Nothing to say.
"I wish I wasn't stuck in a wheelchair right now ... once again I apologise, because of me we are much slower than the rest of the group" The whole class decided to walk, public transportation would have been their second option but considering that their performances at the sport festival were still trending and that their popularity had increased a lot during the internships they preferred to avoid being stuck in one place with way too many people to handle.
Ochaco and Izuku were trailing behind, for some reason though they both noticed that the rest of the class, and the girls in particular were discreetly looking at them on a regular basis.
"It's fine, and you aren't that heavy"
"Am I ?"
"You aren't a body builder but you have some features" Ochaco taunted Izuku. He wasn't really trying to maintain a certain physical shape but she was right, he was well built from a certain point of view.
"What do you want to buy at the mall ?" Izuku asked to change the topic.
"I do not know yet ... just the essential, sun cream and mosquitoes repellents mostly ... and you ? any idea ?"
"Honestly, I had exactly the same list in mind, I do not see the point of giving us an entire day just to buy one or two things ... it's weird, what if- ... what if the staff gave us a free day on purpose ? Usually they are always trying to keep us informed but now they are literally pushing us outside of the school"
"... the League ?"
"Perhaps ... but this time they do not want us to be aware of something, you remember during the festival ? Well ... before the festival to be precise, Aizawa told us why civilians wouldn't be directly allowed inside the school grounds" Suddenly it made more sense, Ochaco remembered that Aizawa told them the first attack of the League had forced the school to increase the security level ...
Izuku was thinking ... he could only do that for now, and he quickly came to a conclusion "A spy ... what if there is a spy ?" He didn't mean to say this out loud although the teen would have done so later anyway.
Ochaco couldn't deny that it sounded possible, how did they know about the schedule of their class ? The attack at the U.S.J. happened only a few weeks after they entered U.A. ... and no one knew All Might was a teatcher, excepted the students who learned about this before the medias, way before the medias did. "So ... Izuku, what if they end up questioning us ?"
"You tell them the truth"
"I can't tell them you-!"
"Telling the truth doesn't mean delivering them all your crimes on a silver plate, you do not have to lie if you can give them enough truth so they actually end up believing you ... in that case, they won't dig further, unless they are persuaded you are guilty before they even try to interrogate you"
Ochaco had troubles keeping a straight face after Izuku had given this kind of advice "You-... You seem to be well informed about that kind of things"
"I have already been interrogated after the U.S.J. and I was barely lucky enough to pass through a lie detector quirk ... I went too far, I stole the quirks of the no- I-I mean that thing and I- ... I went all out to defend us, my sudden increase in strength didn't go unnoticed"
"You-...You have other quirks right now ?"
"No I do not-" and Izuku made another mistake, he spoke too much.
"Izuku ... did you forgot to tell me this, or did you avoid the subject on purpose ?" Ochaco didn't sound angry at all, she was just concerned.
"I-... I do not have any quirk in me right now, I gave them away"
"How ?" Yet another lie ...
"People, in the streets, it's not that hard to give or take, if it's done well enough no one can notice it"
"You can't just give that kind of quirks to people that you encounter while you walk around"
"It's the most efficient way to get rid of those without being noticed, think about it, most people do not actively uses their quirk everyday like we do ... also, it would have been too dangerous to keep them, you know what's a quirk factor ?"
"It's like ... blood ?"
"No not exactly but- ... yeah let's say it's a liquid, its linked to your quirk, quirkless individuals do not have that, so if someone analyses my blood they shouldn't find anything right ? That's another aspect of All for One, it doesn't have any quirk factor, therefore I'm invisible from that point of view, however I theorized that if I have another quirk I obtain a certain type of quirk factor in my body, and in that case I'm in danger"
"... You should have told me, if you ended up in this situation again I could have helped I could have- ... you could have transferred the quirk to me-"
"No" Izuku's voice became cold, strict, tough "I would never do that to you, or anyone ... It is dangerous, quirks aren't toys ... think about Shoto, his father tried to get exactly the son that he needed using quirk marriage ... the result isn't always what you expect, I heard he had a sister and an older brother which ran away. Just imagine if something goes wrong ... Ochaco, you have no idea how it feels to have more than one quirk It's- ... it's like having someone else trapped inside your body"
"Wait- ... you mean quirks are alive ?"
