Month 4 (July)

When the bell signaling the start of lunch rang, Ochako celebrated by letting her head fall onto her desk, with a very undignified thud. She didn't care how bad it looked though, she was too tired to care. She knew she had to get up to eat her lunch eventually, but she would worry about that later. Right now, her desk beckoned her to take what little sleep she could get, and she was more than happy to take full advantage of her short break as she wrapped her arms around her head.

Deku will wake me when it's time to eat. Right now, sleep.

Izuku couldn't help but smile as Ochako took her short nap. He had pulled out their lunches for the day, but decided to wait a bit before taking Ochako up to their lunch spot. She deserves a few minutes at least.

As he waited, Izuku pulled out his notebook and used the opportunity to scribble away in it. While he was still filling it with hero stats and analysis, a large number of pages were now dedicated to Ochako and himself, cataloging their improvements and coming up with ideas for team attacks and individual super moves, as well as a page dedicated to just team names he had toyed around with, but none he thought were worth mentioning.

"Oh man, do you still have that crappy notebook!? I though Bakugou blew it up?"

With a quick yank, someone pulled the notebook from his hands. Suppressing a groan, Izuku looked up to see two of Bakugou's 'friends' walking by him, holding the notebook over him, like they were teasing a treat for a dog.

"It is the same notebook, look its all burned and shit. Dude, Bakugou you seeing this?" The other boy laughed, while Bakugou turned to look at them but didn't say anything as he watched.

"Come on Midoriya, don't you want your book back?" The boy teased as he dangled the notebook over Izuku's head. The other boy laughed to the side, unaware that Ochako, who was no longer feeling sleepy, was looking right at him from behind her arms. As he casually walked past her desk she quickly reached out and grabbed hold of the boys wrist in a vice like grip, but making sure she kept her pinky pulled back. The boy went stiff as he looked down at Ochako's hand, then at Ochako's face. The boy audibly gulped when he saw a pair of very angry eyes glaring back at him.

"Um dude, maybe give him the book back. Please."

While still holding the book above his head, the boy looked over to his friend, "Ah crap. Um, yo Bakugou a little help?"

Katsuki rolled his eyes at them, "You shits can get yourselves out of this one."

Seeing that he wasn't going to be getting any help from Katsuki, the boy looked back towards Ochako, "Um, let him go and I won't throw the book out the window?"

Ochako's frown deepened and her pinky twitched closer to her hostages wrist. "Are you really trying to negotiate here?"

"Dude can't you just break free? Why are you letting her hold you down like that?"

Ochako tightened her grip, causing the boy to squirm. "Ow hey, OW! She's got a grip like a damn vice man. Shit come on, you're going to break my wrist!"

"Okay so you just float him. Is that supposed to scare me?"

Ochako brought her pinky down till she was just barely not touching the boy with it. "He'll still have mass, you knucklehead. So when I use him as a club it'll hurt him, and you."

Both boys gulped at that, while Katsuki raised an eyebrow as he watched the scene unfold. He then looked over at Izuku and noted that he didn't look panicked or concerned for his friend. He looked almost bored. Turning towards Izuku, the boy in a last ditch attempt to get out of the mess and still save face, tried to get him to reign Ochako in. "Okay, tell her to let go. You'll get your notebook back if you do."

Izuku shrugged. "I think I'm going to get it back regardless of what happens next. So I'm good right now."

The boys were stunned by that. Even Katsuki was giving Izuku a strange look. Ochako just smirked and asked, "Well? What's it going to be?"

Both boys looked at each other before quickly dropping the book back onto Izuku's desk. The moment Izuku picked it up, Ochako let go of the other boy who quickly scampered away with his friend out of the classroom. With them gone Ochako was ready to relax and pull Izuku away to have lunch, now that she was fully awake. However thoughts of lunch came to a screeching halt when Katsuki got up from his desk, and walked over to Izuku.

Katsuki stood over Izuku and looked down at him, while Izuku looked back. Izuku no longer looked bored as he had with the other two boys, but he wasn't acting like Katsuki was used to him acting around him either. Katsuki could see some of the nervous twitches and ticks he was used to seeing come from Izuku whenever he got close, but there were so few of them now. He wasn't shaking, or desperately looking for a way to put some distance between the two.

When the fuck did this happen? Katsuki thought with a frown.

"Kacchan?"

"When in the fuck did you get a backbone Deku?"

Izuku blinked in surprise, while Ochako felt herself tense up. She didn't like how Katsuki was looking at Izuku. The whole situation felt like a powder keg, and every instinct in her was telling her to be ready for it to go off.

After giving Katsuki's question some thought, Izuku answered simply, "I guess I had to grow one eventually."

