AN: Thanks for reading and leaving reviews, everyone!


Ochako watched as the mat came rushing up to greet her as Gunhead pushed her to the ground.

"Oww…"

A moment later, she felt the pressure of her teacher lift off of her as he stood up and offered her a hand. Taking it, Ochako pulled herself upright, while Gunhead faced his students. "As you can see, it's all about using your opponent's momentum against them."

As Ochako stood there and listened, she began reviewing the move in her mind.

His movement was so fluid and fast! If I can master this, I'll definitely be able to put this to good use!

I'll… Ochako clenched her fist. I'll show Izuku and Risa that I can keep up with them, no matter how many quirks they get! If things are going to get really bad, I'll be ready!

When he was done explaining the move to his other students, Gunhead turned toward Ochako again. "Uraraka?"

"Yes, sensei?" Ochako asked as she snapped to attention.

"Are you ready to try the move for yourself?"

"Yes!" Ochako announced as she dropped into Gunhead's combat stance.

"Wonderful!" Gunhead exclaimed as he retrieved the knife from the ground. Despite his mask, Ochako can just feel the hero smiling at her. "This time I'll come at you then."

Without further warning, the hero charged toward Ochako, knife low as he aimed the blow at her stomach. Tensing, Ochako watched the hero's footsteps as he approached.

Now!

Trying to mimic her sensei, Ochako stepped aside, pivoting her foot as she reached out to grab his wrist…

…Only to feel her hand wrap around the wooden fake blade of the knife.

"Oh no!" Gunhead exclaimed as he pulled back. "Now your hand would be sliced open from the blade! That would be terrible given your quirk!"

"S-Sorry!" Ochako quickly apologized as she jerked her hand back, examining it to make sure she really was okay.

"You're really tense," Gunhead observed as he rubbed his chin. "Is there something on your mind?"

"W-what makes you think that?" Ochako asked defensively, holding her hands up in front of her.

"Well that just confirms it," Gunhead chuckled lightly. "Your movements were stiff and you were too aggressive."

"S-sorry," Ochako wilted as her teacher saw right through her. "I just… don't want to fall behind my friends," she replied softly.

"Ah," The hero said, seemingly understanding. "And your friends want to be heroes too?"

"One of them's already at UA!" Ochako said happily. "And the other's been training super hard too! We… well we promised to all go to UA together!"

"I get it," Gunhead bobbed his head. "Well, don't you worry!"

"Huh?" Ochako blinked owlishly at the hero.

"You may feel like an amateur now, but you've got almost a year to go," Gunhead pumped his fist in the air. "With that much time, you'll be all trained up and ready to take on UA's entrance exam when the time comes! While each lesson won't feel like much, I bet even in a week this basic disarming technique will feel like second nature to you."

The pep talk did its job, and Ochako felt her spirits lifting. Balling her hand into a fist, she gave the teacher a fierce glare. "Thank you sensei! I'll try not to disappoint you again."

From behind his mask, Gunhead smiled at the sight. "That's the spirit! Now let's try this again." Casually flipping the knife in his hand, the hero walked back to the other side of the mat before he turned to face his young student. "Here I come!"

Once again Ochako felt her muscles tensing up as the hero charged, but it felt slightly different this time. Looser, somehow. Once again she watched him close the distance, the knife coming ever closer to her.

Now!

For a second time, Ochako sidestepped as she reached out to grab her opponent. This time she felt her sensei's wrist. Not wasting time to celebrate, she followed through with her motion and slammed the palm of her free hand on the small of the hero's back, sending him to the ground. Finishing the maneuver, she twisted his hand to force him to drop the knife, before kicking it away from safety.

"Great job Uraraka!" Gunhead praised her from his position on the ground.

"I did it!" Ochako brightened as she loosened her grip, freeing the hero.

"You did. Now we'll continue practicing the move until it becomes second nature."

"Yes, sensei!"

Ochako felt a rush of energy as the hero once again retrieved the knife and walked back to his starting position.

Don't worry Izuku. Don't worry Risa. I won't let myself fall behind!


Meanwhile, in a different dojo, Izuku faced his own challenger.

"Man, you're really slow Midoriya," his sparring partner, a petite girl named Aika Shizu with bright orange eyes and light brown hair, said as she slipped underneath his defenses and tagged him with a punch that sent him stumbling back.

"S-sorry," Izuku coughed as he stumbled back.

"Don't get overconfident, Shizu," their sensei chided the girl. "While you are built for speed, your opponent has a lot of power behind his punches. If he lands a single blow that may be enough to end the fight."