Izuku gulped, no ... quirks couldn't be alive, yet when he thought about One for All he couldn't deny there was simply something hostile inside it "In a way ... yes, but it's mostly my body adapting to the needs of the said quirk, for example I can't steal mutation quirks ... and even I was able too I do not think I could support the changes"
"... What you did to that man, Overhaul ... you didn't steal his quirk ?"
"No ... no I did worse, I forced it to activate and to destroy his own body, he could have killed me in a second, a single contact was enough and I could tell he was getting ready to do so, I can "see" them you know ... The quirks all around us, hot, cold, calm, violent, silent, vibrating ..."
Ochaco tried to picture to herself how it would feel to be aware of people's presence and intentions by the simple existence of their quirks ... she wondered how her quirk looked like, she was about to ask Izuku but the teen attracted her attention to the large building in front of them.
"Oh well looks like we are almost there, we should put a pause to this conversation, people do not need to hear about my mess"
A few meters further.
"What are they talking about ?" Asked Toru to Momo who tried to ignore the couple behind them as much as possible.
"I-i do not know ... I maintain my words it is very impolite to hears drop on other people's conversation, and stop looking at them, you are abusing of your quirk !"
"I know I know but they are just so cute ! I already told you, I had to go back in class to pick up something I left on my desk and when I came back I heard them flirting ! Like a real flirting with figures of speech and all the cliches you see on the TV ! Don't you ever think about how wonderful it might be ? To be in couple with someone ?"
Momo stopped looking in Toru's direction to think about her question, she raised her head to look in front of her but the first person she saw, or rather the person's back, was Shoto Todoroki ... she blushed "Well ... there are some handsome boys in our class b-but I do not think any of them are actively interested in getting in couple with anyone"
"Ohhhhhhh you have a crush on someone !" Taunted the invisible girl.
"N-no ! Absolutely not ! I-I'm the representative of our class, I can't get into this kind of relationship with someone else ! And-and I can't do that either with someone who has the same job"
"Why ? ... it's not like there is any rule about that ... ohhh you said that because you didn't know how else you could deny !"
"N-no ! ... Look, some people like to be exposed and I am not of of those people, I did my internship with Uwabami the snake hero and- ... well she showed us a certain aspect of the job I wasn't necessarily liking, we had to shoot a commercia ... If I want to become a hero I want to be the hero that people see as they are, not as the media shows them, I know that it is part of our job and I was more than happy to learn about it. commercials, advertisement for various products, hell even movies ! This wasn't what she wanted to do at all, not as her main activity.
"Ah I see ... it's fine, I won't bother you with any personal aspect of your life"
"Thank you Toru"
...
"But admit it you have a crush on Shoto-"
"TO-TORU !"
Shopping Mall, main plaza.
"This place is so big, there are at least two copies or clones of every shop" Izuku had already spotted three different kind of shops with at least one shop of the same kind in a hundred meters radius around said shop (you still get the idea) .
"Oh no, I have to check all of them to find the best prices then ?" Izuku laughed, he knew Ochaco was very careful about her money spendings but not to the point of being forced to compare every single shop she encountered.
"You are saving up to this point ?"
"I'm poor ! And it's not like I need a lot of things, I can check different shops for that. You haven't looked inside my apartment did you ? It's mostly empty" Izuku blushed as Ochaco reminded him of this one time where he "accidentally" managed to get stuck inside her apartment while she was just getting out of the bathroom.
"N-no I-I haven't"
"... How about we hang out at my place then once we are done ?"
"You-You are inviting me ?"
"You have been the one inviting everytime so far, I'm sending you back the elevator if i may say"
"Sounds like you own me something ... sure ! This way I will "finally" be able to have a look inside your own universe" Izuku noticed that the elevators leading to the floors of the mall were overused, he would just slow Ochaco "You can let me here, near the fountain, I will be waiting for you"
"If you think you are bothering me again-"
"No that's not what I have in mind do not worry, but yeah at least you won't have to wait so we can just get up there together, beside my mom probably has a whole box of mosquitoes repellents somewhere in the apartment, you can go and find what you need, I will play on my phone or do something else meanwhile"
"Alright, let me just get you here" Ochaco pushed Izuku under one of the palm trees that had been installed around the fountain "You like it ?"
