A/N: Hey everybody, I'm going to start by saying thank you all for reading this story, I had prewritten this story up to this chapter all throughout the summer with a couple f my friends beta reading it as to make sure I could make this to the be best I could put out there. So for those of you who read my story and saw that the last chapter was the same as the one before, well I made sure to fix it, so check it out, and if you had come before then, well forget what I had just said. But anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I should update this next week so stay tuned everybody!
Steve watched his city shrink out in the distance as the trees whipped by as he stared out into space as his mind wandered thinking how much had changed from how he remembered. The super soldier had never felt so small, but whenever he crossed the streets, it never felt the same. Even when Steve would go to Brooklyn, it felt like he was on a new planet. Like everything the American Icon remembered about his home had changed entirely, and Steve had yet decided whether it was good, or not.
"So, where exactly are we going?" Izuku asked which caused Steve to snap out of his thoughts and checked to his side. There the green-haired teen poked his head out in between both him and Toshinori. The taller blonde continued to keep his focus on the road ahead of them, "remember that park I had you clean for your training?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Well, while we were waiting to get an answer from SHIELD, I talked to the owner of the park, and you could say that I bought some land from him."
Both Izuku and Steve looked towards Toshinori with raised eyebrows. The taller blonde noticed their stares, "what?" Both the teen and super soldier looked at each other before returning to Toshinori.
"It's just…"
"You just seem to have a lot of money.
"Even though we've seen your apartment, and you own a comic shop, which from personal experience I know it doesn't get a lot of business," Izuku explained the American icon nodded in agreement. "Ah, well haven't you two heard of the phrase 'don't judge a book by its cover?' I figured the two of you would be quite familiar with that, but to put it in the simplest way I can. Being one of SHIELD's best agents for almost seventy years has given me quite a lot of money for me to put in the bank."
"And besides if SHIELD lacks anything, money is definitely not it," Toshinori explained as he turned to the road at the park. Steve, seemed to find satisfaction with the answer, but it didn't seem to stop Izuku as the boy turned his attention towards the super soldier. "But what about you? Is SHIELD fine with you coming with us?"
"Yeah, you could say that," Steve stated as he remembered when he told Fury that he was taking the next couple of weeks off, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D couldn't, but laugh. Until he explained himself, and while the one-eyed man agreed to allow his break, but in return, the super soldier would have to respond in the case of an emergency.
The car ride was silent for the rest as Izuku seemed to look all around the forest, Steve couldn't help, but let out a small smile as he watched the teen. Until the car had stopped, "we're here." Both Izuku and Steve looked in front to see a log cabin.
The teen looked to his mentor with wide eyes as the three exited the car, "when did you get that?" As they were surrounded by multiple tall trees with the only other natural landmark being the mountain that towered over them. "How long did you have this?" Izuku asked, "about a couple of days ago." Toshinori replied as he turned into his enlarged form.
"I expected for SHIELD to have taken long before they called you back in, but its purpose remains." All Might explained as he opened the trunk of his car and pulled out all three of their bags. "First, let's put our things up, and then young man we shall begin your training."
…
Minutes go by as the three males unpacked their bags and both the American icon and the green-haired teen had left the cabin as they crossed the woods. Both he and Toshinori had agreed to a system where the both of them would start on two different sets of tasks. Steve would focus on physical training. As Toshinori felt he would not be any good at training with One for All due to his lack of understanding of the boy's situation as well as being afraid of hurting the boy with his attacks; so, the rest would the taller blonde would be handling the food and any necessities Izuku may need during their routine.
But today they needed an assessment. Steve had a theory, but he needed to be closer to Izuku to confirm it. Once they were a reasonable distance away from the cabin, the super soldier checked the area before noticing a small rock. 'This should do' he thought as the man tossed it to the teen. The green-haired boy fumbled the stone when Izuku firmly grasped the object he then looked at the war hero with a quizzical expression.
"What is this for?"
"I want to see something; do you remember what you did during that interview?"
Izuku nodded, "good now I want you to repeat what you did with that rock." The teen seemed to look a little confused by the request but decided not to argue against this. Izuku took a deep as he began his throw. Like the day before as the rock was about to leave the boy's hand green electricity blanketed the boy's index finger as he launched the rock with as a deafening 'BOOM!' followed it.
The teen let out a small yelp as he clenched his hand. But the super soldier also noticed that just like last time the boy's index finger looked a dark purple, and from the expression, Izuku made he was an incredible pain when he tried to move the digit. 'Just as I thought.'
Steve remembered how every time he has seen the teen use One for All this was the result. 'He is treating his powers as if he is just summoning it, instead of just being apart of his own body.' The super soldier focused back to Izuku, "well I think I understand your problem now."
The teen looked at his teacher as his finger began to heal itself, "you're letting your respect of both All Might and Toshi hold you back." Steve explained to which earned him a raised eyebrow from the green-haired boy, "what do you mean?"
"Well I can't just give you all of the answers" the super soldier explained as the teen looked even more confused. The American icon let out a barely audible sigh as he gave the kid a small smile and pulled out his SHIELD. "Let me show you something" the older man stated as he held the disc by the rim.
The super soldier's eyes quickly darted around the surrounding area as he created a mental map. Once he had figured the path, he wanted to take as he readied his SHIELD and with his immense strength. The disc whizzed past Izuku as it slammed into an exposed rock which caused the vibranium SHIELD to ricochet back at an upwards angle. The teen yelped as he ducked his head just in time as the disc whooshed past his head. Steve just smiled as he raised a hand and caught the flying object.
"Do you want to know where I learned to do that?" Izuku nodded as the teen responded to the super soldier's question, "practice. You see when I first found out about how well this could be used as a long-ranged weapon I had to practice for it to become second nature to me." Captain America explained and as if to prove his point again he threw the vibranium SHIELD towards what looked to be a thick tree. As the metal disc slammed in the tree's right side, it ricocheted towards another larger stone not too far from them and returned to its owner.
"I wasn't as lucky to have a mentor like you and Toshi; I had to teach myself. So, while practice doesn't make perfect, what it does do is create habits. Good practice will make good habits, while bad habits, well, you get the rest. So, I won't tell you how to improve, but I will give you a push in the right direction in case you start making a bad habit. Do you understand?" The green-haired teen nodded which was all the older male needed.
