For a 'First Effort,' This Feels Kinda Last Ditch (I Guess This Just Got Kinda Drastic)
"Gonna make a heart-throb out of me, just a bit of minor surgery. These desperate times call for desperate measures. I'll give you something to cry about. Show some skin and would-be caché. How could you let this get to desperate measures now?"
('Desperate Measures' by 'Marianas Trench')
"Ah!"
Two weeks before her meeting with Izuku, Ochako, and their new friends (plus one dog), Himiko fell out of the sky… and right into a pile of dead leaves.
"Oof… Aw, darn it, there goes my outfit," Himiko mumbled as she sat up. She attempted to brush herself off from leaves, only to stop dead as she looked around.
She was in the spookiest, most awful looking black forest she'd ever seen. Now, that being said, Himiko was born on the frontier, so she… hadn't actually ever been in a forest before. But she'd seen books and pictures and they usually were full of a lot more life than this. Her dad had also told her stories about his adventures hunting and fishing in Alaska and this… did not look like that, not at all.
"Hello? Hello!" Himiko called out as she stood up. No response was forthcoming as the wind blew ominously through the trees. "O… kay, I'm going to walk this way now," Himiko said, mostly to herself. Then she began to briskly walk in a random direction, deciding that anywhere was better than here at that moment.
Himiko still had her yellow day dress on and she brought her hands up to rub her arms nervously. It was made for a warm day in Kansas, not… whatever the Hell this all was. Himiko stopped then, as realization hit her.
Where the Hell was she?
She remembered she was riding home and the sky got all dark. She had assumed it was just going to rain, but then the sky kept getting darker and darker. Himiko was about halfway home when the wind began ripping and shaking around her, then she got lifted into the sky and passed out.
Himiko was interrupted from her thoughts when something crashed from the sky to her right. She then promptly screamed in surprise at the sound. Once Himiko realized that whatever it was, it wasn't coming to eat her alive, she slowly crept towards where the disturbance had thrown up leaves and dirt into the air. Himiko inched over the edge of the indentation in the ground only to breathe out a sigh of relief at the sight.
It was just her bike… inside of a little crater.
Then Himiko screamed again when a frog that did not look like a normal frog hopped up onto the bike and looked at her in a way that was entirely too human for a frog. It ribbited at her and Himiko felt rooted to the spot, though she was not sure if she was afraid, or simply utterly perplexed. Perhaps both. Both sounded about right.
"Uh… hello?" Himiko said, feeling entirely foolish. It was just a frog, it wasn't going to-
"Ribbit, hello!"
"AH!" Himiko screamed, then she turned around and ran the Hell away again.
Himiko made it about five feet before a long pink tongue snaked out and grabbed her by the waist. Then she got pulled backward with a shrill shriek of surprise - and right into someone's lap, so that her head was resting there. Himiko stopped screaming then - mostly to pant for air - and looked up at…
A girl?!
She was strange looking, with dark green eyes and vivid green hair, as she peered down at Himiko from above. The girl-frog - and she was unmistakably a girl-frog, with her slightly strange face and blank expression, and Himiko could see she had the same eyes as the frog had before - looked at Himiko with amusement as she sat on Himiko's overturned bike.
"I'm not gonna hurt you, ribbit, if that's what you're worried about. You don't look like you'd taste good anyway, like that," the girl-frog said, and Himiko turned pink and looked away.
"Wh-what do you want?!" Himiko asked, still glancing away and getting more nervous by the moment.
The girl-frog gave Himiko a gentle pat on the shoulder with her hand - which Himiko noted were unnaturally large compared to her own - and Himiko took that as her cue to stand up. Himiko, accordingly, bolted upright and turned to stand rigid as she appraised the girl-frog. She was wearing a green dress and white gloves, and looked at Himiko with a slightly blank expression.
"My name is Tsuyu, but you can call me Tsu. I'm a familiar and it's my job to pick the next Wicked Witch of the West!" Tsuyu said, and Himiko frowned at her in response.
"I don't really want to be 'wicked,' Tsu," Himiko replied, and she dared to put her hands on her hips as she pouted. Tsuyu just smiled, the first genuine expression Himiko thought she'd seen from her - or at least, the first one that was easy to read.
"Wicked can mean different things to different people, ribbit. Can I ask what your name is?"
"Er… Himiko. Himiko Toga, from Kansas, USA," Himiko said. Tsuyu gave her another blank look, though this one seemed to actually be confused rather than her resting average.
"Uh… huh. Sounds boring. I bet everybody there is dull and disinteresting, aren't they?" Tsuyu said after a moment. Himiko's jaw dropped.
"How… how did you know?" Himiko asked.
