Chapter 6: The Fight between Ryo and Ochako
A/N: Okay so I don't know how I led myself to writing an Angsty chapter. Honestly I think this version of this chapter is a lot less heavy hearted than the previous one I had written. I think it flows into the direction of them eventually talking things out and so on and so forth. I'm not that great of an Angst/ Fight scene writer :(( I don't know how, but my concepts for these ideas and stories always lead to some angst that I'm horrible at writing for! Anyways! I hope you enjoy it
!
"Ochako Uraraka!"
The sound of her name coming from his mouth were like nails on a chalkboard. A quick chill ran through her spine. Already her ribs screamed at her from pain and this fight was far from over.
"Ryo." she mutters under her breath. She wipes the blood from the side of her mouth.
"So you're going to fight me now? By yourself!?" he mocks her.
She glares at him from across the battlefield. Never in her life has she fought anyone this dangerous before, let alone having to do it alone. Her first mistake was underestimating him. Ryo was far more capable of destruction then she ever imagined.
His quirk was dangerous, and that's what made him so desirable by the League of Villains. He has the ability to refine a person's senses just by a single touch. He could force someone to feel the pain of a thousand knives by laying one finger on their body. Deku warned her before all this that he could even take away the sound of a voice if he wanted to.
If she was going to win, she needs to be quick and dodge him as best as she could.
Hearing a groan beside her, she glances at her partner trying to gather himself. Deku's eyes had already swollen over while bloody spit drools down to his jaw.
He had struggled to keep up with Ryo after he enhanced his pain to 100 percent sensitivity. Every hit resulted in Deku screaming at the top of his lungs. Ryo kicked him back down to earth, nearly knocking the hero out.
.
"U-Uraraka…" She could hear Deku's voice shaking. "Don't...fight him."
"Deku." she breathes, wanting nothing more than to rush over and help him
His body trembles as he tries to pick himself up. "He's too strong."
Ryo laughs as he paces around them, like a lion waiting to devour its next meal.
"So the next number one hero admits to me being strong, eh?" he jests.
Before Deku could say another word, his body slumps back to the ground. Ochako watches in horror as the light leaves from his green eyes.
Her mind spiraled for her next move.
Aizawa and the others should be there any minute by now if her message got through to them.
The fire was burning in her. She couldn't keep buying time anymore.
Do something, Do something!
She turns to her own target. Ryo had nearly gone mad in his laughter watching Deku pass out.
Stop standing there and fight!
"Enough!" She yells loud enough to grab Ryo's attention. Suddenly life around them is still and the only thing she can hear is the sound of her hearts beating.
"Oh," Ryo scoffs "Did you have something important to say?"
"You're not getting away so easily." Ochako snarls, "You went against us even though you had a choice. You chose the villain's side even after we gave you a way out. They will never see you as anything but a destructive quirk they can use for their own benefit! You're just a pawn!"
Ryo cracks his knuckles. She gulps.
He steadily creeps over. The dirt on the ground crunches every time he takes a step closer.
"And this is coming from the girl who faked her own name just to get intel for her hero friends?" his voice sounding as sharp as ice cracking.
She takes a few steps back.
"I took you and Midoryia as friends. I told you both everything about my past. You knew the reasonings on why I chose the League. I was left for dead at the side of an alley like some piece of garbage! . Nobody wanted me! Not even the heros! Yet, you still hold it against me."
Ryo's creepy smile was beginning to fade into a deadly glare as he moved closer and closer to her.
"Face it Uraraka, you are just as two faced as even me. You never cared to help me once. Your goal was to get as much information and sell me out. And You know what?" his voice slowly turns to a chuckle, "for a young aspiring heroine, you have to be the worst of them."
She steadies herself walking backwards. Keep your eye on him .Don't lose focus.
His dark eyes completely focused on her. Now her body had completely shot numb with back hit something hard feeling no escape at all from the sides.
Ochako's eyes widen.
She's cornered.
He leans forward, close enough to see all her features.
Ryo's smile sends a cold shiver down her body.
He tilts his face close to hers and wraps his fingers around her chin. A bead of sweat drips down her temples. If she moves now, he could easily manipulate something of her senses. His hand smells of blood and dirt. How much did he have on his hands? She could feel his hot breath run on her neck, sending prickles of goosebumps down her pale skin.
