AN: Thanks for reading and leaving a review!
Melissa thought her training under Celica was rough.
She was wrong.
"Is that all you've got?" Gran Torino asked as he floated in front of the two girls.
"Of-" Melissa took a deep breath, trying to steady her breathing. "-course not!" Melissa paused as she took another. "I've- had worse!"
"I'm getting close to my limit," Nejire admitted. "I'm not sure my body can take much more."
"Hmph," Gran crossed his arms. "What are the civilians you're protecting gonna say to that, hmm?" He didn't wait for the girl to respond and instead launched himself at Nejire.
Nejire barely dodged out of the way even as she looked like she was on the verge of passing out. Melissa watched, mouth ajar and mind flying as she thought of the best way to help her friend.
He's moving so fast! By the time I'd move in to block it's already too late!
Despite her exhaustion, Nejire managed to narrowly avoid several other attacks, darting to and fro as she tried to minimize her movement while still avoiding the elderly hero.
"So-"
"Much-"
"For-"
"Being-"
"Out-"
"Of-"
"Stamina," Torino said as he flew past her. Finally he stopped, hovering above the pair of girls. "Looks like you've got plenty left!"
Torino suddenly cut his jets. The hero dropped toward Nejire as if he was planning to throw out yet another kick. Reading his move, Nejire went for a dodge she had performed several times already. Melissa wondered why he was going for such a predictable option, one that had failed several times before. When she realized what was going on, she gasped.
"Hado!"
"Too late!" Torino replied as he suddenly flipped in midair and activated his Jets, switching to a flying punch. Nejire was too slow to adjust and took the punch square in her stomach, sending her flying backward.
"Got ya!" Torino smirked as he darted afterward, his momentum carrying forward as he used his Jets to flip himself in midair, going for a Jet-powered axe-kick to finish off the periwinkle-haired student.
Time seemed to slow down as Melissa watched Nejire slowly raise her hands to defend herself, yellow energy coalescing around her hands before she fired off a massive spiral shockwave, much larger than anything Melissa had ever seen from her classmate before. The blast caught the hero, knocking him toward the roof of the gym and sending Nejire flying toward the ground.
Determined not to let her friend crash, Melissa launched herself downward to catch her falling friend. She tried her hardest not to think about the ground racing toward them as she opened her arms as the two girls collided. Wrapping her arms around Nejire, she changed direction, carrying them forward as they ran parallel to the ground.
"Sorry, I know my armor's not the most comfortable thing to collide with," Melissa said sheepishly as she began to slow down.
"It's okay!" Nejire gave her friend a weary smile. "It's still better than the floor!"
"Yeah, I guess so," Melissa smiled back, finally coming to a stop and lowering them to the ground.
"Ha! I knew you had it in you!" Torino said as he landed in front of the two girls, showing no signs of being injured by Nejire's quirk.
"I didn't know I had it in me," Nejire said as she tried to stand, wobbling unsteadily.
"Now you're out of energy," Torino exclaimed as he offered her some gummies. "Recovery Girl gave these to me, they should kick in in a few minutes."
"What was that?" Melissa asked the hero. "It's almost like you knew it was going to happen."
"You know how our bodies limit our quirk use, right?" Torino asked.
"Of course," Melissa replied. "Our bodies put inherent limiters on our quirks to prevent us from harming ourselves when we use them." She looked at her armored hands. "Well - most of us."
"Exactly! And under the right conditions you can surpass those limiters," Torino pointed at Nejire. "Just like Hado did right now."
"But she's barely standing!" Melissa protested.
"This time," Torino admitted. "Next time, she'll be able to regulate her body a little better."
"I get it," Nejire looked at the hero. "If I can fire that kind of blast on command, I'll be able to train my body to use that much strength. Like a new special move!"
"Now you're getting it," Torino said with a grin on his face. "And that's not all."
Nejire put an index finger to her lips before her face lit up. Melissa had to admit she was impressed at how quickly her friend was recovering - a testament to the energy gummies she ate. "I was getting better at dodging using less energy!"
