Chapter Fifty-One
Mirko sat in the uncomfortable chair, out of costume, dozing, a skill she'd picked up on far too many stakeouts. Never had done this before, and for good reason. She'd been a solo-act for, well, forever. It'd been practically impossible to find someone that could keep up with her awesomeness, though, if she was being honest, the kid wasn't quite there yet.
It was kind of surprising that she didn't really mind that.
It was just as surprising that, while Midoriya couldn't keep up with her, Hawks could.
Thinking about it, she shouldn't've been shocked. His entire thing was being fast, but she'd thought he was all flash and no substance, like the other speedsters she'd worked with, usually only for a job or two. Instead, he'd hit hard and kept on going. Not as hard as her of course, but he was good with those blades of his.
She could still take him.
But the two of them had worked well together, and she'd appreciated the help pullin' her sidekick out of the fire.
Literally.
And what a sidekick the kid was. Brat had tracked down the Hero Killer and kicked his fuckin' ass. She was so proud. She'd also wanted kick his ass from here all the way back to his mother for that stunt, but Endeavor's kid had been clear that he'd only been there to save Ingenium's brat, who needed his butt kicked 'til it fell off.
And then there was that other thing. That big red asshole. For the life of her she just couldn't figure out what the hell the guy's Quirk was! How did being on fire and super-strength and super-healing and laser eyes all fit into one Quirk, even a hybrid one? And that suicide move? Wolf-man told it to 'fight 'till the end', normal Supervillain BS, but then the dude actually did it.
She'd been doing this for just about seven years, and the number of times she'd seen flunkies actually go out fighting, not just go down fighting? Six, when the guy in charge didn't have a psychic Quirk to make 'em, and two of those were iffy. 'Cept she'd found out that all of the brain-guys last night had fought 'till they literally couldn't, or they died.
That was some cult shit right there, and those never turned out well.
Whoever this 'League of Villains' were, they weren't a flash in the pan. Hittin' UA was a big move, but she'd expected them to lie low, not double down. She hadn't gone there herself, but anywhere that had All Might on the teachin' staff was no joke.
Her thoughts were disturbed as Midoriya stirred in his hospital bed, and Mirko had to shake her head. The kid was hurt, bad, but Hawks' had said he'd make some calls, and some dudes in suits had come in, along with an old fart, who'd done something to the kid, breathing out gold mist that'd faded into Midoriya's skin, and the worst of his injuries had, over the next couple hours, vanished. When she'd asked the healer his name, he'd just shaken his head and been ferried out the door.
Now the green-haired teen stirred, eyes blearily opening. "Ms. Mirko?" he asked, voice hoarse, and she got to her feet, grabbing the drink the doctors had told her to give him. She hadn't liked them expecting her to stick around that long, she was a busy bunny after all, but it'd only been a few hours.
"Yeah kid?" she asked, handing him the drink, but making sure he didn't drop it. "Take this first."
He did, grimacing at the taste of the yellow concoction, but dutifully downed it. "I, I had a dream about you."
She couldn't help but grin. "Sorry kid, you're a bit too young for my tastes." Right amount of strong though. No! Down girl!
Seeing the kid sputter was fun, and helped her push dumb thoughts out of her head. "No, nothing like that! Not to say, I mean, you are, um, I dreamed you saved me?" he ended with a wince. "With Hawks."
"Wasn't a dream," she told him. "You weren't half-bad, kid. Though, what'd I say 'bout bitin' off more than you could chew?" she questioned, crossing her arms and tapping her foot loudly.
The teen's head dropped. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't call you! I don't have your number! And if I left, Ida and Bullrush would've- oh no, are they okay?" he demanded head jerking up, expression hoping, but knowing he was going to hear bad news.
She grinned, happy to prove him wrong. "They're both fine," she reassured Midoriya, who looked at her in disbelief, before his face split open into a wide, dopey grin.
"Really?" he asked, eyes half filled with happy tears, which wasn't really a good look, but he was a kid.
"Really," she nodded. "Bullrush was touch and go, died a couple times on the table, but he pulled through. If engine-legs hadn't got that medi-foam on him, he wouldn't've made it to the hospital."
Midoriya sighed, murmuring, "The white," to himself, before looking up at her. "And Stain?"
Mirko felt her smile drop. "Got away with his League buddies."
The boy frowned as well, but shook his head. "I, I don't think they were working together. Stain tried to save me from Inugami, and tried to kill him." He looked up. "Inugami wanted me to go with him, or he'd kill the others, but they wouldn't let him take me."
From the way the kid said it, he was obviously thinking he should've gone. "Good," Mirko nodded, the kid looking surprised, and she kept going before he could say something dumb. "Villains like that, they don't keep their word," she told him dismissively. "And the only reason they're giving you the option is they think they can't do it on their own. Nah, that kind of 'trade their lives for yours' shit's a bad move. Now pretendin' you're doing it, only to turn around and hit 'em where it hurts, is great, just be prepared for them to expect you to do that, so look out for their counter. They never expect ya to see them seein' through you, so that's when you get 'em!"
Midoriya blinked, before nodding seriously with a "Yes Mrs. Mirko," that was just adorable, and she couldn't help but rustle his hair as he replied with a "Hey!"
Leaning back, she looked at her sidekick. "How ya feelin'?"
"Um, good, actually," he said after a moment, confused. "Really good. Normally, when Recovery Girl heals me, I'm really tired."
"Who?" she asked, unsure, but shook her head. "The Doc was an old man. You think you'll be ready to go back at it tomorrow?"
Midoriya looked at her, with hope in his eyes. "I, you still want me as your sidek-intern?" he asked catching himself, with an "Ow!" as she flicked him in the nose. "What's that for?"
"Ya kicked Stain's ass. Ya made the best of a shit situation. And ya got the potential to be almost as awesome as I am," she informed him with confidence, a little annoyed that the kid wasn't seein' what he'd achieved. "I'll pick ya up from your house tomorrow. And don't worry 'bout the bill," she added, waving around the hospital room. "The Commission's got it, for takin' down Stain, even if he got away, and getting them some serious need-to-know intel."
The teen's eyes went wide, "Oh, I didn't even think of the cost, I-"
The door slammed open, an emaciated blond man yelling, "Young Midoriya! Are you alright!?"
"All-" Midoriya started to say, glancing at her. "Better!" he continued, and she frowned, the kid obviously hiding something, and he was incredibly nervous.
"Name's Mirko," she said, walking around the kid's bed, and putting herself between the new guy and her sidekick. "This brat's Mentor. You are?"
The man looked at her, then at Izuku, and let out a sigh of relief. "Toshinori. Toshinori Yagi. I'm a teacher at UA, and young Midoriya is one of my students. I only just heard he was injured, and rushed over as quick as I could."
The man looked like shit, with the sharp, skin-stretched features that you normally saw on people who'd been held captive by truly evil assholes. His eyes, though, were oddly intense, and reminded her of. . . someone, though she couldn't put her finger on it. As far as heteromorphic traits went, having the whites of his eyes pitch black, while the centers glowed blue, was pretty minor, but it definitely was distinctive.
"Kids fine. Not half bad, if I say so myself," she said, and the man smiled widely, nodding. That smile. On the guy's face it looked. . . wrong, but. . . "We ever meet before?" the rabbit hero questioned.
"I'm sorry, I don't think we have, Ms. Mirko," the man told her, still smiling. "And you seem unforgettable."
She grinned, "Got that right." Sashaying out, she walked by the man, who stepped inside the room. "Seeya tomorrow, Midoriya! Eight am sharp!"
