Earlier
Yui POV
"Now, Maize, are you sure you don't need any help from me?" I asked as I was on the phone with my oldest son, checking on him during his hero time.
"Mom, I'll be fine. I got Lisanna with me, so we'll be watching each other while we're on the job." He reassured me.
"I know, but..."
"We'll be fine, mom. We're all grown up now, and we can handle ourselves." Maize told me. "Trust us, okay?"
"Hey, Maize! They got a case for us." I heard Lizanna over the phone call him.
"Oh, I gotta go mom. Tell those two to stay out of trouble in school." Maize said before he hung up for work.
I sat down to think about what Maize told me. I do trust them, they're all strong on their own. I just don't want history to repeat itself, and it'd be my fault that they might...
No, that won't happen again. I won't let it happen. I made a promise to keep going forward and help our children into who they want to become, and I intend to keep it.
"I need to relax. Raising four kids on my own can be so stressful and has taken a toll on me." I said as I felt tired from constantly making sure my children are safe.
I should look into that relaxation therapy stuff. It should take some stress off of me while parenting.
Speaking of relaxation, that was short-lived when I was getting a call from the school. I sighed, thinking that either Ryoichi or Kari got into some trouble already. Keeping my composure, I answered and hoped it was nothing too bad.
I was expecting a teacher or the principal to talk to me, but instead...
"Mom! You have to come here, quick!" Kari's voice came through surprisingly. She sounded like she was scared and worried, and that was raising my anxiety.
"Kari? What's going on? Where's your brother?" I was already panicking about Ryoichi.
"His class is at USJ and it's being attacked by villains!"
That was all I needed to know. Just from that information, I could feel my blood boiling. My anger was rising as my grip on the table was getting tighter to the point cracks were starting to appear, and steam was coming off of me. Despite this, I restrained myself from raging out and calmed down a little.
"Listen, Kari. Everything's going to be fine. I'll go save your brother. Just stay calm and wait for me, okay?" I told her.
"I..." She stopped suddenly, sounding like she wanted to say something else before she continued, "Okay, just... bring him back safe."
"I will. Hang tight." I promised her before hanging up. Without wasting time, I quickly changed out of my clothes and switched to my old hero costume. It's been a while since I wore it, and it felt a bit tighter too, but that's not important now.
Exiting my home, a red fiery aura surrounded me as I began to use my quirk. "Hang on Ryoichi. Mama's coming!" I flew off to USJ for Ryoichi. It's been a while since I've been to UA, so finding it may be difficult. That is if it weren't for the cloud of dust that was moving toward the building. If there was anybody that could move that fast, it'd be...
"All Might!" Yui shouted as she caught up with him. "You're heading to USJ right?"
"Yui? I am in fact. Young Iida told me 1A's in trouble, so I'm in a hurry to save the students."
"Let me come with you. My son's in that class, and I need to get to him quickly."
"Very well. No time to discuss this, so let's make haste!" All Might as he ran faster and I followed behind him.
We made it as All Might busted the doors down, and he had the angriest face he ever had. "Have no fear, students..." He said before he aggressively tore off his tie. "Because I am here!"
Having a quick look at the situation, two of the teachers were already down, and the main villain was at the center along with a weird bird brain monster. Seeing that Momo was here too, I knew exactly what to do.
All Might and I split up while he went ahead to fight the bird monster and I had Momo tell me where Ryoichi was to find him. Momo tried to come along with me, but I wasn't going to put her or any of the students in more danger. It could be done quickly, but seeing that there are still villains around and All Might is on a timer limit with his injury, I decided to let her and some of her classmates join me.
I hope this is the right decision I'm making. Whatever the case, I need to save my son.
Third Person POV
Present time
"Get her! She's only an old hag, so we can-" A thug declared before he and a few more thugs were blasted away by Yui's flame.
"I may be in my 40's, but I'm still young and healthy." Said Yui.
More thugs continued to attack while Yui continued to take them down with ease. It was an easy fight for her, truthfully, she had no trouble in taking these many villains on. However, due to villains being villains, they don't know when to call it quits and just keep fighting back. With that being a problem, Yui has been fighting for some time to the point she was starting to feel more tired as time went on.
