Step 11: Figure things out, together.
It had been two days since they helped Star and Stripe and captured Tomura. With him captured and the PLF seemingly not interested in leaving their encampment, the students were forced to wait while the heroes planned their next move. With the biggest threat removed from the board and the addition of Star and Stripe to the heroes in Japan, it was only a matter of time before they made their move to attack the PLF camp.
In the meantime, the students were left to their own devices. Without anything better to do, the group decided to tackle their next major challenge: making a nice dinner for Izuku and getting their rights to help make meals restored.
"Alright ladies, I know a few of us are better cooks than others-"
"Yeah yeah, don't remind me," Chako said as she crossed her arms and pouted.
"Ha! There's something your precious comic books couldn't teach you," Ochako said in an attempt to get a rise out of her.
"Not like you're any better!" She shot back.
"I can't help it! Auntie and Kurogiri always did the cooking. They told me I had better things to do with my time!"
"And now you're paying for it," Occhan said. "You should at least be able to cook some basic meals, after all."
"She's right," Mochi agreed. "Especially since we're going to be spending a lot of time together from now on!"
"Pfft, fine," Ochako finally conceded.
Neko shot the group an annoyed look. "As I was saying. Rara and I will take care of the katsudon itself since it's the most complicated part. And because I still don't trust most of you with a pan of hot oil. That leaves the rice, garnish, green bean gomaae, and the mochi for dessert."
"I'll handle the mochi," Occhan said. "I know I'm not as good of a cook as you two, but it's one of the few things I'm good at!"
"What about the filling?" Rara asked. "Do you have time to make both?"
Occhan went to the pantry and retrieved several jars. "I've been saving these. Sure they're store-bought, but they're really tasty, I promise!"
"I can handle the gomaae!" Mochi said with a fierce look of determination on her face. "I'll show them that I can boil water and cook vegetables!"
"What about the rice and garnish?" Neko asked as she looked at the last two members of their little group.
"Pfft, how hard can rice be?" Ochako asked. "I'll take care of that no problem! And I'll even make the sauce, too!"
"I can slice those vegetables no problem!" Chako said with just as much confidence as the All For One holder. "I'll show you!"
The mistakes started immediately. Ochako was only half paying attention to Occhan as she was explaining how to use the rice cooker while she was preparing the rice for her mochi. She was too busy watching Chako attempt to cut vegetables and doing a poor job of it.
"What do you think you're doing!" Ochako asks as she storms over, picking up some of the pieces. "These are too large! They need to be smaller!"
"Well excuse me," Chako said as she stood defensively. "Not all of us have five years of training with knives."
"Girls!" Neko was suddenly standing between the two of them. "Are you two seriously going to fight over this?"
Ochako looked like she wanted to protest but finally relented. "Here, let me show you."
Grabbing a fresh cabbage half, she directed Chako to stand in front of her, and then she had her hold the cabbage in one hand and the knife in the other. "You do it like this." Putting her hands on top of Chako's, she showed her the motions of how to slowly move the cabbage and how to shred it properly.
"You're good at this," Chako admitted. "I guess that training paid off, huh?"
"Yeah," Ochako said softly, once again wondering how Himiko was doing without her. "I had a good teacher."
Letting her companion go, Chako walked over to the fridge and began pulling out ingredients for the mixture and pouring them into a bowl. She mixed them until they were blended, but the color didn't seem right. Shrugging, she took the spoon and stuck it in her mouth, and immediately ran toward her water bottle. "Too salty! That's gross! Are you sure that's the right recipe?"
"You didn't measure, did you?" Occhan asked as she was removing the rice from the cooker.
"You're supposed to measure those things? I always just saw Kurogiri and auntie pour them in and mix!"
Mochi giggled as she put down her bowl. "I bet they can eyeball the measurements. Mom can do that too." Her eyes went wide at what she said. "Omigoshimsosorry!"
"No," Ochako shook her head as she forced a smile to her face. "She's my mom now too, after all!"
Mochi looked relieved as she nodded before she went over to her station to retrieve some measuring spoons. "Here, let's try and fix this. Show me the recipe."