"I will Ms. Mirko!" the boy agreed, grinning, and she slid the door shut.
And then she walked just far enough away that she was out of sight of the window, and waited.
People looked at her and focused on her legs, which, fair, they were awesome, but her ears weren't for show. On one hand, she should probably respect the kid's privacy, on the other Midoriya got really nervous as soon as he saw this Yagi fella', and if both of them weren't hiding something she'd swear off carrots.
"Are you sure you're alright, Young Midoriya?" the man asked, unsure and worried.
The boy sighed, then laughed a little, obviously relieved. "Yeah, yeah I am All Might. But thanks for coming. It means a lot."
. . . wut.
Mirko froze. That smile. Those fucking eyes. She'd run into the Number One a couple times, and his eyes had always seemed shadowed, though his pupils had always shone unnaturally. It'd been striking, to say the least. Only, they hadn't been shadowed, had they? They'd been black. They weren't always, but pictures where you could see the guy's eyes had kinda disappeared lately, not that she paid that much attention. But that guy was. . . no, it couldn't have been.
There was the faint, faint sound of displaced air, and that distinctive voice replied, "How could I not come when my successor was injured?" Then another sound, of a faint vacuum, and sickened coughing, as Yagi's voice continued. "You nearly gave me a heart attack, Izuku. Fighting Stain of all people? I know you want to live up to my record, but you're still training!"
. . . . . . Holy Shit, that's really All Might, she thought, heart hammering in her chest. Did she say something? What did she say? She didn't know what to do and she hated it.
"I had to save them," Midoriya replied helplessly. "And, I. . . can you talk to Ida? I think he's better, but-"
"I will," Yagi promised. "I know what it's like, to feel what he's feeling, and I should've talked with him sooner. But I never thought he would. . ." the man trailed off.
There was an awkward silence. "There's something more," the boy said. "Inugami, the one from the League of Villains. He said his boss wanted me. I, is it because I won the Sports Festival?"
The older man sighed. "No. No it isn't."
It isn't? How does he know?
"Then why?" Midoriya asked what she was thinking. Good kid.
The Hero hesitated. "It's, because of our Quirk," he admitted.
"One for All?" the boy asked, and Mirko frowned, as the teen's Quirk hadn't had a name, just an indication that it was a power type, at least on his records, which she'd looked over after he'd accepted her offer.
"Indeed. There is a Villain. A terrible Villain. He calls himself All for One, and, and he's the enemy of everyone that's had our Quirk," All Might revealed. "He killed the last holder of One for All, and I wasn't able to stop him, only run away as she held him off," the man said, through grit teeth. "I thought I'd killed him, years ago, but he survived, somehow. And now he's making his move once again."
Mirko couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her sidekick was All Might's kid? That. . . made sense actually. Kid was strong as all hell, and she'd thought he was just a fanboy, aping All Might's attacks, even calling them out like All Might did, but if he was the man's son? A son the Number One Hero couldn't openly claim, at least before he was strong enough to handle all the assholes who'd take a shot at just him for being All Might's Kid?
She understood completely.
Heck, when Midoriya wasn't being a frightened little mouse, they even sounded a bit alike, and had some of the same habits, at least from what she'd seen of the Number One on tv, when she was growing up. And there was a Villain that he was worried about. A Villain that'd killed All Might's mother.
This was. . . this was some heavy shit.
"But, you're All Might," the kid said, with just the kind of tone you'd hear from a kid talking about his father.
"How could I fight someone and lose?" the Hero asked wryly, and she could almost picture her sidekick nodding earnestly. "Because All for One can take Quirks, and use them himself, or give them to other people. That's how he's lived for centuries. That's how he made the Nomus."
And another piece of the puzzle clicked together. The big red guy. He hadn't had one Quirk, he'd had many.
"Inugami, he said that Nomu was meant to kill Endeavor," Midoriya revealed. "And, he could, couldn't he? Endeavor's strong, but he overheats. If it ate his flame, like it ate Todoroki's, and then got close, and was on fire. . . Endeavor would've died, wouldn't he?"
All Might chuckled, "You might be surprised, Young Midoriya. If All for One has one flaw, it's that he only sees the worst of people. Sees them like he is. But Heroes like me, and like Endeavor, we can surpass our limits and go Plus Ultra. I believe in Endeavor. He would've survived. Just like I survived against the Nomu meant to kill me. And that's why we'll win. But promise me, promise me, Midoriya. If, for whatever reason, you meet him, don't fight him. You're not ready. I'll handle him."
"But you're hurt!" the boy objected. "And your Quirk-"
"I know," the Hero interrupted, and Mirko really wanted to find out what they were talking about. "I know, young man, but trust me on this. You aren't ready, and if you're going to surpass me, one day, you need to survive."
There was a pain in that man's voice that was unmistakable, obviously thinking of the loss of his own mother. All Might had always been tight-lipped about his family, and for good reason, but to hear the man talk about it seemed. . . intimate, to a level that made Mirko feel guilty for eavesdropping.
Help the kid get better, to make his old man proud, she resolved, in order to set this right. She shouldn't've done this, but she'd been worried, which was really unlike her. But Midoriya was just. . . different.
As All Might started to ask about the details of the fight, she silently slipped away, glad she wasn't in costume so she didn't have to worry about her steel shoes clicking on the tile. She'd ask Midoriya about It tomorrow, and let him brag while they patrolled. One thing was for sure, though.
I made the right decision when I sent him that internship offer.
For the second time that Saturday, Katsuki Bakugo woke up.
Fuck. I lost.
Blinking his eyes sleepily open, he lifted his hands to rub the grit out of them, finding the weights on his arms the mismatched. Holding them in front of himself, he looked at his gauntlets, shaped like grenades. The left one was dented in three places, while half of the right one had been sheared right the fuck off, leaving twisted metal and the torn open tanks that'd normally collect his explosive sweat.
Right. Shishido had torn it off.
The man had kept his word, and had gone all out against the Bombing King.
And it'd been fuckin' glorious.
They'd fought, and Bakugo had thought the Pro had been going easy on him at first, but he hadn't been going easy, he'd been cautious. As he damn well should've been. But the second Bakugo had lowered his guard, thinking to make Shishido regret looking down on him, the asshole had been in his face and punched Bakugo hard enough to dent his gauntlet, and even then only because the explosion expert had desperately blocked the blow in the nick of time.
It was only when Bakugo had set off his gauntlet, point-blank, in the other man's face, that he'd started to get an advantage. Not because he'd put the man off his game, if anything Shishido had come at him twice as hard, and twice as fast, but he'd gotten sloppy, and Bakugo had started to slam explosion after explosion into his foe. He'd even turned his gauntlet getting torn open by the Pro's clawed fingers into a win, setting it off and breaking the man's hand, even as the blast broke his own arm.
He'd worried Shishido would call it then, since they were injured, but all that'd happened was the man's frenzied eyes had cleared, he'd glared at Bakugo, and he'd rushed him again.
They'd fought, and fought, and fought, until Katsuki had broken his own fingers from setting off too many explosions, too hard, and too quickly, but he hadn't stopped, until he'd fuckin' dropped.
And when he had, darkness dragging him down as he'd struggled against it, Shishido had looked like shit.
. . . I'm okay with this, Bakugo decided. Not with losing, he'd never be okay with losing, but he'd gone hard, harder than anyone had ever let him, and had finally gotten a good idea of where he was. He wasn't the best, not yet, but only a fuckin' moron thought they were the best right off the bat. No, he knew he had a long way to go before he challenged All Might for the title of Number One, but he wasn't as far away as he'd feared.