"Perfect ! I will not move, let's meet here once you are done"
"See you later" Ochaco left Izuku, she went straight to the closest store she had seen near the entrance of the mall.
And as Izuku said he waited ... All for One wasn't as oppressive as it used to be, his quirk was more active than usual of course but there was something different Izuku didn't feel like he was in danger. He wasn't constantly harassed by the closest quirk near him triggering some sort of anger or defensive response.
For once he was even able to lose his focus and to simply rest ... Oh how he wished he had seen it coming. Oh how he wished that this hand had never even touched his neck, because as soon as it did, All for One only screamed one thing.
You are about to die.
Izuku was paralysed, it had been a long time since he felt so weak and powerless, his future was crumbling before him as he expected to get killed but instead nothing happened.
"Well look who it is" Izuku managed to pivot his head toward the voice, he was then face to face with Tomura Shigaraki "Let's have a little chat together" the worse part is that Tomura was genuiely smiling.
"W-what are you doing here ? All Might isn't even-"
"I don't care about him, right now at least, nor do I care about all your friends roaming around, as I said I came here to talk"
"You have a very ... awkward method to approach people" Izuku was referring to Tomura's fingers pressing against his neck, he couldn't reach the villain to steal his quirk ... and that would give terrible results even if he succeeded.
"I'm not here to mess with anyone today ... excepted you perhaps, I came here to have a chat with my best friend-"
"I'm not your friend and I'm even further of being anything close to best, drop the act, if you are it's because you want something and I'm almost, even more than persuaded that it's not simply to talk about the weather or your favorite game"
"And say I was trying to be "nice" for once"
"Remove your hand and we can start chatting like civilised people"
Tomura seemed hesitant ... after a moment he did remove his hand though, and he sat on a bench next to Izuku "You aren't running anywhere"
"Are you trying to be funny ?"
Tomura looked again at Izuku, he didn't understand how Izuku was trying to annoy him and the tone he used was different "Wait- ... you are in a wheelchair now ?"
"Ho-how did you not notice that ?"
"Hey I just happened to come across you here, I wasn't stalking you since you got out of your apartment ... and no I wasn't trying to be funny but-" Tomura smiled "That makes the whole situation a lot more interesting"
"You-You didn't manage to notice I was in wheelchair and- ... Forget it, I'm done about this situation ... n-not you, I'm talking about the wheelchair and-and-gahhhh. J-Just get to the point"
"I wanted to talk about one of your comrades, Katsuki Bakugo, what do you think of him ?"
... Katsuki ? Out of all people in his class Tomura was interested for some twisted reason by Katuski, why not Shoto ? Or even Kirishima ? Their quirk weren't necessarily more interesting but-
"Why are you asking- wait no, WHAT are you asking ?!"
"Do not yell, you do no want to see someone die right here and right now do you ? Because you know I am completely able to kill-"
"Seven-" Izuku interrupted the leader of the League, he had been writting a lot in his notebooks about him and he was very aware of the villain's abilities "You could kill at least seven people before anyone could even react, then I'm not even talking about the many different ways people could react and possibly give you even more time to slaughter more of them ..."
"You- ... seem well informed, I wish you had accepted my offer, at least you would be on the winning side"
"Winning ? You have strong hopes Tomura, unless you intentionally forgot, we defeated most of your paws at the U.S.J. we even beat your Nomu before All Might arrived"
"Correction, you did, don't you ever think about what would have happened if you weren't here ? Don't you think that you were the one who saved them all ? You are the hero among them and they do not even realise it-"
"Yes, and when does the "as soon as they learn about your quirk they will betray you" part ? There has never been a time where I had to chose a side, I am doing what I think is good, even if I do not like how the system works, the way you want to change the world is wrong, you do not care about who you kill, who's life you destroy, as long as you reach your goal it's fine right ?"
"You are smart, you know that nothing ever changes with nice words and good will. I do not play by the rules, this is how I'm going to win"
"Funny ... coming from the man who calls us cheaters when he loses" Izuku was pushing the villain to it's limit and he knew it ... if only he was close enough to actually touch Tomura he could steal his quirk and- ... but he was hesitant, it would be too obvious right now.