After looking at what the ratios are supposed to be, Mochi walked Chako through the method to slowly correct the sauce, adding a teaspoon or tablespoon at a time until the color started looking better and the flavor started balancing itself out. It was then that Mochi's eyes went wide. "The green beans!"
She rushed over to the water and tried to grab the pot in a panic, and burned her hands. "Oww!" She yelped as she ran to the sink to run her hands under cold water.
"Don't worry, I've got these," Chako called out as she used Blackwhip to lift the pot. "Put the colander out when you're done Mochi!"
Mochi looked at the One For All holder with relief on her face. "Thank you," With a sheepish look she turned off the water and put the colander in the sink, allowing Chako to pour the contents of the pot into it, before setting the pot back on an empty burner. Mochi then walked over to the stove and turned off the burner, preventing any other accidents.
"Wait," Rara asked as she looked at Ochako still fixing the sauce. "Did anyone put more rice on?"
"I did!" Occhan said. "I saw Ochako was still busy so decided to do it?"
"Thank you," Ochako said apologetically. "But the sauce is fixed now!"
It took a surprising amount of effort, but slowly the meal came together, and the group looked proudly at the seven plates sitting on the counter, alongside a tray of mochi sitting there for dessert.
"Wow, if you can keep this up we may have to re-evaluate your kitchen privileges," Mina exclaimed as she walked up.
"Depends on how it tastes though," Jiro said. "We'll have to see what Mido has to say."
"Oh come on, you know he's not a fair judge," Hagakure countered. "You know he's gonna say it's delicious no matter what!"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Mochi sulked.
"I'm sure Izu will genuinely love it," Chako reassured her. "And it won't just be because he's too nice to say otherwise."
"I've got a lie detector quirk, so I'll know," Ochako pointed out. "So he'd better be honest!"
A few minutes later, the group had claimed a table for themselves and placed all of the dishes on it, with Izuku sitting at the head of the table. He looked nervously at the food, while six pairs of auburn eyes looked at him expectantly.
"Try it Deku," Mochi urged from her spot adjacent to him.
"O-ok," Izuku said nervously. While he knew Mochi had been getting better, he still remembers more than one disaster in the kitchen and was afraid to disappoint her, all of them, if this ended up being bad.
Carefully picking up his chopsticks, he grabbed a piece of katsudon and dipped it in the sauce, before placing the bite in his mouth. Everyone waited in anticipation as he slowly chewed the bite, before swallowing it and smiling at the girls. "This is really good!"
Everyone hesitated a second, eyes on Ochako to make sure he wasn't lying before they erupted into cheers.
With the knowledge that it was only a matter of time before they would attack the League of Villains base camp, Ochako had changed her primary Search target to Himiko. Much like Nagant, she felt a sense of loyalty - or guilt - toward her.
Because of that, she hoped to catch Himiko away from camp. If she wanted to help her, it would be much easier if she could talk to her before the attack. If she tried to confront her during the attack itself… She didn't want to think about it.
Fortunately, the day before they were supposed to attack, she finally got her opportunity. Himiko was on the move - toward her family's home. Smiling to herself, she left her dorm room and knocked on the neighboring door. "Chako? I need help from you and Mochi."
Himiko Toga was frowning as she stood in her room, its empty walls more than enough to remind her of her abusive parents and her terrible past. She let the memories wash over her, reminding her of what she was fighting for until she was startled by the sound of an explosion that shook the very foundation of her house.
She pulled a pair of knives as she rushed out of her house, and gasped at the sight.
In the few minutes she was inside, the front yard had become a crater. Inside the crater, she saw Chako wrapped in the pink glow of Galactic Shroud as she was picking up the unconscious form of Dabi.
"H-hi Himi-chan."
Spinning around, Himiko raised her knives to see Mochi standing behind her, looking somewhat disgusted by the name she just called the villain. A bright smile split Himiko's face. "Ochako-chan! You came to see me!"
"Not by choice," Mochi grumbled as she crossed her arms. "But she asked me to come."
Mochi gestured with her head and Himiko turned to see Ochako standing there, her hero costume an inverted mirror of Mochi's. She had to be dreaming, right? There were now three Ochako-chans, and they were all here to see her.