"Good, now I want you to try hitting this while trying to control One for All," Steve explained as he pointed to the center of his SHIELD, Izuku nodded as he readied himself to which the American icon quickly followed suit. The super soldier waited for a few moments until he felt an immense force slammed into his SHIELD as wind flew past him from the impact. It reminded Steve when both he and Toshinori would spar each other, but the soldier's memory was quickly interrupted as he heard the boy cry out in pain.
Steve quickly pulled back his SHIELD, and his eyes widened as the blonde saw the teen on his knees as the boy gripped his arm which had turned dark purple as it remained limp and unresponsive. The super soldier quickly dropped his SHIELD as the blonde went to the teen's side as he gently let Izuku lay on the ground and making sure the damaged limb wouldn't cause the boy any more pain.
As the two calmed, Steve saw the green-haired teen use his un-injured arm to cover his eyes as the boy gritted his teeth. "I'm trying to do what Toshinori explained to me, but I can't seem to do it," Izuku stated as his damaged arm was regaining its original color and began to reset itself.
"Well you've only done this a couple of times now; so, don't beat yourself up, got it?" The teen nodded in response to the super soldier. "Good, now what you said earlier about Toshi, what did he say?"
"He said I should be visualizing my control; I try to think of putting an egg in the microwave and doing whatever I can to keep the egg from exploding. I just don't know what…" Izuku stopped as he raised his hand, the boy's green eyes went wide as if he finally solved a complex puzzle.
The teen was about to pick himself up, but the blonde gently pushed against the boy. "Easy their soldier your arm still needs to heal." But before the super soldier could say anything else, the boy looked at the man. "I finally get it, before I was just trying to harness the entirety of One for All, but maybe that's not what I need to do? Maybe I should just try using a small part of it instead." Izuku explained to which the super soldier nodded.
"Okay we'll work with that, but let's rest for a moment and make sure your arm is working before we use One for All." Izuku nodded as the two waited for the boy's arm to completely heal.
The two had returned to their original positions as Steve raised his SHIELD. A moment passed, and Izuku let out a roar as the blonde braced for the impact.
However, unlike the last time he did not feel the familiar impact of the punch, but instead he heard a small 'ping!' Followed by the teen letting out a loud hiss as the soldier lowered his SHIELD to find the green-haired teen rapidly shaking the pain away from his hand.
"Ow, that wasn't enough power to start. What am I doing wrong am I just overthinking it? Or what if..." Izuku then continued to do his usual ramblings, but Steve did not stop the boy as he began to wonder as well.
'The kid is making this more complicated than it needs to be. We might be here all day trying to find the sweet spot, but if he does too much, we'll have to stop. That will be wasted time that we can't get back unless...' Memories flashed through his brain with the images of what the boy had done when he had killed the Leviathan, and when he threw the last ball in the interview.
With a new plan in mind, the super soldier sheathed his iconic SHIELD on his back. The boy was beginning to mumble under his breath as Izuku rested his chin on his hand. However, before the teen could continue Steve rested a hand on the boy's shoulder. The teen looked up at the blonde, "let's try something different."
Izuku nodded in agreement and looked up at the man ready to listen. "This time you are going to hit me, instead of the SHIELD." The boy's eyes widened, "wait, are you sure?" To which the older male nodded.
"Yep, as sure as I'll ever be."
"B-but what if I lose control and hit you with a hundred percent?!"
"Well you better not let that happen, and besides I've fought Toshi plenty of times so, I can take a hit," Steve explained, however, the man failed to mention how one of the only few times Toshinori had made it past his SHIELD it nearly knocked the super soldier out, but he didn't need to know the details.
"Don't worry, Izuku I wouldn't let you do this if I didn't trust you." The American icon stated as he readied himself for the impact. This was the best way Steve could think of to teach the boy, from what he had seen Izuku being put in a stressful situation that forced the boy to adapt, and as was demonstrated earlier with the stone, he can also remember how to apply it correctly.
The American icon looked down and noticed the boy looked to be sweating bullets. "Hey, Izuku" the teen looked up at his teacher who gave him a thumbs up, "you got this." 'And let's hope that I'm right about this.'
Izuku took his stance and pulled back his arm as green electricity jumped around the limb. But before, he could he could regret his decision a powerful blow landed slammed into the soldier's gut and pushed him back a couple of inches. Steve let out a coughing fit from the impact as the green-haired teen quickly went to the blonde's side, "are you all right?"
However, despite the small amount of pain in his gut a smile spread across his face, "you're arm." Steve stated as he pointed to Izuku's uninjured arm. The teen then looked to his arm, and his green eyes went wide as he let a small laugh. "I did it!"
As the boy exclaimed the blonde man straightened himself, "you think you can repeat that?" The boy nodded in response to which the super soldier took out his SHIELD, "well good I don't think I can be used as a punching bag anymore."
…
Hours passed as both Izuku and Steve continued their practice as the super soldier continued to drill the boy on using the small amount of force One for All that the teen could manage. However, Steve also chooses to add other activities to keep their training from becoming too repetitive, most of which included some basic exercises along with teaching the boy how to properly throw a punch as well as other fighting techniques.
The only time the two had taken a long break was when Toshinori had brought lunch for the two and when they had shown how Izuku had been able to control One for All. To which the taller male shocked the two when he stated it looked like the boy could handle only five percent of his power. However, despite the teen's surprise it seemed to spur him on in their practice.
They were both returning to the cabin as the sun was coming closer to the horizon. Toshinori had been waiting for them with what looked to be a campfire and decided to have their dinner over as he found it to be "fitting." At first, the teen seemed to worry, and the older man just reassured him that it would be fine
Now, the three were eating their dinner as the two blondes decided to tell stories about their days in the Howling Commandos as well as a few embarrassing stories about Izuku much to the boy's dismay.
"Anyways after we free village from the Hydra goons, the villagers decided to throw us a giant party as their way of saying thanks. And despite our orders to return to base immediately after our mission, this big softie chose to stay."
"Well, I didn't hear any complaining from the rest of you."
