Chapter 2: A new, true friend
Despite having the day off, Izuku spent his Saturday inside of his own room. His mother tried to encourage him to leave but to no avail. It's not that he wanted to stay inside; it's just that whenever he finally composed himself enough to get out of bed, he ended up crying again. It got so bad that eventually, his mother called his middle school and asked to keep him home on Monday, unsure as to if he would be stable enough to go.
That Sunday was a little better, but Inko Midoriya could tell that this wound would need some extra healing. The boy didn't leave his room until one in the afternoon, with visible streak marks down his face. He even had on a pair of All Might slippers with matching pajamas on. Izuku didn't even eat much of his breakfast, an American style meal which he usually would have devoured, even if it was cold.
She ended up peering into his room at one point. Papers were scattered, books were on the floor, and she didn't even want to count the number of used tissues lying around. His small laptop on his desk was playing an old video, the debut of his favorite hero, All Might. It was an old video, but it was one that Inko knew her son held close to his heart. Something about the man's smile as he ran into danger inspired Izuku. Even if the man was promoting a reckless and even dangerous profession, her son looked up to him, and that was enough.
The video was only a few minutes long, but the clip was on repeat. Inko could only guess as to how many times it had been played.
Something needed to change.
Later, when Izuku finally finished his breakfast, he sat in the living room with the TV on a random news channel. Despite some big highway chase being with some up-and-coming heroes being broadcasted, the boy was very disinterested.
"Hey, Izuku?" Inko tried to sound calm as she approached her son, watching his face look blankly towards the TV.
"Yeah?" It was the first response she had heard from the boy all day. His voice was hoarse and lacked the enthusiasm he usually had.
"What 'cha watching?"
Her question was met with silence. Even with as much pain as he was going through, this needed to change.
"Ok." Inko moved in front of Izuku, blocking his view of the TV. He didn't throw a fit about her doing so, and Inko wasn't sure if she should be grateful or upset. "Look, I know the test didn't go the way you wanted."
"I got one point." His voice was filled with sorrow, but he didn't put up much of a fight.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean you failed."
"I'm pretty sure everyone in my group got more than one point, so even if it was just us, I still would have failed."
"Yet all of them had a quirk. You said it yourself. You were doing something no one has ever done before." Izuku stayed silent, and his eyes moved to meet his mother's. "Honey, you put everything you had into that test, and if what I was told was true, then you did more than what anyone could have asked for. You saved a girl, did you not?"
"I broke three ribs because of it." His chest still felt tender, even after his bones were healed. "I didn't even get to learn her name."
His mother paused for a moment. Then an idea came to mind.
"Look, you can't stay like this forever, Izuku. I'm sure it must suck, and I can only begin to imagine what you are feeling right now, but you can't give up now. I'm sure you know, but you have school tomorrow, don't you?"
Izuku hesitated before giving a slight nod.
"Then can I make a suggestion? If I leave you alone for now, can you please go to school tomorrow? I'm sure things will get better if you do, and if it doesn't, you can always stay home on Tuesday." He didn't respond right away, which made her a little nervous. "I'll throw in some cookies if you do."
Izuku gave a slight chuckle, warming Inko's heart. "Yeah. I'll go, but you don't need to make any cookies; I'm fine."
"Well, I'm afraid it's a bit too late for that. I'm just going to make a quick call first, and then I'm making those cookies." She moved before her son could even consider an argument. Instead, Izuku decided to stay on the couch for a little while longer.
'Maybe she's right. It's only one day; what's the worst that could happen.'
'I should have never agreed to this.'
It was only his first day back at his regular middle school and Izuku was already regretting his decision. School itself is fine as always. The material was never really a challenge, given how much he studied. If anything the material was more boring than anything. It didn't help that the teacher was as plain as white bread, and his teaching style was nothing more than problem repetition. It would have been bearable if he had a friend he could talk to about it, but being the target of the schools most dangerous bully was something people didn't feel like fighting over.
Katsuki Bakugo and Izuku went back as far as either of them could remember. Izuku himself was almost certain that their moms were friends before they were even born. In fact back when they were little the two boys got along quite well. That was until Bakugo got his quirk, and ever since then their relationship has only soured.
Granted, with such a powerful quirk nobody really wanted to get in his way, and even if they did there wasn't much they could if they wanted to. The ability to create explosions from one's hands was a very powerful and versatile quirk, much of which Izuku learned first hand. Even when it first manifested everyone that knew that Bakugo was a name that the world would remember.
Bakugo was normally tame during the classes however, and would only really raise his voice when on break or when the teacher was even less attentive than usual.
Today was one of those days.
"Yo, was it true that you got seventy two points on the exam?"
"That's crazy talk! That would have beaten the record by five."
The teacher felt that math class wasn't important that day, and that taking a short nap was a more valuable use of everyone's time. Problem was that it meant that everyone in the class was feeding into Katsuki's ego. It didn't take long for rumors to start spreading like wildfire.
"Yeah, it is crazy," Bakugo sneered, "crazy how wrong you are."
"Wait, how many points did you get?" One of the kids that hung around Bakugo a lot, a boy with a narrow face and fingers that could stretch out on command, nearly threw himself onto Katsuki's desk.
"It wasn't higher was it?" Another boy, a plump kid with dragon wings on his back, asked in a gleeful hesitation.
"Of course it was higher," Bakugo said with a nasty grin, "I got eighty one, the highest in U.A. history!"