"Because, I'm a witch familiar! People don't like what they don't understand. Worse yet, they act like they're too good for people who are different, huh?" Tsuyu said with more than a little bitterness entering her tone. "People in Oz - that's where we are, by the way - aren't very nice to those who are different. People like me, ribbit, who are also animals, get treated like dirt. It sucks," Tsuyu added. Himiko nodded solemnly.
"I can relate. I'm of… two worlds, back home. They're not nice about it there, either. I just wanted to make friends, but nobody really wanted to be my friend…"
"Well, I'll be your friend!" Tsuyu declared matter-of-factly. "You don't even have to be the Wicked Witch of the West, ribbit, if you don't wanna… but it'd be fun!"
"Is it gonna hurt?" Himiko asked. Tsuyu brought her right index finger to her chin and frowned.
"I don't think so? Some of the Wicked Witches go mad with power and I don't… I don't understand why, honestly, ribbit." Tsuyu shrugged, her finger still on her chin. "But even if you do, I'll stay with you." Himiko grinned from ear-to-ear at that. Then she strode forward and held out her right hand to shake. "I don't understand, ribbit," Tsuyu admitted as she looked down to Himiko's hand, then back to Himiko.
"Oh… Well then how about this?" Himiko asked, as she dropped her hand and moved forward to give Tsuyu a hug instead. Tsuyu made a small ribbit of surprise… but she hugged back firmly.
Himiko wasn't really sure if she cared about how she got there or if she could get home. She was fairly sure she'd miss her parents, since they were about the only people who told her she was normal in a sea of unfriendly people otherwise. And she'd kind of miss Ochako… even if it always seemed like Ochako didn't care much for her, much to Himiko's dismay. But Tsuyu would be her best friend now, and together… Maybe they could make their own happiness in this new and different place.
Himiko stepped away and Tsuyu produced a little green vial of liquid.
"Drink this and you'll become the Wicked Witch of the West!" Tsuyu said, and she smiled. Tsuyu was pretty, in her own way, Himiko decided. That was… a thought she wasn't supposed to have, back home.
But honestly? Home sucked.
Himiko drank the potion.
Izuku and Ochako were sitting around the fire, feeling very glum as they went through the papers and books Izuku had brought from the Emerald City.
After Himiko had confronted them, she promptly flew off, daring them to follow. And despite their reservations, Izuku and Ochako decided to follow anyway, though they still weren't quite sure how to explain what was going on to their friends, yet.
"So what do we know about how someone becomes a Wicked Witch?" Ochako asked as she scooted over to look at the papers. Izuku was so focused he didn't even notice or care how close she got.
"The process isn't very well known, because the government of Oz persecutes witches who aren't 'good.' Some of them, like the one you encountered, are actually dangerous. Most are just minor witches, though, and they hide out in the hedges-"
"Yeah, and they throw fireballs at dumb bastards like Tin Stuff over here," Katsuki piped up, jabbing a thumb at Shouto, who was next to him on a fallen log as they sat at their campfire. Izuku and Ochako looked up in confusion at Shouto.
"Momo saved me from a minor witch when I ran away from home," Shouto calmly explained. Then he reached over and karate chopped Katsuki right on top of his head.
"Ow! Hey, you motherfu-"
"Ahem," Eijiro interrupted, and both Katsuki and Shouto stilled. "Are ya sure we have to kill the witch, Izuku?"
Izuku frowned and looked down at his papers. They were mostly from the library and not very much of it was actually written by Kai, Izuku determined. Kai had exclusively been concerned with how he could get back home - which for him was California - but he was not very good at working out the intricacies of magic or the society of Oz. His plan was to brute-force everything and make others bend to his will.
"I don't… know? I suppose we don't," Izuku admitted. "We just need her broomstick."
"Which she ain't gonna hand it over to you without throwing some fireballs, ya damn nerd!" Katsuki replied, and to be fair, Izuku couldn't really argue with him at all.
"We could just try asking for it," Eijiro pointed out. Four pairs of eyes turned to him in sheer incredulity. "What, I'm serious! Haven't you guys just tried asking nicely for something?! People can surprise you!" Eijiro added defensively. Katsuki opened his mouth to say something probably rather rude but Ochako cut him off.
"I don't know… I don't think I can kill Himiko, Izuku," Ochako admitted quietly. The boys fell silent at her words.
"Well… we know how to kill her, if we have to. If she… forces us to," Izuku said. He held up one of his sheets of parchment paper for the others to see, and it detailed how 'bad' witches did not like water, whatsoever.
"What would I tell her parents, Izuku? I… That isn't right," Ochako said. It didn't sound like she was very convinced by that argument, but also that she had more to say that she wasn't ready to say yet.
