A/N: Hi fam! After a sabbatical weekend off, we move right along with the Combat Trials and arrive at our third and fourth matches:
Kaminari & Jiro Vs. Sato & Koda
and Asui & Tokoyami Vs. Kirishima & Uraraka.
Sorry for the depressing last chapter. This will be a much rosier chapter than the last one! Also, Review Responses at the end for the previous two chapters!
Opening Song
"The Beginning" by One OK Rock
Match Three ended just as quickly as the previous one had. Although Jiro and Kaminari had the upper hand at first due to the stealthy nature of Jiro's Quirk, in the end they were no match for Rikido Sato's Sugar Rush. The hulking, yellow-spandex clad student roared, chasing down and capturing Jiro before she could use her Quirk on him.
Kaminari slid down one of the halls of Building C, his sneakers squeaking as he stopped. He turned back towards the charging Sato, bringing his hands together. Electricity poured out of his hands as he rubbed his palms together, creating a charge eight-hundred volts strong. The charged bolt crackled in his hands as Kaminari held it back, threatening to unleash it.
"Jiro!" Kaminari gasped, seeing his partner tied up with her own capture tape, slung over Sato's shoulder. Kyoka looked up and saw the hesitation in Denki's golden eyes.
"Do it, Kaminari!" she yelled. "Take this guy out already!"
"I can't!" Kaminari protested, gritting his teeth. "If I unleash the bolt, you'll get caught in the blast!"
"I'll be fine! Just do it, Jam-brain! Or do you want to lose?"
The electricity intensified under Kaminari's grasp, making it harder to contain. Kaminari's worried eyes glanced from Kyoka to Sato, unable to make a move. If he took them out, even if he had to knock Kyoka out with Sato, Kaminari would be able to find the weapon. He was pretty confident that he could take on Koda with no problem.
But the voltage he needed to take down Sato would be more than enough to seriously hurt Jiro. The shock could travel up her earphone jack and straight to her heart…
"I… can't," Kaminari sighed, lowering his arms, the charged bolt disappearing. His eyes dropped to the floor. "I'm sorry."
"Ugh! Dammit, Kaminari!" Kyoka barked, enraged, kicking against the capture tape. "Wait till I get my hands on you!"
"I don't want to lose," Kaminari said, his eyes still glued on the ground. "But I don't want to see you get hurt, either."
"Huh," Kirishima commented from the monitor room, rubbing his chin. "So the little perv does have an ounce of manliness in him, after all."
"Time's up!" All Might called. "The Villain Team… WINS!"
As the two teams entered the Monitor room, Jiro was still glaring at Kaminari.
Kaminari risked a puppy eyed glance.
"Don't be maaaad-"
"You seriously suck, dude," Jiro growled, annoyed.
"Gimme a break, Jiro," Kaminari whined. "I was trying not to hurt you. Can't I get a thank you for that, at least?"
"News flash, Sparky," Jiro chided him, throwing her hands onto her hips. "I'm not some little damsel in distress. I can take care of myself. If it had been me-"
"What?! You would've gone for it?" Kaminari yelped in disbelief.
"In a heartbeat," Kyoka nodded with a smirk.
She waited for another whiny quip from the usually dramatic Kaminari, but he stayed silent.
Kyoka sighed, feeling a wave of guilt wash over her.
"Look dude, I… appreciate what you were trying to do, so… thanks. Just… just don't give up so easily next time – got it? It's not a good look for you."
Kaminari glanced up at her with a mischievous smile.
"Okay. Deal. I won't let you down next time, Kyoka!"
"I'm sure you'll find a way," Kyoka smiled at him. "You always do, jam-brain."
"Unfortunately, the Hero team wasn't prepared to handle a surprise hostage situation," All Might mused. "That is why the Villain Team won this round. The moment the villains took a hostage, Kaminari surrendered to them."
"But, sir?" Gohan asked, raising his hand. "Isn't it the job of a hero to try to save everyone? Surely that includes our fellow heroes, right?"
"It's certainly noble," All Might said, "But ask yourselves this, young ladies and gentlemen: If the payload was real, and those were real villains, would one life be worth putting an entire city at risk?"
"But…" Gohan rubbed his chin in thought. He opened his mouth to respond, but bit back with a frustrated sigh.
All Might made a good point. If he were in Kaminari's shoes, and this were real… If Ochaco was in the path of his Kamehameha wave… would he be able to unleash the attack, knowing that she could be killed by it? Even if it meant saving an entire city?
He thought back on the night he encountered the flame villain in Namek. It almost seemed like a lifetime ago since then, but the memory was still fresh in his mind.
Because he had saved the nine people in the top floor, the villain had enough time to kill everyone on the next two floors down.
Thirty-two people had died that night, including the villain, presumably. His body had never been found, as far as Gohan had heard.