"Never forget this Uraraka." he finally says, smirking. "Even the best of heroes have a little bit of evil in them."
With a blink of an eye he lunges his arm up to grab her by the neck, missing her by a second.
Ochako hurls herself upward into the air, floating onto a crumbling structure. The young villain leaps back into the shadow's before she could even blink.
"Uraraka!" she hears Deku cry below her.
She glimpses down. A fear stricken gaze meets hers. He must've woken up just in time to see Ryo try to attack her. He attempts to get up again, groaning from the pain, until he crashes back onto the dirt.
Seeing him after a battle always left her uneasy, but seeing him this worn down from pain damn near petrified her.
If she could bring him up with her, she should be able to flag someone down to get him to safety. That is, at least before Ryo spots them. It was a fair plan, but she needed to be quick about it. She was sure he was waiting for his perfect opportunity to strike back at her, but leaving Deku defenseless wasn't an option either. He would do the same for her.
Swallowing her breath hard, she places her fingers onto her body. Her ribs throb just from the touch and she winces.
Ryo is nowhere in her range of sight, so this was her only chance.
Slowly, she drew quiet footsteps on the edges of the broken building. The hardest part for her was always letting go. Closing her eyes for a moment, she reaches one step outward, letting her body step off the edge.
The ground grows and bulges in front of her and she can see Deku on the pavement below. Quickly, she touches the pads of her fingers initiating a pink light from her. Hover, Hover!
And like the speed of a blinking eye, her body stops just inches away from the ground. She never seemed to get used to how close her falls could fatally be. A quick sigh of relief leaves her just before she releases herself, hitting the ground.
"Uraraka?" She hears a voice croak
She rushes to his side, shushing him upon their reunion.
"I'm here." she says with calmness in her tone. She observes him seeing just how awful in state his condition was. His left eye had swelled so much she was sure he wouldn't be seeing out of it for a while. His head had been crusted over with a mixture of blood and sweat. Both arms limp at his sides had changed into the dangerous zone of deep purple.
Immediately, she tears at the arms of her suit to create an emergency bandage for him. He tries to say her name again, cracked lips failing to utter the first syllable. "Don't stress yourself," she says trying to clean off his large gashes. "I'm going to get you to safety, okay?"
"But..Your forehead…" he mumbles and, to her surprise, rests his hand on her cheek, his thumb skimming the side of the temple. His fingers are careful.
"You need help too," he finally says after a moment.
"No." she replies, "You need it more than I do. Ryo is still out there and I need to stop him before he hurts anymore people."
Ochako carefully uses one hand to attempt to lift him up.
"Ah!" he grunts in pain, flinching at her touch. Ryo's quirk must've been in effect still if any subtle movement caused him so much pain.
"Okay, okay." she lowers him back down.
What else could she do? Any touch would torment Deku and she didn't want to cause any more pain than what he was already feeling. She breathed in deeply trying to come up with her next move.
Gunhead focused training on defense and offense training. Ryukyu focused on equipping strategy and rescue. No one had really trained her about using her own quirk. She spent many nights trying to master her own skill and now it was time for her to put her efforts into practice.
Exhaling, she hovers her hand gently over Deku's torso before pressing the pads of her fingers onto him. She closes her eyes in order to concentrate on her next move. She focuses all her energy on her fingertips and the air around her.
Pink light lit out from her hand as energy began to form in front of her. Deku could feel himself growing lighter as his body slowly lifted itself off the ground. Ochako opened her eyes, trying her best not to freak out that her own move had worked on the fly. "Gravity Pull." she muttered, as she saw Deku slowly hovering closer to her.
With this move she could easily control where a person could float to whereas if she just touched them, could have results of them floating into orbit.
Normally their close range would have sent them into blushing fits of crimson, but right now she felt the calmness of being near each other.
She focused her quirk on lifting Deku upright for him to float on his own with her complete control. Deku held onto her hand not daring to let it go from him.
"I've got to go find Ryo.." she finally says.
"What?" Deku says, widening his eyes. "No, you can't go by yourself! You're obviously hurt too! Aizawa and the others will be here any minute. You need to go get help."
