My Hero Academia: One Last Smile
It was early morning and there was birdsong filling the air. They loved the tree outside Himiko's window and every morning she woke up to their lovely cries. Her mother hated the birds, but she wasn't willing to have the tree removed, so she just suffered and complained. That made Himiko love the birds even more. So cute with their colorful feathers and adorable talons. She would lean on her windowsill and watch, but they were too far away for her to grab with her short arms. If only she had a Quirk that allowed her body to stretch. She'd tried to coax them over, but they never landed on her arm, just sat, watched, and sang.
This morning there was a loud crack of thunder not from the clear sky, but a flash of light. Himiko saw the light fade from a nearby alley. The light and sound faded to the flapping of bird wings as the morning song was interrupted early and the birds left their tree. Himiko reached out for the birds, standing on her tip toes, and wishing that she could fly after them. To soar through the sky…
"Himiko," yelled her mother from downstairs. "Come down for breakfast." It wasn't a request.
Himiko got down from her perch, straightened her clothes and hair, put on a neutral smile, and exited her room. There was always a point in the day when the music stopped. And that was when it was time for Himiko to rejoin reality. As she walked down the stairs, she didn't even bother to spare a thought for birdsong, thunder, or flashes of light. What was the point? None of that was her life, after all. There was no escape from the birdcage.
A woman appeared in an alley in a flash of light accompanied by the crack of thunder. In a superhuman society filled with strange abilities it might be thought that this was a common occurrence, but it wasn't. That's why she was glad as she stood from a crouch that no one else was around. That, and the lack of clothes she'd found herself with. They'd apparently been destroyed during her trip. Her friends gave her a hard time for her shyness considering how often she found herself without clothes, but she couldn't help it. She was still the type of person who only wanted the one she loved to see her naked. Something that was long past possible. She activated her Quirk and turned herself invisible.
Looking around she recognized her surroundings well enough to get her bearings. Listening for a moment she didn't hear the sounds of battle or destruction, which told her she had managed to arrive before her quarry. Hopefully. She'd still need to search and prepare though. Temporarily hidden from making an uncomfortable first impression, she got to work. She focused on her Quirk and crafted several objects that sprung free from her belly and fell to the ground in front of her. A blood red space suit, complete with pink helmet. The woman dressed and dropped her invisibility once she had. That done, she leapt into the sky, short boosts from a jetpack helping her fly away from the scene before too many questions could be asked. As she did, her gaze drifted to an open window and the back of a girl walking away from it.
It was late afternoon when Ochako saw the flash of light and heard the crash of thunder. She had been out at the park with her parents, a rare day off for them. They sat on a bench as she played with some other girls, tired smiles on their faces. She was glad they got to rest; they deserved it. After the park they'd promised to go buy some sweets, her choice. Just spending time with them, with the prospect of sweets in the future, that already made it a day to remember for her. Then the world exploded around her, and her day became unforgettable.
"Ochako!" Her parents were yelling and running towards her as a massive metal dinosaur-like monster appeared in the center of the park, splintering a tree underfoot. They were about to grab her as the monster unhinged its jaws and gave an ear-splitting cry. Everyone was forced to put their hands over their ears, rooted in place by the pain. One of the girls Ochako had been playing with had dog ears and she collapsed to the ground unconscious close to the monster that towered over the trees and people. The girl's parents hadn't collapsed, but were in clear pain as well, unable to do more than look on as the monster lifted its foot and took a step forward. Right over the girl.
Ochako was unable to look away, so she saw as a red blur flew in and averted tragedy. One second the dog girl was about to be crushed, the next she was safely next to Ochako. Standing over the two girls was a faceless hero.
"You're alright now," said the hero. A woman, her face hidden behind a reflective visor. All Ochako could see was her own reflection. She knelt in front of the two girls and gently rested her hands on their heads. "Because as long as you smile, I'm unbeatable. Can you do that for me?"
Ochako wasn't sure she could, but then the dog girl's parents ran up and grabbed their daughter, crying tears of joy and the family hugged each other. Her heart felt like it was going to explode out of her chest.
The hero ruffled Ochako's hair. "Exactly. Just like that." Ochako hadn't even realized she was smiling, but apparently, she was. If a hero said to do so, it must be appropriate, right? There was joyful laughter in the hero's voice. She stood and turned away from Ochako. "Now, let's finish this guy before it has a chance to hurt anyone."
