At the time of writing this, July 31, the Joint Training Arc is ending on Toonami tonight and I wanted to get this out as soon as possible.
-:-
Today's lesson was going to be a hectic one for Class 1-A. They were told by Aizawa-sensei that they were going to have a competition of sorts with Class 1-B where they would be put into teams and would have to capture the opposing team. Not only that, but it seemed that Shinsou from the general studies would be joining them as well, being placed on a Class 1-A team for one round and on a Class 1-B for another.
Right now the teams have been randomly selected and some of them were gathering to come up with strategies for their upcoming fights. Others on the other hand…
"Are you upset that you're on Bakugou's team, Kyouka?"
"Huh?" questioned the purplette, tearing eyes from the screen and turning to her best friend.
"You looked like you wanted to set the screen on fire when the teams were announced," explained Momo. She glanced over towards Kyouka's teammates, where Bakugou was yelling at Sero and Satou. "Of course I don't think anyone would blame you for being unhappy with your team captain."
"…As loud and commanding as Bakugou is, no, he's not the reason I'm annoyed right now."
Momo raised an eyebrow in question, waiting for her friend to explain. Instead, Kyouka turned to where their sensei stood and called out to him, gaining everyone's attention in the process.
"Hey, Sensei! These teams were supposed to be random, right?"
Aizawa just let out an annoyed sigh before giving the girl a narrowed look. "If you have a problem with your team, just deal with it."
But Kyouka merely crossed her arms over her chest. "I wasn't talking about my team. I only asked because I was wondering why Midoriya and Uraraka were on the same team once again."
Hearing their names, the greenie and anti-gravity girl both blinked in confusion, wondering what Jirou was getting at.
"What are you talking about, Jirou?" questioned Aizawa, sighing once again.
"It's just that every time we have an assignment where we need to be on teams, those two are always paired together. The only time they WEREN'T teammates was for the final exam and that was only because the teachers got to choose the teams instead of letting it go by random chance.
I'm not saying there's cheating going on, considering this is Midoriya and Uraraka we're talking about, but it is questionable how these two are always together when teams are supposed to be random," explained Kyouka, now placing one of her hands on her hip as she stared down her teacher.
The other students of Class 1-A started talking amongst themselves, as they realized that Jirou had a point. Midoriya and Uraraka were ALWAYS on the same team together during class assignments.
"Wait, so this is true, Eraser?" questioned Vlad King, turning to his fellow teacher.
"I knew Class 1-A was filled with lowlife cheating scum!" exclaimed Monoma, only to be chopped on the head by Kendo.
"It would seem that there is some truth to what Jirou is saying," replied Aizawa with a grimace as he went over all of the previous assignments in his head. "Looks like we'll need to come up with a better system for picking teams in the future."
Vlad let out a hum of agreement. "Until then, what will you do with the current team setup?"
Aizawa looked over his students before making a decision. "Uraraka! You're now on Bakugou's team. Jirou, you're with Midoriya."
Kyouka raised an eyebrow in surprise while Ochaco had a blank look on her face. Well this was unexpected.
"W-Wait! Do we really need to do that?" squeaked out Ochaco. She then turned to her favorite person in the world. "Deku-kun, say something!"
But Izuku could only fidget and look away. "S-Sorry, Uraraka, but I think Aizawa-sensei is right to put us on different teams."
Ochaco could feel a tightness build in her chest. "Wh-What?"
"I never really noticed it before until Jirou-san brought it up, but we really have been teammates every single assignment and while we work great together, us constantly being on the same team defeats the purpose of the teams being randomized," explained Izuku.
"Wait, there's an actual reason for the random teams?" questioned a confused Kaminari, speaking up.
With a nod, Izuku explained further. "That's right. The point of random teams is to get us to work with those we don't normally work with. Once we become Pros, we'll more than likely have to work with other Pros that we've never met before and these random team assignments are trying to prepare us for that."
