Chapter 14: Teenage Drama and Adult Problems

Joey

The two weeks after deciding his Hero Name was almost normal for Joey, and it was aggravating. His sister and brother-in-law and their friends were on the other side of the globe searching for terrorists. He called them when he could, and they told him what they could, but that was too little. There was a lot of paranoia regarding the Brotherhood of Humanity, they had flying armor suits for crying out loud, who knew what they could tap into, eavesdrop on, or hack? The lack of concrete information about his family was driving him insane; there were many nights in the last two weeks when he woke up in a cold sweat after dreaming of his sister being blown up.

Not helping matters was the romantic drama that had somehow cropped up with himself, Mine, and Kurosawa. Mine would flirt with him all the time, and Joey would respond; she was the hottest girl in the school after all, but he wasn't sure about her whenever he was away from her. He wasn't sure if Mine Sakkie saw him as actual boyfriend material or just an amusement; she flirted with literally everyone but the teachers in U.A.

And Kurosawa was constantly glaring at Joey every time they were in the same room. He seemed to be jealous of the attention Mine was showing him. Kurosawa also liked rubbing it in when he did better than Joey in written exams and tests that Shinso-sensei had them take nearly every day. Joey only recently was catching up to that pretty boy and his smug smirks academically with the last two exams where he scored one point higher than him. Seeing Kurosawa's face burn red was worth the work. Joey never thought he could hate someone since the day Pyromaniac was captured, but he was really starting to want to kick Kurosawa's teeth out. What the Hell is that Portal Pricks' problem?

Those were some of the thoughts going through Joey's head as he headed to the Gym, only to be stopped by Eri. "Hold on, Joey," she said before he went in. "What's wrong?" he asked her. Eri looked at Joey with a concerned look on her face and said, "Kurosawa's in there right now. Everyone knows that you hate each other, and I don't want you to do anything…rash." Joey's eyes started to glow, but he took a deep breath to calm down, and Eri said, "How about we go outside and spar. I need to get better, and you're one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in class after all."

Joey nodded and Eri led him outside to a quiet spot on the campus where the ground was mostly even, and they assumed their stances. Eri started their sparring match by running at him and trying a low kick that Joey accepted. His larger size and strength ensured that it didn't hurt him too much. Joey blocked two punches and launched several of his own that Eri dodged. "Joey don't hold back on me," she told him as she tried a kick that he blocked easily. Joey retaliated with several kicks that sent Eri in retreat, but he never followed up with any attacks that were meant to land. He didn't want to hurt her.

"Joey! I'm not a kid, don't go easy on me!" Eri told him as she tried a combination of kicks and punches that would have worked on someone less experienced, but Joey blocked them all before going for a punch. He unintentionally held back for a split second that allowed Eri to dodge his strike, and she looked at him angrily. "Joey! I told you not to go easy on me!" she said as she stopped. Joey stopped and looked away from her.

Eri was his best friend, he couldn't bring himself to fight her seriously. "I…can't help it," he told her, "I don't want to hurt you." Eri sighed and said, "I need someone to help me become a better fighter. I hoped that would be you since you're the best fighter I know, but you're holding back too much for me to really improve. You and Dad. Even if he acts like a hardass, I know when he's holding back, I've seen him fight seriously when your sister sparred him. He was nearly merciless against her, only holding back from completely breaking bones or tearing muscle. And he's just not that ruthless with me, and I see him hesitate at the last half-second. So do you." Joey scratched the back of his head she reminded him so much of Marie right now with how gung-ho she was.

Eri had fire in her eyes as she was talking, and it made his heart pound faster when he saw it. Eri then stopped talking and looked behind Joey. He looked and saw that Kasai was walking over to them. "Freeman-kun, let's have a rematch!" the fiery haired boy yelled. Joey and Eri both had the same idea and Eri said, "Hold on, Kasai-kun! I need your help." Kasai stopped and Eri told him, "I need you to train me. Only you can do it. Joey and my Dad aren't hard enough on me for me to improve. But I know that you have no problems with holding back. You're also Joey's equal, if not superior in the martial arts, you'll be perfect to train me." Kasai nodded and smiled, "Alright then. Show me what you got!"

For the next half hour Kasai and Eri sparred. It was obvious the entire time that Eri didn't stand a chance against Kasai in a real fight, and he didn't hesitate to show that to Eri as they sparred. Every opening he saw, he landed a strike on her. And every time she tried to strike back, he was ready for her and easily countered her attacks. Eri struggled to keep up, and she was moving slower by the time Kasai stopped. "You're too sore now," he told Eri, "You don't lack stamina at least and determination, and those are important things for a martial artist to have. Your speed is decent as well as your technique, you can handle any non-martial artist or inexperienced fighter you meet, but if you face a truly skilled opponent… avoid them."