"Hello Onee-san," Ochako said. "I- you don't know me, but where I come from, we were close. You- you were my sister."
"Sister?" Himiko asked in confusion. "What's going on?"
Ochako stepped forward. "Mochi told me what happened to you here. You poor thing. You didn't deserve this. You didn't deserve any of this."
Himiko raised her knives threateningly as she stepped backward. "What are you talking about?" She asked darkly.
"I want to help you," Ochako said. "You- I know you're hurting."
"How?" Himiko demanded. "By arresting me? By putting me back into a box? Just like my parents?!"
"For a time, yes," Ochako admitted. "But then you'll be free! You can be whatever you want, I promise!"
"Liar!" Himiko charged at Ochako and tried to attack her, her blades slashing wildly.
Rather than dodge, Ochako raised her arm and let the knives bury themselves deep in her arm. Himiko saw the brown-haired girl wince, but she refused to back down. "You want Mochi's blood right? To know what it's like to be her? Have mine instead!"
Himiko was confused when Ochako fished through her utility belt before she offered her a straw, much like the one she had used to drink Saito's blood years ago. "What?"
"My wounds heal fast," Ochako explained. "You'll need to use a straw if you want more than a few drops."
"You- Ochako-chan- I don't understand?" Himiko released her knives and stepped back, anger replaced with fear and confusion.
"I know it will be hard for you, but I promise to help however I can. If it's my blood you want, then you can have as much as you want," Ochako gave her a rueful smile. "I'm pretty sure you'll get a stomach ache before my regeneration stops."
Himiko felt tears stinging her face. This wasn't how she expected her next encounter with Mochi to go at all. Lunging forward, she pulled Ochako into a hug. "Ochako-chan really does love me!"
Mochi looked at the awkward embrace. She could never imagine in a million years letting Himiko get that close to her, to allow herself to be so vulnerable around her. But Ochako seemed genuinely happy with the way things were going, and she knew the other girl could easily overpower the villain if she wanted to.
Walking over to the crater, she saw Chako had tied up Dabi in special heatproof material. Noticing her approach, Chako looked up at her and gave her a thumbs up. Returning the gesture, Mochi pulled out her phone and called Shoto.
"Hey Todoroki, I know your dad is busy preparing for tomorrow, but we have a surprise for him…"
Without Tomura to lead them, the forces of the PLF were in disarray. As time passed, they have grown more discontent, with more and more villains striking out on their own every day. The leadership tried to keep morale up, but it felt like without Tomura, even All For One didn't know what to do anymore.
It finally came to a head when, at the crack of dawn, the guards at the edge of the encampment began their call to arms.
The heroes had begun to make their move, and everybody was ready to go down fighting.
That is, until they saw who was leading the heroes.
"Villains, I Am Here to end this."
All Might himself was at the forefront of the attack.
Many of the villains surrendered immediately when they saw All Might back from retirement. The rest steeled themselves as they prepared for the fight of their lives as they saw the heroes arrayed behind him.
All For One sat in his cave, and for the first time in centuries, he felt fear.
The heroes had begun their assault twenty minutes ago, and it had immediately descended into chaos the moment All Might appeared on the field.
But one thing was clear. His army was losing.
"Damn that girl!" All For One raged. "Ever since she arrived, things have gone wrong! It's all her fault!"
"On the contrary!" Suddenly a very familiar voice called from the entrance of the cave. "Those young ladies have been a blessing to us."
"What? You!" All For One looked toward the entrance, and he saw All Might standing there, looking as he did during his prime.
"Your campaign of terror is at an end, because I Am Here to finish the job." All Might announced.
"How? I saw the last embers of One For All be snuffed out! You shouldn't have anything left!"
"New Order is an amazing quirk. Truly, you were correct in attempting to prevent her from meeting us." All Might explained as he rushed across the room. All For One called upon several hardening quirks, but the punch was still enough to send him flying into the wall where he felt several of his bones break. "But you failed."
"No!" All For One shouted as he felt his bones knit themselves back together before he even hit the floor. "This isn't over!" He stood up and began calling upon his quirks, turning his arm into a mass of bone, muscle, and spikes. "I will kill you and finish the job I started all those years ago, and then I will kill those pesky girls for ruining my plans!"