"These guys are seriously dedicated to achieving whatever their plan is, and it doesn't help the fact I'm starting to get tired from this." Yui thought as she was panting. "I need to finish this now, and get the kids out of here."
"Hey, she's starting to get weaker!" A thug pointed out. "Let's get her now while we have the chance!"
They all charged at her, completely surrounding her. To them, it seemed like they had the upper hand now. That's where they were completely wrong.
As they closed in, Yui surprised them when she jumped high in the air. She aimed her hand behind her and blasted herself back to the ground by shooting a small burst of flame out of her hand. Before she landed back on the ground, Yui reeled her fist back and electricity was sparking from it. The villains were about to retreat, but it was too late when Yui punched her fist into the ground, sending an electric shockwave out from the impact as the villains were stunned and knocked away from the blast.
"If you're all done messing around, I suggest you stay down this time." Yui said to the groaning villains.
With no more villains to fight, she was going to take care of Shock-Wave, that was until the ground started shaking.
"Now what..." Yui groaned out.
She turned and was met with a giant fist coming right at her. She managed to block at the last second and slid back across the ground. Her arms were stinging a little from the punch, but it didn't bother her too much.
"Of course, it's never easy." Yui scoffed before facing a man wearing a rhino-armor-like suit "And what's your gig?"
"My 'gig' is that I get to crush you!"
"You villains are all the same. All bark, yet no bite. Let's just get this over with already."
As Yui continued her fight, the four UA students that were fighting Shock-Wave were having a hard time as well. No matter what they were throwing at him, he always gets back up and strikes back harder.
"Come on! Is that all you brats got?!" Shock-Wave blasted more of his beams at them.
"How is this guy even still standing?! I thought you would've handled him quickly!" Josuke shouted while dodging shockwave beams.
"That's what I thought too. But apparently, this guy doesn't quit-!" Ryoichi said before dodging another beam.
The students continued dodging the beams as they tried to get close, but Shock-Wave made it seem that was going to be impossible to do.
Momo was making shields to block the beams and try to get in close herself, but the beams were starting too strong for her, having to back off. She tried to create something, but Shock-Wave wasn't allowing her to think for a moment.
"I can't even create anything in time with this guy shooting beams out like this!"
"Didn't they teach you kids anything? This is the real world, and I'm not gonna give you a chance to fight back!"
At this point, Shock-Wave had them cornered, with no way to beat him. Realizing the situation they were in, it became clear their best and last option, for now, was to contain him somehow.
Momo was able to quickly come up with a plan to contain him, and she needed Ryoichi's firepower.
"Ryoichi! Your lightning!" Momo shouted out to him.
Ryoichi was confused before he caught on to her plan. Using his lightning, he aimed at Shock-Wave and shot a lightning bolt at the mountain behind him.
"Heh, you missed. Let me show you how it's done." Shock-Wave aimed his gauntlet at them and readied another blast, that was until he felt something hit his head. He looked up only to be met with falling boulders and got buried underneath them.
"Did that do it?" Asked Josuke.
To his answer, the pile of boulders began to pulse. Shock-Wave was trying to break free from their trap.
"No, not even that did it." Momo said in defeat.
"Damn it. How much energy have you guys got left?" Ryoichi asked his friends.
"To be honest, I'm starting to have headaches."
"I'm nearly at my limit with creation."
"And my ears are starting to hurt."
"Shit... I'm running low on my elements too. I don't know how long we can go on with this." Ryoichi was starting to have doubts.
Shock-Wave was beating them with ease while draining their energy during the fight. Not just that, Yui was there as well, but she was being held up as she was fighting a rhino man.
"Damn it. If I had beaten him sooner, none of this would've happened. I wouldn't have dragged them into this and now... Why... Why do I always let this happen?!" Ryoichi yelled at himself internally as he was hyperventilating again.
Jiro picked up on this from her jacks when she heard his fast heartbeat. She looked at him and saw the panicked look on his face.