"Eighty what!?" Izuku, despite his best efforts, couldn't keep in his shock. He knew that Katsuki would have scored high on the test, but this was on a whole new level. The problem was that by speaking out, he put a set of crosshairs in his direction.
Bakugo swiveled his head around in a sassy twirl, shooting Izuku a devilish grin. "Damn right nerd. You're looking at a real hero in the making." Izuku's face started to pale, "and I'm not talking easy points either, I only went for the big robots."
"Wait, did you go for the really big one?"
"Are you serious, only an idiot would have fought that dummy robot. The only reason anyone would possibly go up against that thing is if they were trapped, and you would have to be pretty pathetic to have that happen."
Izuku's gut started to churn, and his teeth clenched behind a strong poker face. His mind raced back to the day of the test, and the image of the girl trapped underneath the pile of ruble lingered like a heavy fog in his mind. He still felt bad for never learning the girl's name. She was so nice to him, and both chances he had he screwed up. An instinctive defensive drive fired up in him, but losing his cool would have meant a fight, and right now that was very low on the things he wanted to do. School was almost over, and any minute the bell would ring and he could go home.
But then Katsuki egged him on. "I don't know why you would even bother though, I bet you couldn't even beat up one of those shitty little baby robots."
"No," Izuku knew that he had screwed up the moment he opened his mouth , and so did Bakugo.
"Oh, so you did go for one of them. Leave it to 'useless Deku' to go for the easiest option. I'm surprised Deku, and here I was thinking you didn't get any points. Turns out you only got one. That's even more pathetic than if you didn't get any. You really are useless aren't you."
"Haha, wow. That really is sad isn't it. Trying to get into a hero school without a quirk. What did ya' expect?"
"What do you expect, even if he had a quirk it would still be a pretty lame one wouldn't it."
Izuku felt like he was drowning in the sounds of his classmates' laughter. It hung heavy over his head, and to be frank it wasn't like there was really any way he could have done well. He stepped into the big leagues without knowing how to play. He wanted to cry; to curl up in a ball and let the world laugh at him until it got bored and left.
The school bell sounded like a church quire, and as quickly as everyone had come, the crowd that had gathered around Izuku left for their stuff by their desks. The teacher woke up in a wave of confusion, only to start excusing everyone as if he were in the middle of a lesson. Izuku had been ready to leave for a while. His bag was already in hand before the bell even rang. He was ready for another terrible day to be over.
"Yo Deku," Bakugo slammed his hand against his desk, sparks flaring up from where his hands and the wood met. This wasn't the first time he did this, and the sooty black mark on the edge of his desk was a pretty good indicator of it. Bakugo himself was still looking down at Izuku with the same evil grin. "We aren't finished yet."
It didn't take a rocket scientist to see where the conversation would have led. Izuku himself was still recovering from the exam, and the doctors made it adamantly clear that he should stay far away from any kind of physical activity for the time being. Getting thrown around would be a death sentence.
"Sorry Kachan, my mom needs me home for something, I gotta go." Lying through his teeth, Izuku took his bag in one hand and practically jumped out the door. His pace was long and quick. He even looked back a few times to see if he was being followed. He cautiously paced through the halls and past students and teachers alike. Once he left the building however he didn't bother any more. Hopefully Bakugo's good mood was enough to let him get home safely.
While other kids used bikes, or took the train to get home, Izuku lived close enough to the school to be able to walk to and from every day. It wasn't a short walk, but after several years of traveling he had found some shortcuts to bring the time down to a short twenty minute stroll. Most of it involved taking the right turns here and there, but the main time save was by passing through a local park. It was certainly fast, but Bakugo tended to hang around this area a lot so it was a bit risky to take on days where the boy needs to let off some steam.
The park was quite nice otherwise. Plenty of trees, green grass, and it was generally quiet, especially by Japanese standards. Hardly anyone ever really came here. Aside from kids on the weekends or a young couple on occasion. Izuku loved to play in the park, and before Katsuki got his quirk he had fond memories of the two playing heroes and villains together. They would play tag on the nearby play structure, pretend they were flying on the swings, or climb up trees and look around and try to spot each other's houses.
Things were much simpler back then. Quirks were a lot more magical back then, but ever since he was diagnosed as being quirkless, everything changed. It still bothered him, even though it shouldn't. It felt like everyone who knew other than his mother and her closest friends looked on him with pity; Like he was crippled.
He noticed some kids playing on the slide nearby. They were gathered around a young girl who had some wind quirk and was able to move things without touching them. They seemed like they were having fun, all of them exploring what she could do.
'A good quirk.' Despite his state, Izuku still cataloged quirks. He was able to predict things about the people who had them, as well as what they could do with their quirks, just by knowing how they worked. He was given the name 'quirk brain' in first grade because he knew so much about how quirks worked even without having one of his own. It was almost a fantasy to him. Having a quirk. Being a hero. Every day he was trying to convince himself that he wasn't crazy. More than anything he wanted to help people when he grew up, and no matter how many times someone told him to become a police officer, fire fighter, EMT, or any other profession like it Izuku would look them in the eyes and say with the largest smile in the world, "I want to be a hero!"
Only two people actually believed in him though. His mom was one, but even then it felt more like her giving support than an actual belief. The other time was nine months ago.
It was on the day Bakugo burnt his notebook. He was feeling bad for himself again, and on his way home he took a different route. Little did Izuku know that a villain that had been running amok was hiding in a tunnel he went through. He was attacked, and the guy's sludge quirk let him crawl into other peoples bodies. Izuku nearly black out before a hero came to save him.
