09.01.2023
It is I, the Absolute Madman and I'm here to say that this story blew up more than I was expecting it! As of editing this chapter it already has 49 follows and 38 favs! I'm really curious what got so many of you captivated after a single chapter, but I'm not about to question anyone's choices if they fuel my nearly nonexistent ego. Another thing that fuels the aforementioned thing are your comments!:
crazybeebee - Huehue, you said 'holy' and this is supposed to be religious-esque. Cracked me up I'll say
OG Empire - That's right, ya betta' pray to our lord and savior that is Tzeentch for rewarding his desciple, an agent of chaos, with insanity!
Guest - You hit me with so much nostalgia that it's funny! I remember that there was a guy in the past that would comment under every chapter and wish me to stay safe and have a good one after I mentioned my many sleepless nights and how I almost fell asleep behind the wheel on numerous occasions in the A/N! Hope you'll stick around for more!
SonicMax - You and me both man, you and me both.
And with that, the chapter!:
Ibara was doing good, great even. She stretched her Quirk as far as it'd go and was able to tear the robots to shreds, using tendrils woven from her vines as whips.
She tried keeping score, she really did, but it wasn't easy to do without stopping to think and she ultimately gave up on that endeavor. Instead she focused all of her attention on locating and smashing as many robots as she could. It was a simple strategy, but a very good one for sure. Ibara was certainly thankful that she always made sure to include some cardio in her training as all this running around would surely tire her out before the end of the exam otherwise. She passed by a couple of exhausted examinees that looked like they were questioning their life choices after destroying only a handful of robots and barely getting into the double digits score-wise.
Ibara's compassionate side was definitely saddened at the sight, but she was rational enough to understand that the career of a hero was not an easy one by any stretch of the imagination, so maybe it was better that people who weren't suited for that life were let down early and relatively scot-free?
Her thoughts have distracted her enough for her not to notice that there was a group of robots quickly approaching her from behind and by the time she realized what was going on it was already too late to react.
She brought her vines up to form a barrier between herself and the robots, but as soon as her shield was up she heard the sound of metal being crushed and torn asunder. Ibara peeked from behind her makeshift cover and was surprised to see one of the robots already destroyed and the other one about to follow suit.
"Take this you mechanical fiend!" She heard a very familiar voice yell out before the robot was cleaved in two by a giant golden sword.
As the two halves fell into opposite directions, Ibara spotted the impressive figure of the green haired man standing amongst the rubble.
"Are you alright ma'am?!" He yelled out and it took her a couple of seconds to realize that he was talking to her.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine, once again thanks to your timely intervention." Ibara answered with a short stutter and a wide but gentle smile on her face. If the smile was too big he didn't point it out.
"Ha, it seems that fate has brought us together once again!" He laughed as he heaved the sword off the ground and onto his shoulder as he approached her. "And judging by the trail of destroyed robots that you have left in your wake I believe it's safe to assume that this surely won't be the last time we meet."
"I take it that your 'crusade' against the 'mechanical fiends' has been going well too?" Ibara asked, even finding enough courage to attempt joking with the man. It turned out to be super effective.
"A crusade against the mechanical fiends! And here I was thinking that this day was already great, but your statement has to be a cherry on top!" He laughed once again and even Ibara found herself chuckling at the joke. "Before I forget again, I believe I have yet to introduce myself properly." He said before taking off one of his chainmail gloves and outstretching the hand in her direction. "Midoriya Izuku, pleased to make your acquaintance sister in faith."
"Shiozaki Ibara, the pleasure is all mine." She introduced herself in kind and went to shake his hand, but as she quickly found out he had a different agenda in mind.
As soon as her hand made contact with his he grasped it gently and then placed a courteous kiss on the back of her hand. Ibara didn't think that she was into such sappy romantic tropes, but now she knew for sure. Having no relationship experience at all would probably do that to you.
"Now, I believe we are still in the middle of an exam, so with our introductions over I think it best if we focus on the exam and leave everything else for later." He said as he straightened himself, once again towering over her with that massive frame of his. "I wish thee the best of luck, although I'm quite sure you'd do great without it."
"Y-Yes, g-good luck to you too!" Ibara responded, a bit louder than she intended to do and they parted ways to go and gather some more points. "Why is my face so hot though?" She thought to herself as they headed in opposite directions.
Ibara could certainly notice that she'd slowed down over the last couple of minutes, which was very weird since she didn't feel tired at all. Whilst the exam was a very exhausting endeavor and even with all of her training she'll probably be beat tomorrow it was nowhere near enough to deplete all of her energy that quickly. It's been what, ten minutes since the exam began? And she even 'wasted' a couple of minutes just talking to Izuku earlier.
Oh, her stomach just did that weird thing that it did when he placed that kiss on her hand. Eating a big breakfast in the morning was probably coming around to bite her in the bum.
Still, even with her tempo dropping she was quite confident that she'd be able to pass without a problem. The trail of destroyed robots she left in her wake kind of cemented that idea.
