Welcome back to…
Fridays With the Waifus!
We're picking up straight where we left off last time!
'Um… You literally just said it was time to wrap up…' Izuku declared.
That's why I said we're picking up 'where we left off last time!' It's editing magic, Izuku, don't question it!
'Er… right.'
Anyway… Let's get straight into question two!
"How would you girls react if someone, be it a guy or a girl, kissed Izuku while he was in your form?"
'Is that the thing where you humans put your faces together?' Ryoko interjected curiously. 'I've always thought it was weird. Do you guys taste good or something?'
I… How were you such a tease for Tenchi in your original timeline…? Seriously, there's 'innocent' and then there's… whatever this is.
'...Who?' Ryoko asked, tilting her head to the side quizzically.
…You know what, it was probably Washu giving you 'the talk' and you overcompensating or something… Anyway, Rias, your turn!
'That depends… Where would they be kissing Izuku…?' the girl asked, sending a teasing grin at the boy.
Instantly, the green-haired teen's face went bright red.
'W-where else would you kiss someone but the lips…?' Hinata asked, confused but also clearly worried.
'Aww… You're both so adorable!' Rias cooed.
'Feh, it's a pointless question. The boya's not gettin' any for at least a few years, if ever,' Baiken declared.
Izuku opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by 2B.
'I do not have any awareness of what this 'kiss' is, nor do I understand why it would make a difference where it is received or who it is coming from,' the android declared. 'Would someone explain?'
'Well, you see—' Rias began eagerly.
'Ignore her, 2B! She's just trying to corrupt you!' Izuku exclaimed.
'No, no, Izuku… Corruption isn't my fetish…' Rias corrected. 'Well… If you like it, I'm sure I can give it a shot…'
'Ignoring the pervert,' Medaka cut in, 'If Izuku were kissed in my form, I'd be sure to give him as many tips as possible. It would be terrible if his first kiss was sloppy.'
'H-how do you know it's my first kiss…?' Izuku queried. 'I-I could have dated a girl before for all you know!'
As one, Rias, Hinata, Baiken, and Medaka all stared at the boy, pity in their gazes.
'...Yeah… Right…' the boy drooped. 'That's fair…'
Hah! Well, that conveniently segways into the next question! I may have stolen this one from a list meant for Rias, but it's just too fitting for me to not toss it in here.
"How would you feel if Izuku, by some miracle, managed to get a Harem of Girls?"
Instantly, several girls burst into laughter.
'Ufufufufufu!' Rias giggled.
Hinata managed to hide her giggles better, muffling them politely behind her sleeve.
'Bwahahahahaha! Are you kidding me?!' Baiken laughed boisterously.
2B merely tilted her head in confusion.
'Pft!' Medaka joined in.
'Hey!' Izuku interjected, somewhat annoyed by the laughter.
'Oh?' Rias replied, her laughter cutting off instantly as she noticed an opportunity. 'Do you think you could handle a harem, Izuku…?'
Realizing what he'd walked into, the boy began to stutter nonsense and sank back into his chair, cheeks bright red. He'd stumbled into that one, really.
'...Uh… Why's everyone laughing?' Ryoko asked suddenly, visibly confused. 'Isn't that just normal?'
Everyone in the room stopped, turning to stare with varying amounts of shock.
'What? I saw that on a lot of planets, and I'm pretty sure my nemesis was engaged to… two or three princesses…? I never really paid attention…' Ryoko went on. 'What was his name again, anyway…? I feel like I should remember…'
…Huh. You know, I should have expected that, given meta-knowledge…
'It started with… was it a 'Ya' sound…?' Ryoko went on. 'No, it was a 'Yo!''
It's not important Ryoko…
'What was the rest of it…?' Ryoko muttered to herself, ignoring our dear host.
Well! I think now's a good time to stop this episode. I hope you all had fun! I know I did. For now though…
On with the show!
Bakugo stared down at his homework in annoyance, the 'scritch-scratch' sound of his pencil on the paper competing with the violent grunge of power metal echoing from his headphones. As his hand drifted across the page, he jotted down minor notes and circled various parts of the questions—using his own system to make reviewing it later more efficient.
It was much better than what the chumps in his class—
The pencil slipped from his fingers, deftly avoiding his reflexive grip and falling to the floor in a mockery of his attempts to catch it.
The blonde let out a growl.
Staring down at his hands, he saw the way they shook and trembled, and held back his angry reflex to use his quirk to properly display his rage. It would just make the situation worse right now.
"Fuck's sake," he muttered in annoyance, getting out of his desk chair and dropping into a crouch to reclaim his writing implement.
Returning to his seat, Bakugo went to continue his work—only to find his hands refused to stop shaking now that he'd tensed them to catch the pencil. Everything he tried to write came out as a sloppy mess, barely legible to even him and utterly inappropriate to reflect the quality of his work.
Lips curling into a quiet snarl, he dropped the item and pushed away from his desk, allowing the chair's wheels to carry him into the center of his room. Leaning back, he raised his hands above and looked up at the ceiling, focused entirely on trying to get them to just. Stop. Moving!
His fingers continued to tremble defiantly.
Another growl escaped the blonde as he let his eyes trace along the arc of his arms. The previously pristine flesh was subtly different than it had been a few days prior, spider-web scars tracing up his forearms from the base of his palm in a barely visible discoloration of his slightly tanned skin.
This is what he got for pushing himself too far in the fight with Bai—No, the fight with the smoke villain.
Bakugo knew that using his quirk in conjunction with One For All was risky, that it damaged his body because he couldn't handle the strain yet… but he didn't really comprehend what the full consequences would be.
Three hairline fractures in his right arm, four in the left, burns across both forearms and severe nerve damage… If it weren't for the marvels of modern, quirk-enhanced, medicine… Well, he would have crippled himself.
As it was, he wouldn't be able to do any heavy training for weeks without risking further damage to his arms and he needed to get a checkup every few days to make sure his nerves were healing properly—his current shaking a temporary consequence that would last until he was back to full health. The scars though… Even if they were hard to notice, they would never leave him now.
He was lucky… Incredibly so… But more importantly, he was angry.
Angry at his lack of forethought, his inability to devise a better plan on the fly, and his raw lack of capability that meant using such a constrained amount of his theoretical maximum hurt him this badly. More than that, he was angry at the smoke villain for making this necessary and for interrupting his fight with… His crush? His opponent? His… rival?
Feh…
Surprisingly, he didn't immediately dismiss the last title for the pink-haired girl. He wasn't sure what she was to him anymore… but there was one thing he was sure about…
Like so many other things, he was angry at her too.