Izuku didn't really understand what kind of relationship Ochako and Himiko had before but it seemed to have been… strained. He picked up on how Ochako wasn't super pleased to get dragged into the show with Himiko and mostly was along for the ride. Izuku frowned at Ochako and cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Himiko was nice to me, so I'd rather not… kill her, either. But if you want to go home, I don't know what else we can do." Izuku pursed his lips. "Especially if she attacks us when we approach."
"I mean, it is her home," Shouto pointed out. "Aren't we the aggressors, here?"
"That damn crazy girl twirled a knife at us and said she was gonna get us - even the dog!" Katsuki exclaimed, and Sero walked over and gave a cute little bark as if in agreement. Katsuki reached out and gave Sero a pat on the head. "Good boy. See, he agrees with me!"
"Kats, you speak dog. None of us speak dog," Eijiro retorted.
"I'll have you know that dog is an entirely different language than cat… and I damn well do speak it, thank you," Katsuki said with more than a little bit of pride. Sero barked happily and jumped into Katsuki's lap, where Eijiro was able to give him a little chin scratch while his tail wagged.
"I think we might have to play it by ear, honestly," Izuku said, then he turned to look at Ochako. That was when he realized how close she was, and he turned a bit pink in the face. Ochako also turned pink and moved just a tiny bit away again. "Anyway," Izuku said, trying to pretend to be less embarrassed than he really was at how captivated he was by Ochako's eyes in the beautiful vividness of Oz, "we will be traveling for at least another week or two, so Ochako and I can practice with magic while coming up with a plan."
"Do you think the rest of us could try, Izuku?" Shouto asked, looking very intrigued.
"I don't see why not," Izuku replied. "I can't promise you I'll understand why it does what it does, honestly. It's…" Izuku paused and held up his right hand, as green lightning crackled along his suit coat. He turned to look at Ochako and she was enraptured by the sight. Izuku watched the green play out idly across her eyes for a moment before awkwardly turning back to Shouto. "I know some things for sure. You need to think happy or positive thoughts and you have to have… some kind of internal peace. The books weren't super clear on that point."
Izuku concentrated and a rose appeared in his fingers, similar to the one Eri had made previously, but without thorns. Feeling brave, he turned and handed it to Ochako, who was utterly dumbfounded and now a bit red in the face. Izuku coughed once into his hand and turned back to the boys, hoping that Toshinori wasn't laughing at him too much from Heaven.
"What you can make also tends to reflect your mood. So, for example, Eri wanted to protect me from Katsuki, so she created a sword."
"Hey, I wasn't actually gonna hurt ya," Katsuki pointed out defensively. Izuku just smiled fondly.
"I know. But she didn't! And I think that difference in understanding, subjectively, is important."
"Do what, now?" Katsuki said, scrunching his nose up in confusion.
"He means that it works based on your faith, not on what actually is real," Eijiro said. All four other people turned in confusion to him. "What? I think it makes sense, I dunno. If you believe something hard enough, it can become true!"
"Huh…" Izuku said. Then he smiled at Eijiro and nodded, and Eijiro lit up like a Christmas tree. "So, we can make camp for tonight, then tomorrow we can start practicing, how's that sound?" Izuku asked. He turned and Ochako nodded firmly.
Then they all stood up and began to put the tents together. It was very cold and dark off the Yellow Brick Road but… Izuku wasn't afraid. Well, he was afraid. But he wasn't terrified. He had friends now and together…
Together, he felt they could do anything.
"Okay, ready?!" Ochako said earnestly.
She had Katsuki, Eijiro, and Shouto in a line in a little clearing among the black forest as she stood across from them. Izuku had walked off briefly to use the restroom, so the four of them were going to practice more as Sero sat off to the side, dozing on a fallen log. Ochako held out her hands and thought about her parents and home, and a pink glow appeared in her hands.
Katsuki, Eijiro, and Shouto all matched her movements… and nothing happened for them.
Then the pink glow went away, and nothing happened for Ochako either.
"What the Hell?!" Katsuki bemoaned. Eijiro and Shouto both frowned and shrugged in unison.
"It's not like we could ever do magic before, Katsuki. Perhaps them being from another place is the important factor," Shouto said.
"Why the Hell would people not from Oz be able to do magic and not people from Oz?!" Katsuki said indignantly.
"Well, we are inherently magical," Eijiro pointed out, waggling a tuft of straw for good measure. "Maybe it's just a matter of expression and not… ability?" He looked slightly bemused as he finished, perhaps at his own word choice, but then he nodded firmly and gave a toothy grin. "Besides, it's not like Ochako over there isn't having trouble either. Izuku said he was a magician before he came, right?"
"Magic isn't real where we're from, though," Ochako said with a frown.