"Ehehe, R-right!" Aika exclaimed as she turned bright red, before bowing slightly toward Izuku. "Sorry Midoriya!"

"It's okay," Izuku assured the girl. "That's why we're here after all."

To get stronger so that we can protect Japan.

"Although when I can use my quirk…" Aika said playfully.

"That would mean Midoriya can also use his quirk," their sensei cut in.

"Right," Aika deflated while their sensei gave her a bemused look. Izuku got the impression that this exact conversation has happened before.

While the girl's heart was in the right place, it didn't take long for Izuku to notice that she had a tendency to speak before thinking things through. He wondered if that applied to her actions as well - if she jumped into a situation before coming up with a plan. And he couldn't help but wonder if that's how people saw him.

After all, before he transferred schools he frequently acted without thinking, protecting others from the school bully.

"Alright, that's enough talk, why don't you two try again?"

"Yes, sensei!" Both students replied before they returned to their starting positions.

Raising his arm in front of him, Izuku watched as his opponent once again came at him. Despite limiting herself to the same basic form and moves of Bajiquan that Izuku was practicing, she showed him the difference her training gave her as she sent out an elbow jab as she tried to knock his arm away and create an opening. Tensing his arm, Izuku managed to block her blow before he threw a punch of his own.

Aika blocked it with her forearm, but his blow had the desired effect as she stepped back a pace, giving him an opening of his own. Trying to move quicker than he did in their previous bout, Izuku planted his foot and threw out a follow-up punch. He watched as the girl tried to deflect it, but he shifted his tactics at the last moment and knocked her arm away. Capitalizing on his opening, he threw an elbow jab and caused her to stumble back.

"Oww," Aika wheezed. "No fair using my moves against me!"

The sensei chuckled lightly before looking at Izuku. "Very good Midoriya. You are picking up the forms quickly."

"Thank you sensei," Izuku bowed before he turned to his opponent. "And thank you for sparring with me."

"Anytime," The girl said. Quickly recovering she held a pair of determined fists in front of her. "If you're going to get faster on me, that just means I'm going to have to get stronger to compensate!"

"Ehehe," Izuku laughed nervously as he saw the fiery look in the girl's eyes.

Then again, she wanted to be a hero too, so perhaps it was for the best that he inspired her to be stronger.


The next morning, Izuku jogged down to the beach like he normally did. As he walked along the shores, he smiled as he saw the day's volunteers combing the beach, collecting any debris that had washed up overnight.

While it wasn't his day to volunteer with the clean-up efforts, it was the perfect place to practice his martial arts lessons… and begin to experiment with using them while channeling One For All.

Walking to an isolated dune, Izuku dropped his bag at the base of it before he climbed to the top. Staring out at the rising sun, he smiled as he slipped into his basic stance and began practicing his katas. As he went through the motions, he felt One For All thrumming to life inside of him, the core of energy waiting to be used.

At times like this, he knew what Melissa meant when she said it felt exciting - and dangerous.

As he went through the motions, he opened up the valves, allowing the faintest bit of energy out. Green and red light danced along his skin, a beacon if not for the morning sunlight dancing along the beach. With each thrust, he felt energy surging through the limb, ready to back his blow with the full power of his quirk - if he let it.

But he knew the cost of that power.

Melissa showed him multiple videos of her shattering prototype armor - and the few times she had shattered her limbs. While her copy of One For All was even stronger and more dangerous than his own, it served as a brutal reminder of what could happen if he wasn't careful.

From his tests, Izuku could only wield about five percent of One For All's power safely. With that small amount, it barely classified as a quirk - he was certain some heroes and villains were able to match that output simply through years of training. He could go beyond that with support equipment, and he knew time and training would both serve to increase his output, but it still didn't feel like it was enough.

Ochako's quirk is amazing, and we haven't even begun to figure out the limits of what she can do with it! And Melissa's already so far ahead of me with One For All… even before we consider its source!

Feeling One For All coursing through his leg, he slammed his foot down in a charging step and was rewarded as a plume of sand erupted around his foot as he practiced the motion for his punch. As he held his pose, Izuku watched in satisfaction as the sand drifted back to the earth, sparkling in the morning's light.

I'll catch up with my friends. And then I'll keep going, and make All Might proud!


Even though finals were looming in a couple of weeks, Melissa still found time for her hobbies. While her computer was running a diagnostic on her hero suit in the background, she was furiously typing away at the next chapter of her story. She was so focused on this chapter that she almost missed the flash of movement out of the corner of her eye.

Almost.

"Not going to jump this time?" Izuku asked as she jerked her head up.

Melissa gave him a small pout. "Why do you think I rearranged my apartment?"