Shishido was in the top one-hundred, and he was a hero who lived combat, just like Bakugo did. He wasn't some prissy bitch that looked pretty or pretended not to be fuckin' dangerous to make people like him, dude lived, breathed, and shit violence.
Just like Bakugo.
So if this guy was an example of what a top-tier combat hero was? No shit Bakugo had lost. But the fact that he'd been able to hurt the fucker? The fact that he'd hit him hard enough to, even for a minute, crack his control?
Fuckin' A.
It was only then that he'd realized that, while his injuries ached, his arms weren't broken, and neither were his fingers. Sitting up, he blinked, finding himself in Shishida's office, the guy at his desk, looking a little tired, but was otherwise fine, when Bakugo knew he'd given the man a black eye, and a whole lot else on top.
"Hmmm, you're up," the Pro commented, still clacking away at the keys of his workstation. "Took you long enough."
Katsuki frowned, before looking out the window, and seeing it was already sunset. It'd been one in the afternoon when they'd fought. "We got a healer?" he asked, frowning. He'd never been patched up by the school nurse, but everyone said they felt fine, just tired, while he could still feel his injuries.
"I have one on retainer. I called her over when we were done," Shishido informed him blandly. "Called your mother too, and told her you wanted to finish up a project before your internship ended, so you'd be running late."
Shit, Bakugo thought. Either she'd be mad at him for 'making the Pro lie for him' or she'd start goin' on 'bout how he was 'finally growing up'. Either way, it'd be a pain in the ass. "And she believed that?"
"Not at first," the Pro replied, with a nod. "Then she asked if you were being a 'Stubborn pain in the ass'."
"That sounds like the old hag," Katsuki sighed.
"And I told her you were," Shishido said, and the Bombing King winced, that hitting him hard for some reason. The older man stopped typing, long enough to send a slow look his way, "Which is why, when you start doing work studies, you'll have a place here. If you want it."
Wait, what? Bakugo had gone hard against the hero, and fucked him up hard enough that he'd needed a healer, and he still wanted him around? People had always been impressed by the Bombing King's Quirk, as they should, 'cause it was fuckin' awesome, but they'd also been afraid of it. Even Deku. Especially Deku.
But Shishido had taken it head on, hit back twice as hard, and wanted more.
Just like him.
Bakugo felt a sharp-toothed grin spread across his face. "Fuck yeah. I haven't kicked your ass yet."
Shishido's grin was smaller, but held the same kind of feral danger as the teen's. "Then you better train, Bombing King. Because I will be too."
Yaoyorozu walked into the mall on Sunday, looking for Mina, not seeing her. She was fifteen minutes early, so she could wait for her best friend. Best friend, she thought the feeling filling her with warmth. It'd been so long since she'd had actual friends, that she still was getting used to the delightful circumstances she found herself in.
That wasn't to say she had been unhappy before, of course not. She wanted for nothing and had all the resources to make her dream, that of being a hero, come true. But so often those who sought her favor, in actuality, sought her family's favor. Either directly, or by being proxies for their parents.
She'd had friends when she was younger, but, with time, that had changed. The pressures put on them by their parents had gotten more obvious, or they'd grown enough to understand them. Momo hadn't understood it at the time, and had just been confused when, suddenly, one of the girls she'd grown up with had told her they couldn't be friends anymore. Not because of anything she'd done, but because of Yaoyorozu's parents. So Momo had gone to her parents, heartbroken, and demanded they tell her why they'd hurt her friend like that, had hurt her.
And so they had.
It had been difficult for her to understand, at age eight, but her friend's parents had tried to use their child's friendship as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations. They'd demanded that Yaoyorozu's family give them favorable terms, or they'd strike at her parents through her. And her parents, the good and moral people they were, had refused. And her friend's parents, believing that to be a bluff, had made good on their threats.
Her parents had felt terrible, but they'd taught her that doing the right thing only meant anything if you kept doing so, even if it was hard. She'd tried to talk to her friend, to explain it, but her friend had just blamed Momo's parents. Had called Momo 'selfish', and blamed her for not making her parents do what she wanted, as if that was something she could do! And so she had lost her first friend.
Such was the life of an heiress.
She hadn't had that many friends to begin with, and, over the next few years, she'd lost the others. None so bad as that first, thank goodness, but some had moved, some were used by their parents, and one tried to use her, to get Momo to find information her parents had insisted shouldn't be shared, or else the boy wouldn't be friends with her any longer.
So they were no longer friends.
But she'd had her dream, and something to work for. She'd studied, and trained, and had tutors, and her pushed herself, and succeeded. It all seemed so far away, until it wasn't, standing on that podium, receiving recognition from All Might himself.
Momo had worried she wasn't good enough. That, compared to others, like Midoriya, or Bakugo, or Todoroki, she wouldn't measure up, her Quirk not nearly as powerful as theirs. But Denki, her other friend, had talked to her in his direct, indelicate, and some would say even say brusque manner, sharp, like the lightning bolts he threw, and blasted those doubts away, the last vestiges removed as they'd stood in front of everyone, hand in hand.
She. . . she still wasn't sure how to feel about that, blushing a little at the memory. Of his warm, oddly uncalloused fingers grasping her own, firm, but not painfully tight. Enough that she could've pulled away, had she wanted to, but sure that she wouldn't, as he declared their. . . something to the world.
She still wasn't really sure what he was declaring, which was something of an issue. Their friendship? It seemed a bit much for that, if it was. Were they something more? What about Mina? She was well aware that her best friend was. . . involved with her other friend, but how. . . involved they were with each other was something she didn't know, and had been afraid to ask.
And the girl herself had been no help in understanding that boy's intentions. Mina had been happy they'd been standing together, and said they'd looked good up there, only wishing she could've been there with them. A statement that she'd then ignored Momo's hints to elucidate on. Did she mean she was wishing she was there instead of Momo, with her friend? Did she mean she wished she was there instead of Denki? Or did she mean she wished she was there with both of them?
That wasn't how the tournament worked, there were only two people in third place, and, if Momo was being honest, there should've had a match between her and Denki, so there would only be one third place winner. Normally, she'd say it would be Denki's win, but the boy had been thoroughly weakened by his bout with Midoriya, so maybe she would've won?
She hadn't realized how bad her friend was hurt until, when they headed for the locker-room that last time, he'd nearly collapsed. He'd seemed so strong, so unassailable beforehand, maybe he would bluff her like she bluffed Ida?
No, she decided, no, I would've fought anyways. And she would've won. Is that what confused her about it? That she should've been the only one up there? She shook her head at the question. No, she'd not want to have won that way, merely because her fight with Todoroki was a shut-out, while his fight with Midoriya had left him a bleeding, battered mess.
And seeing him, blood dripping from broken limbs, stagger out of the hole in the arena, was another thing she wasn't going to forget anytime soon. He'd been fine shortly after, enough for her to, in the moment, forget how badly he was hurt, but he'd taken far worse than anything she'd ever experienced, and hadn't hesitated to walk up to Midoriya with a smile.
Like a Hero.
Thinking about it, she decided she'd much rather it had been all three of them, up on that podium, together. With Mina on one side of her, and Denki on the other. For some reason, the image made her blush again. But why would-
"Momo!" her best friend cried, running up to her without a care in the world. "Ohmygod, it's felt like forever since I've seen you!" The pink-skinned girl clasped Yaoyorozu's hands, and the creator couldn't help but notice the same lack of any calluses.