"Or maybe you just couldn't see the magic," Shouto pointed out. "Maybe Izuku's love and adoration for magic is the difference."
Ochako pouted a bit. Izuku could do magic because he believed in magic? That sounded like utter nonsense to Ochako… but then again, maybe that was why it worked. Shouto and Eijiro walked away then and met Izuku as he walked back out of the bushes. He had leaves stuck to him, so Eijiro laughed as he clapped Izuku on the back and started to help brush him off. Ochako smiled at the sight.
"Why don't ya just go make out with him, huh?" Ochako jumped a bit as Katsuki walked up to her side.
"Excuse me, I did not express any such desire," Ochako replied shortly. She narrowed her eyes at Katsuki, though he just stared back defiantly with his own red eyes.
"You're not subtle. It's pretty funny."
"Says you! Why don't you go make out with Eijiro!" Ochako retorted in an urgent whisper. Katsuki turned strawberry red and grumbled something to himself. Ochako had never quite thrown out that proposition in so many words until that point, but now that she had, she wasn't sure if she had made a mistake or not. She hoped not; she wanted the pair of them to be happy.
"I don't think he feels the same way," Katsuki admitted quietly. "I was really wild and reckless when I escaped the circus and Eijiro stuck by me through thick and thin because… because he was the only one who could stand up to me. I think he just is along for the damn ride to make sure I don't hurt myself - or others."
Ochako could help it; she smacked her forehead with her hand.
"Katsuki, please, he is so utterly in love with you. It's amazing to look at!"
"I thought you said that wasn't allowed back home," Katsuki said evenly. She had talked a bit about that with Katsuki while they were stuck in the Emerald City, in between Eijiro's excited tours.
"It wasn't. But this isn't my home and… you two look right, Katsuki. Who cares about 'rules' or whatever if you're happy?"
"What if he's not happy?" Katsuki said.
"Nonsense," Ochako replied. She subtly held out her right hand, flat palm facing up, towards where Izuku and Shouto were laughing heartily as Eijiro balanced a stick on his nose. "Eijiro is the happiest man I've ever seen in my life, and you're happier with him, because you make him happier, too."
Katsuki crossed his arms and pretended to not approve.
"Well, how 'bout: when you admit you like Izuku over there, I'll admit I like Eijiro," Katsuki said, and he grinned evilly for good measure after saying it, showing off his cat canines in the process. Ochako glared at him.
"What if I don't like Izuku like that?" Ochako challenged.
"Uh huh," Katsuki said. Then he walked away, and Ochako felt her face turn pink as she resisted the urge to throw a twig at the back of his head.
"Jerk," Ochako muttered to herself.
Ochako was a bit startled when Izuku ran over to her at that moment. He skidded to a stop and came probably a fair bit closer than he intended, slightly leaning over her in the process. She got a good look at how there were little flecks of other colors in his green eyes before he stepped back in embarrassment.
"Sorry, I forgot about the leaves!" Izuku said awkwardly, flailing his arms a bit. Ochako cleared her throat and forced herself to smile at him to hide her flustered state.
"It's okay. What did you need?"
"Oh, I just wanted to ask you if you got anywhere practicing while I was gone!" Izuku said, and he smiled like the sun. He was so utterly in love with magic and he wasn't his shy and usual self when he talked about it. Ochako's smile became a bit more genuine, even if she was kind of disappointed by magic practice.
"Not really… Wanna practice some more with me?"
Izuku turned a bit pink… but he also nodded enthusiastically, and Ochako couldn't help but chuckle at him.
After a week of wandering in the woods - and Izuku quickly realized that although he was good with books and academics, he couldn't read a map to save his life; Ochako and Katsuki now took over that duty - they finally found a river.
"Hooray! We can wash clothes!" Ochako said. She wore a black tunic and pants now, since the clothes she came to Oz in weren't clean anymore.
Izuku wore a dark green long-sleeved shirt and some black pants as well. He had made sure to grab mostly dark clothes from the magical closet because he figured they'd be walking around in the woods and such. Ochako looked pretty good in pants - not that he planned to say such a thing out loud, because that would be rude.
"Maybe I can finally learn how to clean them with magic?" Izuku said hopefully. Ochako just sighed at him as the other boys began to set up camp for the day.
"You haven't been able to get that to work yet, Izuku, but if you really wanna try, be my guest. I'm gonna start the laundry by hand just in case," she replied, and Izuku gave her an awkward thumbs up and a smile. She smiled back in amusement at him and he couldn't help but look away. She had a nice smile. It was a shame he was such a dweeb.
Izuku walked towards a big tree that was standing on its own, with no other trees around. The forest floor around it was absolutely covered in dead leaves, he presumed from the tree, and Izuku frowned at that. How were there always leaves when the trees were perpetually dead? Perhaps it was a magic thing.
