The Bright Hero, Cobalt

Chapter Thirty-one

A/N: I'm really happy at the moment. I'm so close to completing a multi-chapter fic that's decently popular. Frikkin' thank you all.

"Normal speech."

"AI/SHOOOOOOTOOOOOOO/Kacchanese speech."

"Twice Prime speech. Into Other Twice speech. Into Other, Other Twice speech."

'Thinking speech.'

"Telepathic speech."

'Sign language.'

Late At Night, In Ochako's Subconscious

The girl of infinity panicked a little, finding herself in a predicament suddenly. She would have lashed out, if not for the fact that most of her body seemed to just not be there with her.

A young man with long, shaggy white hair gazed at her with sympathetic eyes. "Sorry to bother you while you were sleeping. This...is not how I'd expected I'd be meeting you. My older brother's already been defeated, and most of his plots foiled," the man said with a shrug. "I'm glad One for All's in good hands, at least, Miss Ten."

Realizing one of her hands was there with her, Ochako communicated in the only way she knew she could at the moment. 'Who are you? Where am I?' she finger spelled, hoping the young man before her understood her.

To her relief, the man smiled in delight. "You know sign? Awesome, that makes this so much easier. Well, Miss Ten, I guess you could call me Mister One. I'm the original holder of your new quirk. Outside of keeping your original quirk useable, though, it seems like there's not much need for One for All anymore. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm glad you won't be needing its full power. You'll be getting it regardless, but it's the principle of the matter," the man said, rambling in a manner that was eerily familiar.

Ochako blinked, and would have giggled a bit if her mouth were there with her, before she decided to ask another question. 'What do you mean by full power? Is there more to One for All than super strength?'

The young man sat down, making himself comfortable. "One for All stockpiles more than just raw strength. Mister Nine would have gotten this bit for himself, but he passed it on to help his dear friend remain a hero, so you're getting it instead. This quirk also stockpiles copies of the souls of previous users, along with their quirks. Take a look," he said, then gestured for her to look to her right.

Sure enough, in a row that she was at the end of, were all the previous holders of One for All, the copy of Izuku's soul grinning at her with delight as the copy of All Might gave her a thumbs up. The woman next to them flashed a grin and a peace sign, Ochako realizing suddenly that this was the woman whose soul was trapped in that Nomu with the others. Beyond them, the others were hazy to her sight, but one of them, number five in the line, broke through the haze and approached her.

"All right, kid. Looks like you're getting access to my quirk first. My name is Daigoro Banjo, but you can call me Lariat, and my quirk is called Blackwhip. It responds to the desires of the heart, so be careful with it. Damn thing has a mind of its own sometimes. It'll take some time to get used to, but if you learn to accept your heart's desires, you'll be able to control Blackwhip like a pro, capiche?" the intense man explained, lowering himself to be eye level with her. Ochako simply nodded, a determined look in her eyes. "Good. Now scram, you little punk. Go live life or whatever. You're already doing us all proud, so just keep doing like you are now."

With a flick to her forehead, Ochako was in her room, which now...had a hole in the wall, through which Blackwhip had extended.

"Ochako?"

"Y-yeah, Izuku?"

"I don't know what this thing is, but could you let go? It's freaking Kaminari-kun out, and I can't get up and properly calm him down if this thing is holding onto me."

The brunette blushed up a storm, realizing she'd woken up Izuku and freaked out one of the class's insomniacs. "S-sorry! I'll try to get it under control!" she exclaimed as she started concentrating, focusing on the desire to not frighten her friends, damnit!

Thankfully, this seemed to work, and Blackwhip retracted, thankfully not bringing her boyfriend with it. With a sigh, Ochako got up and looked apologetically through the series of holes that led to where Izuku had been sleeping, finding Izuku looking right back at her, a less freaked out Denki standing next to him and waving awkwardly. The brunette put her hand to her face in shame even as she waved back, then turned to consider whether she'd be able to handle the evening chill that was now filtering into her dorm room with her blanket.

Her, admittedly, thin blanket.