"Of course, not Rodgers because the rest of us knew Carter would give you an ear full when we got back to base," Toshinori stated to which the war hero rolled his while the green-haired boy looked at the two with wide eyes as he was engrossed in their stories as a bag of marshmallows sat by his side.
"Anyways they had this huge dance in which almost everyone one of us had a partner, except our fearless leader here. He just watched us go around the area, and he had turned down every girl that came up to him, except for one."
"She was small, around your age Izuku, and her cheeks were so red she looked like she was going to explode. The girl then asked if he could dance with her, to which he said…"
"If you don't mind me stepping on your toes." Steve finished which caused the older blonde's smile to grow even wider.
"You should have seen the two of them she half his height and looked like she would catch Steve on fire from how red she was."
"You guys would never let that go."
"Of course, we couldn't, especially when we told Carter, except the girl's age. I almost had to get in there from how much she wanted your head, but in the end, we told her the truth."
"Yeah, and then the rest of you got an earful after that." The American icon stated to which earned a chuckle from the taller blonde, "no kidding, I remember how Bucky couldn't stop complaining about how she nearly took his ear off."
The two men laughed as they reminisced, as Toshinori stopped his laughter he kept his broad smile. "Yeah, that's how it always was with you. Everywhere we went there was always someone who wanted to see you, from kids to older higher-ups in the army."
"It actually reminds me of a certain fanboy I know," Toshinori stated as he let out a mischievous smile towards Izuku, whose face began to redden at the realization of where this was going. "If you want to see true idolization you have to see this kid's room. Everywhere you look in there has my...or we'll All Might's face."
Steve did his best to hold his laughter as Izuku's hands were now covering his face. "Stop, it's already bad enough that you know about it?" The teen cried out, to which the older man let out a chuckle.
"There's no reason to be so embarrassed about it, young man. All it means is that you a lot of passion and there is nothing wrong with that." After hearing the man's explanation, the boy's hands dropped from his face now with only his cheeks were red.
"But what surprises me is the fact that you are still into the whole superhero thing. Since I'd think most kids your age would like that sort of thing." The taller blonde thought out loud to himself.
Now the blush on Izuku's cheeks hasn't subsided as it was replaced by a small smile across his face. "Yeah, most of them aren't, but the thing is I've loved the idea of superheroes ever since I could remember." The green-haired boy took a spit that they had been using to cook their food and took a marshmallow from the bag next to him and stuck it on the point.
"I think it all started with a story my mom would tell me." The boy started as he held the marshmallow over the fire. "She said that someone saved her and that all she saw was a tall man with a large smile. So, when I saw a comic with All Might's face on the cover of a comic and with all of the ideals that it promoted and I just kept with it ever since."
The teen looked over to Toshinori as the two smiled at each other for a moment before the taller male looked down towards the fire and his eyes went wide, "hey, hey you're burning your marshmallow!" The boy looked back at the spit and quickly pulled it back which revealed the large burn mark on the treat.
The older male lets out a heavy sigh, "you need to be careful with that. If you just leave it where it will catch fire and ruin the entire thing; you need to turn it to get the most out of it." But Steve seemed to notice that the teen seemed to zone out, "oh no, he's at it again." The super soldier didn't need to ask as he noticed it was similar expression he had when Izuku had figured out something. Then without warning the teen stood straight up, "I get it now!"
"What a shock." Toshinori sarcastically stated, but Izuku did not seem to take notice as he looked over at Steve. "This morning when you told me that my respect for All Might was holding me back."
"Did you say that?" Toshinori asked with an upset tone to the super soldier who just shrugged his shoulders and gave his friend an I'll-explain-later kind of look. "I didn't think about it that much at the moment, but when I look back at it, I've always thought of One for All as All Might's power, that it was something I had to summon. But it isn't, it's a part of my body!" The boy explained as he went into the marshmallow bag and pulled out the puffy treat and held it out to the men.
"This marshmallow is me, and the fire is One for All if I can take the five percent I can already harness and spread it across my body so that I can get the most out of it." As to prove his point Izuku clenched his fist and teeth as green sparks began to erupt from his feet and started to move across his body with what looked to be light red veins that appeared around different parts of his body.
It took a few seconds for it to completely envelop his body as the teen looked at the two blondes with an excited smile, "like this!" Toshinori smiled, "well look at that. It looks like you're on a roll with One for All!" Izuku smiled at his mentor before turning to Steve with a serious expression.
"Can I practice with this for a little bit?" The teen asked the super soldier who looked towards the sky as the sun was reaching closer to its horizon. Steve nodded towards Izuku, "sure, but as soon as it gets dark we're going into the cabin, got it?" The boy nodded as he walked away, "and stay within eyesight!" The American icon yelled out as the green-haired teen and did some agility-based exercises.
"He's quick, isn't he?" Steve asked to which Toshinori nodded, "yeah, that kid has always had a good head on his shoulders." The two watched in silence as green sparks fly around the area. "So, I guess we're not going to talk about it?"
"What do you mean?" The taller man asked calmly, "you know what." Steve stated to which Toshinori let out a heavy sigh. "Does he at least know?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he figured it out not long he found out that I was All Might, but he hasn't said anything, and I wouldn't blame him."
"Why?" Steve asked to which Toshinori's expression fell, "well in Izuku's story he left out one detail." Steve's eyes widened, "what happened?" The super soldier asked.
Toshinori let out another sigh as he looked up at the darkening sky. "There was a massive fire in this one building; it was so bad I couldn't use One for All to force it off of it cause it could have spread to other buildings. I saved everyone that I could that the firefighters couldn't reach and then there was a report of a couple trapped in one of the floors."
"So, I did my thing and reached them only to find a woman completely knocked out, and a man holding the only thing keeping the entire room collapsing on them. He begged me to get his wife out of there and so, I promised him that I would get him as soon as possible."
"Then I escaped with her in tow and just as I reassured her that I would get her husband the entire building fell. There was only one casualty. Hisashi Midoriya, husband and father to Inko and Izuku Midoriya."
Steve's eyes had become even wider as the realization dawned on him. "So, the day I saved Izuku's mother was the same day I made her widow, and the boy fatherless. After that day I promised myself to save as many people I could within arm's reach. But it didn't stop the nightmares, and when I first met both him and Inko, I thought it was the universe punishing me."
