Kyouka felt sweat covering her entire body as she laid on the sand with the merciless heat of the sun cooking her alive.
She felt like she was going to die.
Kyouka panted heavily as she looked up at the sky, seeing a flock of birds pass by her. "I...I can't… do this anymore…"
The young girl should've expected this to happen to her, but she was too naive to think otherwise. She actually thought she could make it through this alright. Right now she wished that she could go back in time and tell her past self to not make the same mistakes she made.
"Is this where I die…?" The purple haired girl asked herself as she started to raise her arm to reach for the sun.
Kyouka then thought of Izuku as she started to smile, feeling at peace with herself at the fact that he's okay and that he'll live on without her.
"Kyouka...?" She heard a voice call to her as she looked up to see a figure right above her, but not being able to tell who it was.
'God? Is that you?' Kyouka thought to herself as she started to close her eyes. 'I'm okay with this. I've lived a happy life. I just wish that I could see his beautiful smile one last time.'
"Kyouka, are you alright?" She heard the same voice ask her.
"Not now. Currently dying." The purple haired girl simply said as she slowly shook her head.
She then started to hear a laugh from the figure. "Come on. Is it really that bad?"
Kyouka started to open her eyes and she finally noticed that it was Izuku right above her before she pouted. "Yes. I thought you said that today was going to be easy."
Izuku wiped some sweat off his forehead before rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I meant it was going to be easy for me. I didn't expect you to try to copy my workouts today."
The purple haired girl started to sit up as she sighed. "Well, you usually do these hardcore workouts while I do my own lighter workouts. So I wanted to know what it would be like from your side."
"Is it too much for you?" The green haired boy lightly teased as he chuckled.
"Maybe a little. But there's also the fact that you chose to have our workouts at the beach today. Not cool." Kyouka retorted to try to make some excuse for her difficulty.
"But running on the sand is more beneficial than running on hard surfaces." Izuku explained before sitting next to his friend.
"I know that. Let me just make my excuses, okay?" The purple haired girl said as she laughed before looking at her hero. "Just one week left, huh?"
The green haired boy nodded as he sighed. "Yeah… I'm not 100% sure if I'm ready for it… both mentally and physically."
Kyouka raised an eyebrow before shaking her head as she smiled. "You're being ridiculous. Of course you're ready. What makes you think that you're not?"
"Well… it's just that I don't know what to expect in the festival. I know nothing about the quirks of the other students, including Class 1-B. Even the other courses could have something up their sleeves. For all I know they could have amazing quirks that I'll have no chance against." Izuku said before looking down at the sand. "And then there's our classmates. I still don't know the full capabilities of all of their quirks and it's possible they'll improve greatly within these 2 weeks. Don't get me wrong, I'm still excited for this festival, but I can't help but be scared as well."
The purple haired girl stared at Izuku for a few seconds as her smile started to fade away. 'I guess I didn't really think about how scared he must be by the competition...'
Kyouka then put her hand on his shoulder as she smiled again. "Hey, it's going to be alright. I mean, I'm scared too. We both know my quirk isn't the flashiest and the chance of me getting noticed by any pro is very little, especially while almost everyone around me has a way flashier quirk."
The green haired boy looked at her before he narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you talking about? Your quirk is amazing and it has so many uses. I'm sure you'll be able to show a fair amount of them off during the festival. Pros are bound to notice you. It doesn't matter what other quirks appear at the festival. You'll certainly stand out on your own."
"Hm, so you think I shouldn't worry about other quirks, but you should worry about them? Kind of hypocritical, don't you think?" The purple haired girl asked as she smirked.
Izuku widened his eyes as he realized what she did. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"
Kyouka sighed before nodding. "Yeah, but that's not the point. I want you to understand that it doesn't matter what the other students can do. As much as I hate to admit it, Bakugo and Todoroki are definitely going to be noticed by tons of pros because of their powerful quirks. But that just means we'll all have to work harder in the festival to stand out. It's going to be tough, but I know we can do it. Remember, the important thing is we do our best and show everyone what we can do."
The green haired boy stared at his friend for a few seconds before smiling. "You're right. I guess I'm just having cold feet since the festival is only a week away now. I'm sorry for bringing down the mood like that."
"Don't worry about it." The purple haired girl said before giving him a small smirk. "Plus, if anything, you should be nervous at the fact that millions of people around the world will be watching us."
Izuku widened his eyes as he thought about that before gulping. "D-Did you really have to mention that? Y-You know I get nervous about that kind of stuff. That's so cruel."