The fuck!? Katsuki wasn't sure why, but that response just pissed him off even more. Deku shouldn't have any backbone. He's a worthless extra. Where is this coming from? Katsuki's eyes then fell onto the notebook Izuku had held against his chest before he looked back at Izuku and stared him down, "Why do you still have that? I thought I made myself clear. Right?"

Much to Katsuki's surprise, and anger, Izuku didn't shrink away from Katsuki's glare. Izuku gulped as he tried to find the right words to say, but he was struggling. He might not be running away in fear from his old friend turned bully, but that didn't mean he still wasn't intimidated. Ochako however had had enough of Katsuki's intimidation of her friend and stood up, "Back off, Bakugou. He doesn't owe you any kind of explanation."

Katsuki let his eyes shift over to Ochako as he removed his hands from his pockets, and let them hang at his side as a few small explosives crackled in his palms. Ochako didn't back down and let fingers brush against her chair, each pad making contact while she leaned on it, not letting Katsuki know if it was floated or not. Before either student could call the others bluff, Izuku cut in, "Kacchan stop, please."

The popps coming from Katsuki stopped as Izuku once again had his undivided attention.

"I don't know why it bothers you so much, but I've been trying to...improve myself. I can't stay the way I was back then and expect to accomplish anything. I want to be better, that's all." Izuku paused briefly before gathering the rest of his courage and adding, "To be more like you."

There was an almost physical shift to the atmosphere in the room after that as both Katsuki and Ochako looked at Izuku. Ochako looked completely flabbergasted while Katsuki looked ready to burst..

What the fuck? Be like me huh. Fat chance you little shit. Though that last thought lacked the usual conviction Katsuki was used to having. And that fact unnerved him enough to want to get out of the room.

"You want to waste your time trying to do the impossible? Fine. I don't give a shit. You improve yourself to your heart's content. It doesn't change a fucking thing you worthless shitty Deku. You are an extra and will always be an extra compared to me. Got it? Nothing you do will ever matter." Katsuki turned away and stalked towards the door of the classroom, stopping only briefly to look back at Ochako, "And you Pink Cheeks, keep pushing and I'll show you I got no problem fucking your shit up even if you're a fucking chick." With that said, Katsuki left, slamming the door behind him and leaving Izuku and Ochako alone in the class.

Izuku sighed, "Well that could have gone a lot worse. You really shouldn't push him Uraraka. He might actually call your bluff one day."

Under her breath, Ochako growled out, "What bluff?"

"Huh? Did you say something Uraraka?"

"...No, I didn't." Ochako's voice was still sharp as she quickly tapped her fingers together and let her chair come to rest back on the floor.

"Now that that's over with, let's go eat. I'm getting pretty hungry."

As Izuku started to get up from his desk however, Ochako interceded ."Hold it Deku. We need to talk."

Izuku blinked, "What? Now?"

"Right now." Ochako's curt response left no room for debate on the issue, Izuku recognized. So he quickly sat back down.

Ochako frowned as she collected her thoughts, while Izuku squirmed in his seat, growing uncomfortable from the sudden seriousness emanating from Ochako.

"Are you mad at me?"

Ochako shook her head. "No. I'm not mad Deku. You haven't done anything to make me mad."

"Oh, because you seem mad."

"I'm not mad at you," Ochako corrected. "I'm mad at what just happened. At this whole situation."

Izuku could only shrug. "It's just the way things are. It's...not great sure, but I guess I stopped caring about it some time ago."

"Deku..." Ochako tried not to let her growing frustration get pointed towards Izuku as she looked at her friend, clearly not understanding how he could think like that. "How can you just accept that? Maybe back when we first met I could understand you wanting to keep your head down. But now? I know how far you've come in your training. You could easily deal with this and nip it in the bud."

"Because what they do to me doesn't matter Uraraka. I know who I am, and who I am working to become. Some teasing from some guys that are that immature isn't going to change that."

Ochako wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. She was of course happy that Izuku had found a sense of self respect. That had been one of the main goals of the training that All Might had mentioned to her back when they started, but it also led into her biggest issue she had with everything that had just taken place.

"Are you really trying to become more like Bakugou?"

Rubbing the back of his head, Izuku answered with a sheepish, "Yes."

Ochako slammed her hands onto her desk, startling Izuku with her violent outburst. "WHY!? Why would you want to be anything like that, that JERK!?"

"I'm not saying he doesn't have his issues Uraraka. And I'm not saying I want to be exactly like him, but he does have good points."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this from you Deku. You've told me how he's gone out of his way to make your life miserable since you were kids! Years of verbal and physical abuse, and you're going to defend him with, 'he has good points'!?"

"Uraraka, I'm not pretending that all those things didn't happen. But l like you said, I've known Kacchan for years. I've watched him grow and get stronger day after day. He has an amazing quirk, is a natural when it comes to combat and he has so much confidence in himself."

