So, here's what's gonna happen.
A few more chapters this month, go on a break for most of May to revise the next arc, and…yeah.
This is a fun little side-story, one of two actually! Meant to add some development for two of my favorite characters who will get more screen time.
And, I guess since it's been like…12 'episodes', I can change the opening. "BE the HERO" by Raon!
The song is about overcoming fear and being brave to pursue one's dreams. The lyrics speak of a person's struggles with despair and loneliness, but finding courage to break free from their chains and pursue their aspirations. The song encourages the listener to crush their fears, be their own hero, and never give up on their goals. The lyrics also express the singer's promise to protect and love the person they are singing to.
I chose female led songs for Carry On because…why not? Also MHA never had a female singer in their OPs which is weird.
ALSO! I cried like 10 times watching the Ochako scene in the anime. Especially dub wise. Luci Christian broke me with "I'M BEGGING YOU!" I cried. So goddamn hard.
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
By the way, there's a new AMA channel in the Discord, for the characters to interact with the public. I had Albedo try hot dogs yesterday. He likes them.
The discussions were mostly about the practical, and how much of a weight was lifted off their shoulders.
"I'm SO looking forward to the summer trip!" Mina said. "We all passed and everything! I was so sure that some people would fail..."
Mineta scoffed. "What's THAT supposed to me-"
"Back off. I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about the people who did AWFUL on the written exams." Mina said, jabbing a thumb at herself. "Like me."
"...oh." Mineta said, awkwardly looking away.
"If it makes you feel better, I sorta thought you'd flunk." Mina said.
"How is that supposed to make me feel better!?" Mineta frowned.
"God, summer school would've been HELL knowing you guys were out in the woods doing the good stuff while we were...doing trig and stuff." Kaminari said. "I'm so happy I aced the practical."
"I'm not sure if just because we finished the practical means we passed entirely-" Izuku said. Kaminari and Mina immediately got in the poor boy's face.
"Don't. Jinx. Us." Kaminari said, deathly serious.
"No, he has a right to be concerned." Satou said. "For example, Tsu and I were put to sleep by Midnight, and only cleared the exam thanks to Shoji carrying us."
"But you passed, did you not? That's a win." Kaminari insisted.
"I'd feel pretty weird if I passed something I wasn't awake for, y'know." Tsu said. "So maybe there IS a catch."
"Your concern is right." Iida said. "We, as first years, have no idea how this exam is graded. And because UA made the change from robots to teachers this year...it leaves us more in the dark."
Ochako didn't feel worried about failing her exam at all. With the way she and All Might fought, she felt pretty...alright about it.
"Midoryia, don't take this the wrong way, but I was kinda worried you guys would fail." Mineta said, looking around to see if someone was here. "I mean, you had BAKUGOU on your team. He's like the most uncooperative guy..."
Izuku looked uncomfortable. "Well...don't worry. Uraraka, Kirishima and I were able to work well together. Bakugou was...more of a special case."
Silence. All eyes were on Izuku for a moment. Jaws were dropped, expressions were vacant, and Izuku was confused.
"What?"
"You called him Bakugou instead of Kacchan." Jirou said. "You always call him that...did something happen?"
Izuku looked away. "I don't wanna get into it."
"Noted." Jirou nodded. (Tooru discreetly slid Jirou a few bucks. There was a betting pool amongst the girls on when Izuku would finally have enough.)
"Why are you so shocked that we passed?" Kirishima said. "Even without Bakugou, we tricked All Might pretty dang good."
"But would you have been able to hold him off?" Mineta questioned. "We all saw how he punched that creepy Nomu 300 times in 30 seconds and overpowered that shock absorption quirk. Midoryia would've blown his arms off trying to stop him, I'm pretty sure he would've crumpled Kirishima in a single blow, and Uraraka-!" Mineta looked her up and down once.
"...what's that for?"
"Pardon if this comes off as rude, but I can just NOT see you handling him at all." Mineta said rudely.
Ochako wished she could just transform into Gravattack and flatten him to the ground. It'd be illegal, but kinda worth it.
"Well, guess what? We were able to do it." Kirishima frowned. "And Uraraka REALLY helped out. So, back off. We legit watched you run off during YOUR battle."
"Y-you did!?" Mineta said, nervously.
"We...all sort of did, yes." Iida said.
"W-wait, really?" Momo asked. "You saw all that?"
