Month 5 (August)

The quiet evening at the Midoriya home was suddenly shattered with a loud scream, "WE'RE NOT TRAINING TOGETHER ANYMORE!?"

All Might held up his hands as he tried to calm both Izuku and Ochako down, "Easy you two, it's only for the next few weeks." He had expected a little surprise from the two, but now that his ears were ringing All Might thought that perhaps he should have tried something to soften the blow.

Inko looked up from her dinner and gave her son an icy look, "Young man, do not scream like that."

Izuku promptly wilted back into his seat. Ochako quickly followed when Inko shifted her gaze to her. With both teens quelled, Inko motion for All Might to continue, "Please go on. I would like to know why you've decided to make such a change."

"Ah yes, thank you. With summer break coming up, I've decided that this would be the best time to move onto the next phase of their training."

"Next phase?" Izuku asked.

"That's correct. I want to take full advantage of your time off to begin combat training."

Izuku gulped, his stomach twisting from a combination of nervousness and excitement. He had wondered before if he was ever going to reach this point, ever since his talk with All Might months ago. All Might had said he had started with combat training, and while Izuku had to work to make it to the same point, he was finally there. One step closer to becoming like All Might. One step closer to becoming a hero.

"Combat training can be very rigorous. As such I'm putting your other training on hold so you can focus solely on this."

"But why are you separating me and Deku, Mr. Yagi? Won't splitting your time between us cut back on us being able to fully take advantage of the break to learn?" Ochako asked.

"Ah, well you see, I won't be doing that. When I told you you would be training separately, what I meant is that I won't be training you at all Young Uraraka during this time. Just Young Midoriya."

"Oh…" Part of her knew this made sense. Izuku was training to inherit All Might's quirk. So if it came down to who would need to be prioritized, Izuku would be it without question. She knew this, but it still hurt.

While Ochako sat in her chair at a sudden loss for words, Izuku however had plenty to say as he stood up angrily, "That's not fair! Uraraka doesn't deserve this! She's been working too hard for you to just leave her behind!"

Ochako blinked in surprise at how quickly Izuku came to her defence while All Might once again found himself trying to placate his prodege, "No one is getting left behind, Young Midoriya. Please sit. I'll explain everything, I promise."

When Izuku sat down, All Might continued, "Now, Young Uraraka is right. Splitting the time to try to teach you both combat training in a few weeks would not work. To get the most out of the work, you would need one on one training. So, while I train Young Midoriya, Young Uraraka will be training with someone else. That's what I meant when I said you two would be training separately. It's not permanent, just for the break. Then once your school starts back up again, you'll go back to the normal training regiment."

Both Izuku and Ochako relaxed in their seats after hearing All Mights explanation, much to his relief.

"So who will I be training under then? Someone from All Might's agency?" Ochako asked. With her worries put aside, her curiosity was peaked

"No, not from my…" All Might coughed to stop that he was about to say his agency, "from All Might's agency. I had to look elsewhere. Have you ever heard of Gunhead?"

Ochako shook her head, while Izuku stiffened as some of his fanboy leaked out, "Gunhead, The Battle Hero. His agency specializes in armed combat and he even developed his own fighting style called Gunhead Martial Arts which he teaches to all his sidekicks. Uraraka, he's a really cool hero!"

All Might chuckled, "Well I guess I don't have to explain who he is. Thank you for saving me the time."

Ochako hid a giggle behind her hand, its cute when he gets all nerdy… Wait?

"You were able to get Ochako a chance to train under a pro hero? That's incredible! How were you able to do that?" Asked a very impressed Inko.

All Might found himself flustered from Inko's sudden praise, "Oh that? Its wasn't that hard really. I promised to push forward some agency team up plans to the higher ups. The chance to work with All Might can be a very convincing deal maker."

"I didn't realize you had that kind of sway at All Might's agency."

"Oh it's just a matter of knowing the right people is all. Nothing that impressive."

Inko shook her head as she smiled gently at All Might, "nonsense. What you've done for my son and for Ochako is truly something special."

All Might rubbed a hand through his hair, bashfully returning Inko's smile. While this exchange was mostly missed by Izuku, who was distracted trying not to think about the double meaning of some of All Mights explanations, Ochako looked between the two, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable, oh please tell me All Might is not flirting with Deku's mom.

"Wait, Mr. Yagi," Izuku began, "Gunhead's agency isn't exactly close by. Even by train it's still a trip just going one way."