The metal monster focused in on the hero and a slot on its chest slid down. A missile shot straight towards them, but the hero just swept her hand through the air. "Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall!" A wall of ice engulfed it. She leapt into the air and hovered at the top of the ice wall for a moment. Then her hand sparked right before an explosion propelled her right towards the monster.
That meant that due to the ice wall the battle was out of Ochako's sight. She didn't really think as she ran around the wall, barely noting her parents' cries. There was something about this hero; she knew she needed to see this fight. She was just in time to see several smaller missiles shoot from the monster's back to try to surround the hero. She swung her other hand through the air. "Wall of Flames!" A wave of fire cut through the missiles, safely detonating them. The explosive force sent her to the ground where she continued to run towards her foe. The monster let out another deafening roar, but the woman kept running forward as if unaffected. Ochako thought she could hear a heartbeat.
Something started to move on the giant monster and fell to the ground. The objects left craters in the ground where they hit. Then something started to climb out of the craters. Small raptor-like robots, shaking dirt off their metallic scales and giving small cries. Ochako counted over twenty before being unable to count any higher. There were so many, and they were running to intercept the masked hero. But she just kept running undeterred. "Indiscriminate one-million volts!" Lightning shot from the hero and swept through the area in front of her, wiping out all the raptors.
The masked hero was now below the metal monster and it raised its leg to simply crush her. The hero just laughed. "That won't work, because I'm Unbreakable!" The monster tested this statement by smashing the hero into the ground. There was a moment of silence in the park, then a shout. "Never Stop Twinkling!" A glittering laser burst through the hole, causing the monster to cry out in pain.
The hero flew out of the newly made hole. Another cavity opened in the metal monster and a machine gun pointed right at the hero. Flashes of light roared through the park, but the hero just held out her hand. "Acid Veil!" An opaque liquid covered the air between the hero and the bullets. As they struck the veil they melted, their assault ended harmlessly. The acid fell to the ground, melting more holes in the monster's damaged foot.
The metal monster opened its mouth, but instead of shouting this time energy started to build up. The sky darkened and the ground shook. Ochako looked around and saw everyone paralyzed in fear, no smiles on their faces. She balled her fists, forced a smile back onto her face and shouted. "Don't stop!"
"I'll never stop!" yelled the masked hero. Her hands started to sparkle again. "I hope you're ready for a beating, courtesy of the number one hero. Dynamight sends his regards." An explosion shot the hero towards the mouth of the beast. She spun as she did, forcing her hands in front of her. Light collected in them for a moment, then she slammed her hands together. "Why don't you just die? Howitzer Impact!"
A massive explosion shot out of the masked hero's hands, spinning into a tornado of fiery fury. The metal monster was still charging its own attack as the explosion struck it dead on in the head. The monster was ingulfed for a moment, the ground shaking as it was hit. Then, the rumbling and roaring stopped. The explosion faded. And the monster was missing its head. It teetered and threatened to topple for a moment, but the hero grabbed its arm and lifted the building sized monster like it was nothing. Then she spun through the air, her spin boosted by more explosions until she finally released the monster through the air. As if weightless the metal monster's corpse flew off past the horizon. Right towards the sun.
With the monster gone the hero descended from the sky. A crowd quickly formed around her, people with bright smiles on their faces.
"I can't believe you beat that thing!"
"That was amazing."
"What is your Quirk? It looked like you had several."
"Thank you so much for saving my daughter." That last was from the dog girl's father.
"You're welcome," said the hero. The hero knelt and faced the girl. "You were a brave girl. Good job."
"Thank you!" said the girl, giving a bright smile.
The hero stood and the girl's mother spoke up. "I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new?"
"Just visiting briefly," replied the hero. "You wouldn't know of me."
"What's your name?" asked the girl. "Can we see your face? Are you cute?"
"Ringo!" chided the mother.
"I don't mind any of those questions," said the hero. Ochako managed to get through the crowd to stand next to Ringo as the hero reached up to her helmet. "To answer them in order, I'm the Smiling Hero Blood Moon." She removed her helmet. "And I'm the cutest in the world!"
Ochako could only agree as she saw a broad sharp toothed smile staring back at her. A blonde-haired woman whose entire face seemed to just be one wide, earnest smile. It took Ochako a moment to realize that the crowd had gone silent, a few people even taking a step back. Blood Moon didn't seem bothered by the response though. She laughed. "I get that response a lot." She looked right at Ochako. "What do you think of my smile?"