"None of those things makes up for anything he's done Deku."

"No, it doesn't, but I know that I need to have those qualities in order to become a great hero."

Ochako was about to say something, but decided against it. Instead she let Izuku continue with his explanation. At least that way, she thought, she would know exactly what she was dealing with.

"I know I lack those qualities. I'm working to make myself better in that regard, but I'd be kidding myself if I thought I was close to what I needed. Kacchan though, has these in spades. So if I can be more like him, in those regards, then it'll help me overall be a better hero. It'll help me surpass him when the time comes."

"So," Ochako began, "You want to be more like Bakugou, to surpass Bakugou?"

"Pretty much. Yeah."

"Deku, don't you think there are better ways to go about this? Ways that don't involve you having to deal with Bakugou? "

"I'm sure there are, but I guess I want to see it as a rivalry. Maybe it's petty, but I don't just want to beat him Uraraka. I think I have too. If I don't, then I'm afraid I'll keep living in his shadow. And I can't be a hero like that."

"Deku," Ochako began after a few seconds to digest everything Izuku had said, "I'll be completely honest. Whatever this thing is between you and Bakugou is, this fated battle between men, I don't understand it at all. I honestly think you shouldn't have anything to do with him at this point, he is not worth your time. But if you need this. If you feel this strongly about needing to surpass Bakugou, then I'll do everything I can to help you do it."

"Uraraka…Thank you."

"Besides," Ochako added with an almost predatory grin, "if the end result is you being happy and Bakugou losing. How can I miss the chance to see that jerk finally get what's coming to him."

Izuku laughed, "Uraraka, remind me to never get on your bad side. You have a little mean streak in you."

Ochako laughed as well before she stood up and grabbed her lunch from her bag, "Come on. Let's go eat before lunch period ends."

For the following days Izuku and Ochako were able to enjoy some peace during their time in school. Their fellow students did not try to antagonize Izuku anymore, and in fact were now going out of their way to avoid him. Though Izuku assumed that Ochako had put a healthy amount of fear into them, and they had come to the conclusion that avoiding him was the best way to avoid her. Katsuki had also gone back to simply ignoring the two, though Ochako would catch him every now and then glancing at Izuku. What he was thinking she couldn't guess, she couldn't see anything past the anger in his eyes. Izuku at least hadn't noticed and she was in no hurry to let him know. Katsuki could stew in his own little world, for all she cared. There was no reason to have Izuku become paranoid that Katsuki was watching him. With their issues in school dealt with, both were free to turn their attention towards their training.

Izuku pulled at the ropes that were wrapped around the base of a large industrial refrigerator before squatting down and sliding his arms though the ropes loops and tightening them against his shoulders. On the other side of the fridge, he could hear Ochako getting herself ready as she wrapped the rope around herself.

"You ready back there Uraraka?"

"Yeah, I'm strapped in! Let's get this thing out of here!"

All Might had made their training for today simple. They were given some heavy rope, and shoulder straps and told to move all the large industrial and home appliances out of their section of the beach, without using their quirks. What followed was a day full of hate filled tug of war with abandoned ac units, ovens, water heaters and kitchen fridges as all of them were carried or dragged across the beach like sleds, to All Might who would load them onto his truck for disposal.

With the sun low in the sky, and their legs burning from their work, both teens were ready to remove the last obstacle in their way, and go home.

"Okay, on three, we lift!"

"Right. On three, got it Deku."

"One! Two!"

Both Izuku and Ochako pulled their ropes tight as they tensed up and took deep breaths.

"THREE!"

Digging their feet into the sand, both fought through the weight pulling them down as the forced their legs to straighten out, until finally the fridge popped free from the sand and wobbled in the air between the two.

"Okay, it's up. It's up!"

"I know! We going on your count, right Deku?"

"Yeah I'll call out our steps."

"Okay, just don't let this thing tip over onto you!"

"If it does, just promise you'll get me a nice headstone."

Despite the strain she was fighting through, Ochako chuckled, "Do they make All Might branded tombstones?"

"Very funny. Let's get this thing moved already. On my count, one!" Izuku and Ochako stepped forward as Izuku called out each step. Slowly, but surely, they walked across the beach till they reached their goal line, with All Might clapping for them as they finally came to a stop.

"Good, very good! Now set it down gently, don't crush your toes."

With the last piece lowered down, Izuku let himself fall into the sand and slid his arms out of the straps. Ochako walked around and sat down next to him with a soft groan.

"I can't feel my legs Deku. You'll have to carry me home tonight." Ochako groaned as she rubbed her legs to work the soreness out.

"Only if you float yourself. I don't think I can handle carrying any more weight today."

Ochako stopped rubbing as she turned and glared at Izuku, who felt a sudden chill run down his spine, "Did you just say that I was heavy, Midoriya?"