It wasn't just some hero though, it was All Might. The greatest hero to ever live, the unbeatable hero that would race into every dangerous situation with a smile. Every time he showed up, you knew everything was going to be ok. All Might was Izuku's idol, and on that day, after some events he would rather forget about, he asked the one person in the world the question he had been pondering for the last decade.
"Can I be a hero?"
As it turned out, All Might wasn't that mighty. Izuku saw a side of his hero that very few people did. All Might was tall, strong, muscular, but that was only when his quirk was working. After a fight a few years prior, he got beaten really badly, and the proceeding surgeries left him in a sorry state. The man could only hold onto his super form for around three hours, and by the time All Might came to save him, he was out of juice.
At first, his response to Izuku's question was a hard no. If a hero like him risked his life every day while on the job with a powerful quirk, it would be impossible for a quirkess kid to do.
What happened afterwards was a series of events that changed everything. During the events that shall not be described, All Might lost the villain he caught, and that same villain raced to a different part of town where he captured a kid. Separately, both Izuku and All Might found themselves watching as other pro hero's failed to handle the situation. Fires were spreading, stores were being damaged, and most importantly the kid was fighting for his life against a villain nobody could stop.
Then, when for only a brief second he saw the kid, and recognized him as none other than Katsuki Bakugo, all of the world drowned out as he raced towards him. Izuku forgot all of the advice he was told, by him, authorities, family, his peers, his personal hero, and raced out towards the villain. Old habits die hard after all.
He didn't do much, and even with a quirk he still would have probably only delayed the inevitable, but by rushing into danger, knowing full well what was in store for him, inspired the very person who had told him off to have a change of heart.
His actions weren't all that different from what he did during the U.A. exam, but instead of blacking out his hero, All Might, came in and pushed past his physical limitations and saved the day. He ended up telling him that, "I can't be telling kids advice that I don't follow myself," or something to that effect. He didn't remember all the details, especially after when the nearby heroes scolded him for his reckless behavior, all the while praising Bakugo for his heroic efforts. What he did remember was when on his way home, All Might came to him in his weakened form, and told him the words that he wanted to hear more than anything.
"You too, can become a hero."
Izuku cried of course, and for a long time too, but when he stopped All Might advised him to apply to U.A. and learn to become a hero.
He never really knew why though, and he never got an explanation before the hero ran off. Izuku pondered the idea of looking for All Might and asking for more advice, but a part of him chose not to out of fear of the man changing his mind and taking back the words he cherished so dearly. Afterwards he trained in every way he could. Mostly by running, but by studying harder than anyone possibly could have imagined to see if he could find his own way into the most elite hero school in the world. For a while, he even believed he could do it, that Izuku 'quirkless' Midoriya could make it into U.A.
'Oh what am I going to do now?' The question had been in his mind ever since he woke up in the nurse's office. A part of him was in confusion, and another felt broken by letting his hero down. He felt so empty, and without a goal to work towards, there wasn't much of a reason to do anything. What was the point of going on if there wasn't anything he could go on to.
"Hey Deku!"
'Oh no.' In mere moments it just became apparent that while daydreaming Izumi didn't actually go anywhere. He was still in the park next to the swings and monkey bars, and now Bakugo had caught up to him.
"Kachan!" He twirled on his feet once more, only to see that the blond boy had accompanied by his two lackeys. The boy's hands were sparking up, and his teeth were frilled. 'Oh no!'
"I said," Bakugo growled, "we were not done yet!" The boy grabbed Izuku's collar, lifting the boy up onto his toes.
"Hey Kachan, I-I mean Bakugo. I was just going home, and I really should be going."
"Oh, because from what I saw you were taking a nice break, so I don't think a few more minutes could hurt."
'Oh no, no, no!' The two companions looked on with evil grins, and Izuku could only hope that he would get out unscathed.
"You know, I was feeling pretty good about things for a moment. Good test scores, lot's of recognition, the whole show. Yet here you are, rubbing in my face how you did on that shitty test, like you think you're better than me."
"B-B-But I only got one point, and you got like eighty."
"Eighty one shit head, eighty one."
"Right! Right, so clearly things have been going well."
"That's where you're wrong Deku. I thought I had made it abundantly clear for you to not apply to U.A., yet you did it anyways. Not to mention, a quirkless extra like you shouldn't even have gotten a point, and low and behold you did that too. You know how that feels, Deku, because it feels like shit to me!"
Izuku's lips were sealed, and his body was quivering from head to toe. His eyes darted towards Bakugo's open hand, which was snapping and popping with serious force.
"But you know what? All things considered that test was still pretty hard, so I've got some steam to blow off, and seeing as even you could survive that, you can help me out with that. Hopefully whatever you supposedly had plans for can wait just a bit longer, ok?"
Izuku waited and waited. Tensing every muscle in this body for the onslaught to come. It never got easier, and the more Bakugo practiced his quirk the worse things got. He was almost home without a scratch and now he was going to roll into his bedroom in a scorched ball. Any bit of fight left in him had all but disappeared.
"Hey! Wait!" A voice called across the small park caught everyone by surprise. It was a girls voice, and not one that any of them knew particularly well. On instinct Bakugo dropped Izuku to the ground, and jerked his head towards the echoing sound.