"Midoriya's right," added Aizawa, feeling a slight twinge of pride for his student. "Some day you'll encounter other Pros that you won't know anything about and will need to work accordingly with them. You can't always rely on those you know since there will be times they won't be there."
"B-But…"
"No "buts", Uraraka. This is part of the lesson," stated Aizawa, giving the round-faced brunette a narrowed look. "Understood?"
She could only hang her head in defeat. "Yes, sir."
With that dealt with, Aizawa started talking to Vlad about how to avoid this next time while Ochaco made her way over to her new team.
Bakugou gave her a glare as she reached them. "You better not screw this up, Round Face."
This earned him a glare from the girl in return.
With Team Midoriya, the fluffy alien currently had their new teammate in a hug.
"Welcome to the team, Kyouka-chan!" exclaimed Mina as Kyouka struggled to escape her grasp.
"Let go, Mina!" squeaked out the shy rocker, glaring at the taller girl once she was free.
"It's not fair," muttered out Mineta, barely audible. "Uraraka had some nice curves!"
This of course earned him a hard knock to the head from Mina. Kyouka, trying her best to ignore the hurtful remark from the midget, turned to Izuku, who was busy muttering himself.
"Yo, Earth to Midoriya! You okay, dude?" she questioned, getting his attention.
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay," he replied with a slight stutter. "It's just, after what you said earlier, I'm worried that people might think I somehow cheated to always have Uraraka as a teammate."
Having overheard this, Kirishima spoke up. "I doubt anyone would call you a cheater, Midori-bro!"
"Indeed!" added Iida with his signature hand chops. "While it is odd how you and Uraraka have always been on the same team, no one here would ever think you or her cheated. It would be quite out of character for both of you to cheat!"
Feeling as if someone was watching her, Kyouka took a quick glance behind her to see Ochaco glaring at her.
'…Something tells me Uraraka would gladly cheat if it meant being with Midoriya,' thought the purplette as she turned back to plan with her teammates.
The matches soon began, with Team Froppy plus Shinsou going up against Team Vine, winning four points to two. The next match was Team Creati versus Team Battle Fist and even though they had Creati's intelligence and Tsukoyomi's power, they still fell to Team Battle Fist in a clean sweep (Kyouka had gone over to see if Momo was okay, assured by the heiress that she was fine and learned a lot from the fight). The third match between Team Ingenium and Team Mudman ended in a draw, with both teams only scoring one point apiece.
Now it was time for the fourth match; Team Bakugou versus Team Lizardy.
"What the hell are they doing?" questioned Kyouka as she and the other watched the match on the big screen.
"It looks like Bakugou and Ochaco-chan keep arguing," stated Mina, tilting her head.
Izuku frowned at this. "I know they don't get along…well, Kacchan doesn't get along with anyone, but I would think they'd put whatever differences they have to win this."
"Do you think we can win our match?" asked Mineta.
"If Midoriya's notebooks are anything to go by, he probably already has a plan in mind," stated Kyouka with a smirk, glancing towards the blushing freckle-faced boy.
"I still think it's unfair that Kyouka-chan's the only one who got to read some of Midori's notebooks," said Mina with a pout, referring to when Izuku helped Kyouka with note taking. She missed the slight grin Kyouka had on her face. "What are you hiding, Midori?!"
"Oh look, Lizardy's making her move," replied Izuku, quickly changing the subject.
They watched as Lizardy used the discourse to her team's advantage and were able to capture Uravity, earning a point. Unfortunately, this was the wrong move as now that he was free from distraction, Bakugou went all out while Sugarman and Cellophane did what they needed to do. Even though it was three versus four now, Team Bakugou pulled out a victory by decimating their opponents.
Returning to the hub area, both Bakugou and Ochaco were scowling with Sero and Satou afraid that something was about to explode.
"Hey, congrats on the win, Baku-bro!" cheered Kirishima, making his way over to his best friend.
"We didn't fucking win! That was a fucking lost!" roared Bakugou, sending a death glare towards Round Face.