Ochako didn't know what to say besides, "It's really cute. You look so happy."
It didn't seem possible, but the smile widened even more, Blood Moon's face brightened with unabashed joy. "It is, right?!" She knelt in front of Ochako. "What if I told you I knew where to find a cuter smile, would that interest you?" Ochako nodded. There was something cuter than the happiness she saw before her right now? How could she not want to see that? Blood Moon leaned in. "Now, this is where you need to go." She whispered instructions in Ochako's ear, then stood. "I'd love to take you there, but I've got to get going."
"Will I see you again?" asked Ochako.
Blood Moon frowned for a moment, then laughed. "If you keep smiling and working to make others smile, then I'm sure you'll see me again." Blood Moon took a step back, waved once more to the crowd and then disappeared. Everyone started to mutter and look around for the new hero, but she was nowhere to be found.
Ochako's parents came up to her, hugging her, bright smiles on their faces. "She was a little scary," said Ochako's father, "but I guess you can't judge a hero by their looks."
"What did the hero tell you?" asked her mother.
"It's a secret," said Ochako, smiling brightly. She was already trying to figure out when she'd be able to visit where the hero had told her to visit. She couldn't wait.
Blood Moon lifted Tooru's invisibility once she'd gotten several blocks away from the park. She was just happy she'd made it in time to prevent anyone being hurt in Mecha Rex MK III's rampage. It'd been her mistake after all that had led to Dr. Cameron managing to complete his time portal to send the monster back in time. But now the monster was destroyed for good, hurtling towards the sun for disposal. That meant it was time for her to return home. She focused on Time Turner's Quirk among her store of Quirks. Before she did so though she dropped her transformation, Himiko's smile fading away to leave just Uraraka Ochako, Number 2 hero in Japan.
She probably shouldn't have approached her younger self, but she couldn't help it. Not knowing Himiko for more than a year before their tragic showdown had been one of the biggest regrets of her life. If she could prevent that same pain in these two young girls, wasn't it her duty as a hero to do so? That Himiko and Ochako's first and last kiss had bestowed her with a powerful second Quirk was an irony that she could never escape. But neither would she let the pain stop her from saving people, just like Himiko wished her to do.
Praying that Deku's prediction of multiverse theory was true Ochako focused on Himiko's blood, activated her borrowed Quirk, and disappeared in a flash of lighting and thunder.
It was early morning and there was birdsong filling the air. Himiko stood at her windowsill, listening with her eyes closed. She imagined herself turning into a bird. Beak piercing through pink flesh; dark blood red feathers bubbling out of every pore. The thought made her indescribably happy. There was a rustling from the tree outside, then a gasp. Himiko opened her eyes and saw a brown-haired girl staring at her in wide eyed wonder.
"It's just as cute as she said!"
The birds just sang around this girl, undeterred by her presence. The pair stared at each other for a moment before the girl shifted on her perch. Her leg fell from underneath her, and the girl toppled out of the tree. She let out a short cry of surprise that ended when Himiko reached out and caught her. Unfortunately, she didn't grab onto anything when she overextended, causing her to fall out of the window. Himiko thought that the pair were doomed, but they just hovered there, suspended in the air outside her room. HImiko felt weightless. Was this what it was like to fly?
"Grab. Onto. Something…," said the girl, her face turning pale.
Himiko scrambled and grabbed onto a tree branch. She pulled them both to safety on the tree as the girl threw up and a sense of weight returned. Himiko rubbed the small girl's back as she emptied her breakfast. Once the girl was done, she wiped her mouth on her sleeve and looked at Himiko. A wide smile spread on her face.
"Thank you for catching me."
"You caught me," said Himiko, marveling at the girl. "You can fly…"
"A smile!"
Himiko realized her mistake and turned away, trying to keep her creepy smile under control. The girl let out a cry of distress. Himiko knew that her smile would scare away the gir-
"Hey! I want to see more of that!"
"Wait," said Himiko, turning back to the girl. "You do?"
"Of course. Who wouldn't?"
Himiko's heart soared as she took in the girl's words, the long-desired perch on the branch and the bright blue sky above them. She felt like a bird. Free. The girl laughed.
"You have such a cute smile."
Himiko felt the click of a lock opening in her heart.