Gran Torino turned toward Melissa. "Now it's your turn."
"M-me?" Melissa asked as she gestured to herself.
"Yep! Get airborne. I want you to hit me."
"But-" Melissa protested as she gestured to her armor. "I don't have a limiter like Hado! I'm using support gear to regulate my quirk!"
"I guess you're gonna have to get creative. You're smart, I'm sure you'll figure something out."
Melissa watched as Torino took the sky. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she once again called upon One For All and sent herself skyward, floating in the open air in front of the hero.
"The sooner you hit me, the sooner we'll be done," Torino said. Without warning, he jetted forward, aiming a punch squarely at Melissa's torso.
Reading the move, Melissa deftly dodged out of the way. Even though her armor would dull the blow, the force of the impact would still hurt, and send her flying. On high alert, she watched to see if he made any last-second adjustments to his attack, but none came.
Sometimes you think too much, kid.
Melissa's eyes went wide as she heard Celica's words in her head.
Once you practice enough your body knows what to do before you do.
Taking a deep breath, Melissa steadied herself, preparing for Torino's next attack. She watched him dart around the room until he came in for his next attack - a flying kick aimed directly at her head. With a quiet squeak, she ducked out of the way, throwing her arm out in a desperate attempt to grab him. Her hand grabbed air as he sped past, the jets of his boots flaring up as he increased his speed.
Torino didn't give Melissa the chance to recover as he flipped in the air, pulling a perfect 180-degree turn as he rocketed back toward her.
Making a snap decision, Melissa threw a counter-punch, trying to catch the elderly hero by surprise. With a smirk, Torino rolled to the side and grabbed her arm, using his momentum to launch her halfway across the gym.
"Well at least I didn't hit a wall," Melissa muttered as she watched the hero kick off the ground and launch himself toward the ceiling. "Ok, this isn't working."
Closing her eyes, Melissa took a deep breath. He was trying to disorient her with his movements, not giving her time to respond. She breathed out. It didn't matter what he did until he came in to strike. She breathed in. It was time to let go and trust her body. Breathing out, she opened her eyes.
Torino continued around the gym, a yellow line bouncing all around, but Melissa kept her gaze forward, waiting for the next attack.
There!
From above her, at two o'clock!
Melissa ducked back, just far enough to get out of range as her arm shot out, wrapping around his ankle. He was fast, but she felt One For All surge through her as her grip tightened. Spinning, she launched the hero downward, throwing him toward the ground before following his descent.
She saw him deftly land on the ground and watched as she slammed into the ground in front of him, her fist cracking the concrete as she landed in a crouch. Lifting her head, she looked at the hero.
"I knew you had it in you," Torino said with a satisfied smile.
"I- I did it!" Melissa said as she stood up.
"Don't let it get to your head," Torino started as he offered her a couple of gummies. "It's only going to get harder from here."
"This was easy?" Nejire asked as she floated alongside her friend.
"Of course!" Torino said. Suddenly his tone shifted to be surprisingly casual, in stark contrast to how he had acted for the past two hours. "So same time next week?"
Melissa and Nejire looked at each other, both wondering how to answer the question. The last two hours had been hell, but they had to admit that the results spoke for themselves in the end. Besides - they weren't going to be able to avoid him forever. Especially if he was going to be the third-year Heroics teacher.
Making their decision, both girls nodded.
"We'll see you next week, sensei!" Nejire said.
"I'm looking forward to it!" Melissa added.
Torino flashed a fierce grin as he nodded in response. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you've learned next week."
Turning away from the two students, Torino exited the building without another word. Once he was outside he finally glanced backward, looking at the closed door. "They've got some real potential. Although something about that girl's quirk…" He frowned. "Time to find Toshi and get some answers."
Toshinori felt a shudder down his spine seconds before the door to the Administration Office slammed open. Fearing the worst, he whirled around to see who was there - and paled.
