I'm a couple hours early, but it is the 24th in most of my country by now so screw it.
I don't have much to say but I hope you enjoy the chapter. Chapter XI will be out on 5/27/19
Reviews: Again only a small handful, but I appreciate them still none the less.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to read anything new recently that has really made an impact to where I could recommend or in the case of others, are clearly more popular than my own story. So I'll just leave this section blank for now.
Any Original Characters unless specified is owned by yours truly. However I could care less about them and allow anyone to use them in their own fan fiction projects if they so wish. A.K.A (OC's be damned)
My Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi and Shueisha. Published and licensed by Shonen Jump, Viz Media, and Funimation.
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My Hero Academia Untold: The Fafnir Knight
Saga I: Dusk
Arc I: Origins
Chapter X: The Exam
"The Journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step."
-Lao Tzu
The young man sat there, bright and early in his hotel room with an extra phone receiving his first real assignment for his new job.
"You have your instructions yes?" He heard a raspy voice say over the phone.
"Yeah, hit the place hard while some of the best pro-heroes are at U.A. today."
"Good... my sources say you're the best one at cleaning up filth."
The man looked over some of the files he had been given, including pictures of several men wearing bird like masks.
"Well... I might leave a bit dust and ashes not much else."
"Make sure the boss survives, I need him alive to use him for another plan of mine. However, the more of his expendables you get rid of, the higher your bounty – as promised."
He looked over to find the picture of said boss. The name "Overhaul," boldly written above his head.
"Done."
"Do this well, and your membership to the league is assured."
"And if any civies or pros get in the way?"
"Avoid both if possible, but the most important thing is that you avoid getting your face seen, and don't get caught."
The man paused, thinking over an answer that would satisfy the villain.
"Ashes it is, then."
"Heheheheh! You crack me up, you pyro."
He hung up the phone and, with a casual flick of his hand, made it burst into blue flames.
"Heh, I give a whole new meaning to the term burner phones." He looked at the sheet of paper with the address he's about to strike, and the location of the safe house to retreat to when the job is done.
Dawn was approaching, and he wouldn't need to strike until later in the afternoon, at least once he gotten the sign that the key pro-heroes were gone.
He decided to use the time he had on hand to get his gear ready and rest up.
Izuku woke up bright and early, as usual. But today was no ordinary day. Izuku has been waiting for this day for years and at last, it has finally arrived.
The UA entrance exam.
He hopped out of the bed carefully as his left foot was still a little sore from yesterday. And yet, he couldn't help but wake up in a good mood. His encounter with Ochako had gone much better than expected, and he even wound up getting her phone number.
"Izuku, are you awake?" he heard his mother call out to him.
"Yeah. I'm gonna hop in the shower."
"Okay, I'll go get breakfast started!"
"Thanks!"
Izuku was moving rapidly, quickly getting ready for the big day. The test wasn't for another few hours, but when your filled with nervous energy, one tends to go overboard, and this is Izuku Midoriya we are talking about.
One hot shower and a change of fresh new clothes later, Izuku stepped out of his room and into the living room, only to be surprised by a number of guests in his home.
While his mother Inko worked in the kitchen making breakfast, Katsuki was sitting at the table waiting for Izuku with a grin on his face as he waited for him. Katsuki's mother, Mitsuki, sat in the living room with Yuu and Ryuko.
"Oh hey! You're all here!" Izuku chirped out happily.
"Izu! How's my favorite, little cousin doing?" said Ryuko, getting up from her seat and giving him a big hug.
"Great, Kyu." Izuku returned the hug to his cousin, who had always been a like an older sister to him.
"Of course! We're all here for you, Izu. Also, I gotta make sure to wish you luck and make sure this one doesn't kill anyone before the exam," Mitsuki half-joked, pointing at Katsuki and eliciting laughter from both Yuu and Ryuko. "Just make sure you to take over this job when you get to U.A."
Normally, Katsuki would've immediately returned fire, but refused to act up in Inko's house, out of respect for her and instead settled with a silent growl and crossed arms. And it totally didn't have anything to do with Ryuko being there, and it wasn't like Katsuki couldn't help wanting to act just a bit more mature while in her presence – yep, totally nothing to do with that whatsoever!
"Oh, and Izu honey," Mitsuki added, "Masaru wanted to come, but he wasn't able to get the time off work for it. He wishes you good luck, too." She too got up to give a hug to Izuku as well.
"Okay boys! Breakfast is ready!" Inko called out with several plates lined up for everyone. "This should be enough to get you two through the day!"
"Thanks, Mom!"
"Thanks, Auntie."
A full, western breakfast with eggs, toast, and a few select cured breakfast meats were on today's menu. Katsuki being Katsuki, of course, started off with unloading his eggs and sausage with copious, ungodly amounts of hot sauce. Izuku, not wanting to regret using the restroom later, settled with a bit of salt and pepper.
As Inko continued serving everyone else breakfast, Mitsuki took the chance to curiously ask a rather personal question for the boy she saw as a second son.
"Soooo... Izu, what have you been up to lately?"
