Hello! Welcome to chapter 2 of All Turns to Dust! I'm honestly surprised with how much traction this got given I haven't posted in years but I'm glad! Thank you to dreadix for reviewing, reading it made me want to post this chapter last night but I held myself back lmao.
Jiro is introduced in this chapter, and like I said in the previous note it might seem like it's moving fast but Hotaro is just a flirt. For now! This is an OCxJiro story after all!
Again, if anyone has any ideas for super moves or a hero name, please let me know! I have two super moves already in my head, one hinted at in this chapter and the other being a reference to R6 so any of you that know the game you might be able to guess!
I think I've said all I wanted to say so I hope you all enjoy!
I don't own My Hero
After his meeting with the doctor, Hotaro's life moved quickly. He was put in an orphanage for children whose parents had been killed by villains and quickly decided he hated it. The other children, while not outright bullies, were still rude and very self-centered. Hotaro chalked it up to living a life of self fulfillment, living only for themselves. He visited a Quirk councilor, which was his favorite part of the day, and learned only to activate and deactivate his Quirk. After, he would study with the rest of the orphanage, learning how to read and write by the orphanage mother.
Hotaro wouldn't remember the kind woman's face as he only stayed with the orphanage for a week or two before he was scooped up by a rich young family known as the Yaoyorozu's. They decided to adopt Hotaro after their daughter, Momo, took a liking to him when they visited the Orphanage. Hotaro would be forever grateful to the slightly younger girl, given she would change the course of his life.
Momo stumbled into the orphanage, the tip of her nose red and her breath visible even though she was bundled up in a scarf with earmuffs on. She excitedly looked around the large, spacious room, ignoring the calls from her butler Kento as she scanned the faces of each child. Her parents had decided that, with the help and guidance of Kento, Momo could help choose her new sibling. The heads of the Yaoyorozu family, Momo's parents, had been trying for another child for years after Momo was born, wanting to give the girl a little brother or sister to keep her company while the two of them were busy.
Unfortunately Momo's mother, Tsumi, would prove to be infertile after Momo's birth. Some complications during the process would deem the woman unfit to carry another child, so the couple decided to adopt from the largest orphanage in Tokyo.
Hotaro looked up from his small picture book when he heard the sound of the door opening and small feet padding against the ground quickly. He saw a tall man with a pencil mustache and his hair gelled into a middle part wearing a nice tuxedo with a small purple handkerchief poking out of the breast pocket. His eyes trailed down to the small figure next to the tall man, and he was greeted by a puff of pink. The little girl had a large pink furred coat; faux fur given real fur hadn't been legal for two hundred years, a bright pink wool scarf, white earmuffs, and fluffy pink pants.
'We have the same colored hair and eyes.' Hotaro thought to himself. As if they had had the same thought, the small girl looked at him and grinned widely. Hotaro watched as she tugged on the tall man's sleeve and said something before pointing at him. Hotaro met the man's eyes when he looked over at him and held the surprisingly yellow gaze for a few moments before looking down, returning to his book.
Momo watched the raven haired boy with a band-aid under his lip look back at the book in his lap and quickly hurried over to him, dragging Kento along with her. The man complied smoothly, never tripping or stumbling even as the girl a quarter of his size tugged him towards the boy. When they reached the boy Momo quickly leaned down and waved her pink mittened hand when she noticed she had grabbed his attention.
"Hey!" She said happily, "My name's Momo! What's yours?"
Hotaro met the gaze apprehensively and looked over at Kento. The man sent him a reassuring smile that didn't match the sickly color of his eyes, yet it still brought slight comfort to him as he locked eyes with Momo again, charcoal on graphite.
"Hotaro."
If the short answer disappointed Momo, she didn't let it show. She sat down next to him quickly and looked down at the book in his hands.
"Whatcha' readin?" She asked with a grin on her face. Hotaro looked down at the book and closed it, keeping his spot with a well placed hand before showing her the book. It had a large green caterpillar on the front that was curled up slightly with a large smile on its face. Across the top it read, 'The Hungry Caterpillar.'
Momo's eyes lit up again as she bounced in her seat. "I love The Hungry Caterpillar! It's my favoritest book!" She looked up at Kento with an excited grin, "Kento reads it the best! Can you read it for us Kento! Please?"
Kento just smiled and held his hand out towards Hotaro, silently asking for the book. Hotaro gripped the book to his chest tightly, sending an untrusting look at the large man. Kento only waited patiently as Hotaro locked eyes with Momo, who just smiled brightly and nodded her head. Slowly handing the book over, Hotaro was suddenly pulled into a quick hug by the little girl beside him. Before he could protest, the contact was gone and she was seated comfortably next to him, barely an inch separating the two as Kento sat beside Momo on the ground and started reading.
Hotaro was surprised to hear Kento's smooth, kind voice as he read the children's book. After meeting the serpentine man's eyes the first time, Hotaro had felt anxious but safe in the presence of the man. Kento was obviously the little girl next to him's guardian so he wasn't scared of the man, but his eyes left an uneasy feeling in the boy's gut. But listening to the low tamber of the man's voice, Hotaro couldn't help but let his eyes droop and his head fall to Momo's shoulder as the day got to him and sleep consumed him.