"Akatani, look..." Jiro started talking to him. "We can get out of this. This guy may be all tough, but he's really all bark and no bite."
"Jiro?" Momo caught on to what Jiro was doing."
"If you're worried about us, we'll be fine. You're the toughest one here, and if anything, you'll definitely kick this guy's ass. So don't you give up on us just yet."
Jiro's motivational words got through to Ryoichi and he was calming down. The group turned their attention back to the pulsing works as the pulses got stronger. They stood together and got ready to fight.
"So, got any more motivation to spare, Jiro?" Asked Josuke.
"Not exactly, but I think I have an idea of how we can beat him. I'm not sure if it'll work though."
"We're out of options, so this might be our last chance. Tell us your plan, Jiro." Said Momo.
"We're gonna have to time this. I've been hearing clicks from his gauntlets every few seconds he recharges."
"So if we let him use his beams..."
"Then we get in close to finally beat him." Ryoichi finished as he stood up, looking determined now. "The gauntlets are the source of his power. I got you all into this mess, I'll get us out by destroying those gauntlets. But I'll need your help with that."
"We'll help you. That's why we're here." Momo said to him.
A massive shockwave blast broke the boulders into pieces, revealing Shock-Wave looking more tattered and dirty.
"Enough games! It's that I put an end to you brats!"
With Yui, her time fighting the rhino villain was dragged on long enough. She was breathing hard and holding on to her side, trying to catch her breath. The villain was strong, sure, but it wasn't enough to break her. It was the fact they'd been fighting so long, Yui's energy started to drain over time. Not to mention the fact she was already tired from fighting those thugs earlier.
"I'm starting to reach my limit here. I can even feel how little power I have left in me. I didn't expect these villains to be so tough to deal with. But..." Yui thought to herself
"Fun's over. Now I crush you this time!"
The rhino villain charged at her while Shock-Wave followed suit and charged at the students.
"Heads up! He's coming right at us!"
"But I have a job to do. Because..." With what power she had left, she reached for it and began to power up. "I am the Symbol of Hope!" Yui was then surrounded by a fiery and electric aura and everyone felt her sudden massive power up.
It caught Shock-Wave off guard for a moment and that was the opening they needed to turn the tides.
"Now!" Ryoichi went ahead first and delivered a side kick at Shock-Wave, making him guard up in response and it landed right on his gauntlets.
The kick sent him back a bit. Shock-Wave looked at his gauntlets and noticed a dent was made.
"He damaged my gauntlet?! Whatever, I won't let these brats-?!" Shock-Wave was brought out of his thoughts when Ryoichi and Momo started to double-team against him. All he could do at the moment was block them off and find his own opening.
"When will you brats learn... you're out of your league?!" Shock-Wave blasted them back with impulse and was readying a blast beam. Before he could fire, a string of web caught his hand, catching him off guard.
"The thing is..." Ryoichi started talking and pulled himself towards the villain. "We're heroes, so we don't give up!" Once he got close, he kneed Shock-Wave right in the face.
He didn't have time to pull himself together as Momo followed up with another attack with a hammer and smacked him hard. "We may be out of our league, but we still fight because we don't give up no matter what!"
Shock-Wave growled in anger at their retaliation. He heard his gauntlets were charged up now and fought back by blasting beams at the duo. In the middle of his rampage, Shock-Wave was too focused to even notice a boulder was thrown right at him and he got hit by a soundwave.
"Our friends are relying on us right now, so we're going to fight for them!" Josuke exclaimed.
"And we're going to take you down here now, you creep!" Jiro chimed in as well.
While they were handling Shock-Wave, Yui turned the tables on Rhino as she was giving it her all. They were throwing a flurry of punches at each other, either connecting or they delivered small blows to each other.
"You cannot beat me! I am the ultimate crushing machine! And this armor is very durable!"
"Durable, yes... but not indestructible!" Yui said when she landed a couple of hits and her punches were starting to break the armor.
Rhino sees this and tries to punch her back, but it was no use. Yui was starting to see through his attacks and was gaining the upper hand. He was getting pushed back and was barely landing any hits on the hero now.
