets shot from the notches in his gloves. They sliced through the veil, enough to even knock the figure from its planned trajectory and out into plain sight.
“Whoa, nice one!” Ochako cheered.
He swallowed. “I wouldn’t thank me if I was you.”
As smoke trailed away, the figure regaining its balance midair, Izuku was finally able to make out the details in the man’s silhouette. Long, loose black hair. A thin, wiry frame. Pasty pale skin. Goggles which covered his eyes so completely they reminded Izuku of a dragonfly’s head.
One thing was different from the last time he’d faced him, though. Last time, this villain hadn’t been airborne. Now, he had a pair of mechanical dragonfly wings-- presumably to match his dragonfly goggles.
“Techno,” Izuku informed them. Suddenly, realization struck him, and he looked back towards the electronics shop. “But wait, where’s--”
Crash!
All four of them whirled around. At the opposite end of the street, a large, bulky figure rested heavily against a storefront, back turned to them. Dust had flown up, obscuring his entire physique. But Izuku knew that underneath it all, he had a girth as large as All Might.
Before they could act, Prototype pushed himself upright, making a run for it down the street.
On the opposite side, his brother did the same.
Kirin snapped into action, her bodysuit shining as a thin layer of scales covered her body, forming a steady armor. “You two, after Techno! Circular, help them!”
All three nodded, launching down the street with whatever they had available to them. Ochako shot her grappling hooks out, booster boots propelling her to keep up alongside Izuku as he finally summoned his Quirk to the surface. He glanced at Ochako inquisitively. “Circular?”
“Enkeimoto,” she said, confirming what he’d already known. “You’d like his Quirk-- it’s all physics, just like mine.”
“What is it?”
“Take a look.”
He did. But what he saw confused him. He hadn’t noticed before, but Enkeimoto’s combat boots had turned into roller skates-- which as he slowed, he ran his fingertips across the length of. He remained in a kneeling position. But even still, he sped up faster, until he completely passed them by. “Centripetal Force?” Izuku questioned.
“Yup. Enkeimoto-- Circular-- acts as the center of gravity for anything he activates his Quirk on. Like how the moon moves around Earth.”
“That’s so cool!”
“It is. It even has the same drawback as mine. If he uses it too much, he starts gettin’ pukey-- granted he’s built up a huge tolerance compared to me since he’s had more training, and all.”
“The smaller the orbit the faster the acceleration, right?” She giggled. He’d passed physics last term with flying colors! “We gotta keep up!”
“Mind a hitchhiker?”
Ochako retracted her hookshots, instead using her boosters to propel her in a different direction entirely. He vaguely wondered what she was doing, when he felt her tiny hands grip his shoulders. “Battle, ho!” she cried.
He tried to put the feeling of her so close out of his mind. “A-Aye, aye.”
He kicked his power up another level. Nonstop training over winter had upped his threshold to a new level-- it was eighteen percent now that rocketed them down the street, catching up to Enkeimoto in a flash.
The villain looked back. Izuku could tell immediately that was a bad idea for him, as the wingspan taking up nearly the street’s entire width bobbed from side to side in an effort to keep Techno airborne. Still though, even with all that movement, the street was narrow. Izuku identified which moves they should try.
Ochako’s left hand lifted from his shoulder, sending out her grappling hook and enacting a plan of her own. Izuku shot ahead of her.
Meanwhile, Enkeimoto had caught up with their mark. The villain fumbled with what seemed to be the control mechanism strapped across his waist. If Izuku had to guess, he hadn’t taken the contraption out on many test runs. Especially since he was losing altitude. “Gah!”
They were gaining fast. Enkeimoto boosted his skates one last time, then leapt up to meet Techno in the air. He drew his fist back to get one good blow in.
Only to fall short as Techno threw himself sideways, the mechanical wings nearly slicing him clean through. “I’m not quite washed up just yet, sidekick!”
He straightened out again as Enkeimoto fell behind.