It wasn't because she had been difficult and avoided him after he'd admitted his attraction to her—something he'd never done for a girl before—It also wasn't because she'd used such dirty tactics early in their duel, treating him like a bull and waving a figurative red flag in front of him until she had an opportunity to shock him with whatever her quirk was…
No, he was angry because she'd shaken his self-image.
"Garyou Tensei…"
She'd cut an entire fucking building apart in one strike, and he didn't even see her move. Sure, his biggest explosion probably could have destroyed the same building if he'd aimed it differently, but look at what that did to him!
Temporary crippled and left with permanent scars as a lesson in knowing his limits.
Yet, what did Baiken have to show for using her Ultimate Move? Fucking exhaustion! She couldn't walk for a bit, but was able to limp away with support within a few fucking minutes! The consequences of their attacks were incomparable!
It was enough to make him wonder…
Am I really the best in this generation?
He'd wanted someone to compete with, someone to be his peer and that wouldn't fall behind like everyone else… but—
Bakugo allowed his trembling hands to drop, falling into his lap as he stared at the ceiling in disgust. His scowl shifted into a sneer, subtle in its difference, as he raised a fist and…
SMACK!
…socked himself in the jaw.
Spitting out a bit of blood—his tooth had caught on the inside of his lip—the boy wiped the spittle from his face and wheeled his chair back to his desk.
"I don't fucking brood, dammit!" he muttered under his breath.
For now, he chose to return to his homework, attempting to work through the trembling rather than wait for it to stop on its own. His doubts and questions were shoved aside, placed in a mental box to be worried about later. It didn't matter what he did about them right now, after all. Whether he liked it or not…
…One of these days, he would receive an answer to his question.
A few days until the festival…
Izuku stared out the window, her currently cat-like eyes glimmering in her reflection from their subtle glow. Buildings, streets, and the occasional park all blurred into an indistinct collage as the terrain whizzed past her.
'Why're we going to this "Narunata" place…?' Ryoko asked with a yawn.
Izuku shifted slightly in her seat, resting her head on her palm at an angle—the posture incredibly reminiscent of the girl in her mind—as she settled deeper into the cushion, her eyes still locked on the shifting landscape outside.
It's called 'Naruhata,' Ryoko, and we're going there because I heard there might be another vigilante out there.
The temporary girl had gotten up early for this trip, given how far away the other city was from Musutafu. Of the three locations Izuku had considered setting up her training area within, Naruhata was the only one she hadn't checked out yet. It was even further than Esuha was, and she already had a convenient place to train there, so she hadn't bothered to investigate the other city any further.
It was more than an hour one-way, and she'd already been sitting on the train for half that time. Ryoko had been sleepy the whole while—and don't ask her how a spirit could get sleepy, Izuku had no idea—but she was sure to start getting bored soon… and if there was one thing Izuku knew about the girl, it was that a bored Ryoko was not good if the freckled girl wanted to avoid 'accidents' with her powers.
'Muu… Why do you care if there's a vigilante?' the spirit asked with a groan.
The only reason Izuku had transformed for the trip was because she wanted to avoid 'Midoriya Izuku' having a traceable record of regularly going to places where the vigilantes were spotted. With his quirk recorded in the registry, it would only be a matter of time until someone drew the connection if he didn't take precautions like this.
The currently blue-haired girl did this whenever she went to Esuha as well, even going out of her way to buy normal tickets with cash instead of using her rail pass to minimize the chance of being connected to her alternate personas.
Because I want to make sure they can handle what they're doing. If they're just a normal person putting themselves at risk… I need to make sure they don't get hurt.
Traveling like this also gave Izuku the opportunity to please Agoyamato and try out his designs in a casual environment. Granted, she was involved in the creation process a lot more now, so it wasn't just the taller teen giving her clothes to try out without allowing the temporary girl any input, but the outfits were still more over the top than what she would normally wear.
They were more comfortable than her normal clothes though, so she wasn't going to complain or anything.
'Does it matter…? It'd be their fault for being stupid,' Ryoko asked, genuinely sounding confused.
It was moments like this that reminded Izuku that, despite her normal playful and innocent behavior, there was something wrong with the girl. It's not normal to assume people can regenerate limbs or heal from stab wounds to the gut in seconds…
Of course it does! They could have gotten the idea because of the rumors I've started! Even if that's not the case, I still don't want anyone to get hurt!
'Hmph…' the spirit pouted.
Izuku let out a sigh of relief, happy that she'd managed to convey her point.
Blowing one of the two hanging bangs that normally trailed the corners of her face out of her eyes, Izuku glanced down at the clothes she'd helped Agoyamato design. A thick red shirt—almost akin to a sweater—served as the base of the outfit, it's baggy sleeves held in place by black bracers that somehow didn't stand out as unusual. A matching black corset-like wrap restrained the rest of the shirt, with a split pink tunic-like skirt trailing from it.
Red tights covered the entirety of her legs, shifting into slippers seamlessly at some point near her ankles. Finally, a dark pink scarf was wrapped around Izuku's neck, concealing her mouth partially as it fell from her shoulders, tapering to two knots that flared out afterward at the ends of the scarf.*
The ensemble was also pleasantly warm, despite not being overly thick or full of layers, which was rather nice given how winter was nearly upon them. Overall, though, it was a simple outfit that suited Ryoko perfectly without standing out as much as a hero costume would, which had been the goal of the project. In fact, it suited the girl well enough that it had been automatically registered by the watch as an alternate clothing set, naming it 'Space Pirate: Casual.'
That had raised some questions that Ryoko refused to answer…
Bzzt!
Almost jumping in her seat from surprise, Izuku pulled her phone out of the folds of her sash.
"Oh. Speaking of Agoyamato…" she mumbled aloud.
"When are you going to come and try on the outfit? It's done, so I need to do some checks for last minute fitting adjustments. We don't have much longer until the Festival."
Right… The festival is coming up, and that means…
Shaking her head and cutting off her thoughts, Izuku rapidly typed a response, confirming when she would go help the boy. Agoyamato had been running himself ragged lately between working with the other fashion clubs to set up the show in time for the festival and designing Baiken's outfit in his remaining free time.
Unfortunately for the tall teen, it seemed that he had too many ideas for what he could make for Izuku's pink-haired form—his 'muse' as he put it—and he kept starting, improving, and then discarding idea after idea. At the rate he was going, he would have burnt himself out well before the festival. Togeike had forced him to take a break from that particular project for a few days, which led to him working with Izuku and creating the girl's current clothing.
It was exactly what the boy had needed apparently, since it had inspired him to finally settle on a specific direction for Baiken's outfit…
'Izu-ch-a-a-a-n…' Ryoko groaned. 'I'm bored.'
The currently blue-haired girl glanced at the time on her phone and winced. They still had another hour to go before they arrived at their destination.
…It was going to be a long trip.