A small brunette girl around their age in a black jacket and leggings was moving towards them in a heavy jog. She wasn't from their school, but she had a backpack on and looked as if she had come quite a ways away. When she finally did stop however, she dropped her hands on her knees and began panting heavily. The three boys who were ready to go to town on Izuku moments before were caught in a trance of confusion and bewilderment.
"Who the hell are you?" Bakugo asked in a snarky tone.
The girl's voice was short, and she took a breath in between her every word. "Sorry, sorry. I'm looking for someone. Have you seen a boy around here?"
"Uh, you're looking right at one." One of the lackeys threw in a sly comment before she could finish her thought. Izuku, getting back onto his feet. He knew it was the girl from the test, but he didn't know why she was here. All Izuku could do was watch as the girl quickly shrugged off the question passively.
"What? No, I'm looking for someone specific. A green haired boy, a little taller than me, scrawny, kind of pain looking, freckles on his cheeks, I think his name is-"
"Scrawny?" Izuku's thoughts once again made their way out of his mouth. He cringed internally upon this realization, and as everyone turned towards him. He wanted to panic, he wanted to run and hide. 'Oh my, why did I do that? Now she knows I'm here, and I'm sure she's upset with me, why else would she have come all the way out here. Oh what did I do to deserve this?'
As Izuku was digging himself farther into a hole, tensing up for whatever ridiculous name she was going to throw his way, only to see a different kind of reaction. The girl's face lit up with joy, with a smile larger than life. Without a second thought she pushed past Bakugo without a care in the world and stood right next to the green haired boy. Nobody expected this to happen, least of all Izuku.
"You're here! Thank goodness, I was worried that I might have missed you. I got out of class kind of late, and I didn't' exactly know where I was going, and at one point I got kind of lost and..."
As she trailed on, Izuku's mind went blank. This day was a rollercoaster that never stopped, and now, somehow, the girl that he was getting so worked up over had actively gone out of her way to find him. It was unbelievable, it had to be scripted, things like this didn't just happen.
"Uh, Deku," Bakugo however wanted answers, and he wasn't going to wait around to get them, "Who the fuck is this?"
"Uh, well, you see it, well when I went to take the test, and we met on the uh."
"Wait, Deku? I thought you were, oh my god," The brunette's eyes winced and her first met her forehead. "I can't believe I forgot to introduce myself again, I was so ready to do it this time and I still screwed up." She reset herself with her hands tightly gripping her pack, before shooting out her right hand openly. "I'm Ochako Uraraka, nice to meet you!"
Her smile was warming, and her hand was inviting. A light flutter filled his entire body as he reached out his hand to meet hers. "Izuku Midoriya, pleasure to meet you too." His body felt weightless, like it was ready to fly. Then he realized that there was a light pink glow around him, and that he was slowly drifting up into the air. He tried to reach out, but he was stuck in an endless tumble and he floated around.
"Uh, what's happening, why am I flying?"
Ochako looked in horror as Izuku started to drift upwards. She felt a blush cover her face as her embarrassment grew. She reached up to cover it, activating her quirk on herself, and began to drift upwards along with him. "Oh why didn't' I think of this before, this is so embarrassing, I knew I was forgetting something, I can't believe I forgot to put my gloves on and now you're flying, and I'm flying. How did I let this happen."
"Uh help! Please help me down!"
"Sorry!" Ochako quickly composed herself, and by joining her finger pads from both hands together, gravity took control. As soon as she did, the two fell back to the ground, with Ochako landing gracefully on her feet, while Izuku slammed onto his stomach with a hard thud. "Are you ok?" Ochako asked while putting on a pair of gloves from her pocket.
Izuku brushed off himself as he climbed back to his feet. "Yeah, I'm fine." The two stared at each other, smiling awkwardly without having a clue as to what to do. Neither one of them made a move or tried to speak, instead letting the moment extend on and on.
"You know what, forget it. I got better things to do than watch you two be complete idiots." Bakugo's loud and gritty voice broke the silence like a bombshell. He gestured over towards his companions before trotting off in the other direction. "Come on, let's go find an arcade or something."
The two young teens watched as the trio turned away, leaving them by themselves.
"Who are they? That one kid didn't seem awfully nice."
"Kachan? Oh he's a friend from school. I think."
"You think?" Ochako's voice was sceptical as she glanced back towards the blond boy with a dangerous glare.
"Wait no, that's not important. How did you find me?"
She spun her head back around and looked up with a gleeful smile. "Your mom told me."
"She what?" Izuku said dumbfounded.
"Do you want to, sit down somewhere?" Both teens turned and saw an empty chess table with nobody sitting in it only a few meters away. It was in the shade with nobody around. With a silent nod, they each made their way over towards it. Once they each sat down, Ochako continued on from her previous thought.
"So, it kind of all started right after the exam. Once the alarm went off all of the robots, including that really scary big one, just shut down. Then a group of little helper robots took everyone who got hurt to the nurses office."
"Wait, I was the only one in there. Where did everyone else go?" Izuku pondered.
"Well," Ochako paused for a moment, "it was only really you and I that got hurt, so after I left it was basically just you in there."
"Oh," the sudden thought that she was stuck in a hospital room with him while unconscious felt awkward in his head. Then another question came to mind. "Wait, how did you get out first? Your leg looked pretty bad from what I remembered."
Ochako winced a little before continuing. "Yeah, it was. Apparently the rock fractured the bone in several places, and some other stuff I didn't really understand. It hurt a lot, but after the recovery lady used her quirk on me I was ready to go. I guess you were just more tired, because her effect wasn't as strong for you."
