The Bright Hero, Cobalt

Chapter Nineteen

A/N: I want each and every one of you to find a mirror and look at it. That person in the mirror? They're absolutely frikkin' magnificent. Always be like the person in the mirror. They are you, and you are glorious.

"Normal speech."

"Buff Might/AI/SHOOOOOOTOOOOOO/Kacchanese speech."

"Telepathic speech."

'Thinking speech.'

'Sign language.'

Meanwhile, At Mount Lady's Agency

Katsuki sat up in the bed he'd been provided and scowled. Interning with his cousin was nice, so there was no reason he should be upset like he was. She was always fun to hang out with, the teen recalling a time when she gigantified and put him on her shoulder when he was just a little kid. That was fucking awesome.

No, his irritation was from something else. He just couldn't place it. It wasn't his co-intern, that's for sure. She was a pain at times, but she was also really fun to hang out with, the invisible girl enjoying helping with his occasional pranks during downtime. No, he'd have to think harder to figure out what was upsetting him, and damn it, it was going to keep him up until he figured it out. So, he got up and headed to the kitchen, intent on making a bit of chocolate milk.

He likes sweet food, so sue him!

As he made his way to the kitchen, he saw that the light was already on. 'Guess I'm not the only one who can't sleep tonight, huh?' The ash blond wandered into the kitchen to find a mug floating in the air in front of some pajamas. Taking a second to figure out where her eyes were, Katsuki spoke. "So, you're having trouble sleeping, too?"

The mug lifted to where the girl's lips presumably were, and moved up and down a tad, letting the explosive teen know she'd nodded. "I'm just a bit anxious for some reason. I've got a feeling, like something's wrong, but I can't place what," she responded softly. Her quietness bothered the befriender of many. She's supposed to be as loud as he is, and he didn't like this subdued behavior.

"If it helps, I think I've figured it out," the blond stated, surprising the girl. At least, he assumed that's why her mug jumped a little. He hoped she didn't burn her tongue or anything. As Katsuki set to make himself his chocolate milk, he elaborated. "That nerd, Izuku, put some of his power in all of us. Unless we use it up, or he takes it back, it'll stick around. He's probably in some sort of trouble right now, but since he's all the way over in Hoth, all we can do is believe in him from here. Raise his morale and all that crap. Everybody else is probably asleep right now, though, so I guess you and I should do our part. Think of something in recent memory that made you happy. That'd probably help."

Tooru gave her friend an invisible smile. "You're sweet, you know that? You're all gruff and tough, but you love all of us, I can tell," the girl said with a lilt of a giggle.

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "You're part of the reason I'm still gruff and tough, remember?" he commented with a blush.

Tooru was already halfway down memory lane at that point…

First Day Of School, Before Izuku's Arrival

Tooru was walking down the hall, a bit nervous. 'Where is it? Where is 1-A?' she wondered, really really worried. Normally, she'd ask one of her many friends, however, none of them made it in with her. So lost in her worries was she, that she knocked over a boy in her absent-minded state.

"Fuck! For a floating school uniform, you're solid!" the boy exclaimed noisily, then dusted himself off and got up. The boy gave her a once over, and then looked at her cheeks, and she realized suddenly. He was looking for her eyes. "Damnit-I mean, darn it, I can't make friends with the first person I bump into if I can't make eye contact," he said with a grin that felt forced, a forced calm finding its way into his voice.

"Well, you're on the right track! Look about a centimeter higher, and...There you go! Your eyes are focused on the wall behind me, but that's okay. Thanks for the effort!" Tooru exclaimed, successfully hiding the bit of fluster in her voice, and not even needing to try to hide her blush. He may have been focusing on the wall behind her eyes, but damn, was his stare intense. The girl extended her hand awkwardly, the boy's eyes suddenly focusing on her sleeve before figuring out what she was doing and seeking her hand with his before giving a firm shake. "I'm Hagakure Tooru! Class 1-A, if I can ever find it!" she exclaimed happily.

"Bakugou Katsuki, likewise. It's nice to meet you...Oh for fuck's sake! I wanna do this whole friendship thing, but forcing calmness is just irritating!" the boy exploded in the middle of introducing himself. "You! Bright Eyes! You do the whole friendship thing! What do you suggest for a fuckup like me who's always angry?" he shouted suddenly, pointing a finger at her face.

Tooru couldn't help but laugh. She loved the nickname. "I dunno. Maybe try...being aggressively friendly? See how that works?" the invisible girl suggested with a shrug.

Her new friend shrugged. "I guess? That sounds like fun, actually! Let's ride this ship together. It's a friendship! The SS Getalong! Now, First Mate Bright Eyes, let's find 1-A, and befriend the fuck out of everybody there!" he exclaimed, then pointed down a random hallway.

"Aye aye, Captain! So, is this a pirate ship, or..."

"Fuck yeah, let's be fucking pirates! Our treasure is our goddamn friends, and so we'll get a huge fucking crew for the SS Getalong! Let's get the treasure chest of friends that is 1 fucking A!" the newly-minted pirate captain exclaimed as they headed in whatever direction they felt like. Lucky for them, 1-A was, in fact, in that direction.