Everyone else sighed at Bakugou's attitude, unable to understand why he was always like this.
"…He does know four is more than one, right?" questioned Todoroki, glancing towards Midoriya.
The greenie let out another sigh. "Knowing Kacchan, he counts this as a lost simply because Tokage-san's team got one point."
"Seriously?" questioned Kyouka with a scoff. "Is he going to need to be restrained again like he was at the Sports Festival?"
"Fuck off, Earlobes!"
"Stop being a sore winner, you spoiled bitch!"
The bomb boy would have gone after Kyouka if Aizawa hadn't restrained him and activated his Quirk.
"That's enough, Bakugou, or I WILL suspend you for a week," growled out the insomniac as he glared at the struggling angry boy. Without taking his eyes off of Bakugou, he addressed Jirou. "Jirou, stop poking the bear and get ready. Your team is up next."
Doing as they were told, Team Deku prepared to deal with Team Phantom Thief plus Shinsou.
-:-
Thing had been going well, if one were to ask Kyouka. Her team had been able to avoid speaking so they wouldn't fall to Shinsou's Quirk and even though they also had to deal with the Size and Poltergeist Quirks, they were still able to stay ahead thanks to her enhanced hearing and Deku's analytical mind.
But then Monoma had to start running his mouth, which caused Deku to unleash…something.
Kyouka could only stare in horror as she watched her friend scream in pain as these black tendrils erupted from his arm and lashed about. She needed to do something to help Izuku and fast, but what? Looking around, she had found that Izuku's current condition caused the match to pause and the other couldn't help but stare in worry and fear as well, but this did give her an idea when her sights landed on Class 1-B's resident ghost girl.
"Yanagi!" she called out, catching the other girl's attention. "Can you use you Quirk to get me up to Midoriya?"
"What?" questioned Yanagi, confused by the request.
Kyouka lifted up an enlarged lug nut. "Can you use your Quirk on this lug nut to carry me up to Midoriya?"
Unfortunately, Monoma got involved. "And why should we help Class 1-A scum like you?!"
This was the wrong thing to say as Kyouka punched him right in the face, knocking him out. She then turned back to Yanagi for an answer.
Despite wearing a mask, Yanagi's slight grimace could be seen. "I can try, but I've never used my quirk on something with a passenger before. I don't know if you'll make it."
"It's a risk I'm willing to take," replied Kyouka without hesitation as she held onto the lug nut tightly. She had a greenie to save, damn it.
Yanagi activated her Quirk on the lug nut, allowing her to control it and sent it and Kyouka flying towards Midoriya. Kyouka grit her teeth as she held on for dear life, hoping she could reach Izuku in time.
Once she was close enough, Kyouka jumped off of the lug nut and towards Izuku. Luckily, she was able to reach him and grab on to him.
"Izuku! Listen to me!"
"J-Jirou-san?! What are you doing?!" cried out Izuku, still in pain from this new power.
"What does it look like?! I'm trying to help you!" she explained, holding onto him tightly.
"Y-You're going to get hurt!"
"Not important!" she continued as she tried to think of a way to get Izuku to stop. Her eyes then landed on Shinsou, who was watching his rival in shock. "Shinsou! Use your Quirk on Midoriya!"
The mini-Aizawa's eyes widened slightly when he realized what exactly Jirou was planning. Taking off his voice modifier, he would speak to Midoriya with his own voice.
"Midoriya! Stop messing around and take this seriously! I've been wanting a rematch since the Sports Festival!" yelled out Shinsou, a slight grin on his face.
This did the trick as Izuku struggled out a response.
"Okay!"
And with that, Shinsou's Brainwashing took effect. Once under, the black tendrils retreated back into Izuku's arm. With nothing holding them up though, Izuku and Kyouka started falling towards the ground.
"Izuku!" screamed Kyouka in fear, snapping him out of it.