He held his palm flat to his sternum and tried to think of something happy. Recently, he'd been thinking of his mom or Eri, but on a whim, he experimentally tried thinking of Ochako instead. Ochako made him happy, so why shouldn't that work?
Glittering, crackling lightning shot across his hands, then Izuku looked down and found that not only were his clothes clean, but so was he. He indeed smelled quite nice - was that peppermint? That was utterly fascinating to him, and he smiled in excitement at that.
"Wow, that's so cool!" Izuku said to himself, and he jumped up and down a bit. He then turned around - and ran right into Eijiro, who was a bit taller than him. Izuku bounced off and almost fell over on his butt, except Eijiro caught his arm and held him up.
"Whoa there, sorry Izuku! I didn't mean to surprise ya!" Eijiro said with a smile. Izuku smiled, too, internally feeling a bit mortified at his clumsiness, but at least Eijiro saved his newly-clean clothes.
"No problem, that was my fault. Did you need something?" Izuku said, and his smile became a bit perplexed. Eijiro just shrugged.
"I figured you were practicing magic and I wanted to come ask if I could watch ya, figure out how it works?"
"Oh, certainly! I just did a spell, want me to show you?"
Eijiro grinned and bopped his fists together in excitement, which Izuku had learned was his version of 'of course!' It looked rather painful, but Izuku wasn't one to judge; besides, Eijiro was invincible, anyway. Izuku held out his hand flat, hovering, to Eijiro, who furrowed his straw eyebrows in confusion.
"I can clean your clothes! I just wanted to ask permission before I touch you," Izuku clarified with a small smile. Eijiro nodded, then Izuku set his hand on Eijiro's sternum.
Izuku tried thinking of Ochako again and that green lightning came back to life. Suddenly, all of Eijiro's straw looked vibrant and alive again, and his clothes - which had looked faded and worn - looked like they had just been sewn fresh.
"Wow! That's super awesome, how'd you do that?!" Eijiro asked, and Izuku scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Well, I just… thought of something happy and about being clean, and voilà, it worked!"
"'Voilà?'"
"Ha, oh, I knew a kid for a while when we were performing and he was French. Kinda rubbed off on me, he was very enthusiastic."
"'French?'"
Izuku sighed to himself as Eijiro looked utterly befuddled.
"Never mind. Anyway, the bottom line is that it works!" Izuku said, finding his enthusiasm again. Eijiro didn't linger on his confusion, instead smiling.
"So what did you think about to make yourself happy? Maybe that's the secret!" Eijiro said. Izuku promptly turned scarlet.
"I… er… Ochako?" Izuku squeaked out, barely above a whisper. Eijiro's smile didn't quite fall, but he lost a bit of enthusiasm.
"Huh. I don't think that's gonna work for me…" Eijiro admitted, and he brought up an index finger to scratch his temple. "Why Ochako?"
"Well… She's really nice, and she was nice to me even when she didn't know anything about me. And she cheers me up when I feel down, even when she doesn't realize it." Izuku awkwardly scratched the back of his neck again. "She's… nice to look at? That sounds bad when I say it out loud…"
"I dunno, it sounds like you really like her!" Eijiro said, much to Izuku's total embarrassment. "But that's good! It's good to really like and respect someone who makes you feel good. Do you want to make her feel good?"
"Of course!" Izuku insisted. Eijiro just kept smiling, then hummed to himself.
"Well, I feel like that about Katsuki. He's always making me laugh with his antics and he's so brave and determined even when he thinks he isn't. Maybe I can think of Katsuki like that and the magic will work!" Eijiro said, and Izuku squinted a bit at him, mulling it over.
"I don't see why not, I suppose," Izuku said frankly. If he could clean a whole outfit because he thought Ochako was nice and pretty, why couldn't Eijiro do the same thinking about Katsuki, boy or girl? Magic didn't care about the rules of mortals, after all, or so Izuku would've presumed.
"Do you think they like us, too?" Eijiro blurted out as he gazed back towards where the camp was. In the distance, Izuku could see Shouto and Katsuki setting up some tents, while Ochako was near the river messing with the laundry.
"I don't… presume to assume Ochako likes me," Izuku admitted quietly. "I don't exactly have a lot going for me by human standards." Eijiro gave him a funny look but didn't interrupt. "I'm pretty sure Katsuki likes you, though. He definitely likes you more than the rest of us, at least," Izuku concluded, and he smiled at that.
"You really think so?" Eijiro asked, and he lit up like the sun at the prospect.