But would those thirty-two souls still be alive if he had gone straight for the villain? But if he had done that, Mr Popo, Valese, the immigrant family, the elderly couple and all of the people in lobby… would they have died?
There just wasn't an easy answer. That was the burden of being a hero.
All Might noticed the conflict brewing with Gohan and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Take this to heart, young heroes," All Might said with a calming tone, glancing over to Jiro and Kaminari. "Saving even one life is the definition of Heroism. So don't you ever give up. You think around the problem. A true Hero will always find a way for justice to be served."
Gohan nodded at All Might.
All Might's right. If I could even save one life, it would have been worth it. Actually, I should check in with Valese. I did make her a promise, after all… and her older sister… the one with the bright orange hair… what was her name again?
CHAPTER TWENTY – COMBAT TRIALS III: TO FORGE AN UNBREAKABLE BOND
After another short break, Teams H and J were called to set up in Building D.
"Well, this is it," Ochaco breathed nervously. "My fight. Any last advice before I go?"
"You'll do just fine," Gohan promised, giving her an encouraging pat on her nervously crossed arms. "Just remember what Mr. All Might just said – use your head, think outside the box, work as a team and don't underestimate your Quirks."
"Thanks. I'm gonna do my best – I promise," Ochaco said with a determined smile. Peeling away from Gohan and the rest of the students, she started to head towards the exit without taking her eyes off Gohan. She waved at him one last time.
"Good luck! I'll be rooting for you," Gohan said, waving at her before returning his hand into the fold of his crossed arms. Ochaco smiled and waved excitedly before disappearing around the corner, her heels clicking behind her.
"Hey, E," Gohan called out discreetly, stopping Kirishima as he was passing by.
"Good luck, man," Gohan said. "Take care of her for me out there, will you?"
Eijiro blinked a few times. Then it dawned on him.
"Ohh, I get it. No problemo, man!" Eijiro gave him a thumbs up. "Don't worry. I'll bring her back in one piece."
Gohan smiled and gave him a satisfied nod, returning to join the rest of the class huddled around the monitor. He turned to see five more students enter from the hallway that lead down from the main building. Shoto was glaring at the ground, followed closely by Momo, Izuku, whose right arm was bandaged from his fingertips up to his shoulder, Melissa, who looked like she had been crying and Bakugo, who looked like he had seen a ghost.
"What's with Bakugo?" Gohan whispered to Midoriya discreetly as they walked over to stand by him.
Izuku looked to the back of the monitor room and saw Bakugo staring wide-eyed at the monitor that had Shoto's ice attack on loop.
"I don't know," Midoriya replied, taken aback by the hothead's uncharacteristic demeanor. "I've never seen Kacchan look so shocked before. Maybe he's still mad that we beat him… or could it have something to do with Todoroki?"
Gohan then noticed Melissa looking down at the floor, blonde locks of her hair covering her eyes.
Thinking it had something to do with her near-instant loss to Todoroki, he tried to cheer her up.
"Hey, Mel," he gave her a friendly nudge with his elbow. "If you want, after school, I'll hold him down for you and you can give him a good whack with your power pole."
"You'd do that for me, huh?" She laughed and looked up at him with a sad smile, her blue eyes reddened. Gohan's smile dropped immediately. Her lower lip trembled and she looked away, embarrassed.
"Heyyyy," Gohan said soothingly, tapping her chin lightly with his finger. "Chin up, okay? You went face to face with Todoroki and… well, you lost, but still, gotta admit, that's still pretty cool, if you ask me."
"You jerk," Melissa giggled, punching his arm jokingly. "No, I'm not upset about the match, it's… something else."
She opened her mouth to say more, but closed it.
Gohan noticed Midoriya shaking his head at him discreetly. Clearly, there was something else going on with Melissa that she didn't feel like talking about right now.
"Listen," Gohan said. "If you ever need to talk about anything, anything at all, we're here for you, right Midoriya?"
"Mhm, mhm," Izuku nodded quickly, a worried look falling over his face.
"And I'm sure if they were here, Ochaco and Tsu would be saying the same thing. We're family after all, right?"
Melissa's eyes shined and the corners of her lips lifted into a sad smile. She suddenly surged forward and pulled the two boys into a tight hug. Gohan was taken aback by the sudden burst of emotion, but slowly eased into the hug. Midoriya seemed to be completely flustered by it.
"Thanks, you two." Melissa whispered, her voice breaking. "You have no idea how much I needed to hear that right now. I love you guys so much!"
Gohan felt a warmth run down from Melissa's cheeks and leap onto his shoulder.
He sighed. Everything that they had gone through since the Entrance Exams, all the trials they'd faced, all the tests and exams and the grueling training exercises, all of the quiet times, the fun times, and even the sad times, – it had all forged an unbreakable bond between the five of them. This was his family, Gohan accepted with a smile. And he loved them very, very much.