"I know," Izuku said as he sat down next to her, placing his bag on the table. "We've still got to try though," He said as he opened his bag and began to pull out a pair of notebooks.

Melissa let out an exasperated sigh, but the smile on her face revealed her true feelings. "Why do I put up with you two?"

"Ehehe," Izuku rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Ochako's worse you know."

"I know," Melissa saved her document and closed it before turning toward Izuku. "So she's on her way back to Nabari?"

"Mhm," Izuku bobbed his head. "She was excited to be going back for the weekend."

"This is the first time her family's gone back ever since they moved here, huh?"

"I think so," Izuku said softly.

"I hope she has fun," Melissa said quietly. "I bet she's gonna impress all her friends!"

"Me too," Izuku agreed. "And she gets to avoid all of this quirk talk."

Melissa laughed lightly. "I think she'll live. Missing our exciting talks about how to explain away half a dozen extra quirks."

"Depending on the quirks that could be really hard," Izuku mumbled defensively.

"Maybe that'll be hard for you," Melissa teased as she retrieved a thick manilla folder that her Uncle Might had given her. "I can explain two of the quirks as fancy suit upgrades, and the last three don't have a visual component to worry about." She offered the folder to Izuku.

Taking it, Izuku set it on the table and carefully opened it, looking at a profile for a man named Daigoro Banjo. "Blackwhip…" As he read the quirk's description, his eyes went wide before his head jerked up. "This sounds amazing!"

"Right?" Melissa replied, matching his excitement. "That's going to be super useful! I guess I'm going to invent some cool "particle whips" for my gauntlets at some point." She laughed at her joke, and Izuku joined her. "But you might need to change your story."

"I almost wish I went with yours," Izuku admitted. "Energy manipulation could explain this easily - I just found a new way to channel energy."

"You could always copy my homework," Melissa said slyly. "You're still feeling out your quirk after all, and haven't had an official diagnosis from a counselor yet."

Izuku pressed a thumb to his chin as he read over the quirk. "I could still probably explain this away with energy storage and enhancement. Rather than powering my muscles, I could learn how to release the energy externally."

"Would you rather explain it away with your gauntlets?" Melissa asked as she slid closer to Izuku and looked at the hero's registry entry.

"That could work," Izuku admitted. "We could say it's a variant of your own technology since my boots and gauntlets are going to already be directly based on your armor."

"True," Melissa smiled. "I still don't know why you don't want an equivalent of Full Gauntlet for your entire body though."

"It just doesn't feel right," Izuku mumbled. "That's your aesthetic already."

"Says the guy whose original designs are 'green All Might,'" Melissa teased with a playful roll of her eyes.

"I- it was just a phase!" Izuku protested, feeling the back of his neck heating up.

"Right, just a phase," Melissa said as she bumped her shoulder against his. "At least your new costume's starting to look original."

"Ehe," Izuku said as he looked down at the black-and-green suit that's staring back at him. "Only thanks to you and Ochako."

"We're just doing our heroic duty," Melissa smirked. "Can't have Japan's future number-one hero looking like a disaster, can we?"

"M-moving on!" Izuku said quickly, desperate to change the topic away from his aesthetic choices. Flipping the paper over, he revealed the next profile. "What can I do about Smokescreen…"


"And that's the last we know of," Melissa said as they reached the end of the folder.

"I wonder what the last quirk will be," Izuku said thoughtfully as he stared at the manilla folder as if the second holder of one for all would suddenly manifest there and help them out.

"I guess we'll find out when they decide to show up!" Melissa said optimistically. "Hopefully it's a good one!"

"Yeah." Izuku tore his eyes from the page to give the girl a shaky smile. "Although all of these quirks… not to mention One For All itself…"

"It's a lot huh?" Melissa asked. "Going from being quirkless to… having all of these."

"Mhm," Izuku said quietly.

Reaching out, Melissa touched her companion's shoulder. "Wanna talk about it?"

Izuku looked down at the designs on the page and then back to the girl. "Yeah."

Ghosting her fingers down Izuku's arm, Melissa tightened her grip around his wrist and gently tugged him out of the chair. Letting her take the lead, Izuku followed her as they entered a nearby stairwell and climbed up onto the roof. There Izuku was greeted by the sight of the rooftop garden that several of the tenets maintained.

After checking to make sure nobody was up there, Melissa sat down among the plants and patted the spot next to her. Sitting down next to her, Izuku looked up at the evening sky.