Hotaro would wake in the Yaoyorozu mansion, where he would spend the next decade of his life. Momo would quickly become his best and only friend in the large house, Kento and the other servants being the only other ones close to the title. He rarely met with his 'parents' but that never bothered him too much. They provided a roof for him to sleep under and food to fill his belly. Nevermind the fact that the food was exceptional and the bed was closer to sleeping on a cloud than a mattress. By age ten he was training his Quirk, Float, alongside Momo as she trained her Quirk Creation.
Hotaro sidestepped quickly, dodging a huge rubber fist flying through the air aimed at his stomach. In retaliation, he activated his Quirk while his feet were still on the ground, and pushed hard. He flew towards Momo at the speed of a full sprint, his feet never touching the ground. Momo tracked his movement with a serious look in her eye and ducked the sudden kick that flew over her head, then quickly jumped back as a hand grabbed at her ankles.
Momo blew the only tuff of black hair she kept down out of her face and quickly settled into a loose fighting stance. She studied Hotaro who had righted himself and landed on his feet while she had jumped back. His Quirk Float, while not being true flight, still allowed him a great range of attacks unusable by the average person. Momo was smart for her age, hell Hotaro had gone as far to say she was a genius, so she knew better than to rush into the fight.
There was also the problem that Hotaro was physically stronger than her. They were both still only ten years old and did the exact same workout together at the same time while eating almost the exact same diet. But it was like Hotaro's body naturally built more muscle than anyone else their age.
She was reminded of his strength when a kick displaced the air next to her ear, causing a rushing sound to fill her head and distract her. She never noticed as Hotaro spun on an impossible axis and swept her legs out from under her. Momo used the momentum to roll after hitting the ground, dodging a stationary spinning axe kick. She shot her fist out and slammed it into his exposed knee, causing him to wince and push off the ground into the air. He tucked his arms in, spun so his feet faced the ceiling and kicked hard, the strength of his kick pushing back towards the ground at a quick pace.
Momo quickly summoned a shield and held it up, blocking the double footed drop kick. She buckled slightly under the pressure, the shield in her grip bending slightly. Heaving with a yell, Momo threw the boy back into the air. Hotaro let out a happy laugh as he flew back, letting the motion flip him through the air. Luckily, his Quirk seemed to have a built in resistance to vertigo, something he never let go to waste as he spun and flipped through the air.
Momo glared lightly and held a hand up to her exposed arm. Suddenly, it shimmered and sparkled before she pulled out a net gun. Hotaro's laughs fell silent as he spotted the weapon and quickly deactivated his Quirk. He plummeted through the air, falling twenty feet in seconds. Right before he splattered against the ground, he activated his Quirk. He grit his teeth in discomfort as numbness started spreading throughout his arms and legs but he fought through it as he touched solid ground.
He sent a challenging glare to the girl across from him but his eyes went wide when he saw the smirk that had spread across her face. In his haste, Hotaro hadn't even waited for the gun to be fired. On top of that, there was a net right behind him that she had somehow placed while he was in the air. He knew for a fact if he came anywhere near that net, it would instantly wrap around him and lose him the spar. But if he didn't move, Momo would shoot and he would lose anyway.
Hotaro sighed and sent Momo a sheepish smile, "I guess you win again Momo." He held his hands up in surrender before falling onto his bottom, rubbing his arms and legs to try and return the feeling to them.
Momo, satisfied with how the spar went, smiled warmly and walked over to her adopted brother, sitting next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry kiddo! You almost had me that time!" She grinned widely and slapped the aforementioned shoulder.
Hotaro snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah right, you could've mopped the floor with me in an instant if you wanted. You barely created anything that whole time. What, a shield, net, and netgun? What're we eight again?" She knew he was kidding but she still tucked a piece of hair that had come out of his binding during the spar behind her ear and looked away, a look of apprehension on the younger girl's face.
Hotaro saw the look and sighed, rubbing his face with his hands before grabbing Momo's hand, standing up, and activating his Quirk. Momo's face quickly morphed into a bright smile as she stood up with him and pushed off at the same time. She felt his arms flex hard, veins popping out and he lifted them both with his Quirk. While she wasn't floating herself, the feeling of being weightless never got old to the heroine in training.
Hotaro smiled through a grunt of exertion when he saw Momo's wide smile. He really wished he could do this for her more often, but lifting even himself with his Quirk was difficult. Float worked for Hotaro in a strange way. While he could make himself float, he still expended energy as if he was carrying himself through the air. Now normally, given his higher than average strength, this wouldn't be a problem until he had exhausted himself in a fight. But when taking someone with him, it was like carrying 200 pounds with just his arms.
Still, they spun and flipped for what felt like hours to Hotaro but was really only five minutes before touching to the ground. Hotaro's arms felt like jelly and his legs felt sore from slamming them into a metal shield, but the radiant smile on Momo's face made it worth it.
"That was awesome!" Momo said, her smile infectious, "Your Quirk is so cool Hotaro. I feel so free every time you take me up." Hotaro smiled back at her and nodded his head.
"Yeah, it is pretty cool. I just wish I could control it better. Imagine if I could fly through the air all on my own, not having to push or kick off of anything. It would feel so liberating." His eyes sparkled as he put his arms behind his head, wincing slightly as he struggled to do so.
Momo looked at his slightly muscled arms in concern but shook it off. She knew he wouldn't want her worrying about him, that's just the kind of person Hotaro was. He shouldered all his pain on his own and always did his best to help others. She found it admirable, sure, but she still wished the boy would let her help him for a change.