What he didn’t see, though, was Ochako, who had anchored herself on a balcony just ahead. She closed one eye, gauging her shot straight for one of the storefronts-- at a poster just like the one they’d helped put up earlier. Perfect.
The heavy material fluttered down, making perfect contact with Techno, who got a faceful of laminated vinyl.
Izuku zipped past them both in a blur of his own.
Techno ripped the poster from his vision.
Only to come eye-level with Izuku, fist reared back for a Detroit Smash. However, Techno pulled back just in time. This, too, Izuku had been expecting, letting the punch pull him into a full spin where he activated Air Force as he came full circle.
Air blasts cycled through the mechanism. Techno fumbled through the air once more.
Ochako rejoined him, as they watched the villain steady himself once more. Izuku grit his teeth. This was no good-- as long as the circuits in those wings were connected, they could be controlled with pinpoint precision. They needed to find a way to disarm him…
“Wait a minute--”
Izuku glanced up.
The villain had removed his goggles. Tired dark eyes ringed with bags narrowed at him. For some reason, it made Izuku uneasy.
“You… I know you!” The villain’s voice rose with anger. “You’re that kid from Endeavor’s! But these aren’t your loud friends, are they?”
Uh-oh-- Izuku stiffened, taking half a step back. He didn’t respond, not that it mattered much. Their adversary had already begun to fly higher.
Ochako, obviously as weirded out as he was, raised her fists. “Um, Deku…”
“This is Ryukyu’s town! Far enough away for you to not be a pest! The heroes can’t watch their own cities, but sure can get their minions to do it, eh? What have you told them, boy? Our attack patterns? Our weaknesses?”
Izuku still didn’t open his mouth, his hardened expression only growing more and more apprehensive.
“Very well,” the villain said. His tone was suddenly deeper. Calm. Calculating. He held his hand up. Clutched inside was a small, white disk-- something Izuku hadn’t seen during their last encounter. “I’ll give you the title of subject zero for my new escape gear. It’ll be my pleasure to shut your trap permanently!”
It happened in a flash..
Izuku stood frozen, because he hadn’t been expecting for the villain to fixate on him and him alone, swooping down into a perfect divebomb he’d made the mistake of thinking this small-time villain was incapable of.
It was only Ochako’s alarmed cry that rebooted his systems, sending One for All coursing through his legs and Izuku himself leaping high into the air to avoid Techno’s assault.
He landed, but just as quickly the man was on him again. It was all Izuku could do not to get bum-rushed as he scrambled down an adjacent side street in a bid to outrun him.
“Get back here!”
“Ack!”
“Deku!” Ochako cried. She was following, too, with Enkeimoro just behind. Izuku could only offer a shaken expression, as he scanned the buildings for a solution. C’mon, there had to be a place they could fight somewhere-- aha!”
After one last boost with Full Cowl, Izuku made sure that Techno had boosted his wings as well. And then, he threw himself to his knees. Izuku held his head and his hood flipped across to the ground. Unable to stop the motion, Techno continued on, reaching down to nab him but ultimately failing as Izuku rolled out of the way. He was forced to arc upwards since the streets were too narrow to turn.
Ochako caught up, and Izuku held his hand out to her.
“Uraraka-san! Seventh floor, please!”
“Coming right up!”
Her hand interlocked with his. The next second, all of Izuku’s weight drained from his body-- he had nothing left to anchor him anymore.
The strange knot in his stomach doubled even under the familiar sensation, as Zero Gravity carried them higher and higher, with only Ochako’s boosters to aim. He counted the gaps in the building as they passed, seeing Techno arcing back around even as they continued their ascent. Five, six…
“Here!” Ochako propelled them inside, letting Izuku’s hand free to bring her own together. With one quick shout of “ Release!” they fell, both landing in crouches just within a mostly-deserted parking garage.
It was just as Izuku hoped-- there were too many support columns for the villain to make good use of his wings. And he could tell simply by looking they were the ones that would lose going up against a concrete post.
But before they could move again, a chime from behind startled them.
The elevator’s call button lit up yellow.