Great, not only did she see him while comatose, but she witnessed him getting kissed by an old lady as well. The whole situation was becoming very uncomfortable.
"Anyway, eventually they let me go while you were still asleep. I ended up walking out to the front where my parents were, and your mom was there as well. I was really tired, so I just went home, but I think they kept talking for a while. Apparently somewhere along the line our moms exchanged phone numbers." She raised her hands with emphasis as she continued speaking. "I really only learned when my mom called me and said that you apparently lived close by, and that your mom said that you would probably pass this park on your way home."
"Huh," Izuku mumbled absently, for a lack of a better reaction. "So you really came here just to say hi?"
Ochako blushed slightly while scratching the back of her hair. "Uh, well, I guess when you put it like that."
The situation was slowly becoming strange again. Izuku never really talked to people often, and this was only emphasizing his social skills, or lack thereof. Desperate for a change of pace, he blurted out something on the tip of his tungue. "Did you say your parents called you? Didn't they go with you?"
"Actually no," Her general weariness all but disappeared as she continued, "I actually live in my own apartment not too far from here. I kind of live far away, and because I always had the plan of attending U.A, my dad found this really good deal on an apartment that was within walking distance to the school. So I'm living on my own."
"Wow," he verbally wondered, "what dedication. What confidence."
Ochako started blushing again, turning her head away while scratching the back of her head. "Oh it was nothing, I knew ever since I was little I wanted to be a hero it just seemed kinda natural." Then on a whim, she straightened forward locking eyes with Izuku. Her hands folded into tight fists holstered by her chest. "That's nothing compared to what you did during the combat trial. When everyone else ran away, you came running in with a smile on your face, and when that crazy robot attacked us you jumped up on it with nothing but your fists! I didn't even see you use your quirk at all, unless I'm mistaken. Say, what is your quirk?"
There it was. A question so simple, but one that defined his life to a T. Izuku had long lost count of how many people asked this same question, only to be disappointed and walk away. His head dropped down, knowing what would happen next. It had almost become a tradition when meeting new people to see them walk away with the idea that he was a poor soul, cursed with the trait of quirklessness. It had been nice to see her view him in a positive way, but now it was all going to change.
"Well, the thing is, well, I'm-" He stuttered and paused, struggling to find the right words to say. "I don't have one." Izuku was ready, certain of his predictions coming true. He had done this song and dance before, not even bothering to move his gaze from his interlocked knees.
"Wait, you don't have a quirk?"
"Y-Yeah..."
"That's incredible!" The world almost came to a halt. All his life he had come to only expect one thing from other people. Years and years of painful rejections, cruel laughs, all of it was shattered. Izuku looked up bewildered at the girl's face, filled with amazement and wonder.
"What?"
"You took a test designed for only the best quirk users in the world to pass, without one!"
"It, really isn't all that impressive." Izuku mumbled passively, still awestruck by the girl's reaction.
"What do you mean, not all that impressive! When all the other kids saw that giant robot you were the one who rushed in. Who knows what would have happened if you weren't there, especially after that crazy skull robot showed up. Has anyone else taken that test without a quirk?"
"No, most only attempt the general studies course. Hardly any get in though."
"That's incredible, you're the first Deku!" hearing that name made Izuku instinctively tense up. He hoped that Ochako didn't notice, but her expression showed otherwise. "What's wrong, did I say something?"
"Well, it's just that, Kachan said that when you mess with the spelling of my name, you get Deku, or 'useless Izuku.'"
"What what?" Ochako almost yelled her remark, looking towards where Bakugo waltzed off earlier. They were long gone by that point, but she shouldn't shake the sudden anger that filled her. She had to tell herself to stop gritting her teeth, and open up her fists. 'That bully, the absolute nerve. I bet he probably believes that Izuku's useless. That punk probably calls him that all the time. I'd be a pretty cool name if that 'Kachan' jerk hadn't given it that meaning.'
The thought gave her an idea, and a smile quickly grew as she looked back at Izuku. "You know, I think Deku sounds pretty cool."
Izuku looked up with curiosity. "Really?"
"Yeah, when you say 'Deku' it sounds like 'you can do it!'"
A bubbly feeling filled his chest, and Izuku couldn't help but smile with her. "Then you can call me Deku!" The feeling he had, the emotions, none of them he had felt before. After feeling so closed off and empty for so long, talking to her felt so liberating. Izuku felt free, and he liked that feeling.
"See, that's the spirit."
"Yeah, thanks."
"Glad I could help!" Ochako said gleefully.
"Actually, I do have one question I've been wanting to ask." Ochako watched as Izuku looked through his bag and pulled out a burnt up notebook.
Ochako couldn't help but wonder to herself as he placed the notebook on the table in search of a pen in the front part of his backpack. "Hero analysis notes, number thirteen? What's that?"
"It's um," Izuku's voice was once again sheepish as he spoke, "well because I don't actually have a quirk, I write down any cool quirk I find. When I was little I would fill up notebooks with hero's that I thought were cool, but now I just kind of write down any quirk I find. The name just kinda stuck I guess."
Ochako giggled as she thought of a little version of Izuku drawing with an oversized notebook of the Pro Hero's he would see on the TV. After grabbing a cheap plastic pen, Izuku flipped to an open page near the back of the book. "You ready?" she asked cheekily.