She kicked at a rock as they walked through the courtyard they used to train, stealing glances at the dark-haired boy next to her. Her eyes traced his face while he wasn't looking. She could've sworn his face was strangely familiar. Obviously familiar because she knew the boy, but familiar as if she had seen someone else with a similar face before. The scar under his lip only added to the nagging feeling, the small dot looking almost like a beauty mark.
Hotaro noticed the girl's scrutinization, but ignored it in favor of huffing at the height difference the two had. While not short for his age, Hotaro stood half a head shorter than the girl next to him, a fact she never let the poor boy live down.
They stepped into the mansion and were greeted by Kento, the man carrying a silver platter with juice boxes and animal crackers on it. The man looked slightly older, his gelled middle part hairdo now having a gray streak through the left side. The two children smiled happily and took the snacks for themselves, quickly disappearing further into the mansion.
The next few years flew by for Hotaro. He lived peacefully with the Yaoyorozus and trained daily with Momo. He had learned a few months after being adopted by the family that the girl also wanted to be a Hero, just like him. The two of them encouraged each other through it all. They studied together, they trained together, and they supported each other when they thought no one else would. Even when they both looked to apply to UA, even when Momo was recommended by a friend of the family and he wasn't, the girl still helped him study and prepare for the exam.
In the five years since he had started training his Quirk, Float, and also training himself physically, Hotaro had become proficient with the ability. While he still couldn't fly forward with just a thought, his strength had progressed to a point where he could kick hard enough to get a satisfactory result. His fighting style had been designed for him by Gunhead, at the request of the Yaoyorozu patriarch, and was reliant on his in-air flexibility plus his general mobility to be effective.
Physically, Hotaro was stacked. At fifteen years old, his entire body was covered in defined muscles. He wasn't huge like a body-builder, but if he was shirtless you would see almost every muscle. His body seemed to build muscle at an accelerated rate, meaning he got more results from less work than the average person with his physique. This was a fact he never let Momo live down. They both did the same workout, relatively speaking. If Momo did fifty push-ups, Hotaro did seventy-five. If Momo did one hundred sit-ups, Hotaro did one hundred and fifteen. It wasn't to rub in her face exactly, but he felt pride in his physical abilities.
Mentally, Hotaro was less stacked. He wasn't stupid per-say, but between the two of them Momo was definitely the brains of the operation. He didn't fail any classes in middle school but he didn't exactly excel. He never got the same happiness from studying that Momo got, and never enjoyed doing schoolwork, especially when he felt it was unnecessary.
So, understandably, when Momo told him he would have to take a written exam on top of a practical exam to even be considered for the school, he groaned as they walked and shoved his face into his hands.
Momo giggled into her own hand and patted him on the shoulder with the other as she laughed at his dismay. "You'll be fine 'Taro. Just remember everything we went over and you'll ace the written." She rolled her eyes and put her hand on his arm, squeezing the defined muscle lightly, "You surely won't have problems with the practical, that I'm confident on."
Hotaro's dismay slipped into a confident grin as he ran his hand over his stomach, enjoying the feeling of his hard work against his fingers. He looked at Momo and smiled softly when he saw her happy grin had spread across her face. She really believed in him. She acted like he was already in with her as they walked. His chest was filled with a warm light, but before he could do something about the feeling, they both watched as a boy with curly green hair tripped on nothing.
Hotaro watched as the girl walking behind the boy tapped him on the shoulder and his eyes widened when he saw the boy stop in midair, floating. He quickly hurried over to the two, ignoring Momo's shouts telling him to wait up.
"How did you do that?" Hotaro asked when he reached the two. He ignored the fact the boy was a blushing mess and focused entirely on the girl with a brown bob and a perpetual blush in front of him.
She raised a hand to her chest, holding it close with a surprised look on her face as she drank in Hotaro's own. She noticed he seemed a little on the rough side, his eyelashes matching his spiky black hair that stuck up almost straight. His face was hard and questioning, his charcoal eyes staring into her brown ones. She looked at his muscled arms and then was even more surprised when she noticed the green haired boy in front of her shared a similar physique. The only two things that seemed to take away from the dark haired boy's outwardly gruff appearance were the small beauty mark like scar on his bottom lip, and the way his gaze softened when a beautiful black haired girl their age stepped up next to him.
Izuku Midoriya's heart rate spiked as One for All banged against his chest at the sight of the only other boy in the small gathering. It was like the Quirk was reaching out towards him, begging to touch the stranger. Izuku held back the urge to reach forward and touch the boy's spiky hair and almost tripped again trying to back away when he noticed the other girl show up.
"Are you two related?" The brown haired girl asked, looking between Hotaro and Momo.
The two of them looked at each other in surprise before they both laughed softly. Momo moved to correct the girl when she noticed the confusion on her face. "No, not really. My family adopted Hotaro when we were both young, so we basically grew up together." She finished the sentence by ruffling the shorter boys hair, causing him to shake her hand off and step to the left.
Before anyone could continue the conversation, a loud alarm went off around them and a voice pierced the air. "Attention all UA hopefuls! Please report to the auditorium for the written exam, and the explanation for the practical! Anyone late will be immediately disqualified."
The three teens all looked to each other in surprise before the green haired boy and brown haired girl quickly took off towards a large building other students were slowly filtering into. Hotaro watched them leave in a stupor, jumping in surprise when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked at the source and met Momo's encouraging smile.
"You got this Taro' don't let the nerves get to you." He looked into her eyes as he listened. "We've been training for this! You've been training for this! Get in there and knock their socks off! Kento and I will be outside the gate when you're finished with the practical alright?"