It's been getting harder and harder to find any intact robots lately, probably a sign that the exam was nearing its end as the population of the mechanical fiends was close to extinction. She was never much of a jester, but she took great pride in that joke and the reaction that it managed to elicit out of that gentle giant of a man.
"I suppose I should see if I can locate any more strugglers…" Ibara thought to herself and was about to head towards the edge of the battleground to continue her search, but paused momentarily when she felt the ground shake.
She was about to write it off as nothing but then the ground shook again. And then again. And again. As if some giant was casually out on a stroll. Ibara turned around, her curiosity getting the better of her, and headed towards the direction she believed to be at the center of the tremors.
The epicenter was easy to locate as the shaking got more and more intense the closer she got and once she caught sight of fleeing examinees she knew that she was going in the right direction. She eventually made her way to the mock city's main artery that split the battleground in two and saw entire hordes of hero-hopefuls nearly trampling each other in an attempt to flee.
Ibara was disheartened by the display of selfishness but couldn't blame them for long as she soon found out what they were all running from. It was the 'final obstacle', as Present Mic dubbed it during his explanation, and it was absolutely huge! From what he told them during the presentation it was supposed to be the biggest out of the four robots, but what he forgot to mention was the fact that it will be as tall as some of the buildings!
Given the overwhelming odds Ibara was about to follow the crowd although in a much more relaxed and not panicked out of her mind fashion, but then saw something, or rather someone, that stood out amongst the chaos. He literally stood out as he was one of the tallest people around with only a couple reaching his height and even fewer exceeding it.
Midoriya was standing at the side of the street, overseeing the 'evacuation' and making sure that no one was left behind in the stampede. Honestly, could this man get any more perfect? Strong, handsome, selfless, handsome and with a seemingly undisputable sense of duty.
Ibara was literally shaken out of her thoughts as the ground quaked with the giant robot's steps which reminded her that there was indeed a giant robot on the loose. There was no way that she or any other examinee stood a chance against it so running away was the correct thing to do, but she might as well lag behind a bit and make sure that everyone managed to escape.
Thankfully the robot seemed to have no interest in chasing the students and was basically just walking around like a lost puppy which meant that as long as you managed to get out of his way you were safe. Still, it was a really big robot so collateral damage was bound to happen.
"Help!" Ibara heard faintly over the panicked screams and ruckus. She tried to locate the source of the call but to no avail as the surprising amount of examinees obscured most of her vision.
What she could see however was the dark green mop of hair that she was getting pretty good at finding and saw that it was moving in the vague direction of the big robot. Ibara quickly connected the dots and deduced that he must've heard the call too so she decided to follow him in case he needed backup.
They met in the middle of the road as the fleeing crowd conveniently had run out of examinees and only a handful people remained, those being herself, Midoriya and some girl that turned out to get caught by some falling debris and was now trapped underneath the rubble.
Before she even had the chance to think what to do Midoriya was already there, utilizing those bulging muscles of his to dig the girl from beneath the debris. Ibara was quick to join him and her vines made short work of the rubble.
"Are you alright?" Midoriya asked as he kneeled next to the girl.
"M-My leg-" She groaned out, clearly in pain.
Ibara saw as the man gently inspected the leg, making sure to avoid touching it without permission, and nodded to himself about something before bringing both of his hands to hover just above her ankle.
"Heal." He uttered quietly with a focus expression and after a second his hands began glowing softly just like his sword earlier.
The glow quickly spread and eventually enveloped the girl's foot. It looked pretty awesome and it must've also worked as the girl seemed to be in pain no more. As it turns out Midoriya was not only a powerful warrior but also a very good supporter.
"There." He said with a smile as the glow died down and faded out completely. "How are you feeling now?" He asked with a voice so caring that Ibara felt it reach out and touch her soul directly. Probably an exaggeration but that's exactly how it felt to her.
"It doesn't hurt anymore, but I don't think I'll be able to walk still." The girl responded, gently prodding the no longer sprained ankle in clear awe.
"Even if you could walk it's a bad idea to strain it too much. You should have it checked out by a professional, just to make sure that it won't heal in an awkward way." Midoriya explained as he stood up and offered a hand to the injured girl. "In the meantime I'd be happy to act as your support. I suggest you hurry though, the robot doesn't seem to care that we are still here."
The girl took him up on his offer right away and in no time at all the trio were rushing away from the scene. Well, rushing as fast as they could with the limping girl at their side. Yet even with that they were able to put some distance between themselves and the massive robot. But they weren't out of the woods just yet! A pack of smaller robots appeared from around the corner right in front of them and immediately targeted them, making a confrontation inevitable.
"Could you handle them sister?" Midoriya asked and Ibara was quick to confirm. "I'll leave them to you then." And with that he slowed down, letting her take point.
