Violetsumire - It does, doesn't it? :V
Trixuny - Thank you! I figured out from canon that the best way of making him go down that road with some reasonable speed is to actually tear him down, a bit like Bakugou. It's great to know that it worked :P
raw666 - There is a very logical reason for that, although due to an oversight I have only mentioned it much later in the story. I think around the Training Camp Arc? Keep reading, it will become apparent in time.
TheGreatBubbaJ - Precisely the reason I wrote that scene :v
Archivist of Nyx - Blueberry isn't connected with Shinsou in any way here (she was, if anything, connected with Shihai Kuroiro in Cure to Evil), so you might be misinterpreting something :P I fully agree with the rest of the comment though.
TheNorthern DireWolf - Yes xD
AngelFallenDemon - The Mass Chaos Gremlification is the only outcome :v
Detrametal - Bakugou gets some nice moments here, ngl. Well, once Gran Torino hits him in the head a few times with the Character Development bat that he borrowed from Izuku. Great that you are enjoying the story :D
PokeKing Charizard - I can't promise you immortality, but I'll try to live at least until I finish publishing my fanfics xD
(***)
Izuku Midoriya Support/Fanclub
LeadSinger: Can we all spend a moment to, just… like… meditate on how scary Gran Torino has to be?
Vampire: ?
LeadSinger: I mean, didn't you see Bakugou doing a personality one-eighty on us after spending a bit more than a week with him?
CreativeSpirit: Not exactly one-eighty.
LeadSinger: ?
CreativeSpirit: He is still abrasive, rude and swears like a sailor. He just limited that to people not from his class. And not his teachers.
CreativeSpirit: And I'm observant enough to see how often he is close to snapping at one of us, but he visibly swallows the words instead of letting them out.
CreativeSpirit: It's less character reformation and more him using all that crazy willpower and determination of his to strive for some changes in himself.
CreativeSpirit: He only started walking down this road.
CreativeSpirit: It somehow feels like Gran Torino got on his ambitious side and dared him to change himself, so he is now fighting that war to prove to him that he can do it.
CreativeSpirit: Anger him enough and he will still yell at you.
Mindhack: Yeah, he is also unloading his anger at training mannequins and sheet
Mindhack: And sandbags.
Mindhack: He destroys one like every other day since Hosu.
LeadSinger: This still means that he was absolutely terrified by Gran Torino
LeadSinger: We talk about a boy whose reaction to getting a small nuke to the face was 'fucking do it again!', guys.
Thermostat: Gran Torino was intimidating.
LeadSinger: Do I want to know the details?
Thermostat: Probably not.
Vampire: I do!
Thermostat: My training was mostly composed of ejecting and controlling my flames with only minimal usage of my ice side. I could use it when he wasn't there. If he was, he was standing there with a garden hose and dosing me in freezing-cold water.
Thermostat: For 16h a day.
CreativeSpirit: How on earth you didn't get sick after so many temperature jumps?
Thermostat: I caught a cold. It's not a reason enough for a sick leave, according to Gran Torino. He would let me take it only if I had pneumonia. Then I could ask for a day off. One day off.
CreativeSpirit: …
LeadSinger: Okay, isn't that borderline student abuse?
Thermostat: I mean, it was only about as bad as my normal training regimen, but I actually learned more.
CreativeSpirit: Oh my God
CreativeSpirit: Let's not dig into that right now.
LeadSinger: Todoroki, you're getting a group hug tomorrow in school.
Thermostat: Will Izuku be included in this?
LeadSinger: Yes.
Thermostat: Alright.
LeadSinger: (-_-)
LeadSinger: I'm getting suspicious about something.
CreativeSpirit: Please no, don't even bring this up.
CreativeSpirit: I'm not sure that he is at the stage of learning how to be a human being where he can differentiate that from friendship. Let him emotionally develop in peace.
Thermostat: ?
CreativeSpirit: Nothing, keep learning how to socialize, we're all here for you!
Thermostat: Not for Izuku?
CreativeSpirit: That was… you misread my words.