While Izuku frantically backtracked his statement, All Might lifted the last appliance and loaded it onto the truck. Shrinking down, he reached into the front and pulled out some water for the two, "Come on you two, I'll give you a lift back. I think you both earned a little break today after all the work you put in."

Cheering their good luck, Izuku and Ochako stumbled into the truck and relaxed as All Might drove them away from the beach. The drive back was quiet and uneventful, with Izuku and Ochako enjoying their chance to rest. When All Might pulled into the parking lot of the building Izuku looked over at his mentor, confused as he had assumed All Might would just be dropping them off.

"Are you coming up with us?" Izuku asked.

"I figured I'd take the chance to speak with your mother some. Give her a quick update on how you're doing. Nothing major."

"Oh, okay." When Izuku turned around to exit the truck, he missed the quick glances and smirks shared between Ochako and All Might as they followed after him. Entering into his home, Izuku blinked in confusion when he saw that none of the lights were on.

"Mom? Are you home?"

Fumbling in the dark, Izuku made his way down the hall into the dining room. Ochako lagged behind a few steps, letting izuku move ahead while she handed a small object to All Might.

"Hold on, let me grab the light. I guess mom is out right now." Izuku called back to them.

Finding the light switch, Izuku flipped it on. He paused when he noticed a banner hanging on the wall besides the dinner table.

Wait, happy birthday?

"SURPRISE!"

Behind him, Ochako and All Might yelled at the same time as they pulled the small cords on two small confetti poppers startling Izuku enough to make him jump. Which was just the reaction Inko was waiting for. From her hiding spot she quickly snapped several photos of her startled son.

"Wait what? What's going on?" Izuku asked in confusion as he tried to regain his composure.

Ochako giggled as she reached up and began picking a few strands of paper out of Izuku's hair, "It's a surprise party of course."

Pointing at himself, Izuku asked, "for me? But I never told you when my birthday was."

"Disregarding the fact you seemed to think it'd be ok to hide your birthday from me, which you better believe you and I are going to have a discussion over that, I'm your best friend Deku. You think I wasn't going to find out when your birthday was."

"But how…?"

"I asked your mom obviously," Ochako answered with a smirk, "Now come on birthday boy, you have presents to open. Then we can eat."

Still stunned, Izuku was lead to the table where his mother and All Might were waiting for them. Once they had sat down, All Might handed Izuku a cardboard tube for carrying posters, "Here you go Young Midoriya."

"Mr Yagi, thank you."

Pulling the top off, Izuku pulled out the poster inside, and tried his best not to scream in shock. "This is-!? This is the super rare poster that was made in America just after y- All Might made his professional debut! They only printed a few of these! Look it's him in his very first costume with his super car! AND ITS SIGNED TOO?!"

All Might smiled, "Perks of the job young man. I had to check to make sure you didn't have that one honestly. Considering your collection."

A soft eep escaped from Izuku as he lowered the poster to look at All Might. "You've seen my room?"

"I may have taken a peek."

Ochako laughed as Izuku lowered himself in his chair, trying desperately to disappear, "Come on Deku it's not that bad."

"Yes it is. It's embarrassing."

"Young Midoriya, I can assure you, if All Might had seen your collection, he would be very flattered"

Feeling better, Izuku sat back up and rolled the poster back into its protective case. "I'll have to make sure to find a good frame for this ...and try and find a space on my wall," Izuku added with a blush.

Inko smiled brightly, enjoying the site of her son having a good time on his birthday, before she looked over at Ochako. "Would you like to give him your present now Ochako?"

"Oh um," Ochako's smile faltered. After seeing what All Might had gotten for Izuku, she was suddenly feeling very self conscious over her gift. "That signed poster is a hard act to follow, but I hope you like it Deku."

Ochako pulled out a medium sized All Might themed paper gift bag and handed it to Izuku, who took it with a huge smile on his face, which did reassure her, somewhat. For the past few weeks, after learning of Izuku's upcoming birthday, Ochako had spent almost all of her free time fretting over what she could get him. For a while she had been sure she was get him some kind of All Might merchandise. She had a pretty good idea what stuff he did and didn't have, so finding something hadn't been that hard. Internet stores and some local shops had great selections to choose from. However two things ended up putting that plan on ice.

First and foremost had been the price of everything. The stored she had visited did have an excellent collection to choose from, but she had almost swallowed her tongue when she started looking at the price tags. While she had been able to save a nice chunk of money from spending so much time at the Midoriya's place, she could not bring herself to spend that kind of money.