"I'm sorry, but it's just another way of taking your mind off of the other students." Kyouka said as she covered her mouth to hold in a laugh. "But knowing you, you won't even think about that while competing. Even though you get nervous before doing something, once you're doing it, it's like there's no stopping you. The entire world could have their eyes on you and I know that wouldn't distract you from doing your best."
"You really think so?" The green haired boy asked before getting a nod from his friend. "Then I'll just have to train harder tomorrow so I can impress everyone."
"Okay, how about we stay after school and train tomorrow? We could train there and see how it goes. Maybe we can even practice your quirk there." The purple haired girl proposed as she brushed her hair behind her ear.
"Yeah, that sounds perfect. Do you want to head home now? It's getting pretty late." The green haired boy asked as he watched the sun going down.
"Yeah, but not now… My legs still feel like they're about to fall off." Kyouka said with a laugh before laying back down on the sand as she closed her eyes. "Give me at least 20 more minutes."
Izuku sighed before smiling as he stood up. "Alright. I'll do a couple more laps in the meantime. Try not to fall asleep while I'm gone."
Kyouka just nodded before Izuku started to run across the sand again as she opened one of her eyes to watch him. 'I know you'll be the one who'll be on top. There's no one more deserving of it than you.'
The Next Day
"Are you sure you want to do this, Midoriya?" Sato asked as he looked at the boy in front of him.
"Yeah, Izuku. I'm not too sure about this." Kyouka said in concern for her hero.
They were all at the P.E grounds as Izuku and Sato faced each other with some of their classmates watching them.
"Y-Yeah, I can do this. Don't worry about me." Izuku said, clearly a little nervous about what he's about to do as he stretched.
"Come on, guys! Dekiru's got this!" Ochako cheered on as she raised her fist into the air.
"He's about to get wrecked." Mineta commented as he sat on the ground before having an earphone jack jammed into his ear, causing the boy to fall on the floor.
Iida blew a whistle as he pointed his hand at the two boys. "Please remember to keep things civil! No hits to the face or to the scrotum!"
"Is that last part a necessary rule to add, Iida?" Ojiro asked as he sweatdropped.
The green haired boy raised his fists as he smiled. "Just come at me, Sato!"
The muscular boy sighed before reluctantly nodding. "Okay, Midoriya, but please don't get mad at me if you end up getting hurt."
Sato then charged at Izuku and tried to throw a punch, but Izuku shifted his body to the side before wrapping his arms under Sato's arm and around his head. "Got you, now."
Sato widened his eyes and tried to move his arm, but he couldn't move at all as he looked at Izuku. "What th-" He was then cut off as he got thrown backwards onto the ground as Izuku kept his grip on him. "I-I can't move. What kind of technique is this?"
The green haired boy smiled before letting go of Sato and standing up. "It's a technique I found on the internet a couple weeks ago that allows me to use my opponent's weight against them. I've been wanting to try it for a while now."
"Whoa, that's a pretty nice technique, Midoriya."
The muscular boy complimented as he saw a hand offered to him from Izuku before pulling himself up with it.
"I'm sorry if you thought I was tricking you. I just want to find a way to take down larger opponents without having to use my quirk." Izuku said as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Nah, it's all good. Just surprised me, that's all." Sato said with a laugh before patting Izuku's back.
"Whoa, that looked so cool!" Ochako shouted before looking at Kyouka. "Don't you think so too, Jirou?"
Kyouka nodded as she kept her attention on Izuku. "Yeah, even I didn't see that coming. It kind of reminds me of that move he did on Bakugo during combat training."
The brown haired girl cupped her chin as she remembered that move. "Oh, yeah you're right. Dekiru is pretty good at self-defense, huh?
"Well, it makes sense that he needs this type of technique. No offense, but Midoriya isn't the most efficient when it comes to using his quirk." The tailed boy said as he crossed his arms. "Sato would probably win if this was a contest of pure strength."
"I wonder what other techniques he has under his sleeve." The midget boy said as he tilted his head.
The purple haired girl then walked up to Izuku before gently punching his arm. "Hey, you mind teaching me that sometime? I could use techniques that have to do with close combat if my quirk isn't an option."
Izuku shook his head as he looked at his best friend. "Of course not. We can start right now if you'd like."
Kyouka shook her head as she rubbed her arm. "I-I don't think I'd want to embarrass myself in front of these guys… Maybe a different time when it's just the two of us?"