Thermostat: I'm sorry.
CreativeSpirit: You don't have to.
Vampire: Back to the Real Subject.
Vampire: Ochachan!
GravityGirl: Oh no.
Vampire: Confession time!
GravityGirl: I'm too scared! What if he hates me?!
Mindhack: That's patently impossible unless you are a particularly heinous and irredeemable villain.
Mindhack: It's like, I don't know, a villain fighting All Might one on one and winning? Just impossible.
Vampire: If you give me some of your blood I'll do it for you!
GravityGirl: Himichan no
GravityGirl: You know that he can somehow tell that it's you at a glance
Vampire: And I'm super curious how he's doing it, ochachan ;_;
Froggy: Body language, no doubt. You copy the appearance and voice but not all mannerisms. When he knows someone well enough, he can tell that they aren't walking in the 'right' way.
Froggy: You should be able to sneak up on him while pretending to be someone he doesn't know, but you'll have to work on hiding your own body language or he'll tell that's you regardless.
Vampire: Froggy-chan, thank you!
Froggy: You're welcome.
Mindhack: Froggy-chan? Where is my cute nickname, eh?
Vampire: Toshi is Toshi ;_;
Mindhack: Fair enough.
MIndhack: Also GravityGirl Confess or I'll make you.
GravityGirl: Your quirk can't make me talk!
Mindhack: Yes but I happen to just got those cool artificial vocal cords that allow me to mimic the voice of other people, so I'll just have you stand there quietly and speak for yourself.
Mindhack: And I'm going to do that in a HUMILIATING way. And record the whole thing.
Mindhack: Unless you go and do it yourself.
GravityGirl: This is blackmail!
Mindhack: I prefer the term 'Plus Ultra Persuasion'.
LeadSinger: Pffft
WarpedPerception: Okay I'm positively in love with that line.
LeadSinger: CreativeSpirit do a T-shirt with the 'Blackmail? I prefer the term Plus Ultra Persuasion.' writing over it in Hitoshi's size.
WarpedPerception: I want one too!
LeadSinger: I lowkey want to see Aizawa-sensei's face when he sees you wearing it after school.
GravityGirl: Pffff
LeadSinger: Also confess, Uravity, or I'm going to start prattling about all your SECRETS.
GravityGirl: What secrets?
LeadSinger: I know what you did yesterday during the lunchbreak.
GravityGirl: OMG
GravityGirl: I'M GOING TO CONFESS TODAY FOLKS
Mindhack: WAIT I WANT TO KNOW WHAT SHE DID
LeadSinger: Then I would no longer have plus ultra persuasion material and she wouldn't confess.
Mindhack: Fair. Then don't tell me.
(***)
Urarako Ochaco had absolutely zero experience in matters of love. What she did know is that trying to make it too… weird would just freak them both out (especially Izuku, because he was… well, Izuku). So it has to be something absolutely simple.
And private.
Especially private.
So she took advantage of them sitting together during the lunch break and asked Izuku to wait for her after school, because she has something to talk with him about and she would prefer it to be private.
She ignored the knowing looks from Tsuyu, Himiko and Hitoshi. She ignored the smirk on Kyoka's face one table away (and how she elbowed Momo to whisper something to her). She ignored everything because she is going to confess to a boy today damnit and nothing is going to stop her!
She was in her warlike mood and that was probably the only reason why it would work. Why it could work. Damn it.
(also she is never again watching newest Mr. Compress video on her phone in private while cooing about how cool he is because clearly Kyoka is a goshdarn stalker who knows more about things happening in school than Nedzu with his microphones and cameras)
The remaining classes are a bit of a haze. When they end, her classmates vacate the room (the ones who know give her some thumb ups and reassuring looks) and she remains alone in the class.
Well, alone with him.
He looks at her over a few abandoned seats, clearly worried. About her. Because of course he is worried about her. He is probably thinking that something happened to her and she needs his help because of course he does. This is one of the most admirable and precious traits of the already admirable and precious boy that she has a crush on the size of Mt. Everest.
