Chapter 10

His form was laying underneath the blanket that Ukyo had provided when he had awoken. It was slow at first, his eyelids feeling heavy. He slowly raised himself, seeing the familiar looking room that he had seen twice. It was the room that Ukyo had opened the window to when they had first met. Looking about the room, it seemed pretty simplistic, a mat had been placed under him with an extra layer of padding, a pillow, and of course the blanket that he was under. Once he was raised into a sitting position, he felt something fall from his forehead. Catching it, it was a warm and damp hand towel.

He sighed as he held the towel in his hand. He had a lot of explaining to do, yet his body felt so sore all he wanted to do was lay back down. Before he could make that choice however he heard the door of the room open. Turning his head he saw the long haired proprietor of the building. Ukyo was staring at him for a moment before kneeling down to his eye level. "How are you feeling?" she asked, her voice full of concern.

Izuku thought about the question for a moment before finally settling upon an answer. "I feel like i got run over by a truck." he said, "how's Akane? Was she hurt?"

At first Ukyo was taken aback by his response before shaking her head. He really did have a hero complex. "Not terribly. If anything, you hurt her pride more than her body." Ukyo giggled a little before straightening up. "You have a lot to explain, you know that right?"

Of course he knew that. He knew he would have to tell them. Tell them what though? That was the question. What did they already know? If the amazons had told them anything, that was a lot more than he was comfortable with, yet he felt he owed it to them. To Akane for what he did. He slowly stood, his feet shaking as he did so. His whole body was screaming at him, begging him to sit down, to stay in bed. Was his body this beat up? "How long was I out for?" he finally asked, once he was standing on shaking knees.

Ukyo stood as well, if nothing else but to be something for Izuku to lean on if he needed it. "About three days. I've been taking care of you in the meantime. You were shivering too, I think you were getting sick." she said, stepping to izuku's side. "Here, let me help you down stairs, then we can fix you up with something to eat. After that, I'll go and get the others." Izuku nodded, taking each step carefully down, every once and while he would lean on Ukyo so he could regain his footing. His legs felt like lead, the wound he had received a while ago throbbed with pain. It had sense healed over, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

Once arriving at the restaurant, Izuku was placed in one of the booths facing the door. As he sat there, he could hear Ukyo fiddling with her grill, starting it up and beginning to cook. He smiled to himself. He was glad he had made at least one friend in this alien world he was in. he had been here for over three months and he was still not use to it. For once, he felt at peace. His shoulders slackened and his body once more went limp. He felt safe, if nothing else. It was at this time he realized he wasn't in his hero costume, but rather a simple white sleeveless shirt and green shorts. They must have changed him while he was out. Most have. He placed his hands upon the table of the booth. His eyes traveled down his right hand, the scars along it. It ached, like a phantom pain from long ago. Was that it? Or did he over use it again? He was lucky he didn't lose feeling in his arm. He could see his mothers face now in his mind, sternly yelling at him. Or Recovery Girl hitting him on the head with her walking cane. He could hear All Might's voice in his mind, telling him to not act so rashly.

Sitting there in relative silence was fine with Ukyo. The sizzling of the grill gave her time to think. She had three days to do that. Now Izuku was awake and she had several burning questions. She wanted to know more. More about Izuku's world. Were there parallel versions of her? Was there a version of Ranma and her where they got together? Was her shop there? What kind of hero work would he do? Where did he learn to fight like he did? And the most burning of all, where did the scars on his hands and arm come from?

She flipped the okonomiyaki before adding the sauce to it. She wanted to blurt out each question that made itself known inside her mind, but she swallowed it down. Now was not the time. She had to wait for the others. She would give him his food and then go and retrieve her fiancée and rivals. Each of them had the right to know what they had just stopped. That was if she could find them. She wasn't going to hunt down the amazons or Ryoge, simply tell Cologne and Ranma that Izuku was awake and ready to talk. She mindlessly chopped some of the meats and greens up, making a mixture to place upon the cooking dough. Once it was a golden brown, Ukyo lifted it off the grill and onto a plate, topping it off with a small drizzle of sauce upon it.

She approached the booth, seeing Izukus eyes as he looked upon his arm and hand. He too was lost in thought, it would seem. She gave a sad smile before placing the plate down upon the table. His eyes snapped to it for a moment before looking up at her. She smiled, pulling out a set of chopsticks from within her apron. "Eat up. Ill be back shortly with the others." Izuku's hands shook slightly as he took the chopsticks from her. She was about to leave when she heard a noise coming from izuku. She stopped for a moment, before looking upon the boy. His hands were still holding the chopsticks in the air, but they were shaking. She could see droplets of water falling from his cheeks as he choked down a sob.

Seeing the hero in training cry made a lump form in Ukyo's throat. This was the first time she had seen this boy be vulnerable. He had always been stoic or jovial. Always serious, but with a hint of playfulness. Now that mask had washed away as the boy in front of her sat there, holding a pair of chopsticks. He choked down another sob, slowly lowering his hand to the table. He used his other hand to wipe away his tears. She slowly sat down on the other side of the booth before placing her hands upon his. "Izuku. What's the matter?" she asked calmly.