"Yeah, and you were AWESOME!" Kaminari grinned. "The way you used that fake capture device, and the tech you made...so badass, Yaomomo!"
"You showed exactly why you're the vice president of this class, Momo." Iida said. "I couldn't even come up with a plan like that."
"Yeah, your plan was...very strange." Ochako said.
"But it worked~" Yuga smiled.
"Somehow...yes." Tokoyami said, as the door opened. Everyone watched Bakugou skulk in, and drop into his seat. Izuku turned away. Ochako sighed- she couldn't help but feel this was partially her fault. She just wanted Bakugou to...connect with Deku somehow.
"S-so, Bakugou..." Kaminari asked. "How do you think you did on the-"
"Shut up." Bakugou scoffed, looking away. He seemed distracted by something. A simple question in his mind.
Why did Izuku not calling him 'Kacchan' hurt?
Ochako looked down at her score- compared to the average on her exams, the 73% on the practical hit harder than the low marks she got in math. The comments were in depth, insightful and criticized some of her actions- as expected of one of Aizawa's reviews.
Ochako found herself focusing on comments relating to her rescue methods. They were good, if not a bit sloppy. And her support was much appreciated...but Aizawa made it a point of how useful she could be in close quarters.
"Kirishima, Bakugou and Izuku all have incredible power type quirks, while you have a more supportive one. You've shown great potential using it to manipulate the environment around you, using objects to your advantage- but you won't always have that comfort. You need to work on patching up the lack of physical strength you may have." That's what Aizawa's advice was, written in his signature 'I am grading you seriously' red pen.
"What did you guys get?" Ochako asked.
"84%...not as bad as I thought it'd be," Izuku said. "He said my powers have improved drastically, but questioned a few of my moves."
Kirishima rubbed the back of his head. "I got a 72%...not a failing grade, but still a pretty lousy one. ESPECIALLY compared to my written portion grades. Mr. Aizawa criticized a lot of my decisions, like not realizing All Might was duping me a few times, and choosing to fight rather than run. Something something...sacrifice in vain."
"And I can only wonder what Bakugou got." Izuku said. Ochako wasn't used to Izuku calling Bakugou by that. "What did your feedback sheet say?"
Ochako looked back down at her paper, and back up at the other two. "Said I should learn close quarters...not a bad idea, especially since I'm usually a ranged fighter...like, 1 out of 5 times…"
Kirishima looked up from his paper. "Huh?"
Ochako went white. "W-what I mean is, I need to master both my ranged and close combat. Probably need to work out a bit more…"
"Y'know...Bakugou's not always the best workout buddy. He's always so…quiet." Kirisihima said. "If you want, I'd love to get to know you two better and work out."
"Really?"
"Yeah! I think we made a pretty great team, even with Bakugou kind of...y'know." Kirishima made a few vague hand gestures.
Izuku hummed. "I'd be up for that. I should probably be doing more than the daily jog."
"Where do you usually workout, Kirishima?" Ochako asked.
"Usually at my own house, or in the UA exercise room." Kirishima said. "I think that'll be open throughout the break, so we can drop by and work out every so often. I usually do it 3 or 4 times a week…"
"I'm up for that!" Ochako said- she'd never been to the exercise room. It wasn't that she was 'out of shape' or anything, she was a healthy sort of 'chubby' and thought 'eh, good enough.'
"How about we start tomorrow?" Izuku said.
Kirishima beamed. "I'm all game for that!"
"Great! Tomorrow at...what? Two o'clock?" Ochako asked, "Or are we going earlier?"
"I'd say two o'clock works. Hopefully we can squeeze a jog in there..." Kirishima asked.
"Should be able to, yeah," Izuku nodded.
Ochako was patrolling the city (as Upgrade) when her Omnitrix started beeping. Imagine her shock when she tapped it and Ben's voice came out.
"Did you know this thing had a communicator built in?" Ben asked.
"I did not." Ochako said, gliding through the sky.
"Well, know you do. How'd exams go?" Ben said.
"Passed both the practical and written!" Ochako beamed, "Written was less stressful, though."
"Oh come on. They were using robots, you can handle that," Ben scoffed.
"About that. They changed things up."
"Really? Rigid old UA changing up the formula is not a first, but I'm curious. Lemme guess- you had to run an obstacle course, or work your way through an attack in progress, or-" Ben said.
"They had us fight the teachers." Ochako explained.
"...okay, weird. Who'd you fight?" Ben asked.
"All Might," Ochako said casually.