Izuku didn't hear that layer of mischief in Mitsuki's voice or see the wicked grin that formed on her face.
"Good, Auntie. I'm just doing my usual routine of studying and training."
"Oh? Are you sure that is all that you've been doing?"
Izuku paused, now suspicious as he began to see the smirk that slowly grew on her and Yuu's faces. The same smirk that always warned Izuku of something coming.
'They are about to tease the hell out of you!'
"Yeah... why?"
"Oh really? Because I swear, I saw you yesterday with a rather cute girl," Mitsuki's eyes glinted in the light. "Having breakfast and having quite a lot of fun, if that laughter from both of you was any indication!"
Izuku tried to keep a straight face, but the dark red blush that spread like a fire on his face betrayed him.
"Izuku!" He could hear his mother cry out, "You have a girlfriend?!"
"W-w-w-wait!"
"Ooooooh, Izu! You naughty boy! Not even letting Momma Inko know!" Yuu joined in, as she had already saw the video Mitsuki had recorded yesterday at the bakery. "Who's this mystery girl's name?"
"I-I-It's not like th-that, I-I mean, ah!" Izuku's stuttering was now at full gear now.
"Aw, Kacchan," Ryuko asked, turning to Katsuki. "You know anything about her?"
Katsuki only allowed three people in this world to call him "Kacchan": the woman who just made him breakfast, his best friend, and the woman had he has had a deeply-held crush on since he was eight years old.
"I don't know anything," He grumbled, a light blush gracing his face as he turned away and kept eating, unable to look at the Dragoon hero in the face. "I haven't seen any girls that talk to Izuku at school."
He was getting a bit annoyed at this sudden change; Izuku hadn't mentioned anything about this last night and wasn't denying it now either. He had more than enough reason to be concerned, even if he would never openly admit it.
Days right after the slime villain attack, several people had caught Izuku's rescue on video and it went viral online for nearly a whole month. Shit, it even spawned a short-lived series of memes on social media following the next few weeks.
At school, it quickly proved that Izuku wasn't quirkless, as many previously thought and presumed. Although, quite a few shallow students, especially girls, now thought that they could strike gold with the shy, nervous boy. Since only now did everyone see his potential as an up and coming pro-hero, students came out of the woodwork to begin hanging out and hitting on him in ways that made Izuku feel really uncomfortable.
Thankfully, many of them wound up backing off, thanks to Katsuki's rather aggressive efforts.
'Goddamn skanks!'
He wasn't about to let anyone of the people who did been pricks to Izuku for years only now become completely two-faced since they could now get something out of him. At the very least, it was fortunate that no one made the connection with Draco Knight, much to the relief of both families.
Izuku finally managed to find his voice and managed to squeak out, "Sh-she's from out of town, I met her yesterday at the beach –"
"Ooooh, the beach! Inko, come on! You may already have future daughter-in-law lined up!"
"That is pretty romantic for a first meeting! Better him than this one, am I right?" Yuu commented, poking at an irritated Katsuki and knowing full well of taking advantage of him being far more docile in Inko's apartment than at home.
"Oh, come now! I'm sure even Kacchan will find a girl that will be sweet on him, too!" Ryuko teased.
Inko could only make muttering sounds that mixed somewhere between being joyful and yet fearful that she was going to be replaced in her son's life.
"Mom! It's not like that!" Izuku pleaded, "She's just here to take the entrance exam, too!"
"Are you sure, Izu? I believe, I did see you eating breakfast with the lass…" Mitsuki said between laughs. "That sounds like a date to me."
"You do work fast, Izu." Yuu nodded in agreement.
Inko looked as if she was on the verge of a heart attack. "My baby is all grown up!" she cried.
Izuku had finally gave up trying to explain himself, and simply settled to just finish up breakfast. The both boys ate and endured more teasing from their families until they at last, they finished up and got ready to head out.
It was nearly an hour-long train ride to get to UA, so they made sure to leave early with plenty of time to spare. One more round of hugs and best wishes were given to both boys as they were heading out the door.
"Izuku, I'm so proud of you, and I know your father would be, too." Inko had finished with tears of pride in her eyes.
"Thanks, Mom."
"It's simple, Katsuki," Mitsuki told her son. "Win and show no mercy."
"Damn right," He answered back with a confident smirk.
As the two boys left the apartment, the Midoriya household continued to buzz a bit more over the sudden development of Izuku's love life, until Ryuko had to leave herself.
"Going on patrol?" Inko asked, cleaning up dishes left from their big breakfast.
"Nope," She answered back to everyone's surprise, "I'm actually going to UA as well."
"Why's that?" Yuu asked as she helped clear the table.
"I'm one of the invited guest pros invited to watch over the practical exam," Ryuko said with excitement.
"And you're just now telling us?" Mitsuki raised an eyebrow, sounding a bit annoyed.
Ryuko only laughed it off, "I wanted to keep it a surprise! Oh, and that being said! I'm gonna invite the boys out to eat after the exam to celebrate. That okay with both of you?"
