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Side Story: The Girl's Charm (Originally from Chapter 7)
It was the day after the group of seven decided to aid Tooru in achieving an elusive aspect of her Invisibility Quirk, the designated 'shine' ability. The group was sitting at some benches that they had to arrange in a parallel fashion, as they were stacked up next to an isolated shed at the gated rooftop. The first one to break the silence was the invisible girl herself.
"Soooo," started Tooru. "How is this training montage going to work?"
"If we can call it a training montage," Hajikeru inserted with furrowed brows. "Let's start by going over what happened during the team exercise with All Might last week. Iida?"
"Of course," responded Iida, taking a swig of his drink before starting. "Let's see… I was going over the change of plans when Bakugo made it clear that he was not going to cooperate with me and Hagakure during the exercise. I mentioned it was a plus that Midoriya was not going to be an issue when it came to interfering and Hagakure responded with, and I quote: 'Don't you mean it's a 'Plus Ultra' we need to take advantage of?' It was when she finished her question that she began to irradiate a bright light around her body, save for the gloves and boots."
"And it was at that same time when the camera monitor began to turn white in the observation room," Mezo inputted, being the only one in the group in said observation room at the time.
The more analytical members of the group, being Denryoku and Izuku, began pondering ways this can be achieved. The bushy teen was writing down ideas in his current Hero Notebook, while the stoic teen gave an educated suggestion.
"So by that, we only know that there's a specific trigger to activate that aspect of Hagakure's Quirk," observed the electro-teen. "The problem now is what it could be. Any ideas?"
"Could be because she said 'Plus Ultra'?" playfully suggested Ochako with a mouthful of rice. "I feel super pumped when I say it!"
"Hey, Hagakure?" questioned Izuku once he finished writing, drawing all eyes on him. "What was your mental state when you made that joke?" The meek teen received a couple of perplexed looks from Ochako, Tooru, and Mezo and some furrowed brows from the rest.
"My mental state?" asked a confused Tooru. "Why would that be important?"
"It's just a thought, but maybe the trigger for activating the irradiating ability of your Quirk is tied to what mental state you're in. What exactly did you feel after you made the joke?"
"Um… happiness? Joy? Maybe glee? I 'm not really sure."
"But it is an emotion that you're familiar with, right?" Mezo asked.
The invisible girl confirmed the multi-armed teen's observation with a quick 'Yup!'.
"So it could be triggered by a positive feeling or mood, if what you're saying is true," Denryoku observed as he rubbed the studs on his index finger and thumb.
"That makes sense…" hesitantly responded the bubble teen. "But something's bothering me about this."
"What's up, Haji?" The dark haired boy shifted his dark eyes to his best friend.
"Hagakure," the bubble teen spoke, gaining his invisible friend's attention. "You said this has happened before, but don't remember the feeling of it, right?" He received a nod in response… or at least he thinks it's a nod. "Before the exercise with All Might, when was the last time this happened?"
The invisible girl went silent for a good minute trying to remember the last time the hidden aspect of her Quirk showed itself. She had the end of one of her sleeves to the area above her necktie in a thinking position. The rest of the students around her were quietly looking on in anticipation while eating their respective lunches.
"I think…" began Tooru. "The last time this happened was… last year when I thanked my mom for letting me apply to U.A."
The entire group was taken aback from what their invisible friend just revealed to them. Was she not allowed to apply to U.A. before her mother or her parents agreed or something? Deciding it wasn't important for now, the 'analysts' were back at it.
"So it's definitely a positive emotion that's the trigger, maybe elation if we want to get specific," Denryoku noted. "And with what you said about the 'Plus Ultra' thing before, we can also say it's a spontaneous outburst of positive emotion."
"Hold on," spoke Ochako. "So it's like when someone says something to encourage someone else and they finish with a happy expression?"
"That's the closest I can get to putting it into simpler words, yes."
"That's awesome, Hagakure! You have a super strong Girl's Charm! Geez, I can't believe I forgot about it yesterday!"
This got all the boys to raise their eyebrows in confusion. As teenage boys, they were completely oblivious to the ever changing workings of the female mind.
"A… what?" asked a confused Mezo.