"But when they kept on coming back, I guess my view on it changed. Instead of the universe punishing me I felt that it was giving me a chance to prove the Hisashi's sacrifice wasn't in vain by protecting them." Toshinori explained as he watched the form of Izuku bouncing around them.
Steve smiled towards his old friend who let out a deep and heavy sigh as his shoulders sagged as if a great burden had been lifted off of them. "Well, I'll be at the cabin make sure Izuku doesn't overdo anything." The super soldier nodded as the taller male left him.
The American icon watched as dusk was approaching and came up with an idea he wanted to try at least once before they turned in for the night. "Hey Izuku, come here for a quick moment," Steve called out to which the teen quickly responded to as leaped over to the blonde's side.
"Is something wrong? Are we going back inside, but I thought you said that I had until it gets dark?" Izuku asked in rapid succession to which Steve raised his hands and let out a chuckle. "Easy there, I hadn't had a chance to explain myself. I just wanted to see how you were handling with this new ability."
The boy's eyes went wide for a moment as he let out an excited smile. "Yeah, I think I'm getting used to this feeling, I've even come up with a name for it!"
"A name?"
"Yeah, in some of the comics that I've read the heroes there would name some of their attacks or abilities. Like All Might would name his attacks after different states and cities. I've decided to call it 'Full Cowl!'" Izuku explained even though at first Steve found the idea to be a little silly, but he didn't find anything wrong with it. The super soldier smiled and nodded, "well I also wanted to try something before it gets dark."
The teen nodded waiting to hear the American icon's orders. "I wanted to try Full Cowl in a quick sparring match just to see what I'm going to be working with before we finish for tonight. As I told you before…"
"Good practice creates good habits." Izuku finished which earned a nod from his teacher. The green-haired boy clenched his fists together as he began to activate Full Cowl. Then without any warning, Steve gave the boy a quick jab in the gut, which caused him to be launched back a couple of feet and caused him to go into a coughing fit.
The green-haired teen looked up at the icon with a quizzical look to which the blonde simply smiled as he entered into his boxing stance. "The first rule of any fight is that your opponent isn't going to sit back and wait till you're ready."
The super soldier didn't want to do anything too complicated all he wanted was to test Izuku. Steve quickly moved into the boy's space ready to throw another punch. This time Izuku reacted much quicker than last time as his hand sparked with green electricity and threw it up in the air causing the dirt beneath them to launch towards the super soldier forcing the blonde to cover his face. The man felt a surge of wind fly past him.
As Steve quickly turned around to find Izuku far from his reach, with a quick glance back where the boy previously was at and noticed the large footprint where he was prior. 'He must've put five percent into his feet after he made the screen to create more distance, clever.'
But the super soldier didn't have time to praise the boy as the teen seemed to be a third of the way, so he quickly moved to get closer. However, the teen was able to completely activate Full Cowl and quickly got into Steve's face as the teen threw a punch, to which the super soldier easily dodged away from it.
Then what came next was a set of punches thrown in rapid succession by the teen, but due to Izuku's lack of experience of fighting Steve found them easy to dodge and block as he seemed to telegraph every move. On the last punch, the blonde deflected it to the side causing the boy's side to be completely open. Steve didn't hesitate as counterattacked with a jab into the Izuku's side making the boy off balance.
The older man followed it up with a right hook. However this time the boy dodged the attack as he dashed passed the brawler, and in the corner of his eye, he saw the green-haired teen behind him as Izuku got ready to throw a leaping punch. But it didn't seem to worry him as he bobbed his head to the side causing the attack to barely fly past his head, which made the man smile as he grabbed the boy's arm and threw the teen to the ground and quickly raised his fist over Izuku's head.
"You yield?" The green-haired teen nodded the super soldier's body relaxed as he offered up his arm to which Izuku grabbed it, and the blonde pulled the boy up. "That was good. However, we definitely need to work on your fighting style. But that's the whole point of being here, isn't it?"
"Yeah, but I have to ask are we going to do this every day?" Izuku asked to which Steve shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe, but I got other things in mind."
"Like what?"
"I thought that we could do some races, but we can talk about it in the morning. C'mon let's go to the cabin before Toshi yells at us."
Steve then wrapped his arm around the teen's shoulder and walked back to the cabin as the sunset.
Izuku jumped over the brush as he sprinted through the dense forest as Full Cowl surrounded his body. The teen looked around and noticed the familiar form Steve Rodgers sprinting, 'I need to catch up!' Izuku thought to himself as he continued his sprint.
Both he and Steve were training for almost two weeks now, and now Izuku felt that his control of One for All as the two would teach him by doing multiple exercises using Full Cowl as well as focusing it on single parts of his body. While Izuku's output didn't increase from the five percent he was already able to control, he had found multiple uses of how to best utilize what he can do.
One of the ways Steve found would be helping improve his agility which was why he was in the forest. The super soldier thought it would be best to test the teen by making a race that would go up to the mountain that was near the log cabin and Steve would go through the trail. While Izuku had to go through the forest itself to reach their destination; however, the catch was that Izuku could never take the same path twice. So, this forced the green-haired boy to think of new ways to traverse as well as go through an area that was filled with unpredictable obstacles while racing the America icon who had fewer obstacles for him to watch out for. Along with the man's already incredible speed, it forced the teen to improvise, act quickly, and do everything he could not to hesitate.
As soon as Izuku spotted the super soldier, the teen quickly assessed his surroundings and noticed a path that he could take. The boy ran to where a large boulder with what looked to be a broad edge and used it to jump to between a tree that seemed to split into a letter 'Y.' Izuku then launched himself towards a sturdy branch as he used the momentum he gathered to propel himself to the ground.
"See you've finally made it, I guess you didn't get lost this time!" Steve joked the teen ignored the jab as he kicked his feet over a dead tree that blocked his path and he pushed off it using his hands to propel him even farther. "You seem to handle clearing the forest from the lack of dirt on your face."