Hotaro drank his adoptive sister's words in and his eyes steeled themselves as he looked towards the building. He was bummed he didn't get to ask that girl about her Quirk, but he knew he had more important things to focus on. He had spent the past five years molding himself into the best he could be, for this exact moment.
He gave Momo a quick side hug and nodded at her words of encouragement before quickly walking into the testing building. He drank in all his fellow testers' faces, seeing all kinds of people with all kinds of Quirks waiting to take the same test he did. But he knew he had worked harder, hell probably longer, than most of the other people here. He had the utmost confidence in himself.
That is, until he flipped the test over and read the first question.
'If there is a citizen in trouble three hundred feet in front of you, but twenty feet in the air, how long would it take you to get to them on your feet at a pace of two kilometers an hour.'
Hotaro groaned and rubbed his face with both hands before grabbing his pencil and giving this damned test his best.
An hour later a timer went off, signaling the end of the test portion of the exam. A few people let out a shout of anguish as they failed to finish the admittedly hard test before the allotted time. While Hotaro didn't think he had gotten every answer right, he was happy with his performance and had a smile on his face as he listened to the Pro Hero, Present Mic, explain the practical exam.
"Hello listeners! Welcome to UA! My name is Present Mic, as some of you may know, and I am here to tell you about our fun little exam!" The voice was coming from everywhere at once, but Hotaro's attention was grabbed by the large screen in the front of the room turning on with an almost silent click.
The fluorescent screen showed four robots of varying sizes. The first was around the size of a regular person with two metal arms and a singular wheel for movement. The second was around double the size of the first one and was more tank-like in design with two cannons over the shoulders. The third was only slightly bigger than the second, but it seemed more armored than the first and had a large metal scorpion tail that sprouted from the small of the robot's back. Finally, the last robot was an impossible size. Hotaro thought the machine might tower over most of the buildings in Musutafu on its own. It held a giant zero on its chest.
"UA is, at its core, a hero school! Fighting is a huge part of a Hero's life! You could fight all kinds of people with all kinds of Quirks and you are expected to beat them with little to no knowledge of their abilities. To replicate these situations, we have three separate robot types for you to handle! The goal of the exam is to destroy as many robots as possible, gaining as many points as possible in the process! When the time is up, you'll all be sent home to wait for your results within the coming week." Present Mic swept over the crowd, loving the attention an auditorium full of people can provide as he dramatically pointed up at the huge zero pointer, finally showing himself to the crowd.
"My one piece of advice? Avoid the big guy. At all costs! You don't want to tussle with that thing, trust me!"
The crowd dispersed as Present Mic directed them towards the bathrooms, every kid being provided with a UA tracksuit that seemed to fit them perfectly. As Hotaro pulled the tracksuit jacket onto his arms, he quickly zipped it up and hurried out of the room, never noticing the green eyes that tracked him almost the entire time.
As Hotaro walked, he thought of the exam ahead of him and what he was going to do for it. He was strong, he knew that. His Quirk, while not exactly groundbreaking itself, was good enough as long as he could break through the robots without too much difficulty. But something felt wrong to the young Float user. UA was a Hero school, wasn't it? He understood that fighting was part of the lifestyle, why else would he and Momo train so excessively? But being a Hero was about helping people, not about how well you could hurt others.
Stuck in his thoughts, Hotaro never noticed a green haired boy trying to get his attention. He didn't notice a tall boy with blue hair and glasses scolding the other boy for trying to 'distract' him. The only thing he noticed was Present Mic's loud scream.
Activating his Quirk, Hotaro sprinted forward, feeling his feet leave the ground he twirled as he flew forward, somehow gaining a burst of speed. He felt a lurch in his stomach but ignored it when he heard hundreds of feet behind him, trying to catch up.
He deactivated Float when he noticed a large green metal arm held out as if looking to clothesline him. He slipped under the arm and quickly reactivated Float, kicking off the ground and flying into the air dodging the swinging arm. He spun in midair and grunted in frustration as he noticed no wall was near him to push off of. He kicked hard, pushing himself through the air slowly. He deactivated his Quirk again, allowing gravity to give him his speed as he turned both his feet towards the robot in a move reminiscent of the one he pulled against Momo five years ago. Instead of just denting the metal like Momo's shield had been, Hotaro shot straight through the robot. He would've hurled into the ground and broken a few bones if he didn't react in time and activate Float, stopping his momentum.
He turned around and inspected the hole he left in the robot, a satisfaction spreading across his face as he cracked his neck and kept his score. "Two points."
In a dark room, a handful of Pro Heroes watched the first robot go down with looks of approval. The boy had cleanly dodged the attack and quickly dismantled the robot with no unnecessary movements. Well, save the twirls and flips the boy insisted on doing. Though one man in particular, a huge man in an almost American themed bodysuit and blonde hair the bangs standing up straight like two rabbit ears, gasped and stood up straight.
"All Might?" A small white creature in a suit with a scar over its eye asked, "Is something the matter?"
"That Quirk." Was the only response the legendary Hero All Might gave the furry creature.
Nedzu returned a questioning glance at the black haired boy's video feed as he twirled around a robot's arm, using kicks and pure flexibility to maneuver himself in the air. The principal looked at the teens face and couldn't shake the feeling he had seen it somewhere before. Just when he was going to give up on his visual interrogation, the boy flipped again and showed the camera the other side of his face.