"A Girl's Charm!" stated Ochako as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's a state where a girl can turn anyone into putty with a sentence and a smile! My momma used to do it to my dad all the time when they were dating."
"I fail to see how this is related to Hagakure's Quirk, Uraraka," doubted Tenya as he adjusted his glasses.
"That's because it's not Quirk related, Iida! It's just something girls can do!"
"So we can assume you can do it too, Uraraka?" asked Hajikeru, sounding doubtful.
"Yep! Watch."
The gravity girl then gave off a wide smile and the blush marks on her face slightly grew larger with a slightly darker shade of red. Surrounding her person was a bright yellow background with several flower petals scattered about.
"You're the bestest friends a girl can ever have!"
The reactions from the boys, save for Mezo and Denryoku, who were mainly unaffected, were about the same, slightly widened eyes and a light blush dusting their cheeks, save for one. Izuku's plain, freckled face had turned a bright cherry red and his eyes were completely shut from the intense light Ochako irradiated. It was a kneejerk reaction to his heart clenching from the cuteness.
When she ceased the 'Girl's Charm', Ochako couldn't help but be taken back about how weird her bushy haired friend looked.
"Are you okay, Deku? You're looking kinda gross right now."
She managed to snap Izuku out of his 'moment', but now he couldn't look his brunette friend in the eye out of embarrassment. "Uh… Yeah! I'm fine. I just… was caught off guard. That's all!"
Several of the other boys and Tooru got a good laugh out of their meek acquaintance's embarrassment, which only made him hide himself further into his arms.
"So? What did you guys think?" asked Ochako in anticipation, specifically asking Tenya and Mezo.
Both teens, while slightly distracted with the display, were also mentally comparing what they witnessed with Tooru when she, supposedly, did the same thing.
"Well," began Tenya. "Compared to when Hagakure did it, it was surprisingly tame. When she did it, I felt like my heart was going to explode compared to the light flutter I felt when you did it, Uraraka. Also the intensity surrounding your body was a percentage to Hagakure's."
'Was her's really that strong?' thought the gravity girl, slightly shocked that her 'Girl's Charm' was that much weaker than Tooru's, not that she was disappointed, far from it.
"I can't really add input since we don't have a camera to make a comparison," plainly said Mezo, causing the group of friends to sweatdrop.
"So, does this 'Girl's Charm' vary between girls or… something like that?" awkwardly asked the bubble teen.
"According to my momma, it's pretty much the same thing for every girl but it can be enhanced depending if she has makeup on to enhance her facial features," replied Ochako in a straightforward manner. This seemed to have drawn some confused looks towards both her and Tooru. If what the gravity girl said is true, then how is it possible for the invisible girl to even have a 'Girl's Charm' in the first place?
Having shook off his embarrassment to listen to what his brunette friend had to say, something didn't seem to add up for Izuku. From what Tenya and Mezo said about Tooru's 'shine' moment, she should be able to produce enough light to turn a camera monitor completely white. But according to Ochako, she would need a visible presence to actually have it work. Being completely invisible, she doesn't seem to have that presence at all. Unless…
Izuku's eyes widened in realization from the idea that struck his mind.
"Hagakure," addressed Izuku as he began to write into his Hero Notebook anew, his eyes never leaving the invisible girl's… um… tie. His face began to redden in embarrassment, until he was told to look slightly more up by Hajikeru.
"Just imagine a face above her tie, Midoriya," he said.
"R-right…" the meek teen replied before shaking off his embarrassment and putting his focus on the invisible girl. "Anyway, about your Quirk, how exactly does it work?"
"My Quirk?" asked a perplexed Tooru. "My Quirk is called Invisibility. I told everyone that on the first day."
"Okay, but do you know how it works?"
"Oh, now I get it," Denryoku muttered to himself as he brought a hand to his chin.
"Get what?" Hajikeru asked in confusion.
"I'm very confused. What are you guys going on about?" asked an equally perplexed Ochako.
"I'll let Midoriya explain the details, but I'll get him started," spoke up Denryoku as he looked at the invisible girl. "Hagakure, how would you describe the workings of your Quirk?"
"Let's see," Tooru pondered. "I would say it makes me transparent, like glass!"
