Chapter 2: Assistance

"You ready?"

Ida nodded slowly. A small grunt could be heard from his mouth as he was gritting his teeth on a towel.

Uraraka gripped the pliers hard as she pulled at the boy's muffler. After about a minute of back and forth motions, the object was removed. She quickly dropped the tool and applied gauze to the open wound.

Tenya breathed heavily through his nose for the next minute before letting the cloth drop from his mouth. "Well, that's one leg finished."

"It's not getting any easier," Ochako stated before sighing.

"I can do the next one if you are becoming winded."

"No, not that, I just only need a break. I meant seeing you do this to yourself."

The class president wiped the sweat from his forehead before saying, "You were the one that asked to assist me in this endeavor."

"Yeah, cause self-mutilation isn't exactly something normal. We're out here hiding in the forest behind the campus on a Sunday, for crying out loud."

The anger in Uraraka's words stung Ida, but he retorted, "It's a family tradition and it has been well researched over the last three generations. I am following the safety protocols to the T that my brother gave me. There is no need to worry."

"It doesn't mean you have to do this alone. Why not wait till you are back home so you can do this properly? Or why not go to Recovery Girl for this?"

Tenya laid down on his back in the grass before saying, "Cause I can't afford to wait and be left behind by the others in our class. And I don't want to bother our head nurse over a personal matter." A sudden burst of laughter made him nearly jump. "Excuse me?"

"Sorry, it's just you're acting as headstrong and stubborn as Bakugo-kun with your quirk, is all. It's so unlike you."

Ida stroked his chin as he stated, "I suppose his antics have rubbed off me a little. Though I am not alone in this drive due to him."

Uraraka replaced the linen on her boyfriend's leg with a fresh cloth before saying, "Yeah, Deku-kun is the worst offender in our class."

"Well, that goes without saying. Even before we knew of their history."

The subject created an awkward silence between the two. They had only learned of Katsuki's treatment of Izuku a little over a month ago after their after-school scuffle. It was a touchy topic that the two had discussed in private at length. Trying to change the mood, Tenya said, "It's probably stopped bleeding; let's bandage it up and move on to the other leg."

"No way, we're taking a break once I patch you up. My arms are sore from all this yanking. Those suckers are in their tight."

The class president cocked his head slightly upon hearing this and gave his girlfriend a puzzled look.

Ochako was quick to notice and asked, "What?"

"You slipped into a Kansai accent. I haven't heard you speak like that before."

The statement had the girl proceed to produce a considerable blush. She quickly bandaged up the leg before turning away from Tenya and said, "I don't know why I did that."

"It was rather random." Ida sat upright as he asked, "When would you normally use it?"

"When I am alone with my parents or back home in Mie. Last time I used it was back in the summer."

"Perhaps it means you are getting more comfortable around me?"

"But we've been dating for months!"

"Well, perhaps even more so than before." However, this statement soon made Tenya turn a shade of red himself after realizing why that was.

Their kissing practice.

For the last few weeks, the couple would go to the roof of their dorm and practice french kissing. It was Ochako's idea, and for the most part, it had been quite fruitful in the results. Though Aoyama did walk in on them once, and then yesterday night they walked in on Izuku and Tooru doing the exact same thing.

Uraraka noticed her boyfriend's brain-frying and proceeded to giggle. Eventually, she scooted over and laid next to him before saying, "You walked yourself right into that one."

"That I did." Ida then rubbed his eyes at his blunder.

"Do you want your glasses back?"

"No, the pain of doing this procedure is quite sweat-inducing for me, making them easily fall off. No point in putting them on if we still have a leg to go."

"Why not wear contacts then?"

"I prefer my look with glasses."

This response got Uraraka to laugh once more.

"Am I that funny to you, Ochako?"

Once she calmed down, she said, "I just like your tone of dry humor with a serious face. I much prefer it over my dad's. But anyway, it's not like most guys would admit they look better with glasses on. "

"Hmm, dry humor, huh."

"Something wrong?"

"No, it's just Tensei has described me as such a few times."

"Does he laugh at your antics, too, then?"

"Yes, a trait you both share oddly enough."

"Hehe, I'll have to bring that up to him the next time we visit your place," Ochako stated with glee.

Tenya reached over to one of his mufflers that had been removed and brought it to his face before saying, "That will have to wait until I fully recover. I want to be able to show them my progress."

"Uh, so how long will that take?"

"Depends on how hard I train. Tensei's notes stated I would be good as new after a few days if I just rested the whole time. My new mufflers will poke out sometime tonight, though smaller than normal. But the whole point of doing this is to train hard and grow stronger, more efficient mufflers. So I expect it to take a lot longer until they are ready." The class president returned the muffler as he finished his explanation.

