I'm crossing my fingers that Carry On will surpass Gemstones in its first year of existing. To give an idea, Gemstones had 70k views at the end of 2019. Carry On, as of right now, has…35.4k views.
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Everyone in Class 1-A was assisting in the cooking. Their end goal was to make the world's tastiest curry, which did sound pretty inviting to Class 1-B. Bakugou was in charging slicing everything up. Ochako, Iida and Izuku were the few in charge of browning the meat and sweating the onions.
Ochako watched as Bakugou chopped up the meat and chives at an alarming rate. "Woah, Bakugou. I didn't know you a pro with a kitchen knife."
"SURPRISED!?" Bakugou yelled. "How the hell can you be BAD with a kitchen knife!? You just cut shit up!"
"Well, you know. I can't touch things with all five fingers." Ochako said. "And I don't want to chop off my fingers..."
"LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!" Bakugou yelled, as he continued chopping.
"...well, alright then." Ochako said, looking away.
Izuku sighed. "His parents made him take a bunch of classes to curb his fire. I think it just fueled his ego."
"That explains it." Ochako said.
"There's a lot of benefits to doing all this cooking, you know." Iida said. "In times of disasters and evacuation, heroes like Lunch Rush are responsible to fill the bellies and soothe the souls of fatigued citizens. That's a large part of rescue- nourishment."
"That explains why the Pussycat's food tasted so great," Ochako said. "And why Ruby's food tasted great too."
"Why the hell was she cooking for you?" Bakugou asked.
"She just...stayed with me for a few days." Ochako explained. "I was just freaked out by the Shigaraki situation."
"I saw you and 10k fight that behemoth bastard on I-Island. I don't get how you just froze up there..." Bakugou said.
"He had me hostage, Bakugou! What if she acted and-" Izuku countered. Bakugou suddenly slammed the knife down, and cut the cutting board in half with a single cleave. The trio stared in disbelief.
Bakugou took a deep breath and rubbed his face for a moment. "...I'll get another cutting board."
Ochako would remember this moment for a while.
The other students were in charge of making some of the appetizers, such as rice balls, rumaki, edamame, miso soup and the rice for the curry.
"Hey, Todoroki!" Mina called out. "We need some help making the fire to boiling the water. Mind giving us a hand?"
"Mina, we can't always rely on him." Momo said, as she made a lighter from her hand. "If we did that, we'd never learn how to make fire ourselves." Jirou was shocked the irony was lost on her.
"It's fine." Todoroki said, rolling up his sleeves. He knelt down and ignited his palm. A small fire started in the fire pit, and Mina cheered.
"Yeeeeah! Burn baby! BUUUURN!" She yelled.
Todoroki couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"So, what do you think training's gonna be like tomorrow?" Kaminari asked, as he brought over a pot of water. "I really hope it won't be another 'throw kids in the forest' type training."
"Eh, probably more intense training of what we do at UA already. These guys are masters of their quirks- maybe we'll be focusing on that." Kirishima said.
"Yeah, those beasts that Pixie-Bob made were intense- I bet she couldn't do that at our age." Tsu said, carrying a bag of rice.
"Yeah. And Uraraka couldn't even hold a candle to all that crazy stuff Ben 10k was doing at I-Island..." Kaminari said.
Tsu gave Kaminari a weird look. "Huh?" Kirishima and Jirou simultaneously cringed, as they shot Kaminari a look.
"...OH! Uh, disregard whatever I just said. Sorry." Kaminari said.
"Great save." Jirou frowned.
Tsu blinked. "Uh, okay?" She walked off, confused.
"Dude! We can't just let that slip, you know!?" Kirishima reprimanded quietly.
"S-sorry man! I didn't mean it!" Kaminari said.
"God- you haven't done this before, have you?" Jirou asked.
Kaminari paused to think.
"Oh, god." Jirou said. "Please don't pause. This is NOT something that needs a pause."
"I'm not sure, okay!?" Kaminari said.
"Here's the deal. Next time you do that again, I will plug my ear jacks RIGHT into your eyes. Mineta went through that, and he would rate that experience a 1 out of 10." Jirou threatened.