"Um yeah, I mean, if you're ok with it of course. Most people think it's kind of weird to write about quirks like I do."
"Oh no it's fine, here." She took off one of her gloves, but instead of dropping when she let go, it started to float around like it was stuck in a vacuum. "It's called 'Zero Gravity.' When I touch something with all the pads on my fingers," She said flashing her hand openly, "I can turn off the gravity on objects." She then bounced the glove from side to side with her hands before forcefully placing down on the table where it finally came to a stop. "Also, I can deactivate my quirk when I put the pads on my fingers together."
"Wow." Izuku's beamed in wonder. His focus honed in on his book, where he was writing hastily. "I've seen five-point touch quirks before, but this is crazy. Plus the effects can be stopped with gloves so it shouldn't have large drawbacks in day-to-day life. It's super unique and flashy, but very practical, very useful for a hero to have. Probably works best as a secondary quirk, or in less confrontational situations. Even still there's a lot of potential in hand to hand conflict."
"Wait, hold on," Ochako stuttered, feeling quite overwhelmed, "you got all of that from just seeing my quirk?"
Izuku paid no mind. "Are there any limits to your quirk? Something that keeps the quirk from activating?"
"Um, well I can't use it on giant objects, or anything bigger than a house. Also if I lift anything above my weight limit My stomach gets queasy."
"What's your limit?"
"Around two thousand kilograms or so. I helped out with my dad's construction company before I left and moved into my apartment."
"Amazing," Izuku started sketching away in his notes. His normal chatter faded into a muted mumble. Sliding her glove back on her hand, Ochako couldn't help but lean in. She only got a glimpse of the page, but from what she could tell Izuku was making some form of wiki entry on her quirk. She couldn't quite describe the feeling of having someone be so fascinated by her quirk, and if the number on the front of the cover was anything to go by, she probably wasn't the only one to have an entry like that.
Eventually, Izuku noticed that his writing was being observed. His face flushed up as he instinctively hid the book against his chest. "Sorry, I got carried away."
"No no, it's fine," Ochako smiled, "can I see?"
"O-Okay," Izuku sheepishly mumbled as he passed over the book to the girl. Ochako could tell he was nervous, so when she finally had it in hand she handled it with great care.
She was stunned. In just the short amount of time he had, Izuku created a miniature guide on everything that came to her quirk. Spread across two pages, he had written notes on her quirk, strengths, weaknesses, applications, and any other thing that came to his mind. The right page was mostly just scattered thoughts, but on the left was an illustration of her surrounded with a few key bullet points including the name and basic functions of her quirk. The image itself was near flawless. Even in the few moments he had Izuku drew her in her standard pose 'A', puffy jacket and all. The lines were clean, and she was easily able to capture the finer details of her face, even if the cheap pen had a few ink sputters here and there.
"Deku, this is incredible." She stole a glance at Izuku, watching the stress he was holding melt into relief and pride.
"Thanks, but it's really no different from all the other entries." Ochako started to look through the book, taking in every single page. Every new and upcoming hero, all of the hero's with big headline news stories, even heroes she had never heard of before, all of them had entries in the book. Each one was carefully illustrated with notes on the ins and outs of their quirks. There were even some villains thrown in the mix, but with special titles and extra sections of possible battle strategies if he ever met one.
Eventually, she decided to skip to the front, where she found the one and only All Might as the first entry in the book. Unlike the other heroes, All Might wasn't in the typical standing pose, instead he had his arms pumped up and a large as life grin on his face. She could tell he put a lot more effort into this page. Even if it was in pencil, the linework and shading was unparalleled. The entry was longer than the others, more detailed, and definitely more fanboyish.
Then she flipped the page, and felt her eyes pop out of her head from what she saw. "You got All Might's Autograph!"
Izuku curled up and tried to hide his face, failing miserably. "Hehe, yeah. It's a long story."
"You don't just get the world's greatest hero to sign your notebook Deku, you have to tell me!"
"Well, I mean." Izuku stumbled as he spoke, but at the quick glance of his wrist watch his whole demeanor changed drastically. "Oh, I didn't realize what time it was. I should be going, my mom might think something happened on my way home." Izuku grabbed the book out of Ochako's gloved hands and stuffed it into his backpack. She could only watch as the green boy got up with a slight bow before turning away. "Sorry, but I really should be going. Thank you for your hospitality."
"Hospitality? Deku we're in a park."
"Er, bye." Izuku tried to march away with a quickened pace. The whole experience had been so strange for him. He didn't even really know what to say half the time. All the movies he had seen growing up made it seem like making friends was super easy, but in reality he really didn't know what to do. 'She seems nice, I don't know why she's bothering me. She's probably just being courteous, that's all. Better just go home before I say something stupid.' As he walked away, he couldn't quite shake the feeling he had in his chest. 'Ochako Uraraka. I wonder if I'll ever see her again.'
"Hey Deku, wait up!"
"What?" Izuku turned around, and sure enough, Ochako was racing up to him. Again. He felt confused, but relieved as well. "Wait, w-why are you still, shouldn't you be heading home?"
The brunette puffed heavily as the cool autumn air swirled around them. "Well, if you really think your mom is going to be upset, then let me come with you. We can just say we had a chat in the park, or that I scared off some bullies or something."
Izuku paused. He wanted to say no, that she could just go home instead, that he'd be fine on his own, but he didn't. Instead, all he gave was a slight nod before the two began walking together.