Nedzu's eyes widened as he spotted a scar on the boy's bottom lip. A scar that looked more like a beauty mark than a scar. Suddenly the image of a woman that looked almost exactly like the boy, save the hair, appeared over the boy. Nedzu's face split into a large grin as he put his paws together and looked to All Might.
"It seems Float is back in the world isn't it, All Might."
Hotaro panted and rubbed his numbing arms. He had accumulated around fifty points in the past twenty five minutes, destroying every robot that came at him with little to no injury sustained himself. He had been hit by one energy blast in the back, but it did little more than blow a hole in his tracksuit and singe the small of his back. His arms felt like his bones had been replaced with hot metal and his stomach lurched everytime he activated his Quirk to avoid the debris flying around him.
He had found a large collection of robots in the fake town's square, unfortunately he wasn't the only one. There was the blue haired boy with glasses who shot around, destroying robots in a similar way to Hotaro, if not for the exhaust pipes shooting pure plasma out as the boy zipped around. There was the brown haired girl who was slowly lifting robots into the air and dropping them on their heads before turning and emptying
the contents of her stomach next to her. There were a dozen more students around him, all fighting robots of their own, fighting for their place in UA's top brass.
A scream tore him from his thoughts as a girl flew through the air in front of him, behind the robot he was fighting. He tracked her movement quickly and determined she would hit a barricade of rebar if someone didn't help her. Running forward, Hotaro slid under the robotic enemies arm and between its legs. He quickly planted his feet on the ground and jumped. He placed his feet on the back of the robot behind him before activating Float and pushing with all his might. The robot's metal groaned underneath him but didn't cave as he flew forward, spinning in the air to increase his speed.
But instead of that burst of speed he was used to, Hotaro's gut clenched tightly in protest. He winced and put a hand to his stomach as he flew through the air. He watched as the girl reached her hand out to him, her purple eyes and long earlobes the only thing he noticed. He wasn't going to make it. She was going to be impaled. This poor girl was going to be hurt because he wasn't fast enough. Scenes flashed through his mind. A collapsing house. A pile of dust. A red eye.
His gut clenched again, but this time, something snapped. His entire body screaming in disapproval as his stomach did a frontflip and emptied the contents inside. But he felt a burst of speed he had never felt. Before, when he spun he would feel the air whip around him lightly. But this time, as he spun and his stomach protested, the world around him blurred and his hair flattened against his head. The next second of flight was exhilarating, but ended much too quickly.
He was upon her instantly, her back almost touching the bars and her hand still reaching out towards him. He gripped her fingers tightly and willed himself to fly straight up. His stomach lurched once more and he was sure if there was anything left in it, it would be splattered against the ground and this poor girl's shirt. He dry heaved as he tugged the both of them further into the sky. The change was sudden and he heard her scream in his ear as he held her tight.
Once he determined they were well above the robot, he turned towards the top of a building and bent forward, making sure to keep a tight grip on the girl in his arms before pushing as hard as he could. They started floating towards the rooftop slowly. Well, slowly comparatively. They touched down and Hotaro quickly let go of her and ran to the edge of the building, dry heaving.
Jiro watched in amazement as the dark-haired boy that had just saved her life ran to the edge of the building, seemingly throwing up aggressively. She quickly hurried over to him and placed a comforting hand on his back, pulling his hair out of his face just in case. She held his hair for a few more onslaughts of gagging before he stood up straight and wiped his mouth.
When he turned to her, she couldn't help the small blush that dusted her face. He was very pretty, his spiky eyelashes making him almost look feminine if it weren't for his strong neck and jaw. His eyes were soft and her blush increased slightly when she realized he was checking her over, making sure she wasn't hurt. She rubbed her elbows and turned away, embarrassed she had to be saved during her Hero exam.
She replayed the exam in her head and let out a breath, fixing her bangs as she shrugged. She had gotten a good amount of points in her opinion, forty if she had counted right. She was fortunate the robots weren't made of the sturdiest metal or she would've been in a lot more trouble than she was.
"I'm Hotaro by the way."
Jiro flinched at the sudden sound before locking eyes with the boy who saved her. His gaze was soft and still searching. She stuck her hand out and looked away as she introduced herself. "I'm Kyoka Jiro. You can just call me Jiro though. Thanks for the help back there, I don't know what would've happened if you didn't swoop in."
Hotaro looked down at the hand and winced slightly as he raised his own hand to grasp it softly, shaking it. "No problem Jiro. I'm just glad I made it to you in time, I'd hate to think what could've happened if I didn't." A small smile spread across his face when she looked back at him with another small blush.
Jiro scowled at herself and shook her head, standing up straight and leveling the taller much taller boy with a stern look. "I'm sure I would've been fine. I'm here to be a Hero too yknow." Hotaro's smile split into a teasing grin as he leaned forward, his black eyes half lidded.
"For sure, you totally weren't about to basically fly back first into a spike pit before I 'swooped in' and saved you." He said, doing finger quotes.
Jiro glared at him and turned to walk away but noticed there was no door into the building. She facepalmed when she remembered Present Mic's words when describing the large battlefield.
'The buildings may look real, but there are no doors in or out! Nowhere for you to hide!' She rolled her eyes thinking of the man's fake maniacal laughter back in the exam room, huffing and crossing her arms. How the hell was she going to get down?