Then, when All Might was invited to the surprise party she and Inko had planned, and he had promised he'd find a perfect addition for Izuku's collection, Ochako found herself back at square one. With less than a week to go, she had begun to worry that she wouldn't be able to come up with a good idea for a gift. She toyed briefly with the idea of a gift card, but quickly discarded that. She was not going to get her best friend such an impersonal gift. By chance, during one of her walks home as she was browsing through a couple of stores she came across a small book store. On a whim she went inside and found what she hoped would be a present izuku would like.

Izuku reached into the bag and pulled out Ochako's gift. A new notebook. It was bigger than his old one, and thicker too with a hard leather cover. It was the kind of notebook you could see an important business man, like an executive have, except for 2 key features. The leather was a vibrant green, the same color he would glow while using his quirk, and right across the front of the book was stamped, Hero Analysis for the Future No. 14.

As Izuku ran his fingers over the lettering, Ochako started to explain her reasoning behind the gift, stuttering some from her nervousness, "I noticed that you had filled out a lot of the pages in your other book, and it wasn't in the best of shape since," She paused as she decided not to bring up that episode with Bakugou. "Anyway, I thought you might be looking for a new one so I found that and thought you'd like it…"

"Uraraka, I love it. Thank you so much!" Izuku cut in excitedly, startling Ochako from her nervousness.

"You do!?"

"Of course. This is perfect. I can't wait to start filling it out," Izuku said with a huge smile.

Relief washed over Ochako and she returned Izuku's smile with her own. "Well, happy birthday, Deku."

Later that night, after everyone had gone home, Izuku sat at his desk with his new notebook opened, busily writing in its first entry. A knock on his door grabbed his attention as Inko peeked in. "Izuku make sure you get to bed soon. You still have your training tomorrow morning. Mr Yagi wants to make sure you and Ochako work off all that cake you two ate."

"I will mom, I just want to start this before I go to bed."

"Okay, just not too late."

As she started to leave, Izuku called out, "Wait mom."

"Yes?"

"Thank you for telling Uraraka about my birthday."

Inko smiled, "Well she did come to me asking about when it was. Luckily she thought of it before it was too late." She paused before asking, "Izuku, why didn't you tell her before?"

Izuku shrugged, "I guess I didn't think it was something that important."

"Well, I'm glad you have someone around that clearly thinks different. She really cares about you, you know."

Izuku blushed and desperately waved his arms around, as if to ward off the implications of his mother's words. "MOM! Uraraka is my friend. My best friend. Don't go acting weird about it!"

With a chuckle, Inko said her goodnight to Izuku and closed the door behind her, leaving Izuku slightly flustered. After regaining his composure, he went back to his work, wanting to finish the first page before bed.

Ochako's entry.

The next day Izuku smiled brightly as he jogged down the street in the early morning. Ever since last night he couldn't help but have a little spring in his step. It had been far too long since he had a friend wish him a happy birthday, much less buy him a present.

Actually, when was the last time anyone besides mom wished me a happy birthday? I think Kacchan came over but that was when we were still really little...and still friends…

Izuku shook his head to dispel the depressing thoughts, before he found himself thinking back to Ochako and her gift. Ochako's bright smile filled Izuku's memory and he couldn't help but smile to himself, she really put a lot of thought into what to get me. I have to make sure I do the same for her, but I have no idea how to shop for a girl...

Suddenly Izuku was pulled from his day dream when a girl rushed past him, brushing him aside as she hurried by before quickly turning a corner and disappearing down an alleyway. Izuku blinked but quickly found himself getting pushed aside as some guys, who looked a few years older than him rushed by, "You see which way that chick went?"

"Yeah she went down here."

The boys smirked, "Awesome, looks like she wants to have some privacy."

The group snickered before they entered the alley and disappeared. Izuku regained his bearings before glancing towards the alleyway. A pit forming in his stomach.

I, I need to find someone!

But as he looked around he realised that with it being so early in the morning, there was no one else walking the streets.

If I go looking for an officer or hero, it'll be too late…

Steeling himself, Izuku hurried after the group. Running down the alley Izuku soon came upon the group. Three highschoolers leaned over the girl who had her back against the wall. She looked about the same age as Izuku, and she was wearing a school uniform that was pretty roughed up, from a school he didn't recognize. She looked like she had been living a rather hard life, since it wasn't only her uniform that was in bad shape. She herself looked a little worse for wear. But despite her situation, she didn't seem overly panicked.

She's doing a good job staying calm...

"Now come on girl. This shy act is getting a little old. A girl like you should be happy you have some paying customers."

"Yeah, I doubt you get picked too often looking like this."

"So lets have some fun already huh? No more running around ok. You don't want us getting mad right?"

The girls eyes drifted up to the boys, "Mad huh...:"

One of the boys reach up towards her when Izuku made himself known. "GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Three heads whipped around at once and glared back at Izuku, who tried to return their looks with one of his own. Internally though he was desperately trying to think of what to do next.