"Sure, go nuts." Mitsuki shrugged dismissively, knowing full well her son would leap at such a chance to dine with Ryuko and would most likely destroy anything that would get in the way of that.
"I'm fine with that too, thank you Ryuko." Inko nodded as well.
As the two boys made their way to the train station, they were filled with anticipation of the entrance exam and talked in order to psyche themselves up.
"This is it Izuku! Eleven long ass years, but it's finally time! The start of our debut." Katsuki's voice brimming with confidence.
Izuku answered back, his voice steady but still clearly nervous, "We still got to pass our test first, Kacchan."
"Tch, you make it sound like there's even a chance that we'll fail. Get those ideas of failure out of your head and only think of victory."
"Yeah, you're right," Izuku quietly kept his thoughts to himself,
'If only you really knew what my idea of victory was.'
"You got a handle on your quirk now, right?" Katsuki changed the subject, "Even after the mutation?"
"Yeah, all the beach training really helped with that."
Izuku hated keeping the truth about One for All a secret from his best friend, but he wanted to keep the faith All Might entrusted on him. Maybe in the future, he could ask All Might for permission to let him know.
"So. Who is your mystery girl from yesterday?"
"Wah...!" Izuku groaned, immediately covering his face, "Not you too..."
"Chill out man, I'm not gonna tease ya' that much, like the Old Bat," he lied with smirk, as his plans were to tease him way harder later.
"Like I said back home, I met her at the beach and found out she is here to take the UA entrance exam. She's really from out of town."
"I wonder why she's specifically out here instead of staying closer to where UA is…"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I'm just saying to keep your guard up," Katsuki frowned, "Remember those skanks from school earlier this year?"
"Kacchan, she isn't like that," Izuku countered, "She's really nice."
"If she's taking the exam, then she's competition. Therefore, she's another person we need to take out."
"Hey!"
A familiar voice called out from behind, one Izuku knew well by now. They turned to see Ochako, now running up the street to catch up with them. Izuku waved back at her and stopped to let her catch up, unlike Katsuki who simply slowed his pace a bit to observe their new development.
'Chocolate brown hair and eyes, a round face, light blush and...makeup?
And what surprised him was the wide smile on Izuku's face.
'For only knowing her one day, the way you're smiling says a lot, Izuku.'
"Morning, Midoriya!" he heard her say.
"Morning, Uraraka," Izuku greeted back kindly.
"Oh, hi there!" She turned around, noticing Katsuki. "Are you Midoriya's friend?"
He turned his head with a huff, and continued walking.
"Yeah, Round-Face. That's me."
"R-R-Round face?"
Ochako was stunned. Izuku had mentioned before about his friend being a bit rough around the edges, but didn't see this coming, especially how Izuku had talked him up so much.
"Kacchan, don't be rude!" He then faced Ochako with a sheepish face, "I'm sorry about that, Uraraka. He's like that with almost everyone. He'll warm up to you in time."
Ochako pouted a bit. Izuku was so nice and had expected his friend to be just the same. But ultimately, she chose to believe in him.
'I hope this doesn't take too long. A nickname should always be shorter than someone's actual name!'
It wasn't long when the trio arrived at the train station and boarded the train to UA. Katsuki sat across from the other two and continued his observation of both Izuku and Ochako, who seemed to have a fun time exchanging pleasantry. But then he heard something that put him on edge.
"Is your foot feeling better?"
"Yeah, it's a bit sore, but I can walk around no problem."
"What does she mean by that, Izuku?" Suddenly, Katsuki interjected into their conversation, "What's this about your foot?"
The two turned back to Bakugou, who had a look that radiated anger.
"Oh! It's nothing too bad, Kacchan!" Izuku quickly waved his hands, "It was an accident, and she helped me around most of the day yesterday to make sure it didn't get worse."
"Don't dodge the question."
"When I met Midoriya by the beach," Ochako explained, "I accidentally surprised him when was getting rid of the trash and he dropped the refrigerator he was lifting on his foot."
Izuku knew exactly what Katsuki was trying to get at, so before he could say anything, he swiftly cut him off.
"Katsuki."
Katsuki froze in disbelief. Izuku meant serious business if he used his real name.
"Look, I know what you said earlier, but it isn't like that. She honestly didn't know I was taking the test until after the accident, and like I said, she spent most of the day with me to make sure I was okay."
Ochako wasn't sure what they were talking about, but left it alone since the tension between the two was heating up. She sat back quietly, not wanting to be the cause of two friends getting into a fight.
Katsuki looked at Izuku and saw the determination in his eyes. The two rarely argued or fought, and right now it was less of a disagreement and more Katsuki just trying to look out for his friend. In the end, Katsuki backed off.
"Tch, fine." he finally answered, leaning back with crossed arms. The tension instantly lifting between the two, and Izuku felt relief wash over him.
During middle school, Katsuki had tried to help Izuku out with girls at school long before the slime villain incident, but nothing ever had caught on. And yet, here he was with some random girl he just met, and he seemed to be right in his element.