"I do, yeah. It's really cool and… I hope I have something like what you two have, one day," Izuku said. He promptly threw a hand over his mouth, realizing he hadn't meant that statement to come out so ridiculously, but Eijiro just chuckled.
"I hope I live up to that!" Eijiro said, then he gave Izuku a firm hand clasp on the shoulder. "You should probably go teach Ochako the magic thing with the laundry, though, before she does it all by hand and finds out she didn't have to."
Izuku yelped and took off at a sprint to do exactly that, before Ochako got too far.
He may have knocked both of them into the river in the process… but at least the magic took out the water from their clothes.
"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Katsuki asked as he stared up at the castle.
Shouto, Eijiro, and Izuku stood respectively on his left and his right, while Ochako stood in front of them with Sero at her ankles. Sero was whimpering, and Ochako could hear Izuku fidgeting before she turned to answer them. They were back to the outfits they had come to Oz in respectively, since Izuku's magic had made them spotless and they smelled nice, too.
"Do you think that the Wicked Witch of the West lives in a different giant spooky castle made of black stone?" Ochako asked incredulously.
"No, I fuckin' don't, but that doesn't mean I wanna go inside the giant spooky castle either!" Katsuki retorted. Shouto and Izuku both nodded profusely at that.
"If we don't get inside, how will we get the broom?" Eijiro asked, and four pairs of eyes turned to him. "We have a plan, right?"
"I… planned to ask for the broom nicely," Izuku admitted cautiously. Katsuki smacked his hand to his face and groaned.
"I was able to make a bucket, that's the backup plan," Ochako added, and she held up the metal bucket for good measure. Izuku had been able to fill it with water when they practiced, so between the two of them, that was a weapon. Ochako didn't want to use that weapon… but she wasn't positive she'd get a choice.
"Fine, then let's get this shit over with," Katsuki grumbled, and he brushed past Ochako to take the lead. His knees were trembling… but he still marched forward.
Ochako fell in line behind Katsuki, and Izuku walked up to her right. Eijiro hurried forward to stick with Katsuki, and Shouto took up the rear, as they had (mostly) planned. Shouto and Katsuki were the most capable at fighting by simply punching or kicking very hard, while Eijiro was basically indestructible as long as he didn't burn. Sero trotted along, his bell dinging as he went, and stuck close to Ochako. He, too, was scared, but like the rest of them, he squared his doggy shoulders and marched forward.
The castle on the inside was… grungy, and didn't appear to have been dusted in a long time. Ochako saw cobwebs and spiders skittering about as they walked, and it was generally not very well lit. Neither she nor Izuku had managed to make fire in their magic practice, so they wouldn't be able to light any of the dead torches on the walls, either.
"Why does the witch live in a giant spooky castle?" Shouto asked idly as they walked. His feet echoed as they clanged against the stonework.
"Well, if I were a witch, I would want to live somewhere that suited my whole theme, y'know?" Eijiro said absently from the front. Ochako just sighed and gripped the handle of her bucket tighter.
"Katsuki, do you smell anything?" Izuku asked quietly. Katsuki sniffed the air as they walked and began to slowly look around, narrowing his eyes.
"I smell… frogs?"
Then Izuku, Eijiro, Katsuki, and Ochako all screamed as a wave of frogs came jumping down the stairs at them. They hadn't even made it to the stop of the twin staircase in the main hall, and the four promptly turned tail and ran. There was a round table in the middle of the main hall with a display of unlit, half-melted candles on it, and they jumped on top of it.
"Guys," Shouto said as he stood where he had been and watched the frogs jump past him, "They're just… frogs. Like, normal frogs."
"That's where you're wrong, ribbit!"
Ochako looked up and saw a strange girl appear at the doorway to what Ochako assumed was more of the castle. She wore a green dress and white gloves, and she had long green hair tied back into a ponytail which ended in a bow. It flopped as the girl threw her gloved hands up and cackled manically at them.
"My frogs will make you itchy!" The girl declared, and her laughter came out with a bit of a ribbiting to it.
"Really…?" Eijiro whispered to Ochako. Then he dropped off the table as the wave of frogs reached them.
The frogs jumped around and tried to crowd Eijiro but they weren't sticking to his clothes or straw, and Eijiro just giggled at them. Then he picked one up and scratched it's head with his finger gently, transitioning smoothly into a little petting motion. Ochako watched with awe as Eijiro simply didn't care at all about the potential for harm. He just wanted to pet some frogs.
All at once, the frogs all disappeared in white puffs of smoke, and the weird girl at the top of the stairs groaned in frustration.
"They're supposed to make you uncontrollably itchy! Drat, ribbit, I didn't plan for two people who can't get itchy…"
"That's okay, Tsu. I'll show them something a little meaner, then!"