Izuku took one step in that direction, but Ochako was already rushing over. He was about to follow, when something white and sharp looking whooshed in front of him, inches from his nose.
The object stuck to the pillar next to him. Izuku glared out, towards Techno, now hovering in the gap between the floors.
“This next one’s special for you, little hero. Maybe your pretty friend wants a taste?”
Izuku’s fists were up before Techno could even finish, firing wave after wave of Delaware Smashes at the man. However, he instantly dodged each one, passing instead through one of the larger gaps towards the elevator, where Ochako was waving down a pack of young girls before they could be caught in the crossfire.
“Uraraka!” he screamed, as Techno closed their distance.
She glanced back, shock widening her eyes.
Techno smirked. “Made ya look.”
Izuku narrowly dodged as yet another one of the white weapons rocketed straight for him, once again missing by a margin of inches. Another one followed. And another.
He jumped back and back, until his sneakers caught on a curb and sent him crashing on his backside behind another column. An awful screech flared just after, pounding in his ears along-side the newly-formed bruise. Wincing, Izuku threw a look behind the pillar. Techno had retracted his wings.
The villain stood there, out in the open, pulling another device from his belt. Izuku’s mind raced.
They needed to end this here and now, before someone got hurt. But he couldn’t very well attack right now or Techno would go after Ochako, which he definitely didn’t want.
If only there was a way to combine their moves together…
Izuku flexed his hands, examining his gloves as he did. Well, maybe there was a way…
He’d been practicing. Ochako knew that. So maybe, if he reached out and grabbed her--
Making sure his friend wasn’t planning a move on her own-- and seeing that she held a familiar determined calculation with them-- Izuku aimed not at the villain but for her instead. A familiar plea raked across his heart. First Full Cowl… then up to fifteen, like Endeavor said…
He took a deep breath, visualizing what he needed to do. Multiple things at once. Two hands on the piano. A foot on the gas and fingers on the stick shift.
Blackwhip!
A thin, wispy strand of concentrated will erupted from his hand.
It still hurt a little-- it was just the same as when he’d begun training his muscles, almost two years ago now, before he was used to the burn and the pull that came from putting them under pressure. He wasn’t quite used to it, and even now with so many unknowns he was unsure if he’d ever be.
But his new phantom limb rushed toward Ochako. She yelped as it wrapped around her waist, yanking her away from the villain.
She looked to him incredulously, but just as he’d hoped, it only took her a moment to understand.
He swung her around, using the pillar as an axis.
And just like that, the elevator doors opened.
It was Enkeimoto. Izuku laid claim to half a second of relief before panic flared in him again, as he saw something his teammate didn’t. “Circular!”
Enkeimoto whipped around as a device hurdled in his direction.
He threw himself to the side of it.
And tapped his hand to the smooth surface as it passed, the object continuing out of the garage and into thin air as its path began to curve. “Missed me.”
Techno growled in frustration.
But he didn’t see Ochako, holding a hook in one hand as Izuku swung her around, ultimately landing her secret weapon on the villain’s homemade wings.
Izuku retracted. So did she.
A metallic groan eeked into the garage’s echoey chamber as the sharp end of the grappling hook tore fine, thin lines across Techno’s equipment.
A thrill crept up Izuku’s chest. They’d done it!
“Tch.” Techno stepped back, towards the gap in the wall as Izuku let Ochako go, both rushing behind Enkeimoto as he stalked closer to their adversary. “I think that’s all for today.” He pointed at Izuku, who still felt a pang of confusion. “Next time, boy, I’m delivering your body to any number of the villains who want it.”
A lump caught in his throat. Techno wasn’t particularly threatening… but hearing something like that was always unsettling. “T-There won’t be a next time,” he said.
“Oh?”
Techno threw his arm out towards Enkeimoto.
In it was another device, smaller, more crudely put together, like the only thing holding it together was Techno holding it in his hand. Sure enough, small parts fell away from it as he wound back to throw.
“Another bomb to dodge?” Enkeimoto merely said. Techno grinned.