Haimawari Koichi had been running away his whole life.
As 'Nice Guy,' the local neighborhood helper, he was used to dealing with an assorted range of problems. From returning lost wallets to giving directions, he tried to be generally helpful to everyone he could while he was out and about in his 'costume' of an All Might hoodie and a simple facemask.
He knew his limits, however, and didn't even try to push past them.
With a quirk as useless as 'Slide and Glide,' he might as well not have one at all. The quirk let him glide across the ground at a constant rate equivalent to a one-speed bike as long as he was maintaining contact through three limbs. Now, that speed might sound impressive, but it was actually only a little faster than the average athletic person's sprint, much less an elite athlete's charge.
And that didn't even compare to the ridiculous speeds people with useful quirks could move around at…
But, in spite of his limitations, Koichi was determined to make a difference—no matter how small. He was inspired by All Might after all, so doing something like this was the bare minimum, really. So what if he had to run away when he saw someone in real trouble? So what if he had to ignore that deep-seated urge to rush in and do something? It's not like he could affect the outcome himself…
A hero would handle it, right…?
Then an old man in a bandana crashed into his life, reminding him of long-forgotten dreams of heroism with a few words and challenging his views on the world with his aggressive actions.
Well, the guy was really just middle-aged, but that's besides the point.
What was the point was that Koichi had a chance… an opportunity to help people more than he could before. Under the man's tutelage, he could stop running away.
So he took the offer, prepared for the hardest training of his life—
BBBBBBBBBBBUUUUUUUURRRRRRRPPPPPPPP!
"Buuah…!" a rugged man let out a breath, thoroughly relaxed after his obnoxiously loud burp. "I can't believe you've got my favorite brand! I can't find it at my normal shop anymore."
The man set down his empty beer can on the low table in front of him, leaning back against the wall as he ate his store-bought bento box. Koichi had a more traditional place, without any western furniture around, so there weren't any chairs to sit in.
"...Who are you—No, how did you get into my apartment?!" Koichi exclaimed from the entrance-way.
He'd just returned from his college classes, making his way to the top of the shabby building he lived in and opened the door to the singular apartment that stood out from the otherwise flat roof.
A buff middle aged man in cargo pants, military boots, and a skin tight sleeveless shirt was not what he was expecting when he entered his home.
"Seriously, kid?" the man asked, looking at him like he was stupid.
With a sigh, he grabbed a bandana from his pocket and wrapped it over his short cropped black hair, obscuring his eyes dramatically but still allowing him to see through the holes he'd cut in the fabric.
"Recognize me now?" he asked, clearly annoyed.
"Oh! Master! I didn't expect—How did you get in…?" Koichi asked.
The man yanked the bandana back off, making the scar over his nose and cheek stand out even more than it did normally, and shoved it in his pocket. Immediately, he went back to eating his lunch.
"Came in through the window," the man explained between bites, gesturing with his chopsticks at the—
"You broke my window?!" Koichi exclaimed.
There was a fist-sized hole in the glass of the window he had that peered onto the roof itself. It was right next to the lock, making it clear what had happened and why.
"Your place really ain't that secure, kid," the man continued nonchalantly. "You should probably do somethin' about that."
More distraught over the future bill than angry that it happened in the first place, the young man scrambled to find some duct tape to try and temporarily seal the—
A polite knock at his front door startled him, prying his attention away from his futile attempts to fix the glass. Stepping over to the entrance, he pulled the door open and saw… a high school girl…? She was dressed in a uniform and everything. There was even a school bag slung over her shoulder.
"Uhh… I think you have the wrong address, Miss…" he began leadingly.
"Oh for the…!" the girl exclaimed in a familiar tone, stepping into his apartment and shoving the door closed.
Pulling back her fluffy and frizzy pink hair into pigtails, she snatched a black band with eye holes cut into it and wrapped it around her face, pointing at herself even as she glared at him.
"It's me, you idiot!" she declared.
"Oh… Pop…" Koichi trailed off. "...You're in high school?"
The girl had leaped into his life around the same time as his new teacher. She was a self-styled pop-star, having impromptu concerts on the streets where she used her quirk to jump around like she was in low-gravity or something—he wasn't certain how it worked, yet. She was popular in the local area, but hadn't managed to grow her act beyond the city.
"I'm a senior, Mr. Freshman," she said, confirming his statement indirectly. "I'm graduating soon, so don't think I'm behind you or something!"
"R-right…" Koichi said with a sheepish grin.
Blinking, the young man remembered the duct tape in his hands and frantically returned to trying to fix the window.
"Do you have a place I can change?" the girl asked from behind him.
"Huh?" he muttered, glancing over his shoulder briefly. "Uh… You can use the bathroom I guess…?"
"And deal with your bachelor grossness…?" the girl asked, clearly disgusted. "Ugh, no thanks."
After a few moments, Koichi realized something.
"Wait, we aren't going on patrol until this evening, right? Why're you—" he began, turning away from the window again to look behind him.
"...Where did this curtain come from…?" he mumbled in confusion.
His apartment was essentially one giant room with a tiny kitchen and bathroom added onto the side, but somehow an entire corner of the area had been obscured by a giant cloth.
"I have a live performance planned in a bit," the girl explained, her head popping through the curtain so she could speak without being muffled by the thing.
Seriously, where did the thing come from…?
"Oh, got it," Koichi nodded.
"—the Vigilante was allegedly—we've still yet to receive confirmation from the HPSC—spotted in Esuha's market district. Here is the witness report, live from—"
"What're you watching, Master…?" Koichi asked, glancing at the television.
"Nothin' important," the man replied, finishing off the last bite of his meal. "Just seems like we're not the only ones trying to make a difference."
"I've never been rescued by a hero before, but when she fell from the sky I finally understood why people get so obsessed!"
"Huh," Koichi grunted. "That's pretty cool."
The grizzled man nearby nodded in agreement.
"Yup. Good ta see the next generation's got the spirit to take action when it matters. Feels like I don't see it all that often nowadays."
Koichi stayed silent in response to that, glancing down at his hands.
He wanted to be like All Might, making people feel safe just by being around. It was hard to imagine he could ever be enough, not with a quirk like his, but with his new master on his side, maybe he could be like his idol.
Heck, the Esuha Vigilante on TV seemed to be doing pretty well for—
"—AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A girl had just come flying through the wall of his apartment… Somehow without breaking the wall or anything else—
CRASH!
…Ah. Scratch that. There goes the television.
Dressed in a white dress with slits in the sides, exposing the red tights underneath, and large poofy sleeves of mismatched color—the left was orange and the right was green—she was clearly not someone normal. The veritable mane of light blue hair and oversized rectangular ears only reinforced that.