She finds herself floating a bit. He is now even more startled, even after she returns to the floor.
"Uhm, Izuku?" She is going there, she has to. She has her warlike spirit, her ironclad determination and the willpower honed during hours of combat training with Gunhead! She can do it! "How was your day?"
Damn it, Uraraka.
"Uhm, it was quite nice?" Izuku is clearly lost by how utterly pointless thing she started with, but he plays along. Does he think that it's some sort of introductory moment to something? Or that she is trying to communicate with him in a code to make Nedzu not notice it? And...
Oh god, is Kyoka listening to this?! Uraraka is going to jump through the window if she does, if her absolutely atrocious attempts at first confession (hopefully the last, like, in a good way!) are known to someone other than tight-lipped Izuku, her social life will be over!
"We had some nice lessons and I had a talk with Mineta during one of the breaks." Izuku continues, unaware of how internally messed up she is. "I think he is doing much better, the meds are clearly working and he is putting in an effort with Hound Dog to fix his, uhm, personality flaws. Or at least soften them up a bit. So I don't think that he will be expelled, and…"
"I like you." She stammers out, immediately going red.
… this is pretty great, because I was really worried about his reaction to the…" Izuku stops answering her accidental question, and she can almost see the gears turning in his head for a few seconds. Finally they arrive at their destination.
"I like you too, Uraraka!" He replies and she briefly goes to a cloud nine. "I didn't have many friends before going to UA, almost none at all if you exclude Hitoshi and Himiko but those were pretty much internet acquaintances while preparing for the Rehab Course, and Bakugou was being Bakugou, so…"
He starts mumbling and Uraraka realizes that the dummy train arrived at the wrong destination and now she has to fix the railway chaos like some sort of… train conductor? Damn it, how do you call the people who are above them and oversee all the trai…
Uraraka, stop.
"Uhm, not like that, Izuku." She is trying to contain the red, but she fails and she can feel her face slowly turning into a strawberry. He pauses his increasingly mumbling narration of his really sad life prior to UA, and looks at her strangely. So she promptly freaks out. "I mean, I like you as a friend, yes, you are a great friend!" She quickly stammers out. "Just, uhm, not only that?"
C'mon, take a hint, don't make her use any love-related words or she will float out of the room through the window and enter a geostationary orbit.
"So, like… friends but also rivals?" WHY IS THE FIRST THING THAT COMES TO HIS MIND?! She absolutely freaks out internally because he is so innocent that it almost hurts but part of her suspects that he just never imagined himself being confessed to and that actually hurts.
"No, not like that, it's just … uhm…" She doesn't know how to react to what's happening, he is clearly not taking a hint and it's just…
Himiko Toga comes to the rescue. She almost kicks the door of the class open (Uraraka has never been as startled in her life before) and then walks inside.
"THIS IS A LOVE CONFESSION, YOU SUPER-DUMMY BROCCOLI-COLOURED MENACE TO SOCIETY!" She yells and Izuku goes slackjawed. "You guys are the absolute worst and I can't believe I stayed behind just to hear this sad excuse of a romantic moment. This isn't some two-bit romance manga when you need like five hundred pages of adorable shenanigans for someone to say the L-word, dammit!"
"Wha…" Now Izuku is trying to say something but she isn't letting him.
"Now give her a proper answer or I swear to every supernatural entity out there that I'm going to go full murder vampire on you!" She shouts at Izuku, before baring her teeth at him and hissing loudly. Then she looks at Uraraka. Her expression of anger changes to a reassuring smile. "Good luck, Ochachan!"
Then she leaves the room.
Izuku Midoriya promptly faints.
(***)
Uraraka gets her confession answered in the Recovery Girl's office where Izuku was moved to give him time to return to the world of the living. Of course, it's not an instantaneous process. First of all, he has to wake up (and she is waiting for this on the edge of her seat). Then (with Recovery Girl out of the earshot), she still has to drill through the wall. With her head.
Izuku Midoriya is complicated.
And is blushing super hard while still resting on the bed.