Izuku nodded and was about to say something before being interrupted by Ochako. "Ooh, can you teach me, Dekiru?! It looks like fun!"
The green haired boy smiled and turned his attention to Ochako. "No problem, Uraraka. I'm happy to help out anyone."
The purple haired girl widened her eyes at this before standing in front of Izuku to get his attention. "A-Actually, I wouldn't mind you teaching now! I-I was being silly earlier!"
Izuku widened his eyes at this sudden outburst as he blinked. "O-Oh, okay then. I guess I'll teach you right now."
Izuku then began to explain the technique as Kyouka listened closely before glancing at Ochako. 'No way I'm letting you do something like that with him. Even if it is training, it's too close.'
The Next Day
They were now at Training Ground Beta and Izuku was currently facing a medium-sized house as Kyouka sat on the ground, watching him.
"Okay, Kyouka, give me to the count of 3." Izuku said as he crouched down with his legs starting to glow.
Kyouka nodded before clearing her throat. "Alright. 1… 2… 3… Go!"
"I just have to keep it at 5%." The green haired boy said to himself before jumping high into the air and landing on the edge of the roof. "It worked this time!"
"Great job, Izuku!" The purple haired girl shouted as she clapped. "You nailed it!"
Izuku turned to Kyouka to smile at her, but he accidentally lost his footing as he started to fall. "W-Whoa! Not again!"
Suddenly, Izuku's body was wrapped in tape as Sero was seen hanging from a lamppost, looking like he's been there for a while now.
Sero facepalmed as he slowly put down Izuku. "Midoriya, can't you take a break? This is the 13th time I've had to catch you.
The green haired boy started to rip the tape off of himself before standing up and looking at Sero. "Come on, Sero. Just 10 more minutes and you can leave. I want to get a little more training in. And I'm just getting the hang of this… I think."
The black haired boy furrowed his eyebrows before nodding. "Fine. But after 10 minutes I'm out of here. I've been craving lunch for a while now. I don't want to die of hunger out here."
Izuku gave Sero a thumbs up before crouching down again. "Of course. I wouldn't force you to be here."
"I know you wouldn't. But…" Sero then looked at Kyouka, who was narrowing her eyes at him as he gulped. "I feel obligated to…"
The purple haired girl gave a small smirk before returning her attention to Izuku. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind staying 20 minutes just in case."
The green haired boy smiled widely as he looked at Sero. "Really? You would do that?"
"Wait, what? I didn't agree to tha-" The black haired boy started to say before cutting himself off as he saw Kyouka glaring holes into his forehead. "I-I mean, of course. You know what, make it 30 minutes..."
Kyouka smiled innocently as she placed a hand on her hip. "Wow, isn't that nice of him, Izuku?"
"Yeah, it really is. I'll owe you for this, Sero." Izuku said with a nod as his legs started to glow before jumping towards the roof again.
'How did I even get in this position? It's so humiliating.' Sero thought to himself as he sighed before catching Izuku again.
—-
Izuku and Kyouka were now walking through the training grounds as Kyouka gave a concerned look towards her hero. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Izuku's entire face was bright red with red tissues in his nostrils as he nodded. "Yeah… I'm surprisingly feeling better than I thought I would after face planting against a building 11 times."
The purple haired girl winced a little as she remembered how much Izuku's nose was bleeding after the 4th time. "17 times actually… You seemed pretty out of it the last 6 times."
The green haired boy sighed as he ruffled his hair a little. "I guess 5% isn't enough to go up taller buildings, huh?"
"Hey, at least you know the limits of what 5% of your power can do. Maybe you can try something like jumping from building to building to gain higher altitude? Kind of like in a video game." Kyouka suggested as she twirled around her earphone jack.
Izuku cupped his chin as he started to picture it in his head before nodding. "Yeah, that could work. I can try jumping from wall to wall somehow. But I'll have to put power into my arms once I make contact with the wall to cushion the impact. And when I make the 2nd jump, I'll have to be putting power into both my arms and my legs at the same time. But if I don't do it quickly enough then I'll fall and end up breaking my bones. Is it even possible for me to put power into my arms and legs in so little time? It still takes a lot of effort to put power into just my arms and legs on their own. Maybe tomorrow I can ask Sero if he can help with my training again. But I wouldn't want to keep him for as long as I did today. Maybe I could…"
As he continued to mumble, the purple haired girl smiled as she listened to every word that came out of his mouth. 'Amazing… I bet he'll come up with something sooner or later.'