Okay, I got their attention….Now what do I do? I need a plan.

"The hell do you want kid? Scram already!"

Izuku shook his head and kept himself planted. "No. I'm not leaving you alone with her." I just need to reach her and pull her out of here. I don't need to win a fight. Just escape back out into the street. Izuku silently scanned the alley. It was dirty, with garbage littering around trash cans that looked like they hadn't been changed in way to long.

The largest of the group walked towards Izuku, giving him an intimidating look, helped by the rows of sharp teeth that peeked through past his smirk. "You trying to be a hero or something? That's a good way to get yourself hurt."

The girl tilted her head to the side, her calm demeanor turning more inquisitive as she watched, A hero huh?

Izuku took a step forward till the two were only a few feet apart. The highschooler was tall, and must be used to cowling people with his presence. But Izuku had stared into the eyes of a real villain only a few months ago. Compared to him, this guy wasn't scary at all.

The highschooler's smirk turned into a sneer, and more of his teeth flashed into view.

Okay, maybe he's a little scary.

"Last chance to walk away kid."

Izuku smiled, like he was sure All Might would. "I was gonna say the same to you."

With a growl, the highschooler pulled his arm back, getting ready to slug Izuku right in the jaw, but as he did, Izuku activated his quirk, surrounding himself in viridescent light. The highschooler blinked in surprise and Izuku capitalized on that. Reaching up with his right hand, Izuku looked past the boy and to a trash can, which Izuku hopped wasn't too heavy, behind him. The instant the can was surrounded in light, Izuku yanked his hand back and pulled as hard as he could. Immediately he felt a sharp throb in his head, but it wasn't as bad as he had feared.

The can screeched across the pavement before rolling onto its side and slammed into the back of the first boys legs knocking his feet out from underneath him and sending him tumbling to the ground with a heavy thud. The other boys gave surprised yells before they rushed forward but Izuku was already getting ready. Reaching out again with his hand, Izuku swung in front of himself and at the same time, a large garbage bag launched itself into the head of a boy, knocking him down and covering him in days old trash that exploded from the torn plastic.

Unfortunately for Izuku, the last boy was able to close the distance between the two before Izuku could find something to hit him with. He only just had enough time to realise he was about to get hit when the boy swung and punched him right in the mouth.

"You little punk!"

As he readied to get in another hit, Izuku stumbled backwards almost falling. He needed to stay on his feet. Falling down now would give the other boys a chance to get up and he'd have lost any element of surprise. The boy put his all into his next swing, and Izuku desperately reached out with his quirk.

I still can't hold onto people very well, but I don't need to stop his punch!

The boys fist glowed green and Izuku pulled as hard as he could. Using his psychokinesis almost as a rope, he used the boys own momentum against him and yanked him down, while at the same time pulled himself up to keep himself from falling back from the first hit. As the boy stumbled past, Izuku he stuck out his leg, tripping the boy who fell face first into the ground.

Got 'em!

Izuku didn't celebrate his victory long though, as he rushed forward and took the girl by the hand and pulled her away from the three as they stumbled to get up. "Hurry lets get out of here!"

The two ran out of the alley, and down the street till Izuku put as much distance between them and the boys as he could before coming to a stop to give both of them a chance to catch their breaths.

Turning around Izuku looked at the girl. "Are you ok?"

The girl however was bent over still taking in deep breaths. She held up a hand and gasped out, "One…. sec…."

"OH! Oh sorry." Izuku rubbed his head nervously as he waited. I guess I've just gotten used to running longer since I started training.

Now that they were safe and the adrenaline he had built up finally started to settle, Izuku started to feel the pain from the punch that he got hit with. Reaching up, Izuku touched his lip and winced, pulling his hand away and looking at his fingers, which were slick with blood.

"Ouch yeah that's not great…" Izuku searched his pockets for something to dab at his lip.

While he searched the girl surprised him when she suddenly closed the distance between them practically squealed, "that was so cool!"

Izuku did his best not to jump back in embarrassment as the girl invaded his personal space. Spending so much time with Ochako should have helped him some when dealing with girls, at least he had hoped it would. But in reality he only really spent time with Ochako, and this was someone he had never met before. Two completely different situations for Izuku.

"It was nothing! Really!" Izuku stuttered out. He took a step back to give himself some space, but the girl followed after him. Eyes wide and starry, and a huge smile on her face. A smile so big Izuku absently noticed something, fangs?

Yellow eyes stared into Izuku's green eyes for a few more seconds before her gaze drifted down, "oh, your lip is bleeding."

"It doesn't really hurt, so please don't worry about it. I just need something to-"

The sudden sound of fabric tearing cut Izuku off. The girl had reached down and ripped a section of her uniform top off. Taking the torn piece she gently wiped Izuku's lip and chin before applying some pressure on the cut lip.