"I'd like to see you try!" All Might braced himself as he prepared to launch his attack.
With a yell, the two charged each other, and the resulting explosion from the force of their impact could be felt throughout the camp.
The battle was over quickly. When All Might emerged from the rubble holding the unconscious form of All For One, what little morale remained among the villains was shattered, and they attempted to flee or surrender.
That evening, the students of UA threw a campus-wide party in celebration. They had survived the war. Not without scars, but ultimately it didn't matter. They were alive and closer than ever.
Mostly.
In the following days, the tension between Katsuki and the Ochakos remained thick. They hurled insults and made their dislike for each other known. Izuku tried to play peacemaker, but neither side wanted it, preferring to wage their verbal war with each other.
This continued until one night, when the self-appointed Council of Ochakos came to a decision on how to deal with Katsuki's attitude.
Katsuki woke up to a bucketful of cold water hitting his face.
"Hey! What the hell?!" Katsuki yelled. He attempted to make some explosions with his hands, but none came. Looking down, he realized why - his hands were currently submerged in a bucket of cold water.
"Nice try," Neko said as she danced back, holding a bucket in her hands. "No sweat, no boom, am I right?"
"What are you doing here?" Katsuki demanded. Looking around, he realized he was bound to a chair in the middle of his dorm room, surrounded by the group of six Ochakos.
"Now that things are calming down, we needed to address something important," Occhan said as she stepped in front of him. "Namely, Zuzu's martyr complex. We all know where it came from."
All six of them pointed a finger at Katsuki, who roared in rage.
"It's not my fault he was such a weakling! He was nothing, an extra! Despite that, he didn't know when to quit! It wasn't my fault he didn't learn his place. Without All Might giving him One For All, what did he expect to become?"
"A hero!" All six voices shouted simultaneously.
"Even without One For All, Mido always wanted to be a hero."
"Sometimes he wasn't a traditional hero, but he always became one," Chako added.
"Except he always kept throwing himself in danger, thinking his life was worth less than others."
"I wonder why that was?" Ochako asked as she stepped forward, replacing Occhan. "Fortunately, we have the perfect solution. It's almost karmic, actually."
"What are you planning on doing?" Katsuki seethed.
"Lest you forgot, I can give people quirks… and take them." Ochako reached her hand out and Katsuki felt sweat on the back of his neck as he swore he saw a vortex forming in the hole at the center of her hand.
"No! What the hell are you doing?!" Katsuki asked as he felt a piece of him being pulled out from him.
"Where's that bravado now? Don't worry. I'll give it back once you've learned your lesson," Ochako said with too much cheer in her voice.
Katsuki suddenly felt something dislodge itself and disappear… only to be replaced by something foreign. Something familiar, yet completely different.
"What the hell did you do to me?"
"Oh, I replaced your Explosion quirk!" Ochako said with a too-bright smile on her face. "With Perfume."
"What?!"
"It's really cute!" Neko said. "Instead of turning your sweat into something you can explode, it turns it into a really strong perfume!"
"I'm pretty sure you can control the scent with some practice," Rara added. "You're smart. You'll figure it out!"
"I'm supposed to be number one, damn it!" Katsuki swore. "How the hell do you think I'm going to be a hero with such a useless quirk?"
"Oh, I'm sure Izu could think of a couple of hundred ways for you to be a hero with that quirk," Chako said as she untied Katsuki. "Why don't you ask him?"
The six left the room as Katsuki screamed in frustration.
As the days turned to weeks, Japan began its slow recovery. The students of 1-A finally finished their semester and were preparing to become class 2-A and start their second year of school.
After everything they have been through, they were ready for a year of normalcy.
For Izuku and the Ochakos, they continued growing closer together. And, even though it wasn't without turmoil, they began to work out a routine amongst themselves.
As part of that routine, Izuku, Rara, and Ochako got together to talk about quirks several times a week, oftentimes discussing some ancient or obscure quirk stored within All For One. It proved to be a great mental exercise for the three, improving their analysis abilities as they built each other up.