There was a concerning silence for a few seconds.
"Uh, you there?"
"THEY HAD YOU FIGHT ALL MIGHT?!" Ben yelled, throwing his successor off-balance.
Ochako flailed in the air for a few seconds, before landing on the top of a building with a splat. "Y-yes! And I'm fine! He and I traded blows, but-" She said, her head poking out of the goop.
"YOU PUNCHED HIM!?" Ben yelled.
"I mean...yeah, I went Four Arms and used a few other forms..." Ochako began, reforming her body. "I'm not helping, am I?"
Ben cleared his throat. "Well...I mean, you passed. And I'm assuming he was holding back."
"Yeah, he wore these high density braces." Ochako said. "They slowed him down."
"Oh thank god...who else was involved?"
"Uh, well, Mr. Aizawa, Ectoplasm, Midnight, Principal Nedzu..." the successor to the Omnitrix listed off.
"Wow, Nedzu? That guy's not much of a fighter. He just sort of...causes chaos by calculating stuff." Ben said. "He was a great sidekick for a lot of heroes."
"Well, from what Iida said, he was behind the controls of a wrecking ball crane the whole time."
"That sounds like him." Ben said. "For a good few years, the guy rode around in this giant robotic suit of armor that would put Captain Nemesis to shame. He had all sorts of tricks that he could preform in that thing..."
"...I don't believe you," Ochako deadpanned, after imagining her principal fighting crime in a mech that was...oddly reminiscent of the insect-drone she fought when she first met Ship.
"I have proof, believe me." Ben said. "So, what else is new with you?"
"Well, I'm gonna start working out with Deku and another kid. You might've seen him during the sports festival- red hair, sharp teeth, hardening quirk..." Ochako said.
"Oh yeah, Kirishima. That kid seems nice." Ben said. "Why the workout plan?"
"Well, as it stands, general strength and close range fighting is one of my weakest fields," Ochako began, "Well, when I'm not using the Omnitrix. But I can't rely on that for everything so I need to cover that."
"That's fair. It's always nice to care for your body like that." Ben nodded.
"Starting tomorrow afternoon, though. Tonight's just a quick patrol, see if there's any small-time crime going on."
"Well, after that, go get some rest. Tell me how it goes tomorrow." Ben said.
"I will! See ya!" Ochako smiled before she hung up.
Ochako and Izuku stepped into the UA Delta Gym- it was pretty standard, even for UA. But it still had that UA 'touch'- aside from the many ellipticals, weight pulley thingies and...the ones where you have a bunch of weights on your legs (Ochako wasn't good with names sometimes. That's also why she didn't rename a lot of her aliens), they had a rock climbing wall and a designated area for multiple sports.
"Woah." Ochako said.
"So, whatcha thinkin' of starting with?" Kirishima asked, "Just in case you need a spotter or something."
"Um...what's like the best thing to start off with?" Ochako asked. "I wanna focus on building some muscle mass."
"Oh, easy. Stretch, and then we can get to weight lifting." Kirishima grinned, starting to do some basic arm stretches.
"Oh, alright," Ochako shrugged and followed Kirishima's lead on the stretches.
Izuku started with basic standing toe touches. It was how he'd started out all his workouts, and it helped.
Ochako continued following Kirishima's lead for about another two minutes before they were ready for the actual workout.
"Okay, so, let's start you off with some 10 pound weights. Shouldn't be too bad." Kirishima said. "It's a great starting point."
"And you'll spot me, right?" Ochako asked nervously as Kirishima led her over to the weights in question.
"I mean, shouldn't be too bad, but yeah," Kirishima smirked.
"I'll try not to use all 10 fingers. Don't wanna use my quirk like that." Ochako said.
"...how did I completely forget you can just cheat it?" Kirishima asked before facepalming.
"Yeah, don't worry. I have these!" Ochako said, pulling out some gloves. "This should help me contain my quirk."
"Ok, good," Kirishima nodded and moved over to get his own weights set up, adding a few discs to each side. He wasn't going to start just yet though.
"How much do you usually rep?" Izuku asked.
"I can lift around 225 or 255 if I feel like it. I'm gonna take it a little slow today." Kirishima said.
"That's...is it weird I was expecting that number to actually be higher?" Ochako chuckled.
"Nah. Only human, you know." Kirshima said, adding the last few weights. He slapped the sides of his head and took a deep breath. "You can do this..."