"Didn't you say that if you have the energy to talk, then you should use that energy to run?" Izuku jokingly asked, the teen then heard a chuckle, "I guess I should follow my own advice then." Steve stated as without any warning the super soldier went into a full on sprint as the path split off from the teen.
'The trail should make a wide bend before it straightens out towards the end. I need to cut through that if I'm going to beat Steve.' Izuku concluded as he bolted through the natural obstacles in his path, as the mountain became closer with every stride. The teen-focused on the different parts of the rock face looking for different footholds and other places where he could have support. He then noticed a tree with what looked to be a sturdy looking branch that looked to be near the edge of a cliff that was connected to the mountain.
Without hesitation, the teen quickly leaped towards the wall of rock and pushed off one of the footholds and launched himself towards one of the nearest rocks that the teen was able to grab. Then in quick rapid succession launching himself with his upper body towards the closest thing his hands could hold, until he was about a couple of feet from the tree branch. As Izuku quickly looked towards the branch and made a quick calculation in his mind before throwing himself straight up, he then used his right hand and foot to launch himself onto the branch.
Luckily, he was able to land his feet on the branch as the boy hugged the tree. 'Okay, it's okay just don't look down.' Izuku thought to himself as he disengaged Full Cowl and looked at the edge of the cliff, 'I can just be able to grab onto the ledge without any problem, but I have to do this carefully since it's a long trip…'
"Crack!" The sharp sound snapped the teen out of his thought process as he looked down towards the branch. The branch was becoming lower as it began to creak and groan under his weight. 'Or I can just go now!'
Izuku reactivated Full Cowl as he launched himself as the branch completely snapped from the force of the jump. The teen reached his arms out as he grabbed the edge, "well, I guess I missed judged that one." The green-haired boy thought out loud to himself as he pulled himself over the edge and gathered his breath. Izuku quickly jumped back to his feet as he returned to the trail.
However, to the teen's shock, he found Steve had sprinted right past him. Izuku then sprinted towards the super soldier quickly catching up to the man. The American icon simply smiled at the boy but didn't make any comment as their end was approaching. In front of them stood what looked to be where hikers who walked the trail would take a break at and standing tall watching was the enlarged form of All Might with what looked to be a stopwatch in his hand.
Izuku decided to take a chance as he slowed himself just enough to behind Steve, he watched the side waiting for the right moment, it wasn't until he saw what looked to be a large rock standing out. The green-haired teen didn't waste a moment more as he quickly jumped towards it and pushed off of it and doing so that he would be in front of Steve.
The teen smiled as he Steve began to slow down as to not run into Izuku, 'just as I thought, now I've got a small window before he decides to just go around me.' The green-haired boy thought as his foot was firmly planted onto the ground and sprinted as hard as he could towards the end. He felt the super soldier rapidly gaining on the teen as the towering form of All Might, but before Steve had the chance to pass the green-haired boy the two quickly passed Toshinori marking the end of their race.
Izuku slid to a stop while the super soldier slowed himself down to a standstill. Both the green-haired teen and the blonde were taking heavy breaths as they looked towards each other. Steve smiled and nodded towards Izuku as he felt a heavy hand on his back, "good job young man. You were able to do over six miles in ten and a half minutes that's a personal best!" The enlarged hero exclaimed as the muscular male slapped the teen on the back that nearly caused Izuku to hit the ground.
"That was good Izuku, take a quick break to breathe then I want to do us to spar." Izuku nodded as he gathered his breath, but Toshinori looked at the super soldier with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure that's such a good idea, Steve? He just finished a difficult race already; won't you overwork him?"
But the blonde shook his head towards the tallest male. "Not, really or at least that won't be my goal for today. Since tomorrow we will leave early, the two of us won't be able to get a chance to practice. And Izuku needs to cover a lot of ground today, to make sure he succeeds tomorrow." Steve explained, the super soldier had made it clear that today would be one of the hardest days, even so far as to call it 'dead day' as the older man explained, 'you're going to wish you were dead before the day ends.' So far, he was keeping his word as just this morning he could feel his arms and legs feeling incredibly sore.
But Izuku did not complain, Steve was right, they need to do as much as they could before the teen could confront Aizawa's tests, and it if it meant to push his body to its limits, well it wouldn't be the first time.
"Well shouldn't the two of you eat first after completing such a difficult race, he should at least deserve some lunch after burning so many calories?" All Might asked as he pointed to a bag near on one of the picnic tables. "Yeah, but in a fight, I think it would be best for one of us to accidentally throw up during the spar, to be honest."
This caused the taller male to let out a nervous laugh, "I guess you do have a point there." Toshinori admitted as he rubbed the back of his head, Steve then looked back to the teen, "you ready Izuku?" To which the boy nodded, the two then took up positions their positions as Izuku made sure outside Steve's range as he learned from their first sparring match.
Throughout these two weeks, Steve has taught the teen some of the basics of fighting as the two continued their spars. They had also trained on activating Full Cowl in a short amount of time, so he didn't have to take so long charging it up now instead of the five seconds it took before now he could bring it out in under a second.
As to demonstrate this the teen's body erupted with green electrical almost instantly, both Steve and Izuku then went into their respective stances. The two stood there waiting for the other to make the first move, then without warning the boy launched himself towards the super soldier. Izuku threw readied a heavy right hook aimed straight for the man's temple, to which Steve countered by intercepting the punch by using his left forearm. 'Got you!' The teen exclaimed in his mind as now the blonde had exposed a small portion of his left side, and taking the opportunity the teen threw his left knee onto the small, weak point.
But the more experienced brawler noticed the incoming attack and dodged under the feint and threw his elbow into the teen's knee. A brief wave of pain washed through the boy's entire leg from the impact, Izuku gritted his teeth as he watched Steve begin his counter-attack with a straight punch to the green-haired teen's face.
Izuku then chooses to use the arm at the beginning of his assault to block the incoming punch, but as the fist came closer, the teen noticed it was unclenching itself as it looked to be ready to grab the boy's arm. His green eyes widened as he quickly recognized the maneuver the American icon was trying to perform, he then put all of his weight into the heel of his right foot as he thrust his left hand out towards the blonde's face. A small burst of air escaped and went into Steve's face causing the super soldier to wince as well as being just enough force to push the teen back. However, the teen didn't escape cleanly as he felt a large foot slamming into the boy's stomach launching him even farther back.