Izuku shook his head, alarm pounding through him. “No, wait! It’s different!”
But Enkeimoto had already reached a hand out to touch it, Techno reaching out his own hand towards it as well.
A snap cracked through the air.
A loud flash followed, and then the sound of Enkeimoto crying out in pain.
“Circular!” Ochako cried, hurrying to his side to help. Izuku launched himself at Techno. Another horrible scraping noise strained his ears, and something sharp was extending toward him.
The wings! But Ochako ripped them to shreds!
Techno threw himself from the seventh floor. No, they had done some damage-- smoke poured from one side and the other was short-circuiting, bopping him through the air erratically. “Damn brat did damage-- this shoddy engineering job did nothing to help matters. But with my Quirk I can control any electrical machine, even broken ones!”
Izuku grimaced, bracing his feet against the wall. If he could use Blackwhip to help Ochako, he could use it here--
It shot out, coiling around the villain’s ankle as Izuku dug his heels into the ledge and wrapped his hands across his makeshift weapon.
It did what it needed in grinding him to a halt. But Techno grinned. “The boy managed to get me! Ah, but am I really the one you should be concerned about, little hero?”
“What--” Izuku spared a glance toward his teammates, eyes hardening.
Ochako was leaning over Enkeimoto, trying to check him for injuries. She was asking questions, making sure he was coherent. But he only shot her a dirty glare. “What are you doing? You don’t worry about your allies during a fight!”
“I do,” she retorted.
“No,” he said, looking at something behind her, and then back up to Ochako’s face. “You pay attention to the battlefield.”
Something sped through the same gap Techno had jumped through.
It was curving back around, from the opposite direction Enkeimoto had thrown it in.
Dead-tracked on a collision course with Ochako.
“Uraraka! Behind you!” Izuku shrieked. But it was too late.
The metal disk connected with the small of her back, parts disconnecting with a wave of Techno’s hand, and sending a gelatinous blue something across her whole body.
The impact sent her to her knees, Enkeimoto pushing himself out of the way.
In Izuku’s distraction, Techno managed to kick outwards, tearing himself away from Izuku’s hold and sending him tumbling across the ledge. Izuku was able to catch himself as he went over, legs dangling above the highway. He hoisted himself to his elbows with a glare. “What’d you do?”
“A very nasty jelly bomb for your trouble! Maybe next time you’ll think twice about sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong!”
His cackling rang in Izuku’s ears alongside the pop, pop, popping of his damaged equipment. Izuku wanted to pursue. But he knew that he couldn’t.
“Argh!”
Izuku pulled himself back onto solid ground, stumbling and rushing back to where Ochako knelt on the ground with her head cradled in her forearms against the concrete. Her short brown had flipped over her face, covered in what looked like sticky, matted clumps with thin blue gel weaving through the strands. In fact, a thin layer of the stuff covered her whole body. Izuku knelt next to her, holding careful hands out. Had it hurt her? Was she okay?
Immediately though, he froze.
Ochako began to shake.
Izuku’s face twisted and one hand grabbed at his respirator, bringing it over his face as what seemed like the world’s most horrible smell assaulted his nose.
She turned her head to look at him. He couldn’t tell if the tears gathering at her eyes were from embarrassment or the stench-- if he had to guess, probably a mix of both. “It stinks!”
“A-Are you okay?”
“I… think…”
“Here.” He unclasped his respirator, giving it to her since she was literally covered in the stuff. It was the jelly that smelled this awful-- Techno really hadn’t been kidding when he said ‘nasty.’ Once he made sure his friend was okay, Izuku stood up, narrowing his eyes at Enkeimoto. “W-Why? We had no idea what that thing could do! You could’ve hurt Uraraka-san!”
“She should’ve been worried about herself.”
“She was making sure you were okay!”
“You don’t get it, do you?” Enkeimoto’s gaze jumped from him to her, as he offered an elbow for Ochako to pull herself up with. “Here’s a harsh lesson for you. Heroes don’t just fight villains. If you want to be notable, you have to fight each other to get to the top-- you have to compete. You can’t worry about other heroes who’ve thrown their hats in the ring-- you can only be concerned with yourself. You’d think with how quickly you acquired your licenses, you’d know that.”