Shock-Wave's situation was becoming more difficult as he could hardly fight back at all with the constant attacks coming at him. Ryoichi throws punches and kicks while using his elements, Momo uses her creation to make melee weapons at her disposal, Jiro uses her ear jacks to blast soundwaves from her boots and Josuke uses his telekinesis to throw heavy stuff at him. His gauntlets were taking more damage as well, making him more angry by this.
"I... have had... enough!!!" Shock-Wave roared our anger, sending a massive impulse as it sent them all back.
"Shit! He broke loose! I gotta stop him now!" Ryoichi rushed forward and tried to stop Shock-Wave. He noticed Shock-Wave was going to launch a beam attack and tried to block it for being too close, but that was a trick as Shock-Wave got close himself and punched Ryoichi square in the face.
"Ryoichi!" His friends called out for him in fear.
He was sent rolling back. Ryoichi tried to stand up but his head was too hazy from that punch and his nose was bleeding too. He was close to passing out any time soon and tried to keep himself up a little longer.
"Before I kill the rest of you, I'll kill your friend first! He's been a pain in my ass ever since he got here, so it's time to finish my job right now!"
Shock-Wave was going to blast a massive beam at Ryoichi until Momo got in his way and stopped the attack. The look she was giving him, she was furious.
"I won't let you hurt him!" Momo hissed at him and pushed him back.
Shockwave scoffed and sent her back with a beam to her stomach. "Just give up, it's game over." His gauntlets charged up to maximum power as Shock-Wave was preparing a powerful attack.
"Come on... get up. Get up dammit!" Ryoichi tried to force himself up so he can stop the attack, or at least get his friends out of the way. It didn't matter to him, the most important thing right now was to save his friends.
"It's over!" Shock-Wave shouted and blasted out his largest shockwave beam. They prepared for the worst as it was about to hit them, but then it didn't for some reason. They all looked to see what stopped the attack and were shocked to see Jiro was holding it back with her sound waves.
"I won't... let you... win!" Jiro plugged her other jack into her boot and started to push the beam back. They were in a beam clash now.
"Tch! Not bad girlie, your quirk is strong, but not strong enough!" Shock-Wave added more power and was slowly pushing back.
Jiro was struggling while holding her own. She added more of her own power and tried to send it back, but it barely budged a bit. Her ears were starting to bleed now, but she didn't care at the moment.
"Face it. You're not heroes. You can try all you want, but at the end of the day, you're all nothing!" Shock-Wave pushed back and Jiro was starting to lose focus.
Yui noticed this and got more worried. "Ryoichi!"
"Hey, eyes on me old lady! You won't save them if you're squished like a pancake!" Rhino threw a punch at her as if it was going to hit her. To his surprise, she was going to take it until...
"You villains need to learn..." Yui caught a punch from Rhino while talking to both of them. "That heroes are willing to save anyone in danger. No matter the stakes, we always fight through. These kids ARE heroes!" She then jumped up close and punched Rhino hard in the face, breaking the headpiece of the armor. "That's why I am here. To teach them to stand up to tyrants like you!"
Rhino growled and got into a running position. "You should've quit while you had the chance!" He charged right at her at full speed.
Unknown to him, Yui was ready for that. Once he got in close, Yui reeled her leg back and then kicked him in the face as he was sent into the air. She then got underneath him and sent a double kick to his back, sending Rhino even higher. Yui followed him and was completely thrashing Rhino. She flew around him as she came in with punches and she went faster after each one.
"Of course, I'm surrounded by idiots. Doesn't matter, I'll get the job done with these kids and then..." Shock-Wave was thinking to himself and then noticed Ryoichi standing back up. "What? You think you can still fight cause mommy's here to help?"
Ryoichi didn't say anything in response.
"Hm. No more quips? So be it." Just as Shock-Wave was about to finish them, something caught his gauntlet as it was malfunctioning and making his beam unstable. "The hell is this?!"
"I was wondering what took so long to find help. Now I see why." Akio appeared as he used his quirk to wrap around Shock-Wave's one gauntlet."Sorry, it took so long to get here."
