The Bright Hero, Cobalt
Chapter Fourteen
A/N: Thanks again to all my readers and reviewers, as well as my editors and friends! You're all the real MVPs!
"Normal Speech."
"Buff Might/AI/Angry character/SHOOOOTOOOO! Speech."
"Telepathic speech."
'Thinking.'
'Sign language.'
Several Minutes After The End Of Chapter Thirteen
Momo sighed in mild embarrassment. "I've grown reliant on a single tactic, and I've paid the price. I guess it's best that I learn that here than in real combat," the black-haired rich girl lamented as her former opponent slammed a bro-fist into Eijiro, the two friends looking to lock horns next round.
"Make sure you win that arm-wrestling competition, then deck Uraraka-chan in the schnozz!" Mina exclaimed, getting into it.
Eijiro frowned for an instant, then grinned to hide his nervousness. "Yeah. Hope my moms won't be too mad about how badly I blow her away!" Horn Buddy number two exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
Tenya blinked. "You shout about manliness, but you have two moms? You confuse me more and more every day, Kirishima-kun. Good to hear you're getting into this, regardless of being nervous of how your family might view your fights. I, myself, am under a bit of stress on that front," the cyborg stated, discreetly checking his phone mid arm wave.
With a grin and a roll of his eyes, Eijiro responded, "Manliness is a state of mind, not a state of being. Ashido's the manliest person I've seen from my middle school, and she's a chick, too! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an arm wrestling match to win!"
With that, the manly boy hardened himself and dropped like a stone to the stadium below. He and Tetsutetsu squared off, having a brodown of sorts. The two of them hardened further than they already were, glaring at one another with growls of anger. The two of them ripped their own shirts off via their quirks and flexed. A few seconds of tense glaring later, and they smiled and shook hands, having successfully finished their brodown, before sitting down to start their arm wrestling match.
"AAAND WITH THE BRODOWN COMPLETE, WE CAN NOW START THE TIE BREAKER! READYYYY? CLASH!"
Eijiro grit his teeth. "So, what brings you to this fine arm wrestling match?" he asked his foe as the two applied pressure.
Tetsutetsu grinned as he, too, grit his teeth. "Representing 1-B! How about you?" the man of steel replied.
With a roar and a sudden burst of pressure, Eijiro nearly won in one shot. "I'M HERE TO FIGHT MY HORN BUDDY!"
The boy with the most iron in his body roared in approval. "FIGHTING ME TO GET TO THE MAIN COURSE?! THIS HORN BUDDY MUST BE AWESOME! Tell me about this specimen of badassery later!" he shouted, his body creaking with its movements as he held against his near loss.
"GET YOUR OWN HORN BUDDY! I SAW HER FIRST!" The most chivalrous of men exclaimed in a moment of possessiveness, bringing a bit of shame to his heart. He couldn't see it, with his focus on his opponent at the time, but his horn buddy's pink face turned a bit pinker upon his shout, even as he was declared the victor.
"Metapod number two, Kirishima Eijiro, has won!" Midnight exclaimed, joining in with the references.
Tetsutetsu went full metal, and with a roar of enthusiasm, headbutted the concrete table he and Eijiro had just finished arm wrestling on, shattering it. "WE'RE SPARRING LATER, GOT IT?" the iron man exclaimed.
The red man of chivalry nodded, before shouting up to the 1-A section. "HEY, ASHIDO! SORRY I GOT POSSESSIVE THERE! ARE WE GOOD?!"
From her spot in the audience, the acidic alien queen replied, "WE'RE GOOD! NOW KICK URARAKA-CHAN'S ASS SO I CAN KICK YOUR ASS!"
Eijiro nodded, then made his way to the ring. Up in the 1-A section, things were slightly less happy than they'd been before, though due to Izuku's valiant efforts to restrain his abilities, none of them really noticed the drop in mood, outside of five people.
Katsuki stewed in silence, lamenting whatever he'd done to fuck up, while Tsuyu and Tenya tentatively approached Izuku. The boy in question, however, dodged their attempt to find out what was wrong. "I'm gonna get a drink, okay guys?" he lied, running into the hallway behind their section before seeking an area where he could be alone.
Tsuyu and Tenya exchanged worried looks, before feeling a hand on each of their shoulders. The two of them looked up to see Mezo, one of his dupli-arms transformed into a frowning mouth. "Is Midoriya-san okay? He seemed to be distressed," the best Kakashi cosplayer in 1-A asked, a hint of concern in his voice.
Tsuyu put a finger up to her lip. "He and Ochako-chan seemed to be avoiding each other since they got back. I think something must have happened between them, kero," the blunt girl responded. Indeed, as soon as she got the opportunity, Ochako had headed to her waiting room.
Tenya looked to the two of them with a bit of worry. "What should we do? We can't just leave things as they are," he asked with furrowed brows.
With a nod of resolution, Mezo turned to face the ring below them. "For now, we should observe, and find out what actually happened. I will be keeping an eye on the match when it starts, both to gather info, and to allow Midoriya-san to watch later. He enjoys finding ways for us to improve, and I will gladly allow him access to my memories of the matches today to get more detailed perspectives," the octopus man said, changing five of his arms into ears, eyes, and a nose, and giving a thumbs up with his last hand before turning it into a smiling mouth, then back again.
Both the amphibious adolescent and the knight with a need for speed nodded solemnly, before turning their attention to the ring below, wondering why Ochako wasn't out there yet.