'He must be crushing hard on her already. As long as she doesn't distract him or get in our way, then I'll leave it be.'
Soon enough, the three exited the train station and arrived at the front entrance of UA. They couldn't help but feel awestruck just to finally be there. Each one of them had their own thoughts and dreams as they entered the outer campus grounds and towards the tables with their guest passes and paperwork.
'Time to show the world who's going to be the next number one hero.'
'I am here now, to be a great hero. Dad, I hope you're proud.'
'I'm gonna do my best to be a great rescue hero.'
"Hey Midoriya, I have to go that table over there." Ochako pointed over to the booth where students from Kansai were gathering, "Good luck on the entrance exam!"
"Right! You too, Uraraka!"
As she walked away, Katsuki sensed the small look of disappointment in his friend's face. But now that she was gone, it was his turn to finally tease his friend and took advantage of the opening with a wide grin.
"Ease off, Izuku. I'm sure your girlfriend should be able to pass."
He could see his friends face break out in red all over again with embarrassment.
"Kacchan!"
"What? Have you seen yourself?" He snickered, "Damn man, I haven't seen you like this in years. Not since your 'princess' all the those years ago."
"It's not like that!"
"She's cute though, but not my type... way too bubbly."
"It's because she isn't blonde, isn't it?"
Katsuki froze, caught off guard by Izuku's recovery. Without skipping a beat, a small yet innocent smile soon formed on Izuku's face.
"Are you ever gonna confess to Kyu? I mean, you probably don't have a chance of scoring, but you might as well get it done now than later."
Katsuki was stunned, he wasn't ready for Izuku's quick-witted comeback or the just how sharp his counterattack was. Yes, he's been nursing a crush on Izuku's cousin for years, but damn for it to be used against him like that.
"Holy shit, the hell did Round-Face do to you?!"
"Her name is Ochako Uraraka."
"It's Round-Face to me until she earns it."
"I still win, though."
"Tch!"
The two filled out and turned in their necessary introductory paperwork and legal waivers, then headed out to a classroom to first take the written portion of the exam. The standardized test turned out pretty easy for Izuku to finish up, completing the test with some extra time to spare to double-check his answers before their allotted time ran out. Once the written exam was over, he soon met up with Katsuki again in front of the auditorium entrance.
"How'd you do?" Izuku asked.
"Heh, easiest shit ever. But now we finally get to the real deal." Katsuki answered with glee, now that the much anticipated practical exam was up next.
As the students settled into their seats, they could see the Pro-Hero Present Mic at the podium, welcoming all the examinees and giving a general breakdown of the exam.
"Just taking down just standard bots for points, huh? Seems too simple for the UA practical exam, there must be something they're not quite telling us yet…"
"Tch. Don't overthink it, or you'll end up tripping over your own damn feet at the finish line."
Both Izuku and Katsuki continued commenting quietly on the exam breakdown, up until they realized that they would be assigned at different battle centers.
"You better pass, Izuku."
"Same goes to you, Kacchan."
"I HAVE A QUESTION!" They both heard a rather loud voice call out and a very enthusiastic raised hand. A tall boy with glasses was seen from the crowd, standing almost perfectly at attention with his inquiry. After further breakdown of the question regarding the zero-pointer bot, the boy's attention then turned to both Izuku and Katsuki.
"And you two, the blond and green haired!" He pointed his finger at the duo, "You two have been talking to each other this whole time. Stop it! You are distracting the rest of us."
Katsuki was not one to take such a blunt attack so easily, especially right in front of everyone. "THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY FOUR-EYED BI –"
"Kacchan!" Izuku scrambled to drag Katsuki back to his seat and quiet him down, feeling horribly embarrassed from being called out like that. "I'm so sorry about that!"
The crowd around them laughed and some even jeered at the two boys, one familiar brunette a few feet away giggling at the two's antics. After that, Present Mic carried on and finished up his introduction, dismissing to begin the practical exam.
"With all that said, GOOD LUCK!"
The two friends looked at each other and simply nodded as they separated and headed out to their respective battle centers. Izuku gathered with the crowd by the giant gates of his assigned battle center, and could see several people with all kinds of varying quirks. Izuku did his best to breathe deeply and remain calm, nervously clenching his fists in anticipation. The slight wind chill didn't help his situation, given what he was wearing.
He had already changed into his training gear that was more durable than his regular clothes and had the least likely chance of tearing up while using his quirk. A sleeveless light green shirt, with arm warmers to help cover where his scales will first form at low power. His dark green athletic shorts with red strap-on sandals had holes wide enough to allow his foot claws to move and be able to adjust into without tearing them apart if he needed the extra power.
However, he knew that he should be able to get by using low power. After all, he had to heed caution to avoid his more draconic features from getting revealed.
Looking around the crowd, he spotted Ochako, much to his surprise. Izuku felt a sense of relief seeing another familiar face in the crowd, and walked forward to go and talk with her when he felt a sudden strong grip on his shoulder stop him. The tall boy from earlier, now wearing a blue skin-tight body suit, stared him down.
