Chapter 3: What Goes Up
"Are you sure you're okay Hero?" Alicia asked kindly, but couldn't hide the skepticism in her voice.
Izuku stood up straight, caught as he once again looked around warily. "Y-yeah! Everything's fine."
Everything was not fine. Yes, he'd just had a nice walk through the town with Alicia and Martin pointing out different shops, Alicia had asked him if he wanted to go with her later for a bite to eat, while Martin asked if he'd visited to have gear repaired, replaced, or the like, and Izuku had been relieved to see guards patrolling.
But their trip quickly took him out of town, heading to an orchard near the other end of the island. Walking between wheat fields that swayed with every breeze, Izuku couldn't help but panic. Would there be a random encounter on their way to the orchard? A combat tutorial? His nerves frayed with every step.
He didn't even notice when Alicia and Martin leaned in together and began whispering.
"Do you think he's faking?"
"I don't think so," Alicia shook her head. "Could he be worried about goblin attacks?"
"Out here?" Martin asked incredulously.
Alicia hesitated, "Maybe he's just worried since we'll be mostly alone out here?"
"But we do this all the time," Martin said a little louder, only to catch himself as Hero looked over.
"What?" Izuku squeaked, catching the pair looking conspiratorial.
They both winced, completely caught out, and Alicia shot a glance at her brother. Martin sighed, "Fine. We were just… worried about you. You've been acting strange all day."
"And you're acting really jumpy," Alicia added, not quite meeting his eye.
Izuku stopped, staring at the pair of them. They were worried about him? They were NPCs… just video game characters, but they were acting like people. People programmed to be his friends, no less. And they noticed he was acting scared, and talking about it. Were they trying to ditch him?
"I-I just… don't want to get ambushed." He mumbled.
The pair exchanged a glance and then walked to either side of him. Martin slapped him on the back, not hard, just… to make him feel better? "Don't worry buddy. If we see anything along the way, we'll stick together, alright? Besides, there aren't any goblins out here. They only attack the town."
"Only attack the town?" Izuku blinked, "But wouldn't it be smarter if they came from other areas?"
Martin shrugged, "Haven't you noticed we're going uphill? The cliff edge on this side of the island is much higher than near town."
"Oh." Izuku bit his lip, thinking it over. Even without the fear of bricking his console, he wasn't sure he trusted the logic. Even if this entire area was an island, why would the goblins only focus on the town? Even if it was the easiest way to get in, there would have to be more guards. Which meant that any attempt to get inside would be spotted, making attacks harder. But if they came from other areas, even if it were a more challenging climb, there would be fewer guards, making it easier to sneak inside so they could launch an attack on the town from where the guards weren't expecting–
"Uh, Hero?"
It would just make sense for some of them to be hiding out here in the wheat fields. The tall grass would be the perfect cover for a small species like goblins, and they'd be able to attack isolated villagers who went to harvest apples, or the wheat itself.
"Hero?"
And if they did that, then the guards would have to look for them, which meant that the guards on the wall would be weaker, making the attacks on the wall more effective, and if they came up with a signal to attack both from the outside and inside at the same time–
A hand fell on his shoulder and Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin, whirling to find Martin giving him a forced smile, "Thought I lost you there for a moment," He let out a half-hearted laugh, and Izuku realized that he must have been mumbling again. "Those uh, those were some pretty good points, but maybe we could talk about that later? I think you may have scared Alicia."
Izuku turned, but Alicia was focused entirely on her brother, cheeks burning red. "Oh, and you weren't?"
Martin held up his hands defensively, "Alright, alright," Izuku blinked as Martin turned to him, "I never thought of it like that, but now that you mention it, I guess being out here all alone in between two fields of wheat that we can't see through isn't entirely safe."
As if to punctuate his point, a breeze swept through the wheat.
All three of them broke into a run.
Bakugo smirked as he came out of the VR experience. He'd finished All Might's American Adventure, the first zone, little more than a tutorial and beginner areas, but he'd played through it a few times, at the higher difficulties and speed running the matches to earn all the achievements from the area before moving on.
He would have continued if the hag hadn't shouted for him to come down for dinner for the second time, but he was already planning for the next area: the villains All Might fought in his golden age when he returned to Japan and really started cleaning up. It was a retread from the last All Might game, but the achievements were new, and he was going to collect all of them before any of the extras in his class could.
Not that it would actually be a challenge. The only other person who ever got all of the achievements was the shitnerd, and he didn't even own a copy. Not that getting all the trophies faster than Deku was a challenge even when he did get a copy. There was just no way that loser Deku could ever beat him.
Still, he'd probably finish before the end of the weekend. What better way to show off how great he was to the rest of the class?
