The Bright Hero, Cobalt
Chapter Twenty-eight
A/N: Yeah, I mostly have no idea where I'm going with this henceforth, but I love the characters, so Imma keep with it. Suggestions would be nice for character interactions, if you, the readers, have any. For now, I'll focus on writing a happy conclusion that allows for further writing of fluffy goodness. Also, GODDAMNIT, NAPPA! I've been spelling Aurek wrong this whole blighted time!
"Normal speech."
"AI/SHOOOOTOOOO/Kacchanese speech."
"Twice Prime speech. Followed by Other Twice speech. Followed by Other Other Twice speech."
"Telepathic speech."
'Thinking speech.'
'Sign language.'
A Day After The End Of Last Chapter
Himiko frowned, hidden from the sight of her daughter. 'She needs to experience joy. This poor girl hasn't been saved yet,' she who was once Aurek thought forlornly. The girl was running around with Haro, chasing it, but Himiko could tell she was just trying to prevent the others from worrying.
Sensing for her husband, who was almost done in the shower, the blond came out of cloaking around a corner and greeted her child as if she hadn't already been there. "I'm going back to class today, sweetie. Be good for Papa, all right?"
"You don't have to do that."
Himiko blinked, startled at her daughter's response. "What are you talking about, Eri-chan?" the fanged girl asked, doing her best not to tear up. She knew what she was talking about. Why did she ask her like that? The cat-eyed girl cursed herself internally as her tiny badass turned to look her in the eyes.
"You don't have to act like everything's okay. I know you're worried about me, and I'm glad you care, but I don't know if I can smile like you and Papa and everybody else wants me to," the frighteningly mature nine-year-old elaborated, prompting Himiko to rush to her, getting on her knees and wrapping the child in a hug.
"Don't give up. Don't you dare give up. You're so close, Eri-chan. You'll be able to smile for real soon, I know it!" Himiko wept, holding her daughter tight.
Eri sniffled and returned her mama's hug. She loved her new family, but the hurt she'd been carrying for so long wouldn't go away so soon.
Several Hours Later, In Gym Gamma
Izuku was flung back by Momo, who had been absolutely destroying him thus far in their spar. The girl had formed a staff and was showing off her bojutsu techniques. The two of them had limited themselves to melee attacks, and while neither showed any signs of slowing down, it was clear that President Skroob was the superior weapons master. If not for the nature of Izuku's energy rods, he was certain she would have disarmed him several times now.
Finding himself on his back with the end of his opponent's staff in his face, Izuku held up his hands in surrender. Yaomomo helped the armored teen to his feet, not bothered at all by the extra weight of the armor. "You were sloppier than usual, Midoriya-kun. Is something bothering you?" the Class President asked with a worried frown.
Izuku floated his helmet off, letting it hover nearby as he wiped his face clean of sweat. "I'm just scared that we won't be able to help Eri-chan like she deserves. I was hoping that we'd be able to make her happy with what we've got planned for the Culture Festival, but that's still two weeks away! She shouldn't have to wait that long-WAAAAAH!" the green-haired teen complained, then shrieked when he felt something small and cold dropped down his back. Turning around, he couldn't help but laugh just a little. "Shoto-kun! That came out of nowhere! I'm glad you're playing practical jokes on your friends, but I have to ask, who put you up to that?"
The half and half culprit pointed over at Aoyama, the knight-themed teen twinkling with delight. "Aoyama-kun saw you were sad, and he suggested I surprise you with a prank. I saw the ice prank at movie night recently, so I figured that'd work well," Shoto answered with a small smile.
Izuku blinked. "I'm so happy I'm surrounded by such good friends. You and Aoyama-kun just gave me an idea, too! We'll do something with Eri-chan that'll get her so into it she forgets all about that bastard Overhaul!" he exclaimed excitedly before frowning and asking aloud, "The question is, what should we do for that? It can't just be movie night. We might get distracted and not notice how she's feeling. It should probably be something really exciting, that keeps her on her toes…"
As Izuku entered a mumblestorm, his friends stopped for a second before Katsuki shouted, "President Skroob! You're closest! You're on fucking mumble duty!"
Momo rolled her eyes before producing a tiny bottle of smelling salts with her quirk, opening it beneath Izuku's nose. The teen jumped back in shock, before the P.A. system went nutty for a second and he actually fell over. "Midoriya-chan! Get outside! I just finished something that should help with Eri-chan's frowning problem, but it's not something I can give to you indoors!"
"Two thousand yen says it's a goddamn life-size motherfucking gundam!"
"Bakugou-san, there's no way-"
THUD!
Momo's statement was interrupted by the sound of something big hitting the ground outside, a replica of Unit 2's helmet peering in from one of the upper windows, except...a lot bigger than the one hovering near Izuku himself. Katsuki's grin turned malicious. "You owe me money, President Skroob," he stated ominously before going back to his drills.