Eri nodded, and she and Kasai bowed to each other to end the lesson. Eri needed to lean on Joey in order to head back to the campus, but she insisted she could walk on her own power at least as he took her to the Nurses so they could heal her. "You may leave now, young man," one of the Nurses told him, and Joey blushed as he realized Eri would have to take off her clothes to be healed, and he quickly left. He went back outside to see Kasai was there waiting for him. For the next hour the two of them sparred, and like before, it ended in them knocking each other down; both covered in bruises from strikes given and received.

Joey looked at Kasai and asked him, "Do you really think that you can make Eri a better fighter?" Kasai said, "Sure I can. She has the fire inside her. She wants to get better, and she will get better if she keeps her fire alive. I'm surprised you didn't teach her." Joey looked away, "I had my reasons." Kasai smirked and said, "I bet you did." Kasai got up and as Joey stood up the smaller boy said, "Why haven't you told her?" Joey didn't say anything, and Kasai kept pestering him. "Come on, man. You're totally in love with her! Anyone with eyes can see it," Kasai kept on pressing. Joey took a deep breath and said, "She's not interested in dating."

"Maybe because the right person didn't ask," Kasai kept on going, and Joey started walking faster. Thanks to being an entire foot taller than the other boy, he quickly was out of sight of Kasai. As he was walking back to his dorm room, Joey's mind went back to Eri. Kasai was right, Joey was in love with Eri. He had been since middle school in fact. She had been his best friend ever since they met, helped him study for his classes, they had played together as kids, been kidnapped and rescued together, had family that were Heroes and understood things that other people wouldn't have.

But he had never said anything because Eri had never shown interest in dating. Plenty of boys and girls even had confessed to her in middle school, and she had politely and firmly turned them all down. All of them knew her as the nicest, kindest, and cutest girl in their school, but Eri turned them all away. The last time was a boy, Matsuda Ryoma, the captain of the kendo club. He was the second tallest boy in their class after Joey, a pretty boy with silver hair and green eyes and his Quirk gave him rubber limbs. He went to Eri and asked her point blank why she turned him down after she had done so, and Joey had overheard her say, "I don't want to be with anyone."

And so, Joey had never pursued her, and tried to have other girlfriends; none of them stuck. One was intimidated by meeting his Mom, another girl was shocked by how 'boring' he was; she thought that as a big strong black gaijin he'd be more 'passionate', and the last one in the last year of middle school was way too crazy when he got to know her; as in actually committed to a hospital afterwards crazy. All these thoughts went through Joey's head as he showered and got dressed, there was no school today and it was a warm day, so he wore a regular black sleeveless shirt and shorts.

He left his room and saw Mine right outside his door, licking on a chocolate ice-pop slowly. "Hello, Joey-chan," she greeted him. "Hi, Mine-san," Joey managed to say, trying not to watch her lick her ice-pop. "So, I've noticed you haven't shown up to get your thank you from me, for introducing me and Midnight-sensei that is," the hottest girl in his class said as she started to suck on her ice-pop. Joey swallowed, "Well, I mean, I've been dealing with things. My sister has too, and I've been really worried about her and Denki-onii-chan, plus school and all…" Mine smirked at him as she said, "Well, I can help you relax, if you want to."

Hundreds erotic thoughts flashed through Joey's brain like lightning, all of them involving him and Mine Sakkie. And then he thought about her Quirk, and like ice water his brain sobered up. "Are you using your Quirk on me?" Mine huffed at him then and asked, "Do you really think I need to use it when I want someone?" She then emphasized her point by putting her ice-pop deep in her mouth and sucking it right off the stick before swallowing it. Joey's hormones went insane at the sight of her deepthroating her ice-pop, and he had to turn around. You were raised better, you barely know her, and if you date her then Kurosawa will teleport you straight to Hell…

That last thought sobered his mind enough for Joey to say, "Just tell me what it is you want. Mom's already teaching you, isn't she?" Mine nodded, "Midnight-sensei's a good teacher, she's been teaching me how to use a whip because it suits my succubus image and can help compensate my weaknesses; she's also been teaching me unarmed self-defense techniques as well. I just figured, that since you brought us together, that you'd be interested in a…very special thank you from me." Again, hundreds of erotic thoughts went through Joey's brain, and he whacked his head, muttering in English, "Stupid teenage hormones…"

He then looked to Mine and said, "I don't need that kind of thank you. Just… be a good Hero and use my Mom's teachings well." Mine sighed, and said, "You know, you are my kind of guy, someone smart and nice, brave too. I wouldn't mind being your girlfriend for real." Joey's brain almost exploded, but then a thought of Eri flashed through his mind, and he knew who he really wished was his girlfriend. "I…have someone else in mind," Joey finally told her. "Oh well," Mine sighed, "There's plenty of other fish in the sea…I wonder what Rukia-chan's doing right now…" Joey watched the temptress walk away, hips swaying the whole time, and he went back to his room. He needed a very, VERY cold shower.