"... I asked you a question"
"And I'm not going to answer as long as I do not know why you are interested by him"
Tomura looked at Izuku with an empty expression "I learn from my mistakes you know ? Compared to the others you actually think before acting, if I told you why I'm interested it would ruin my plans ... you will find a way to stop me before I even make my move ... but this time I will just remain silent and enjoy my victory" Tomura looked at the sky throught the great glass roof of the mall and smiled.
Izuku cursed himself, he made a wrong move and now Tomura was toying with him, he had something planned, when ? Where ? How ? He had absolutely nothing to hold on, at any given moment Tomura could strike and it would be another U.S.J. excepted this time he wouldn't only be prepared for All Might, but for all of them.
A few minutes ago.
Ochaco was quick and efficient, she didn't waste any time sorting which products were the best when it came to "value for money" ... though she still favoured money over value.
She hadn't bought many things that would be exclusively used be used for U.A.'s- ... wait how did Aizawa call it again ? And-And how long was it going to last ?! As a result Ochaco found out that their teatcher forgot to give them all the details, and even if the current situation didn't allowed him to do so it would have been useful to avoid this kind of situation in which she was trapped between buying things she might find useful but that she might never use at all if their "trip" doesn't last more than two days.
"Great ... and I guess if we complain about the lack of explanation Aizawa will just tell us that we had the occasion to use our mouths earlier" she thought out loud.
Ochaco branched off away from the main "Avenue" as she would call it, since technically a road could be build through the mall considering it's size. She didn't intend to leave Izuku alone for so long but she had to pick up more things now and ... Ochaco looked at a certain stationery store.
She had been thinking a lot about what sort of gift Izuku would like, as a gift in general of course ! Not that she was intending to buy something just to buy something for him and eventually-
A pen, that's all she could come up with, Izuku was a writer, a frenetic one, each time Ochaco had been taking a look at his notebooks she couldn't stop thinking to herself that she had a window to Izuku's mind throught her hands.
"Ochaco sis !"
That voice, she knew or rather she expected to be attacked, Ochaco recognised to who it belonged, she felt a pair of arms being entwined around her neck. She was in a really bad position, she was about to struggle as much as she could but something at the bottom of her head told her to not act like she would.
Why ? Why at any given moment in time she would consider not struggling against the person that tried to kill her ? "Ochaco ! It worked I got him !"
Ochaco was released ... it was only a hug ? She turned around quickly, this would never happen again "T-Toga-"
"Shush ! Not out loud ! Your friends are here aren't they ? It would be bad if they knew you friend with-"
"I'm not your friend and stop calling me sis !" Ochaco started to walk away, keeping a close eye on the villain but the said villain grabbed her arm.
"Hey, I'm trying to help you here ! Just like you did !" Just like she did ? Did she- ... No she never said anything about her classmates, Izuku or U.A. in general, what was Toga referring to ?
"Just like I- ... I never helped you, what are you talking about ?"
"About my crush of course ! It worked, I made the first move !" Ochaco never talked about THAT ... wait- ... did Toga followed her just to announce that she had a boyfriend or even a girlfirend ? "We are hanging out right now ! Well hanging out ... I had to harass him just to get him out of our super secret hideout but he isn't really talking to me or anything and when he saw your boyfriend he asked me to follow you while he was-"
"Boyfriend ? Toga, who is with Izuku, RIGHT NOW ?"
"Well Tomura of course ! The handy guy you don't remember ? Anyway as I was saying I managed to make him go out but he is just too depressed or something and-" Ochaco pushed Toga away from her path as she rushed to where she had left Izuku "Hey ! Where are you going sis ?"
She ignored the villain, she ran as fast as she could, Izuku couldn't use his quirk in public and Tomura was probably exploiting that to get close from him, Izuku was the most vulnerable in this situation.
Ochaco arrived at the fountain, Izuku was still here, but she quickly identified Tomura seating next to him.
"Izuku !" Ochaco was about to engage a fight with Tomura when Izuku gestured for her to not attempt anything ... she would have made a terrible mistake ? What was she about to do ? Close combat with him was impossible and who knew what Tomura would do if he was exposed here ?
"It's fine we were just talking" Izuku was smiling, Ochaco followed his act, they were just normal people talking to each others, and not heroes and villain ready to kill the other if necessary.
