"Welcome back to the Power Hour everyone. As always I'm your host, Makoto Tsukauchi, here to give you the latest in the world of heroics." The talk show host paused for a moment, letting the studio audience applaud before continuing.
"We have a very special guest joining us on the show today, after years working as a sidekick under the Dragoon Hero: Ryukyu, she's finally breaking out on her own and seeing great success from the looks of it. Please give a welcoming hand for the Anti-Gravity Hero: Uravity!" Makoto gestured to the curtains to her right as they swung open.
The audience erupted into applause and cheers as the hero walked out onto the stage, waving to them with a smile on her face as nervous beads of sweat ran down her neck.
Uraraka had grown a lot since her first year of high school. Physically, she was a few inches taller now and possessed an attractive hourglass figure, clearly visible through her skintight suit. However, mentally she'd grown exponentially more so, maturing into a competent hero who didn't flinch at the first sign of danger.
However, talk shows were an entirely different beast altogether.
Several wolf whistles sounded from the crowd at the sight of the hero's new costume, which only served to further worsen her nerves. Ochako didn't see a problem with her old suit, however the change had been a decision her agents had more or less forced upon her when she decided to go solo.
The costume didn't stray far from her original design, still carrying the same color palette of pink and black, only now it possessed tight black sleeves and stockings separate from the suit which was now closer to a leotard. The only real purpose this served was to expose skin at the shoulders and thighs. The people loved fan service after all.
In addition, they'd done away with the large cumbersome boots she wore and replaced them with much thinner metal ones packed with propulsion tech to help control her direction mid-flight. Finally, around her waist she wore a utility belt featuring four metal cylinders and a long translucent skirt featuring a galaxy design on it that trailed gently behind her as she walked, giving off the appearance of a comet's tail.
As the applause died down, the host finally spoke once more.
"Welcome to the show, Uravity." Makoto smiled as she gestured for her guest to sit.
"P-Pleased to be here." Uraraka responded nervously before quickly adding to it. "A-And please, call me Ochako."
"Well, Ochako, I hope you don't mind if we jump right into things, do you?"
"No. Not at all, go right ahead!" She smiled and the fans cheered once again.
"It certainly seems like it's been a good year for you, hasn't it? In the past six months, you've seen a staggering 84 cases resolved! That's quite the accomplishment for a veteran hero, let alone one who only graduated last year."
"Oh, haha yeah!" The 18 year old replied, bashfully rubbing the back of her head. "Thank you, but it's really thanks to the efforts of all the heroes involved that those were resolved. Sidekick or not, we're all working toward the same goal and everyone pulls their weight."
"Speaking of sidekicks, you were working at the Ryukyu Agency until 4 months ago when you finally broke away and opened your own agency. Might I ask, what caused the separation? Any internal conflict between you and the other heroes there? Perhaps even Ryukyu herself?"
Ochako had been prepared for this question, they'd gone over the bullet points of the interview beforehand after all. However she would admit, this was one of the questions she was most anxious about. Stepping out of Ryukyu's shadow and away from her protection had been a big decision, one she still questioned to this day.
"N-No, nothing like that!" She assured the woman and, by proxy, the audience. "Ryukyu was incredibly supportive of my decision. In fact, after I graduated from UA, she was one of the first to suggest that I start my own agency. I was actually pretty reluctant to do so at first, her agency had kind of become a second home for me."
"I see." Makoto nodded appreciatively. "And now that you are out on your own, do you see yourself picking up some sidekicks in the near future?"
"Oh, I don't think I'm ready for anything like that yet." The hero shook her head softly. "I-I learned a lot from my time with Ryukyu, so did all of her sidekicks, buuut knowing and teaching are two very different things. I definitely need to settle into my new role a bit more before I can even consider something like that." She stated before reaching to her belt, smoothly gliding to the next topic. "Besides, it isn't as though I'm completely alone out there. I've got a few helpers at my side."
"Oh, that's right!" Makoto leaned forward, an excited look in her eyes. "You debuted some new support items not too long ago! Care to share with the audience?"