"She appears to be trying to focus on the examination. What are you planning to do? Distract her?"
"Wait, no! I know her and I didn't know that she was here, too!"
"How could that be? We are supposed to be separated by school and region..."
"That's beca –"
Izuku didn't get a chance to finish, as Present Mic as called out the signal to start the exam. He whirled around to see he was already falling behind, the tall boy and the rest of the other students had already flooded through the interior of the concrete city.
'Damn it, he distracted me!'
Izuku couldn't waste any more precious time and ran straight ahead, his limbs charged up to fifteen percent and the rest of his body shifting into his 'light armor.' Light peach-green scales covered both his arms and legs, which had gained more muscle and length, and his hands and feet gained short claws. His whole body emitted a glow, green lighting surrounding his being.
Ochako was making quick work of the robots, her years of physical training and the month training program with Gunhead was finally paying off. One of the one-pointer robots who had its target sights locked onto her was swiftly dealt with by her simply dodging its swing and pressing her hands against it. Her gravitational quirk along with the forward thrust of her hands quickly launched it into the nearby wall and destroyed it.
She then ran up to another nearby robot, managing to rip out a piece out from its metal frame and using the mid-size metal plating to shield ram other surrounding bots by amplifying the effects of her quirk.
As soon as other robots tried to swarm around her, Ochako managed to keep up the momentum by continuing a pattern of dodging, blocking, and countering physical attacks. Her shifting the weight of the metal plate by making it light enough to carry and then adding weight to it when slamming it down on unsuspecting bots proved to be an effective tactic in making short work against the large group of bots. Although, taking a brief moment of respite to catch a breath, she was caught off-guard by a three-pointer moving in from behind.
There, Izuku suddenly appeared out of nowhere by lunging into the robot before it had a chance to strike. He tore the three-pointer into mere pieces with just one quick swing of his arms.
He continued onward through the chaos, as he hadn't noticed Ochako standing on the opposite side in complete awe of what she just witnessed. She knew that he a strength-based quirk but didn't realized that he was that strong or that fast.
It took a moment before she realized she was getting distracted, shaking her head and pushed forward to keep herself going.
Far away from all the battle centers were the council of judges, observing the potential applicants broadcasted from various televised screens in a large and wide observation room.
"Quite a number of solid hopefuls this year."
"Yes. Unfortunately, still not as many as we would have hoped. More than just a handful of candidates had to be rejected due to their psych evaluations combined with their quirks."
"And this is just the first year with the new rule implemented."
"Still, it seems like this year's cut will be solid."
On one screen, the judges could see Izuku and Ochako, both destroying robots left and right.
And on another screen, Katsuki was in his battle center, blasting bots away with the happiest grin plastered on his face.
Throughout different angles taken in every battle center, many varying students came into view on multiple screens. A black-haired boy with golden eyes finished a pile of bots with the flames coming from his mouth. A blond boy with that seemed to shine as he shot a laser from his belly.
Among the judges were a few special guests. All Might was in his skinny, weakened form and went under the alias as 'Mr. Yagi' to those who didn't know about his secret. Endeavor and Ryukyu stood nearby, representing the top ten ranked heroes as per tradition.
They all remained silent, however, due to their last guest: Kai Doumeki, who was in attendance to oversee the exam as this year's civilian representative due to the many reforms in educational policy. His mere appearance was met with almost everyone's displeasure. Ryukyu had hoped to enjoy watching Katsuki and Izuku's big debut, but she was now forced to be in the presence of the man who had ruined her family's legacy and livelihood.
"Interesting." The room grew tense, Kai's voice catching everyone's attention.
"I see a very familiar name among them." His eyes were completely focused on the green-haired boy on one of the screens, "And I'm surprised to see that he made it, given his prior family history."
All Might tensed up but remained quiet. He knew what Kai was trying to do, and the way he voiced his opinion with the intention to take a dig at the others.
"It seems that Draco Knight's son is here. If he passes, please do make sure to take countermeasures," He finished, his face solemn. "After all, we don't want a repeat of the past now, do we?"
Before anyone else could respond, it was Endeavor who firmly spoke up.
"Kai, if you actually have something worth saying, then say it." His voice was cold, laced in anger. "Otherwise, shut up."
Kai scoffed and made a mental note to keep a careful eye on Endeavor. Ryukyu was already under close watch due to her own familiar ties to Hisashi and the Midoriyas. Kai himself was well aware that he wasn't welcomed here, whether it was privately known or not by the rest of the others.
The gag order may be in place, but the top pro-heroes always found a way to learn the truth.
The practical exam continued when the final phase finally kicked off and the zero-pointer was unleashed at the epicenter of each battle center. Ochako looked up in shock, abandoning her shield from earlier.
"Nope!" She yelled, fleeing from the falling debris and rubble. "Not dealing with that!"
She ran until she heard a scream and saw a familiar blonde girl with tan skin had gotten caught under the debris. Ochako knowing that she could help turned quickly back around to help the girl out. She began floating the debris off and started pulling the girl out.
"T-thank you..." The girl weakly said as she held her up in her arms.