"Toshi, we need to talk," Sorahiko Torino said from the doorway. The tone of his voice made it clear he wasn't asking.
"What do we need to talk about?" Toshinori asked as he stood up.
"I just spent two hours with your niece," Sorahiko explained.
Toshinori gulped. "You must be tired from your training, let's go someplace where you can relax."
"Hmph, lead the way then," Sorahiko said as he stepped aside, allowing Toshinori to pass.
Gingerly passing his old mentor and watching for any sudden movements, Toshinori escaped from the office. Once in the hallway, he led Sorahiko to the private lounge. There he sealed the door and activated the security before turning to the elderly hero.
"What is wrong with Melissa?"
"What the hell is her quirk?" Sorahiko asked.
"Her- her quirk?" Toshinori stuttered.
Oh no.
"You said it was some sort of 'energy manipulation' quirk she uses to power that suit of hers, but I was paying attention to the thrusters she was using. There's no way in hell she could pull off the maneuvers she did with just those dinky jets. So what's her quirk, really?" Sorahiko crossed his arms and looked at his former student expectantly.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Toshinori replied.
"Try me."
"It's Nana's quirk."
Even expecting the boot to the chest, Toshinori stumbled back from the sheer intensity of the blow. Clutching his chest, he descended into a coughing fit. Once he managed to recover and straightened up, he saw Sorahiko hovering menacingly in front of his face.
"How the hell does she have Nana's quirk!? On top of-" He gestured wildly. "Whatever the hell her other quirk is."
"She didn't get it from All For One, if that's what you're thinking," Toshinori coughed. "He would have lorded it over both of us if he had managed to steal Nana's quirk before the end."
"Then what the hell is going on?!"
"Melissa… has a copy of One For All."
"You gave your niece One For All, and you didn't bother to tell anybody?!"
"I didn't, no," Toshinori held out his hands defensively, worried about another attack. "She - her copy is different. I did pass on One For All, but I gave my copy to young Midoriya instead."
"You have a lot of explaining to do," Sorahiko jabbed a finger accusingly at Toshinori. "Right now."
Toshinori spent several intense minutes explaining the basics to his old mentor: how Melissa came to have a copy of One For All, the drawback of the quirk that lead him to Izuku, the Nomu attack, and finally the awakening of One For All's power that lead to Nana visiting his niece. As he spoke, Sorahiko slowly relented, eventually backing off as the two relocated to the two couches in the center of the room.
"So you're telling me Melissa has actually spoken to Nana?"
"Yes," Toshinori nodded gravely, "And that Nana is a vestige within One For All."
"I can't believe it. Nana's alive-"
"-her memories are alive," Toshinori corrected him, "what Melissa has met is an imprint, an echo of her."
"Close enough!" Sorahiko snapped. "Is there any way for us to talk to her?"
"Not directly," Toshinori explained sadly. "I already asked. But we can pass messages to her - if Melissa is willing, of course."
"Mmm," Sorahiko rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'll have to think about what to say. She and her classmate agreed to train again next week."
Toshinori sputtered. "She what?!"
Sorahiko flashed a fierce smile. "What? You had that little faith in your niece? They've already improved a lot in the two hours I was kicking them around. I'm sure you'll see it the next time you're teaching them."
"If they can even move…" Toshinori mumbled.
"Ha! They can move plenty fine. Didn't even need Recovery Girl's help!"
"I see. Thank you," Toshinori looked relieved and grateful.
"Don't thank me yet. Whoever sent that Nomu sounds like trouble. They don't even have the good graces to wait until you're out of the picture, so you know what that means."
"Of course," Toshinori grimaced. "All Might still has work to do."
"So Risa's not coming?" Ochako asked as Izuku hung up the phone.
"No," Izuku shook his head. "She met a hero during her training and he uh… 'kicked the crap out of her.'"
"Oh," Ochako's face fell. While she was always happy to sneak time alone with Izuku, this felt almost like she was cheating. "Who was the hero?"