"That's a simple way of describing it, but it's not exactly accurate," explained Izuku with a steady gaze. "You see, for something to appear invisible, the object in question needs to be able to bend light around it so it doesn't cast a shadow and it can't have a reflection. When light passes through glass, it can either pass through it or it gets refracted at an angle, depending on what shape it's in. I think your skin… no, your biological cells are able to refract light around them to make you appear completely invisible. And I think because the 'Girl's Charm' emits its own light, the refracted light that originally gets bent around is instead directed outward, therefore intensifying the effect."
Pure silence surrounded the group of seven following the in depth analysis of the invisible girl's Quirk given by the teen that was second in shyness to Koji Koda. Five of the students were staring at Izuku with dumbfounded expressions, very much surprised with how detailed his break down of Tooru's Quirk was, while the one other student was simply impressed, though he didn't show it. After some time of intense silence, the meek teen was beginning to become flustered before the bubble teen decided to break the silence.
"Dude, that was awesome," Hajikeru plainly said, bringing new shades of red to the already reddening teen.
"Yeah!" added Ochako. "Even though it was super nerdy, you sounded cool, Deku!" This prompted the meek teen to turn an even brighter shade of scarlet from having a girl compliment his long standing hobby.
"I must say, I, too, am impressed over how much into detail you went into for your explanation, Midoriya," Tenya said. "Though, I suppose it shouldn't be much of a surprise since you did mention that you studied heroes during introductions."
"I-i-it was n-nothing, g-guys," stuttered a flustered Izuku. Growing up, he was always teased for his obsession with Heroes. So when he was being praised for the very same thing, he didn't know how to react. In the end, he settled for embarrassed, albeit unintentionally.
"So all I need to do to stand out in the Sports Festival is to do as Uraraka says with the 'Girl's Charm' thingy?" asked the invisible teen.
"If you can do it at will, sure," replied the gravity teen. A happy inhale of breath from Tooru was what Ochako received as a reply.
"That's awesome, Hagakure!" jovially exclaimed the bubble teen. "You got a new Quirk ability! Now you'll be able to stand out during the Sports Festival!" He received a 'Yeah!' in response as Tooru jumped up from her sitting position, striking various dynamic poses for her debut. Her bubble blowing friend was quick to join in for the pose-off.
"Hold on a sec, Haji," interrupted Denryoku, putting a stop to his friend's gushing. "There's still the problem of bringing it out at will. Did you forget that?"
The blank pause that settled around the Hajikeru, and unsurprisingly Tooru, spoke for itself.
"You both forgot, didn't you?"
"No," both teens simultaneously denied immediately.
"Well, we got what makes it happen, thanks to Midoriya," Mezo said. "So now we can focus on making it happen at will, right?"
"That's right," responded the electro-teen as he began to gather his things. "I'll see you after school, Haji."
"Where're you going?" asked a confused Hajikeru.
"Lunch period is almost over. I got to get back to Class 1-B to help set up the Hero Studies portion of the day."
"Oh right. Good point."
"I'll see you guys later." The vice president of Class 1-B received several goodbyes as a response to his exit.
"I suggest we get going too!" suggested Tenya as he too stood up with his things packed up. "Midoriya, as Class 1-A's Vice President, it would set a good example to the other students if you were five minutes early for class."
"Uh, sure, Iida," responded Izuku as he gathered the remains of his lunch and Hero Notebook.
AN: And thus, I present you with the first of many side stories going on this… story… What? I looked over the chapter for the first time in months and I decided the side story killed the flow of the chapter. It's something I'm actually going to be doing with the other side chapters in the story.
NOTE: Not all side stories are going to be moved to this story. Only the ones that I feel like moving, like [REDACTED]'s introduction to the Hero Class… And even then, I plan on expanding on that a bit more to make it feel more natural.
I figured having them in the main story was a bit… distracting? I don't know. I'm trying to cut them from being strictly one per chapter, which I do to keep the chapter from being too long. At least this format will give me more free will over when the side stories take place.
If the tens of you are disappointed for this change of structure, I don't blame you. I'm really kicking myself for not realizing this sooner. Not to mention I need to completely change the layout of a good number of the chapters now, but I'm going to commit to it. Anyway, stay safe out there!
-OmegaBox