Then again, she is blushing super hard while sitting on the chair next to it. The silence is extremely awkward. Eventually it's Izuku that breaks it.
"Sorry, I just… I don't know how to process what just happened." He says, doing his utmost best not to look at her direction. "What you s...said." The stuttery moment is kinda adorable. Sad, when you consider the probable reason for it, but also adorable. This just makes her want to hug him. "I'm…"
Uraraka at this point has a pretty reasonable degree of understanding of Izuku Midoriya's character. Being part of his fanclub did wonders, although in all honesty she gave more to it than she got.
"Is it… uhm… because you don't know why a girl would be interested in you?" She asks, trying to not look at him while also trying to see his reaction. It seems to her that she hit the nail on the head which is awesome, because the other possible reason is about sexual orientation and the option A) is much more optimistic to her long term plans for him.
"M… maybe a b...bit." He goes even more red, somehow. He is also hiding his face behind his hands and this is very adorable. The chances of eye-contact are absolutely minimal, especially as Uraraka is hiding behind hers as well.
"Then you… you shouldn't." Uraraka manages to reignite her fighting spirit a bit because dammit, she has to. Especially when it's something like that. "You are brave. You are kind. You are smart. You are hard-working. You are… uhm… cute." KEEP FIGHTING URARAKA! And don't mention the hot part by accident. "You… like, after the USJ… you saved Thirteen's life and helped me get out of it, so… you kinda make me feel safe? And that whatever happens to us, whatever villains would be in front of us, we can win? You also have that drive for heroics that's super-inspiring to me, and you gave me very good advice on how to be a better hero, and... "
She takes a few deep breaths. She is speaking her mind, she can do it! It's all going great! Right? It's hard to say because she finds herself absolutely unable to read anything from the steamed broccoli in front of her.
"And I guess that I want to support you like you support me?" She adds. "And become great heroes together?" Is it exactly a manipulation if you know that something is likely to persuade someone but you actually kinda mean it? Because she wants to be a hero with him, but she also knows how much of a berserk button for him those words are.
"O...oh." He manages to utter, but it's quite clear to her that the process crashed hard.
"It's okay to say no though!" Uraraka's attempt to bulldoze through the remaining resistance crashes hard and she ends up taking a massive step back. At least partially in panic because she doesn't want him to feel like she is pushing him into this, with how much he doesn't want to hurt anyone near him he would probably agree just to not make her sad. And she wants love, not this! "I'm not going to be angry with you! It's alright, I know your… family situation is a bit complicated, and…" She certainly isn't going to say it loud, Nedzu might be listening in. Or, worse, Kyoka.
"It's… a bit more complicated than you think." He still looks away from her, blushing hard and clearly not being sure what to do with his hands. "I… I mean, I want to accept, but… it's like… I don't want to drag you into anything weird, you have enough on your plate as it is…"
"That's no reason not to share your plate!" She says a bit too intensively, because the 'I want to accept' kinda pumped fuel into her engine. "You are clearly having a lot to deal with, and having a ggggg… friend to help you with that is great!"
"Uhm, I guess." Izuku seems to be kinda… reinvigorated? Less freaked out? He probably has things that he wants to share but doesn't really have anyone to do that among the friends of his age. She and Tsuyu discovered the Mr. Compress part by absolute accident. "Give me a second."
He lunges for his backpack, pulls out a notebook, and quickly writes something on the page. Probably to avoid Nedzu. Or Jirou. Does he even know about Jirou? Or did Nedzu wiretapped the Recovery Girl's office?
"If… if you are still willing to be my gggg….friend…" He stammers in the identical way as she did and Uraraka finds it adorable. "...after reading that, then I… I'm alright with that? Uhm, no wait, I'm happy with that." He is clearly struggling and that's lowkey cute. "If not then… uhm… don't mention that to anyone, please?"
He turns the page of the notebook towards her, and she reads the words he wrote.
My dad = All Might
My mom = Mischief
My stepdad = super evil villain but he's dead now
My kinda granddad = Gran Torino
My kinda grandma = Recovery Girl
My 'uncles' = Mr. Compress, Gentle Criminal, Hero Killer Stain, Eraserhead, Present Mic
My 'aunties' = Ms. Compress, Midnight, Ms. Joke, La Brava and Lady Nagant.