"I got you now!" Ochako said encouragingly, "Come on! Let's go!"
As the two started to make their escape, they could barely manage to remain ahead of the giant robot that threatened to crush them. But between the impending dizziness from the heavy use of her quirk and her stamina steadily draining, she knew there was no way to outrun the zero-pointer at this rate.
Forced to make a quick decision, Ochako opted for a new plan.
"Wait!" The girl suddenly asked, as Ochako grabbed hold of her and picked her up in an awkward position. "What are you doing?!"
"Sorry about this!" Ochako yelled, allowing for the girl's body to float in the air before throwing her out to safety as hard she could and releasing her. Once the injured girl was catapulted away, she did she finally fell to her knees, overcome with nausea and crudely emptied the contents from her stomach on the ground.
'I… I can't… keep going...'
Sensing the shadow of the giant robot towering right over her, Ochako was paralyzed in fear and her heart rapidly sank. Her instinct was to scream, but her body could not find the strength to do so. She pleaded to herself, now collapsed between all the rubble and believing to witness her very last moments.
'Mom…! Dad...! No, please, I'm scared! Please! Anyone, help me!'
Then, she was blinded by a huge, flash of light, followed by a massive gust of wind and a wave of aftershock that rushed out in all directions.
"SMASH!"
A familiar voice pierced through the air.
Another giant slam shocked the whole battle center, along with another blinding flash of light. The zero-pointer was completely destroyed and the rest of what remained of it's metallic body was knocked back, saving Ochako from her impending doom. She looked up and saw a body dropping from the sky, someone who appeared familiar her.
It was Izuku, only he wasn't moving at all. To her horror, Ochako realized he must gotten knocked out cold from taking down the zero-pointer, and was now falling to his death.
"Just a little more...!" Ochako struggled on her hands and knees, using very last bit of strength she had to get back up and using her quirk on herself. She had to time it just right, Izuku's very life depended on it.
"No time for second guesses! SHIFT!"
Launching herself to catch Izuku in midair, she grabbed and latched on his limp body firmly. Just as she suspected, he had indeed been knocked out cold from his earlier attack. Unfortunately for Ochako, the nausea kicked in again as she lost control of her direction when grabbed the boy. Her loss of control over both of them resulted in them spinning in the air until they both hit the wall of the building on the opposite side the battle center, rolling into the building had knocked her unconscious as well. Fortunately for the two of them, there wasn't a large distance from the ground, but the two did land rather harshly on the cement floor.
Once the practical exam officially came to an end and the medical team was dispatched into the area, Recovery Girl was quick to find the two entangled teens at the crash site. Ochako's tight grip on the boy seemed locked and unwavering as the elder support hero discovered. She tried to have the two physically pried apart which only resulted in Izuku subconsciously latching on to Ochako instead, thus making her job much more difficult. In spite of the odd situation, this was met with much laughter from the old pro.
Upon further inspection, she found that Ochako had a mild concussion, an easy fix with the help of her healing quirk. Izuku only had a few scrapes and bruises here and there, which was a miracle considering their rough landing.
'These two sure are lucky to have helped each other like that. I'd imagine the betting pool this is year is going have weird odds this time around.'
Back in the observation room, everyone's reactions of the destroyed zero-pointer ranged from slight surprise to stunned silence. Ryukyu had quietly excused herself and ran out of the room to check on her cousin's condition. Meanwhile, Kai leaned against the wall, as a pale a ghost.
'Good lord... If he has...'
Kai may have been quirkless, but he knew that quirks could get stronger with every generation. What was more unsettling was even Hisashi in his fully-armored form couldn't have pulled off something of that magnitude.
'A change of plans may be in order...'
"Thank you. My Knight..."
Izuku stirred and his eyes were heavy. Yet he was feeling strangely relaxed and well, lying down on his left side in bed.
'It's the same dream again?'
He felt completely exhausted, but at the same time, he was somehow was feeling very warm and comfortable. A feeling of being strangely safe and surrounded by something that smelled very nice.
'This is new... I don't remember my dreams feeling like this...'
As his body started regaining movement and sensations again, he felt like there was some additional weight on himself...or wrapped around himself tightly? Though, he also seemed to have his arms wrapped around something with similar strength.
'What… is this?'
Izuku could feel a very soft sensation on his left hand. Whatever it was, it was warm and soft, yet… firm?
'Okay...this is new...but what is? Thi –'
The weight next to him stirred.
"Hmm... I donna wanna git up..." He heard a similar female voice say, the strong rural accent being a dead giveaway.
That was enough to jolt Izuku awake, his once heavy eyes snapping wide open. He immediately found himself in a very unfamiliar place and holding onto Ochako Uraraka as if his life depended on it. She, too, seemed to be doing the same to him as well.
The worst part of all was that their bodies were stuck together, strapped down to the bed with a rather large, tightly bound leather strap.
Izuku . exe has stopped working. As all Izuku could do at this moment was just mentally scream.