"Well looks like it's getting crowded here, see ya, Izuku, but I'm sure we will see each others again sooner than you think"
Toga arrived the next second behind Ochaco "You are fast sis ! Oh ! Everyone is here-"
"We are leaving Toga" Tomura walked past the two girls as of they weren't present.
"What ? But I didn't even get the time to chat with-"
"I said we are leaving, unless you want to be here when those two call the police ... or when one of their comrades do"
Toga stopped smiling, her voice had also changed, now she sounded like her soul had been ripped away from her body "... Fine, goodbye Ochaco ... goodbye Izuku" Toga left the mall along with Tomura ...
"Izuku, are you alright ?" Ochaco started to push Izuku's wheelchair outside the mall, the last thing they needed now was to get the attention of their classmates.
"Yes I'm fine ... but he is planning something, he didn't mean to find me here and I don't know if he made a mistake or if he simply wanted to toy with me"
"What do you mean ?"
"He asked me what I thought about Katuski ... that was- ... weird, wait Toga was here too ?"
"According to what she said she "harassed" Tomura to hang out with here, she told me she had a crush the night she invaded my apartment but I never thought she was actually referring to Tomura ... how could anyone like him ?"
"Well if you consider he shouldn't because he is a dangerous psychopath it means you do not actually consider as one at least"
Ochaco didn't take it in a good way, how could he be calm in such a situation ? "That's not the time to flirt Izuku-"
"I was trying to cheer us up, we can't even tell the police that he was here and he is definitely planning something ... we have nothing right now, and torturing ourselves to find a solution won't lead anywhere" Izuku grabbed his head with both of his hands and looked at the ground "Unless ... Ochaco ... I- ... nevermind that's stupid"
"... Toga, you want me to speak with Toga ?"
"That's why I said I was stupid" utterly stupid and deadly considering the result of their first encounter.
"No, I will do it"
Izuku stared at her in disbelief "No you won't"
"I just said it, Toga is crazy we both know that ... she might try to spend some time with me again, she isn't stupid though, I understand what you want to do, if she speaks too much we might have an advantage the next time the League strikes right ? I'm fine with this Izuku, I can handle her"
"She is a killer, she tried to kill you ! I won't-"
"She tried to kill me and she failed, let me do it" she was putting herself in danger, since Toga knew where she lived it meant the League knew ... the simple fact that she was going back to her apartment already shortened her chances to avoid being killed.
"I hate brave people"
"I'm not being brave, I'm being a hero that's the difference"
"Heroes do not put themselves in danger just because they think that's the right thing to do, no one does that, the reality isn't a fairytale where the heroes are invincible or always ready to run straight through hell to save a princess or something"
"That's your description ?"
"I'm not kidding Ochaco !"
"Then if you are so concerned about my security come with me ! Oh wait I almost forgot, if you do Toga might skip her visit" True, Toga wouldn't come unless Ochaco was alone ... she acts like a predator, like Stain, only on isolated targets.
"... Do not die, or else I swear I'm finding a resurrection quirk or anything similar to bring you back !"
"Finally gave up on stopping me ?"
"If I really wanted to stop you I would"
A few hours later, Izuku's apartment.
Ochaco brought back Izuku to his own apartment, he didn't try to convince Ochaco again ... it wouldn't end well, there is no way this could ever go smoothly, yet there was still the possibility that Toga would never come tonight.
In fact Izuku had a backup plan in mind, but he had other things to attend to when he got home. Inko had been teatching Eri how to cook, a bit, she wasn't allowed to actually use the kitchen alone but Inko ended up noticing that Eri wasn't eating unless she was "allowed" to.
Eri asked Izuku if he could help her with her quirk, she made a lot of progress, she wasn't scared anymore about using it, though she wasn't actively abusing of it, Inko (and All for One surprisingly) had been strict concerning the laws on quirk usage, and since she wasn't fully registered yet they had to avoid every possible incident.
Eri's quirk worked on everything but her powers were greatly diminished on anything that wasn't organic, she did manage to save expired milk once according to Inko, but the young girl didn't even realise it, she had just been holding the bottle in her hands for a long time while Inko was speaking and during that time she must have used her quirk by accident.
Despite that her quirk was still a complete mystery ... Sensei said that Eri wouldn't be able to use her quirk on him until she grows up a little and Izuku wasn't allowed to borrow it because it could hurt her considering that her quirk could be a mutation.