Momo smiled broadly, "I agree! It has only been a week, but it's felt like much longer! How was your internship?"
"It was the best!" Mina crowed. "I learned so much, and I kicked twelve kinds of tushie! How was yours? I know you were worried, since you were with that old fuddie-duddie!"
"Armor Warrior is not a 'fuddie duddie'," Yaoyorozu chided, which just caused her friend to smile wider, "And I was wrong to be worried. He was certainly an. . . intense individual, but only because of the high-standards he holds, both for himself, and others."
The other girl shot her an odd look. "Intense, huh? Anything like a certain sparky-boy?"
Momo froze, trying to imagine her easygoing, confident, combat junkie friend, as the austere old man who held deep worries of the future, and moved with the weight of ages on his shoulders. She couldn't. Only, they did have a bit in common. While it wasn't often, Denki could get oddly quiet whenever they talked about graduating. And then there was the other thing.
"Well, they certainly both liked to talk a lot," she smiled, getting a laugh from her friend, "but no, they were very different. How was Bentonita?"
"The best!" Mina replied. "But let's get some grub! I'm totes starving!"
Without waiting for a response, her friend turned away and started walking for the food-court, and Momo hurried to follow. They got their food, and found a spot to sit and chat, as the heiress reflected on how different her new friends were.
Yaoyorozu had money, a lot of money, compared to her friends, but they'd never ever suggest she pay for them. When she'd offered, they'd told her she didn't have to! She'd even argued that, since she had the funds, it was less of a hardship for her, but Denki and Mina had just shared a look before he'd told her that, if she wanted to pay for it, she could, but the two of them split the cost of things, so, with her there, they just did the same thing three ways.
He'd done so, as if it were obvious, as if he were honestly confused as to the cause of her confusion. However, she had caught a flash of understanding after he'd said it that told her he understood what she'd meant a moment later. But he hadn't pressed the issue, and neither had she, and, when they'd went to go see a movie, the three of them, they all had paid for their own tickets, contributing a few hundred yen each to get a giant tub of popcorn that Mina had claimed with a grin, plopping herself down between the two of them, the three of them sharing it while Momo had tried, and failed, to keep a fond smile off her face.
Now, though, they talked about their training. Momo about the combat practice, the studying of blueprints, and the Quirk exercises Armor Warrior had put her through, utilizing some of her Quirks properties, like how partially-formed creations were 'anchored' to her body, to half-way create a tool and use it as if she had a Transformation-type Quirk instead of an Emitter Quirk.
Mina's surprised, then excited expression as Momo partially created a fork to spear a piece of takoyaki, as if it were nothing as the utensil was anchored to her fingertip was quite amusing, and got her to talking about other techniques she'd worked on.
Her best friend was quick to talk about what she'd learned as well, which mostly revolved around the telekinetic control of her Quirk-created acid, and learning to compact it into ersatz armor, compressing it, but also how to shift mental gears to turn what a Villain thought was a passive defense into a blast of restrictive goo.
Unfortunately, Mina's Quirk was such that, unlike her mentor, she couldn't bind and forget, as, the second she broke contact, it would return to a fluid state, but even as a way to capture a single opponent, Yaoyorozu could see the utility of it.
The other thing that the two, intern and mentor, had talked about was beauty techniques. Momo was no stranger to such things, knowing, from her parents, how much appearance mattered. The image you presented to others spoke just as loudly as your words, and those who could not put forth the effort to maintain a presentable appearance likely would not put forth the effort in other things as well. She knew she looked good, and put in the effort to do so, but she was also aware that, compared to Mina, she was outmatched.
As she listened to her friend, that was clearly evident, Yaoyorozu knowing enough to follow the explanation she was being given, but unfamiliar with a great deal of the techniques and processes being off-handedly mentioned.
"Is that how you got rid of your calluses?" she asked, as Mina talked about using her acid for exfoliation.
"Calluses?" the pinkette echoed, looking down at her hands. "Huh, haven't had to do that since..." she trailed off, eyes widening in realization. "Oh, uh, no, that was for general care. I guess training my Quirk took care of them! Hey, I'm pretty sure I could figure out how to do the same thing for you!"
Yaoyorozu frowned internally, keeping her expression pleasant. That. . . that hadn't been a lie, but her best friend was certainly hiding something. That was certainly a topic change, but for something that Mina had quite obviously just figured out herself. Smiling, Momo nodded, "That sounds lovely, Mina, we'll have to try it sometime. Now, you said you fought Villains? I wasn't able to, the sidekicks handled everything. How was it?"
Her best friend laughed in relief, and opened her hands up. "Oh my god, it was, like, the scariest before we started, but they were, like, complete pushovers! Okay, so, there we were, on patrol, just two gorgeous guardians cleanin' up the streets, and then we hear the sound of glass breaking. Like, a lot of it."
Momo leaned back in her seat, listening to her best friend. This week had been a wonderful experience, but a tiring one, and she was glad to be back with one of her two friends once more, returning to what was quickly becoming her new normal. In a way, she'd been disappointed that she hadn't been able to fight any Villains, but she'd had enough of that, thank you very much, and was glad they'd have until late fall, and their work-studies, before she'd have to do so again, at the earliest.
Chapter Fifty-Two
"DENKI! YOU'RE BACK!"
Walking into the development studio, my reflexes kicked in as my partner leapt nearly ten feet across the room in a flying tackle, allowing me to catch her and bleed her momentum off in a spin. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she was hauling me over to her workstation in the corner.
"You've been gone for forever! What were you doing that was so important, anyways? Do you know how much I didn't get done because you weren't here!?" Mei demanded, sitting me down on a stool.
While her words were demanding, and her tone was demanding, and her... okay, while normally this kind of third degree would annoy me viscerally, running it through the Mei-Translator gave me: 'I missed you, and don't want you to leave again.'
"It's part of being a Hero," I told her gently. "Sometimes we do training trips. I'm sure you, being in the Support Course, are going to have to go on field trips that I'm not allowed on."
The inventrix frowned, turning to the teacher acting as chaperone at the front of the workshop. "Denki's my partner. He should come with!" she declared.
Power Loader took a long sip of coffee. "He's already invited. Waiting for Aizawa to approve it."
"I... am?" I replied, not knowing what they were talking about. "To what?"
"We're going to I Island!" the pink-haired engineer grinned. "They saw our babies and want to talk to us about our designs!"
Right. That. I remembered the name, vaguely, from a movie trailer I'd watched before... 'coming' here, but I'd never seen it. Which meant, if things were still on the same track as before, it'd be attacked by villains. The question was, would that happen while I was on this trip with Mei, before, or after? Or, would it not happen at all? If Shigaraki was involved, I'd hurt him pretty badly, but would that mean he'd play it safe, or double down?
"No need to look so nervous, kid," the Pro commented. "You'll fit in just fine."
Shit, I thought, not hiding my thoughts as well as I thought I was and tried to laugh it off. "If you say so, Sir. So, Mei, build anything interesting while I was gone?"
The girl peered at me. "You still left me alone for a week. You need to make that up. I want you to come early for the next month!"
Which, translated, was 'I want you to spend more time with me', along with Mei's normal tendency to push things. I considered pointing out that I didn't need to come here, as my knee-jerk reaction to anyone telling me that I had to do something was to tell them to fuck off. However, I didn't... dislike spending time with her. "One week," I countered. "I was gone for a week, I'll be early for a weak."
"Ah, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!" the girl quoted back to me, enjoying the haggling. "But instead of sixteen to one, I'm just asking for three to one, so three weeks!"