"Nevermind that Mendez, just hold him there!" Jiro said to him.
Akio understood and tried to pull Shock-Wave away from his beam but Shock-Wave rebelled back.
"Akatani, if you have any strength left, now's your chance to knock the creep out!"
Ryoichi nodded and tried to release whatever power he had left. "I'm all tapped out, but I can't lose here! I have to keep pushing!" As if it was a miracle, he was able to find more power, but this felt different to him. It didn't matter, Ryoichi stood tall and powered up as his eyes flashed a light blue for a second. He was ready to finish this.
Ryoichi then charged and readied a punch. To make sure Shock-Wave doesn't get back up, he uses Jiro's soundwave to boost the speed of his punch.
Yui was done with her fight as she finished her barrage attack on Rhino and grabbed his arm and then sent him back to the ground. Rhino was slammed hard to the surface and became suspended in the air.
"Now then, we have a saying here at UA, and it's time to show you what they mean!" Mixing both her fire and lightning, she increased her power to finish Rhino off. "Go beyond!"
"Plus!"
"ULTRA!!!" Both mother and son shouted and they delivered the final blow to their respective villains. The punch was so powerful it broke through Rhino's armor and sent him flying right into the mountain. Shock-Wave was struck in his core, making him lose focus and his beam was canceled out. He got sent into the wall by Ryoichi's and Jiro's combined attack.
"Did... did that do it?" Ryoichi hoped that the last attack knocked him out.
The dust settled and Shock-Wave was seen stuck in the wall and was unconscious at the moment.
"We did it!" Josuke cried out in exhaustion as he fell onto his back.
"Finally, it's over now." Momo said and fell to her knees feeling tired after all the fighting.
"Hey, you okay?" Jiro asked Ryoichi.
"I'm fine, though my arm feels a bit numb..."
"Your arm? Look at your face! Your nose is bleeding for crying out loud!"
Ryoichi touched his nose and saw it was bleeding. "Damn... Wait Jiro, your ears!" He remembered Jiro was going past her limit with her quirk and saw some blood dripping from one of them.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I can still hear, so it's nothing too much. You should be more worried about yourself."
Ryoichi was still worried for her regardless, but seeing how the others weren't as hurt as he was, he couldn't help but still feel guilty for dragging them into this and having them be scared for him again. He sighed and took her word for it.
"Okay, but we're still going to Recovery Girl after this. I'm starting to feel the pain coming in." Ryoichi groaned and held his nose.
"Yeah, you're telling me."
As they were chatting, Ryoichi's senses went off again. This time though, it wasn't exactly a threat. "Oh, crud..."
"What's wrong? Another villain?"
"No, it's-"
"Ryoichi!!!" Yui's voice cried out to him as she rushed at him and caught him. "Are you okay? You're not hurt badly, are you? No, your nose is bleeding. I should've got here faster and beaten those villains before they hurt my baby."
Yui rambled on with her rant on being a "bad mother" while the others were just awe-struck at her sudden personality flip.
"Uh... mom? You can let go of me now."
"Oh, sorry! I was just so worried for you. Kari told me your class was in danger and I had to get here quickly."
"Kari told you? Figured..." Ryoichi said feeling more guilty.
Yui noticed how her son was feeling. She guessed that he thinks she was disappointed in him for how reckless he was. Being the good mother she is, she tried to cheer him up.
"Hey, Ryoichi." Yui got his attention and she had a smile on her face. "I'm just happy you and your friends are safe now. That's what matters now. Let's get you kids out of here, the other staff will take care of the villains from here, and your friends are waiting for you."
Yui guided them back to the entrance and on their way there, Momo was feeling a bit gloomy as well. Jiro saw this but didn't want to bother her at the moment after what they went through.
The group met up with the rest of the class, minus Izuku who was badly injured and was taken to the infirmary right away along with their teachers. They made it back to school and changed into their school uniforms as they were going home.
While everyone else went home, Momo waited for Ryoichi and Jiro to get their injuries healed. She still felt gloomy from earlier.