An innocent whistle caused her face to darken, with both depression and a blush, when she realized she only had one way off this skyscraper. Jiro sighed and turned to the still grinning boy and took a step towards him, putting her hands together and looking up at him with her triangle shaped eyes.
"Please get me down from here Mr. Hero sir! I don't know what I'd do without you!"
Hotaro snorted and stepped closer, putting his hands under her armpits and lifting her with seemingly no difficulty. On the inside, Hotaro groaned in pain as his arms protested. He walked backwards towards the edge of the building, keeping a blinding smile on the girl he carried like a kitten. The girl's face was bright red and she refused to make eye contact with him as she crossed her arms and looked away. Hotaro felt his foot hit the edge and Jiro must've noticed the same given her face paled and she quickly waved her hands in front of her.
"Wait wait wait! Your Quirk! You can fly right? We're not jumping off the building just so you can be funny right?" She asked in hysterics, looking anywhere but his laughing eyes.
Hotaro tilted his head to the side as he pondered the question. He ignored Jiro's squeak as he repositioned her onto his back. He felt her press up against him and had to fight his own blush down as he cleared his throat and answered her. "We'll, kind of. I more float and push myself around if that makes sense."
When he felt Jiro calm and nod her head he quickly snaked his arms through the leg loops on either side of him, making sure the girl wouldn't slip off of him before stepping backwards off the ledge and freefalling.
Normally, Jiro would've been screaming at the top of her lungs, but given she wasn't stupid and knew the boy carrying her could fly, her anxious heart hammered in her chest as the wind whipped past her. They fell for hundreds of feet before she felt gravity take hold of the boy below her again, jarring the both of them as they suddenly stopped a few inches above the ground.
Hotaro finally let out a yelp of pain as his arms gave out and his Quirk slipped from his grasp, causing him to both drop Jiro and himself unceremoniously on the floor. He laid on his back, staring at the sky for a long time, just enjoying the blue sky above when Jiro's head poked in and waved a hand in front of his face.
"You okay? You didn't have to drop me like that yknow, you could've warned me." She said with a huff, blowing a strand of hair that usually framed her face out of the way.
Hotaro chuckled and shrugged his shoulders with a wince. "I wouldn't drop someone as pretty as you if I had the choice." He surprised himself with how smooth the words dripped off his tongue, as sweet as honey. He chuckled again and sat up when Jiro's face burned a bright scarlet once more.
Before he could say anything else, or even stand all the way up, a large explosion rocked the testing area. Hotaro and Jiro both quickly looked in the direction of the sound, seeing students running in fear as a large robot head peaked over the building they had both just plummeted from. Fear pierced Hotaro's heart as the robot looked down at them both, seeming to zero in.
Hotaro looked over and saw Jiro slowly backing away, looking up in pure terror. Hotaro moved to join the pretty new girl he just met, but his body shouted its protests. His stomach clenched painfully, his arms were leadened, and his legs begging him not to move them. He let out another yelp as he tried to stand up again.
Jiro flinched at the noise and looked down at the boy who had saved her life not five minutes before. He was exhausted, she could see that in his posture and the way he was panting. She watched him struggle again to stand up, looked up at the terrifying robot, before clicking her tongue and grabbing one of Hotaro's arms, throwing it over her shoulder and picking the boy up.
She grunted with effort as the boy's hard body pressed against her back. She ignored the feeling of his built physique and carried the boy with her as she pulled them boy from the wreckage around them. The robot watched for a few moments and Jiro's spine went rigid when it placed a huge hand on the building in front of it, pulling itself through the street directly towards the two injured teenagers.
Jiro turned and put all of her remaining energy into saving the both of them. Hotaro noticed her efforts and with a queasy breath, activated his Quirk making himself effectively weightless. Jiro sighed happily as the weight was lifted from her shoulders and increased her pace, ignoring the sounds of destruction around her.
She made it almost halfway when a sound so loud it made the explosion earlier seem quiet. Both teenagers turned their heads in confusion and looked towards the source once more. Their eyes widened at the massive dent in the chest of the huge machine, and the small comet quickly plummeting towards the ground much as they had.
Jiro quickly turned away and kept up pace towards the entrance when she realized the chances of that comet having a Quirk that could do that to the zero pointer and stop himself from slamming into the ground at mach speed were incredibly unlikely. Not wanting her or her new companion to see that student get peeled from the asphalt, Jiro didn't stop until she made it to the entrance.
There, she saw around twenty-five students all looking up in awe as the zero point finally toppled over, destroying the faux city behind it. She heard people questioning who could've done it, and she couldn't help but ask the same question in her head. Looking at her shoulder, she saw Hotaro's barely open eyes look into her own onyx orbs.
"You really are pretty." Was all he said before the darkness took him.
Jiro turned bright red, turning a glare to the short grape haired boy that stood next to her when he giggled. The boy just smirked and tapped his nose, turning around and walking away.
Before she could make after the boy, she felt something tug on her right pant leg. A small woman in a doctor's outfit with goggles and a hairnet stared up at her, a grandmotherly smile spread across her face. "Hello deary, my name is Recovery Girl, the nurse at UA. Would you let me have a look at your boyfriend?"
Jiro's face turned bright red again as she stepped back, dropping Hotaro on the ground roughly. "He's not my boyfriend! I just met him! He just saved me from flying into some rebar so I couldn't just let him die out there!" She quickly explained herself, waving her hands in front of her.