"Two weeks, and I'll come twice as early," I shot back. With my... unique method of travel, I didn't need to worry about train schedules, only routes. "Final offer."
A wide grin split the girl's face. "Deal! Now take a look at this, I had some ideas for a three-dimensional movement gear that'll work great for Uragawa's zero-gravity Quirk!"
It took me a moment. "You mean Uraraka?" I asked, as Mei grabbed what looked like a prototype ionic engine, and flicked a design up on the projector we'd built, since the plans for whatever we were putting together weren't just in her head anymore.
"Sure, whatever. Tell me, whaddya think?" she demanded, and I tried to follow what she was going for. Ionic engines weren't that powerful, and for terrestrial movement were pretty much non-starters. They were incredibly energy efficient, though, and didn't require that much fuel, which is why they were considered a possibility for space-flight.
However, with the coming of Quirks, and the chaos that followed, space-travel to anything other than the moon had been shelved, and even then those missions were usually rare PR moves, dick-waving either by governments or Support Companies.
Thinking about it, though, Ochaco's Quirk wasn't just nullifying gravity, but, to a certain degree, Mass as well, allowing her to swing a concrete pillar that should've weighed a few tons with only minor effort, as well as all the robots she'd thrown, not to mention her stopping Deku from hitting the ground with a slap that, if all that was different was gravity, should've broken her arm from the force of his momentum alone. With that power set, Ionic thrusters might very well be the way to go.
"This is brilliant!" I commented, mentally filling in some of the gaps in the design. "If it's going to be flight gear, though, we're gonna need to put in a better control system."
"See, this is why our babies need their papa!" Mei announced, dropping into my lap. "I was thinking a neural tap."
"Mei, how many times do I have to say it. No neural taps," I groaned, but smiled regardless, happy to be back and hashing out how to make Mei's crazy ideas viable.
Walking back into class, it felt like far longer than a week had passed, and I nodded to Mina as I took my seat next to her. I'd wanted to see her this weekend, but I'd had my last day of my internship on Saturday, and she'd begged off for Sunday, apologizing but asking me to go with it. It was her, so I did, but if I was being honest with myself, out of everything about UA, it was spending time with her that I'd missed most of all.
"You doing anything after-school?" I asked her quietly, and she smiled, but it was a pained one.
"Yeah, I am. Sorry, hun. Tomorrow?" she shot back, and I nodded, the smile expanding into a grin. "Great! How was Hawks?"
I considered how to respond. Despite my best efforts, I hadn't manifested so much as a tuft of down from trying to copy his Quirk. I knew I could eventually, but the time we'd had in that week wasn't enough. "Good," I finally told her. "I didn't quite get what I was looking for, but I got a lot of experience. Mostly how to fly correctly. You?"
"I had an awesome time. Bentotina was great! I learned a lot about so much, and even came up with a few new tricks!" she gushed. "Did you get a work-study offer?" I nodded. "So did I! Sorry ya didn't get what you were looking for, but I'm sure you will later!"
"What were you looking for, ribbit?" Asui inquired behind us.
"Combat experience," I half-lied. "On one hand, him taking out criminals and villains in an instant makes sense, stops them from hurting anyone else. On the other, well, we sparred a little, but most of what we did was improving my maneuverability."
"Maneuverability is what he's known for," the frog girl pointed out, and I had to give her that. "Most of what I did was training and cleaning. I did fight some drug smugglers, Ribbit. It was close, but no one was really hurt."
"That's cool!" Mina gushed. "What happened?"
Sitting back and listening to the girls talk about their internship, I wondered if I should've done something about that. I knew that she ran into trouble the first time, but it didn't really seem as big of a deal as Stain. However, keeping hands-off had worked here, and, as Midoriya walked in, subdued but also a little upbeat, I waved to him, glad that that had turned out okay as well.
The green-haired boy glanced up, smiling slightly as he waved back, before taking his seat. Bakugo came in moments later, and the boy seemed... calmer? He still practically stalked in through the door, but he wasn't stomping, like he often did. As he took his seat, Jiro slipped out of hers and approached the explosive teen.
"Hey, h-how was your internship?" the rocker-girl asked, trying to go for casual, only a momentary hesitation detracting from that.
Bakugo looked at her incredulously, scoffing, "Why the hell do you care?"
"... nevermind," she muttered, turning around.
The Bombing King stared at her, confused, before calling out, "Hey, Jacks. It was good. Yours?"
Jiro paused, a moment of indecision flickering across her face, before she settled on determined. "Not bad. Fought some terrorists. You?" she called back, looking over her shoulder.
"Hardcore," Bakugo snorted approvingly. "Just some nobodies on my end. Barely a challenge. Got into a few scraps with my teammates. Kicked most of their asses." The boy grinned ferally at the memory. "Most of 'em." He paused awkwardly. "Who'd you go with?"
"Death Arms," the girl replied. "He-"
"That fucking schmuk?" Bakugo scoffed angrily, interrupting her. "I guess, to get into a fight, he'd be fine, but asshole's a pussy when it matters."
Jiro scowled, "I think he did pretty good!"
"Those guys you fought. Basic Bitch Quirks?" Bakugo questioned.
"Uh, I mean, one guy was strong, and one had bone spikes, and another could jump," she offered. "But he took them out."
"Basic Bitch Quirks," the Explosion King nodded. "Asshole pussies out like a fuckin' coward the second things get hard."
"I'm sure he wouldn't do that!" she objected, but hesitated when Midoriya, from his position behind Bakugo winced.
The green haired boy noticed her stare, and quietly stated, "No, Kachan's right. Death Arms is one of those heroes that waits around when someone is in trouble because his Quirk isn't a perfect matchup. I thought that was okay, before, but... " he trailed off.
One of the things All Might had taught us in our hero classes was that, when working in a team, working to your strength was preferable, but, unless you knew acting would make things worse, sitting around and waiting was not acceptable. Sometimes you got extreme situations, like a person with fire powers in a situation where a gasoline-truck had crashed, but short of those rare circumstances, all that meant was that you needed to be that much smarter in order to save people.
Right, I remembered. Death Arms was one of the heroes who did nothing while the Slime Villain tried to eat Bakugo. The one that lectured Deku for trying to help, while he waited for someone else to save the day. Mt. Lady not helping kind of made sense, at least at first, as she was a giant and couldn't fit in the street without causing damage, but even then, she could have tried to reach in and grab both Bakugo and the Slime Villain, moving them out of the fire and into a position that the others could save the teenager, but she'd done nothing either.
"Did the coward offer you a spot for your Work Study?" Bakugo asked, and Jiro shook her head. "Good. You wouldn't fit in at my place, but I could ask around."
The jacked girl looked at him skeptically. "I, I'd appreciate that. But, why?"
The boy looked down and away, scowling, and muttered something under his breath. While I missed it, Jiro didn't, and the girl smiled happily. "Aw, thanks! Same!"
"Shut the fuck up, Ears!" Bakugo yelled, but the girl's good cheer was undaunted as she practically pranced back to her seat.
"Oooooo, someone's got a crush," Mina teased, leaning over my desk, and I had to resist the urge to slap her ass as she wiggled it.
School, we're in school, I reminded myself. It had been too long since we'd been together.
"S-shut up," Jiro blushed, looking away. "I-I'm just being friendly. What's wrong with that?"
"Nothings wrong," Ashido cooed. "I'm just happy for ya. You go grab that explosion!" An evil smile spread across her features. "Or go get bang-"
I reached up and muffled my lover. "And that's enough. Leave the poor girl alone."