"Someone named Gran Torino," Izuku explained as he started typing on his phone.
"What, you don't know anything about him?" Ochako teased.
Izuku flushed slightly as he tried to hide his face with his phone. "He um, apparently retired almost twenty years ago. Publicly at least."
"Publicly?"
"I've seen him before," Izuku explained as he held up his phone to show Ochako a photo. "He's worked with All Might before. Nobody ever mentions him though, but that's not surprising - almost all articles focus on All Might and don't really list the additional heroes at the scene."
"I see," Ochako said thoughtfully as she examined him. "So All Might must have asked him to help train Risa."
"Yeah," Izuku nodded. "That's what Melissa thinks. He's joining UA as the third-year Heroics teacher, but he took interest in her in particular - and Hado by proximity."
Ochako pressed a finger to her cheek thoughtfully. "I wonder if he's going to show up next week when we have quirk training."
Izuku laughed nervously. "I guess we'll see?"
"Yeah," Ochako became infected by the same nervousness as she gave Izuku a broken smile. "I guess we will."
"So-" Izuku asked quickly, deciding to change topics. "Do you still want to go to the mall tonight?"
"Yep!" Ochako said a little too loudly. "I mean - if you're still ok with it!"
"Of course," Izuku said as he stood up and stretched. "I'll see if Melissa wants us to look for anything?"
"Sounds good!" Ochako smiled as she pushed herself up and the pair got ready to leave.
A quick train ride later and Izuku and Ochako arrived at the entrance of the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall.
"So where to first?" Izuku asked his companion.
"Could we… check the used games store?" Ochako asked sheepishly as she tapped her fingertips together.
"Of course," Izuku replied. "Then we can check out the hero merch!"
Ochako rolled her eyes and shot him a warm smile "Of course. Why was I ever worried."
"You were worried?" Izuku asked curiously.
"Nevermind!" Ochako said quickly as she took two steps forward before turning toward one of her best friends. "Let's go!"
The two raced through the mall, weaving through the crowds until they found the purple lights that announced they had arrived at BEEP. With smiles on their faces, Izuku and Ochako took one look at each other and walked toward the entrance-
-only to almost run into a lanky teen.
"Watch where you're going!" The young man growled. He was dressed in all black, with pale skin, chapped lips, and messy grayish-blue hair. He held onto his bag tightly, making sure to keep his index finger extended.
"We're sorry!" Ochako apologized as she stepped to the side.
"Y-yeah," Izuku quickly added. "We didn't see you there."
"Hmph," the man's eyes narrowed as he looked at the two teens. "You're not worth my time. Probably filthy casuals anyways," The man grumbled as he checked to ensure his bag was safe. Without another word, he walked off, leaving Izuku and Ochako staring at each other in confusion.
"Umm, Izuku? If I ever get like that I want you and Risa to stage an intervention," Ochako whispered.
Izuku glanced down the hallway where the man had disappeared into the crowd before nodding at his friend. "O-ok!"
Not wanting to let the strange encounter deter her further, Ochako grabbed Izuku's arm and dragged him into the store - paying attention this time to ensure they didn't have any more incidents - before letting go of his arm.
Inside the store, they saw row upon row of displays filled with disks and cartridges from all sorts of consoles - there even was a display in the back showing off a few pre-quirk era cartridges as curiosities. Lining each side of the store was a row of televisions, each showing demos from different games for people to watch. There were a few teens in the store browsing different sections, but otherwise, the store was relatively empty. Meanwhile, the bleeps and bloops of the games mixed together to form a dull background noise.
With experience at her side, Ochako immediately walked over to one of the display cases, housing the titles that they could play on Melissa's console. While she had considered saving up her money for one of the older consoles the store sold so they could play older games - many of which were cheap and really good! - she still had a vast library of games to play before she needed to worry about that.
"So what are you looking for?" Izuku asked as he pulled out his phone to see what Melissa had said.
"I was hoping to find something you'd like to play with us," Ochako admitted as she pulled out her phone to compare prices.