"What should I practice next?" Izuku asked as he closed his eyes, starting to think.
"Don't you think you've had enough training for the day? Today has been pretty rough on you." Kyouka said as she raised an eyebrow, hoping that he'll agree.
The green haired boy shook his head as he opened his eyes. "I think a little more training couldn't hurt. Hmm, maybe I can practice my 5% smashes on some buildings and see how much damage they do. It could give me a better idea of how strong 5% is."
The purple haired girl just sighed at this as she looked at her hero. 'But what if you get injured any more while training? I don't want your nose to start bleeding again or see you bleed at all in that matter.'
Seeing Izuku face plant against the building 17 times was not a pretty sight for her in the slightest and at one point she just wanted to leave so she wouldn't have to witness it anymore. But she couldn't just leave him while he's training. She even had Sero leave earlier while Izuku was disoriented so she could avoid seeing him face planting against the building for the 18th time.
Unfortunately, she couldn't just stop him from doing those jumps because he's made such progress with controlling One For All. She just wished that there's a way for him to train his quirk without getting harmed.
But these types of injuries are much better than him breaking his bones. She remembered a few days ago during combat training, he broke 3 of his fingers while going against Kirishima and Ojiro with Mineta as his teammate. He ended up winning in the end and he referred his broken fingers as a 'small price for victory'. She was definitely happy that he won and got some praise from most of their classmates, but she wasn't sure if the broken fingers were worth it.
Recovery Girl gave him a huge scolding after that and told him that she wouldn't use her quirk to heal him if it's an injury he gets while training. Usually, Kyouka wouldn't be happy at that, but this would mean Izuku wouldn't be as reckless when it came to training and purposely break himself to get results.
So maybe he won't get hurt anymore today and him face planting against the building will be all the injuries he'll get today.
Suddenly, a small rock hit Izuku right in the forehead, causing the boy to grunt in pain as he placed his hand on the place of impact. "O-Ow! W-Was that a rock?!"
"Hey, are you alright?! How badly does it hurt? Do you need to sit down?" Kyouka asked in concern as she turned to Izuku while placing her hands on his shoulders before starting to look around. "Where the hell did that come from?"
The purple haired girl then saw a hardened Kirishima inside of a small crater as he unhardened his body. 'Don't get mad. Don't get mad. He probably didn't do it on purpose. Kirishima wouldn't do that.'
"Midoriya!" Kirishima shouted as he ran towards the two friends before clasping his hands. "I'm so sorry, man! I was training my quirk by jumping off buildings to see how much my hardening could take! I didn't see you there, I swear!" He then looked at Kyouka as he tried to check her for any injuries. "You weren't hurt either, right?"
Kyouka crossed her arms as she shook her head, trying to contain any anger she has. "No, I'm fine. Izuku was the only one who got hit."
The green haired boy started to take his hand off his forehead, revealing a red bump starting to form. "I'm fine, really. The pain is already starting to fade away… It was mostly surprising. Man, my face just can't take a break today."
The purple haired girl widened her eyes at the bump before grabbing his arm. "Let's treat that right away. Training can wait."
Izuku widened his eyes as well before shaking his head. "T-There's nothing to worry about! The bump isn't even that big! We both know I've had worse injuries than this."
"That's not an excuse to leave this injury untreated. Don't think you can pull that on me." Kyouka scolded as she pointed at him, not noticing Todoroki walking by.
"Hey, Todoroki! Over here!" Kirishima called out as he noticed the half and half boy. "Mind creating some ice for Midoriya's forehead? He's got a nasty looking bump on it."
"No. I have training to do. I don't have time for this." Todoroki said in a cold tone before walking away, ignoring everyone around him.
"A little rude. Could've just said no thank you." The red haired boy said with a frown as he sighed. "Sorry, man. I wish I could help you somehow. I feel real crappy about this."
The green haired boy smiled as he waved his hands in front of him. "It's fine. I can get an ice pack from the nurse's office. But maybe after some more training."
Kyouka frowned before starting to drag Izuku towards the exit of the training grounds. "Nope. You're going straight to the nurse's office. Can't risk having you get any more injuries during training. That rock was probably a bad omen."
Izuku tried to fight back, but at this moment it seemed like his best friend became twice as strong as him as he was helpless against her. "Y-You're being silly! K-Kirishima! Can you give me a hand?!"
Kirishima laughed as he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Midroiya, but I feel like I shouldn't get involved in this."