"It… it just hit me. How much I miss my home." he said softly, his voice sounding broken. "I miss my friends, my mom, my mentor. I didn't realize how much I missed them until now." he wiped the tears away before once more a smile appeared on his face, the fake forced smile he had been wearing the last couple of weeks. Only for it to falter again. He looked down at the okonomiyaki that was set in front of him. He placed his hands together with the chopsticks in the middle of them before bowing to Ukyo. "Thank you, Ukyo. Really, I appreciate everything you have done for me."

Ukyo smiled before placing her hand upon his messy green head. "It's fine, you dork. Just take it easy for the next couple of days, okay? I'm sure once we all put our heads together, we can send you home." she said, smiling before getting up from the booth. "Ill be back soon, ok? Eat up." she said before making her way out of the shop, grabbing a large spatula that was hanging by the door.

As she left, Izuku slowly began to eat. His eyes were beginning to sting from his crying. However, he was getting it under control, 'enough with the water works, ok kid?' he could hear All Might say, the first day they had been working together, on that trash covered beach. He smiled at the memory. 'Your overwork,' he had said during that training, 'this will produce the exact opposite effect of what we want.'

"Sorry All Might." Izuku whispered in between bits, "I did it again." he continued to eat, each bit exploded with flavor, filling Izuku with a warmth he hadn't noticed was missing. Having survived on mostly handouts and garbage, Izuku was so glad to finally have a meal. A proper one. He was surprised with each bit. He wanted to stuff the whole thing into his mouth, but he took it slow. His diet had taken a serious hit while he was out and he needed to eat it slowly or chance making himself sick.

Time passed as he ate before the doors to the restaurant where once more opened as Ukyo entered the building with Ranma, Akane, and Cologne. He went to stand up but felt his knee almost buckle from the pressure. He kept himself seated before bowing his head to the three. "I'm sorry." he said, "I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

Cologne bounced over to him before giving his head a smack with her walking stick. "This is why i told you to stop! You have done nothing but make it harder for us to help you!" she practically shouted. Izuku clamped one of his hands upon his head, rubbing the part that she had hit.

"I want to know what's going on." Ranma said, his arms crossed. He didn't exactly look happy. Izuku couldn't meet his eyes for a moment before looking up. With a sigh, he gestured to the seat across from him.

"Its going to be a while, you may want to have a seat." Izuku said. Once they got comfortable, Izuku took a deep breath. "To start, im sure elder cologne has already informed you, but i am from a different world altogether. Where I'm from, superpowers were common, villains beginning to make their appearance, and super heroes the norm." Ranmas eyes widened before turning to Akane and Cologne, hoping one of them would laugh or something, but neither one did. "Before my arrival here, i was fighting a hero turned villain, working with the most feared criminal in our world. That night, I found myself being blown up, arriving here in your world. I believe it was you who found me, Ranma."

Ranma nodded his head, "ya, but you knew that all ready, pal. Why are you bring that up?"

Izuku stopped for a moment before sighing. "Because when I first met you, I had been sure that with your help, I could return home." Izuku said, his eyes falling to the table. "But your attitude and obsession with beating me in a fight was getting in the way of that. I realized the last time that you and I had fought that as long as you thought you could beat me, you would never help me. Even if I begged for your help."

Ranma felt his face twist with anger, "oh ya? Then why did ya…"

Izuku interrupted him, "take it easy on you? Simple. I had thought if I could make it seem like you had beaten me or could do so, you would let it go." Izuku frowned, "instead it had the opposite effect, making it harder and harder to work with you."

Ranma stopped for a moment. Was he right? "Oh ya? Then why didn't you just let me win?" he asked.

Izuku smiled a little to himself. "Two reasons. One, my own pride wouldn't let me. I don't make it a habit of down playing my own power. Where im from, you have to work as hard as you can to reach the top. If you want to accel in your work, you have to do twice the work for half the payoff. But thats the world we live in. fighting for the top spot. To be come number one. I wasn't just going to roll over and let you win to get him. My pride wouldn't let me."

Akane scoffed before whispering under her breath, "boys. Why can't you let your pride go for just a moment to ask for help."

Izuku smiled, "if you could see my world, you would get laughed at, i think. Most of the people in my world have pride in there work. Pride keeps us moving, going beyond what is capable. Pride isn't always a bad thing. Pride in ones work, pride in another, pride in the systems in place."

Ranma began to tap his finger on the table, thinking before he replied finally. "Okay, pride kept you from just giving up. What was the other reason?" He felt like he knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from Izuku.

"Because i knew you wouldn't accept it as a victory. I had already shown you how strong I was, that day on the bridge." Izuku said, placing his hands in his lap. "Had I not done that, you wouldn't have known how strong I really was and probably could have hidden it. But at the time I was running scared, doing what I knew best because that's how things worked back where I was from." Izuku raised his head towards Ranma, meeting his eyes once more. "Had I shown just an ounce of restraint, none of this would have happened."