Back To The Present

The two teenagers grinned at the memory, really glad that they'd met one another that day. They sent the happy feelings Izuku's way, and browsed their phones, hoping to find what was going on that was upsetting their friend.

As she was perusing news sites, Tooru looked to her friend. "You know, I was going to go with something really crummy for my hero name before you came along. I...wasn't really expecting to do very well, but you make me want to do better, so...thanks for that, Cap'n Kacchan," the girl said softly.

Her captain rolled his eyes. "Don't mention it, First Mate Bright Eyes," he said, then scowled at his phone. "Fuck, that looks bad. Reload whatever page you're on. It's probably just not loaded yet on it. This is gonna be all over the news for a fucking week."

Tooru did as her friend suggested, and gasped in horror. "There's no way there are going to be zero casualties...I don't even want to think of the body count..." the girl muttered in quiet terror. She felt a hand fumbling along her side, and realized that her friend was also probably scared. The invisible girl grasped the hand of her friend tightly, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Midoriya-kun and Iida-kun will be okay, Bakugou-kun. Just focus on my hand for now," the invisible girl said softly, hoping to comfort the bundle of nervous energy that stood next to her. She was startled when the boy pulled her into a hug, silent tears wracking his body. Tooru made sure to hold him close as the two made their way over to a couch to sit down.

'Midoriya-kun, Iida-kun, please don't make me a liar! Please be okay!'

With Izuku

The freckled empath was not enjoying his evening. First, he nearly lost one of his friends and a pro hero to a fanatic psychopath, and now he's being carried around by a genetically engineered monstrosity that has the mind of somebody he used to know personally amongst the captive consciousnesses in its form.

"Tsubasa-san! Tsubasa-san! Wake up! You have to fight it!" Izuku screamed desperately, launching one of his shields and smashing it into the nomu. Released for the moment, Izuku drifted down to the ground as the creature came for another pass.

"Wha...Deku?"

"Yes, it's me! It's Deku! You don't have to be afraid of me! Now fight it!" the armored teen shouted, throwing a bit of confidence and joy that found its way into his heart over to the winged teen. He'd have to thank his friends later for that.

"Yeah, that's...right...You're Deku...Yeah, I can fight...I can...WAAAAAGGHHH!" the boy screamed, suddenly being taken back into the dark depths of the nomu's consciousness.

Izuku wailed in heartache, feeling his former bully's terror and agony as he was dragged back into obscurity, the empath suddenly unable to sense Tsubasa anymore. Izuku brought his shields up, placing them between himself and the nomu careening at him, not willing to hurt the boy anymore.

He didn't have to.

"FUNNEL!" Marida screamed in fury, suddenly at his side and glowing red, the drones in question firing searing lines of red into the body of the nomu until nothing was left, then continuing further until even the gore was ashes. For good measure, the girl fired off an enormous beam of red aura from the chest of her armor, vaporizing the ashes. The girl quickly got out of her armor and looked him in the eyes. "Get out of your armor. You're done for the evening," she stated with finality.

Izuku did come out, but he ran at her with a half-hearted punch. So distraught was he, that he couldn't even put any power behind the blows he began landing on the girl, who just stood there and took it. "WHY? WHY DID YOU KILL TSUBASA-SAN? I COULD HAVE...I could have…' he wailed, the shorter woman catching his final punch and pulling him into a hug, rubbing his back gently.

"No, you couldn't have. Not at this point. Even if you could give him his consciousness back, what about a body? That form is hardly acceptable to live in. I know it hurts. I hurt too, but the best we could do for him is end his suffering. I've been in his position many times before. If he could, he'd thank us. I know i would," the genetically altered heroine explained softly, before standing the boy up and looking him in the eye. "That being said, I never want you to kill if you can help it. With your empathic powers, if you were to kill somebody, you'd likely damage your mind beyond repair. I can only get away with it because I'm weaker than you in that regard, and even for me, that hurt like a bitch. I'm going to take this Stain character in, but you need to go home and rest. I'll let Manual and Iida-san know. Now go home, okay? Get a good night's sleep."

Cobalt nodded mutely, and flew off, not one hundred percent aware. 'Home...Home is where love is...Home is where I'm safe…' he thought to himself, unconsciously heading to one of two places he considered home in that moment, even if it wasn't where his mother was. This one was closer, after all.

Before long, he found himself outside an apartment complex, Ochako coming out and letting him in as she comforted the boy, his pain so potent that even as he tried his best to keep it to himself, she felt it. She found some baggy pajamas that he changed into without really thinking about it, and the two of them fell asleep atop her bed, tears running down both their faces as they held one another tightly.

The Next Morning

Ochako rose early, not able to sleep very well. She was startled for a moment when she found Izuku in her bed with her, but then she remembered the events of the night before. 'I should tell his mom he's here,' the brunette thought to herself, sending the woman a quick text explaining what happened. The woman, apparently not all that worried about the two being together overnight, simply thanked her and said she'd be bringing some of his things over later in case this happened again, and offered to take some things of hers to their place in case she ever needed to crash with them.