"Ooooooh…" she groaned, sitting up dizzily with her head lolling about comically.
Shards of glass—still sparking with electricity somehow—stuck out of her hair from where her skull had collided with Koichi's TV screen. Despite all logic, she wasn't hurt by the impact, either.
Smacking her freckled cheeks suddenly, her eyes seemed to clear up.
"Crap! I need to hide!" she exclaimed, her expression instantly filled with urgency now that she'd recovered from her landing.
Without pause, she rushed at the curtain in the corner, slipping through it like she was a ghost.
"...What the hell?" his teacher wondered aloud.
"Did that just happen?" Koichi added.
The girl suddenly stuck her head through the curtains, quite literally, and spoke hurriedly.
"Just tell him I kept going through the other side and, gah—!"
Cut off, she retracted behind the cloth.
Knock, knock!
Turning his head slowly, still trying to comprehend the last thirty seconds, Koichi robotically approached his door. Opening it he—
"Sorry to bother you," the visitor began. "But did you happen to see a girl with blue hair and a white and red outfit fly through your apartment?"
Koichi's brain stalled as he struggled to make a sound.
"H-H-H-H-H-Hawks…?" he finally managed to ask.
The Number Three Hero smirked charmingly and nodded, leaning against the side of the doorway with his arms folded behind his head casually.
"That's me!" he declared with a smile.
A bit earlier…
Balancing on the edge of the rooftop with her arms spread, Izuku tip-toed along the concrete as she considered her plan to find the local vigilante. She would have sat down, but being in Ryoko's form tended to make her antsy, so pacing like this helped a lot.
'What's the plan, Izu-chan…?' the girl asked mentally, appearing outside of the watch in her spirit form and floating alongside Izuku lazily.
"Hmm…" Izuku mumbled.
Well, besides checking out the alleyway that clip was recorded in, I can't really think of anything other than wandering around on the rooftops, but… I don't really have a way to hop around with your abilities… I think. Is there something I could do?
'You could float around like your awesome big sis!' Ryoko declared.
Izuku glanced over, about to mention how the girl could only do that because she was a spirit, but paused.
…Is that a new outfit?
The transparent girl was garbed in a long white kimono-like dress, though instead of hanging off her shoulders it wrapped around underneath, exposing some cleavage above the black sash that held it together. What was covering her shoulders was an odd two-color jacket, attached to the dress by large golden buttons. The right sleeve of the jacket was a pleasant dark green while the left was an orange similar to her energy abilities.
Beneath it all was a red bodysuit, though it didn't cover any skin above the higher limits of the kimono. **
'Do you like it…?' the girl asked. 'I remembered it yesterday when I was bored and thinking about… stuff….'
Izuku remained silent, wondering where the girl was going with this explanation.
'The old outfit was what I wore when I wasn't raid—' she cut herself off, looking away nervously and twirling the bang that hung from her ear. 'When I was… taking a break from work. This is what I wore the rest of the time, and I thought it would fit your "hero" thing that you've been doing better than the old one.'
Really…? Thanks! That was really nice of you, Ryoko!
The illusion of the girl blushed, turning away from her 'sibling' completely and crossing her arms under her chest.
'I-It's nothing!' she denied. 'Of course your awesome big sis would look out for you!'
Examining the clothes for another few moments, Izuku came to a decision.
The new outfit really was better than the old one. There wasn't anything wrong with the mostly green clothes, but they didn't stand out quite as well as this one. The current set seemed far better suited to being a hero costume. It was probably the fact that the old outfit wouldn't have looked out of place at a cultural festival, while this one felt like a costume.
Well, guess we better get started!
Sending a pulse of energy to the watch tattoo on her forearm, Izuku could feel that she had several clothing options. There were three clothing sets available: the current 'Space Pirate: Casual,' the original outfit Ryoko had that had been labeled 'Space Pirate: Off-Duty,' and then the new outfit that the spirit was wearing—'Space Pirate: Scourge of the Galaxy.'
You never did explain why 'Space Pirate' is in all your outfit names, Ryoko…
The girl froze, a comical sweatdrop appearing over her head somehow—it was probably possible because she was an illusion—as she robotically turned back toward Izuku.
'Eheheh… Uh… No idea…?' she stated.
Hmm… Okay then.
If the girl didn't want to talk about it, Izuku wasn't going to pry. If it was important, it would come up eventually.
In a gentle flash of green light, Izuku's casual clothing was replaced with a duplicate of Ryoko's own, though with two additions. First was the hourglass symbol positioned squarely on the front and back of the trailing skirt of the white dress… and secondly—
"'Pierce through the heavens with your drill!'" Izuku declared excitedly, quoting an anime from her younger years. It was a good memory, okay? ***
The temporary girl posed as she spoke, pointing up to the sky dramatically as she stood there with her new costume, and more importantly, her new sunglasses. Like when she'd switched into Medaka's clothes, she had come up with a fitting addition to mask her face. Though, in this case, it was meant to match the 'Space Pirate' aesthetic.
The glasses were nothing more than a single thin pane of reflective orange and green—matching her jacket's sleeves with how it was cut in half by the color—extending upwards at the corners in a triangular manner. They weren't quite as long as the originals that inspired her, only reaching to the sides of her head instead of extending well past that, but it suited the blue-haired girl's looks far better that way.
'Bhahah!' Ryoko laughed at the sight.
Izuku pouted in response, automatically falling into her current form's habits and crossing her arms as she looked away.
'You are so adorable, Izu-chan!' the spirit declared, moving through the air such that she could wrap an arm against her 'little sister' and rest her head on Izuku's shoulder. It was rather odd, since it gave her the image of holding herself perpendicular to the temporary girl through nothing but a casual grip.
Despite that, Izuku still didn't look at the girl, still somewhat annoyed about being laughed at when—
Ryoko floated through Izuku, her face suddenly filling the younger girl's vision completely as the older and definitely more mature of the duo blew a raspberry in the latter's face.
"Gah!" The freckled girl jumped at the sight, which probably wasn't a good idea…
…Given that she was standing on the edge of a three story building.
Her cat-like eyes widened rapidly beneath her glasses as she began to panic, the concrete below her practically a gaping maw from how it threatened to swallow her whole.
'Izu-chan—!' Ryoko exclaimed in surprise, her image disappearing as—
The temporary girl felt a distinctly familiar sensation, reminiscent of how Ryoko had helped her use abilities during her first transformation, though this time it felt more like a suggestion was being offered. A connection was being presented, a pathway of energy she hadn't noticed that led to a previously unused ability…
Without hesitation, Izuku took the girl's mentally offered hand, latching on for dear life and pumping energy into the technique blindly.