"Oh," Izuku smiled at his friend. "Sure, what do you have in mind?"
Pulling up her spreadsheet, Ochako began to examine the cabinet.
After picking out a couple of games for themselves as well as grabbing an American import for Melissa, the duo finally left the store. Avoiding any more unpleasant encounters they made their way to the hero merch store.
Despite Izuku practically owning everything All Might related within his budget, he still loved coming to the store and combing through the aisles. Sometimes he would find something new, or maybe he would pick up another hero's action figure. But more often than not he came up empty.
Unfortunately, today was one of those days.
"I'm sorry you didn't find anything, Izuku," Ochako said as they exited the store.
"It's alright," Izuku said optimistically as he pointed to the bag of video games Ochako was holding. "At least we didn't come up empty!"
"Is there anywhere else we need to go?"
"Actually," Izuku said nervously. "I need some new shirts." He tugged at the tee shirt he was wearing, showing how snug it was becoming on him. Thanks to his training he had been bulking up a lot over the past year, and this was the second time he was going to have to replace his wardrobe.
Ochako, meanwhile, was trying to not think about how much she enjoyed the sight of snug shirts on him. "Oh, alright. Are you still going to get those kanji shirts or…"
"Of course," Izuku said. "What else would I wear?"
Ochako sighed in disappointment only to pull out her phone and begin dialing Melissa.
"Hey Ochako," Melissa answered on the other end. "What's up?"
"Can you take a video call?"
"Of course!"
Flicking on the phone's camera, Ochako turned the screen toward Izuku. "I need backup here. Izuku wants to replace all of his shirts. With more kanji shirts!"
"Traitor," Izuku said.
"Hmm," Melissa stared at Izuku with an index finger on her lips. "Ochako does raise a good point. You can't wear those shirts forever."
"But they're sort of my thing," Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "They're ironic!"
"Well, in that case there's only one solution," Melissa smiled and Izuku felt a sense of dread. "Ochako, you have to help him pick out shirts!"
"What?!" Ochako squeaked. "Why me?"
"If they're really embarrassing, maybe that'll be enough to get him to stop wearing them!" Melissa laughed lightly.
"I-I don't think it works like that," Ochako said as she looked nervously at Izuku.
"Ehehehe," Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "Ochako's right."
"See!" Ochako said. "It won't work!"
"Well then, pick something dorky and endearing," Melissa said.
Ochako groaned. "Traitor."
Melissa laughed at the plight of the two students. "Sorry Ocha, but that's all I can think of tonight."
Ochako let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fine, I'll see what I can do."
On the screen, the two saw Melissa smile and wave goodbye. "Have fun you two. And thanks for picking up my game!"
"Bye Risa!"
"Bye!"
Hanging up the phone, Ochako looked at Izuku with a resigned look on her face. "Well you heard Risa, let's see what we can find."
"Sure," Izuku smiled at his friend. The truth was, he was going to ask Ochako's opinions already. So this worked out perfectly. "The store's this way."
"That was a lot of fun," Ochako said as they approached the corner where they split up and went their separate ways.
"Yeah," Izuku agreed. "I'm glad we still went out."
"Me too," Ochako said, feeling her cheeks warming slightly.
Reaching the corner, Izuku spun to look at his friend. "Do you want me to take the games back to my place?"
Ochako shook her head. "Nope! I want to read the manuals tonight. Besides, it's not like I won't be over later this week."
"That's true," Izuku admitted. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Mhm!" Ochako set her bags down and pulled her friend into a hug. "See you tomorrow."
Izuku returned the hug, wishing he had dropped his bags as he wrapped his arms awkwardly around Ochako. Once they separated he gave her a small wave. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Izuku!"
Grabbing her bags, Ochako took off running toward her apartment.
Despite her elation at getting to spend the whole afternoon with Izuku, a small part of her was looking forward to talking about video games with Melissa later tonight.
I'm not sorry. ~SupportGrrl47