"Gladly." Ochako replied with a smile, unclipping one of the four pink metal cylinders from her belt before lightly tossing it into the air. Almost immediately the cylinder righted itself, becoming perpendicular to the ground as two small propellers in the shape of rings emerged from its sides.
"This is Ganymede." The girl explained, showing off the drone roughly the size of a tall soda can. "One of my 'Zero Satellites,' each is equipped with special tech meant to assist me with my heroics; helping me rescue civilians, remove debris, and even fight villains."
"Wow!" Makoto stood up from her seat, tapping the small robot with her finger. "So, how does such a small little companion help you do all of that?" She asked, examining the item closely before sitting back down.
"Well, their size can be a little misleading, these little guys are built with hyper-density weights in them and actually weigh around 600 pounds each. I've actually already used my quirk on them all, and if I release it…" Ochako tapped her fingers together, causing the small drone to instantly plummet to the ground, cracking the tile floor beneath it. "It does that. Um, s-sorry about the floor by the way."
Makoto's eyes meanwhile had shot open as she stared at the small drone now partially buried in the ground. Hugging her legs to her chest, the host calmed down after a moment.
"It's fine." She assured the younger girl. "P-Please continue."
"Um, so yeah, they can form into handcuffs, extinguish fires, and quickly propel themselves at enemies, hitting them really hard. In total the equipment I'm wearing actually weighs well over a metric ton." Ochako continued before letting out a nervous chuckle. "Luckily I learned to selectively remove my quirk from different items back in school, otherwise I'd be buried in the floor alongside Ganymede right now."
"That would um…that would certainly be bad." Makoto gulped, watching as the hero walked over to the cylindrical drone before pulling it from the floor with ease. "Well, it's certainly no surprise how strong you've grown as a hero, given that you were a part of the famous, or some might say infamous, Class 1-A."
"O-Oh, ummm yeah." Ochako replied as she returned to her seat.
This hadn't been in the bullet points.
"Do you think your constant encounters with villains from an early age helped shape you into a better hero? One might certainly think so given that every student from your year is in at least the Top 100 Heroes. You yourself have already reached Number 29 at only 18 years old! Do you believe there's a correlation?"
"W-Well I…" The brunette's eyes darted around nervously. "I certainly wouldn't recommend it to future hero students."
The audience let out a bit of laughter, Makoto however, didn't say anything, gesturing for Ochako to elaborate. It seemed as though they'd be winging it for the rest of the interview.
"But yeah…It was certainly scary at times. Really scary. I lost count of how often I thought I was going to die. Honestly, I might've quit if it hadn't been for De-errr…" Ochako stopped herself before she could say 'Deku,' a grim look falling on her face as she did so. "I-If it hadn't been for all of my classmates constantly encouraging me to press on."
Makoto responded with some kind of comment, but Ochako was only partially listening. Her mind had drifted back to familiar territory, where it always seemed to go when she was nervous, or sad, or overwhelmed…Deku.
It was truly despicable what Public Safety had done to him, practically scrubbing away his existence as a whole. As far as the public was aware, Izuku Midoriya had been just another member of Class 1-A, the kid who broke himself apart fighting Todoroki in the Sports Festival and who died during the Final Villain War, not contributing anything worthy of note.
They didn't know about the boy who defeated the Hero Killer in Hosu. They didn't know the boy who fought tooth and nail to rescue his friend from the League of Villains. The one who brought down the Shie Hassaikai's leader and rescued a scared little girl. The one who stopped Wolfram, Nine, Flect Turn, and Shigaraki, saving the world more times in one year than most heroes could ever dream of doing in a lifetime.
Instead, Izuku Midoriya was out there somewhere, living as a masked hermit, still breaking himself to save others and receiving no credit whatsoever. His only legacy was a page in the UA yearbook, mourning him as a life taken too soon. Ochako had ripped that page out in anger, disgusted with the system that had spat on her best friend's 'grave' after everything he'd done to save it. The same system that now signed her paychecks.
Ochako was disgusted with herself.
"-chako? Ochako?" Makoto's voice cut into the girl's thoughts.