The green-haired boy used the momentum to roll as far as he could as he then stretched himself out and landed onto the balls of his feet and hands. Izuku looked up at the super soldier as his mind sped through a myriad of thoughts. 'The grab that Steve attempted earlier, he may be used it as a way to put me on the ground.' In all of their sparring matches, if Steve ever put him onto the ground, it was all over.
'I may have a speed advantage over him, but he has the weight and experience over me, so I need to be careful in the next engagement.' Izuku thought himself as Steve recovered and was advancing towards the boy. The green-haired teen did not hesitate as he launched himself back into the fray.
But instead of facing the brawler head-on at the last moment he quickly sidestepped to the left of the man and launched back with a punch aimed at the super soldier's head. Steve quickly began to ready a counterattack, but to what looks to be the blonde's confusion was the fact that the boy's punch whiffed an inch away from his face. But his confusion quickly went away as the super soldier gritted his teeth as Izuku slammed his knee into the man's side.
The boy kept the momentum going as he landed on his shoulder to go into a roll out on the other side of the brawler. Izuku then went in as threw a quick left hook on the man's side, then as to try to make a combo he quickly threw out a right hook and a quick jab towards the man's gut. But unlike the first hit, Steve was ready for the onslaught as he dodged the hook and blocked the jab with a chop like motion towards the boy's wrist batting the attack away.
Izuku then tried to back up out of the man's range once again. However, the boy felt a hand grab a fist full of his shirt and launch him away from the fight. The green-haired boy rolled again, but before he could recover himself again, the teen felt something slam into his body and throw him on the ground. Izuku's eyes widened as he felt the familiar weight of Steve on top of him as he felt the man's arm trap both the teen's arm and neck.
After realizing what position, the teen was put into did not deter him though as he tried to figure out a way out of this predicament. Izuku had to figure out a way to escape because the boy had yet escaped from a grapple did not mean he couldn't, 'there's a first time for everything.' The boy thought as he tried to grab Steve's legs to nullify the hold, but the super soldier made sure to move away from the limbs. When that failed the boy then tried to wriggle his trapped arm until it slipped free and Izuku tried to throw a punch to Steve's jaw, but the brawler simply moved his head up and away from the attack and trapped both of his arms in the hold now.
The teen struggled as hard as he could, but in the end, Izuku let his body relax as he tapped the Steve three times on the side signifying that he has yielded. The American icon released his grip and sat down on the ground, the man lightly pat Izuku on the gut. "Those were some good hits kid."
"Yeah, but it didn't really matter in the end, you still won. I can never beat you whenever we go to the ground."
"Well there are very few people who could beat me there, the only person I can think of that I have yet beaten, is sitting right there."
Steve stated as he pointed towards the muscular form of All Might. "It's not that I couldn't pick him up it's just keeping him there since, well he weighs a lot more than I do."
"Hey, I've been able to lose a considerable amount of weight since you were frozen, I weigh about four hundred and ninety-six pounds!" The hero exclaimed, 'four hundred and ninety-six!' Izuku looked at All Might with wide eyes, he figured that the taller blonde was heavy, but that number had crossed his mind when he thought of the subject.
"Oh wow, that sounds like a lot I guess in your old age I was expecting you to have more of a bump in your stomach." Steve joked which let out a hearty laugh, "well aren't you clever, but you forget I may look older, but you're technically four years older than me Rodgers!"
The two men laughed with Izuku between looking at them with wide eyes as he began to realize his mentor's age, but he decided not to bring it up. After both Steve and Toshinori finished their laughter, the taller male grabbed his cooler and handed both the super soldier and the teen a pair of baggies with food in them. "Well here is your lunch for today, be sure to come back before sunset, and young man we need to finish the last of your homework so that we can keep your mind sharp along with your body!"
Izuku nodded to which the hero gave the two a salute. "Alrighty then, I will see the both of you later." Then he lowered his body and launched himself in the air as what sounded to be his usual hardy laughter following him. Both Izuku and Steve felt the large gust of wind fly past him; the teen watched with wide eyes as they followed Toshinori's form fly through the sky.
"He's so cool!" The green-haired teen exclaimed with a large smile across his face. "Yeah, he's something alright. C'mon lets eat." The super soldier stated as he put an arm over the boy's shoulder and pulled him over the table.
The two sat and ate the food they were eating, as Izuku had a couple of bites left of his meal, the teen felt a pat on his shoulder. The boy looked to find Steve giving a small smile, "so, how do you feel about tomorrow?"
The boy lowered his green eyes towards a loose pebble off in the distance as he shrugged his shoulders. "Nervous mostly, but I think I'm kinda excited. I feel like I'm moving so close to my goal of joining SHIELD and working with people like you and Toshinori. But I'm also excited to be back home and eat some of mom's food again and sleep in my own bed as well."
Izuku thought back as images of his mother and Ochako which made him smile. "Oh, what about your girlfriend as well?" Steve joked to which the teen's face became beet red as he rapidly threw his hands in every direction. "W-wait no, it's nothing like that. We are friends, yes she's a girl, but it just…IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"
Ever since Toshinori told the American icon about his best friend the two men could not help, but tease the poor boy, and Izuku's reaction did not help to deter them. Steve laughed at the boy as he pat the boy's back, "you know I'm just messing with you Izuku, but I wanted to ask you something that is actually wanted to ask."
"Hm, yeah sure."
"When I went to visit you at the hospital when I heard the girl talk to you, she called you 'Deku' where did that come from?"
The boy's shoulders slacked as he looked down at the ground. "It was an old nickname someone I knew gave me a long time ago." The teen explained, "does it mean anything?" The super soldier pried a little bit further.
"It's Japanese, it means worthless, or someone who can't do anything." There was silence between them, "I'm sorry I asked."
"No, it's fine Toshinori would have probably told you anyways." Izuku stated, "well if it means that, then why does she call you that?"
Izuku thought back as he remembered when he was in first grade, and Katsuki was beating him up, but now a girl with brown hair as she spread open her arms to cover him. "You leave him alone you jerks!"