"No," she breathes. She musters on a soft smile at him. It's taken this long to get any help at all and most likely Aizawa was stuck fighting off any other goons the league might have sent. She can feel his grip on her hand strengthen as his attempt to keep her by him. Ochako quickly glances up at the remaining buildings that are still standing. She can float him specifically there while help tries to arrive.
"I'll be fine." she says putting one hand over his. "I'll come back safe, I promise. I'll win this fight for the both of us." Without even letting Deku say a word she floats him away from her with a quick release of her hands.
She felt a little accomplished now realizing her newly thought up skill worked with her quirk. She looks up at Deku, whose eyes had shot with fear.
"Wait!" He screams at her, "Watch out-"
Just before she could turn around, she was sent reeling with a blow to her side. She could feel her helmet crack against a wall before she fell into the dirt.
"You won't win this fight." she heard a wicked voice in front of her.
She hobbles up, throwing her helmet off. Pain quickly shoots up her body as she holds onto her side. She'd been hit directly where she had already been hurt before.
Fair fighting was already out the window.
"...and to add," the voice says behind a thick layer of dust from the ground. "I doubt you two will both make it out alive."
Ryo exposes himself out from the brown cloud. Quickly he lunges at Ochako trying to attempt to grab hold of her.
"Get away from me." she growled, dodging his attack.
"You wanted the fight. Now you're going to get one." he said as his eyes traveled down her body trying to find any damage to attack on.
This was going to be bad.
She had to get Deku and herself out of here before he made things ugly.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could still see one of the buildings still intact. There was still time to at least get Deku to safety.
"Look at her!" Ryo says as if he's talking to a crowd "She's trying to act like a hero by making up some sort of plan against me."
He creeps closer to her. Her heart beats so hard it hurts.
Before she could make her attack, Ryo snags her by the arm, twisting it behind her. She starts to scream, but his hand claps over her mouth. It was cold and big enough to cover the lower part of her face. She thrashes herself for a release, but his clutches on her are too strong. She bites down on one of the fingers.
Ryo wails in pain, "You bitch!" he hisses at her. "You'll pay for that!"
He tightens his grip over her mouth. His hands push Ochako around and up and slam her head into something hard and cold.
"URARAKA!" she heard Deku cry.
She wheezes at the impact. Instantly, her ears are filled with ringing while her vision is being clouded by the mix of blood and sweat dripping from her forehead.
Without a moment passing,Ryo lifts her up from her throat, making her feet leave the ground.
She thrusted her legs around trying to kick him for her release. Urgency swarmed in her eyes as she felt his grip clutch tighter around her neck. His hair, which was usually straightened and smoothed, is tousled and damp. His face was flushed pale and his teeth gritted.
She attempted to scream again but nothing came back out. A sinister smile creeps onto Ryo's face, as she hangs her mouth open.
Scream! Just scream!
She pushed out all the air out of her lungs, but still nothing.
"I told you, you'll pay for that." he grins, "Now, let's make you feel pain." A charge of energy flowed through her. Suddenly it felt like his grip became ten times stronger than it initially did.
The boy throws her to the ground causing her to bang her spine against the ruble .She limps to the ground, swallowing the bitter bile rising in her throat.
"C'mon just talk to me, Uraraka." Ryo teases. He drives his foot into her side, forcing the air out of her lungs. The blow hits her like a bullet entering her body. Gasping, she fumbles to get back on her feet. Quickly, Ryo wraps his hands into her hair and slams her back down into the ground. A muteless scream bursts from her mouth.
Was this? Was this how she was going to die?
Her body begged for her to rest, but she just couldn't. Clawing at the ground, she dug her nails into the dirt, pushing herself to get up for one more fight. A manic laughter swirled the air around her making her stomach turn. Her vision began to blur, as her body slowly felt as if it was beginning to fade away into the night.
She didn't want Ryo's evil cackle to be the last thing she heard. She wanted it to be-
"STOP!"
Ryo's laughter is cut short. She hears a voice that is all too familiar.
With her body being lifted up from the ground. She feels a warm sensation being wrapped around her like a blanket. The wind whipped through her hair as if she was flying. She blinks a few times trying to focus as hard as she can on the only face she could see. Green lightning bolts light up his body as his face contorted with anger. Still, there were his freckles. The same ones that always made her heart flutter whenever he saw him smile.