"Oh, s-sorry!" The hero laughed nervously. "Could you um, please repeat the question?"
"Certainly." Makoto smiled, closing her eyes. "I asked about the rumors regarding you and Ingenium. Are there any grounds to the rumor that the two of you are secretly dating?"
"H-HUH!?"
—
As Izuku slept, he was oddly lucid, aware that this was a dream but unable to affect it in any way, feeling as though he were in the passenger seat of his own body.
The hallway of the hospital lay empty before him, seeming to stretch out for miles as Izuku tried to limp through it, his right arm clutching his IV pole while what remained of his left lay in a sling across his chest, both wrapped in layer after layer of bandages.
"I-Izuku…" A soft voice called out from behind the boy.
Turning around, Izuku spotted a head of familiar blonde hair, a pair of thin framed glasses, and a pair of blue eyes stained red from tears.
"Melissa?" The green-haired boy's eyes widened in surprise, his heart racing as much as it could with all the morphine flowing through him.
Izuku remembered this encounter. It had been just a few days after his battle with Shigaraki…After All Might's death. He'd just woken up from a short coma following the battle and hadn't even been approached by Yokumiru Mera and the Public Safety Commission yet.
"IZUKU!" The American girl ran to Izuku, wrapping her arms around him as tears flooded from her eyes. She clutched onto his hospital gown tightly, as though if she let go for even a moment, he would fade away like a ghost.
"M-Melissa…" The boy could feel his own eyes beginning to well with tears as he brought his right arm around her back, even as painful as it was. "Melissa, I…I'm so sorry…"
Izuku, the current Izuku, felt the same flood of emotions he'd felt on that day as his old self. Grief. Sadness. Relief. Guilt. It hit him just as hard now as it had then.
Melissa's grip softened slightly, curious as to what Izuku meant.
"If I'd just been a bit stronger…A bit faster…If I'd mastered my quirk in time…Maybe he-"
"Izuku, you…you idiot!" The older girl redoubled her grip on Izuku, pulling him into an even tighter hug. "I'm crying because of you! I was worried about you! Your body…your arm…" Her soft hand ran along the lines of his bandages. "Of course I'm mourning Uncle Might, everybody is. But I'm more relieved that you're okay!"
"But Melissa, so many people died…I failed-"
"Don't you dare say that!" The girl pulled away from Izuku, an angry look in her eyes. "Don't you dare call this a failure! If you do, it's not only an insult to yourself, it's an insult to everyone who gave everything to stop Shigaraki! An insult to Uncle Might's sacrifice! Do you think he died for nothing!?"
"O-Of course not." Izuku was in shock, he'd never heard Melissa speak this way.
"Then don't you ever say that again!" She yelled before embracing him again.
"..."
"..."
"I…I never got to thank you for your gift." Izuku finally said, breaking the silence between them. "All Might gave me the Mid-Gauntlets you sent over from I-Island. I meant to send you a letter, call you, do something to show my appreciation, but so much was happening at the time that I-mmph!" Izuku was silenced as Melissa's lips met his.
His first kiss.
It was a short kiss, but one that packed so much raw emotion in it. Before Izuku even knew what was happening, it had ended. Melissa lowered her head, her forehead resting against Izuku's chest. As she listened to his quickening heartbeat, Izuku could smell the strawberry shampoo in her hair, at the same time he could only imagine how bad he must've smelled at that moment.
"Melissa…"
Before he could say anything else, a nurse stepped into the hallway, spotting her runaway patient. As the nurse called out to him, Melissa flinched before quickly running away, not meeting his gaze.
He called out to her as she ran, causing the girl to stand in place for a moment. Without looking back to him, she spoke.
"Just you wait Izuku Midoriya! I'll…I'll build you a new arm! One that will keep you safe! You'll never have to worry about being hurt again!" Without another word, the girl ran off.
—
"M-Melissa…" The green-haired vigilante murmured in his sleep. "S-So…S-Sorry…I…" Heavy drops of sweat began to drip from the boy's brow. Clearly, whatever he was dreaming about was distressing him greatly.