All Might frowned, "Ah yes, unfortunately there is a bit of a catch that I haven't mentioned yet. While I was able to get Gunhead to agree to train Young Uraraka, it will have to be at his dojo. He was not comfortable leaving his agency in such short notice for an extended period of time."

"So I'm going to be doing a lot of traveling?"

"No. While you are training with Gunhead, you will be staying over there. We found a nice place for you to stay for the duration. And I will make sure everything is covered. So the only thing you will have to worry about is your training."

Izuku and Ochako glanced at each other sadly as they processed this. Both had taken for granted the sheer amount of time they had spent together, and to now have that suddenly taken away left both feeling empty. All Might watched the two, a knowing glint in his eye. While he wouldn't say this to them, at least not yet anyway, separating them was part of his plan for this months training too. If he had tried, he was sure he would have been able to talk Gunhead into traveling down to train Ochako. However over the months he had started to see a pattern form while they trained. The two had formed the habit of leaning on one another whenever one of them faced some kind of adversity. While relying on others by itself was not a bad thing, infact All Might knew several heroes, including a certain fiery hot head that could stand to learn to work together, it could become troublesome if they became too dependent on each other. So Ochako having to spend her time training away for the next few weeks became the perfect excuse to teach the two some self reliance.

After a bit Izuku put on a brave smile, "It'll be ok Uraraka. We can still call each other. Plus its only a few weeks. It'll be fine."

"But who'll look after you, and make sure you don't start slacking off?" Ochako teased, feeling better after seeing Izuku smile.

Izuku rolled his eyes, "You're worried about me slacking off? I'm worried you might get spoiled training in an actual dojo. You'll come back and the beach won't be good enough for you anymore."

With a laugh, Ochako playfully punch Izuku's arm, "You better watch out Deku. Maybe getting to go train at an actual facility will open up a little gap between us. I'd hate to have to wait around for you to catch up with me."

"Seriously? That's some big talk coming from you Uraraka."

"Maybe." Ochako smirked, "So how about this, when I get back, you show me everything you learned."

"Definitely, but you have to make sure to show me what you learn too."

A few days later Izuku was back at the beach, ready to begin his training with All Might.

"So does this mean you're going to teach me to fight like you All Might!?" Izuku asked excitedly as he followed behind All Might down the far side of the coast.

"Am I going to learn the Detroit Smash! Or the Oklahoma Smash!" Izuku threw a punch into the air before spinning around and tripping on his own feet as he poorly imitated the two attacks.

All Might chuckled as Izuku picked himself back up, "Maybe one day I'll give you some pointers on those, but for now you need to get some basics down first. Which you will learn here."

Turning past a small bend, All Might lead Izuku into a basic, and quickly thrown together gym. Dug into the sand was a pole holding up a punching bag and other miscellaneous pieces of equipment. As Izuku looked around, All Might pulled out a pair of gloves and handed them to Izuku.

"Boxing gloves?"

"That's right. You might have been hoping for something a little flashier but what you need is a good foundation. That's what we are going to build over the next few weeks. Then once you have that foundation..."

"I can build on it!" Izuku finished as he followed All Mights train of thought.

"Exactly! Soon enough we'll start to develop a style for you that incorporates everything you have. Quirk and all. But for now, let's start with some basics. Now put those on and let's see what you got."

Putting the gloves on, Izuku quickly followed All Might to the hanging punching bag. All Might patted the center of the bag giving Izuku his target, "Punch it right here. As hard as you can."

Nodding, Izuku quickly got into a fighting stance. Or at least what he thought was a proper stance. He was tense and stiff, from both nervousness and inexperience, but he tried not to let it show too much. Taking a deep breath, he twisted around as he threw a hard right, with all his weight behind it. The chains holding the heavy bag barely squeaked from the blow, and Izuku not expecting the resistance he got, tripped over himself and fell into the sand. All Might looked down at Izuku, while he collected himself, "Young Midoriya. You've never thrown a punch before, have you."

"Um, no."

Thinking back All Might asked, "What about when you helped that young lady from before?"

"Oh? I really just used my quirk to trip the guys bothering her, then ran away."

Both All Might and Izuku stood in silence for a few moments before All Might coughed into his hand, "Well, then we'll just start with the basics."

Izuku nodded vigorously, "Yeah basics sounds like a great place to start."