"Deku…" she mouths. She closes her eyes, and wraps her arms over his shoulders. He pulls closer.
"I'm so sorry." he says with hurt in his voice. "I'm going to fix this."
She presses her face into his chest, embracing his warmth. She wavered her head back and forth, trying her best not to nod off. She could hear Deku ordering her to keep awake, but soon fell into a hollow silence.
Ochako felt like someone ran her body over with a truck. Her sides throbbed with pain, along with her arms and her spine. Not to mention the pounding headache pulsing the back of her head.
"Uraraka?" A voice says above her. Her mind felt dizzy, but she could have sworn it belonged to one of her professors.
She groans, blinking her eyes open only just to squeeze them shut from a blinding light.
"Uraraka, it's time to get up now." The voice comes again, only this time sounding direct.
"No," she mumbles like a child, "I feel all sore."
"Well, that's only expected considering you had a concussion and few broken ribs."
Ochako squints again, this time taking in her surroundings. It didn't take long for her to register that she had been admitted into the hospital. The consistent beeping from the monitor was enough to keep her awake now. She slowly lifts herself, immediately regretting it. She winces, clutching her side with her bandaged hand.
"Don't move too quickly." She heard her professor say. Looking up, Aizawa and All-Might stand at the foot of her bed, both looking like they had been running on empty for a while. She tightens her lips, holding back the immense pain shooting up her ribcage.
"Recovery Girl was able to heal most of you, but that doesn't mean you won't be feeling sore or any pain for that matter." All-Might begins to explain. His expression is a lot softer than his colleague despite the dark circles under his eyes. "You took quite a few hits didn't you?" he gently smiles.
She nods, resting herself back into her pillow. She could feel herself slipping in and out of the conversation as Aizawa and All-Might continued to talk to her about her injuries. From what she could understand, she had broken two ribs and suffered a concussion. Her voice was going to feel sore just as well, considering how much she lips weirdly tingled but she was sure it was probably from Ryo messing with her senses. She had some terrible bruising but apparently Recovery Girl focused more on the heavier wounds.
That probably didn't even compare to how bad Deku's injuries must have been.
Just then, her eyes widened at the sudden thought. Where was he?!
"Deku.." she began to say, not even realizing how hoarse her voice sounded. "Where's Deku?"
"Easy there." All-Might tried to gently hush her. "He's resting too, which you should be doing, but we also need to figure out some answers over what happened back with Ryo."
A flood of relief hits her. Hopefully Recovery Girl managed to help him as quickly as she did for her. The last time she saw him, she was sure he suffered both broken arms and maybe even his leg. Still despite all those injuries, he managed to save her before she passed out on him.
She lets out a sigh. At least Deku managed to make it out safe.
"Uraraka, do you mind if we ask a few questions about what happened with Ryo?" All-Might says, "We won't push you to answer, but we need to investigate him more and his quirk. He caused a lot of damage to the city and we need to know what happened during your fight with him."
Ochako looks back a little confused. Did they not capture him?
"We managed to make the arrest, but of course, he refuses to talk." Aizawa says as if he understood what ran through her mind. "We just need you to fill in the blanks and we'll take care of the rest."
She nods, "That's fine."
"Alright, first question." All-Might sounds more serious, "How did Ryo manipulate into you losing your voice?"
Ochako's throat began to ache as if she was going through the fight all over again. She shuffles in her bed, trying the best way to explain to her professors exactly how her fight went down against the young villain without making them feel guilty. All-Might visibly winces when she tells them about how he threw her around like a rag doll. "The moment he touched my throat, everything felt still." she began to say, now getting to her point. "I could feel this energy coming from both him draining out mine. You don't notice what he's done to you until you try to use whatever he manipulated against you."
The two shake their heads understandably.
"I didn't want to believe he could manipulate something so complex of taking away a voice." All-might says scratching the back of his head. "We were all aware that he could alter someone's sense of pain, but never this."
"That's what ended up happening to Deku." Ochako looks down at her bandaged hands. "Prior to my fight, he fought against Ryo, and he had manipulated his senses to 100x sensitivity." Her body shutters just remembering his screams. Though she had to admit, she was a little surprised hearing that they didn't know Ryo's quirk was capable of taking away voices. She thought Deku would have told them that.