Before gravity could fully take hold, Izuku felt a distinct 'burst' of energy and then… she floated. Hovering in the air, her momentum still carried her forward a bit, like she was skating across an ice rink in slow motion, but it slowed to a stop eventually.
Despite how imperfect her control was, it was an amazing feeling being in the air like this. Similar to how flying with Rias had been, but without the… distractions… that resulted from her allowing the redhead's tail out along with the wings. They were a package deal, unfortunately.
The thing is… now that she didn't have any distractions… it was hard for Izuku to not notice just how far below her the concrete was…
It was… really far down.
The temporary girl broke out in a cold sweat as she kept looking, her overthinking brain already imagining all the different ways she could break, maim, or even kill herself if she fell.
"H-Hahh…" she breathed out shakily, eyes darting from each window, pipe, and fire escape that she could land on painfully.
'Izu—'
Was Ryoko saying something…?
Gradually, she felt her control slipping and, as a consequence, her altitude started to dip as well. Instantly Izuku began to panic, mentally latching onto her tether to her floating ability and pumping as much energy as she could into the—
Izuku rocketed upwards, flying up over the edge of the next rooftop.
The temporary girl tugged on her mental reins, trying to slow herself down, but that only succeeded in shooting her down toward the building at the same high speed she was already moving at. Pulling again had the same result, though it shot her off to the side and at another building at an incredible speed.
Eyes wide and wind tugging on her hair, the girl kept trying to regain control of herself. Unfortunately, all she succeeded in doing was launching herself in new and equally dangerous directions each time. She cut it close several times, and it was especially terrifying because she knew she wouldn't be able to go intangible while doing this. Not yet, at least. Using two abilities at once was something she'd yet to manage in Ryoko's form, so there was no reason to think she'd be able to do so now with something so new…
Regardless, her impromptu flight went on for several minutes… Eventually, however, she had the bright idea to cut off her energy entirely, rather than try and regain control of what she was using. Thankfully, she did this while over a rooftop.
The girl landed in an awkward roll, tumbling end over end several times before coming to a stop on her back. Letting out a sigh of relief, Izuku let her head rest on the concrete and simply laid there for a moment.
Ryoko… What was that?
'Levitation, duh,' the girl replied nonchalantly, as if Izuku hadn't nearly died a moment ago. Actually, she sounded kind of miffed, for some reason…
We can levitate…?
'No, I can levitate,' Ryoko corrected. 'You can activate the ability and then bounce around like a ping pong ball.'
"Right… So how can I—"
From there Izuku fell into old habits, mumbling and muttering about how to try and get the most out of this new discovery, as well as how to improve her skill with its use. There were a lot of things she felt she could do, but she had the distinctly annoying feeling she wasn't paying attention to something with her pondering.
"—Besides improving energy control, it's entirely possible that the issue will solve itself with a higher sync rate, but that still doesn't explain—"
"Hi there!"
Dirty blonde hair and hawk-like eyes, barely masked by transparent yellow goggles, suddenly filled Izuku's perspective.
"Gah!"
Startled, the temporary girl sat up immediately, crashing her head against the man's familiar face. The young-looking person recoiled with a wince, a hand coming up to rub his nose, while Izuku groaned in pain.
Why is his head so hard…?
After a few moments of cradling her throbbing forehead, the temporary girl made a connection.
"HAWKS?!" she exclaimed, scrambling back on her hands and feet in shock.
"You've got a hard head there, kid," the man grumbled.
"I—What're you—What is—" Izuku stuttered, utterly bewildered by the situation.
Sighing, the man crouched down, grabbing—
Oh no, my glasses!
"Here," the hero began, offering the newly created bi-colored lenses to the girl. "Looks like they came off after you…"
Hawks trailed off as his eyes met Izuku's own, the glow of the temporary girl's slit orbs reflected in his goggles.
"Huh…"
D-does he remember me…?
"You look… familiar…" the man went on.
Izuku barely restrained a nervous gulp, as she reached for her glasses.
"R-really…? I think I would remember meeting you, sir…" she said, feigning unfamiliarity as best she could.
Her hands clasped the plastic of her glasses, brushing against the man's fingers… which weren't loosening their grip.
W-why isn't he letting go…?!
"Hm…" the hero hummed, his gaze visibly analyzing her features.
A thin trail of sweat fell down the side of her forehead, thankfully obscured by her light blue bangs, as she struggled to remain calm. If the man figured her out… she was done. It wouldn't matter if she somehow managed to escape now—something that was very unlikely—since Hawks could easily track down where she lived and expose Izuku that way.
"I'm pretty good with faces… You sure I haven't met you somewhere before…?" Hawks asked, his eyebrow raised quizzically. "You seem pretty familiar…"
"M-maybe you saw me in a crowd, once? I-I like to go to hero events when I can…" Izuku suggested.
It was true, too. The temporary girl often would go to various events or watch crimes-in-progress, though she hadn't had the time since she started her training regiment. But… Izuku had never done so while transformed, so the point was moot. Hopefully there was enough truth to the statement that she could be convincing…
Please believe it!
It had been literal months since she'd met the man, so it was entirely possible he wouldn't remember. Especially with how something like that night was probably an everyday occurrence for someone as important as the 'Number Three Hero…'
The hawk-eyed man kept staring for another few moments, the tension ramping up higher and higher the longer he stared until—
"Eh, whatever," the hero said casually, letting go of the glasses and yawning into his hand. "It's not like it matters, anyway."
Izuku clutched the glasses to her chest, forcing herself to breathe calmly in an effort to slow her raging heartbeat.
Just… breathe… I-It's fine! He doesn't remember!
'Wow, you're really a scaredy cat, huh, Izu-chan…?' Ryoko commented idly.
N-not helping…!
"So, what're you doing up here, flying across rooftops with your quirk?" Hawks asked nonchalantly, leaning back against his wings like they were a wall.
"I-I…" Izuku began.
"Ah, don't worry, I won't report you," the man interjected, misconstruing the reason behind the blue-haired girl's nervousness. "You're not bothering anyone, so I don't care if you use your abilities publicly. As long as you keep it that way, there's no reason for me to step in."
I-It's still illegal though… but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth…
"R-right…" Izuku gulped finally.
"Still, though, I'm curious," Hawks went on. "What're you doing up here, alone?"
"I'm trying to practice my… Levitation…" the freckled girl began. "I'm not that good with it and—"
She cut herself off, an idea springing to mind with the force of a freight train. Without considering anything else, she instantly went about pursuing it.
"Oh! You're a flier, right? Well, obviously you are, what am I saying? Am I rambling…? I think I'm—Gah…!" she rambled, barely managing to cut herself off before she kept going for too long. "Sorry, what I was trying to say is… Do you have any tips…?"
Hawks simply blinked a few times, then let out a snort.