"Okay," Melissa said, ending the embrace with a few friendly taps on their back. Stepping back, she sniffled and wiped her eyes, which were now raw from all of the crying and subsequent drying. "Enough waterworks for one day. How's our little Ochaco doing?"
"She's a little nervous," Gohan confessed, crossing his arms again as he tracked the girl on the monitor as she was setting up the weapon inside Building D, alongside Kirishima. "But something tells me that we're going to finally see what our Ochaco Uraraka is made of. Honestly, I'm kind of excited. I'm really confident in her and what's even better is that I think she's really confident in herself this time."
(…)
"This is an absolute nightmare!" Ochaco yelled over the deafening sound of Dark Shadow pounding the walls. They had stacked large blocks of debris against the door, but not even that would keep Dark Shadow out for long. Long cracks had begun to spring across the wall, threatening to give way. So far, nothing that they had tried had worked.
They had tried ambushing the heroes, which had failed because Kirishima refused to participate in sneak attacks and had given away their position as soon as he saw Tokoyami, because according to him, what kind of man uses sneak attacks?
They had tried splitting the heroes up, but unfortunately for them, Asui and Tokoyami's Quirks were extremely compatible. Also, according to Kirishima, what kind of man leaves his friends behind.
So far, the only thing that Ochaco and Kirishima had managed to do was get themselves cornered along with the weapon. This was it. There was nowhere else to run. They were going to lose!
"Seriously?!" Kirishima yelled over the gusts of wind produced by Dark Shadow's hammering fists against the wall. "This is bad! We don't have any long range attacks or flashy special moves! We don't even have weapons to fight with!"
Ochaco gritted her teeth and looked around the debris littered room, racking her brain for an idea.
Come on! Think! What would Gohan do? Don't give up! Think outside the box! Use your head. She looked around the empty room until her eyes landed on the one object standing at the opposite end, and suddenly, an idea clicked.
"Kirishima!" she said. "You're right. We don't have any long range attacks or flashy special moves – but our Quirks aren't incompatible. And we do have a weapon."
"Huh? What are you talkin' about?" Kirishima looked at her. Ochaco pointed towards the end of the room at the sky-high missile.
Kirishima looked back.
"Are you outta your mind?! If the weapon gets destroyed, we lose the match-"
"Do we? Think about it – the only way we lose is if the heroes capture us or they capture the weapon, but All Might never said we couldn't use it."
Ochaco's face had changed. Her eyebrows had furrowed together and her lips had widened into a malicious grin. The pink aura of her Quirk was already flowing around her, giving her big eyes a menacing and quite frightening look.
"I guess that makes sense – WHOA! What the heck happened to your face?!" Kirishima gasped at the sight of her complete change in demeanor.
"Kirishima," she purred, her voice low and intense. "We haven't gotten anywhere because we keep thinking and acting like Heroes. But we're the villains this round. It's time to act like bad guys!"
"I guess, but using weapons against unarmed opponents?" Kirishima began again. "What kind of man-?"
"Constantly disregarding a woman's suggestions?" Uraraka turned to look at him with fire in her eyes. "What kind of man does that?"
Kirishima gulped and nodded.
"Sorry! Point taken. What's the plan?"
(…)
The wall finally burst open and Tokoyami walked inside, casting an elongated shadow on the floor. His footsteps echoed ominously as he made his way towards the weapon.
"Okay," Ochaco whispered. "He should be close enough now. Ready?"
"Okay, here goes nothing. Hey, I'm over here, Tokoyami!" Kirishima shouted, standing up from his hiding place. "Come fight me!"
That's right, Tokoyami. Ochaco thought, observing the interaction from her hiding spot. Be a good boy and bite the bait. Just need to get a little closer… Hugging the ground, Ochaco crawled away on her hands and knees as Tokoyami and Kirishima met in the middle of the room, circling each other like a hungry pair of lions. Tokoyami barely moved. He kept his chin tucked down to his collarbone, shoulders hunched over. His black cloak swayed with his movement.
Kirishima leaped up on his right foot, switching over to his left after a couple of leaps, continuing his warm up. He finally stopped and brought his arms up, hardening them.
"You know, I've been wanting to spar with you for some time, Tokoyami," Eijiro said with a confident smile. "You made it into the Top Ten spots at the Entrance Exams and the Quirk Assessment Tests."
"As did you," Tokoyami acknowledged, his voice echoing off the walls.
"Then let's show our classmates what we're made of. Fight me with everything you've got – no holding back!"
"As you wish."
"Heh," Eijiro smirked. "Well, ready or not, HERE I COME!"
Tokoyami's cloak lifted and a pair of monstrous, shadowy arms snaked out from his torso. The hands grew in size until they reached the ceiling.