"Speaking of Deku." All-Might began to say. "Do you remember how he was able to bring your voice back?"
Ochako stares back at them confused. He was the one to bring her voice back?
"Sorry, but I don't" she smiles apologetically.
"That's alright, remember we're just trying to fill in the blanks." Aizawa now says. Ochako nodded, turning her attention back at All-Might. His hands were placed on his pointed chin, eyes furrowed as if he was deeply thinking. "The reason I ask is because Ryo's quirk is known to have permanent damage."
Ochako blinks in surprise. She had no idea his quirk could be that dangerous!
"Which brings me to wonder how both you and Midoryia managed to get away without irreparable injuries. "
That got her thinking. If both of them got away free from Ryo's manipulation, there had to have been something they both might have done to break off the lingering effects his quirk had on them.
Before Deku managed to save her, he was in a pretty rough state. She remembers him flinching at her touch when she tried to get him to float to safety. It wasn't until she placed her hands on his torso when she noticed him visibly being okay to move without pain.
Maybe it had to do with touch!
If Ryo's quirk worked only based if you touched wherever he wanted to manipulate, then to wear his quirk off it had to be the opposite! Once she touched Deku where Ryo had hit him to manipulate his senses, he was able to move pain free!
Ochako eagerly explains this all to her professors. She watches their eyes widen, possibly agreeing to her theory.
"That would make sense if he was able to move again and you being able to have your voice back. Especially if he kis-"
Aizawa elbows the former number one hero hard, causing him to hack.
Ochako nearly lost her breath. What was he about to say?!
All-Might flusters around, but she's not having it. If she had to touch Deku's torso in order to release him from Ryo's quirk, what did he have to do to release her?
"What happened?" her eyes urged for an answer.
"We shouldn't be surprised that you don't remember anything after you passed out." Aizawa says before glaring at his colleague. "But we would be lying if we assumed that you already knew what happened after Deku fought Ryo again."
"You see, when we spotted you two from the helicopter, we saw Midoryia holding you pretty close to him." All-might mumbles. He stands further away from the bed, avoiding eye-contact with her. "His head was over yours...and it looked as though he kissed you…"
Ochako felt her heart flutter into her stomach. Deku kissed her?
So many things were rummaging around in her mind. What on earth was going on inside his head that motivated him to do that! Maybe her professors were wrong and he was just doing CPR? Maybe he thought she was in a life or death situation and needed mouth to mouth? Her lips tingle at that thought.
"I should tell you he looked pretty distraught when we arrived at the scene." All-Might sheepishly runs a hand behind his neck. "He begged for the medics to take you to the hospital first before him."
Still, she couldn't wrap her head around it. Any of it really. The last thing she remembered was the incredibly pissed look that took over his eyes. Despite his angry look, he still talked to her gently, letting her know everything was going to be okay before she slipped into a deep sleep. Part of her hated that she let Deku worry, but also part of her hated that she wasn't able to kiss him back.
Aizawa grumbles something to All-Might before the former number hero tirelessly exhales. "I know. That boy never fails to act without thinking." he says with a hint of embarrassment.
"Please don't be sorry." Ochako speaks up. The two professors look back at the brunette, looking a little surprised. "If it hadn't been for what he did, I probably would have lost my voice forever. I'm happy he did it. Just sad that I didn't experience it if that makes sense."
All-Might plasters his friendly smile, letting out a small chuckle. He must've known already that maybe Deku might have had a crush on her, and now he knows her feelings are reciprocated. Her cheeks burned thinking about it. Deku officially liked her back. Officially! There was so much that needs to be said once they see each other again! What did this mean for the two of them now?
Despite how fast her mind was working, her body acted the exact opposite. Ochako feels her body slump into the warm hospital bed. She watches the two professors exchange a look at each other before telling her to get some rest. All-Might turns off her light beside her bed. "You know, I have a good feeling about you two." He grins before walking out of her room.
She couldn't help but smile either. She had a good feeling about them too.
A/N: I was pretty indifferent about having Deku and Ochako kissed, but I imagined it almost as if he thought she was gone entirely. He'll tell his side of the story soon! More chapters will be up hopefully soon! :)