Ochako smiled and accepted the offer, then turned to her boyfriend, running her fingers through his curly green hair, only to frown when she found something unexpected. 'A grey hair? Is he actually that stressed, or is it something else?' the girl wondered, upsetting thoughts running through her head.

Almost as if he heard those thoughts, and maybe he did, the boy awoke, groggy and a little confused before he recognized his surroundings. Izuku looked up at the brunette, then grimaced, and she felt him remembering last night. The greenette sat up before just staring at the floor. Ochako grasped his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked softly.

The hurt empath nodded, and they waited a minute or so for him to collect his thoughts. "You know that nomu creature that attacked at USJ?" he asked softly. The brown-eyed girl nodded, and waited for her friend to continue. "They aren't born like that. People are being experimented on, like Himiko-san and I were. There's more than one Nomu, and of the two I've encountered, both had the souls of multiple people trapped within them. The one I fought last night...had somebody I knew once. He was a bully, who hung out with Kacchan when we were little. I tried to save him, but…"

Uravity wrapped her arms around her boyfriend as he began sobbing again. "Uraraka-chan, he's dead! He was younger than you and I, and he's dead! I couldn't save him!" the boy exclaimed softly, brokenly, as he wept.

The brunette continued holding him. "You tried, though, right? You wanted to save him, and I can tell you weren't the one to kill him. That's all you could do," she said softly, rubbing the boy's back gently as he wept.

The two were interrupted by a knock on the door. Izuku lifted his head and stretched out his senses. "Iida-kun," he said softly, getting up with the intent to apologize. Uraraka wouldn't have it though, and pushed him back down, gesturing that she'd get the door.

The gravity manipulator got properly dressed quickly and got the door, finding her classmate in his hero costume. "I'm sorry to bother you, Uraraka-san, but I've been led to believe Izuku found his way here in his delirium last night, and I must speak with him about my abysmal behavior," he rambled as his classmate ushered him in, the blue blur quickly removing the armored boots from his hero costume as he made his way in.

"He's not doing that well right now, but I think seeing you will put him in a better mood. Last night was rough for him, so knowing you're alright will definitely help," the puffy-cheeked girl explained softly as she guided the honest hero to her room, where Izuku still was. As soon as their eyes met, Izuku got up, and the two started talking over each other.

"I'm sorry I left so suddenly-"

"I must apologize for the trouble-"

Upon realizing they were apologizing over each other, the two of them smiled softly at each other. Izuku rushed the boy and wrapped his arms around his friend's armored torso and just held him for a minute or so before peeling away and rearing back his hand. "BRIGHT SLAP!" he exclaimed, naming his 'attack' as he slapped Tenya in his face. "That's for making me worry so much! We could have died, Iida-kun!" the greenette chastised as his friend stumbled back a couple steps.

"You're right. I'm sorry about that, Midoriya-kun. I was not in the right state of mind. Please forgive me," the bluenette said as he recovered, standing tall once more.

The freckled empath smiled softly at his friend. "I understand you're not ready to take the name Ingenium. I have a different idea, though, since Tenya shouldn't be your hero name, no matter what you say. Please kneel," Izuku said, bringing his armor from the corner of the room and putting it on. A blade of green emerged from its forearm, and Tenya had a dumb grin on his face despite himself as the blade harmlessly touched his shoulders. "Until you can accept the name Ingenium, I instead knight thee Callidum. Now, rise, Turbo Hero Callidum!"

And rise Callidum did. Izuku held out a fist, and the two armored heroes bro-fisted.

"While I'm really glad you two are happy, I can't get changed with you two here! Skedaddle! We'll chat later!" Ochako exclaimed with a grin. And skedaddle they did, with Izuku accidentally leaving the cloth portion of his hero costume, wearing the pajamas he'd borrowed from Ochako underneath. That would be a laugh and a half when they realized this later.

The young heroes were saddened, but would recover.

After Internships Ended, At A Certain Park

Izuku sat upon a swing that he honestly shouldn't still be able to fit on, but he couldn't be bothered. A bag of chocolates he remembered Tsubasa liking as a kid sat nearby. Evening was approaching, and so, too, was Katsuki, the boy carrying his own bag of chocolates, and some bottled milk for the two of them. Cobalt stood, quietly greeting Kacchan, and they wandered off to a quiet area of the park.

The two boys found a suitably large rock, and began carving, intent on leaving the name of their deceased acquaintance there. Soon, though, Izuku got up, surprising his friend. "We're not alone," he said with a small smile.

Sure enough, all of 1-A, including Eraserhead, had shown up, each with a bag of chocolate of their own, Ochako looking a bit sheepish. "Sorry, I kinda abused our Bond to figure out what you were doin', and I told the others," she explained softly.

Her boyfriend shook his head. "Don't be sorry. Be Uravity. Thanks so much," he replied softly. Each of them left a single piece of chocolate, unwrapped, by the makeshift tombstone, and kneeled in silence for a bit. Eventually, they rose to leave, intent on doing whatever they could to ensure tragedies like this never happened again.

That's what makes them heroes.