"Hah!" the man barked a laugh. "I'm sure something I know can help. What're you having trouble with specifically? Turning? Aerodynamics? Landing? That last one's a classic…"
"Um…" Izuku trailed off, struggling to define her issue.
Uh, Ryoko? What exactly was I doing wrong?
'I dunno,' the girl said with a mental shrug. 'I never had any problems with levitating, Izu-chan. I've always been able to do it, so I'm honestly kinda surprised you sucked so bad earlier. Then again, maybe you're just normal and I'm just that awesome!'
"I'm… having a hard time staying in control," Izuku went on, ignoring Ryoko's unhelpful commentary and summarizing her prior experience. "I don't really know what I'm doing wrong, though…"
"Hmm… Alright then," Hawks said with a nod. "Show me."
Izuku paused, staring at the man in surprise.
"I wasn't expecting you to—Are you sure…? I just thought you'd give me some advice, not evaluate me…!" the temporary girl exclaimed. "You're probably really busy and—I can't take up your time like this!"
"Calm down, missy," the man laughed. "It's fine. Today's been rather bland, so I've been enjoying a little boredom."
His own words seemed to amuse him for some reason, like he'd made a joke only he understood.
"Besides," he went on, still somewhat amused, "I've got an ear out for trouble across… most of the city, I'd say. If anything happens, I'll just zip off and handle it before you can blink."
The claim was absurd, but Izuku didn't doubt it for a second. The top ten heroes really were a different breed… but that made her think of a question.
"Really…? How do you manage that?" Izuku asked instantly, curiosity overwhelming her good sense. "Public information on you says that you use your feathers as projectiles, melee weapons, and to fly… There's a couple other lesser traits from your quirk that're online too, like your supervision and your fondness for chicken, but—"
"Woah, woah, slow down, kid," Hawks interrupted, though his friendly demeanor didn't dim for a second. "It's a trade secret, alright? Can't have everything out there for villains to read up on and try to counter… Let's get back to your demo instead of trying to interrogate me."
Izuku blinked in realization.
"Oh, right. That…" she trailed off somewhat nervously.
Closing her eyes to maximize her focus, the temporary girl began the now familiar process of trying to use an ability from one of the girls. Letting her energy flow and trusting her body's instincts to reflect her desires and use the specific skill she was looking for.
Slowly, she felt the energy circulate through her body, filling the pathways therein with a familiar warmth. After a few moments, nothing seemed to happen, so she opened her eyes with a frown, confused as to what she had done wrong with—
Oh. I'm floating…
"You seem fine so far," Hawks commented, inclining his head at her.
Izuku was hovering a meter or so above the roof, swaying lightly with the wind but remaining in the same place overall. She felt completely in control, like she could move anywhere in all three dimensions with nothing but a thought.
So she tried doing just that.
Up and down, side to side, even at angles or while rotating, nothing seemed to slow her down.
"Hmm… I'm not really seeing a problem here," Hawks stated, tapping his foot a bit.
"I-I'm not trying to waste your time, sir, I promise!" Izuku exclaimed, horrified internally at the thought. "I really don't know why it's working so well this time!"
The man didn't reply, his eyes narrowing as he watched, deep in thought.
"Ah! I think I know what it is!" Hawks exclaimed, his fist smacking against his palm in sudden realization. "Try going past the edge of the building."
"Umm… Okay…?"
With a thought, the temporary girl positioned herself over the alley between the building Hawks was on and another nearby.
"Alright, now try looking down," the man went on.
Izuku complied, turning to—
Her eyes widened as she took in the emptiness below her. There was absolutely nothing between her and the ground, several dozen meters below…
The temporary girl's breathing started to come in shorter and shorter bursts, and she felt the familiar feeling of her control slipping, adding to her sudden panic. Instantly, she latched onto the power—
In a blink, she was above the roof's edge again, no longer flying of her own accord. Her body was being held up by the collar of her jacket, a single red feather holding her weight up with startling ease. Suddenly, the feather zipped away and the blue-haired girl landed on the concrete with a soft 'thump!'
"Yeah, I know what it is," Hawks stated, a few moments after the temporary girl had regained her bearings. "Have you ever tried to do a backflip?"
That… felt like a seriously bad non-sequitur.
"Uh…" Izuku trailed off, confused by the sudden shift.
"Who am I kidding, you've got a mobility quirk, of course you have," the young man went on. "Anyway, you remember how, the moment before you tried to twist yourself in the air, every part of you screamed warnings to not do that?"
Izuku nodded attentively, curious as to where the blonde was going with this.
"The human body has certain ingrained instincts, warnings on what to do and what not to do if you're going to survive," Hawks explained. "'Don't touch the fire,' 'have kids to continue the species,' and so on… Everyone has them, though it varies how strong those individual instincts are from person to person. The problem is… the human body hasn't fully adapted to Quirks, yet. Evolution works on a generational scale, and we haven't had enough time to get adjusted."
The man paused, eyes darting to the side and staring off somewhere in the city. After a moment, he dismissed whatever it was and continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
"Some people have instincts and a mentality suited to their quirks, for better or worse," the man stated. "I, for example, tend to feel more comfortable when I'm in the air than when I'm on the ground, and I have a taste for 'prey-like' bird species since my quirk is rooted in the traits of a Hawk."
Oh! Is that what he's…?
The man smirked, having noticed Izuku's epiphany.
"Yeah, I think you see where I'm going with this," he said. "Some people's minds don't line up with their quirk-adjusted bodies, and it causes problems when they try to use their abilities. In your case, you have the typical human instinct of panicking when you're hanging very far above ground-level. Thankfully, it only seems to happen when you notice how far you are from the earth, so you can probably push through the issue with some dedicated practice. It shouldn't take long at all, honestly."
That… makes a lot of sense. Especially in my case, since there's a big difference between the reflexes of the body and the instincts of the mind. Given that I'm using borrowed forms and abilities, of course I would run into something like this at least once. The question is, how can I work on—
"Jeez, kid, stop muttering," Hawks exclaimed. "It's kind of creepy."
Izuku blinked.
"Oh, sorry…" she said sheepishly.
The man let out a yawn, then shoved his hands into his coat pockets.
"Anyway, I should probably go," he said casually.
"R-right! Of course!" Izuku exclaimed. "Thank you for the advice! It was really helpful and—"
"You really need to learn how to relax, kid," the man laughed.
Izuku awkwardly laughed with him, rubbing the back of her head as she looked away sheepishly.
"Well, good luck to ya," Hawks said with a wave.
With a rush of wind, he was gone. Red feather fluff was the only remnant of his presence, and even that disappeared in the breeze within a few moments.