Mina pouted, looking at me, before licking my hand. "Not the time," I told her without reacting, the girl apparently just as affected by our time apart as I was.
She pulled away, falling back into her seat. "Fiiine," she sighed, but couldn't help but smile.
The door slammed open, but I didn't see anyone, which could only mean-
"Kaminari!" Mineta cried, running inside and up to me, before dropping into a full bow. "Thank you Sensei!"
"Um... what?" I asked, nonplussed.
"I got her number!" he announced, springing to his feet. A moment later, he'd taken out his phone, and was showing me a picture. In it, Mineta was taking a selfie with a girl in a skintight costume who was a nine out of ten, easily, and with similar proportions to Midnight, only more so.
"Um... what?" I repeated, not sure what the hell I was seeing.
Mineta grinned broadly, "I did what you said, and played it cool. And, I worked with a complete babe, and like, learned some stuff, but I got her number and a kiss!"
"Wait, like, on the lips?" Mina asked incredulously.
"Not on the lips," the pervert replied smugly.
Asui peered at the boy with her too-large eyes. "It was on the forehead. Wasn't it."
The ball-headed teen deflated a little. "Still counts," he muttered. "But we worked really well together! Thanks man, I couldn't've done it without you!"
"Um, no problem?" I offered, as the tiny teen tottered off to his seat.
There was a moment of silence, before Mina declared, "I was gonna say Bakugo was the one who changed the most, but I'd be wrong. I've gotta say, I'm kinda proud of the little perv."
All Might had his mobility lesson, which turned out about how I thought it might. Ida's speed wasn't the best in the broken terrain of the pipe-filled industrial practice area, which let Midoriya cinch the win. I tried my best, but, even pushing my flight, Bakugo beat me to All Might, if only barely. All my training had been in mid-air maneuverability and how to make my flight viable for patrols, instead of how to better utilize my straight-line speed.
I could go stupid fast, if I wanted to run out of juice in a minute or so, but unfortunately physics was a merciless bitch, and that meant I was moving far faster than I could safely stop. I tried a turn-and-burn, trying to accelerate in the opposite direction to pull back my vector, dumping large reserves of my electricity into my gloves. Unfortunately, I messed up the calculations a little and missed the top of the silo the Number One was standing on, not even close enough to throw a lightning limb out and hook into, having to re-accelerate to try and get back to him. That meant Bakugo, screaming in rage after I'd shot by him, and riding a series of explosions, had managed to get there first.
"You're not better than me!" the Bombing King had declared afterwards.
"I mean, probably," I'd replied. "I need to work more on the landings. Good job, man."
He'd given me an assessing look, before grunting, nodding, and stalking away.
Then another day of class, and Mina and I had left school together, careful to not look like we were together, but as soon as the train started moving she scooted over, and I lifted my arm to hold her to me. Even that much got us a few disapproving looks, but I wasn't doing what I wanted to, that being make out with my stupidly hot girlfriend, so they should be happy we were being discrete.
"Dinner, karaoke, hotel?" I asked as we got off at our normal stop.
Mina considered that, before leaning in close and whispering, "I'm hungry for something else," in my ear, giggling at my expression.
"Alright then, Hotel first," I'd declared, taking her hand in mine and striding, with purpose. I'm not sure what it said about us that the receptionist recognized us, but it certainly made things easier. Soon enough we were in our room, and the door has barely closed when Mina was on me, jumping up and hooking herself with her hands and legs as she goes for the kiss we both wanted all day.
Her lips are as sweet, warm, and soft as I remember and one of my arms wraps around her, holding her tightly to me, as I drop my own bag and head towards where I know the bed to be. With my eyes closed, I almost walk into it, dropping down onto the mattress. I make sure to not land completely on her, as we continue, but enjoy the feeling of her against me.
With her once more, I'm content to just keep going like this, feeling right with her in my arms, but she pulls away, letting go with her arms but with her legs still wrapped around my hips, and blinks. "Holy shit I needed that," she remarks, grinding against me. "And need this. Come on Sparky, strip."
I'm already unbuttoning my shirt, as I ask, "You don't want to take your time and enjoy this?"
She smiles, taking off her own shirt. "Sparky, I know you're trying to be romantic, and we'll do that after dinner, but I want you in me, hard, fast, and often."
Slipping off my top, I nudge her legs, still wrapped around me. She gives me a salacious grin, and pulls herself up against my hardness, teasing me, before she lets go and I swiftly remove my belt. In moments, we're both naked, and I practically pounce on her as she squeals with glee, the feeling of her against me exponentially better without anything in the way.
I kiss her again, as she rubs up against me, my hardness sliding between her lips, but as she tries to lift herself up, I pull her back down a few times, enjoying the feeling and teasing her right back.
"Sparky!" she half-laughs, half-moans. "Come on and fuck meooooooh!" she groans, as I slide in deep, shuddering myself at the warm, wet feeling of her squeezing down tightly on me. "Oh god, yes," she sighs, as I pull back, before resheathing myself in her fully hard enough to make us bounce on the mattress. "Yes. I missed this. Fuck me, Sparky."
I do so, starting with slow but heavy strokes, appreciating the feeling as my lover writhes against me, picking up speed every few minutes when she starts to get herself under control. Soon enough, though, I'm going faster, bringing myself into her again and again, not to tease her, but because my own control is fraying.
Holding out, going faster and harder, it's not until that Mina seizes up, pulling herself to me and she screams out in pleasure, clenching me in orgasm that I pull just a little bit of OfA, doubling my force and speed as her voice jumps an octave, eyes wide as she loses herself to pleasure, and I'm not far behind her.
Going until the last moment, I press myself in deep, holding her to me as tightly as I can without hurting her, as she does the same, releasing within her. It's a long few moments as all I can focus on is the woman in my arms, my entire world just the two of us, but it slowly passes and I relax a little, pressing down on her, as she still shudders beneath me.
"Holy shit I needed that," I sigh, my thoughts scattered, and without meaning to profess, "Feels like coming home."
That gets a chuckle from Mina, underneath me, who's a little out of it. "God you're a dork, Denki. But you're my dork," she muses, still twitching. "Both of us needed this. Wait... are you still hard?"
I blink, twitching myself inside her, getting a pleased gasp from my lover. "So I am. Ready for round two?"
She just laughs. "No, but fuck me anyways. God, you're almost more than I can handle."
"But you do it so well," I smile, thrusting into her, feeling her fingers dig into my back. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."
The pink-skinned woman below me, sweaty, hair messed, and even more beautiful for it, rolls her dark eyes as she smiles, and pulls herself up to kiss me as we start once more.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Sparring with Yaoyorozu, I found that, for the first time, I was losing. I wasn't using One-for-All, because I was sparring with her to help her gain experience, and with my normal strength I was still stronger than she was, but by a lesser margin than I thought.
The girl wasn't exactly a twig, though in sheer muscle mass I had her beat by a significant margin, but she was hitting me hard enough, with the proper leverage, that I couldn't patch my own lack of skill with brute force. However, I could also practically feel Martial Talent cribbing notes from her learned skills, and letting me keep up with her.
And then she'd grown a strobe light from her forehead, and nearly blinded me, tripping me with her staff and sending me sprawling.
From there, it'd been Quirks-free, except for that one, as she'd pulled out more gadgets then fucking Batman, and it was only my ability to turn to lightning, my control enough to transform my shirt but not the sticky-cuffs I'd been slapped with, that got free.
Only to get hit with a net made of metallic threads that practically absorbed me when I shifted again, barely escaping.