"Oh… crap," Kirishima gulped. "I didn't know you could make him get that big."
"Prepare to bask in oblivion," Tokoyami yelled. "Dark Shadow!"
"I got him!" The living shadow roared, jumping out at Kirishima.
Eijiro threw a punch and it went straight through the monster. Dark Shadow laughed as it's hand shot out, striking Eijiro's bare chest, pushing him back. Eijiro grunted under the blow, but slid to a stop.
"Stay on him, Dark Shadow. No mercy!"
"I'm on it!"
Yeah, that's it, ya big dumb pidgeon. Push me back just a little… further…
"Ochaco, now!" Kirishima yelled, straining under Dark Shadow's relentless assault. Tokoyami gasped and his head snapped up in time to see Uraraka's hands slap onto the side of his torso. A pink aura flashed around Tokoyami's body, making him completely weightless.
"Deception!" Tokoyami growled, pulling the cloak back over the beast. "Stop her, Dark Shadow!"
But it was too late. With a strained heave, Ochaco lifted the now weightless Tokoyami with all of her strength and sent him flying up towards the roof. Tokoyami hit the far corner of the ceiling and crumpled back to the ground with a breathless thud.
Dark Shadow was pulled back by his master's torso. Having grown three times in size, the creature blasted through the roof of the building. The roof burst into pieces, allowing fresh sunlight to pour in. The Shadow Beast roared against the sunlight and retreated into the shade next to his fallen master.
"Hey! Tokoyami!" Dark Shadow muttered worriedly as Tokoyami struggled to get up. "You okay?"
Ochaco took advantage of the distraction and took off running through the debris strewn floor towards Kirishima, touching every piece of rubble in her path and sending it flying into the sky above.
Finally, Ochaco reached the weapon. As she activated her Quirk on it, she felt her stomach tense up. Leaning her forehead against the weapon, she clasped her hands over her mouth and retched, her face turning blue. Kirishima shot her a concerned look.
"Hey, you sure you got this?" Kirishima asked her, worried. They heard the glass window from the opposite end of the room shatter and Asui jumped in. Ochaco nodded and pushed herself away from the weapon, activating her Quirk on it.
"Ready?" She asked. "Push!"
Together, they lifted the weapon up and sent it flying upwards with the rest of the debris.
"Asui, the weapon!" Tokoyami coughed violently, getting to his knees. Asui's head snapped towards the flying weapon and realized what was happening. With a burst of speed, she leaped towards it.
"Ribbit!" Asui's tongue shot out in an attempt to seize the flying missile.
"Okay, your turn!" Ochaco shouted. She dropped to one knee, cupping her hands together and Kirishima leaped forward onto them with one foot. As soon as he stepped onto her hands, Ochaco activated her Quirk on Kirishima, negating his gravity and with another strong push, she sent him flying.
"Fly high, Kirishima!" Ochaco yelled at him with that same intense, demented wide-eyed villain smile.
"Hell yeah!" Kirishima shouted excitedly. "Let's goooooo!"
Both Kirishima and the weapon disappeared as Tsu's tongue whipped around the area where both Kirishima and the weapon had been standing a second ago. Ochaco back-flipped away from the lashing tongue and leaped into the air, activating her Quirk on herself. As the pink aura sparkled around her, she flew up into the afternoon sky to join the floating debris, the weapon and Kirishima.
The air rushed around her and Ochaco took a moment to appreciate her helmet. Thanks to it, neither the wind nor her hair gotten in her eyes. The bodysuit definitely made it easier to soar up with minimal wind resistance. Those guys at Capsule Corp really knew how to design decent costumes!
"Oh, I've got a bad feeling about this, Tokoyami!" Asui quivered, retracting her tongue.
"It makes no sense," Tokoyami shook his head. "We still have ten minutes left in the fight. If their intent is to keep the weapon out of reach, it's a poor plan. There's no way Uraraka's Quirk could last that long holding all of that weight up without wearing her out. Unless they're not planning on keeping it out of reach…"
Then it dawned on him.
"Wait, no! They couldn't possibly-"
"Ready?" Ochaco shouted, flying up to Kirishima.
"Watch me go! Plus Ultra style!" Kirishima nodded, hardening his entire body.
"Okay, here we GO! Release!" Ochaco shouted, bringing her palms together. The pink aura that surrounded herself, Kirishima, the weapon and all of the debris vanished. They continued their upward trajectory for a couple seconds and then gravity took full hold.
The weapon rotated in mid-air, facing back down at the building as it plunged back to earth.
Kirishima kicked his feet back, allowing his body to flip upside down, facing the building. Crossing his hardened arms into an X, Kirishima himself became a second missile, flying down at the heroes at full speed.