Thankfully in times such as these, a new voice tends to be Izuku's guide to readjust his thoughts. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on the situation, this new voice of reason tends to manifest in the voice of one Katsuki Bakugou.
'Wha... Oh? I need t... damn I… gods...I'm losing it...losing it...okay! OKAY! OKAY!'
'IZUKU, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER! CALM THE FUCK DOWN AND FIGURE THIS SHIT OUT!'
'Okay...think! What happened, and how did I get here like this? First things first.'
Izuku's eyes darted around, trying his best to get his barrings.
A hospital room?
No.
A school nurses office? A safe bet, judging from all the academic posters that stood alongside medical-related ones.
'Okay... I'm in the nurse's office... But this is not my school's nurse's office, and Ochako does not go to my school... wait... It's Uraraka, NOT OCHAKO!'
'GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER IZUKU! YOU GOT YOUR BARRINGS, GO TO THE NEXT STEP!'
As Izuku was mentally fighting with himself and Katsuki's voice still trying to server as his guide of reasoning, Ochako stirred again which caused him to stay stock still. He soon realized that his left arm was had fallen asleep from being under Ochako's side and his left hand was...
'OH GOD, NO...!'
Unabashedly on her butt.
'…'
'… WELP I'M OUT.'
'No, wait! Aren't you supposed to help me?!'
' SHE AIN'T A BLONDE! YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN, IZUKU…!'
'WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?!'
'TCH! FINE...! FIRST OFF, GET YOUR HAND OFF HER ASS, JACKASS!'
'Gah!'
Izuku complied immediately, swiftly moving his hand off her butt and placing it flat against the shared bed. The poor boy was confused and nervous enough, and the last thing he needed was to be labeled a pervert by the first real friend he's made that wasn't Katsuki. It seemed the removal of said hand was enough for Ochako to stir awake as well.
'WELP...WE'RE BONED...'
Izuku could see Ochako slowly blinking awake as her own version slowly returned to normal, only to see the eyes of a panicked Izuku Midoriya. Her face told Izuku that she was still processing everything happening in front of her. When he started to feel something odd as well... on his butt. Her hand seemed to have been doing the same thing he had just been doing as well.
'IS SHE GRABBING MY BUTT?!'
'EH, SEEMS LIKE EQUALITY TO ME...! DAMN! SHE REALLY IS GOING AT IT!'
'YOU'RE NOT HELPING!'
After blinking a more few times, Ochako's face finally broke into the very essence of deep red after realizing what she was doing and to whom she is doing it to. She instantly let go of him and swiftly backed out the bed only to realize that she was stuck like him.
"Oh, gosh! Im'a so sorry! Can't believe what I was just doin' to ya! Especially after saving me – WAIT, WHY AM I STUCK IN HERE?!" she spoke rapidly only growing more panicked as tried to untangle herself from the bed.
Izuku could only blink at the girl.
'Wait a minute… she isn't mad at me? I'm REALLY CONFUSED NOW.'
'TALK ABOUT A WIN! HURRY, GO FOR THE KILL AND CALL HER THE PERVERT!'
'SHUT UP, KACCHAN.'
'I AIN'T YOUR KACCHAN, JACKASS. I'M YOU, BUT WITH BALLS!'
In the end, Izuku decided that all he could do was be honest with her.
"Saving you? What do you mean?"
Ochako suddenly stopped moving before looking at Izuku puzzled.
"You don't remember what happened? After taking down that giant zero-pointer robot?!"
"Eh?!"
'Giant robot? What on earth is she talking about?!'
'IT HAPPENED AGAIN! YOU MUST HAVE GONE OVER EIGHTY-PERCENT AGAIN!'
Izuku froze, his mind filling in the blanks.
It was one of the new drawbacks with the mutation of his quirk, when Dragon Shift and One for All... fused.
His body must have shifted in combination with One for All's power, which had its benefits, now that getting surprised or shocked didn't trigger light shifting anymore. But in exchange for all that raw power, his body now operated on a given time limit, so the more power he used, the less time he had. He learned during his training that using more than eighty-percent of One for All made him black-out with short-term memory loss once his armor dissipated.
'It must have gotten bad, if I felt like I needed to pull that card.'
"Are you okay?" He looked up to see that Ochako who was now calm was gently undoing the straps to get them out. Lost in his thoughts for a moment, he hadn't noticed that she must have calmed down, but now carried a pained look of concern on her face. "You really don't remember what happened?"
"Y-Y-Yeah. It's just a side effect of my quirk…" Izuku sighed, "If I go at full power, I black out and sometimes I can't remember anything from the last few hours."
"That's pretty scary... Especially after what happened."
"Yeah..."
"Again, I'm really sorry…" Ochako finally undid the straps, but then realized that both she and Izuku had started to float.
"Wah!" Izuku yelped out as he started floating in the air and tried to get himself back to solid ground. Ochako began to panic again.
"I'm sorry my fault! RELEASE!" She took control over her quirk and the two before fell right back into the bed.
Laughter broke out as the door opened to see a short old lady, followed behind with Ryuko who had a look of worry of her face.
