Dressed in a familiar UA training uniform, the green haired and freckled UA student sparked with green energy as his fist pounded away at the reinforced punching bag in the UA gym. Thoughts of the last few weeks had continued to flash in his mind. All the enemies, all the trials and tribulations he had been through, this upcoming mission would be his most challenging yet.
Word had been spread throughout the school that the Pro Heroes had a mission for them. This mission alone didn't pertain to just UA Hero course students, but hero course students spanning the country, along with any Pro Hero available. The Paranormal Liberation Front, an army of societal anarchist, desperate to rid this country of the Japanese government. At head of the Liberation, the Leader of the League of Villains, Shigaraki Tomura.
The first year student smashed through the punching bag at the thought of Shigaraki, sand and leather flying everywhere as green energy spiraled through the room. He and All for One were up to something. According to the intel members of Class 1-A and others had gathered, the All for One quirk had already been implanted into the dry skinned decay quirk villain. While this upcoming mission was to put an end to the Liberation Front once and for all, very few knew of the secondary mission Izuku Midoriya had been given by All Might himself: to take down Shigaraki Tomura and All for One before Shigaraki could get used to using the power gifted to him.
One for All, the power gifted to Izuku by the Number One hero, All Might. A legendary stockpiling quirk, collecting stored energy through time, gifting the user immense kinetic strength. While that was the base of the power All Might had given him, One for All seemed to have a few other powers hidden away. Izuku, who had managed to enter the quirks consciousness, deemed the One for All realm, had already managed to learn what other powers were given to him. However, knowing what powers he had, and actually knowing how to use them, were two separate qualities.
"That's the fourth punching bag in the last two days," a sweet comforting voice said from the doorway of the workout room. Izuku turned to see a beautiful brown haired girl, her arms folded behind her back as she leaned against the doorframe of the gym. Izuku sighed as he looked between the girl and the now destroyed punching bag.
"Sorry..." He said quietly, standing over the mountains of sand he had unintentionally sprayed everywhere. However, the girl shook her head with a gentle smile forming on her lips.
"Don't apologize to me, I'm just keeping score. Though UA may ban you from the workout room if you keep breaking things," She said teasingly as she now began to walk towards the emerald haired student. Izuku's eyes grew with fear.
"You don't think they would actually ban me do you?" Izuku asked worriedly. The girl laughed, brushing her brown bangs out of her eyes as she looked up at Izuku.
"I'm kidding. Of course they wouldn't. Have you seen how many machines Bakugo has broken? You have quite the number of machines to break before even getting close to his numbers," The girl said with a giggle. Izuku sighed in relief.
"Seriously Ochaco, don't do that," Izuku said with a tired smile, scratching the back of his head. "I got worried there for a second."
"Sorry, sorry," Ochaco said, placing the palms of her hands together in apology. "It's just so fun to tease you. But, I do know when my boyfriend has something eating away at him. What's going on Izu?"
"Everything is fine Ocha! You asked me this yesterday too," Izuku said with a fake smile, now walking towards the workout benches near propped against the wall mirrors as he began unwrapping the protective wraps around his fist for sandbag punching. Ochaco, however, did not seem convinced.
"And you gave me that same answer yesterday. Izuku, you're not okay! What's going on?" Ochaco asked, walking after her boyfriend. "And don't tell me nothing. Once you passed three sandbags, it's kinda hard to believe something isn't bothering you. I know it has to do with Shigaraki and All for One."
Izuku took a deep sigh as he began unwrapping the second wrap of his other hand, not answering Ochaco's question.
"Izuku, ever since I found out about One for All and chose to stay with you, I've been a part of this. You don't have to do this alone!" Ochaco said, placing a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "If you're worried, talk to me. We said we were going to do this together, didn't we?"
Izuku finished wrapping as he threw his gloves into a duffle bag, sporting a little All Might keychain on the zipper, he had brought to the gym with him. He couldn't help but stare at himself in the wall mirror. He had told Ochaco they would be in this mission together. But...
"I just... don't want to worry you with this," Izuku said quietly as he zipped the duffle bag up, the All Might keychain flailing from the sudden force. "I know you want to go on the mission with me. And I know you will. It's just... Bothering you with these kinds of nerves just puts more stress on you, and you've done so much already. You shouldn't even have to deal with the responsibilities of One for All..."
"Izu," Ochaco said, gripping Izuku's muscular, yet scarred arm with her hands. "I hate when you do this you know. I am here for you. The same way you are there for me."
"Generally it feels more like you're here for me more often than not..." Izuku muttered as he put his hands in his pockets. "If I'm being honest."
"Well, it comes with being the girlfriend of a One for All user," Ochaco said. She adjusted her grip, allowing her to walk around to face Izuku directly. "And I wouldn't change it for the world. Now tell me what's going on? Why are you stressing out over this mission?"
Izuku took a deep breath, as if contemplating if he should give in to Ochaco's words or if he should stay strong. Ultimately, Ochaco's words overpowered his will.
"Ochaco... Shigaraki has the full power of All for One..." Izuku said, sitting down on the benches as he brought his hands up to his forehead. "I can't even use one hundred percent of One for All... Or any of the other quirks."