Izuku set his jaw. He couldn’t be serious…
Enkeimoto reached up to his earpiece. “Kirin? Yeah, bad news-- he got away. So Prototype did too? Well, she’ll have a fun time explaining to Ryukyu what happened.” Izuku’s eyes hardened. It didn’t take much to figure out who he was referring to.
He began walking away, leaving both of them in the sticky remains of the rancid jelly.
Izuku chose to walk with Ochako instead.
“Deku, are you sure this is okay?”
Izuku perked up, staring straight ahead. He was unfamiliar with the sensation of a whole wall blocking her from view, reverbed voice a little muffled as it spilled out the opening to his right. She stood just inside the entrance to the women’s locker rooms, him on the bench just outside so that he could respond easily. Neither of them were too worried about anyone walking in on her… a rumor had spread about the bathrooms already, as the jelly Ochako could just barely wash off stuck to the floor and the drain.
He shook his head, doing his best to keep his voice light. She sounded so dejected. “Of course!”
“But…”
“I-I don’t mind,” he said softly. “I promise.”
A deep sigh was his only answer.
Ochako had taken a single change of clothes with her that morning to Ryukyu’s. Her school uniform, which she had worn on the way here. Izuku wore his own, now, his hero costume locked in its carrying case while Ochako’s had been sent to the support department for a deep, intensive cleaning. Yet her uniform was tucked neatly away in her own pink schoolbag, just beside him on the bench.
The stench was inescapable.
Even now, sitting outside the locker room, with Ochako swearing she’d used the rest of her soap and the complimentary stuff Ryukyu kept on hand, that foul-smelling icky whatever was still barely masked by the flowery perfumes misting from the showers. It created a thinly-veiled coverup that somehow smelled worse. But Ochako wouldn’t stop. Izuku was worried she’d rubbed her skin raw in the hour she was down here, when Tsuyu offered to go check on her while Izuku delivered a detailed report to Kirin.
“Why don’t you kids take the evening off,” she’d said, after Izuku helplessly relayed what happened at the parking garage. “We have plenty of hands and you guys could use the rest.”
That didn’t help how frustrated he felt. He hadn’t told Kirin about what happened with Enkeimoto-- Ochako had asked him not to, stating that he was right, it was her fault, because she hadn’t been paying attention. Izuku wasn’t so sure.
You have to fight each other…
That was true, wasn’t it? They were all fighting for the top spot? But even so… surely heroes didn’t… step on their teammates just to get there…
Another sigh. Closer to the door’s threshold this time. Despite himself, he couldn’t help but smile. Even after all that had happened, Ochako was still maintaining her brightness and waving off his concern with little more than a laugh. “You think a little smelly jelly’s gonna hurt me? You should’ve smelled what Kirishima-kun left in the fridge last week.”
He still wasn’t sure what to make of the whole thing. Maybe after a good rest, he’d be able to think better. His legs still ached from the fight today.
“Deku,” she said again.
“Y-Yes?”
“Um… bad news. I-I tried getting dressed but-- well…”
He raised an eyebrow. Was there some kind of side effect they’d overlooked? “What is it?”
“The smell-- it hasn’t come off.”
“Oh.” He waved her off, even though she couldn't see, both hands wishing to placate her. “That’s fine! An old shirt is much easier to wash than your school uniform, Uraraka-- and much easier to replace.”
“If you say so…”
Footsteps just behind let him know that she was approaching, bare feet padding out from the dividing wall. Izuku glanced up, peering through the rolling mist--
Seeing Ochako, arms folded over her midsection as she turned away from him subconsciously, covering up katakana her upper body obscured more than his ever could as she balled up swathes of pale blue fabric in her fists. The shirt was just barely too large for her-- of course it was, because it was his.