"Where's the one come from?" Kaminari asked.
"Somehow, there's a part of me that knows he's into that stuff." Jirou said. "Deal?"
"D-deal. It won't happen again. Sorry." Kaminari said. "It's...just a lot to carry around."
Kirishima and Jirou shared a look.
"It's really not." Kirishima said.
"It's literally just an extra detail." Jirou added. "You're just an idiot."
Kirishima and Jirou walked off, leaving Kaminari alone. Yuga walked over. "What was that about?"
"Oh, it was just about Uraraka's O-" Kaminari began, before he felt Jirou's earjacks shoot across the way. "Uraraka's Oooooomm...fashion. It's something!"
Yuga gave him a weird look, before walking off. He shot the two scolders an enthusiastic thumbs up. The two facepalmed in response.
The sous-chef of the operation was Satou, unsurprisingly. He was the taste tester and in charge of the spices that would go into the curry. Mineta presented him with his miso soup.
"They say cooking is the way to a woman's heart, and I pride myself on that!" Mineta grinned. "I've seen every Youtube tutorial on cooking the basic stuff- I'm sure this will suffice."
Satou looked at the bowl. "Melon and grape miso soup? Interesting choice...I didn't know we had grap-"
Satou paused.
"...you didn't."
"What? They're tasty." Mineta said, tapping his hair.
"Throw it out. Now." Satou said.
Mineta frowned. "You didn't even taste it-"
"Just do it!" Satou yelled.
Mineta groaned. "Fiiiiiiiine."
"I swear, any woman who would eat that is actually insane." Satou said. "Seriously."
"It's what my mom does." Mineta said. "She squeezes her grape hair to enhance flavors."
Satou made a face. "...gross, dude."
Soon enough, the curry was ready for serving. "Bon appetit!" Satou said, as he and Shoji passed out the plates. "It's not on par with any five star restaurant, but it should be good."
"Ehhhhh. The appetizers were pretty mid..." Monoma scoffed.
"Is that why you ate three plates worth of dumplings?" Kendo pointed out.
"I was hungry. And desperate times call for desperate measures." Monoma said, as Shoji served him a plate of curry. He took a bite of it and...oh, God. It was good.
Monoma could feel his tastebuds soak in all the flavors of the meat. Just the first bite made the impact from all the protein reverberate through his body. This was the meal he needed after a long, long day.
"Duuuude, this is amazing!" Tetsutestu yelled enthusiastically. "What's in the sauce?"
"Mainly some yakiniku sauce. Had to improv it from some garlic, ginger, soy sauce and mirin in the back." Satou said. "A good curry is meant to have some kick to it!"
Monoma had to surrender his facade for a moment. This was a curry worth praising...
"...this...doesn't taste like crap." Monoma said quietly.
Satou took that compliment in stride.
After dinner, the bath houses opened. Thank god, too. Ochako felt she needed a nice soak in the water after a tiring day. She found the healing waters of the hot springs much needed. She and Tsu were the first ones to make it in the hot springs.
"Aaaahh..." Ochako said, sinking deeper into the hot springs. This was nice.
"Such wondrous bliss..." Tsu sighed. "Makes all that aching just melt away."
"Wait, should you even be in a hot spring?" Ochako asked. "Isn't water this warm bad for you?"
"Nope. I'm fine with this temp." Tsu explained. "My constitution is similar to a buergeria japonica, or a Japanese tree frog. I can survive in at least 46 degree celsius water."
Ochako hummed. "Alright, that's good to know."
Tsu and Ochako sat in silence for a few moments. This was the first time they'd actually hung out in a while- Ochako had been busy. It felt nice.
"...Hey, Ochako. Can I ask you something?" Tsu said.
"Yeah, what's up?" Ochako said, relaxing in the hot spring.
"So...you have an Omnitrix, right?" Tsu asked.
Ochako's eyes shot open. Tsu was looking at her intently.
"...I don't even know why I'm shocked. I feel like I'm doing a terrible job of hiding it." Ochako said, holding up the Omnitrix. "Yeah. I have one."