"You were so cool back there. Like a real hero!"

"Well I am trying to get into U.A actually." Izuku fumbled as the girl continued cleaning him up.

"Really? U.A is that super hard hero school right?" The girl asked as she finished up and pulled away.

Pocketing the bloodied cloth, Izuku nodded in affirmation, "Yeah. That's why I've been training every day to pass the entrance exams."

The girl eyed him, during which Izuku tried not to shrink away. But there was no getting around how, penetrating, the girls eyes were as she looked at him.

Does she think I'm making it up? I guess I don't really look like much…

The girls smile widened even more as she giggled, "Wow I got saved by such a cute hero in training. It's really my lucky day!"

Izuku felt his face flame up and his eye bulge as he pointed at himself, "CUTE!? ME!?"

She nodded, "Oh yeah, you fit the cute hero role perfectly! Swooping in, and saving the damsel in distress. It's like a fairy tale."

She took another step forward, till she was almost pressed against Izuku "And after such a daring rescue, I think the hero should get his reward right?" She leaned forward and whispered, "A hero needs a reward."

Izuku could feel the heat coming off her, she was so close.

Her lips so close to his.

Slowly.

Ever so slowly.

Izuku reached up and gently pushed her away.

Even though his face was flushed red, and he shook from almost uncontrolled embarrassment he made sure he was as gentle as possible as he put some space between the two of them.

"Thank you, but you don't have to do that. I didn't save you for a reward. I did it because you looked like you needed help. That you're safe now is enough for me."

The girls smile dropped and her eyes widened as she stared at him. Izuku was worried he had offended her. Soon though the smile came back and she started to laugh. She doubled over before she found a wall to lean on to steady herself. Confused, Izuku could only blink and try to guess what she found so funny.

"A hero that helps, just to help huh?"

"Is there something funny about that?"

The girl calmed down and shook her head, "No, I'm laughing because the person taking care of me doesn't really have a high...opinion of pro heroes. Thinks they care too much about the fame and such, but I think he'd love to meet you. You sound like a real mold breaker. Or like All Might. He talks about All Might a lot."

Did she just compared me to All Might, the blush returned in full force as Izuku hid his face behind his arms, stuttering and mumbling his thanks.

The girl smirked at this, "Well I have to get going now. Thank you again!"

Izuku gasped as she turned to leave, "Wait! Don't you want to go to a police station, or hero office?"

She shook her head as she dismissed the offer, "No, not really. I'm fine."

"But miss?"

She whirled around with a frown, "ew don't call me miss! It makes me sound old!"

"Oh, oh I'm sorry ... but I don't know your name…"

She tapped her chin in a show of thinking before she seemed to have an 'ah ha' moment. "Actually I don't even know your name either. I should know the name of my hero. Don't you think? So, you tell me your name, and I'll tell you mine."

"Okay. I'm Midoriya Izuku. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The girl smiled brightly, and her eyes practically shined. "Toga Himiko. And believe me, the pleasure was mine."

Then with a skip and hop, she bounded down the street and out of view leaving Izuku in a confused state. He was happy he had been able to save her from those guys but he was also worried that he should have done more to take her to a hospital or something. He was also more than a little flustered as he tried to get his hormones under some kind of control. After all, he had come so close, so very very close to letting her kiss him.

After a bit, Izuku gave the empty street Hiniko had disappeared down one last look before hurrying on his way.

At Dagoba Beach, Ochako fidgeted nervously as she and All Might waited at the beach for Izuku to finally arrive.

"Not like the boy to be late," All Might said as he checked his watch.

"I'm sure he'll be here any second All Might."

Ochako scanned the roads. Izuku wasn't that late, but it was so strange that she couldn't help but worry a little.

Before either could decide if they should start looking for him, "I'm sorry I'm late!" Izuku yelled as he came sprinting down the beach towards them. After reaching them, he bent over as he caught his breath.

"Young Midoriya, did you over sleep this morning?" All Might asked as he walked over to Izuku, followed behind by Ochako.

Izuku stood up, about to apologize again for his tardiness, but then All Might got a look at his face. "What happened to you? You look like crap."

Wait what? Ochako thought in alarm as she moved around All Might and rushed to Izuku's side. She gasped when she saw his face. Izuku's lower lip and cheek had already swollen up, and the dark tint of a bruise had begun to form. He had the distinct look of someone who got punched in the face.

"Oh this? It's nothing really. I kinda… got into a fight with these guys and one punched me in the face," Izuku answered, embarrassed at Ochako's worry over him.

"Deku what do you mean!? Who punched you?"