The teen glared at her hand. "You'd better not be laughing in there, Lariat. You knew this would happen, I just know it!" she growled quietly, before reaching out mentally. "Izuku, um, sorry about this, but I don't think my blanket's good enough to keep me warm tonight, what with the...redecorating...D-do you mind if I stay with you tonight? We can, um, keep each other warm, maybe?"

She could feel his embarrassment through the Bond, but there was something else as well that she hadn't been expecting; nervous excitement. "Um, y-yeah. We can try that. It's getting a bit chilly in here as well, but it's better than going it alone. I-I'll unlock the balcony door. See you in a few, I guess?" the nervous boy responded, and the heroine of the great beyond smiled a little at the knowledge that he was probably blushing even more than she was.

Within minutes, the two were settled in Izuku's bed, just staring nervously at one another for the moment, hands intertwined. "How did you know that was me and not a villain attack, Izuku?" the brunette asked, curious.

The boy smiled bashfully at her. "I felt your heart in it. Your desire to reach out to me. I'm not sure what that was, but it came from you, and I trust you. I'm...flattered that you had some sort of freak accident that involved your desire to be closer to me, even if it resulted in a few holes in the dorm," the greying verdette explained, leaning slowly towards his girlfriend's cheek and planting a quick kiss.

Ochako giggled at the action and laid a quick peck to her boyfriend's nose. "Goodnight, Izuku," she said with incredible fondness.

"Goodnight, Ochako."

The two teens slept well.

The Next Morning, The Day Of The Culture Festival

Izuku smiled as he gladly aided the parents of several of his classmates in getting to the school grounds. He had to warp them to the gate, for security reasons, but it was nice meeting them. Finally, he came out of the hyperlane with Eijirou's moms, the manly teen's ma wearing an impressive cosplay of her son. "Thanks for the lift, squirt. Sorry that the cosplay took so long to put together! We should be fine to go home ourselves, though," Kagura exclaimed with an apologetic look. In her defense, the cosplay was nearly spot-on, the only real difference between the woman and her son being the chest wrapping and the normal teeth.

Rinko smiled at her wife as she gestured for the woman to get out of Izuku's hair. "Come on, now. We've gotta go show Ei-chan your cosplay and enjoy ourselves today. Now, Izuku-chan, feel free to call me up if you need to ask anymore questions concerning our previous discussion," the dark-haired, shark-toothed woman said kindly as she took her wife's hand in hers as the two entered the school grounds.

Izuku rolled his eyes at the two good-naturedly, then had to stop himself from jumping in surprise when a tiny hand grasped his, the boy turning to beam at his niece. "What's up, Eri-chan?" he asked kindly as he came down to her level.

"Mama and Papa are working security for a bit. They want me to hang out with you for now," the tiny tot explained shyly as her uncle did his best not to make an ugly face at the cuteness radiating from the child.

Izuku rubbed the girl's head and nodded. "Okay then. Let's go check out some of the stalls, okay? Maybe we can find something tasty to enjoy!" the freckled teen suggested as he rose, already using his power to check if any place was selling anything apple-related. To his dismay, there weren't any, but he figured she'd enjoy trying some other tasty treats for now.

"IZUKUUUUU! WAIT A MOMENT!" a happy voice called out from down the sidewalk, and the verdette grinned as his mother finished jogging to reach them, catching her breath as the boy took her purse. Out of breath as she was, the woman signed, 'Room for one more?'

Izuku nodded with a smile, then turned to his niece. "Eri-chan, this is my mom. Do you wanna say hi?" he asked softly.

The girl shyly hid behind his legs, but poked a bit of her head out to look at the woman. "H-hello. It's nice to meet you, Inko-obaasan," Eri greeted softly, bowing her head slightly.

Having finally caught her breath, Inko beamed at the child. "Please, Inko-baba is fine. You are just too polite for your own good, just like your uncle here! Speaking of which, are you sleeping okay, Izuku? Your grey looks like it's spread out more since our last video call. Please remember you can ask your teachers and classmates for help if you're stressed out, or even call me!" the woman fretted, running her fingers through the teen's hair as she made noises of concern.