Noticing what was happening, Izuku quickly activated One for All, grabbed hold of Kyouka, and landed on the ground without a scratch. He then deactivated his Quirk and looked at the girl in his arms with worry.
"J-Jirou-san, are you alright? You didn't get hurt did you?"
"I should be the one asking you that! What the hell was that just now?!" demanded Kyouka, more scared and worried than angry.
"I'm…not sure," he replied, confused.
He could tell she didn't believe him entirely, but he couldn't just tell her that he somehow met a funky fresh bald guy who used to have that power before him in his subconscious. She'd freak!
"Whatever, dude. All that matters right now is that you're safe, so let's win this match!"
Despite what just happened, Izuku couldn't help but smile.
"Right!"
-:-
It had been a few days since Team Deku won their match against Team Phantom Thief and right now Class 1-A was holding a little Christmas party. Even little Eri came to visit and partake in the festivities, with the girls cooing at how cute she was in her little Santa outfit and her mistakenly saying "Trick or Treat". During the party they held a Secret Santa, placing all of the gifts they bought into a pile with string connected to each gift so they could pull their gifts randomly.
Some scored big, like Eri getting the sword that Tokoyami was giving (how the hell can she carry that thing?!), while on the opposite end Mineta got a framed photograph of Aoyama (serves the midget right).
Kyouka looked at the gift she pulled with a raised eyebrow before shrugging it off. Hey, a free bag of mochi is a free bag of mochi. She looked around for a certain someone, only to frown when she found him and saw the gift he got.
Apparently, Izuku somehow pulled his own gift, an All Might keychain. Poor guy. Not letting this stand, the shy rocker made her way over to the blank-faced, obviously disappointed boy.
"Hey," she said, getting his attention. She then held up the bag of mochi with a smirk. "Want to share?"
She had to hold in her giggles when he blushed up a storm. "N-No, th-that's okay. Th-That's your g-gift, so you sh-should b-be the one t-to enjoy it."
"You're right, it is my gift and I want to share it with you, so come on," replied the purplette as she grabbed the boy's hand and led him towards an empty space on the couch.
As they sat down and started eating the mochi, Kyouka once again felt someone watching her. She didn't need to look to see who it was.
'Sorry, not sorry, Uraraka,' thought Kyouka, taking a bite out of mochi and ignoring the glare she was receiving. She then glanced at the cinnamon roll next to her as he also enjoyed the mochi treats, scooting closer to the boy so she could further enjoy his company.
Noticing the movement, Izuku blushed slightly when Kyouka got closer to him. He's always been shy when it came to girls, but Kyouka was different. His time helping her with her notes for the Cultural Festival allowed him to get to know her better and the two had grown close during that time. He wanted to continue getting closer and it seemed she felt the same.
Gathering his courage, he reached his hand out to hold hers, intertwining their fingers in the process. Jumping slightly at the new contact, Kyouka stared at their hands wide-eyed before looking up at the freckled face that gave her a shy smile. With a slight blush and a shy smile of her own, she gave his hand a small squeeze before using her free hand to pluck a mochi from the bag and holding it near his mouth, to which he gladly took a bite.
They knew they would probably have to answer a lot of questions later, mostly from Mina, Momo, and Ochaco. But they didn't care.
They just wanted to enjoy the moment.
FIN
-:-
You know, when I say that IzuOcha is forced, it's because it is and the Joint Training Arc is a prime example of it. It's also one of the reasons why I can't stand the arc towards the end.
Not only are Izuku and Ochaco ONCE AGAIN placed on the same team through "random" chance, but they also somehow get EACH OTHER'S gifts during the Secret Santa. You know that's bullshit, even by shipping standards
Horikoshi, we get it, you're desperate to get Izuku and Ochaco together. Hell, you turned Ochaco into a thirsty fangirl who gets super jealous of other girls that get near Izuku because of it. That doesn't make it good writing though. It's because of this that most of the fandom pair Izuku with other girls and Ochaco with Bakugou; IzuOcha is a forced, horribly written pair that doesn't realistically work.