"Something bothering you?" Akio asked her.
"Oh, it's nothing, but thank you. And thank you for saving us back there." Said Momo.
"No problem. That's what heroes do."
Momo nodded in agreement with Akio. "You were one of Ryoichi's old friends, yes?"
"Yeah, we met when we were kids, along with Izuku."
"I see. Can I ask..." Momo was hesitant to ask at first but was too curious. "What do you exactly think of him?"
"Of Ryoichi? Well, he's a pretty neat guy. To think he was a shy boy to this confident, brave, yet so over-talkative guy."
Momo giggled a little at Akio's description. "He can be, but I kinda like that about him. Especially with his comics."
"That guy is a huge nerd. Him and Izuku." Akio chuckled. "But overall, Ryoichi really is a great person."
"Yeah, he is..." Momo said and began to think about Ryoichi now. A small smile was forming on her face and her heart began to beat a bit faster.
"So, mind if I ask you the same thing?" Akio asked suddenly.
"Huh?"
"I gave you my thoughts on Ryoichi, I'm just wondering what you think about him. You don't have to answer if you want."
"No no! It's fine, really. I just wasn't expecting that." Momo said as she was blushing now. "But, to answer your question, I think he's great too. He's very kind, and smart. He's truly an amazing person. He and his mother are what inspire me to be a great hero someday. But..." Momo trailed off when she felt a bit sad.
"What is it?" Akio was curious about what she meant.
"It's just... I don't mind his selfless nature. But when it comes to putting others before himself, he gets carried away to the point he doesn't consider his own safety. And I feel useless when I'm being the one saved by him when I can help him out too."
Momo has been feeling like this ever since the USJ incident. Ever since Ryoichi sent them to the rest of the class so he could handle the villains himself, she couldn't help but think of different scenarios where they could've stayed and helped. Regardless, she blamed herself for letting Ryoichi fight those villains himself.
"So you're worried for Ryoichi, is that it?" Asked Akio.
Momo nodded at his question.
"I get how you feel. Ryoichi does tend to not think much of himself. He can be reckless from time to time, but in the end, he's still Ryoichi."
"What do you mean by that?" Momo asked him.
"I'm not saying to worry less about him, but Ryoichi's a strong guy. He can be taken down, but he always finds a way to get back up, and hit harder. That's what makes him, well, him. He never gives up, no matter what. At least, that's what I think, but it doesn't change a thing about him."
Momo was in awe to hear Akio's words. She still does get worried for him, but his will, that determination of his to keep going forward is what motivates her. She may not like how self-sacrificing he is, but that same selflessness gives her ideas on what type of hero she wants to be.
"I see. Thank you, Mendez." Momo bowed in respect.
"Hey, you can call me Akio. A friend of Ryoichi is a friend of mine. Also..." Akio got close and whispered in her ear. "If you really want to get close with him, I suggest you think about how you see him."
Momo was confused for a moment until she realized what he meant by that and became a blushing mess. "H-he's just my best friend! Really! It's nothing more than that!"
"I'm just saying. And I think Jiro might be thinking the same thing too."
"He knows?!" Momo was bewildered to find that out about them.
"I'm just kidding... or am I?" Akio said in a sudden serious tone before laughing. "Okay, I'm done joking this time. I'll see you around, Momo."
Momo pouted for being tricked. She brushed it off and remained formal as she said her goodbye. After some time, Ryoichi and Jiro came from Recovery Girl's office and are all healed up now.
"Ready to go, Momo?" Asked Ryoichi.
Momo nodded as she seemed very happy.
"Remember what Recovery Girl said, Akatani." Jiro started to tease him.
"Hey don't go scolding me now too. Your injuries were as bad as mine." Ryoichi pouted.
"But did I get scolded at all?"
Ryoichi groaned and just ignored her while Jiro continued to tease him. Momo giggled at their fanatics. Thinking about the chat she and Jiro had early today, she couldn't help but smile at the idea.
"Yeah, maybe it is possible. But for now, let's just rest for the moment." Momo thought to herself, and they all went home to prepare for what the rest of the school year had in store for them.