Only to get a face-full of sticky-foam, which I only partially dodged, keeping my mouth and eyes free.
Only to slammed in the stomach by part of a quarterstaff she'd grown from her back, ripping through her shirt, which I countered with a kick to her ribs.
Only to have that kick slam into a metal shield she created right before I hit, not completely negating the blow, but absorbing most of the force.
Only retreating just to have her pop a pistol from her bare midriff, grab it before it hit the ground, and for her to fire another metal net at me.
I wasn't sure if I was pissed or proud, as this one I didn't dodge fast enough, which caught my legs, and the two seconds it took me to shift all of one leg, then the other, to extricate myself was long enough for her to charge me, hands out, and douse me with even more capture foam, as I desperately shot forward an electric arm, trying to hit her, which she dodged in a move that was very Mina-esque.
Covered head to toe in hardened material, I sighed. "Fuck," I swore, pulling on All Might's power, pushing it as hard as I could. It was barely more than Midoriya had shown during our first Battle Lesson, but, combined with my own physique, and using it as he did now, It was enough to crack the bindings that covered, and start to break free.
At which point she sprayed me down again.
"I gib!" I spluttered as I quickly tried to spit out the foul-tasting fluid. It wouldn't block an airway, the delay in how it set letting a person's natural breathing open up a passage, but it was certainly uncomfortable if it set in your mouth.
Mei had done it to me enough in testing, thank you very much.
"Oh, my apologies!" my partner replied, as, crackling with sparks of golden lightning, I once more broke open the quickly-setting foam. The Creator splashed me with the neutralizing fluid and the rest crumbled to dust in a few seconds, and I stepped out of the sand-like pile, brushing myself off. "I thought you were still fighting!"
I winced. Being covered, she couldn't've seen that I'd pulled on my strength enhancement. Nor had I mentioned to her that I was specifically not using it, either. I'd talked to her about that 'use' of my power, but the visual difference between using it and just being electrically charged was subtle to the outside observer. "Yeah, my bad. I should've said something," I apologized in turn. "That was... something," I remarked, shaking my head at the loss.
It'd been a couple weeks after the end of our internships, and Finals weren't until the first week of July, so now we were hitting the home stretch of the first semester. With my American experiences, I'd expected school to end in the middle of June, but instead of having a solid two and a half months off, we'd only get a single month in the dead of summer to relax. While it hadn't been announced yet, I knew that the last week was going to be the 'voluntary' training trip, which only those who passed the final could attend, except they all could, just with extra academics at night for those that failed.
Regardless, with the studying I was doing, and the studying I was making Mina do, when we weren't 'studying', I was pretty sure we'd be fine, but that didn't mean we could slack off in any way. In fact, Mina was supposed to be here with us, but she'd begged off at the last moment, citing a family emergency, but insisting it wasn't anything that bad.
And so it was just the two of us hanging out, for the first time in... ever really.
"Seriously, good job," I told the girl, who was leaning on her quarterstaff, tired from our spar. "I had to use my strength enhancement just to break free, and I was avoiding that."
Instead of being buoyed by my praise, though, the girl wilted. "You mean you weren't using your full strength against me?" she asked, frowning.
"No, but if I didn't have seemingly two separate and unrelated Quirks, you would've had me, and even then, by the time I used it, you already had me," I argued back. "And where did you get the idea for the light? I almost lost right then and there, in a way that would've taken me down even if I had still been using the strength enhancement."
The girl straightened a little, blushing. "Oh, that was from Armor Warrior-sensei. He was a wealth of information in how to better use my Quirk, and to integrate it into my fighting style. I, I did good?" she asked, oddly vulnerable.
"You did great," I insisted, "Though you've kind of wrecked your shirt."
The girl blinked, looking down, her black sports bra peeking out from the shredded remains of her top. "Oh, that I have! Please give me a moment!" she requested, reaching up and casually unbuttoning it and removing the rest in a fluid movement that was oddly unsexy and blasé, though the girl herself was both muscular and lithe, bringing to mind the oddly discordant image of a distracted panther.
Yeah, okay, I can see why Mina's attracted, I thought, looking over her as her stomach glowed, creating another shirt on the spot and slipping it on. "So, I'm good to keep going," I offered, "but you looked like you're good for the day. Any plans?"
"Not particularly," she replied, smoothing out her skirt. "I expected Mina to be here, but, perhaps we could continue without her? Oh! I know! We could go do Karaoke! Mina said she always has so much fun with you doing so, that I have to admit I'm quite curious!"
I froze, a vision of how karaoke with Mina usually turned out, only with my pink-skinned lover replaced with the heiress in front of me, flashing before my eyes. I... didn't hate the idea, but this was well into the 'talk it over with my girlfriend first' territory. I remembered the conversation we'd had, by the river in the woods, about opening up this thing of ours, and, given how she was literally bound to me, I didn't have any worries in that respect, but... "How about we do that with Mina. Those kinds of group things just get more fun with more people, assuming you're all friends. How 'bout we grab some food, then decide what we want to do?"
Yaoyorozu hesitated, before her stomach growled, loudly, and, blushing, she nodded. "That sounds like an excellent idea. Do you have any locations in mind?"
I didn't, but we left UA together and found an Izakaya place, which was kind of like Tapas, only not pretentiously expensive, which was good, as we both kind of pigged out. Somehow, Momo managed to, with refinement and poise, eat about five pounds of food on her own. She'd scarfed down even more than I did, and was visibly relieved when I agreed to let her pay for most of it, as we both slowed down and relaxed.
"That was delicious!" she sighed, as we sipped our drinks and relaxed. "Thank you, Denki."
"I just suggested we get food," I shrugged, glad I'd gotten to taste some of every dish before the majority of it disappeared into the black hole that was Momo's stomach. With the expanded understanding of her power we'd hammered out, working with a sort of buffer that was filled with Lipids, though nowhere near a 1-1 ratio of input and output, her appetite did make sense. Regardless, I was sure that what just happened was a secret I must never share, lest the girl in front of me be incinerated by the collective female jealousy of half of Japan, as I was sure she wouldn't so much as gain a pound from her feasting. "Looking forward to the end of the term?"
The girl opposite of me smiled brightly, "I am! I've learned ever so much this semester, I just hope I'm ready for the finals!"
I had to laugh as, despite having literally graduated college, and despite having Science Talent turning me into a low-rent super genius solely from working with Mei, I was still only number two in the class's mid-term rankings, my lower scores in Classical Literature and Hero Art History dropping my total grade a half a percent below the other girl, who I'd beaten in English, Math, and Science, but by a lesser amount.
If I'd cared more, It'd've frustrated me, and, to be honest, I had been incredulous, but YaoMomo had been just so damn happy that it'd been so close between us that I couldn't hold on to even the mildest of annoyance. From what I'd been able to tell, the friends she'd had when she was younger, while under the same pressure to succeed as she'd been, hadn't been nearly as self-motivated, nor, with their positions of privilege secure, as concerned with academics.
Mina, on the other hand, was just flabbergasted to be in the top half of the class, as that had, apparently, "Like, never happened before!"
I had pointed out that I was literally tutoring her in half her classes, and she'd made sure to 'pay me handsomely for my services', as she'd teased.
"Denki?" Momo asked, with the air of someone repeating a question.
"Sorry, what was that?" I replied, trying not to think about Mina too hard, lest there be a problem when I stood.
Yaoyorozu glanced at me, thoughtful, before she asked, "How do you think you'll do in the finals?"