As expected Ibara was able to make short work of the robots despite the tiredness slowly setting in and the trio could continue ahead unobstructed. It was just as the main gate came into view that the sirens around the battleground blared, signaling the end of the exam.
They were probably the last to exit the battlegrounds but that was to be expected since they purposefully stayed behind to help the girl out. She surely was in no danger as the school had it all under control but leaving her behind would leave a bad taste in Ibara's mouth.
"Um, thank you for saving me." The girl timidly said when they found a free bench so she could finally sit down.
"No need to thank us ma'am, it was the right thing to do." Midoriya assured her with a grin and Ibara quickly agreed with his reasoning. She asked for help and they just happened to be nearby. Simple.
"So, are you really siblings? Your Quirks seem so different from one another." The girl questioned curiously.
"Siblings? Why would you think that?" Ibara asked, confused by the question.
"W-Well, he addressed you per 'sister' when that group of robots appeared earlier. Besides you two seemed so in sync when you came to rescue me so I thought that you two are related…" She explained and Ibara quickly realized the misunderstanding.
"Pardon me for causing this confusion." Midoriya said as he bowed in front of them. "I didn't mean 'sister' in the conventional meaning of the term, rather it was meant to represent a 'sister in faith', as I believe we seem to share similar religious beliefs." He explained and the girls nodded as they let that sink in. "In truth, we've only just met, but the Lord seemingly intended for us to meet as we bumped into each other a few times already."
"I'm sorry but I'm not really good with religion and stuff…" The girl sheepishly admitted but was put at ease when Midoriya chuckled briefly.
"Fret not ma'am. The Lord gave us free will so that we can do as we please. Even if you do not follow his teachings I believe He'd still approve of your choices." Midoriya stated with confidence.
The girls were pretty surprised by the conviction in his voice and couldn't bring themselves to speak up until a new person joined their conversation.
"Do any of you require medical attention?" The trio turned to see a short woman approach them.
"Recovery Girl, just who we needed." Midoriya spoke up, seemingly recognizing the woman.
"Oh my, I didn't know I still had fans, especially such young ones." The woman smiled kindly and reached into her pockets to retrieve a pack of gummy bears. "Here, these will help you recover some of your energy." She explained as she handed out the treats.
"Our friend here sprained her ankle during the exam." Midoriya stated as he motioned towards the seated girl. "I did what I could but it'd put me at ease if a renowned healer such as yourself examined it."
"I must thank you young man for restoring my faith in the current generation. It's good to see that reason and chivalry didn't die yet. Now, let me take a look at that ankle." Recovery Girl examined the previously sprained joint and nodded to herself, seemingly satisfied with its current state. "Everything looks to be in order, but I'll make an x-ray just to be sure."
Midoriya, being the gentleman that he was, volunteered to escort the injured girl, who introduced herself as Uraraka Ochaco, to the school's infirmary where she'd remain in Recovery Girl's care.
Ibara and Midoriya bid the girl farewell and then headed towards the main gate. It was already quite late into the day and the sun was just about to set as they exited the school grounds, only a couple of strugglers lingering about as the bulk of the examinees had left right after the exam ended.
"I guess this is where we part ways. For now at least." Midoriya started as they stood just outside the gates.
"Unfortunately." Ibara agreed with an inward sigh. "Can we at least exchange contact information to stay in touch?" She asked, trying to sound as casual as she could.
"Oh, you'll have to forgive me but I didn't bring my phone with me and I don't remember my number…" He admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck with an awkward smile. "I'm not that well-versed when it comes to technology." He added which had puzzled Ibara a bit, but she decided not to dwell on it too much.
"It's not a problem. I'll simply give you mine and you can text me when you get home." Ibara proposed and didn't wait for an answer as she pulled out a notebook and a pen from her purse before writing her contact information and handing it to the man. "Here."
"Now we can part ways in peace. Although if our first day of knowing each other is any indication I believe we'll be seeing each other a lot in the future." Ibara didn't say it but that's basically what she was hoping would happen.
She loved all of her friends, but she didn't feel so in sync with any of them as she felt with Midoriya. Whether it be because of their similar beliefs or something else entirely she wasn't sure, but she didn't care about that one bit. She was simply happy to find a kindred spirit.
And that's it for today! So you got to see some of Midoriya's abilities, mainly that he cleaves bots in half with a giant sword and can heal people via bluetooth (you know, cause he didn't touch her? so like, wireless?) but that's not everything! If you are curious about the full extent of his abilities then... nothing I guess, you're gonna have to come back and see for yourself in the chapters to come! Although if the name Darkest Dungeon fires up a neuron or two in ya brains then maybe you can try and guess what Midoriya might be capable of!
Just a quick word - this is already a second time that this story has surprised me. First when it actually won the vote on which fanfic I should write and now it surprised me with how much it blew up after just one chapter. It is a surprise for sure, but a welcome one at that, so keep it comin' cause the story has only just begun!
Have a great day and I'll see y'all in the next update!