Recovery Girl giggled and planted a kiss on the unconscious boy's forehead, causing Jiro to raise an eyebrow. When the scrapes and cuts on the boy slowly sizzled and healed, her eyes widened. "That's incredible!"
Recovery Girl smiled at her and patted her hand. "Thank you! I am quite fond of my Quirk personally. I love helping people in every way I can!" Jiro smiled back at the woman and nodded her head in agreement.
"Kyoka! Is that you?"
Kyoka looked up and locked eyes with her mother, Mika Jiro. She and her mother had an uncanny resemblance, the only thing being different was the lack of soundwave design in her hair that was swept to the side. Jiro's eyes immediately started watering and she rushed into her mother's arms. She couldn't stop from spouting how scared she had been. How she thought she was going to die.
Mika held her daughter with a concerned look on her face. Her poor baby, going through all of that, just to be a Hero. If she had half a mind she'd forbid her daughter from being a Hero, hell, from even attending this school that brought her to tears. She pulled back with a fierce look but it melted away when she saw the happy, tear filled smile on her daughter's face.
"I did it Mom!" Kyoka said, sniffling, "I saved someone! I'm a Hero!"
Mika's own eyes started watering as she choked down her protest and wrapped her daughter up in a tight hug. "Yes you did honey, I'm so proud of you."
Hotaro woke up a few hours later, in the infirmary. Momo stood at his bedside, Kento standing at the door with his arms behind his back, both holding a concerned look on their faces as they looked down at the now waking boy.
"Hotaro! You're awake!" Momo cried, moving to his bedside and grabbing his hand lightly. "What happened? Why are you in the infirmary!"
Hotaro blinked and groaned as his stomach twisted like someone had dug a knife in. He put both hands on his stomach and curled into a ball, ignoring Momo's increasingly concerned questioning. The pain got worse and worse until he activated Float, slowly drifting off the bed. He let out shaky breaths as the pain subsided slightly. It was like the Quirk was trying to tell him something. Then, he remembered that feeling, when Jiro was inches from the rebar, the feeling in his gut when he willed himself to go forward.
The feeling kicked him like a horse but he shot forward like a bullet, the only thing stopping him from flying through the window was Momo's quick thinking.
A rope wrapped around his foot and pulled him back to the bed, Momo rushing forward with an excited look on her face, "Did you just move yourself without kicking?"
Hotaro looked at her with the same look, then a large smile, and then he tried not to throw up all over her as the contents in his stomach threatened to come up. Momo quickly stepped back, making distance between her and her brother, her hands up in the air as if surrendering.
"Whoa! Don't yak please! These are expensive to clean!" She hurriedly backed up, glaring at Kento when he sent her a smirk.
Hotaro swallowed and winced at the feeling. He put a hand on his stomach with a smile. He could finally fly. Really, truly fly. Theoretically of course. He obviously had to train a little more, given he couldn't move himself with his Quirk without throwing up all over the place. Then, a thought came to his mind. Kyoka.
"Where's Jiro?" He asked suddenly.
Momo and Kento looked at him strangely. Kento shook his head and stepped forward. Previously, his Quirk Serpent had made Hotaro uncomfortable. His sickly yellow eyes and forked tongue made the butler seem villainous, but his kind words and sweet voice showed the man's true intentions. "I'm sorry Hotaro, but we don't know who you're talking about. Perhaps it was someone you met in the exam?"
Hotaro almost slapped himself for his stupidity, of course they wouldn't know who Kyoka was. He had just met her himself. So why did he care about her wellbeing so much? Was it because he was training to be a Hero? Was it because she had saved him? He couldn't decide, but he knew he had to see her again, at least to thank her for saving his life from that giant robot.
He made to get up, but a firm hand stopped him. He followed the hand and came eye to eye with Momo as she pushed him back down on the bed. "Calm down, I'm sure you'll get to see your new girlfriend soon."
Hotaro blushed angrily, regretting the time he spent with Momo to get her to open up a little more. She was always a bubbly kid, but after becoming a teenager, Momo tried her best to seem prim and proper. That is, unless Hotaro was around. The two of them treated each other like true siblings, teasing and poking at each other whenever they could. It had started with just Hotaro teasing her, but she eventually opened back up like when they were kids, getting him as much as he got her at this point.
"She's not my girlfriend." He said with a weak glare. "She saved my life. I need to thank her."
Momo's gaze softened at that and she looked to Kento. The man held a similar look in his eyes as he nodded his head at her. Momo sighed and stepped back, gathering all their things.
"What are you doing?" Hotaro asked with a raised eyebrow from his laying position.
"I'm helping you get ready so we can find your little girlfriend." Momo said with another teasing smirk.
Hotaro sighed but smiled gratefully at her when she helped him sit up and put his bag in his hands. "You're carrying that though, you overexerted your Quirk and your arms probably feel like lead, that doesn't mean you can't carry your bag."
He sighed again but nodded his head, wincing as he stood up and put the backpack on. It was like he had done arm day everyday for a month straight. He could barely lift them, but he got his arms through the loops and stood up straight, ignoring the aching in his legs, arms, and stomach. He nodded to Kento and Momo, who nodded back. They left the room quickly, Kento already looking through the local phone book to find the Jiro family.
Luckily, the family ran a music shop not too far from UA. Kento called and asked the family if it would be okay for them to visit, on behalf of the Yaoyorozu family. Knowing the influential family, the Jiro's quickly agreed, the fact that Hotaro had literally saved their daughters life didn't sour the deal any.