"Smart choice. Now, let's go, Izuku." The purple haired girl said as she continued to drag her hero away. "You can do more training after you're all healed up. And remember that Recovery Girl told you that she won't heal any more training-related injuries."
"Yeah, yeah, I know…" The green haired boy said as he gave up trying to fight back against her.
"Well, Midoriya, I hope you'll get better soon." The red haired boy said with a thumbs up before noticing Bakugo nearby as he waved. "Yo, Bakugo! Come help me train!"
"Go train on your own, Shitty Hair! You wouldn't be able to handle training with me anyways!" Bakugo shouted as he started to use his explosions to propel himself away.
"Hey! Wait up, man!" Kirishima shouted as he ran after Bakugo. "Of course I can handle it! And this training would benefit the both of us!"
Kyouka sighed as she watched the two boys before looking at Izuku. "Ridiculous, huh?"
Izuku nodded as he paid close attention to Bakugo's movements. "Yeah… Ridiculous…"
A/N
Well that's it for chapter 34! It feels good to write a chapter where I don't have to worry about action scenes or drama. Just a nice chill chapter that's an easy read. Sorry for the 13 day wait and the short chapter. School is still a great pain in the ass... Okay, I also watched the entirety of Code Geass with a friend and we both got addicted. But school still had a big part in the delay. Code Geass only took 4 days out of working on this chapter and I spent an entire day sleeping yesterday to regain some energy.
But I am really sorry at the rate these chapters have been coming out. I'm still hoping for the day where you guys will get at least 2 chapters a week. I'm hoping I'll improve soon enough.
Btw that scene with Sato and Izuku was inspired by the first fight between Eren and Reiner when Izuku threw Sato to the ground. Also, the entire purpose of it was to give Sato some screen time lol.
Next chapter will be very much slice of life, but the ending will be very important. But after that the Sports Festival finally begins.
But I'm going to be honest about something here. Next chapter will make this chapter practically worthless. This chapter is mostly about the character interactions with training in the middle since I feel like Izuku would do that nonstop, considering the Sports Festival is coming up.
Now here's an important note. I've been thinking about this for some time now. Do you guys think I should transfer this story to other websites like Wattpad and AO3? Don't get the wrong idea, this website will always be the primary platform for this story because I just love how it's formatted the most. But I've been thinking of branching out since some people exclusively use Wattpad and AO3.
Sidenote: I'm going back to older chapters and finally correct Kaachan to Kacchan. Now it's bothering me that I write it like that.
Now onto the reviews!
Ability King KK: Yeah, I'm waiting for the day she breaks and just yells at someone because of all of the stress she goes through. Yeah, you have a good point with Tokoyami. God, that chapter is going to give me hell when I get to it.
AngelicWisdom: The internship will be cruel for Kyouka since that'll be a whole week without Izuku. I'll definitely do tag teams in the future and it'll be even better once she gets those amps on her gloves.
Naoto Koizumi: I'm glad you thought I did good in the last chapter. I was really worried I wrote it in a weird way that made no sense. Kyouka will definitely fall into more of a leadership role when Izuku isn't around, but even when he's around, she'll still have some leadership in the future.
Lockheart25: God the manga is the most stressful thing right now other than school. But at least we have Afro Deku now.
Guest: I try my best to not take too long with updating.
crazybeebee: Same here. This is one of the few times I'm genuinely proud of a scene I wrote.
GunBlade2020: Yeah, and it won't be the last time. I might make one more USJ focused chapter in the future, but it won't be as comedic.
RPGuy777: Thank you very much. I do my best.
evanonymous: When he stops being a damn crybaby. Kidding. The answer is soon.
tiguylerobot: Ooh, now that's a fun image to think of.
Chuck Winanaki: Well, remember that Kyouka had sent Ojiro to find the injured and she just happened to run into Ochako when All Might attacked. Maybe I'll just go with chopping the air and stuff. I hope I can describe his gestures better in the future.
Guest: Yeah, I'm not the best when it comes to writing characters and I would like to think I'm slowly improving. Also, Izuku grabbing onto All Might was a spur of the moment thing. I also had some issues believing he would leave Kyouka.
Earl John Diawatan: I'm happy you've been enjoying my story and I'm grateful for all of the reviews. I hope you'll be here to review future chapters as well.
Totem-Mimikyu: I appreciate the compliment and I hope you'll enjoy future chapters.
That's it for the reviews!
Well, that's the end of this chapter! Please feel free to leave a review!