'This is so, strange.' He thought. The sun was waning down, and the shadows of the trees and buildings started to grow. Here he was, walking home with a girl by his side, someone who didn't think of him as weird, or strange, or helpless. 'How could this day get any stranger.'
'This can't be happening, this can't be happening!'
Of course things didn't end up going to plan when he got home, of course they didn't. His mother had to insist on inviting Ochako inside. But it didn't stop there, oh no. They were having a wonderful discussion about how they met and how the test went and other non-personal information. Then his mother had to mention how his room had an possibly unhealthy amount of All Might merchandising
Then Inko revealed that she had made dinner, and now the three of them were continuing the personal exploration into Izuku's personal life while eating noodles and rice. 'This can't be happening, why is this happening, how did I let this happen!'
"It's honestly more of a museum then a bedroom, you couldn't even put a nail in the wall without putting it through a poster."
"Mom," Izuku whined. Ochako couldn't help but giggle to herself as she created a mental image of the boy's room. She had seen images online of hoarders and extremist collectors, but she couldn't picture Izuku as one of those types of people despite the room's description. Something about Izuku was more of a fanboy rather than a creep, and judging by how well kept the rest of the house is, she doubted that Inko would let her only son's room be one big trash heap.
As for Inko herself, there were some definite similarities between mother and son, but some differences as well. For starters, they had the same shade of green hair, with hers being longer and straighter. She was on the shorter side, although that came mostly from poor posture, which also was something Izuku had. The biggest difference was body type, and while Izuku was quite thin, borderline average at best, his mother was much heavier. She could only guess as to when that happened, as some family photos she stole some glances at were much different from the people she was talking to. Inko was not only thinner, but also had better posture as well. Izuku was much more confident as well, which only added to her curiosity. As much as Ochako wanted to learn more, it wasn't the kind of question one would ask upon meeting someone for the first time.
One thing was for certain, Inko was much chatter than her son was.
"Oh, and I can't forget about his hero diary's!" Ochako couldn't keep her mouth shut after hearing that.
Izuku's face fell onto the table, redder than a tomato. If he hadn't already finished his bowl, he would have been wearing his dinner. He let out a long and embarrassed moan into his placemat. "Mom, they're quirk analysis journals, I wrote it on the front of each of them."
"Oh I know, I'm just teasing you, but now that you mention it I was dusting your room while you were at school, and I did touch that one drawer of yours. I didn't move-" Inko's voice was cut off by the alarming squeal her son let out as Izuku leapt from the dinner table and dashed to his room. A large slam of his door was the only thing the two girls heard before being left in silence. "anything."
"What was that about?" Ochako asked curiously.
"Well, Izuku's never really made any friends so he's a bit, well, protective of most of his hero collection, among other things. Most of the stuff in his room he's ok with letting me see, but he has a drawer in his desk where he keeps his more personal stuff. The things he won't even let me look at."
"Really? He doesn't have like-"
"It's nothing dirty or anything, just things he's sensitive about. Of course I know what's in there, and while it has become emptier than it has in the past, it's still upsetting that he's never really built up the confidence a boy like him needs." Inko let out a deep sigh as she continued, letting her gaze drift down to her bowl. "Of all the things, being quarless is probably the worst thing for him."
Ochako perked up, hearing the same word again that at first seemed so unknown, but now felt so sensitive. "But, it can't be that bad can it?"
Inko, once again sighed. "It's hard for people with quirks to really understand. You have a strong quirk don't you, not everyone wears gloves indoors you know." Ochako could only nod, glancing down at her hands with her thin gloves still on her hands. "Imagine growing up, watching the TV, playing at school, being raised in a world driven by quirks, only to finally learn that you don't have one. Izuku hate's the idea, but it's like being told you're disabled, like you have been born, incorrectly. It doesn't help that most of society has a quirk, and that being born without one is treated like some disease. Most quirkless people end up learning to live and accept that fact, but Izuku just wasn't born to be like that. He has that heroic spirit, and he still believes in that dream he's had for so long."
Ochako was silent, letting Inko's words sink in.
"Not to mention that bullying has been a huge problem. Being the favorite of the school's top student hasn't been without its fair share of issues. Granted nobody dares to try and mess with him while Bakugo is around, fearing of setting him off, but the situation hasn't been great for my boy's morale."
"Wait, is that the-" Ochako was about to reply when the sounds of a door creaking open filled the room and completely changed the atmosphere. Izuku humbly walked back to his seat at the dinner table still red in the face. His face had the word 'foolish' written all over it, but despite that Ochako couldn't help but feel the air lighten around her.
"I was trying to say I didn't touch anything, but then you went and ran off like usual." Inko's tone had changed drastically to a cheeky but motherly voice.
"Yeah..." He paused for a moment before glancing back and forth between the two in front of him before his mind got the better of him. "You didn't talk about anything personal while I was still in there, right?"
"Oh of course not, just about the little All-Might onesie you used to wear."
"MOM!"
After some more teasing, Inko eventually did leave her son alone as everyone eventually did finish up their meal. The discussion led towards how Izuku was a fan of American deserts, which reminded Inko of the cookies she made the day before. Izuku actually had to be reminded about them existing, even if he had already eaten several of them. Ochako couldn't help but take a few, especially considering Inko's relentless push for her to take at least one.
The three then argued over who should do the dishes, as all three of them were insistent on doing so. Inko, seeing an opportunity, decided to let the two kids clean the dishes, even if she was originally against the idea of having a guest clean up the meal. She couldn't help but feel a tug at her heart when the two kept bumping into each other clumblisy with soapy hands.