Ranma thought about it for a moment, his mind working over time to think so far back. What would he have done if he had beaten Izuku? Gloated, more than likely. 'Some demon.' he would have said, seeing the headlines about him. Acted like a big shot whenever he would come up. They wouldn't have fought in the arena one on one because ranma wouldn't have seen him as much of a challenge. In the end, Ranma knew what he was saying. "I wouldn't have respected you as a fighter, or as a threat. And when it would be revealed to me that you were holding back, I would have attacked you, just like I did the last time we saw each other."

Izuku nodded. "You remind me of my childhood friend, Ranma. He's a hot head, but his heart is in the right place, I think. He works so hard to surpass me, I could see the same traits in him in you. So, I know how to handle you. Or at least, I had thought I did." izuku stopped. "Then we fought after dealing with the panty thief. The shock of your cursed form and your explosive reaction led me to believe you wouldn't help me. Even if I did beg. So in the end, it didn't matter to me. That avenue was closed and I needed to find a new one."

"Why didn't you come back to the Neko Cafe then?" Cologne asked, taking a puff off of her pipe. "We would have taken you in. we were still willing to help you."

Izuku smiled sadly, "you know the answer to that. Heroing is in my blood. I wasn't going to stop, even if you told me to. Helping people is all I want to do. So I thought I couldn't accept your offer." he said. "So, I had nowhere else to turn. Tired and desperate, I continued doing the one thing I knew that would help me. I fought criminals. Then you all confronted me. I didn't know what to do. When I hurt Akane, I was in a blind panic. My smokescreen was too thick and I couldn't see her." he turned to the girl in question. "Again, I'm really sorry that I hurt you."

Akane folded her arms over her chest for a moment before sighing. "It's fine, I guess." she huffed before looking over at cologne. "So, is there a way we can help him? Can we send him back?"

Cologne took another drag off of her pipe in thought before blowing out the smoke. "There is a possible way to do it, however it would require time for us to understand Midorya. We would have to study him, see how this world affects him. Something we can't do if he's off galivanting around the whole of Japan." she said, removing some of the ashes in her pipe. "So, i will say it again, no more heroing! Not until we can send you home!" her eyes crossed, mere inches from Izukus.

Izuku thought about telling her no, but then thought about it. He had to slow down. If he was going to get back home. He would have to hang up the cape for a while.

"Besides, we live in Nerima. Its crazy enough as it is without you floating through out the air." Ukyo joked. Izuku smiled a little before nodding.

"What do we need to do?" Izuku asked, "to send me home, what do we need to do?"

Cologne sighed before taking a step back. "We, the amazons will be watching over you, seeing how your body is adjusting. Then, we'll run some tests, see if there is any way we can recreate the explosion that sent you here in the first place. This could take time, and I feel time is something we do not have a lot of." her eyes opened slightly to stare at Izuku, her eyes cold, "whatever is following you here is close to making itself known. I will warn you, whatever it is will not like its arrive into this world, mark my words."

Izuku nodded. "And when it does, we'll be ready."

Akane sighed before leaning back in her chair. "That's all well and good, but what's the plan with your living arrangements?" Izuku looked towards her in confusion, so she elaborated, "well, you can't just live on the streets and my house is full enough as it is."

"Hum. we could house him at the Neko Cafe, however I feel that would be unwise with Moose and Shampoo." Cologne said.

"I could house him." Ukyo said, without hesitation. "I mean, I could always use extra help here in the restaurant."

Izuku smiled before nodding his head. "I would love to help, miss Kuonji." he said.

Ukyo frowned before saying, "look. If you're going to be living here, you should be calling me by my first name, got it? It's Ukyo." she finished by smiling. "And besides, we're friends, right?"

Izuku nodded his head before looking towards Ranma and Akane. "I would love to be your friend too. I'm so tired of fighting, I just want to help."

Akane nodded her head, but Ranma didn't say anything. He was deep in thought. Did he have a friend that didn't have an ulterior motive? For a moment, he finally came up with an answer. He sighed before extending his hand out to Izuku. "I'm willing to give it a shot," he said.

AN: Well damn. It's been a while hu? Like I said last time it's going to be a bit sporadic for a bet, but I was able to get this chapter done and posted! Thank you all for sticking with it. Im glad most people liked the last chapter or didn't have any problems with it. That being said, lets get to the shout outs and reviews!

Monster King: Awesome work

Kain: thanks! I appreciate every single one of these comments, so thank you!

Djinn: Great new chapter, wonder if izuku will finally take a much needed break.

Kain: That's what we're building to. The next couple of chapters are going to be a sort of breather arc (or the titular shopping episode/ filler arc to slow things down before we get to the next one).

Chronosign: Just googled it and it turns out that ranma ½ and MHA have no common voice actor for english, french, italian, german, japanese, and korean.

Kain: that doesn't surprise me. Ranma ½ is like the grandfather of Harem anime and manga, being a rather older show. Though that is a neat piece of trivia.