They arrived at the modestly sized building and entered. Inside was covered wall to wall with different instruments of all kinds. Guitars, bass guitars, ukuleles, Hotaro even saw a keytar in the far corner. The floor was filled with different drum sets, stands, cases, everything you would need to start making your own music at home.
The man behind the counter had long wavy dark blonde hair, and triangle eyes, his mouth set in a firm line. He wore a simple light blue button down with jeans and black slippers. Hotaro caught the man's eyes and stepped forward, bowing at the waist. He ignored the pain and held the bow as the man snapped his gaze over to him.
"Hello Jiro sir. My name is Hotaro and I've come to your house to thank your daughter Kyoka for saving my life. If it wasn't for her, I would've been crushed under the zero pointer as it rampaged. If she is in, please allow me to speak with her." Momo raised her eyebrows at Hotaro's polite demeanor. While he wasn't a rude person, Hotaro was not known for his politeness.
Kyotoku drank in the bowing form of the boy before he smiled softly and waved his hand, dismissing the boy. "No need to bow Hotaro. I heard about you from Mika," He placed a hand on the boys shoulder and nodded his head towards the stairs behind the counter, "She's upstairs right now. Go ahead and head up there." He looked to Momo and motioned towards the door again, giving her permission to follow her brother.
Hotaro straightened in surprise before bowing again, thanking the man. Kyotoku waved him off again before turning back to the counter. Hotaro took that as a positive sign and hurried up the stairs, Momo hot on his trail.
There was a tight knot in his stomach that he wasn't familiar with. It didn't feel like when he pushed Float, or when he was sick and Kento had helped him. It was almost like he was nervous, but instead of it making him nauseous, it made him smile.
Breaching the top of the stairs, he opened the door and walked into the Jiro household. A couch sat against the left wall, a tv on the opposite side. The kitchen was to the right of the door, a simple stove and oven with a fridge freezer combo next to it. There was a hallway between the kitchen and the tv, a set of doors being the only visible things inside.
On the couch sat Kyoka Jiro who, upon seeing Hotaro and Momo enter her house, quickly stood up and sent Hotaro a questioning look. Hotaro stepped forward and got onto his knees, pressing his forehead against the ground. Momo watched as Kyoka's face dusted a light pink.
"Thank you for saving my life Kyoka. I'll be forever in your debt."
Kyoka sputtered and shook her head, grabbing Hotaro's shoulders and helping him stand up when she noticed him wince. "You came straight here after waking up didn't you."
Hotaro smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. I had to come thank you. I probably wouldn't be here without you."
Kyoka looked away with a sheepish blush and shrugged. "I just moved you, whoever destroyed that zero pointer saved you. Plus, there's no way you could be in my debt! You saved my ass way before I tried to save yours."
Hotaro's eyebrows scrunched and Momo snickered. She knew Hotaro was not one to let someone talk down on themselves. "You're the one that carried me all the way to the entrance. I know I helped a little but before I did you carried me through the battlefield. You did. Not whoever destroyed that thing." He stared into her eyes that had widened as he made the declaration.
Kyoka didn't know what to say. She stood there stock still, staring into the boy's eyes. A blush suddenly blossomed across her cheeks when she heard the giggling of the tall girl next to Hotaro.
Momo noticed the girl look at her and hand her hand out with a smile. "I'm Momo Yaoyorozu! Hotaro is my brother, thank you for saving him." Momo bowed slightly and Kyoka waved her hand in front of her again but Momo just laughed. "You two are pretty alike you know, he responds the exact same way." She winced and glared at Hotaro when he stepped on her foot.
Kyoka giggled into her hand, a sound Hotaro's ears picked up perfectly and stored in his memory banks, and shrugged her shoulders. "It was nothing, like I said he saved me first so I was just repaying him."
Momo shrugged her shoulders back, returning the girl's smile. "Doesn't matter why you saved him, just that you did." Kyoka blushed and played with her earlobes that dangled past her shoulders. Hotaro noticed them and stood up straight, stepping closer to the girl and looking at her earlobes.
"Whoa." He said in awe, slowly reaching a hand up to touch. Kyoka quickly swung the jack around and smacked the boy on the hand, making him retract his hand, nursing it.
"No touching bro, didn't anyone ever teach you personal space?" She snapped back snarkily. She felt bad when the boy recoiled like she had bitten him, but blushed when he smiled back, laughing lightly.
"Sorry! My bad. They just look so cool! Can you control them?" He asked her with an excitable look in his eye.
Momo smacked him across the back of the head, making him grunt and send a glare at the girl. "Sadly, we're probably overstayed our welcome. You've said thank you, now you need to go home and rest." Hotaro made to object, but Momo sent him a glare he knew not to cross.
Hotaro sighed and looked into Kyoka's eyes. "You're still hoping to make it into UA right?" She gave him a resolute nod, a look of determination on her face. He grinned back and took his phone out.
"Lemme have your number. I'll text you when I get my results."
Kyoka blushed deeply and was about to protest, but saw Momo take her own phone out with a sheepish smile. Kyoka sighed lightly and smiled back before pulling her phone out and tapping it against both of their phones. A message popped up that asked her to confirm adding two new contacts, which she quickly accepted.
Hotaro's grin seemed to stretch as he stuck his fist out towards her. "We're going to UA together. All three of us!" Momo put her fist against the side of Hotaro's and smiled as they both looked to her.
Her face slowly split into a grin as she pressed her fist against her new friends.