At the same time, Ochaco activated her Quirk on herself, pushing all of her weight down to her feet as she spun around to aim at the building. With her Quirk adding to her speed, she quickly caught up to Kirishima and the two of them flew side by side, escorting the weapon towards the building.
"CRIMSON!" Kirishima roared.
"COMET!" Ochaco yelled.
"CRASH!" They shouted in unison.
The debris began to pummel the building like a meteor shower.
"NOOO!" Tokoyami shouted. "The weapon!"
"Tokoyami, help!" Asui called over the earpiece as she took cover behind a pillar. The falling debris peppered the floor around her, leaving small craters where they impacted. Tokoyami grasped at his hair, looking back between the weapon and his pinned ally. What should I do? What would All Might expect me to do? What would a hero do?
With a grunt, he turned away from the weapon and took off running towards Asui.
"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami called, and the living shadow burst out of his cloak. "Forget the weapon. Protect Asui!"
"I got her!" Dark Shadow barked. It snaked out of Tokoyami's body, aiming for the crouched frog girl, leaving Tokoyami completely unguarded.
"Heads up, Hero!" Kirishima yelled from above. Tokoyami only had enough time to look up and see Kirishima aiming straight for him, his hardened arms crossed.
"No!" But there was nothing he could do. Without the protection of Dark Shadow, he was left completely out in the open. The next instant, Kirishima crashed into him at full speed. Both crumbled to the floor. Kirishima continued to roll across the floor until he hit a wall, burying himself into it.
"HEHEHE! Hell yeah!" He chuckled to himself. Pulling himself out of the crater in the wall, Kirishima quickly tied the capture tape around the stunned Tokoyami, knocking him out of the match.
At the opposite end of the room, Dark Shadow was hovering over Asui, keeping her safe from the falling debris when Ochaco made impact.
FLASHBACK:
"I noticed your Quirk acts like an air cushion underneath you when you're floating," Gohan had told her during the Quirk Assessment Tests.
If his theory was right, then she wouldn't even need to let the weapon collide.
At the very last second, Ochaco touched the side of the weapon, making it weightless. The sudden change in gravity and motion set off a violent gust of wind that picked Asui up and slammed her against the wall behind her, knocking her unconscious.
The plan had worked! Ochaco lifted the weightless weapon and placed it upright on the floor. Suddenly, she felt a sickening sensation shoot up from her stomach, and she could no longer hold it back. Falling to her knees behind the weapon, she allowed her stomach to empty itself.
Kirishima ran over to capture Tsu, but Dark Shadow roared at him, rearing its arm back for another attack.
"Dark Shadow – enough!" Tokoyami commanded in a firm voice from where he was laying, tied up. "It's over. They've won the battle admirably."
"AAARGH! Tokoyami are you sure?" Dark Shadow argued, but began to back away slowly.
"Yes," Tokoyami said. "Return to the shadows. Be at rest."
"Man, that thing is too cool, Tokoyami," Kirishima said, as he tenderly tied up Asui's passed out body with the capture tape.
"That 'thing' has a name," Tokoyami muttered, annoyed.
"Right," Kirishima laughed, rubbing the back of his hair awkwardly. "Sorry, I meant Dark Shadow."
Tokoyami allowed his head to rest on the ground.
"I must admit, that was one solid plan," Tokoyami conceded. "You've exposed a temporary weakness in me, and for that, I thank you."
"Oh, don't thank me," Kirishima said with a proud smile. "Thank that little girl over there. She may look frail, but she's got the heart of champion."
Ochaco glanced back up and wiped the rainbow from her face with her sleeve.
"Take that, ya lousy heroes!" She laughed, the same demented villain smile on her face.
"There's nothing little or frail about that girl," Tokoyami shivered.
"The Villian team… WINS!"
"Wahoooo!" Ochaco cheered, instantly dropping her villain persona. She ran up to Kirishima and the two began to dance happily in the middle of the room. "Go, Team H! Go, Team H! Go, Team H!"
"She did it!" Melissa clapped happily in the monitor room, bouncing excitedly. She hugged Izuku, who was standing next to her, amazed.
"She sure did!" Izuku said, his face blushing. "If this is what she can do after only three weeks of hero training, imagine what she will accomplish after graduating! She's going to be such an amazing hero."
"She already is," Gohan said, smiling proudly at the dancing girl on the screen. She is really something else…
(…)
Gohan and Mina were on their way to Building E for their match against Ojiro and Hagakure when they crossed paths with Ochaco returning from the adjacent building.
"Gohan!" Ochaco ran towards him excitedly. "Gohan!"
"Urara-chan!" Gohan ran towards her and picked her up by her waist, spinning her around in the air.
Ochaco squealed with delight, holding onto his arms as he spun her around. Finally, he put her down.
The two giggled excitedly in each other's arms.