"I honestly don't remember. I guess the bad memories stand out more than the good." Izuku explained as he played with his thumbs, and the silence returned. "Y'know someone once told me, a strong man who has known power all his life will lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength…and knows compassion."
Izuku felt something grip his shoulder and the teen looked up towards Steve. "So, when, not if, you become a part of SHIELD, don't become a good soldier, be a good man." Izuku smiled as he nodded to which the super soldier playfully ruffled the boy's fluffy green hair. "C'mon we've got work to do today."
"Yeah, let's go." The two got up and left to continue their activities for the day.
Ochako wiped the glass cover of the coffee table as she let out a small cough from the stray bits of dust flew into the brunette's face. "Thank you so much for helping me clean up the house today." Izuku's mother called out to the young teen looked back to the green haired woman with a warm smile. "No problem miss Midoriya!"
It's almost been two weeks since Izuku and Toshinori left to go camping and Ochako has made sure to be with the mother, for a while, she did allow the two to leave town, it did not mean she was not worried. The younger girl could tell as when the mother ever talked about her son there was a sense of worry in her eyes. However, Ochako could feel that her presence was helping ease the older woman's worries.
"Could you dust the inside that drawer for me?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Oh, and be careful it's been a few months since I've opened it!"
"Okay," The teen responded as she finished setting the coffee table as she crawled over to the drawer as she instinctively covered her mouth and nose when the girl opened the door as a small cloud of dust came out towards her. 'She wasn't kidding' the girl thought as she saw the thick layer of dust covering the area.
Ochako then made sure to empty the drawer until something caught her attention that made the brunette stop what she was doing. There sat a large book with what looked to be a cutout picture of All Might with large words put in red, white, and blue saying 'MY HERO!'
Curiosity began to fill her mind as she wiped the dust off the book, Ochako then opened it and immediately let out a small, "aww" as a picture of a smiling baby Izuku came into view. "Oh, Ochako I forgot to ask how your father was doing at…"
The teen girl looked back at the mother whose green eyes went wide as they sparked with recognition. "I've been looking everywhere for that!" The green-haired woman exclaimed as she quickly went to Ochako's side. "I must've left it here by accident."
The mother pointed to a photo of what looked to be the mother when she was younger with a blanket over her head and the small form of Izuku wearing an All Might onesie with a fist in the air. "That was a game Izuku loved to play when he was younger, where he would pretend to be All Might and save me." The green-haired woman explained as she continued to tell the stories of every picture they saw, and Ochako smiled as she took in all the information.
That was until the brunette noticed something, it looked to be Izuku when he was around four years old and beside him was, "Katsuki?" The teen asked completely flabbergasted when she noticed the familiar ash blonde spiky hair of Izuku's tormenter, but he was…smiling? It was not even the twisted smile the bully was known for, it was actually, genuine.
The mother noticed Ochako's interest in the photo, "I know it's hard to believe, but a long time ago they used to be very good friends. Mitsuki, Katsuki's mother, and I were good friends, and so they used to play with each other for such a long time, ever since the two could walk they stuck to the hip. But then one day he became so aggressive towards Izuku it was completely out of nowhere and not even his mother could explain it."
Ochako sat there as he brown eyes widen the more she soaked up, the older woman, whom quickly tried to change the subject, but it failed to keep her mind repeating the story. 'Deku never told me about this.' The teen figured that both Izuku and Katsuki had history, but this was not what she was expecting.
When they finished looking through the album as they continued to clean the woman's apartment, now the girl was at the doorway with her backpack over her shoulder, as Izuku's mother stood in front of the teen as she held an envelope filled with money towards her. "You don't have to do that miss Midoriya."
The girl stated, but the woman continued, "I insist, you've been such help these couple of weeks." Ochako smiled as she accepted the woman's gift, "and be careful out there the news said that there had been two kidnappings this week."
"Don't worry about it, and besides my dad says that they always exaggerate everything just to get better ratings."
"I know, but still I'd rather be safe than sorry. Oh, and one more thing before you leave."
Ochako looked back at the woman just as she was about to step outside of the apartment. "I know you're still thinking about what I told you about Katsuki. But, I wanted to tell you that while what happened between the two of them was, difficult. However, when he met you and Toshinori…it made me feel so happy seeing that my baby found people that helped him smile again."
The mother explained as she held both sides of Ochako's face to which the girl gave the woman her usual warm smile as she nodded. She then hugged the woman one more time before she left the apartment and returned home.
…
Ochako rested her cheek on her hand as she listened to the teacher drone on and on, as she waited for class to be over. What the brunette found last night still echoed through her mind as she wondered, why? What did Deku do for Katsuki to hate him so much? Was there even a reason? The more she asked herself, the deeper the hole she dug herself would be.
Ochako remembered how when she went to her first day in first grade and how terrified she felt when the girl entered the classroom. The brunette was originally from upstate and had moved to the city when her father found a business opportunity there, and now she was here. Ochako introduced herself she remembered how the teacher asked the other children if any of them wanted to help her out.
The girl remembered the silence deafened the classroom, that was until a single hand shot up in the air. The hand belonged to a small boy with fluffy green hair, green eyes, and some freckles on his face.
When Ochako sat next to the green-haired boy, it was then the girl realized how quiet the boy was, but the brunette was soon surprised by the fact that he was incredibly smart as he explained everything the teacher was discussing in class. However, the green-haired boy still did not seem to want to have a conversation, until she noticed his bag was opened and she noticed to be a large smiling man with the words 'All Might' over the cover, her eyes went wide as she recognized the medium.
"You like comics?!" The girl whispered to which the boy looked at her, "do you?" To which Ochako nodded as she opened her own bag to reveal a comic with what looked to be a marshmallow with limbs and what looked to be a weird looking astronaut helmet, with the words saying 'The Amazing Adventures of No.13!' The boy's green eyes widen in excitement as the brunette reached her hand out to him.
"I'm Ochako Uraraka!"
"Izuku, Izuku Midoriya."
The memory made the teen smile as after that introduction well; the rest was history. But Ochako then remembered Izuku's lies earlier last week. 'Maybe I can ask Deku what happened to him and Katsuki when he gets back.' However, the brunette immediately went against it, 'if not even Katsuki's mother knew what happened how can he.'