Izuku frowned slightly, gently removing his mother's fingers from his head. "Mooom. Not where everyone can see. Besides, I told you, it's all grey at the roots now. I'm going to need to get dye if I want to turn my hair back," the teen lamented, knowing that after a haircut or two it'd be entirely grey.

The woman sighed. "At least it was for a good cause. Saving Eri-chan was definitely worth it. I'm just glad you only had a few bumps and bruises afterwards. So, what are you feeling like, Eri-chan?" Inko asked with a sweet smile.

The nine-year old pondered for a moment, before realizing she didn't really know what she wanted to do. "M-maybe we can walk for a little bit?" the girl suggested softly.

The two Midoriyas nodded, then Izuku got an idea. He kneeled, his back to Eri. "You wanna ride on your uncle's back, Eri-chan?" he asked encouragingly. He didn't get a verbal reply, but he felt her latch on, and after using a bit of green aura to reinforce his hold on her, Izuku, Inko, and Eri made their way to the festival.

With Ochako And Her Parents

Ochako blushed in embarrassment as her parents teased her about the events of last night. "Well, at least he was a gentleman to you. Oh, ya must've looked so cute, cuddled up the way you were!" Mizuki exclaimed with a grin.

Naoto frowned menacingly. "I need ta have a talk with that boy," he said sternly, before Ochako rolled her eyes at him.

"Papa, you and I both know yer just fakin' being mad. Don't evn' need ta use Izuku's power ta figure that out."

"Yeah, yer right, Ochako. He's just too adorable ta be mad at, and he only did it because of the holes in the walls. God, my grandbabies are gonna be adorable," the quirkless blond teased with a wink.

"Oh, I can just imagine it now, Naoto! Curly brown hair, green eyes, and those lil' blush marks! Oh, we are so blessed that Ochako found such a sweet partner! Why aren't we hangin' out with him 'n Inko right now, Ochako?" Mizuki asked with a slight frown.

Ochako smiled fondly at her parents. "He wanted some time with his mom, without the teasin'. Honestly, though, I'm still hangin' out with him, at least," she explained, then softly commented, "He 'n I are never truly apart. The Bond that connects us is real strong."

Mizuki cooed sweetly at her daughter's obvious adoration for her partner, while Naoto chuckled. "Well, tell 'im we're glad he's such a good friend ta ya," he said with a grin.

With a giggle, Ochako replied, "He says thanks fer raisin' me to be such a kind-hearted badass!" The younger brunette then laughed uproariously as her parents sputtered a bit, not expecting a response.

Shortly After 1-A's Concert

Himiko smirked at the pair of mad engineers before her, having hotfooted it to their work area shortly after enjoying the show her classmates had put on. Eri had actually laughed a few times throughout the song, she'd been enjoying herself so much. "So, what do you two need me for?" the shorter blond asked, confident despite the nervousness she sensed from her friend.

Mei couldn't really seem to hold eye contact with her for some reason, and Himiko was half tempted to poke through her head to figure out what was up, but she'd learned a while ago that doing that was bad manners. Besides, it looked like her American friend would be spilling the beans any second. "Well, Shuuzenji-san, we've hit a bit of a snag in the prosthetic body project, and feel free to turn us down, since we'll definitely find another way eventually, but…" Melissa explained, before becoming nervous herself.

Mei sighed, and spoke up. "There is no way to test the ability of the project to feel, smell, or taste things accurately without putting someone's consciousness in it. You and Midoriya-chan are the safest ones to test that on, since we can use a wired connection, and thus can abort the tests far more reliably if something goes wrong. We would have asked Midoriya-chan, since he doesn't have Ao-chan's memories of torment via experimentation, but…"

Himiko rolled her eyes. "But he's a minor, and you weren't about to rile up Mama Inko by asking for her consent as well. I don't understand why you're so nervous to ask me about it, though. I helped just fine with testing for synchronizing with Unit 0, after all, so what gives?" the shapeshifter asked curiously.