Chargebolt

Two weeks had gone by since the Heroes from around the world arrived, and they had been some of the most nerve-wracking two weeks in Kaminari Denki's life since the battles against Shigaraki and All For One. They had all worked together, and traveled throughout the United States, tracking down any lead they could find. Yaoyorozu had worked hard to help coordinate them all while various Heroes with intelligence enhancing Quirks roamed the Internet for clues. They had found a dozen different cells of The Brotherhood of Humanity, all of them very small and weak; none numbered more than five people total, and one was only an old married couple with fringe political views. And every last one of them was harder than titanium to crack.

No matter what threats the Federal Government or Heroes levied, what promises of amnesty and mercy, not one of the terrorists would say anything. They also refused to call for lawyers as well, oddly enough. Denki knew that legal counsel was one of the most used rights of accused criminals in the United States, but not one of the Brotherhood of Humanity had used it since their arrests. It only made it more aggravating to see them stand up to the Feds and Heroes and still not say anything at all. Nothing but total silence, like the grave.

It was almost admirable, if they weren't accomplices to the murder of millions of people.

There were times when Marie and Denki had nearly cracked and resorted to brute force, but they always held back from doing anything. Barely. It was all taking a toll on them, no matter how hard they tried. Everyone knew that the ones they captured were all small fish, they were looking for the real catch and had found no signs of them. Even Midoriya was losing his patience; the last time they had sparred he had nearly broken Denki's back; the next day he felt like an old man his spine was in so much pain.

All of this was going through his head as he flew on his hoverboard, in the state of Virginia now. This was a small suburb called Washington Falls, and he was surveilling the area. He tapped on an ear mic and said, "Chargebolt here, no signs of major activity." This was another sting operation, supposedly there was going to be a meeting of The Brotherhood here, but he saw no signs of any large gatherings. He flew one last time and noticed a line of cars arriving: about ten in all. Luckily for him his hoverboard was silent, and he was just high enough to be mistaken for a satellite; his special glasses let him zoom in enough to see down below.

"It looks like I was wrong," he said into his mic as he watched the line of cars drive through the neighborhood and stop at the end. "It's the last house on the right," Denki reported, and then zoomed in with his glasses, "1752 Greenwood Lane." On the other end he heard Midoriya respond, "Standby, Chargebolt. We're on the way."

Denki heard something arriving through the air then and looked in time to see two of the Flying Armors like the one that had appeared when his old friends arrived. "Oh shit," he quickly said, "We got Fly-" he was cut off when bullets tore through the air, and he quickly started flying to avoid them. The Flying Armors chased after Denki, and he barely had time to talk and said, "I'm under attack! Heavy gunfire! In the air!" in Japanese because he couldn't think in English; he was too focused on not being shot. He tried answering with his lightning, only for the Flying Armors to be seemingly unaffected. He flew through the air faster than he ever had before, in only two minutes his hoverboard was making a beeping noise that he remembered Hatsume telling him meant that it was in danger of overclocking and shutting down.

I gotta finish this fast! Denki thought, then came up with an idea that might be crazy enough to work, if it didn't get him killed. Denki turned his hoverboard around and blasted more of his lightning into it, making it move even faster, and the beeping got louder as he turned around and flew right at the Flying Armors. He was barely faster than the bullets, he could hear them moving past him like angry wasps. He powered up his lightning and once he was between the Flying Armors he unleashed over a million volts of electricity into them!

The night sky lit up at this spectacular display of electrical power, and the Flying Armors started sparking as they turned bright red from the heat, and then to his surprise, they stopped! The Flying Armors immediately dropped like lead, and fell to the ground like small meteors. They crashed into the sidewalk down below, and Denki looked around and realized he hadn't paid attention to where he was, he saw a sign and saw it was some place called Lee Street. He tapped his mic and heard Marie said, "Denki, are you alright! We heard the guns and rushed in! We got them by surprise, we're okay but what about you!?"

"I'm alive, babe," he told her, "Barely. Someplace called Lee Street. I took out the Flying Armors, I guess I literally fried their circuits. I feel really gassed too. Maybe these Flying Armors might have useful intel." He said this in Japanese as people came out of their homes to investigate what the noise was, some of them had guns. Denki hoped that they were only overly enthusiastic gun owners and not enemies as he stood up and said in English, "Sorry for the noise, folks. This is Hero business. These robots are owned by the same terrorists that attacked the country."

Some people recorded him with their phones while others went back inside. Five minutes later the police arrived, and Denki told them what had just happened, and another minute later his team arrived. Midoriya flew through the air and landed in front of Denki, "Are you alright, Chargebolt?" "I'm fine, man," Denki told him, "I think I also got some valuable clues for us." Midoriya looked and saw the charred Flying Armors were already cooled off, and he picked them up on his shoulders as their transport arrived. Marie jumped out and immediately grabbed his face and kissed him.

"I was so scared!" she told him, "I thought… I thought…" Denki kissed her and said, "I'm fine, babe, just fine. Nothing to be worried about. I even got us a valuable clue, I'm sure of it." Marie swallowed and sighed, and said, "I think, we might have…other problems." Denki blinked and asked, "What's wrong?" Marie looked at him and then got close and whispered in his ear, "I'm pregnant." And then Chargebolt's brain went blank.