He turned away, mirroring her and clutching the shirt he was wearing. M-Maybe this had been a bad idea after all…
But then, the atmosphere shifted. Redness rushed across his face for a totally different reason.
“It’s not that bad, is it?” she pleaded.
Oh, gosh-- “N-Nope! It’s fine! You can barely smell anything.”
“Is that true, Deku-kun?”
“Listen, I had to take our garbage out for like a week, this is nothing compared to that,” he said.
She slapped her hands to her cheeks. He could clearly see that she was growing pinker underneath, and he inwardly groaned. He’d been trying to help! “Oh no! What am I gonna do? I can’t ride the train like this! People will be so freaked out!”
That was right… they still had to make it home…
They started down the street from Ryukyu’s agency, waving goodbye to Tsu as they went, the evening ushering in a chill that Izuku had almost forgotten about in the day’s humidity. Ochako, her hair still wet, shivered. He wished he had something to offer her.
She trailed behind as he walked down the street, as they filed into the station, as they swiped their cards and as they waited for their train. Ochako did not stand next to him at the approach. He frowned, figuring she was trying to be courteous to him… but he was her friend, and wouldn’t let something as a tiny as a bad smell deter him.
As soon as the train arrived, she took a seat on an unoccupied row. She looked up, startled, as he sat beside her, placing his backpack on the ground. “What are you doing?”
“Sitting beside you, like I always do,” he said simply.
She looked like she was ready to protest, but he only gave her a gentle smile. Just like that, the fight drained out of her. Her eyes fell upon her knees, staring at the pleats in Tsuyu’s casual skirt she’d borrowed, as the intercom announced they’d reach their destination in a little over an hour.
People finished filing in. A few came to take a seat next to Ochako--
Only to move away, throwing a second glance at the two schoolchildren who sat alone in the center of the car, and forming a ring around them four feet deep and as far as it would go in the semi-crowded space.
Ochako stared and stared into space, her smile falling. Izuku leaned towards her.
“Hey, Uraraka?”
“Hm?”
“I enjoyed working with you today.”
She sniffed. “I was glad to have you… I’m sorry it turned out like this, Deku-kun.”
“Don’t be.” He cleared his throat. The next question would be hard, but it was one he needed to ask. “About what happened earlier-- is Enkeimoto always like that towards you?”
“Like what?”
He frowned. She seemed genuinely confused. “That… critical.”
“Oh, well…” She closed her eyes, taking a moment to think about it. She was clearly trying not to let her discomfort show. But he could see that the light in her eyes was dimmer now, a fresh wave of the smell rolling off of her sending whispers in the direction. He didn’t care. He’d dealt with them all his life. Finally, Ochako lifted her head again. She still wouldn’t meet his eyes. “He should be, shouldn’t he?”
Izuku’s face fell. “But…”
“It’s what we’ve been told all our lives, right? That heroes have to fight each other to get to the top. To be the most marketable, most powerful, most paid. It-- It makes sense that there are still people who think that way.”
Oh… The lump in his throat returned. It did make sense. It was something he’d always known. He could wish it was different all he wanted to, but he knew they couldn’t stay this way forever-- eventually he’d have to step on all his friends to make it there. That was the very definition of being at the top.
Even her.
He nodded sadly. “I see....”
“However…”
Izuku looked to his side. Ochako’s hands had balled up the fabric of her skirt, as her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed together. He recognized that look. And for the first time since she’d talked to Enkeimoto that morning, it was determination he recognized on his best friend’s face.
“I don’t think I want to be that way. Money for my parents is still important to me, but… I don’t think heroes who rely on each other should think of each other as just-- just another kind of enemy. The world is getting too dangerous for us to be that way. We have to do better than those who came before us.”
He sighed in relief. “I was scared for a moment there… for a second, you sounded just like Kacchan. I like it better when you’re Uraraka-san.”
She glanced up to him in wonder, and that was all the words they needed. Because in the end that was what mattered. At the end of the day, Izuku knew it better than anyone else. Heroes needed heroes. They improved each other.
Izuku vowed to change Enkeimoto’s mind.