"Ahem," Ojiro said, clearing his throat with a blush. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, but we have a match starting soon-"
"Yo, come get your boy before he ruins everything," Mina angrily hissed at Hagakure. "He's interfering with true love over here!"
Ojiro grunted at Mina's boldness.
"Come on, Mash. Let them have their moment," Toru said, taking her partner's arm and pulling him away. Together, the two girls hauled Ojiro away towards Building E.
"True… love?" Gohan asked. He looked down and realized his hands were still placed over Ochaco's hips and Ochaco's hands were still holding onto his biceps. Immediately the two separated, blushing.
"So…" Ochaco said. "Did you see me go! Wasn't that an awesome move, or what?!"
"Awesome? That was epic, Ochaco!" Gohan said excitedly. "That was like the final move in a boss fight, or something!"
Ochaco giggled, looking away bashfully.
"I'm so glad you liked it. I had been thinking about you – I mean, I was thinking about something you said during the Assessment Tests and that's what gave me the idea of the improvised move."
"Ohhh, so that's your secret strategy, huh?" Gohan said. "I guess I'll try it out, too. I'm gonna need it for my next match."
"Try… what out?" Ochaco asked.
"Thinking about you."
Ochaco felt all of her breath leave her body at once.
"You will?" She asked, feeling her hands grow cold suddenly.
"Mhm," Gohan promised.
"Well, in that case, here," Ochaco got close to Gohan. "Take this – for good luck."
She rolled up her sleeve and detached the black and white wristband that Gohan had signed for her way back in the winter, just after the Entrance Exams. Gohan watched as she took his right hand and securely fastened the band onto his wrist under his white glove.
Gohan lifted his hand and smiled.
"Thanks, Ochaco. But…?"
"That's just so that I know you won't try to do anything too crazy. I want you to be safe. You can bring it back to me after the match."
"Oh," Gohan chuckled. "I thought you said it was for good luck."
"Nope," Ochaco giggled, closing her eyes. "This is."
Leaning up on her tip toes to reach him, she tilted her head and kissed Gohan's cheek before he could realize what was happening. The tiny kiss froze him completely and he had to bite his lower lip to keep his mouth from dropping to the ground.
"Good luck, Gohan," Ochaco said cheerfully, walking away, holding her helmet behind her back. "I'll be cheering for you!"
Gohan was left standing there, completely perplexed at what had just happened. His insides felt like they had completely frozen over. And suddenly, a warmth began to develop within his chest that set everything else on fire.
"That's right, Uraraka. Just like we practiced. Perfect timing, girl!" Toru was saying as she and Mina spied on them.
"You two are involved in this?" Ojiro asked, astonished. "And I'm the one interfering with true love?"
"Yeah? Well, it's a science, Mash," Toru rebuked him.
"A science?!"
"Observe. The peck to the cheek and the speedy exit," Mina rubbed her hands together. "If you time the two just right… and…"
"WOOOOHOOOO!" Gohan cried, blasting off into the sky happily. Ochaco turned around to see Gohan spinning in circles in the air in utter ecstasy before turning into a white streak of light and heading towards his designated building. Ochaco couldn't stop herself from smiling as she turned and walked back to the monitor room.
"Holy cow," she said to herself. "He's really something else…"
Ending Song
"1,000,000 Times" by My First Story
"Are we done with all of this lovey dove stuff," Ojiro asked as politely as he could, tightening the sash around his waist. "You girls got to have your fun playing cupid, but it's probably time to get serious. What do you say, Hagakure?"
"Mhm, sure thing, Ojiro!" Toru said, bashfully. "Just… don't look over here, okay? I'm taking off all of my clothes to become completely invisible."
"Y-yeah, don't worry, I can't see you anyway," Ojiro said, facing his right side to give the invisible girl a sense of privacy.
"Okay, the heroes should be entering the building right about… now!"
"Okay, I'm ready, Mash. Are we sticking to the plan we used back in the Entrance Exam?"
"Yep, that's the one. They'll never know what hit them."
Mashirao Ojiro curled his arms, bringing his fists next to the sides of his head, gathering his Crane Ki from deep within him. A slow rumble began to emanate from his belly and Ojiro's muscles began to tremble. With the first step of the technique achieved, Ojiro lifted his arms high up over his head for the second step, arms still trembling.
Finally, for the last step that would activate the mysterious technique, Ojiro brought his arms back down, crossed over his chest into an X, palms facing up at an angle. His teeth gritted and he began to sweat as a pale white aura began to envelope him.
Back at the monitor room, the entire class gasped.
"Holy whoa, what a terrifying Quirk," Izuku commented, wide-eyed.
"Um, Mister All Might?" Ochaco asked, her voice trembling. "Is… is that technique even allowed?"
"Okay, that Ojiro dude is a beast," Kaminari said. "I'm so glad I didn't have to fight him."