Ochako had already slipped on her workout gloves and started lifting them. Admittedly, she was the tiniest bit envious of Kirishima's own strength as he started, benching the 225 weight with little effort. Yeah, she could lift about as much when she was Four Arms, and Gravattack made weight a non-issue, but she applied the same logic to those forms as she did with her Quirk here; it was kind of cheating.
Having a quirk like Zero Gravity made moving certain objects (like fridges or mattresses) trivial. She never had to worry about weight. But strength...strength was different. A lot of Class 1-A's girls had smaller frames and were more support oriented than the male students. Ochako was the most 'offensive' of the group, given her combat demonstrations as of late.
Because of that, strength was definitely something she needed to work on. Sure, on her own and when in her Spanner get-up, she could just change forms, but if there's one thing that both Aizawa's lessons and Izuku's own training have taught her, it's that one needs to look at as many angles as possible before going into a confrontation. Never have only one plan.
And if any situation called for a plan that needed human hands rather than alien aliens, she wanted to be ready. The Omnitrix was only a tool, a means to boost your combat. Would it be overkill to use an alien like Gravattack against a Nomu? No. But against a street thug, yes.
So, while she started off small this time, she knew she could always come back and work her way up. Get Kirishima or Izuku to serve as a spotter if she wanted to try one of the bigger weights. Though, she did suddenly get the mental image of her dropping the weight on herself, cartoonishly pinning herself to the floor.
It won't be like that. You're worrying too much, Ochako… The gravity-Quirk user thought to herself with a slight smile.
"Hey, Midoryia- been curious. What was your workout plan for UA?" Kirishima asked.
"O-oh, I had a personal trainer." Izuku said. "He had me do some unorthodox stuff...but it helped."
"How unorthodox- wax on, wax off? Or like using old school equipment?" Kirishima questioned.
"He had me move trash on a beach, piece by piece...and sprinkled in some stuff like running and swimming and what not." Izuku said.
Kirishima blinked. "Man. That's hardcore."
All Might had Deku do all THAT!? Ochako thought.
Thinking back on it, she really shouldn't be that surprised, but still! She was secretly relieved Ben never had her go through something as intense as that for training.
What little training Ben did give her was primarily alien oriented, with one lesson devoted to self defense. Specifically, with disarming villains with weapons. Ben said something along the lines of "I have been stabbed many times and here's how you can avoid that."
Poor guy, Ochako thought.
It probably had to do with some of the trophies she saw on display that one time.
Sometimes, Heroes are allowed to take certain odds and ends from a battlefield as a trophy, as long as it's not crucial evidence. Not too many pros still practiced, but there were still a handful. Ben was clearly one of them, as Ochako saw several alien-look blasters on display, what seemed to almost be a hi-tech pair of tongs with a broken cable at the end, a featureless golden mask with some black markings, a small dial that just seemed so out of place, and, most interestingly, a pair of weapons made from black glass, one a bow, the other an ornate sword.
"Nice collection." Ochako said, looking it up and down.
"One of a kind collection, too." Ruby said, looking at all the weapons. Her eyes were most focused on the weapons made from the glass. She shook her head.
"I like to keep some stuff from my greatest victories," Ben explained. "Each one had some...important meaning to me. Made me change my styles, my views...my combat. Helped me get here."
"...how does a dial fit any of that? One that looks like it came from an AC unit, at that?" Ochako asked.
"That came from the first villain I ever fought." Ben said. "Doctor Animo- in a weird way, he's like a second grandpa to me. Helped out in some weird spots."
"Yeah, and he wasn't..." Ruby made the motion of taking off her head. "He got weird as the years went on."
"Do...I wanna know?" Ochako questioned again.
"Probably not," Ben admitted, "But each of them has their own spot. An old rival of mine tried to get revenge with stolen powers," he gestured to the tongs, "Someone who was...driven too far over the edge in a quest for power and...maybe some -actual-acceptance," he looked to the glass weapons, "A group of cultists who tried to summon Cthulhu."
"You've seen a lot then." Ochako said.
"Yeah, this was still in the age where there was a nice 70-30 split between the quirk users and quirkless. More villains using ray guns and machines to fight than guys who could turn into pure flames or zombie clowns." Ben sighed. "Sorry. Just got nostalgic for a sec."
"We hope you have as many adventures as we did." Ruby said. "We're happy it slowed down as we got older. Made it easier to plan on starting a family."