But, before she could think anymore, she heard the final bell ring over the loudspeakers. Everyone gathered their things and left the classroom, as the teen followed through the sea of other students to her locker. As she went to set her things in the storage space, 'even if Katsuki had his reasons it doesn't mean he had the right to treat Deku the way he does.' She thought to herself.
The girl brown eyes narrowed as a wave of determination flow throughout her body as she shut the locker door, and walked out looking for her target. Ochako stormed through the halls until she saw the familiar spiky ash blonde hair. 'If I'm going to find any answers I might as well go for the source.' The brunette let out a deep breath as she approached the blonde.
As per usual he was with the usual goons that follow him around, but they did not deter Ochako as she approached the bully. "Katsuki!" The blonde stopped what he was doing and turned his head slightly as he narrowed his eyes towards her. At that moment he looked like a tiger and one that looked pissed at the fact that she was in his territory. "Piss off round cheeks." Katsuki snarled at her to which one of his goons stood in front of her. "Hey there Ochako, how are you, hey!" The boy called out as the brunette pushed past the boy as she continued her mission.
"Katsuki, I need to talk to you!" She called out to which the blonde let out what sound like some sort of growl as he looked back to his goons. "Why don't you guys head to the arcade. I'll deal with this." To which the two boys obeyed as they left the two.
"I know you used to be friends with Deku when you were kids." The girl stated before the Katsuki could say anything. The blonde staid silent for a moment before he shut the locker door and turned back to give her an annoyed look. "So, now do as I say and go piss off." He stated as Katsuki began to walk off Ochako tried to stand in the boy's way, but her attempt was in vain as the blonde easily pushed her out of the way.
But it did not stop her as she continued her pursuit. "What happened between you two?" The girl asked as they walked through the halls. "Are you fucking deaf?" The insult didn't faze her as they exited the school and the boy took a left into an alleyway. "I just need answers, and no one knows why you all of a suddenly hated Deku."
As they went through the maze of alleys, Ochako made sure that she continued to pester Katsuki and it did not matter what he called her she still pursued until they came close to an exit out of the maze as the blonde spun around his heels and turned to the girl. "What is your fucking deal!" The blonde yelled in the girl's face, but she made sure to harden her stare in return. "As I've said over and over again, I need answers, and when I get them, then I'll leave you alone." The brunette explained to which Katsuki narrowed his eyes at the girl. "And if I don't?"
"Then I won't stop until you do." The two stared at each other in silence waiting for the other to make a move. Finally, the blonde snarled at her, "why do you care so fucking much?"
"Because he's my best friend. He is one of the kindest and most selfless people I've ever met. So, when I see you torment him the way you do ever since we were kids it hurts my heart. And when I found out the two of you were once friends, it made feel so sick that you know exactly what I know about him, and you still torture him. I don't like saying this since it's such an ugly word, but for you, I'll make an exception. I hate you Katsuki Bakugo!" The girl yelled at the top of her lungs.
For a moment, the blonde didn't say anything as he just stared at her with the raging fire that burned in his eyes. "Is that all? You're just pissed at how I treat your little crush?"
The girl was taken aback, "that has nothing to do with…"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever round cheeks. I'll do this to get you off my fucking back. You want to know why I hate that nerd so much, fine!" The boy was about to continue until the two heard what sounded like tires stopping. Both teens looked towards the source to find a van stopped right at the exit of the alley.
"What the hell are you doing this isn't a road you jackass!" The blonde growled towards the van as the driver side door opened to reveal a man with messy black hair as he wore a dark blue jacket with a white v-neck under it and matched blue pants. But when Ochako saw the rest of him the girl's brown eyes became wider, as below the top lip up to his neck looked to have burned skin that was only staying on with staples. There were similar places such as his ears, wrists, and ankles that she could see, and as the man approached them, she saw his ice blue eyes.
Even Katsuki looked to be on edge as he seemed to ready himself for a fight, the new man let out a heavy sigh as he rubbed the back of his burned neck. "Man, why do I have to do this shit." The black-haired man flipped on some sort of switch in his car which caused something to let out a heavy hum. "Now, you both have two options. First, you can be peaceful and not make this any difficult, or well, I figured you two know the rest."
"Why don't you go piss off somewhere else human torch!" Katsuki yelled out while Ochako was trying to grab her phone, but the girl's hands were so sweaty that it almost made it almost impossible to grab it. The burned man let out a heavy sigh, "I figured that would be the case, Twice you know what to do."
"Aww, why do I have to go, aye, aye captain Dabi!" A voice yelled out as what looked to be six guys exiting the van. All of them wore what seemed to be a skin-tight black full-body suit, with the only colors being grey which covered the upper half of his head and as well as a single line on his arms, legs, and torso. The men all charged at the two, Ochako was finally able to grab her phone as she sprinted away from the action.
As she tried to open her phone, but a bright blue flame shot out in front of her. Ochako jumped back away from the incredible heat which caused her to lose her balance and landed on her rear as the brunette's phone flew out of her fingers. The girl could hear her heart race as adrenaline as she backed away until she felt a pair of arms grab her waist.
The brunette screamed at the top of her lungs as the man as she tried to wriggle out of the grab. "Get the fuck off of me!" She heard Katsuki yell out as a loud yelp erupted. "Oh my God, he killed number three, you bastard!"
Ochako, felt a hand cover her mouth to stop her screaming, "hush now, it time to go to sleep, as soon as I stick this thing in your, OW!" he roared as the girl bit the man's hand, "Dabi, she bit my finger!"
"Well send someone one of your clones to restrain her!" 'Dabi' called out Ochako looked over and saw the unconscious form of Katsuki lying on the ground with four of the masked men over him with what looked like a dark pool of mud. "You don't have to be so rude! This is why we are besties! C'mon you lazy bums do you want to live forever!"
The two of the men that stood over the blonde now went over to her as one of them tried to grab her legs even as she threw her kicks that were in vain. The other put something over her mouth, and now the world was becoming darker. 'No, this isn't what was supposed to happen! Mom, Dad, Deku!' She cried out as her body grew weaker, and weaker until it all went completely black.