Ochako swallowed nervously and looked up. Above, there was a half-broken circular window that pointed to the sky and provided the only light as the moon shone softly through it. Himiko, the Wicked Witch of the West, came crashing through on her broomstick with a maniacal grin on her face. She was still wearing her black witch outfit and hat and carrying the knife that Ochako presumed served as her wand.
Then she brandished said knife and pointed it blade-first at Eijiro.
"I've got you now!"
"Hello, Miss Witch Lady, can we have your broom please? I promise we'll go away if you give it to us!"
Himiko paused and looked utterly dumbstruck.
"What?!"
"I said, can we-"
"No, I heard what you said, you dope. No, you can't have my broom, why would I just give you my broom?!"
Eijiro just frowned and looked very sad as he slumped over.
"I just wanted to ask nicely…"
Himiko looked to be at an absolute loss for words. Ochako watched her glance back up to Tsu, who shrugged in turn. Then Himiko turned back to Eijiro and began flicking her knife at him in a familiar pattern. A fireball began to manifest in front of her and Eijiro shrieked in horrified surprise.
"Eijiro, run away!" Ochako yelled, but Eijiro was rooted to the spot in fear as the fireball got bigger. Himiko swooshed her knife to send the fireball flying, then a blonde, furry blur hit Eijiro and pushed him out of the way.
"Ow, hot, shit, hot, shit, hot!" Katsuki yelled as he was set on fire, then he ran towards the small pool of water that sat between the two staircases and jumped in.
Ochako cringed; the water looked really gross. She guessed that was probably a flower bed at some point, but now it just had standing rainwater in it from the broken skylight. Accordingly, Katsuki immediately jumped back out of the water looking rather green and disgusting, then flopped onto the ground on his stomach with a dramatic sigh.
"Ah!" Shouto yelled, and Ochako turned and watched him run towards Himiko and flail his arms wildly at her, clanging all the way as he went.
Himiko simply floated upwards on her broom to dodge out of the way, but Shouto kept going - and ran smack into the wall. He bounced off with a louder clang and fell over onto his back on the floor, where his tube-shaped upper body made it difficult for him to get back up unassisted.
"Ouch…" Ochako muttered as she winced, and she turned and saw Izuku was to her left now and matching her wince.
Himiko floated down and turned to eye Ochako and Izuku thoughtfully. Ochako, feeling like she had no other choice, held the bucket out to Izuku, who used his magic to fill it with clean water amidst crackling green lightning.
"Ah, so you figured out my weakness, have you? Well, that won't help you, my pretties, if you can't hit me!" Himiko declared. She was distracted, however, when Sero jumped and grabbed onto the bushy part of her broomstick and began gnawing on it, growling as ferociously as he could muster as he did. "Get off, you!" Himiko yelled, and she spun her broomstick around in an arc, sending Sero flying with a yelp. Thankfully, Eijiro reached out and caught Sero deftly, but that meant his hands were full.
Izuku ran at her then, trying to grab the broomstick at the same spot with more force as green lightning crackled around him.
"Not so fast!" Himiko said, and she caught him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him right into the air. The Wicked Witch of the West brought him right up close to look at.
Ochako's grip on the bucket tightened as she moved to get it into an appropriate throwing position. Himiko eyed Izuku carefully up close and Ochako watched the motion of Izuku's Adam's apple as he swallowed nervously. She hoped Izuku would be an adequate distraction as she slowly crept into a better position to throw the water.
"All those people back home never thought anything of me. I was always the weird girl nobody wanted to spend time with. But look at me now!" Himiko shook Izuku a bit for good measure. "I'm the Wicked Witch of the West and I have a best friend now who loves me unconditionally. Meanwhile, you four came to kill me and for what?! WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?!"
Himiko had transitioned to choking Izuku, deftly shifting his position to accommodate that. She was strong, and Izuku clawed uselessly at her hand as the lightning on his arms died. Ochako raised the bucket then and screwed her eyes shut. She could do this, she had to do this, for Izuku.
When Ochako closed her eyes, she saw an image of Himiko smiling and waving at her next to the sign for the magic show, so she began to cry.
The bucket clattered to the floor and there was a splash of the water flying across the stonework.
"Himiko, I'm sorry I didn't try harder to be your friend!"
Himiko blinked slowly and turned to look at Ochako, who had opened her eyes. It was hard to see through her tears but she clenched her fists at her sides and looked defiantly at Himiko, who slowly loosened her grip on Izuku and let him fall to the ground.
"I… You always wanted to hang out and I told myself it was because I didn't have time. I needed to work harder and be better, but the truth is that I was being mean like everyone else and I'm sorry!"