Izuku stood there for a few moments, trying to digest the events of the last few minutes…
"Holy… I just had a flying lesson from Hawks!" she exclaimed. "That's so cool! I can't believe—"
…then she made a connection.
"—I can't believe how stupid I am…!" she corrected mid-sentence, eyes wide.
Why did I have to go and make myself memorable?! Stupid, stupid, stupid! What'll happen if he remembers the incident with the meteor, or figures something out?! I'm lucky enough he just thought I was a hobbyist or a hero student instead of a vigilante, but what happens if I get seen on TV or something…?
The girl began to pace, still near the edge of the roof, deep in thought.
What was I thinking?! Getting some helpful advice wasn't worth the insane risk of—
Mid-thought, Izuku stumbled, her foot catching on a poorly placed pebble and sending her off balance. Before she could react, she'd already fallen off the building for the second time that day. It was almost starting to become a habit, honestly.
As soon as she could, she pulled on her energy, forcing it through her body and rocketing back up into the air. Unfortunately, the instinctual panic of the situation stole her control away in a familiar manner.
"Crap, crap, crap!" she exclaimed, struggling to regain the reins of her power.
She darted around, back and forth, straining to calm herself down. It was the only solution, if what Hawks was saying was right. If she could manage to maintain a level head, she would have control again, but… That was easier said than done when zooming through the air at absurd speeds comparable to when she'd gone downhill on roller skates in Medaka's body.
Gotta calm down, gotta calm down, gotta—
With her blood pumping and the adrenaline coursing through her body, there seemed to be little chance of that, unfortunately. Even still, Izuku tried to force it anyway. The first step was controlling her breathing…
Breath in… and out…
Narrowly avoiding the edge of a residential building, the temporary girl steadily forced herself to breathe calmly. Slowly, it was starting to work, the speed of her next turn notably slower than before, but still not fully under her control. The next step was to try to ease the flow of energy through her body.
That… was a lot harder.
Once Izuku had figured out how to use the girls' abilities with some consistency, simply trusting their bodies' ingrained instincts and granting it access to her energy, she'd focused more on perfecting her usage of those abilities. None of the techniques she'd learned so far required continuous, conscious, control… so she hadn't bothered to work on her ability to alter the energy's flow after she opened the floodgates.
Despite all that, the temporary girl was making progress, admittedly slow, but still quite—
"Yo, kid!" Hawks exclaimed suddenly, off to her side.
The man was keeping up with her easily, facing backwards and practically sitting in the air; his arms folded behind his head and one ankle resting on his knee. Occasionally, the wings would flap, a single powerful motion that would alter his direction whenever Izuku found herself turning.
Oh-my-god-he's-back!
"I thought I heard you having some issues. Do ya need some hel—"
The second Izuku had seen the young hero, her mind had reverted to full panic-mode. She was still painfully aware of how risky her previous interaction with him had been, and now he was back!
When combined with the pre-existing panic she hadn't managed to get a hold of quite yet… Well…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH—!" she screamed as she shot forward at her fastest speeds yet, zooming straight at a small apartment on top of an old-looking building.
She had mere seconds to react, but her conscious thoughts were too distracted by her sudden panic to be able to respond…
Instead, her powers suddenly cut off, all of the energy redirected into her ability to go intangible, saving her from the fate of a wall pancake.
Slipping through the wall and the sudden return of air resistance slowed her down significantly, dropping her speed from 'splatter-on-impact' levels into mere 'bounce-like-a-skipping-stone' levels.
The temporary girl smacked into the floor, skidding for a moment before flipping again, landing face first in the television on the far wall. The glass tore into her skin a bit, but her angle of impact kept her from getting any major injuries.
"Ooooooh…" she groaned, dizzy and aching from her various bruises and cuts.
The dull orange glow that wafted from her wounds healed them before she even managed to recollect her bearings… and by the time she did that…
"Crap! I need to hide!"
Back to the present…
Koichi stared at the new arrival, utterly flabbergasted. How is someone supposed to react when a celebrity shows up on your doorstep?!
Wait, why is he here…?
"Did this girl of yours do somethin' to warrant a big name like you chasing her?" his master said, utterly undaunted by Hawks' appearance somehow…
…Actually, that wasn't that surprising.
"Huh, I keep running into familiar faces, today…" Hawks muttered.
Koichi blinked at that.
…Who is he talking about?
"But, to answer your question, old-timer," the young man went on. "She's not in any trouble that I'm aware of, but I did see her flying faster than a car at this place, so I thought I would check to make sure everything was alright."
Koichi's master snorted.
"Do you see any broken walls around here?" the gruff man asked.
The blonde's eyes darted to the television, and he opened his mouth to say… something… but then he thought better of it.
"Hmm… fair enough," the hero said. "But, I could have sworn that, instead of crashing through the wall, she seemed to phase through it. Of course, that's crazy, right?"
The blonde's friendly smile shifted into a smirk.
"It's not like there's ever been a case of someone having multiple quirks…"
A rumbling sound filled the room, startling Koichi enough that he looked around for the motorcycle he'd always thought about buying but never did. After a moment, he realized the sound was his new teacher growling.
It wasn't animalistic in the slightest, but it was no less intimidating for it. It was the sound of a man pushed to the limit of niceties, ready to lash out if he was nudged even the tiniest bit further.
"Ah, sorry, sorry," Hawks backpedaled casually, making a placating gesture with his hands even as he kept smiling.
Despite his submissive words, he did not seem intimidated in the slightest.
"Hmph…" the older man grumbled.
"Erm… I don't know what's going on, but is there anything else we can do for you, sir?" Koichi interjected, hoping to stop the situation from getting any more tense. "We've answered your question."
The hero turned back to Koichi.
"Ah, sorry for the interruption. I'll get out of your hair," he said, stepping away from the door.
From behind the curtain came a tiny sigh of relief, muffled enough by the cloth that Koichi barely heard it despite his proximity. The college student started closing the door, giving a polite bow to Hawks as he—
"Oh, yeah!" the hero declared, spinning around and putting his foot in the door. "There is one thing."
Pulling the door open a hair, despite Koichi's grip on the handle, the blonde went on.
"If the girl happens to come back this way, could you pass on a message for me?"
He paused briefly, waiting for objections, but not actually giving enough time for anyone to say anything before he continued.
"Tell her that 'Midoriya Izuku' should think long and hard about his options. There's a number he can call if he's having trouble deciding what to do," the man stated.
"Is that it?" Koichi's master asked, clearly annoyed.
"Just one last thing," Hawks replied, looking the older man straight in the eyes.
"Vigilantism won't end well for you."
The gruff man's fists clenched on the table, his jaw set firmly as he glared back at the hero.
"That's it from me," Hawks declared cheerily, stepping away again. "Sorry for the trouble."