Eri's kidnapper is Overhaul
Also me and my siblings all have Class Six quirks.
Her mind takes a few seconds to process that. It fails. Crashes. Reboots. Tries it again. Fails again. Finally reboots again and then gets somewhere.
"Izuku." He looks startled by it, probably knowing that the answer will soon come. "How are you still sane?"
"I don't know…" He replies weakly.
Uraraka's parents raised no quitter. She is going to help the boy that became so much of an inspiration to her, no matter what. She says that to him and the look of sheer gratitude and appreciation that she gets makes her heart flutter.
Uraraka Ochaco, at the tender age of almost 16 years, gets herself a boyfriend. It takes them both about five minutes to figure out that they have no idea how that works.
(***)
Izuku Midoriya Support/Fanclub
GravityGirl: I DID IT, PEOPLE
GravityGirl: I CONFESSED!
GravityGirl: AND HE SAID THAT HE LIKES ME AS WELL [like, eventually, took us a while to get there]
Mindhack: YES.
LeadSinger: So you are now his ggggg…friend?
GravityGirl: YOU WERE LISTENING TO THIS?!
LeadSinger: Yes I was, but only to be able to assist you.
LeadSinger: Who do you think sent Himiko when it was obvious that it's getting nowhere?!
GravityGirl: …
Vampire: I was, like, a wingwoman, except with fangs and no wings! So, fangwoman?
GravityGirl: Thank you, Jirou. And thank you, Himichan. But also to quote a certain kid from our class: DIEEEEE!
LeadSinger: Don't turn into Bakugou.
GravityGirl: Don't make me.
GravityGirl: Also I'm 99% sure that I know what sort of secret thing Kyoka found out about Izuku.
GravityGirl: Because he explained his family situation to me.
LeadSinger: Yes and it's awesome.
GravityGirl: Yeah, it puts a lot of things into perspective.
GravityGirl: Who else knows?
Thermostat: If it's about one of his parents, then I do. But I believe that he made it clear that he doesn't know the world to know until the day he graduates and becomes a pro-hero. He doesn't want to lie to his classmates though, and if you come to directly ask him about it, he will say the truth. He prefers omission to lies.
CreativeSpirit: I'm incredibly curious but also aware that satisfying this urge would violate his trust in me as his vice-president.
Mindhack: So you are developing immoral urges? Mei's a bad influence.
CreativeSpirit: What?!
Vampire: Don't bully Momochan! She is the purest of us all!
LeadSinger: Yes!
MadScientist: Yup! She always takes a shower after our newest babymaking sessions.
WarpedPerception: Uhmmm?
CreativeSpirit: MEI, CONTEXT!
MadScientist: Providing context delays babymaking, Momo!
MadScientist: Time is precious! Unless I manage to build the time machine.
CreativeSpirit: She calls her inventions babies, she is from the support course.
WarpedPerception: OH, yeah, that makes perfect sense.
GravityGirl: I believe that he is ALMOST ready to admit the truth about it, and I'm going to push him towards that because I understand his desire to keep things silent, but I also believe that Aiko's comment was spot on.
Froggy: Hair full of secrets?
GravityGirl: Yes and I think that it's crushing him.
GravityGirl: Me hearing out the truth and not freaking out made him look at me like… I mean…
GravityGirl: His face was overflowing with appreciation and pure, concentrated happiness.
GravityGirl: I'm going to cherish that memory until my deathbed.
Vampire: :3
GravityGirl: Also we spend like… an hour brainstorming things, but, uhm
GravityGirl: Any of you knows how romantic relationships work in practice?
GravityGirl: We, uhm, don't know much about that.
Vampire: Oh yes, that's a very ochachan thing to ask about after confessing to a boy.
Mindhack: Okay, so I guess as an internet nerd who knows a lot of trivia, it'll be my job to provide you with a shovel talk?