At this, Mei nearly exploded. "What gives is that if we calibrated this thing wrong, you could be in complete agony while we fix it! Hell, I'm starting to think we should just scrap the ability to simulate a sense of touch altogether, since I don't want to risk hurting either of you, not to mention your bonded partners! We can pull you back into your original bodies easily, yes, but the seconds it would take to do so would be absolute torture for you! I'm not about to just-" her ranting was interrupted when Himiko put a firm hand on her shoulder, looking into her eyes.

"I can do it."

"But-"

Himiko smirked at her first friend. "Meimei, I've been in absolute agony before, for hours at a time. My sperm donor was definitely not above using torture to punish his kids, you know that. I'll be fine with just a few seconds. It definitely helps that, if something does go wrong, my incredibly talented, trustworthy best friend will be the one responsible for pulling me out of it. Now let me just let my darling husband know to expect some turbulence, and we can get this over with," the pro stated as she did as she said.

Mei sniffled a bit as her friend communicated with her partner. "Ko-chan…" she mumbled tearily as Melissa contemplated whether she should try to comfort her new friend, before deciding to just do it by ear, commanding a nearby drone to refill the rosette's coffee and pulling the reticule-eyed girl into a hug.

It did not take long to set things up. They had to wait a bit for Mei to calm down, then a bit longer for Melissa to do the same after she suddenly got a bit upset as well, but now they had Himiko resting atop a bed designed for this sort of thing. With a clunk, a cable was inserted into her port. She grinned at her friend and gave her a thumbs up, which was reciprocated, then felt her consciousness get moved from her body.

Upon opening her eyes, or at this time, photoreceptors, Himiko's first impression was that her friend had been worried for nothing. "You moron," she said in a voice that sounded remarkably like her own. "You were worried for nothing. If anything, you need to turn up the sensitivity a couple clicks. I feel the seat beneath my shiny metal ass, but I don't feel it as much as I would in my real body. Now please tell me you've got some good food for the taste tests! This body doesn't feel hungry, but I could go all terminator on some ice cream right about now!"

The two engineers in charge of building the now mostly successful prototype rushed over to their creation, intent on giving the soul within a hug filled with joy.

Meanwhile, With Izuku, Ochako, And Eri

Team G-Force smiled happily as they walked on either side of their current charge, hot taiyaki in each of their hands. They had to remind Eri to let it cool down once or twice, but now they were chowing down as they made their way over to the beauty pageant. Naoto, Mizuki, and Inko watched from a distance, enjoying the glimpse into their kids' future.

The single-horned child looked up at Izuku curiously. "Unca Zuku? Why is Unca Kacchan in the beauty pageant?" Eri asked.

Izuku grinned at his niece. "His mom, my Auntie Mitsuki, is a model, so he figured he'd have a go at it since they look so similar. He'll probably do well if he figures out a decent theme to go with," he explained as he wiped a bit of taiyaki off of her face.

Ochako giggled a bit at the thought. "I just imagined Bakugou-kun in a dress, looking very grumpy!" she said with a grin.

Putting his hand to his chin, Izuku remembered something. "Oh, Hagakure-chan's entering as well! I forgot all about that!" he admitted with a chuckle.

The brunette beside him groaned loudly. "Don't remind me. She wanted to have you and me join as well! Don't get me wrong, I'd probably look nice in a dress, but I've had too many incidents with skirts to be able to wear one without shorts in front of a crowd like this," she explained, causing Izuku to blush from secondhand embarrassment as he recalled some of said incidents. Shared memories were weird sometimes.

Ochako noticed the boy's blush, and decided to tease him a little. "You'd probably look cute in a dress, though. Honestly, if you were a girl, I'd probably be in lesbians with you," she teased, poking her boyfriend's ever-reddening cheek with a smug grin adorning her face. With less of a teasing edge, she added, "Seriously, though, you're really cute, Izuku. Isn't he cute, Eri-chan?"