"We'll do fine, and I've been tutoring Mina," I shrugged. "It's the practical I'm concerned about. I heard from an upperclassman that it's supposed to be robots, again, but with what happened at the USJ, I think making any assumptions based on previous years is a mistake. If I had to guess, we'll be facing off against the teachers, maybe in groups of three or four, hero team versus lone villain style," I proposed. As much as part of me wanted to call out exactly what would happen, Mina and I had talked, and she'd explained, in her inimical style, how even coming close to calling what would happen was still damn impressive.
"Against the teachers?" Momo gasped, but from the look in her eyes, I could see she was already considering how to do just that. The girl wasn't as good as Midoriya when it came to strategy, but she wasn't a slouch either. "Do you think we'll be allowed to pick our teams?"
I shook my head. "No. Remember All Might's first class? Hero team-ups are often random, and, well, if Mina, you, and me were all on the same team, or with someone else as well? It'd be way too easy."
The Creator blushed a little. "I think you are far overestimating our capabilities when compared to Pro Heroes, let alone the teaching staff of UA, Denki, but thank you anyways."
"Eh, if we were fighting someone in the top ten, then yeah, like Hawks, or Armor Warrior, or, god forbid, All Might, but I could take Midnight," I half-bragged.
"You could 'Take her'?" Momo asked, with a slight teasing smile. "Whatever would Mina say?"
"Mina would help," I laughed, not having expected the double-meaning from the normally naïve girl. "If I'm being honest, though, she's probably the only one I could take. Apparently my healing helps against poison-based powers. I want to say I could take Present-Mic. I mean, what is he gonna do, scream at me? I could turn my ears to lightning and be done! But I have a feeling that they're tougher than they seem. I mean, Thirteen got dropped in a few seconds, but that seemed more like surprise and a phenomenally bad matchup. Like, the type even All Might would say to avoid."
The other girl nodded with a troubled expression. "Indeed. I was surprised at how badly she was hurt, and, by extension, how badly she was willing to hurt that mist Villain."
"Cut the woman some slack," I replied, agreeing with her statement, but disagreeing with her implication. "She had a class full of fresh-behind-the-ears hero students and was facing a villain of unknown danger who'd managed to slip through UA's defenses and port in a small army of criminals. I'm not gonna criticize the woman for going all Mother Bear to try to protect us."
"But still. To resort to deadly force so quickly..." the other girl trailed off.
I sighed, loudly, and she looked up at me. "This is something I've talked to my parents about, and Mina, but..." This time it was my turn to trail off, as the phrase 'rather be tried by twelve than carried by six' didn't mean the same thing given Japan's justice system. "But I'd rather have you get in trouble for killing a Villain in self-defense, one that was clearly trying to kill you, then lose you and get in trouble for killing the one who killed you myself. And I would," I stated with certainty.
Yaoyorozu stared at me, shocked. "You wouldn't," she finally tried to state with as much certainty as I had, and failed.
"It might not be heroic, but... yeah, I would," I informed her honestly, smiling slightly. "I can't remember who said it, but Mercy is the gift of the strong, Momo. You fight a guy who, I don't know, fires blast of air? Do the normal hero thing. You fight Shigaraki, who led the USJ fight, who disintegrates anything, even people, with a touch? Make a gun and shoot him until he goes down, stays down, and do not approach him, Momo. When I fought that Nomu, the big guy that was supposed to kill All Might, with Midoriya that day? I started with full-on lethal, and didn't stop, and not only was that not enough, but, if I hadn't, both of us and Aizawa would all be dead."
The Creator stared at me, not saying a word, and I winced, wondering if this was too much all at once. "Sorry," I sighed. "It's just... I worry. I... I have a feeling that, with what happened in Hosu with the other guys that looked just like the guy that almost killed me, that things are going to get worse before they get better."
"I, I think I understand," Yaoyorozu finally stated. "You're a lot more afraid than you let on, aren't you?"
"I think I'm not hiding it, but, I mean... yes?" I replied. "I'm... If something happened to Mina, or you. I know both of you are heroic, more than me, probably, but, Heroes can die, and we aren't ready."
Canonically, everything had turned out fine, but, Canonically, Ojiro hadn't lost a foot and dropped out. We were stronger, especially Midoriya and myself, and it might not even happen at all with Shigaraki out of commission, but the Nomu attack in Hosu had still happened.
I was brought out of my thoughts as I felt Momo take my hands in her own. Glancing up, she was looking at me with a kind, compassionate expression. It wasn't quite pitying, though it was close, more sympathetic than anything else.
"Denki, you don't need to be worried," the girl informed me. "Yes, bad things happened, but it was so unusual because of how rare such things are. I looked into it, and something like the USJ hasn't happened at UA for over twenty years. I won't argue that it wasn't a harrowing experience, but to expect it to happen again... I think you're worrying over nothing."
I stiffened, angry that she wasn't believing me, but... I thought of Mina, who had believed me, but who had also required some serious proof. Trying to look at it from Momo's point of view, and with Denki's memories... I could understand where she was coming from. Heroes, as a whole, had worked hard to seem on top of things. In fact, were it not for All-for-One managing things from the shadows, the League probably couldn't've had pulled off their first attack, let alone what had happened at the summer camp, might still happen at the summer camp.
I forced myself to relax. "I, how about this," I proposed. "We train, and we have a lethal ace in the hole, just in case. I'm not saying use it, but..." I pulled my left hand back, making the devil-horns gesture I'd trained, and let a single arc of lightning run up them like an organic Jacob's Ladder. "But it's better to have it, and never use it, instead of need it, and not have it. I know you, it'd take you an afternoon, but extend your toolbox that much for me. A pistol, some plastic explosives, that's all. Nothing extreme, just options, in case it happens again."
Momo laughed a little, shaking her head, gripping my right hand with both of hers. "I already know how to make those things, Denki. But tell me you'll stop worrying, please. It's not good for you."
That got a laugh out of me as well. "Mina will tell you I never stop worrying, but, hearing you've done so? It helps. Did you have them, when the USJ happened?" She shook her head. "Then I don't need to worry as much about you," I informed her, squeezing her hand back. "Which does help. Honestly, it does. So, um, sorry to kill the mood. Got anything more positive?"
Yaoyorozu squeezed my hand once more, shaking her head, before pulling herself back. "Don't worry about it. And I do! Tell me, have you heard of I Island? They're having an expo the week after our finals, and my parents were offered two tickets. They can't go, but I know you have an interest in such things, and I thought you might enjoy it. Denki?" she asked, as I froze. "Is something wrong?"
"No," I half-lied. I didn't know something was wrong, after all, but now, at least, I knew the dates lined up. "I'm actually already going with Mei. They invited us both for our performance at the Sports Festival. But that's great!" I insisted, as the girl looked disappointed. "You could bring Mina instead, and all of us could spend time there! It'll make for a nice vacation after the stress of Finals," I insisted, as Yaoyorozu perked back up.
"The... four of us," she said, as if testing out the phrase, before she slowly nodded. "Yes, that sounds lovely, Denki! And, if you wouldn't mind, could we perhaps go to the movies after we're done here?" she asked, motioning towards our table. "There's a period drama I'm interested in, but, well, you know how Mina is."
"If it isn't horror, action, or eye-candy, she doesn't care," I agreed. "Dramas aren't really my thing, but, sure, why not?" I offered with a shrug. "Maybe I just haven't seen the right one, and besides, with the right company, even things I normally find boring might be enjoyable."
While not the same as Mina's kilowatt grin, Momo's pleased smile was just as expressive, and just as warm.