Himiko wasn't a psychologist or anything, she was more used to being in the opposite seat in that situation, but even she could see the pain Izuku was in. This wasn't the fun kind of pain with knives and blood. It was the kind that kept you up at night, the kind that burned a wound in your mind if you left it unchecked. Fortunately for Izuku, Himiko Toga knew just the cure for that kind of pain.
The two of them had been given a small room in the basement of the fight club for Izuku to recover in. The 'doctors' of the facility had done fairly little to treat any of the wounds the boy had accrued during his fight, merely slapping bandages over the parts of him that were bleeding and tossing him an ice pack for the swelling bruises. They had seen his exposed face beneath the bandages, clearly free of any of the burns Toga had stated he had, but if they had any thoughts regarding the situation, they didn't share them before they left.
Now here they were, alone together. Izuku was unconscious and Himiko had free reign over him.
Giggling excitedly, she pulled off the remains of Izuku's tank top to expose his bare chest, whistling softly to herself as she saw what lay underneath. When she'd first met Izuku in the forest, she'd been instantly drawn to him. He was bleeding and broken from his fight with Muscular, and exactly her type. What drew her even more was his face, it was uncanny how much he resembled Saito, her first love, her first victim.
And she'd thought he'd been perfect before!
Now there was so much more of Izuku to love! She hadn't been lying when she first saw him after all these years, he had grown…a lot. Easily over a foot taller now than when he was 16, if they were standing, Toga's head would barely graze his chin.
He hadn't grown too broad though, his muscles were rather lean in comparison to guys like All Might or Endeavor. One might even mistake him for being skinny in loose enough clothing. That being said, his muscles seemed almost impossibly dense, poking at his six pack with her fingertip, there was practically no give at all, like touching a pack of frozen hotdogs!
Smiling to herself, Toga straddled the boy's stomach, just above his groin. Running her hands along his chest, Izuku shuddered, but his eyes remained shut and his murmuring calmed down slightly.
While he was certainly a specimen to behold, what turned Himiko on the most were the dozens of scars that littered Izuku's skin, she traced each one of them with her fingertips. A large claw mark across the boy's large pectorals. Numerous stab wounds across his obliques. A bullet wound in his left shoulder. His mangled right arm was more scar tissue than regular skin now. From what she could see of his left arm, the prosthetic had been reduced to loose wires and metal shards dangling off the edge of the bed.
Moving back up Izuku's chest, she lowered her head just beside his. A pair of large gashes ran up from the base of his collarbone, sloping along the side of his neck and gracing the edges of his left cheek. Toga followed along the lines with her tongue, gently scraping the tips of her canines across his skin.
Beneath her, the boy shuddered once again, by now his murmurs had ceased completely, instead replaced by a series of small groans as the blonde grinded against his waist. The former villain was caught off guard when pink lines of energy began appearing across Izuku's skin just before green electricity began to spark to life around him. For a moment, Toga tried to move off of the boy, afraid she was about to experience a painful shock, only to stop once the lightning touched her thighs.
"Mmmm!" Toga dug her teeth into her lower lip, letting a moan escape from her mouth. That had been the most pleasurable sensation she'd ever felt! Like being caressed by a million tiny hands, vibrating against her skin.
Suddenly, what began as playful touching and teasing turned into desperate clawing and biting against Izuku's skin as Himiko increased the pace of her grinding against him. Gripping the hem of her white t-shirt, she pulled it over her head before tossing it aside to the ground, revealing her red bra beneath. Laying her chest against Izuku's, the electric feeling spread across her entire body, further amplifying her pleasure.
"OHHH! ZUZUUU!" Toga was getting close now, leaning back to a sitting position, she moved to unbutton her skirt, only for a strong hand to suddenly grip her by the wrist.
Izuku's eyes shot open, he sprung up from the bed as though Toga weighed nothing to him. In a sudden flash of light, the girl was pressed with her back to the wall, both of her wrists trapped in the vice grip of his right hand and held high above her head.
Sometimes she forgot just how much power Izuku held in that lean frame.