"I just…" Izuku began, "I already thought that One For All was more than enough! I mean. It's All Might's quirk!" Izuku insisted. "And he's the strongest hero Japan- maybe even the world- has ever seen!" He looked down at his hand. "And then I find out that it's even more powerful than when All Might had it…"

"It's scary," Melissa agreed. "I've always dreamed of being a hero. And training to become one has been great! But things are moving fast and I feel like I can't keep up."

Izuku looked at her and felt a familiar pit in his stomach. If she feels that way…

"But maybe," Melissa continued, breaking Izuku out of his thoughts, "that's why Risa did what she did."

"W-what do you mean?" Izuku asked cautiously.

"Uncle Might has always been alone. For forty years he isolated himself. And he would have kept isolating himself if it wasn't for Risa," Melissa explained. Looking up, she locked eyes with Izuku. "We've got each other. And we have Ochako! And our parents and-" She trailed off. "Maybe Risa saw what happened to Uncle Might and didn't want us - either of us! - to go through the same thing."

Izuku felt his face heating up as he thought about his first meeting with Ochako - how she crashed into his life and didn't let go. And he thought about Melissa supporting him - knowing what it was like to be quirkless.

He had to admit, he didn't want to imagine a life where he didn't have their support. Where he was still alone at Aldera, dealing with Bakugo's bullying day in and day out.

"Maybe you're right," Izuku said softly as he lowered his gaze. "I don't want to imagine carrying this burden alone."

"Me neither," Melissa admitted.

Sitting in silence, the pair looked up at the sky and watched the sunset together. It wasn't as pretty as watching it on the cliff with Ochako, but for right now, it was exactly what they needed.


By the time Ochako made it to bed, she saw that her group chat already had messages waiting for her wishing her a good night. Smiling fondly at her phone, she replied and wished Izuku and Melissa a good night back. Setting the phone down, she slipped on her mittens and crawled into her makeshift bed on the couch.

She was glad to be back at her grandparents, but it was exhausting and she found sleep came easily.

Ochako was confused by the sound of crashing waves. She was secure in her grandparents' basement, why was she hearing those? Opening her eyes, she found herself lying in what looked to be a shallow cave. It was too dark to be sure, though.

Looking around, she saw a dull light coming from an opening - light filtered through a thick fog. Curiosity overcoming her, Ochako pushed herself off the ground and began to approach the mist. It reminded her much of the thick fog that settled over Mustafu on particularly cold mornings, blotting out the sun and blanketing everything.

As she looked down she saw she was still in her pajamas and let out a weary sigh. Normally on those mornings she would grab an extra layer to wear. But here she was stuck in her thin nightclothes. At least the temperature in the cave wasn't uncomfortable. But if she wanted to know what was going on, she'd have to venture out.

Resigning herself to her fate, Ochako stepped out into the thick fog.

The first thing she noticed was that it wasn't as cold as she was afraid of. It was a bit chilly, but not enough to make her miserable.

The second thing was that she saw two suns in the sky overhead. One was bright - or she imagined would be bright if it wasn't being choked by the mist. The other was much fainter. Going by her astronomy knowledge, Ochako wasn't sure she would even be able to see it if it wasn't for the filter of the fog dulling the light of the first.

With her visibility limited to a few feet in front of her, Ochako carefully walked forward until she ran into the water line. There were maybe ten meters of beach between the entrance of the cave and where the water began.

Well, that explains why she heard the crashing of waves so clearly.

Keeping the water to one side of her, Ochako began walking along the beach, hoping to find something.

She only made it a couple hundred meters by her estimate before she found her next landmark - a cliff wall. As Ochako examined it further, it looked eerily like the base of their cliffside retreat. That fact caused Ochako to relax - this is just a strange dream! Built from her memories of Mustafu.

In that case, she wonders if Izuku and Risa were waiting for her at the top?

With an excited smile on her face, Ochako began to climb up the cliffside. It started easy at first. But by the time she got halfway up she noticed that the fog had grown thicker, feeling almost suffocating as it surrounded her. Ochako shivered as she realized this - although she didn't know if it was from cold or fear. Now more determined than ever to get to the top and hopefully get above the fog, she reached out to find the next handhold.

She managed to make it a little further before disaster struck.

As she was pulling herself up, she heard a sharp crack as the rock she was holding came loose. Panicking, she reached out to try and find another rock, but it was too late and gravity had already claimed her, pulling her away from the wall and toward the earth. She opened her mouth to let out a desperate cry-

-Only for her eyes to snap open as she landed with a dull thud on the ground.

"Owww," Ochako whined as she sat up, rubbing the back of her head as she realized she had rolled off the couch she was sleeping on.


AN: Ehehehe! You thought it was just a bit in my comedy side-story, but it's actually an important part of my worldbuilding lore! ~SupportGrrl47