As All Might motioned for Izuku to sit down, Izuku explained the events that had happened earlier. How on his way to the beach, he had seen a group of boys chase a girl into the alley, and with no one around went after them. Ochako frowned deeply, making sure Izuku was keenly aware that she was not happy to hear he had rushed into the alley after the boys by himself.

"So you rushed into another dangerous situation." Izuku could swear he could feel the frost on Ochako's voice.

"I, um… I didn't really have much of a choice."

Ochako left out a small huff, but honestly could not say anything to disagree with him. "So I guess since you're here you were able to help her then?"

Izuku nodded, with a slight smile, "I was, but that's not the best part."

"Oh?" Both All Might and Ochako, who was still miffed over the ordeal, leaned forward some. Both curious to what Izuku could add to the story.

"I used my quirk to save her." Izuku had a huge grin now.

Ochako's eyes went wide while All Might had a huge smile. "Did you now?" Perfect. It looks like the training is progressing like I'd hoped it would if he's confident enough to use his quirk in that kind of situation.

"I mean, all I did was just throw some trash around, so it wasn't really that impressive."

"Deku," Ochako cut in, "You used your quirk to help someone. That's great!"

Embarrassed, and a little flattered, Izuku ran his fingers through his hair, "yeah I guess so. She thought I was really cool too."

Ochako felt her eye twitch. "That's nice."

All Might gave Izuku a pat on the back. "Very impressive Young Midoriya." Then with a teasing smile added, "Though I must admit, when you said you saving the girl wasn't the best part, I thought perhaps you had gotten a kiss or something as a reward."

The moment those words left All Mights mouth, he was suddenly very aware he had made a mistake. While Izuku lowered his head to cover his now red face, a look quickly flashed across Ochako's face that let All Might know, I just stepped on a landmine. Young Uraraka, please don't look at me like I'm something gross stuck to your shoe.

"She, she did want to…" Izuku squeaked out. Unaware that Ochako's gaze had turned back to him.

Uh oh. Young Midoriya be careful, All Might fretted as he looked between the two.

"But I stopped her. I mean it wouldn't be right for me to let her kiss me like that after saving her. Right?"

Ochako's face lit up, "That's right Deku. Heroes don't go around accepting those kinds of rewards. You did the right thing. Right All Might?"

"Er, YES! Of course. Very well done. You not only showed courage by helping this young lady, but great character as well. As expected of the one I chose to inherit my power."

Himiko frowned as she returned to her little hovel under an overpass in the more shady part of town. It was little more than a few large cardboard boxes and wooden pallets leaned together, but for the last few weeks it had been her home. Or more accurately, their home. But, she didn't have to look hard to know that it had been cleaned out and abandoned though. She gave a small sigh as she kicked an empty can of food left on the ground.

"So he finally went and left me. He always kept saying he was going to leave me, guess I never really believed him."

She crawled into the box and sat down on the dirty sleeping bag, pouting she pulled her knees up to her chest.

"Now what do I do. I was only gone for a few days, but he could be anywhere by now. And it was almost impossible to track him down the last time he left me. Oh Mr Stain, I thought we had something special! But I guess you care more about those fake heroes then me."

Silence was her only answer as she looked out to the harsh world before her from her hut.

"Stain was making the world better. I wanted to make the world better like him too. So I could live in it. It's so hard to live in this world. But…"

She reached into her pocket, and pulled out the torn cloth she had used to clean that boy Izuku's lip. She stared at it for a long time before taking the tip into her mouth. Even though the blood had dried, and turned dark, she couldn't help but moan slightly at the taste.

Is this what a hero tastes like? It's so...so good.

She sat in her hut, sucking on the cloth till it was left damp and sticky from her saliva. With a huff, Himiko fell back onto her sleeping bag and held the cloth to her heart "More! I want more! Mr Stain never let me taste his. But...but I bet it would have never tasted like this."

Himiko whimpered as she felt herself heat up. She could feel herself on the verge of something wonderful.

And she loved it.

"Izuku Midoriya. You're going to make the world a better place, right? That's what real heroes do. I want that! I want it! I want it! I want...I want...you. I want you. I want more of you!"

She throbbed as she rolled around, laughing and crying out to the world her wants and desires. All the while, her mind raced. It wouldn't be easy, finding a way to be with him. He was training to be a hero. And she, she was anything but heroic. But as she lay in her ecstasy, she came to a simple conclusion. Even if it was hard. She would find a way to be with him.

"Just you wait for me, my darling Izuku. I'll find a way."

Notes:

Well, look who's poking their head into the story early now huh. I'm sure that won't have ripple effects :)

Got lucky with these past couple chapters. Work has been slow so I've had time to sit and write. It's been nice. Unfortunately, it's looking like work is going to get busy again pretty soon, so updates may slow down a bit. I hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter. Please if you'd like, leave a review or a critique. Always looking for ways to make myself a better writer.