Despite all of his wounds, the deep bags beneath his eyes, and his handicap, he was probably the most powerful man alive. Even now, he could kill her with half a thought. She'd be terrified, and probably a little turned on, to see what it looked like when he really let loose.
"Where are we?" Izuku's eyes, narrowed and serious, darted around the room before falling back onto Toga.
Normally, the boy would have been a blushing, stuttering mess seeing a girl disrobed in front of him, but the blonde had long since figured out that Izuku had some kind of switch in his head that, when flipped, put him into full hero mode, complete with dark and brooding attitude. Himiko wished she could figure out how to keep that switch on permanently. He was so much hotter like this.
"Relax, Zuzu!" Toga said with a smile. "We're fiiine! You got knocked out by Bunny Girl and ended up in the infirmary. No cameras. No guards. We're all alone." She winked at the last sentence. "Just you…me…and that old, creaky bed."
"We need to speak to the broker."
"Already took care of it." Toga replied with a grin. "Sorry, but it's a dead end. Giran's not giving up his source. He's very careful about his clientele."
"I think he'd be more inclined to share if I speak with him." Izuku gritted his teeth.
"Tsk tsk tsk." Toga shook her head. "I wouldn't recommend something like that, Zuzu. Not unless you want to fight everybody in this place at once. Even then, you think he doesn't have countermeasures for when a hero comes knocking? He'd be in the wind before you could say 'Smash.'"
The vigilante considered the blonde's words for a moment. He could certainly fight his way out if it came to that, but that risked Toga escaping, and Izuku wasn't about to give her another opportunity. If this 'Giran' were to disappear like Toga suggested, that would make things more difficult, costing him valuable time…people's lives.
It seemed as though the stealth approach was still his best option.
Izuku stared Toga down for a moment before the slightest hint of heat appeared on his cheeks. Turning away, he released the girl's arms before walking back to the bed and pulling on the black jacket he'd lost in the ring, fortunately for Izuku, but unfortunately for Toga, someone had brought it into the room when they delivered the unconscious fighter.
"Get dressed." Izuku ordered in a monotone voice. "We're leaving."
"Oh, come on Zuzu! Don't be such a buzzkill!" The blonde's hand moved to her bra strap, gently pulling it to the side where it dangled off her shoulder. She began slowly strutting toward him, her every movement alluring. "C'moooon, you must be so pent up after all that-"
"We're leaving." He repeated, interrupting her.
The girl stared at him for a moment before pouting, crossing her arms and staring down Izuku before sighing and walking over to the pile of her discarded clothes.
"Where are we going now?" She asked, bending over to pick up her things.
"You're going back to your cell." Izuku replied as he tied his bandages back on.
"Oh come on!" The girl whined, slipping her shirt back on. "I did what you asked! You're just gonna use me and toss me aside like that? Some hero!"
"That is not what's going on here!" Izuku interjected, turning to her angrily. "You're a criminal, Toga! What's more, you're not well! You need help. Professional help. I know you see yourself as the victim, but you need to realize that your actions as a villain caused suffering to others! Think of the people you killed! Think of their families! Don't you feel the slightest bit of remorse? The slightest inclination to apologize for what you've done?"
"What about my family, huh?" Himiko's eyes narrowed at Izuku. "What about the League? When Jin-kun died, nobody apologized to me."
"Twice was trying to hurt other people. Hawks said he did everything in his power to-"
"Whatever. Let's just leave." The girl said through gritted teeth, tightening her fist.
Hawks. Just the sound of that name pissed Himiko off.
There was an audible silence between the two as they finished their preparations. One that was finally broken when Izuku chose to speak.
"The cycle of revenge has to end somewhere, Toga. You can choose to forgive and treasure what you still have, or it can leave you with nothing but an empty pit in your heart." He said softly before adding on. "I won't pretend to know how you reached this point, but you should know that you aren't the only one who's suffered."
Silence was Toga's only response.
The pair didn't say a word to one another as they quickly exited the underground fight club, neither of them noticing the trio of figures observing them from afar as they left.
—
The duo reached the safehouse soon after leaving, Izuku's speed assisting them in getting there quickly while Toga rode on his back. They wouldn't be staying long, only long enough for Izuku to address his wounds and Toga to put back on her asylum clothing.