"Finally awake? Good! I couldn't pry the two of you apart with a crowbar, so I just settled for nature to take its course." The old lady said with a mischievous wink, causing the two to blush red again. "Sorry about the straps. You two started floating away which, while cute, makes it hard to keep an eye on both of you."
"Izu!" Ryuko rushed to Izuku's side and gave a warm embrace to the blushing boy. "You scared me!"
Ochako had the strangest feeling in her chest, seeing this older, familiar-looking lady hugging him.
"Kyu, I'm fine!" Izuku gently released from her tight hug. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I came to watch the UA entrance exams!" She chirped happily. She no longer was worried, now seeing that Izuku was in good shape. "Endeavor and I were here to represent the top ten."
Ochako froze. The more she looked at the woman, the realization of who she was began to dawn on her.
"Oh my gosh, your Ryukyu! Ranked Nine Pro-Hero!"
"Yep! That's me! The Dragoon Hero!" She happily said with a pose, making Izuku facepalm.
"Wait, how do you know Izuku?" She asked, not realizing she incidentally addressed him by his first name.
Ryuko however did take notice. She was about to spare her cousin, until she saw that his blush grow even fiercer.
"Oooh, this boy? Well you see... Izu here... is my secret lover ~!" She winked and placed a peck on Izuku's cheek. The mere action caused Ochako to back off several feet away until she practically fell on the other bed. Izuku mirrored her actions as well, backing off quick enough that he nearly fell off his side of the bed, too.
"Kyu! Don't be gross!" He exasperated, desperately hoping Ochako didn't believe in his cousin's antics, all while Ryuko began laughing hard after seeing their strong reactions. "She's my cousin! I swear!"
Ochako blankly stared, there was a lot for her to process right now. Thankfully, the old lady came to her rescue and hit Ryuko with her cane to bring some order to the room.
"Ryukyu, stop it, before you kill these two!"
Ryuko sighed. "Fine, Recovery Girl, I'm sorry."
"But for real, thank you for saving my cousin." Ryuko bowed to Ochako, then turned to Izuku. "And you! I swear, Izu! You shaved a few years off my life when I saw you drop from that height!"
"I know…. I'm sorry," Izuku apologized, sheepishly looking down.
"You two should be good to go," Recovery Girl added, "After everything that had happened, I recommend getting some food would help."
Ryuko gasped, as she remembered her plans from earlier.
"That's a great idea Recovery Girl! How about you, Kacchan and –" She turned to face Ochako. "I'm sorry, remind me of your name again?"
"Ochako Uraraka!" She introduced herself with a slight bow.
Ochako was still processing everything happening at the moment. She always wanted to meet and ask Ryukyu about Draco Knight since she had been one of his lead side-kicks before his death. But she knew that it wouldn't be right to ask about that right now, as it was a rather sensitive issue.
"Ah, and Occhan here, come with me for dinner tonight! There is a really nice place near my agency that I've always wanted to try out! My treat!"
Before anyone could reply, the sounds of rapid, heavy footsteps getting closer could be heard outside their door.
"IZUKU, WHERE THE HELL ARE YO –" Katsuki slammed open the door, only to see Recovery Girl, Izuku, Round-Face and… Ryuko, the last person he expected to run into.
"Perfect timing, Kacchan!" She waved him over with a smile, "How about dinner on me? Sounds good?"
Katsuki just blinked, not ready to hear those words in that order.
'Shit! I am number one already or what?'
"Sounds good to me, Ryukyu," He said, a wide, shit eating grin forming on his face. His worries over Izuku were quickly thrown out the window.
"Great! Izu, Occhan, go get dressed. We'll wait outside and go when you two are ready!" Ryuko pulled out her phone to make a reservation and walked out of the nurse's office.
Katsuki's smile faltered, realizing it wasn't just him going alone with Ryukyu and felt just a bit disappointed. But hey, he wasn't going to say no to dinner with Ryukyu, and proceeded to follow her out of the office as well.
Izuku and Ochako sat there in silence for a few seconds, mulling over everything that had just happened.
"I'm sorry about that," Izuku tried to break the awkward silence. "She can be a bit headstrong."
"No! It's okay! She's actually a bit in endearing in my opinion," Ochako said with a nervous laugh. "Besides, getting to eat with a pro-hero in the top ten isn't something one should refuse."
"You two might want to hurry up," Recovery Girl interrupted with a chuckle.
"Oh, right!" The two said in unison, causing Recovery Girl to laugh again.
"Go on, shoo!"
"Thank you for helping us," Izuku bowed deeply.
"Yes, thank you for taking care of us," Ochako bowed as well.
As both teens walked out, Recovery Girl wrote a quick note to herself and it put away in her desk for safekeeping.
"Seems like a solid bet to me." She quietly laughed to herself.
Another revamped chapter with some reworked scenes.
Sorry for the short commentaries guys, I'm actually dealing with rather nasty infection right now. (I'm fine, but the antibiotics are wrecking me right now)
Chapter XI: The Lost Child will be released on 5/27/2019