GravityGirl: NO
GravityGirl: NOOOOO
Mindhack: Time for the S-word talk, Uraraka
GravityGirl: STOP
Mindhack: Let me introduce you to… Snuggling.
GravityGirl: I hate you.
Mindhack: C'mon, I can feel the death glare of Momo from her home (wherever it is), I'm not pissing off someone so rich, who also has wonderful lawyers AND ability to produce high-yield explosives from their body.
Mindhack: I'm not suicidal.
CreativeSpirit: Good.
CreativeSpirit: Also you aren't even 16 years old, there is absolutely no need to proceed to the actual S-word stuff, because the last thing you want is an accidental baby. And there is always a (minuscule) chance of an accidental baby.
GravityGirl: MOMO PLS
MadScientist: Did someone say BABY?
CreativeSpirit: The other type of baby, Mei.
MadScientist: Awwww.
CreativeSpirit: I'm just being honest with you, Uraraka.
CreativeSpirit: I'm innocent and mostly sheltered, but not THAT innocent and sheltered.
CreativeSpirit: Focus on getting to know him better (and vice versa), watch some films together or find another joint hobby, go on some walks side by side while holding hands and so on. No need to hurry with anything. You have a lot of time in front of you.
LeadSinger: Are we making a bet on how many months will it take them to kiss without either side freaking out?
GravityGirl: Kyoka please
GravityGirl: I can barely imagine holding hands without blushing furiously and burying my face in the pillow.
Vampire: The pureness… it's blinding me!
Vampire: It's like a sunlight, and it burns _
WarpedPerception: It's kinda cute ngl
Vampire: Yeah, I know.
WarpedPerception: Also it really makes you wonder how many pairs will our school life create, huh
WarpedPerception: I ship Momo with Bakugou
LeadSinger: WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT
CreativeSpirit: You WHAT?!
WarpedPerception: He is an explosion freak and you can probably create a tactical nuke from your body if you focus hard enough, and despite being so aggressive he is apparently rather smart, at least academically.
WarpedPerception: Tame that explosion, Yaomomo ]:-
WarpedPerception: Tame it ]:-
MadScientist: Can I join as well? Explosions are super cool! We could blow up so many things together! Bakugou's explosion-resistance, my genius, and Momo's money and item printing ability!
MadScientist: Also whose surname do we take?
LeadSinger: You know you probably broke her? She hasn't written anything for 15 minutes.
LeadSinger: There is a limit to teasing.
WarpedPerception: … Plus Ultra?
CreativeSpirit: Please, stop defiling our school's motto like that!
LeadSinger: Ignore motto, stop defiling Yaomomo like that!
WarpedPerception: Another ship detected, I can feel my love sense tingling!
LeadSinger: Mindhack Do you remember that talk about you murdering nasty women?
Mindhack: Yes, but I'll deny it if police or heroes come asking.
LeadSinger: I need some tips.
Vampire: WarpedPerception RUN
GravityGirl: Oh dear, tomorrow's school is going to be super awkward.
(***)
1. Okay, so: I have a lot of questions about majority of Tododeku fanfics, where it's rather clear that Todoroki - being an emotional wreck with zero social skills - supposedly falls in love with the first person outside of his family that's genuinely nice to him. Especially when it's platonic tododeku. I'm really not sure if Todoroki in such fics is capable of differentiating close friendships from love, and this can hurt everyone involved further down the line. Not to mention messing Todoroki emotionally even further. So, as I said, I found those ships highly questionable. Sue me about it.
2. Let's be real, 99% of romance mangas and shounen mangas and honestly majority of Japanese entertainment is in an urgent need of a fangwoman. And perhaps some grey eminence manipulating everything from the background (like Kyoka Jirou). And we all know it. Sure, it will make them much shorter but damn it if they sometimes aren't stupidly long and slooooow about it, Jesus Christ.
3. Lady Nagant is yet to show up, by the virtue of being officially dead. It's hard to remain officially dead when you popping up at hero-infested joint of your unofficial adopted sister. Things change at some point of the story. Hilarity ensues.