"...I knew it." Tsu said.
"Huh?"
"I knew you were hiding something crazy after that internship with Ben 10k. I just thought it was that weird tadpole dog thing that popped out of your phone." Tsu said.
"Y-you saw Ship!?" Ochako yelled, covering her mouth.
"Yeah. Just for a moment. He let me pet him." Tsu said. "I thought it was that, but then Kaminari said something weird while cooking dinner...so, I just wanted to ask."
Ochako sighed. "Y-yeah, it's true. Sorry for not telling you earlier. A few other kids in class know, and I should've told you earlier than them-"
"Why are you apologizing?" Tsu tilted her head. "I'm not hurt by this or anything. I knew you'd get around to telling me soon- I just got a bit impatient after Kaminari mentioned it."
"It's been a crazy few months, Tsu. I'm not gonna lie." Ochako said. "And I'm kind of wary of people learning nowadays, especially after Shigaraki showed up."
"And that's fair." Tsu said. "I can't imagine the stress you've been under."
Ochako made a face. "...I'm so lucky that stress is being canceled out by this hot spring right now."
"Fair enough." Tsu said, as all the other girls started to approach the two.
Mina was scoping the area, and clutching her towel tightly. Ochako gave her a weird look. "Everything okay, Mina?"
"Yeah. Just making sure there aren't any...prying eyes." Mina huffed as she got in. "There's no time rotations at this hot spring for some reason. We're washing at the same time as the boys."
Ochako turned red. "R-really?"
"Yeah. On the other side of that wall, the boys are probably just chilling." Jirou said. Ochako could only imagine what was going on back there, but her mind was really, really focusing on the image of Izuku's absolutely shredded six pack-
Ochako buried her face in the water to snap herself out of it. Tooru chuckled.
"I bet I know what you were thinking." Tooru teased, as she hopped into the water. Seeing her in water was so strange- her invisible body was outlined by the water around her.
"It's been a while since I've been in a hot spring." Momo said, taking off her towel. "I'm surprised I-Island didn't have one."
Jirou was staring respectfully. "Yes, and it was...a damn shame." Jirou said, following Momo into the water.
Ochako looked around. "Where's Class 1-B?"
"Oh, the girls are just resting before they hop in the hot spring." Mina said. "I think that meal may have been sleep inducing."
"Can't blame them. It was really tasty." Ochako said.
"I don't even wanna talk right now..." Jirou said, sinking into the hot spring. "This feels awesome."
"Agreed. Hot springs are for lounging, not talking." Tooru said.
The girls sat in silence for a few moments, letting the warm water heal all those annoying aches. Ochako liked this.
But the sound of something on the other side of the wall made her give pause.
"Stop that at once, Mineta!" Iida's voice yelled. All the girls were suddenly on edge. "What you're considering doing is a shame to both yourself and our female classmates!"
Momo rolled her eyes. "I figured something like this was going to happen." She stood up a bit to produce something from out of her back. "Quick, help me set this up."
The girls were quick to help- although it was annoying to leave the warm embrace of the hot springs. But still- Momo making a nice tent to shelter their nude bodies was a great idea. They slipped back into the hot springs just as Mineta was climbing up the wall- he was probably using his grape balls, given that popping noise.
The girls didn't see him peek his head over, but they heard his disappointed sigh. "Aw, come on..."
Momo sighed happily. "I wish they set this up beforehand, but no one can really predict Mineta-"
"YOU LITTLE BRAAAAAAT!" The sounds of Mineta screaming caught them off guard. Mina poked her head out, to see Kota, standing atop the wall like a grim reminder.
"This kid's seriously training to be a hero? Maybe he should learn some respect, first..." Kota grumbled.
"Hey, thanks kid!" Mina said, giving an enthusiastic thumbs up. The boy was...a bit flustered by the sight of Mina, especially since she was very, very not clothed right now.
The boy turned beet red, which Mina giggled at. But then Kota started to lean back, which freaked her out. Kota had lost his footing, and was now falling over to the boy's side of the wall.