Eventually, with dinner eaten and the dishes washed, Ochako was ready to take her leave and head home. With her coat and shoes on, and all that was left was so say her farwells.
"I'm fine, honest!" Ochako spoke with a chuckle.
"Well I'm just making sure, my own child has a habit for leaving the house empty handed."
"N-No I don't!" Izuku's voice almost raised an octave in defense of his fragile pride.
"I don't think I need to remind you about how much of a lie that is. Should I tell Miss Uraraka about the time you left your entire backpack at home?" Inko rebutted successfully, silencing the quivering Izuku. "Regardless, I hope you enjoyed your meal."
Ochako beamed in the dim lighting as she opened the door. "I did, it was delicious."
"And are you sure you don't need a ride to your place?"
"No, I'm good. Thank you though."
"Well you're welcome here anytime. My boy could do much worse than having a friend like you hang around."
Inko's reply made the two teenagers blush, as well as snap her son back into reality.
"Ah well yeah, but I mean it was a bit short notice, and to be fair I didn't even know her name before today. I mean all of this is really sudden and a bit unexpected really, most of the time people just ignore me, which I mean you can't really blame them for. And now that I think of it it's getting pretty late and I still haven even showered yet and I have school tomorrow too and she probably does too… I was rambling again, wasn't I?"
The two laughed at Izuku's sudden realization. Which all but confirmed his suspicions.
"Does he do that often?" Ochako asked faintly.
"Every day."
"Ah!" Izuku couldn't take the attention and all but cowered out of the hallway, but not without a deep bow of his head and a quick 'thank you' before retreating into his room.
"He really is nervous, isn't he."
"Yes, but he has a big heart as well." Inko laughed before looking back at the young girl stepping through her door. "Keep an eye on him for me would you, I'm sure you'll cross paths again."
"Thank you, and I will." With a bow and a wave of the hand, Ochako left the Midoriya residence with a skip. It didn't take long for her to reach the open roads and begin her path towards her own home.
Even though it wasn't that far away, Ochako was glad she was wearing her gloves and coat to keep out the chill of the night. The crisp cool air nipped at her nose, and the moving breeze didn't help much either. The moon wasn't out, hidden behind a thin layer of clouds, but the lights of the city all but made up for the fact that it was so dark. The streets were fully illuminated by soft electric lights, flickering in a way that made the world dance in the dark. She didn't normally stay up late enough to experience the night, she couldn't help but feel energized by the quiet that swirled around her.
The area wasn't too unfamiliar, and while she knew where she was going there were many sights that she didn't recognize until she got closer to her apartment. One billboard in particular caught her eye. It was hard to tell, but it was advertising something to do about some quirkless help hotline. Normally she would have ignored it, but now she couldn't shake the icky feeling she had deep inside of her. She carried it all the way to her temporary home.
The outside of the building was much plainer than the apartment Izuku lived in, and it had a few more stories as well. She lived near the middle, just below the point where you could see over the city skyline. Most of the paint on the walls had long faded away, and the atmosphere around the place wasn't nearly as welcoming the place she just came from.
The inside however was even less impressive. Upon unlocking the door, she was greeted by a small one room apartment that was only broken up by the furniture that lived there, and slight extrusion in the back corner that made up the claustrophobic bathroom. The door couldn't even open up all the way without hitting the end of the mattress she slept on. All of the furniture was used, and most of it was more than a decade old. The only light in the room outside of the single window was a small standing lamp that gave a faint glow to the apartment.
Ochako dropped her bed on the broken couch, kicking up dust even though she cleaned the place the day prior. She didn't shower, outside of washing her face, as she didn't feel like raising the water bill any higher than it needed to. Before turning in for the night, Ochako glanced around the room, making sure everything was still where it was, including a small safe hidden inside of the broken couch. There wasn't much inside, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let it get stolen any time soon.
With a flick of a switch, the room was plunged into darkness. Ochako could feel her eyes getting heavy, but she couldn't think of anything else other than that billboard she passed by before falling into a deep sleep.
Yo, guess what, I'm actually making this a real thing. Yeah I figured after a while I should just upload the first chapter and make this story a reality. I even made a quick picture for the story. Spent a whole forty five minutes on it. (Did you know that there are no good pictures of Izuku simply running in his old school uniform horizontally on Google, I didn't, and it sure as hell didn't help much. Probably could have dropped the time down to a clean ten minutes)
Anywho, yeah, second chapter. I definitely think that Ochako's role as Izuku's main friend is toned down and tuned in a weird direction in the Canon. Definitely gonna tweak some things with her as her role is going to be much more important in relation to the story and theming of everything. (I'll let you guess what I mean by that) This also applies to some of the class-1A students as well, including a very important character rework that will prove to aid the thematic ideas of the story as well. Overall, things will be similar, but new.
Also get ready for some side character tone downs, as some of the stuff covered in the canon doesn't really serve much purpose in the overall narrative. I mostly write from a western perspective, as I believe that events that don't really add a whole lot thematically or help build story cohesion can mostly be brought up in passing. Plus it saves me some writing time, which is nice.
Lastly, thanks to everyone who has read the first chapter and already left some helpful feedback as well. New perspectives are really helpful with this type of long term project, and I already have gotten some ideas from the comments that I hate myself for not coming up with on my own. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed and that you have a great rest of your day. Cheers!