"Ohh, Gohan," Melissa whispered, holding her hands together nervously. "Please be careful."
A/N: Thank you all for making it to the end of yet another chapter! As we near the end of the Combat Trials, we get one step closer to the USJ Incident and the end of Season 1, so you'll start to see plot points getting tied up and squared away. My hope is that by the end of Season 1, you will feel a sense of Gohan's accomplishment and growth.
And of course, as one door closes, another one opens. And as Ochaco's romance with Gohan starts to blossom, another potential suitor prepares to enter stage. Stay tuned!
Now, onto review responses!
Fanifc writer 117 chapter 19 . Jan 6
Jesus, how depressing are you trying make the characters here! Im here for action and stuff, not feels.
Also, you made Vegeta here more of a dick! And Tights? What a B!
I knoooow! I'm sorry for the feels! There are going to be some really low points in the characters' lives, but ultimately they will overcome, like heroes. No matter how much life throws you to the ground and stomps on you, a hero always gets back up.
As for Vegeta, at that point he is still in "Saiyan Saga mode" plus Enji Todoroki mode. So he's a terrible person at the moment, but he will be getting his redemption arc in this fic. As for Tights, yeah she's definitely not in line for the Mother of the Year award FOR SURE! We'll explore her side of the story as the story progresses. Thank you for your thoughts!
Elchico 64 chapter 19 . Jan 5
Wooooaahhh, dud, this- this was amazing. Sad mostly for Yaoyorozu and Melissa, but the chapter was really good at the character development. You remark that not only Gohan have some tragic story just for being the main character, no, you go full monk adding some story for the others.
For the previous chapter, Deku and Bakugo go savage between them, I love the fight, and Videl being badass is great. Although I have to say that Videl and Kirishima fond a love relationship feels too soon, don't get me wrong, I like the couple, they're pretty similar, just a little force to begin a relationship for the arc.
About the spin-off series, I am mostly interest in the Goku's pro hero career, how he met Bulma, Vegeta, All-Might, Aizawa and where learn to control his power. I will wait until Path of the Dragon ends before starting the story of the daughter of Gohan, it will probably bring some spoiler when you start the Xover at the same time.
Anyways, maybe I'm repeating myself too much, but like this universe of yours. Also, I have some idea for another Xover... it's a bit silly, but if your interest to know what I'm planning to do you can PM if you want, of course.
Yeah, you're right, I went full Oranji Temple monk on these characters! And for some, it only gets worse, but this time they will have family there to help lift them back up. I do agree on the Videl/Kiri ship. It is too soon. I have to always remember that even though they've been together in my head for about a year now, they've only been together in paper for a week. So I will do my best to slow things down and let stuff happen organically instead of trying to force rush stuff.
And as far as the spin offs, I'm happy to inform that I'm done outlining and will be ready to start writing the first one very, very soon. So stay tuned! And I loved your idea for your Xover that we talked about in the PM. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. So let me know when it's up as I'd love to support it! Thanks so much for your reviews my friend! I always enjoy hearing your thoughts!
TBossK chapter 14 . Jan 4
I'm catching up! Slowly but surely. This was a fun chapter! I love seeing Gohan and Videl interact with the MHA cast, it's so cool! And I love the banter and dialogue you write for them. It's great.
This whole fic has been really good! I can tell you're working so hard on it and I love that. It's very admirable. Can't wait to read the next five chapters!
Heyyyyy! You have no idea how happy your review made me! I'm so glad that you like the story so far. Thankfully, I'm still in the honeymoon phase with this fic, which is the longest by far. Usually, with my other fics, I lost interest after about three or four weeks, but with this one, I'm constantly trying to think of ways to tweak it and make it better for all followers to enjoy. Send Brandon my regards! And I hope you're all doing well! Thanks again for the review!
Xeno Gohan chapter 19 . Jan 3
yep you said it, all of the rich kids in 1A has tons of issues(gohan with his mother and quirk[since Gohan here is pretty loaded thanks to the ''namekians''], todoroki with his daddy issues and yaoyorozu with ptsd then there's also melissa)
this chapter is pretty depressing and managed to be consistently depressing which I liked
Vegeta being Vegeta(saiyan saga) I see
and wow didn't expect tights to be Melissa's mother here, I wonder how her and tights' relationship would go
looking forward for more
That's a good point, yeah with Piccolo being the owner of the World Martial Arts Tournament, by extension, it makes Gohan one of the richest kids in school, although I feel that he is too humble to really splurge on anything other than food or Uraraka… hehe
Yeah, with Goku gone long before his time, it's hard to get Vegeta to reform his ways. But that might change once Gohan is in his life. We shall see hehe
As for Tights' relationship with Melissa, yeah it's really messy. She will explain to us what happened really soon. But it is… messy.