"Oh, shit-!" Mina yelled, as she grabbed her towel and ran over to the wall. The girls all shared a look of concern, and quickly jumped out of the water too.
Ochako began slamming on the wall. "H-hey! Is that kid okay!?"
"Y-yeah! I caught him." Midoryia's voice responded. "He didn't hit the ground, but he's out cold..."
Ochako turned beet red too. "I'll...I'll help you take him to Mandalay. It's kind of our fault that he fell..."
"Wait, no, shouldn't I go-?" Mina asked. "I'm the one who..." Mina paused, before smirking. "Oooohhh..."
Ochako looked away. She was just concerned. There was no ulterior motive and it CERTAINLY did not involve wanting to see Izuku's six pack.
...or so she told herself.
Ochako threw on a black t-shirt and a pair of shorts before she made her way over. Izuku, on the other hand, was still in his towel. His hair was still wet from the steam and God, the way he looked when his hair was down-
Ochako smacked herself before they entered the office. Izuku looked at her strangely. "You okay?"
"Y-yeah. Mosquitoes." Ochako lied.
...God his six pack was amazing.
Izuku opened the door- Mandalay and Pixie-Bob were filling out some paperwork, and looked up. Mandalay looked shocked to see the boy in Izuku's arms.
"Oh my god, Kota- what happened?" Mandalay said. Pixie-Bob got up to get some cold towels to help the boy.
"I caught him after he fell from the wall..." Izuku explained. "Must've passed out from the fear of falling."
"Why was he even up on the wall?" Ochako asked.
"We put him on watch duty because Eraser told us one of you was 'dangerously lustful'." Mandalay sighed, as Izuku set him down on the couch. "You sure did act fast, though."
"I'm just glad nobody got hurt." Izuku said, staring at the boy. Those words from earlier echoed in his mind- 'jerks who wanna be heroes'. Since he took it upon himself to help this boy, he was curious about the boy's backstory.
"It's weird for him to be opposed to heroes. I mean, one just saved his life." Ochako said.
"Huh?" Mandalay said.
"Sorry- it's just...all my life, I've met dozens of people who wanted to be heroes at some point." Ochako said. "I've never heard of someone so young being so passionately against heroes."
Izuku nodded. "Isn't it unusual for him to be like this?"
Mandalay helped straighten the towel Pixie-Bob put on Kota's head. "A bit. There's a few people in our society who aren't going to think much of heroes. Kota would've probably looked up heroes too, if he'd been raised under...more fortunate circumstances."
Ochako and Izuku shared a look.
"You said Kota was your nephew...where's his parents?" Izuku asked.
Mandalay paused. Her eyes looked sad for a brief moment.
"My cousin was Kota's father. They were killed in the line of duty." Mandalay explained. When Ochako heard that, her heart broke. "They were some of the nicest heroes on the job. They didn't have any cool super moves, nor were they all that strong...but they were great at rescuing people."
Ochako's heart sank.
"People called their deaths 'honorable'. A boy who'd only just started learning about the world couldn't understand that, because his parents were his entire world." Mandalay said. "To him, it was like they left him all alone...and with no other relatives, me and my partner decided to take him in."
Izuku blinked. "Partner?"
"Don't tell the tabloids." Mandalay said, putting a finger to her mouth. She looked at Pixie-Bob. Izuku was quick to put two and two together.
Pixie-Bob sighed. "I don't think he likes us all that much, since we're also heroes. But we're the only family he has left..." Pixie-Bob held Kota's hand. "One day, I hope he's able to break out of that frustrated shell of his. A boy this young shouldn't have emotional scars this deep."
Ochako's heart ached for this poor boy- an orphan at age 6. Coming off of an emotional moment with her own parents and their safety, Ochako felt like she needed to hug this boy and give him the same opportunity to cry.
Izuku took all of that in. "...wow."
"Yeah...sorry to dump that on you two, but I feel like you needed some sort of...justification." Mandalay said. "Especially after today's incident."
Ochako nodded. "I-it's fine. We were just a bit concerned."