The albino nine year old nodded. "Unca Zuku's like a puppy with freckles. Very cute," she said, oddly serious about her statement.

The breaker of the laws of physics nodded enthusiastically at her charge before turning to her boyfriend. "So, two pretty girls just called you cute, Izuku. Whatcha gotta say to that?" she teased.

"First, I say thanks for the boost to my self esteem. I don't really see myself as being that attractive, so you've made me feel pretty good about my appearance. Second, I say that this. Means. War," he responded, an ominous grin appearing on his face with the second half of his reply.

With this warning, the group made their way to the pageant.

That Evening, In Katsuki's Room

Katsuki stared at his best friend blankly. "Seriously? You sure you want me to do this? It'll take at least an hour," he warned.

Izuku nodded firmly. "Yeah. I want her speechless, and I know you can do it," the verdette responded.

The blast hero grinned menacingly. "I'm gonna need President Skroob, Jackie Chan, and Jammingwhey in here in five minutes if I'm gonna pull this off," he commanded.

"Let me get in on this, too. I know a technique that'll help," Himiko said, the two boys sensing a grin in her statement.

"How the fuck did you know what we were doing, Neechan?" Katsuki growled, not liking the privacy of his room being violated.

"I just keep an ear out for thoughts of mischief-making and the like. I'm not constantly listening in on our class. It's kinda like hearing your name said when you're not really listening to someone nearby," the elder empath explained.

The human hand grenade rolled his eyes. "Fine, you're in, now get the fuck over here! You're gonna see some fuckin' magic!" he replied, cracking his knuckles as he prepared to get to work.

An Hour And A Half Later, In Ochako's Room

Ochako audibly groaned as she read her novel. "Stop dancing around each other already! Now I know how Bakugou-kun felt around me and Izuku!" she whined, as the characters in her book, who'd been pining for one another for three volumes now, once again refrained from expressing their feelings to one another.

A knock on her door had her yelping as she dropped her book, which never touched the ground for obvious reasons. "Yeah? What do you need?" she called as she got up and opened the door to see Kyoka standing there with a smug grin.

"Head down to the common room. Your boyfriend's got a silly treat for you," the punk girl said before turning around and heading back the way she came. With a confused grin, Ochako followed, setting her book down and returning its gravity.

It didn't take her long to make her way to the common room, where several of her students were gawking at something on the couch. Upon noticing her, a couple of them moved to let her see, and Ochako's jaw dropped.

"Midoriya Izuku, what have you done? I'm in lesbians with you now," the brunette said as she openly stared at her boyfriend, who somehow had been turned into her girlfriend. Her girlfriend in a very cute dress, with a light coating of makeup that brought out her freckles and blush and-

"How did you get breasts, though?" Ochako asked bluntly.

Izuku blushed even more, a bit self conscious despite this being his idea. "Himiko-neechan can alter peoples' perception of herself, and apparently others as well. I don't actually look like I have...breasts... but you see me with them because she's actively making my body shape appear feminine," the temporarily effeminate boy explained, before getting up and looking her in the eyes. "D-do I r-rock this dress o-or what?" he stammered, and Ochako found herself instinctively taking a picture with her phone as she gave her temporary girlfriend a thumbs-up.

With a bark of laughter, Katsuki held out a fist to his masterpiece, receiving a fist bump from the partial verdette. "You're fucking beautiful, Izuku. That was a lot more fun than it had any right to be. Now back to my room, cuz' I've gotta remove the makeup before you go to bed, or it'll do some nasty shit. Now scram, you mooks! Show's over!" he shouted.

As Ochako headed back to her room, she took a look at the picture on her phone. While the perception of Izuku as an actual girl didn't translate to the photo, she noted that he was, in fact, still adorably cute. A notification sound indicated an email sent to her, and she noticed it was from the Wild, Wild Pussycats' Agency, and apparently sent to both her and Izuku. Giving it a quick lookover, she grinned with delight.

"Izuku! We have an internship offer from the Wild, Wild Pussycats!"