Minutes Earlier, With Ochako
The girl of the stars stood lost in thought, leaning against the wall next to the door to her ready room, trying to find out how the two of them were going to get out of this mess. Unbeknownst to her, he was heading right for her, his waiting room for the next round the same as the one she currently stood outside of. She turned upon sensing him near her, a bit of a smile on her face as she waved at him. "Sorry, Izuku-kun. I was just a bit nervous. Kirishima-san's pretty tough, after all. I'll get out of your way," she said, her voice quivering upon feeling Izuku's sadness suddenly come bearing down on her.
Izuku nodded, then moved for the door. "We're just in each other's way, aren't we?" he mumbled sadly before opening and shutting the door to the waiting area. Ochako felt an intense feeling of sadness for an instant before she felt...less.
Her eyes teared up, and she wept quietly for a moment before heading to her match, so much suddenly missing from her. 'What happened? Why do I feel so empty suddenly?' she thought to herself numbly as she walked on autopilot, eventually coming to a realization.
'Oh...The Bond is gone…'
The fact that it didn't have some sort of noticeable psychic backlash, simply vanishing without any obvious consequences, somehow made its disappearance all the more painful. No explosive flash of light, no intense headache, nothing. However, a ghost of his presence remained in her heart. She knew for certain that he was hurting too. Heroes save people. So, in the limited time she had, the puffy-cheeked girl hatched a plan. With a bit of spirit returning to her step, the binary star suddenly missing her partner made her way to the ring.
'I have to make him understand.'
"Kirishima Eijiro, are you ready?"
'I have to get through to him.'
"Hell yeah!"
'I have to help him!'
"Uraraka Ochako, are you ready?"
'I HAVE TO WIN!'
The stargazer stood resolutely. "Yes!"
The thumb of the somnambulist user was raised. "READYYY? CLASH!"
Eijiro hardened up, and rushed to Ochako's position. "Hope you're ready for a wallop, Uraraka-san!" he roared in challenge.
"I'm sorry, Kirishima-san. I can't lose here."
That's all the warning Eijiro got when Ochako grabbed his fist in her hand, her fingers and palm getting bloodied by his hardened fist. With a sad grin, the red head responded. He knew, somehow, what was at stake. "Do what you've gotta do. I'll get more chances."
The brunette's hand twisted, and the floor felt like it fell out from under the manliest of men. He fell to the side, then was dropped onto the grass.
"The winner by ring out is Uraraka Ochako!"
Ochako frowned a bit before heading back in the direction of the waiting room, intent on meeting Izuku halfway. As she was about to turn down a hallway, a figure in a hoodie grabbed her and shoved her against the wall. "What. Did. You. Do?" the figure asked, sounding incredibly stressed.
The brunette shivered involuntarily. "Let me go. I have to make this right. You're Aureck-san, right?" Ochako responded, pushing against the girl before her. "Where are you, Izuku-kun?"
The girl gazed at her with fury in her eyes. "He's hurting so much right now, he's not even the one in the driver's seat! He's...on auto-pilot!" the girl exclaimed, seeming to have issues with the words she was saying.
She wasn't wrong, it seemed. Izuku marched right past the two of them, not even sparing a glance their way. The enigma teared up a bit before looking her captive in the eyes again. "In a few seconds, I'm going to let you go. We're going to figure this out, but for now, you can't go after him. If you do, I will stop you. He's not in the mood right now," she stated. Soon after, she did as she said, and the two sat down. "Okay, Uraraka-san. Tell me what the fuck happened."
Several Minutes Prior, With Midnight and Cementoss
The two pros got a ping in their earpieces. The tone was for high priority communications on campus. Holding their hands up to their ears, they answered.
"Midnight, Cementoss, unless something goes wrong, behave normally. We're dealing with a Code Zeta. It should pass soon, but be ready just in case," the person on the other end of the line said. The two pros nodded, giving their affirmatives, before Midnight looked over in the direction Izuku would be coming from. And he did, in fact, emerge from the tunnel, however…
He looked incredibly unhappy to be there.
Tenya made his way to the ring from his tunnel, a smile on his face despite feeling slightly...empty. The speedster was standing before his friend in seconds, though noting the look on his face and just how tired he seemed, the boy frowned. "Midoriya-kun, are you all right?" he asked.
The only response was a shake of his head, before he walked over to his side of the ring and sat down.
"Midoriya Izuku, are you ready?"
"Yes."
"Iida Tenya, are you ready?"
"W-wait, are you sure-"
"Iida. Tenya. Are you ready?" Midnight seemed surprised at her own words before composing herself. 'Where did that grouchiness come from?'
The second son of Ingenium nodded. "Yes, I'm ready," he said.
Midnight raised her thumb.
"READYYY? CLASH!"
It wasn't even a fight, really. Tenya made to talk to his friend, but an enormous wall of green erected itself between them, before pushing towards him until it forced him out of bounds.
As startled as she was, Kayama still managed to call the match. "Th-the winner by ring out is Midoriya Izuku!"
Izuku floated up to sit on top of the commentator's box, dangling his legs over the edge. He felt a light pulling sensation from the direction of Inko. "Sorry, Mother. Not now. Please don't strain your quirk like that," he said, sounding very different from the voice Inko was used to hearing when she heard her baby boy use his telepathic abilities.
"Please come see me soon! I never even got to-" the rest of her statement was cut off as the boy shut himself off from the outside world, focusing solely on the ring below, where Ochako and Mina got ready to square off.
"READYYY? CLASH!"
With a shriek of alarm, the acid-slinger was flung from the ring, before landing softly on the grass, being ringed out.
Ochako raised her fist towards the stranger wearing Izuku's face, bandaged up after her fight with Eijiro. The imposter could tell she was speaking out loud even from where he was, the determination so clear in her telepathy even he couldn't block her out.
"I'm gonna win!"