Ochako was going to ask about zombie clowns, but decided to leave it. She didn't want to ruin the moment.
"The Omnitrix is a key to the unknown- once you put this on, a lot of creeps and weirdos will come out of the woodworks and try taking a swing at you." Ben said. "But, I've seen how quick you are in combat."
"Seeing you take on that loudmouth kid at the Sports Festival made me think back to when I was your age." Ruby said. "I was throwing out plans like that left and right...those were the days."
Ochako imagined how a fight between a younger Ruby and Bakugou would go. Yeah, she smiled a LITTLE at the idea of Bakugou getting put in his place for once. What, you wouldn't be ok with the loudmouth getting taken down a peg or two?
Plus him getting hit with a scythe was kinda funny.
"So, Uraraka...we usually don't talk much." Kirishima said, snapping Ochako out of her daydream. "I never really got a chance to ask- how'd you come up with that strat at the sports fest?"
"Hm? Against Bakugou?" Ochako asked, just to make sure.
"Yeah! That whole strategy was pretty cool, compared to me just having to stall him out." Kirishima said. "Especially the jacket move."
"It just made sense," Ochako said, trying to stay humble, "Bakugou's reckless, sure, but even he has some limits."
"Bakugou is just...a lot." Izuku said. He looked disappointed again.
"Hey...Izuku. Don't mean to pry but...what's up with you, man?" Kirishima asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Ever since the exam, you've been...weird when talking about Bakugou. Don't think cagey is the right word, but you get what I mean."
"I...I think I'm just burnt out with him." Izuku admitted. "I've known him since we were young, and ever since then...we've just drifted apart. He became obsessed with honing his power, while I didn't even have mine-"
"Oh, you're a late quirker." Kirishima said. "That explains why you didn't have a fine control over your power at first."
"Y-yeah." Izuku nodded. Kirishima's assumption just saved his secret.
"I mean, I get the whole 'obsessed with your power' thing. I was kinda the same, just the opposite end of the spectrum. Instead of wanting to hone it, I had this...this childish hate for my power."
"You hated your power?" Ochako repeated. Kirishima was the nicest guy, so hearing this was a shock.
"I dunno. I always found it pretty plain." Kirishima admitted. "Not the best power, not the worst...but absolutely not the flashiest."
"I mean, a 'flashy-factor' isn't really needed to be a hero," Ochako said.
"Yeah, but you need one to stand out. People care about appeal nowadays. Look at dudes like Edgeshot and Kamui Woods- they're not the strongest physically, but they've got powers that stand out."
"I mean...I suppose it's kind of a factor, but it's not really a big one," Ochako said.
"Do you guys remember when your powers manifested first?" Kirishima asked. Ochako did- it was when she was 5 years old. She dropped a cup, and instead of it falling on the ground and shattering, it floated up and spilled on Ochako's face.
...not her greatest moment.
"Uh...yeah," Ochako admitted.
"S-same here," Izuku bluffed, wondering where this was going.
"My powers manifested when I was 3. I'd just woken up, and was rubbing my eyes." Kirishima motioned to his eyebrow. "I cut myself when my finger suddenly hardened."
Izuku and Ochako cringed at that image.
"Isn't my finest moment, I know," Kirishima chuckled.
"You hurt yourself too, then." Izuku said, looking at his hands. "The first time I activated my power...I nearly blew off all my limbs."
"Little more extreme, but similar concept, I guess," Kirishima said, taken aback by the brutality of that statement, "Well...after that, young me hated my Quirk."
"And I'm assuming at some point, you saw something with Crimson Riot." Izuku said. "And that inspired you."
"Yep. His power was similar to mine, nothing flashy. But he's the one I got the idea from that the power itself doesn't matter. Just need to train and make up for the power's weaknesses."
"You've been doing pretty good, seeing as you took hits from All Might like it was nothing. I'm not even sure if your skin cracked." Izuku said.
"Aw, come on. It KINDA cracked." Kirishima said, trying to humble himself.
"He's right though! You held out against all those hits and not a...well, you were pretty banged up, but you know what I mean!' Ochako said.
"You took it better than any of us could." Izuku said. "Don't undersell yourself!"
Kirishima smiled and rubbed the back of his head a bit.
"C'mon guys, really," the bulwark of a student said, trying to stay as humble as he could.
Ochako couldn't stop smiling. This appeared to be a really optimistic bunch. It inspired her to continue working out...and she couldn't wait for the jog.
And neither could someone else.