Mandalay smiled softly. "I appreciate it."
"We should...probably get to bed now. We have training tomorrow morning..." Izuku said. "Let me know how he's doing in the morning."
"Of course. You two get some rest." Pixie-Bob said, as Ochako and Izuku exited. The two walked back in silence.
"...that was a lot." Ochako said.
"Yeah." Izuku nodded. "I've heard so many different people talking about heroes over the last few months. I've heard so many viewpoints...it would be irresponsible to shrug them off. And yet...I just felt like I had no reply. He's a kid, and he's hurting."
"...you're gonna help him, aren't you?" Ochako asked.
"I don't know how much of an impact I'll make, but I want to do as much as I can this week." Izuku said. "Even if it's a small one...I can live with it."
Ochako smiled. "Spoken like a true hero."
Izuku sighed. "Anyways...I should probably throw on some clothes and get to bed."
Ochako nearly forgot Izuku wasn't fully clothed. "O-oh! Yeah...you go...do that." She hoped her eyes were drifting down to his abs when she said that.
"Y-yeah! I'll...go do that!" Izuku said.
The two walked away awkwardly.
The class woke up at the crack of dawn the next day. They shuffled like zombies towards the training ground. Ochako noticed a lot of bedheads and untied ponytails. She'd gotten...a decent sleep but still. She would've liked to sleep in for another hour.
Her body didn't ache from all the action yesterday, thanks to the hot spring. Just a few sore muscles here and there. That was nice. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.
Aizawa was already in the area when everyone else got there. He took a quick attendance and cleared his throat. "Today, the real training begins. By the end of this camp, I expect all of you to emerge strong enough to get your provisional licenses."
Ochako's eyebrows went up. That was typically a second year task, not a first year thing. Was the demand for heroes on the rise-?
"There's a lot of hostile force out there, and I want all of you to be prepared to face it. So, stay sharp and work hard." Aizawa said, reaching into his pocket. "To start...here, Bakugou." Aizawa tossed something towards him.
The boy caught the ball, and examined it. It was a baseball with some tech lining it. "This is from the strength trials at the start of the year..." He said.
"Last time, right after school started, your record was 705.2 meters. See if you can beat that."
Bakugou grinned, before clenching the ball. "With pleasure."
Ochako watched Bakugou warm up his shot. With how talented he was, she had little doubt in her mind that Bakugou would beat his record with ease. Though, there was no beating her record of...infinity.
Using his quirk, Bakugou launched the ball into the sky with a loud "GO TO HELL!" The ball soared through the sky and over the mountains, vanishing from sight. Aizawa looked down at the measurement recording device that the balls used.
"Well?" Bakugou snarled.
"...709.6 meters." Aizawa revealed. "Not much further from before."
Bakugou looked pissed. "You're kidding!"
"You have been through a lot these past few months. But, it's only your minds and characters that have matured. Your quirks haven't been able to keep pace, it seems." Aizawa said.
Izuku looked down at his hand. *I mean...I'm not breaking bones anymore.* Izuku thought.
"Starting today, you'll improve on your quirks. This will be incredibly harsh..." The ground underneath Aizawa's feet started to shake and move. "You'll wish you were dead."
The environment around him started to shift and move around, creating a wide, uneven area of Earth that would serve as the student's training ground.
"Now. Let the fun begin." Aizawa said. "Now, line up and I'll assign your training."
Ochako was the first in line- how on Earth would they be training her quirk? Have her constantly lift heavy objects to try and increase her lifting strength? Or would it focus on her ability to use it or herself? Ochako knew she got points off the exam for her less than rudimentary skills with that. She needed to improve that-
"Uraraka..." Aizawa said. "You'll be training your quirk by..."
Ochako suddenly noticed Ragdoll and Mandalay rolling a big plastic ball. It looked like one of those pool toys or 'bubble soccer' balls.
"Getting in that ball and bouncing around the area while in zero gravity." Aizawa said.
Ochako blinked. "...you're kidding, right?"
Aizawa stared right through her. "Just get in the ball."