Toshinori, who had been standing on the sidelines and keeping an eye on the students, sighed as he approached Izuku. "Young Midoriya, if that gargantuan device can help Young Shuuzenji smile, you are excused to help her. Here's a hall pass in case you're late for your next class," the former number one hero said with a smile, quickly giving his student said hall pass before the verdette walked outside, finding a 1/1 scale Gundam Phenex kneeling as Mei descended via a rope ladder that she quickly detached.
Pulling her goggles off, the mad engineer grinned at her friend. "Don't bother taking Unit 2 in there with you this time. Eri-chan would probably appreciate sitting next to you without the armor, after all. Now, I've always wanted to say these words. GET IN THE GUNDAM!" the manic mechanic shouted, roaring with maniacal laughter as Izuku rolled his eyes and did as she instructed, floating up and into the machine clad in the green undersuit of his hero costume.
It didn't take long for Izuku to figure out which of the two seats he was meant to sit in, only one of them having a plug for his port. Taking a seat and allowing the machine to synchronize with him through his less sneakily altered costume (He'd wondered for a while how Unit 0 had synchronized with him without leaving a gaping hole in his costume), the boy quickly found he was much larger than he was used to, his control going from control of his body to control of the ACTUAL FUCKING GUNDAM WHAT THE FUCK, MEI-SAN?
"Judging by the bit of stumbling you just did, you're not used to your center of gravity right now. I have to insist you pick Eri-chan up with your aura and not your big, mechanical hands. Make sure she's got the safety harness on before you go anywhere! Go save her, big guy!" Mei called out from where she had retreated to when he began stumbling.
Izuku quickly got airborne, since he couldn't stumble if he wasn't on the ground. "I'll see you later, Mei-san! Thank you so much!" he exclaimed as a streak of crimson blew past both of them, heading for the dorms.
Mei cackled. "You can thank me by having Ochako-chan, Ko-chan, and me over later to watch the rest of Gundam UC! Not Eri-chan, though. She might get triggered by that stuff," the rosette called out as he slowly hovered over to the yard in front of Alliance Heights.
The teen in the body of a giant fucking robot stood incredibly still as Himiko hovered up to the cockpit area with Eri in her arms. "Knock-knock! Did somebody order an adorable unicorn girl?" Himiko said with a giggle as Izuku figured out how to open the cockpit. It was surprisingly easy, in the end. He waited for a bit, sensing the two inside his mechanical chest through his esper powers. Eventually, his sister spoke from within him. "She's all strapped in. Have fun you two, and don't fly close to any buildings!" the blond said mirthfully as she hovered out of the cockpit, which soon closed shut.
Izuku felt a ghostly tingle in his hand, and realized that Eri must have been holding his flesh and blood hand inside of the cockpit. "Thank you for doing this for me, Uncle Izuku," he heard her say, the girl having had more than enough practice to speak telepathically with him and her mother by now. The boy could sense a hint of anxiousness and worry, but along with that, he sensed something else, something that filled his heart to the brim, and was probably causing his real body to start tearing up.
He sensed her hope.
The joy of knowing that she was hoping that this would make her happy had his soul bursting with euphoria, and he found himself jetting up into the sky, an aura of blue trailing behind him and transforming his body into the aura-enhanced form. When he was high enough that he didn't fear damaging any buildings nearby, he flew off! Into the distance, crossing back and forth over the entire Mustafar province, excitedly pointing certain places out to the girl, whose excitement he felt emerging, unable to remain caged within her heart. He flew over Dagobah Beach, he flew over Tatooine Market Street! He even flew past Alderaan Middle School, though he didn't bother pointing it out, and simply flipped it the bird in his head.
Eventually, he looked up, sensing something else that made him smile. "Eri-chan, I'm gonna go really high up. Is that okay?" he asked the girl, not wanting to frighten her.
He could feel her smile, even if he couldn't see it. "Do it, Uncle Izuku!"
"I HAVE NO MOUTH, AND I MUST GRIN!" Izuku roared over their bond as he twirled upwards, barrel rolling in the direction of the stars.
"But you are grinning, Uncle Izuku!" he felt the girl's chirps of laughter even if he couldn't hear it, the ghostly grip on his hand tightening as they ascended.
Soon, they saw what he sought, Ao having descended to meet them. They hovered there for a moment, the ghost in the shell glowing blue as well as he knocked on his brother's mechanical head. "I can feel Eri-chan in there! Hi, Eri-chan! I'd come in and give you a hug, but it'd be a bad idea to open that cockpit at this altitude! Let's just go flying for a bit, all right?" the machine-bound teen exclaimed as he jetted off, his little brother and niece in hot pursuit.
The trio's hearts sang with laughter and joy, and Izuku completely missed his next class. It's a good thing he was doing well in English. It also helps that Present Mic absolutely adores Eri.
That Weekend
Izuku, once again, did as Mei had asked, and invited their original watch group to watch the remaining episodes of the Gundam Unicorn series. Except, instead of it happening in his room, he commandeered the tv in the common room, not comfortable with the idea of having three pretty young ladies alone in a small room with him, even if one of them was his sister and thus 'not a threat'.
Several of their classmates decided to join in on the watch session, more to see the cinnamon roll's reactions than anything. Pretty much everybody there had already seen the series outside of him and Ochako.