They survived running to the orchard. Izuku's legs felt like they were on fire and sweat was pouring from his brow, but Martin was the one to finally call for them to stop. The moment they did, he nearly folded over, red-faced and panting, and Alicia looked almost as bad. Izuku knew he wasn't much better, but he'd had to run away a lot, so maybe that helped.
Still, he rubbed his brow and frowned, looking at the back of his hand. Why would a game make him feel this way? Were they that focused on realism? As if making death 'permanent' by bricking his console wasn't enough. "Do we have anything to drink?" He asked, looking at the pair only for them to shake their heads.
"We'll have to wait until we get back to town," Martin admitted ruefully.
"We can eat a few of the juicier apples," Alicia said, trying her best to clean herself up, "That should help."
"I have some already." A feminine voice behind him offered, "if you pick some to replace them."
Izuku tensed, whirling around to find a brown-haired girl looking at them. She smiled tentatively, taking an apple out of her basket, "Here." She said, offering it to him.
He blinked, taking it and looking at it. It looked like an apple. He reached up and sniffed it, not getting much of a smell, but that wasn't unusual for apples.
Alicia walked over and took a pair from her, quickly tossing one to Martin, and then turning back and nodding to the girl with a smile, "Thanks, Carpenter. I didn't know you'd be out here today."
Carpenter smiled nervously, "The orchard always needs to be harvested."
Martin chuckled, "Ain't that the truth." He took a large bite, and Alicia joined him, a bit of juice spilling over her lip.
Carpenter looked relieved, glancing his way, "Are you going to try?" She was smiling, blushing, and Izuku felt a shiver go down his spine. It could be a trap. She was watching him closely, and she had the chance to choose which apple she gave him. Could it be some sort of tutorial about how poison works?
"Do you want a different one?" She asked, still watching him.
Martin cleared his throat, "I'll take it if you don't want it, Hero."
He shook his head, "N-no. I just…" He really didn't have anything to say, so he took a bite instead.
His eyes fluttered and he pulled the apple away from his mouth, staring at it in awe. It was sweet, juicy too. He could taste it. It wasn't just disappearing and giving him a boost to health or stamina, it was actually on his tongue. He blinked, chewing. How had they even programmed this? He couldn't even comprehend translating code into flavor, but there it was, in his mouth.
"Do you like it?" Carpenter asked, and he nodded, swallowing the first bite and taking a second, giving muffled thanks as he did. She smiled, but then wagged a finger at them, "You three still need to pick a few for me to replace the ones you took, but I'm glad I picked good ones."
Martin chuckled, "Looks like break time's over. Let's get to work, Hero."
He received another slap on the back, strong enough to make him stumble, and was led to one of the large apple trees with a ladder propped up against the trunk… but nowhere near the apples themselves. "Up you go." Martin urged, "I'll hold it steady, and when you get up, you can just toss them down to me and Alicia."
Izuku wasn't normally afraid of heights, but climbing the ladder, he felt his body trembling in the wind. There were some thick branches above, but if he fell, he could break his neck from up here! He tried to not think about it, grabbing onto the thickest limb he could and crawling onto it, holding on for dear life and inching forward even as Martin called for him to hurry up, while Alicia told him he was doing fine.
Finally, with the branch narrowing, he was close to the fruit itself, reaching out and pulling one free to toss down, sending the branch that held it bouncing up and around.
"Hero," Alicia called up to him, "don't just pull it down like that, twist it and it'll come free."
"O-okay," He stammered, tossing the first one down. The brother and sister scrambled to catch it, baskets at the ready… and missed it, as it fell onto a rock on the ground. Izuku felt his face burn.
"It's okay Hero! Just aim for our baskets," Alicia shouted consolingly.
"Or make sure you're not throwing them at rocks." Martin followed up.
Izuku was sure to keep that in mind, up and twisting another off. The branch still bounced, but only a little. "Thanks, Alicia!" He said with a smile, and let it roll out of his hand towards her basket where it landed with a bounce. She beamed up at him and tossed it to Carpenter.
After that, he fell into a steady, if slow, rhythm, picking them off until there weren't any more within arm's reach and then inching forward. He was still too far up for his liking, but he was just relieved that the barrel seemed to be filling up. Unfortunately, that was when Alicia suggested he go to a branch on the other side.
His shoulders sagged and he spotted multiple containers around the trees. Was the game really going to have him spend all day picking apples?
"Are you still at this?" The voice was simultaneously familiar and all too close to his ear, sending him flailing as he looked over, eyes shooting open to get a glimpse of a diminutive humanoid… and then the branch he'd been hanging onto as gravity asserted itself.
Author's Notes: This took a little longer than expected, real life stuff has been happening that kept interrupting me. I hope all my American readers had a happy Thanksgiving. There's plenty more to come for this and other stories!
Also, I actually watched videos to find out how people pick apples for this. Now I'm getting agriculture videos on my Youtube feed.