The girl insisted on grabbing a shower while she was there, inviting Izuku to join her in the process. Izuku himself was inclined to grant her request (not the joining part of course) given the rarity with which she seemed to bathe while in captivity. However, giving the girl any time alone was affording her trust which she had not earned. Not to mention it would be difficult to explain to the other women already staying in the safehouse.
'I'm about to enter a room with two women who've tried to kill me, carrying another woman who's tried to kill me.' He thought to himself before shaking his head. 'What has my life become?'
As he opened the door to the safehouse he was surprised to find the two women he was expecting gone and one he wasn't expecting presently waiting for him. Lying on the bed, watching the security cameras on the television was a familiar figure with pink dreadlocks.
"About time you got here! I was starting to get bored!"
"H-Hatsume!?" Izuku's eyes widened. "What are you-? How are you here? How did you know I was here?"
"I tracked your phone." The girl answered casually, holding up the device in question. Izuku had opted not to bring it with him into the den of criminals. "By the way, someone left you a message. Who's 'Kaina?'"
"That's…personal. Look Mei, why are you here? I don't mean to sound rude, but I've kind of got some stuff going on." As he spoke, he set Toga down beside him.
"I can see that." Hatsume replied, narrowing her eyes at Toga who simply smiled back. "Uh, care to introduce me?"
"Hi!" The blonde girl greeted. "I'm-"
"She was just leaving. Isn't that right?" Izuku interrupted, turning to Toga with a serious look.
"Oooh, Zuzu! Did you just get caught with another woman?" The blonde playfully batted Izuku's side with her oversized sweater. "You naughty boy!"
Hatsume's eyes darted between the two for a moment, a frown forming on her face. She already didn't like how casual the girl was with Izuku. Could this be Kaina? What exactly was the nature of their relationship?
"Look, I just came to deliver you your arm back." Mei interrupted the two before her eyes focused on the remains of Izuku's prosthetic. "And in the nick of time it would seem. What happened? Don't tell me Melissa's tech broke down on you?"
The girl sounded concerned but Izuku made out a hint of a smirk on her lips.
"No, it didn't break down. I was just…careless." The green-haired boy admitted.
"Not to worry!" Hatsume said, now a full grin on her face. "Hatsume Industries tech will never break down or explode in the field! Guaranteed!" Reaching for her duffel bag still lying on the bed, the girl searched around for a moment before pulling out what she was looking for.
The Tonitrus; the metal left arm Hatsume had designed for him following the war. Designwise it was practically the polar opposite of Melissa's arm design. Whereas the Aegis had looked like a normal arm aside from its ivory coloring, this arm fully embraced its mechanical nature with various bolts, tubes, and plates on display. The Tonitrus was thinner than its counterpart, almost appearing like a skeletal arm were it not for the steel blue coloring.
"Heads up!" Hatsume called out before tossing the prosthetic arm to Izuku's left side.
His armless side.
*CLANG!*
All parties present winced at the sound the metal limb made as it collided with the wall before falling to the floor.
"Wha-why didn't you catch it!?" The pink-haired girl yelled, running over to make sure her 'baby' was okay.
"With what!?" Izuku retorted.
"With wh-With the tendril thingies that you do!"
"Oh…" The boy thought for a moment, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "Right."
It'd been a long couple of days for him.
"Hey Zuzu?" A voice called out from behind the pair. Izuku turned to see that Toga had stepped into the center of the room and was now observing the television. "Isn't this clubhouse supposed to be private?"
"What?" He looked at her, confused before turning toward the security feed.
Three figures were standing just outside of the building, ones he remembered from years ago. He hadn't actually fought them in person, only reading their dossiers after the fact. A man wrapped from head to toe in red wrappings: Hoyo Makihara, aka Mummy. A large man with a wolf's head, bird talons, and a lizard's tail: Chojuro Kon, aka Chimera. And a woman in a domino mask with long red hair reaching down to past her waist: Kiruka Hasaki, aka Slice.
Nine's gang.
"This could be trouble."