Izuku was impatient, he wondered how Sensei's face looked like, he had asked him once if he had any photo of him but All for One replied that he destroyed most of them himself.
After a few exercises with Eri Izuku locked himself on his bedroom and proceeded to call Sensei.
"Ah Izuku, I was wondering when you would-"
"I am not able to move alone right now I'm sorry, this is urgent, we need to talk, could you bring me ?"
"You do not have to come you know ? It's fine if we talk-"
"I would prefer if my mother and Eri do not listen to this conversation"
Sensei made a short pause, then Izuku was engulfed by a black goo along with the wheelchair "You sound scared what is- ... wrong ?" It took a moment for All for One to understand why Izuku couldn't move to his home "How did you-"
"It's not permanent, just a rather large injury during our end of term exam, I should be fine in a few weeks" Izuku explained.
"... Katsuki ?"
"For once no, it was All Might but it was REALLY an accident, I just ended up getting kicked against a certain structure and my body didn't support the stretch, but I'm not here to talk about this ... If Tomura is preparing something at this very moment against me or any of my friends then I want to know it, I do not care if All Might is a direct target or not but my friends do not have anything to do with Tomura's war"
"I already told you, Tomura is on is own, I won't do anything unless he is in danger-"
"That's the problem, he lost his shot at All Might and you are the only one able to provide him with-"
"I am also not the person creating the Nomus that Tomura is using, someone else is"
"... I just want to be sure that when I will be able to actually act against him you won't become an- ... an enemy" Izuku" voice faltered "I can't do anything now, but soon I will get a license, which means that I will be allowed to intervene without restraint, I'm not picking a side, I'm-"
"Warning me ? ... I knew it would happen eventually, everything ends, but everything starts again, All Might ended my career as a villain and yet Tomura took my place, if you end Tomura's war then another one will appear again, I do not want to fight you either, and if this happens I wan you to- ... I want you to win" All for One grabbed a chair and sat in front of Izuku "It is hard for me to admit it but I can't see myself win a fight against any of my student, you or Tomura, I'm retiring, that's what I have been telling myself for the last few years but I still have so much to do, I can't stop myself from taking care of you and Tomura, I'm being as distant as I can but I would be a terrible teacher if I let my precious students accept their own defeat"
"You mean-"
"Tomura is planning something yes, but he didn't tell me what he has in mind, yet I fear I will have to intervene at some point so- .. make me a promise Izuku, if we are to face each others, do not let me win"
"What-what is this even supposed to mean ? Sensei I-I don't I- ... I'm so scared" Izuku cried ... he felt ashamed, how could he cry now ? He wasn't a kid anymore, a hero shouldn't get himself in this kind of state.
And yet All for One did something he had been wanting to do for a long time, he grabbed Izuku in his arms and hugged him "Win for me alright ? I want to know that I wasn't completely a failure at being a- ... a- ..."
"You are the best teatcher I could ever get Sensei"
"... teatcher yes"
Ochaco's apartment, around the same time.
Ochaco had been waiting since she came back, Izuku was counting on her ... well, a part of him was, the rest was fearing her potential death, but she would never die before her parents are proud of her and safe from misery.
Eventually someone knocked at her door, and surprisingly enough it was Toga ... with a flower bouquet ? "Hey Si- I mean Ochaco ... can I come in ?"
"... So this time you actually stopped calling me "that" and you are asking if you can get inside instead of barging in ?" She was angry ... not scared, simply angry, not that she disliked Toga in general, Ochaco hated her in general like she would hate Mineta in general but dislike AND hate Katsuki in general.
"Well to be honest I was waiting for you to go to sleep so I could wake you up in the middle of the night and-"
"Don't even finish that sentence" Ochaco lost all kind of hope for the girl, she didn't want to hear the rest but she had the terrible sensation it would be close from a word that starts with a R.
"Do-don't get the wrong idea it was just supposed to be a joke ! Haha-"
"I do not like the jokes that ends up with me getting physically AND mentally injured ... you just came here to tall or-"
"I wanna apologise" Ochaco stared at her "counterpart" for a long minute before moving away from the doorway to let her in, Toga smiled wildly and headed straight to the kitchen.