With a powerful flap of his wings, the man disappeared, leaving nothing but a little bit of red fluff and a burst of wind in his place. After a moment, Koichi slid the door closed, locking it.
Not even a second later, the blue-haired girl slipped through the curtain, tearing part of it as she fell to her knees tangibly and stayed there. Her eyes were wide as saucers and her face as pale as plaster.
"He knows…!" she whispered in horror.
Koichi glanced at the curtain, noticing Pop standing there red-faced. She was half dressed, her underwear exposed as she tried in vain to cover herself up. As soon as she noticed Koichi looking, she reared back a hand and slapped him—sending the young man to the ground with a rapidly-forming welt on his cheek.
In the background, his master let out a low chuckle before taking another sip of his beer. After a moment, he let out another loud burp, filling the room with the sound as Pop raced to get dressed behind the remainder of the curtain and Koichi nursed his bruise. All of this chaos left Koichi with a single, worrying, thought.
This is my life now, isn't it…?
*So, this outfit is based off of an outfit used by a side character in Tenchi Muyo, actually, though it's something that I could easily see Ryoko wearing herself. For some art of what it looks like, here's a link:
.com(SLASH)ivanfalls(SLASH)art(SLASH)Zero-Ryoko-tenchi-muyo-758841639
**This outfit is something of a classic for Ryoko, and I'm sure you can find any number of examples of what it looks like with a quick google search for the manga (Volume 1 of 'No Need for Tenchi!'), but in case you'd rather not, here's a link:
.org(SLASH)wikipedia(SLASH)en(SLASH)f(SLASH)f5(SLASH)Tenchi_Muyo_
The funny thing is, this costume was used more often in the 'Tenchi Universe' timeline (wherein Ryoko was never sealed away in the cave), but was also still used in the original OVA series too. Just to be clear, I'm still using the original OVA version of Ryoko, but I just wanted to grab this outfit to be Izuku's costume in 'Ryoko-Form' for the reasons listed in the chapter. I love both outfits, but this one is far better suited to the 'hero look' than the original green one.
***Ahh… Gurren Lagann. A classic anime that I never really got into, but I loved the vibes and energy. Mecha's just not my thing sadly, but if a series was ever going to get me past that, it would be this one.
Anyway, yes, I gave Izuku Kamina glasses for his Ryoko-form costume (with the size and color adjustments I mentioned, of course.) I needed a way to cover Izuku's face that also matched the unique spacey vibe that Ryoko's costumes have, and Kamina glasses just fit perfectly—both in aesthetics and in how they line up with Ryoko's own character traits as I've portrayed her.
Author's Note Time, bay-bee!
Ha-HAH! I am alive!
It's been much longer than I said it would be, and I can feel myself falling into the terrible habits I've seen other authors slip into on this site. Sorry for that. Really, I am… I won't give any excuses this time, though I will explain. Mainly, I've just been irresponsible with my time management and had a lot to work on, though part of it has been that this chapter fought me quite a bit while writing it.
That's actually one of the big reasons why I started working on this project—adjusting to a regular upload schedule—so I really am sorry that I've let this get out of control. I'm working on getting back on track so that I can return to weekly uploads, but for now it's probably going to be somewhat inconsistent until I manage to sit down and regain my content buffer.
It… doesn't help that I've had some other story ideas (one of which I'm almost ready to post the first two chapters for, so look forward to that.) This story will still be my top priority, but branching out a bit is helpful for when I want to write but struggling to progress with the Waifutrix.
A-a-a-n-y-way… Moving on to my normal author's note content:
Fridays with the Waifus is probably going to become a bit less common than every chapter for several reasons. For one, I don't want to overdo it with the segment, since there's only so many ways I can keep it entertaining and I can see it eventually losing its luster if I keep doing it every chapter. Beyond that, there's also the fact that because of the time I spend on it I haven't managed to get as much Omake or (especially) Outtake content out.
I'll definitely be doing at least one interview for each new waifu once they're introduced, but for now I'll definitely be cutting down on it.
As for this chapter:
Bakugo took quite the hit to his ego—which can only be a good thing—the Vigilantes spinoff gang have been introduced, Izuku discovered a new power and immediately ran into some issues with it, and… Hawks has finally had some notable importance again!
It's been… 16 or 17 (if you count the Christmas Special) chapters since he's been given this much screen time, so I hope you got a kick out of it!
Anyway, one big thing I want to spend some time discussing here is new abilities, powers, and training arcs in general.
Something I liked about early MHA canon was that Izuku struggled with his powers quite a bit and had to use time, effort, and brainpower to overcome his current limits. There's plenty of manga that just relegate that kind of content to small arcs, but that method doesn't really fit in MHA, so I'm glad Horikoshi-sensei didn't do that.
Off-screen-ing training content can work for a story that isn't as focused on the protagonist's strength, an excellent example being how One Piece never gives much on-screen time to the Straw Hats training (even though they obviously do that to some extent off-screen), but in a narrative dedicated to a character getting stronger, it avoids what I consider to be a mandatory vibe for that kind of story.
A character like Izuku is always growing, always training, and by having that occur both on and off screen, it makes the audience appreciate that fact on a deep level. The potential downside from this method, however, is making it feel like the protagonist never faces any difficulty, that they are always moving forward without any obstacles until the author blatantly places one in their path through introducing another villain.
The way to avoid this is to make the protagonist have pitfalls and roadblocks in their progress, like Canon Izuku being unable to use 100% of OFA forcing him to adapt and develop Full Cowling to make the most of what he had. Doing this also has the added benefit of making the protagonist's abilities far more memorable to the audience because of the time spent developing them.
Now, the reason I bring all of that up is because I'm using that strategy myself for this current arc, and to a lesser extent, the story as a whole. Izuku is gaining competence with all of his forms, but I've purposefully put roadblocks and issues in his path both to keep him from having an uninteresting journey, but also to combat one of the biggest issues this story is at risk of developing: Ability Bloat.
Izuku is going to have a little more than ten forms by the end of the series, each with their own distinct and interesting movesets. Because of that, I need to take great care to make sure that each spirit is memorable as a character, but also that I don't toss massive movesets at you all and expect you to remember them with barely any explanation.
Hence, I'm taking things slow.
As a more minor note, I just want to apologize for a small, but potentially confusing typo in prior chapters. I'd stated that Izuku's personal training location (the abandoned building instead of the lot he works with Shoto at) was in Naruhata. I had originally meant to state that it was in Esuha, specifically to set up the current circumstances of this chapter, but I mixed them up in earlier chapters. It's been fixed now (I believe), but sorry for the confusion.
To wrap up, I just want to say, thank you for all the support, in spite of my inconsistent schedule. I'll see you all in the next chapter!