Eventually, Izuku's curiosity overcame him, and he asked about Ochako's Dimensional Portal.
"Are you serious?" Ochako looked at her companions with wide eyes.
"In theory Mido is right," Rara said. "You already could use your search to 'lock on' to other Ochakos when you dimension hopped, allowing you to move the destination portal. If you could lock on to people from previous dimensions we've visited…"
"But what if you're wrong?" Ochako asked, a worried look on her face. "After all we've been through-"
"If it makes you feel better, I can go with you."
"What?" Ochako and Rara exclaimed, eyes wide as they looked at Izuku.
"Well," Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "Other than the frustration of constantly finding me dead, a villain, or already in a relationship, it sounded like your adventures were fun. And I'd like to see what it was like."
"Izuku…" Ochako said, tears forming in her eyes. "What if we're wrong? What if we can't make it back?"
"Then we'll find someplace else to settle down, right?" Izuku asked. "In the meantime…"
"We help other dimensions with their Mido problems!"
"Yeah," Izuku said a little too quickly. "We help the other versions of me, like you helped me!"
"You're the best!" Ochako dashed around the table and pulled Izuku out of his seat as she hugged him. "I- If I can see onee-chan and auntie, I can bring them here!"
"And All Might is probably waiting for Chako again too," Rara pointed out.
"Pff, who cares," Ochako rolled her eyes.
"Don't lie, you're warming up to her!"
Ochako turned her head to stick her tongue out at Rara before separating from Izuku. "We should test this right away!"
"Right now?" Izuku asked in surprise.
Ochako bobbed her head vigorously. "I mean, better to know sooner rather than later, right? If it works, we'll be home as soon as I recharge, and if it doesn't, we're off to an adventure!"
"Let's at least get the other Chakos first!" Rara insisted. "Something tells me that they're not gonna be happy if we do this without them."
"Fine," Ochako said as she put her index finger to her lip. "We should probably grab our costume cases too, just in case."
"How about we gather everyone and meet in the garden?"
"Sounds good!" Ochako said, her stomach flipping in nerves and excitement.
If this works…
A few minutes later, the group was assembled in the garden, a variety of bags and cases in hand.
"Are you ready?" Chako asked, displaying similar nervous energy as her counterpart.
"Yep!" Ochako announced a little too loudly.
Concentrating, she activated Search, trying to think of Himiko. Not the one who was currently sitting in a mental hospital, but her onee-chan. The one she abandoned a month ago. Feeling the edges of Search tugging at some invisible wall, she then activated Dimensional Portal, and it felt like her Search effect slipped through the portal, locking onto a Himiko.
"I-I think this actually worked!" Ochako announced.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Occhan asked as she took one of her free hands.
"Let's go get the rest of your family," Izuku agreed as he slipped his hand into Ochako's. Looking back, she saw Mochi holding his other hand, and the other three members of their little group strung out behind her, all of them holding each other's hands.
"I'll be waiting for you when you get back, Kero."
Behind the group, stood Tsuyu and several other members of 1-A, watching curiously. Izuku and Mochi turned toward them. "We promise we'll be back soon!"
Ochako couldn't keep the smile off of her face. When she started this journey, she was sad and alone, unsure of what to do anymore. Now, she had a family. She had Izuku, and she had five other versions of herself.
Together, they were unstoppable.
Turning toward the portal, she stepped through, feeling the now-familiar sensation as she once again slipped between realities.
AN: This brings us to the end of the 'main,' story of Ochako's Guide. But there are many more stories to tell!
I am marking this story as complete, but that doesn't mean it is over! There are a ton of ideas and unanswered questions in this alone, not to mention simple things such as 'what happens when one of the girls goes on a date with Izuku, how do the other 5 react back at the dorms?' But I don't think it would be good for the story if I tried to push those out regularly. So as inspiration strikes me I'll return to this and add additional chapters, telling stories of what happens next.
Thank you all for joining me on this crazy journey! And if you like my stuff, feel free to check out my profile to see my other stories. In addition to what I'm working on, I have several other stories planned in the near- and mid-term, including potentially revisiting AFOchako's story, except this time she gets her good ending, and doesn't embark upon an inter-dimensional journey.