Halfway through episode nineteen, though, they hit a snag that, honestly, Mei should have seen coming.
"Wait, Marida-san dies?!" the verdette choked out, beginning to cry as Mei paused the show. The rosette was about to apologize, but before a word could escape her mouth, Izuku had flung himself at his sister, wrapping the startled woman into a hug. "Please don't die, Neechan! The hero Marida has to stay alive in this world! I'm not ready to say goodbye to you!" the boy wailed.
One or two of their classmates were about to tease Izuku about his worry, but thought better of it when Himiko levelled a glare at them, suddenly remembering that they felt things more than most people. It made sense he'd get a little irrational over this turn of events, in hindsight.
"Izuku-kun. Calm down and look into my heart. What do you see?" the cyber newtype hero said calmly as she embraced her baby brother.
It didn't take long for the freckled telepath to do as she asked. "I see Eri-chan, and Jin-san, and Mei-san. I see Ochako, I see my mom, I see Recovery Girl...I see all of us...Oh...Oh thank God...You have so much to live for, and you know it, too…" the boy said softly, gradually calming down as Ochako pulled him off of his sister and placed his head in her lap, massaging his scalp.
The fanged blond sighed. "I do still have some days when I feel suicidal, but as long as I have all of you, I'll be able to pull out of that mindset. I just need you all to be there for me. As for villains, heh, just let them try to stop me. I basically have the powers of a shonen manga protagonist, and my badass baby brothers do as well," she finished with a grin and a poke to one of said baby brothers' cheeks.
Mei smiled at the adorable interactions of her friends. "Okay! Now that we got to witness Midoriya-chan basically be a human puppy, let's get back to the show!" the reticule-eyed girl joked as she unpaused the show, sitting noticeably closer to Himiko after that.
Not long after, the group of teens finished the series. "Kinda wish the only gay character in the show wasn't a complete prick of a villain," Hanta commented offhandedly.
Tsuyu sighed. "It was made in the twenty tens. LGBTQ+ weren't universally accepted back then, kero. I'm glad we've got that sorted out now. I really liked it, though. The music was great, and the animation was top-tier, too. Story wasn't that bad, either," the rainy season hero replied.
"The vastness of the void fills my heart with passion. I must go. My muse calls to me," Fumikage said with a smirk as he stalked off to his room to write some poetry.
Sugarman laughed as he grabbed the empty plate his cookies once occupied. "I clearly underestimated how much you guys love my cookies. I'll have to make more next time," the big guy said with a grin.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Sugarstacks, but fucking don't. They're absolutely delicious, and for hero students, that's a goddamn problem!" Katsuki called after him as he checked to make sure his abs were still intact.
"Yay! I get to work out with my hot, sweaty boyfriend more!" Tooru cheered, jumping up and down excitedly.
Katsuki rolled his eyes. "You're damn right, I'm hot. And I get to work out more with my hot, sweaty girlfriend. Isn't that right, Bright Eyes?" the red-eyed blond responded smugly.
The fuschia-haired girl grinned his way. "We're sexy and we know it!" she exclaimed, jumping onto the blast hero's back and pointing out ahead of them. "To Gym Gamma, my mighty steed!"
As Mei packed up her stuff, Izuku, Ochako, and Himiko had gone to the kitchen to do dishes. Or rather, Izuku and Ochako were going to do dishes, and Himiko was going to get something off her chest. Hovering so she was a bit higher off the ground than her baby brother, the adoptive mother of an albino unicorn girl patted the teens' heads affectionately. "Thanks for caring about me so much, Izuku-kun, Ochako-chan. I'm glad I have such good friends," she said with a bright grin.
The two teens began producing blue aura, both enjoying the woman's wholesome affection and the fact that they were able to help her as much as they were. "Aw shucks. Ya don't hafta thank us fer that, Himiko-chan!" the pink-cheeked brunette replied bashfully.
The cyber newtype hero let out a peal of laughter. "Call me Neechan, Ochako-chan! It's only appropriate for someone I adore so much who's dating my brother," the blond teased.
As Izuku tried his best to keep his blush under control as he sensed the feelings and thoughts running through his partner's head, Ochako let out a squawk of indignation. "We aren't hitched yet, Himiko-chan! I can't call ya Neechan!" she exclaimed, the rest of her face joining her cheeks in their pink hue.
Hovering upside down and facing both teens, Himiko grinned like a particularly mischievous cat. "The key word here being 'yet', Ochako-chan. In time, you will be calling me...sister…" she said, doing her best Emperor Palpatine impression in the second half of her statement. She cackled as she floated off to her room, the sight of the teens' fluorescent red faces searing itself into her heart and filling her with oodles of glee.
The young couple continued doing the dishes together, the silence between them loud with their confused, hopeful, and loving feelings. It didn't take long for them to come to a very certain conclusion.
'She's/He's the only one for me.'
This thought filled their minds and put silly grins on their faces as they continued their very domestic activity, fingers occasionally brushing when they went for the same plates. If the fact that this eventually led to very consensual hand holding later on is a problem for you, how have you been reading this for so long?