"Apologise for what ? Trying to kill me ? Trying to kill Izuku ? Or for the next time we encounter you on the field ?"
"For the mall obviously, it was rude to leave like this but I didn't want to make Tomura mad and-" ... just for that ... at least it was better than nothing, and she brought flowers with her. "And also, you were right, I don't like killing, I mean ... killing good guys"
"You are a follower of Stain right ? You mentioned him the first time we met"
"Yes ! Mister Stain is-"
"A psychopath" Toga glared at Ochaco "That's my opinion of him, while he is right that some heroes are corrupt it doesn't justify any of his crimes, and also he- ... he almost killed the brother of my classmate ... he doesn't make any difference between "good" and "bad" heroes, as long as one dies he is fine with it, even during the League's attack he tried to kill my friends instead of acting like an actual hero"
"... How can you say that ? You weren't even here"
"No but Izuku was, he is the one who defeated Stain" Toga's eyes widened, she couldn't believe that Stain had been defeated by someone who didn't even have a quirk.
"No- that's-that's not-" Toga grabbed a kitchen knife and before Ochaco could react she was pinned against a wall, Toga made a stabbing motion and the knife ended up ten centimetres away from Ochaco's right cheek. "I came here to apologise, I tried to be nice and now you insult my idol ?! And I'm the psycho ?!"
"I never said you were a psycho Toga ! I thought you deserved to know that you idol is one ! As a hero I can't let my emotions direct my actions but when I feel like someone is putting themselves in danger I have to help them and you are not an exception, I can't convince you to stop being a villain but I can at least prevent you from turning into another Stain"
Toga grabbed the knife again, her other hand grabbed Ochaco's throat she made another stabbing motion but ... she could've finish it she tried a few times after that but she ended up dropping the knife and hugging Ochaco.
"You really are a nice person" she whispered weakly.
Ochaco was hesitant but she ended up following the girl's move and hugged her too "It's fine Toga ..." for some reason Izuku's words echoed, the first time Ochaco saw his costume he said something about "being the good villain"
Perhaps not all members of the League are bad ? Tomura used Stain's view of the society to recruit more people ... all l of them can't be like Stain, they might be villains and criminals but-
At the same time it feels wrong to have this kind of relationship with a killer but Ochaco simply can't bring herself to call the pros or the police now.
"We can be "friends" if you want, but I'm still a hero, so ... Toga the next time we see each others as hero and villain, there won't be any "sis" or chatting"
"Did you have to ruin that moment ? I almost cried, you are no fun"
"Sorry ... what are the flowers for ?"
"The flowers ? Oh ! Yes ! I had to show you, Tomura bought them for me !"
...
"What ?"
A few hours earlier.
"You are mean .. what's the point of hanging out together if you do not even participate"
"You kept harassing me to go out, do not expect me to know anything about "hanging out with your best friend" ... what do you want to do ?"
"What- ... what I want to do ? W-well ... h-how about we go to an arcade !"
"An- ... an arcade ? You and me ?"
"Yes ? What's wrong ? Are you scared now ?"
"No ... of course no. You ask me to go out with you without an actual plan for the afternoon, you are sort of wasting my time but I'm fine with an arcade ... next time have something in mind before asking me to hangout"
"N-next time ? O-ohihihihi..."
"Stop laughing you are annoying"
Tomura actually led Toga to the closest arcade, and mostly the only one he knew, there they spent the next two hours trying every single game that were disponible, the owner of the arcade couldn't really force them to get out when he saw them being perhaps too enthusiastic with his precious games.
Toga had made it clear that if he called the police or disturbed them again, not only Tomura would start using all his fingers but Toga mkgbt add some red to the walls, she wouldn't kill the owner though, the poor old man didn't deserve that.
In the end nothing was destroyed or damaged, except a few highscores that Tomura completely obliterated. After that Toga noticed how much he had changed, he was smiling ... simply smiling, it was getting late, for some reason Tomura called Kurogori on their way back to the bar.
But right before they arrived he asked Toga to go on a rooftop with him, the sunset was wonderful ... Tomura had stopped smiling though, he called Toga one last time and he had the same flower bouquet that Toga would later bring to Ochaco's house in his hands.
"... And that's it ? Then you just came back to your hideout ?"