"You can use Black Whip pretty proficiently now right?" Ochaco asked, sitting down next to the brooding trainee hero. Izuku shrugged.
"I'm getting there, but I wouldn't even say I'm proficient with using it..." Izuku said as he lowered one of his hands from his forehead, staring at where his knuckles. Ochac sighed, taking the hand Izuku was staring at into her own hand.
"Izuku, we'll find a way to defeat Shigaraki and All for One. We always do. You always come up with some plan to save the day, and it usually works! You're incredible Izuku..." Ochaco said, gripping the hand she was holding even tighter, tracing the scars with her thumb. Izuku lowered his other hand as he glanced into the brown orbs of Ochaco's eyes. He took a long deep breath in before exhaling.
"You really think we can do this?" Izuku whispered. Ochaco, with a gentle smile nodded before she rested her head on Izuku's shoulders.
"No doubt in my mind," she said confidently, closing her eyes as she savored Izuku's presence. As much as she had truly wanted to help him, the main reason she had come looking for him was to receive cuddles. Izuku, noticing Ochaco's smile when she rested her head, smiled as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. This girl really was his everything.
"Coco? Deku?" A small voice called out yet again from the doorway of the gym. Izuku and Ochaco, who rose her head, turned their gaze towards the door frame where a small silver haired girl stood. Izuku and Ochaco smiled warmly at the sight of the little girl.
"It's okay Eri, come on over here," Izuku said kindly, signaling for the girl to come over. Eri's candy apple eyes grew wide with excitement as she ran over towards the two, jumping into Izuku's lap.
"Deku, Deku! When can I work out with you? I wanna be strong just like you!" Eri said, flexing her nonexistent muscles. Izuku laughed as he petted Eri on the head.
"When you're a bit older Eri, I promise," Izuku said. "You know Aizawa-Sensei would kill me if you got hurt with one of the weights."
"You promise?" Eri asked, her eyes wide with expectation. Izuku nodded. Eri smiled in return, however her face quickly turned to one of surprise.
"Oh! Deku! Coco! Aizawa-Sensei sent me here to get you guys! He wants you two right away!" She said, jumping off of Izuku's lap. Ochaco and Izuku looked at each other, curiosity filling both of their eyes. The mission wasn't for another week and a half. What did Aizawa want with them early?
"Did Aizawa say what he wanted?" Ochaco asked, getting up from the bench and crouching down to Eri's level. Eri nodded.
"He said something about making 'annoying adjustments for Uraraka's mission to accommodate her unprofessional need to be around her boyfriend'," Eri said with a smile that didn't match the sentence she just reiterated. Izuku chuckled with a nervous smile as Ochaco frowned at the second hand insult Aizawa had relayed to her through Eri.
"Well, we'll head right there," Ochaco said with a newfound gentle smile, though a temple did pulse on her forehead. "You run along ahead of us, okay?"
Eri nodded with a smile before dashing out the door, her little legs carrying her as fast as they could. Ochaco stood with her arms crossed, puffing as she turned back to Izuku, who was still comfortably sitting on the bench.
"It's not unprofessional!" Ochaco said, still puffing her blushed cheeks out. "Many heroes act in duos and teams! Why is this any different? Plus, I know about One for All. All Might could have put in a good word that we should be together on our special Liberation mission."
"I'm sure he did," Izuku said calmly as he now stood, grabbing and lifting the duffle bag over his head and around his neck. "You know how Aizawa is. Besides, he has a lot on his plate dealing with the Liberation and Shigaraki. I'm sure the government is still giving the pro heroes a hard time regarding all the latest incidents..."
Izuku's eyes grew a bit dark as he thought back to everything that had lead to their current predicament. Things weren't looking good for the future of hero lead society. People were anxious that the League of Villains had yet to be caught, and the loss of All Might hadn't yet quiet sit in well with the people even after all the months that had passed. He had to correct this...
"Still! He didn't need to tell Eri that..." Ochaco steamed as the two began to walk out the gym. Izuku sighed as his eyes grew light again, Ochaco's voice sucking him out the void of his own mind.
"I think a bit of Ka-Chan has rubbed off on you," Izuku said teasingly, poking fun at Ochaco's irritation. Ochaco gave him a small glare.
"Don't put me on the same level as Bakugo," Ochaco said in a playful, yet threateningly. "I'm much more composed than he is."
"Yes you are," Izuku chuckled as they exited the gym hall. "We should hurry though. I'm sure Aizawa is waiting for us. I don't need another extra training exercises from him."
"I dunno Izuku, you always seem to get excited at those..." Ochaco said, skipping ahead of Izuku. "Now come on! You say we should hurry, but you're the one lagging behind! Pick up the pace!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Izuku said with a smile, watching the silky brown hair wave each time Ochaco bobbed up and down from the skips. Izuku shook his head as he began jogging to catch up with her.
Even through all the stress, he couldn't help but feel like everything would be okay as long as she was here next to him. Little did he know the full weight of the mission the two of them had in store, waiting behind Aizawa's office door.
...