"I remember… I only ever wanted to be your friend…" Himiko whispered as the magic began to run out of her voice. She began to cry, too, as her feet slowly lowered to the ground and her broomstick clattered away. Ochako ran to her then and hugged her, and Himiko was too stunned to move. After a moment, Himiko hugged back, slightly hesitantly.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I… I don't understand why I felt like I did. I think that… Everyone else always said mean things about you and I just let it rub off on me, I'm so sorry…"
Izuku groaned as he stood up, then Ochako was surprised to feel him slowly, gently hugging both her and Himiko around their shoulders.
"You were only ever nice to me, Himiko. I didn't want to fight you. I'm sorry, too."
"Ribbit!"
Ochako, Izuku, and Himiko all made a small 'oof' noise in unison as Tsu came flying from the top of the stairs and crashed into their hug to join in. They all went falling to the floor in a tangled mess of limbs and hugs and confusion, and Ochako couldn't help herself.
She began to laugh, even though she was in tears.
Then Himiko began to laugh, and so did Izuku and Tsu. From above, Ochako heard Shouto and Katsuki laughing, too, and she turned to find the two of them off to the side, Katsuki having helped Shouto stand up again. Katsuki was still covered in muck but he had his hand on Shouto's shoulder and he was smiling, genuinely smiling, and looked utterly happy. Shouto was laughing more sincerely and cheerily than Ochako had ever heard. Meanwhile, Eijiro was bawling his eyes out and mumbling something about how 'this is so manly, I didn't want to fight either,' and that made Ochako laugh even harder.
They all laughed together as Ochako wiped her tears (and Eijiro attempted and failed to wipe his tears, and Izuku began to cry as well and his tears came out like a waterfall, splattering Ochako, Himiko, and Tsu), and it was wonderful. However, to Ochako's surprise, she turned to look at Himiko and realized she was turning back to her normal color instead of green. She still had pointy teeth but it was like the green was draining away from her skin and body. Ochako blinked a few times and looked over at Izuku.
"Why didn't… Shouldn't the tears have hurt her?" Ochako asked. Izuku, once he sufficiently wiped his own waterfalls of tears off with his sleeve, looked very confused.
"I don't… I don't know. Maybe… maybe it's because we don't want to hurt her anymore?"
"It works… based on your faith… not on what actually is real…" Eijiro repeated himself from before through his blubbering, as Katsuki patted him on the back. That didn't help, so Katsuki wrapped him up in a hug. "It's okay, I'm okay, it's just… it's so beautiful that we can all be friends now…"
Ochako turned back to Himiko, who looked like she'd just woke up from a dream.
"What… what happened, Himiko?"
"I don't remember… I drank the potion and at first it was fine but then… there were voices, and they kept preying on my worst insecurities and… I started forgetting things." Himiko frowned and her canines stuck out as she turned to look at Ochako. "I remembered you… but also not. I just remembered my negative feelings and I was… I was really sad and hurt."
"I'm sorry again, Himiko. I wish I had been a better friend," Ochako said. To her surprise, Himiko smiled then, and it was possibly the happiest smile Ochako had ever seen from her, new pointy teeth and all.
"It's not too late to make up for it, right?" Himiko asked. Then Tsu helped her up and Himiko, in turn, offered her hand to Ochako. Ochako looked at Himiko's hand, then back up to Himiko, and she smiled. Then Ochako took Himiko's hand and let Himiko pull her up.
"Yeah. Like Eijiro said, we can all be friends now, right?" Ochako asked, then she turned to help Izuku up. Izuku let her help him, then looked very embarrassed when he realized he didn't immediately let her hand go. Ochako didn't quite register that immediately, but when she did she let his hand go like she'd been burned. When she turned back to Himiko and Tsu, they looked intolerably smugly at her.
"My name is Tsuyu, but you can call me Tsu. We can be 'friends,' ribbit, if that's what you call it," Tsuyu said as she looked between Ochako and Izuku. Izuku was clueless as he tried to get over his embarrassment, but Ochako was not.
Ochako stuck her tongue out at Tsuyu. Tsuyu matched her but with her long frog tongue, surprising Ochako. Then they began to giggle together and Ochako decided that being friends would be fun after all.
"What about the damn broomstick?!" Katsuki said suddenly, and Ochako's eyes widened as she turned back to Himiko.
"Well… It's not a broomstick," Himiko admitted awkwardly. She turned and picked up the broom, then in a poof of smoke it transformed: back into her bicycle.
"AH!" Ochako, Izuku, Eijiro, Katsuki, and Shouto all screamed in unison.
"Are you telling me we came all this way for nothing?!" Katsuki screeched.
"Well… At least you didn't kill me for nothing…" Himiko said sheepishly.
"FUCK!" Katsuki yelled, and Ochako couldn't help but agree.