"Yup ... that was so cute ... he didn't blush though, he kept starring at me as if he was looking at himself in the mirror after a rather bad night"
"I'm already impressed he gave you flowers ... you know, that's my own theory but ... are you sure Tomura actually understands that you know you ... uh "like" him more than certain people would ?"
Toga raided an eyebrow "... Of course he does ! No man is stupid enough to not notice that !" Considering the churlish temper of the villain he probably assumed from something or somewhere that it was "normal" to give flowers to woman as a thanks.
"Now Ocha there is something else I want- ... need to ask you, how was your first time with your Izuku? "
"M-my first time we- That's-that's a personal question ! And-and we havens do-done that yet !"
"Not THAT first time ! I'm talking about kissing silly"
"Oh that ... I will only answer you promise to answer my next question alright ?" Ochaco realised she should have asked her question first and then answer ... or lie, but the result might have been a complete refusal from Toga, how was she supposed to ask "What are your plans for the future with the League ?"
"Sure ! Now answer pleaasssseeee, and give me details"
"O-ok ... the-the first time well it was- ... what I would call the REAL first time would be when me and Izuku where at his house and-and it was a bit late for me to go back to my apartment alone so he offered to share his room with me and-and then we-" Ochaco blushed a lot, the pressure was too much, she placed both of her hands over her face and accidentally activated her quirk.
"H-hey come back down here ! AND I SAID I WASN'T TALKING ABOUT THIS FIRST TIME ! YOU PERVERT" Toga had said that half seriously and half ironically but Ochaco's shame only intensified.
It took Toga about five minutes until the gravity girl finally recovered.
"Now, are you done ?"
"Y-yes ... sorry about that I-I tend to get-"
"It's fine Ocha, your cute face is so ... well cute ... I really wish me and my handy guy will do that soon ! It must be total ecstasy between you and Izuku right ?"
"Ec-ectasy ? W-well, I wouldn't describe it this way but ... yes in way that's how i feel next to him, I feel like he makes me stronger and in return I also give him strength and- ... when I see him next to me it's like-ohhh" Ochaco was about to go back to floating around the room when Toga interrupted her with a gentle tap in the back.
"Earth to Ochaco ! I didn't say you were authorised to launch yourself in orbit again ! You can't have this kind of conversation yet without losing your mind ... let's just change the subject, what was your question ?"
There it is ... Ochaco couldn't ask Toga directly what Tomura was planning ... but she could ask something else "Do you know why Tomira is interested by that boy in our class ? Katsuki ?"
"Uh ... wait who are they again ?"
"Spiky hair, very bad temper ... bastard ?"
"Ohhhhhh yes I see now ! ... no idea"
...
"No idea ?"
"Nop"
"You don't know why ? I mean ... Tomura isn't sharing his intentions with you ?"
"Not me, only Dabi because apparently he is more trustworthy than all of us and I can't keep my mouth shut ... and I ... can't ? ... You weren't just waiting so that I would eventually come and start talking were you ?" Toga's smile vanished, she saw through Izuku's plan surprisingly enough.
"It's not what you think ... y-yes that's what I wanted to do but this time it's different, one of my classmates is concerned, and I can't simply let them be targeted by the League without being able to counter Tomura's plans"
"You-... you used me" Toga looked back at the knife in the kitchen, she started crying "And I thought- ... You aren't different"
"Toga wait I'm-" The villains stood up and left Ochaco's apartment without a word "-sorry ..."
Later, main crib of the League of Villains.
"Welcome back To-" Kurogiri welcomed the girl as soon as she stepped inside the bar but she was sad, and as far as the barman could recall he had never seen her in any other kind of emotions state than a weird kind of euphoria.
"I'm not in the mood"
"You will have to because we are changing our plans" As usual Tomura was sitting on a sofa and playing whatever game he hadn't already destroyed "And even if you are not in the mood you need to be up to date"
The villainess sat in front of her leader and waited patiently for him to finish his level, once he was finished Tomira dropped his console and showed a picture to Toga "This is our new target"
Toga's expression changed, she now looked dazed "... Why ?"
"This is some sort of insurance, in case our next move doesn't go as planned, I'm sure you won't have any trouble dealing with that" Toga folded the picture and gave it back to Tomura.
"No, I certainly won't"