"Still, your speed is going to suffer while waiting for these new ones to come in."

"A worthwhile risk. At most, it will only affect our TAC meetings with our friends, as it seems the next few weeks are more academic-focused going by Aizawa's schedule which he provided Yaoyorozu-chan and me a few days ago."

"Ah, so there is some logic to this madness."

Ida figured all his girlfriend's earlier laughter wouldn't counterbalance her uneasiness of the situation. "Again, I apologize for the suddenness of doing this, but it needed to be done."

"Yeah, yeah, just don't push yourself too hard when training. You're gonna surely collapse considering everything else you are busy with if you overdo it."

"I'll be sure to manage myself properly," Tenya stated with confidence. The boy then felt a finger prod the side of his head.

"We'll have to wait and see about that," Ochako said with doubt in her tone. She then sat up and started flexing her hands and fingers. "I feel ready to tackle that other leg of yours so let's get to it."

The next half hour was another painful experience for them both, though for different reasons. Once bandaged up, Ida allowed his jeans to roll down and cover his freshly bandaged legs. As Uraraka cleaned the three freshly pulled mufflers, she asked, "So what are you going to do with these?"

"Hmm, I could mount them."

Ochako chuckled, "What like a trophy?"

"A reminder of times past, mostly. Even if we only include my time here at U.A., they saw a lot of action. It would be like how some heroes hold on to previous versions of their hero suits. Though this would be more personal since they were a part of my body."

"Yeah, that last part is a bit gross."

"I see your point. Perhaps melt them down into something else?"

"Ooooh, like a statue or something. I like that idea."

Tenya wobbled onto his feet as he stated, "Well, whatever I make of it, it would require the help of the Support Department. They can easily melt it down and craft it into whatever I would need.

"Which means you might have to deal with Hatsume-san again," Uraraka stated after a groan. She wasn't exactly fond of the mechanic using Ida as a glorified advertisement during the Hero Festival, as well as her "methods" of experimentation.

"I get where you are coming from, but we can have Midoriya-kun act in my stead; he's becoming quite good friends with her."

"They did hit it off after she made those upgrades to his suit. I wonder if Hagakure-chan minds."

"No idea. You would need to ask her yourself." The class president then proceeded to do a few leg stretches.

Ochako turned her attention to cleaning up. She eventually stuffed everything into a backpack but saved the mufflers for last, putting them into a large plastic zip-lock bag before putting them away as well. The girl put it over her shoulders and stood up before asking, "So any idea what to call this new technique?"

As Tenya put on his glasses, he answered, "Of course. Recipro Turbo."

"Right, you have a whole list of possible names," Uraraka said as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"The name popped into my mind almost immediately after my brother told me of our family tradition. Still, it will be some time until I can use the name to others."

"Including our close friends?"

Ida nodded. "Especially them. We might do more versus battles during our TAC training. I can't have them know of my weakness as I heal from this."

"If you say so. Your teammates might think otherwise, though, if kept in the dark for too long."

"We'll cross that road when it presents itself. For now, let's head back and get ready for dinner."

The two then began walking, and after a few moments, Ochako put her hands together with a wide grin as she asked, "What do you think dessert will be tonight?"

Tenya just sighed as he said, "If it weren't for all the physical labor associated with our studies, you would be quite overweight, Ochako. It's a wonder how you survived before we started living here."

"There's nothing wrong with appreciating the sweets that are provided to us here," the girl said with puffed cheeks.

"There's appreciation, and then there's gorging oneself. I would rather not have to babysit you during the upcoming Cultural Festival."

"Oh, I promise to behave," Uraraka stated while sticking out her tongue.

"Somehow, I don't believe you."

It's an odd thing. These Iichako chapters, while short, have been much more challenging to write than the MashMomo chapters (which I am far along with into its 2nd chapter) despite being longer. I can't pinpoint why. : /

Well, anyways, after quite some time, the 2nd chapter arrives! I already have the 3rd drafted up, and it's looking to be longer than the first two combined!

This chapter takes place between chapters 25 and 26 in Cubicity. Twenty-five ended on a Saturday, and 26 starts on Monday. This takes place late Sunday afternoon between those. So a small jump from the first chapter (which happened during chapter 22). The 3rd chapter will have a similar leap, happening around chapter 30/31.

While the last chapter had both characters in the spotlight, this was much more Ida-centric. Expect the next one to focus more on Uraraka.

For the basis of making this chapter, I figured Ochako wouldn't be so gung ho about her boyfriend's family tradition to improve themselves, at least in the method he went about it in the manga. Initially, the setting just had the two talking about stuff while walking home from class, but it felt more like an in-between scene than the main one for the chapter. Plus, it gave it a more definite date that I could place it alongside Cubicity.

The next chapter will be coming in June! So see you soon!