I'm so glad you're enjoying the fic! I always love seeing your reviews so thank you!
12450ogmdm chapter 18 . Dec 29, 2021
Good chapter, it's good to see that each character has their moments, and it's not just about gohan xd. By the way, I wonder if you plan to get to the time when the big 3 show up, I'm dying to see a possible air battle between Gohan and Nejire.
-By the way, my original language is Spanish, I'm from Argentina, as there are no good fanfictions about gohan in bnha, it is best to search in other languages xD
Hi there! Yes, I'm trying to keep in mind the same format we see in Dragon Ball as well as in My Hero Academia, where the story does focus on one character, but also explores the lives and journeys of the supporting cast.
As for the Big Three, I think you will be pleased! Something along those lines will happen.
Also, saludos a Argentina, mi hermano. Thank you so much for your support, even from another language! I truly appreciate it!
Xeno Gohan chapter 18 . Dec 29, 2021
Neat, another chapter, liked that Videl outsmarted Bakugo and shattered his pride with the help of Deku of course, also GT Pan is your 2nd favorite character? well that's shocking but yeah GT Pan is too overhated and don't really see the reason why she's hated(annoying? well, gt Pan haters lemme introduce you to the many super tsundere characters ever) and I sense that the fight of Melissa and Todoroki would be onesided
great chapter and looking forward for more
Yeah, I think 10 or 11 at the time that GT was released here, and at the time I developed a huuuuge crush on Pan at the time. So she became my second favorite character after Gohan hehe. But it's so cool to see how she's being developed now for the Super version, and even though I'm still a huge fan of her GT iteration, I'm really excited to see how they develop her for the next Super Hero movie. And I agree, I never understood the hatred for her.
And you were so right about the Melissa/Todoroki fight being one-sided. I tried to sit down and write a way for her to at least fight back, but Todoroki's too powerful and ruthless right now, so it was just too one-sided.
X3runner chapter 18 . Dec 29, 2021
I kinda dig that ochako is being proactive with her feelings twards gohan definitely more proactive than she canonically was with them for izuku, I was half expecting for gohan to bust into action seeing his frind being hurt but he showed good restraint If he had jumped in he'd be fiddling izuku m which would keep him from growing. I also really liked how izuku got the little brother treatment, I kinda hope we have gohan have like a Superman moment since his outfit without the helmet kinda makes me think of Superman(it's probably the red cape. Also I could see izuku and gohan being like capitan America and Ironman in the MCU people constantly arguing who's #1 and #2. With the toga thing it would be neat if gohan pulls a goku and makes her his friend without actively trying him and ochako could be a really positive influence in her since well knowing piccolo at one time was seen as a villain and bad guy would make them a bit more flexible on villainy reform and recidivism than MHA. I'm hoping for A mirror to the teen goku vs turn fight when the two schools of martial arts face off like legit would be cool.
X3! Once again, you are right on target with your reviews! It's amazing.
Yeah, I feel like Gohan has had a far bigger role in Ochaco's life at this point than she had with Deku at this point in canon. I still have to remind myself to slow down and let them breath. They've been together in my head for almost a year now, but on paper, they've only known each other for a few months, so while they're crush is blossoming into something deeper, they still have quite some ways to go.
I agree with the Superman references. I love how he fights, especially in the Zack Snyder films, and that's heavily influcing the flight battle portions of this fic. Btw, the Henry Cavill Superman was my favorite, and I actually was writing a fic on him that never took off (no pun intended)
Great points for Toga! I'm excited to see what I can do with her here! And like you said, villains get reformed all the time in DBZ, so if a mass genocidal Saiyan Prince could be redeemed, I'm sure our favorite vampire blonde has a chance.
And finally, get ready! The battle between the Crane School and the Dragon Clan is coming next! Thank you for your reviews, X3! I love seeing how you're able to predict exactly how this fic is going.
Saiyanwarrior22 chapter 18 . Dec 29, 2021
Right as I was reading, chapter 18 got posted! As usual great chapter! I really like the mixtures of story elements and ideas. I'm not always a fan of romance in stories, but your romance is done very well and slow. It is very good. I always look forward to your story, especially because of how well you update it too. I'm excited to see more of vegeta and how powerful gohan can become! Keep up the great work!
Hey! Thank you soooo much for the review! I appreciate it, as I've mentioned to some other reviewers, with the Romance, I'm trying to pace it well so it doesn't come off too quick so it makes me happy to know that it's working.
And as for the updating schedule – thankfully I've found a good schedule that lets me update much more regularly than before. And yep, you will definitely see much more of Vegeta and Gohan, their power increases as well as their personal relationships and in particular, Vegeta's redemption as the story progresses.
Vegeta has so much to atone for in this universe. I will do my best to give him justice!
Thanks again for the kind review! It gives me the impetus to keep on going!