Ochako couldn't help but feel a sense of trepidation as she hurried down the sidewalk. By all accounts she shouldn't feel like this. The apartment she was staying at was very nice, in fact it was a much nicer place than her own. And all her food and board was being covered so she didn't have to worry about money while she was here. She had also been assured by All Might that Gunhead was an excellent teacher, and her time with him was going to be nothing but positive. She had even done a little research herself, and was confident that Gunhead wasn't some secret creep or something. Izuku should also be fine while she was away. Since he would be spending pretty much all his time during the break with All Might training, she didn't have to worry about Katsuki targeting him.

And yet, she was still nervous. This was a huge opportunity and she didn't want to squander it, or even embarrass herself in front of a pro hero. What's more, while she may have fantasized about showing one Bakugou Katsuki what for after learning how to fight, she had honestly never seen herself filling the role of a combat hero. She thought she would be more like Thirteen, and focus more on rescuing people.

Of course I never thought I'd be spending this year before taking the entrance exams training under All Might, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that some of my original plans don't jive with reality anymore. Plus I guess being a rescue hero with combat training will open more doors down the line.

Absently she felt her fingers trace along her phone in her pocket as she once again found herself fighting the urge to give Izuku a call. Not to check up on him, of course. She didn't need to do that. And she didn't need to call him already, he had seen her off when she had boarded the train yesterday and they had talked last night too during which they decided that they'd call or text in the evenings after their training was over.

Get it together girl. You're acting like you're going through withdrawal or something. You can go a day without talking with him. Plus he's probably already in the middle of training with All Might. Now woman up and get your business done.

When Ochako looked up she found herself right outside of Gunhead's dojo. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Ochako walked through the front door, "Pardon the intrusion"

As Ochako came into the dojo she was quickly greeted by a large and intimidating hero that she had to strain her neck to look up at when he stood from his desk and walked over to her, "Ah you must be Uraraka Ochako."

She had seen some videos so she had thought she knew what to expect, but to see the man in person was a completely different animal. Ochako bowed her head as she addressed the pro hero, "Thank you so much for taking the time to train me sir!"

Gunhead waved his hands in front of himself, trying to downplay Ochako's formality, "Please you don't have to be so formal with me. Just call me Gunhead, and besides, I'm always looking to help young burgeoning. Though I think this is the first time someone from another agency has asked me to take on someone they had scouted. And someone who isn't even in a hero school yet. Your scout must think very highly of you."

Ochako blushed, "I'd like to think he does si… Gunhead."

"Well why don't I give you a tour and then we can get a feel of what you will be learning here. Follow me."

After only a short time, Ochako had quickly gotten over her initial reaction to the large hero and had come to the firm conclusion that Gunhead was unbelievably cute. Which was somewhat surprising considering he was a giant man with guns on his arms and he had razor blades sticking out of his gloves. But after he had walked her around the gym they would be using, and gave her a training gi to wear, Ochako couldn't ignore that the way he talked and moved was just cute.

After quickly putting on the gi she was given, Ochako joined the hero in the main room of the gym where he was waiting in the center of a large padded mat.

"So Uraraka, do you have any experience with martial arts? Or any kind of self defence training and techniques?"

"Um not really, no. I don't. Sorry."

"That's perfectly alright. Everyone starts somewhere. So let's see, before we start, let's talk about your quirk. From what Mr. Yagi told me your quirk, Zero Gravity, lets you negate an object's gravitational pull after you touch it."

"Yes sir, though I have to make contact with all my fingers for my quirk to activate." Ochako held up her hand, showing off the pads on each finger.

Gunhead rubbed his chin as he looked at her hand. A soft hmm leaked past his mask as he was deep in thought.

"So keeping your hands safe should be a priority for you then. If they get damaged it could have a negative effect on your ability to use your quirk."

"Is that a problem? Do you think my quirk won't work well in combat?"

Chuckleing, Gunhead shook his head, "Not at all. In fact, I think your quirk could be extremely effective. Being able to neutralize an opponent with just a touch would make you very dangerous in close combat situations."

Despite herself, a wicked grin spread across her face when she heard that, which didn't go unnoticed by Gunhead, "seems you like that idea."

Ochako flinched back as she waved her hands in front of her nervously, "Oh well, I guess it would be pretty cool to be someone a bully wouldn't want to mess with. Makes it easier to protect someone..."

"Bully? Someone?"

"VILLAIN! Someone a villain wouldn't want to mess with. Easier to protect people from villains! That's what I said!"

Gunhead tilted his head to the side as he looked at Ochako, a pose she would have thought as kinda cute if she wasn't recovering from her slip of the tongue. Fortunately, Gunhead chose not to push the subject since he did not want to cause his new student to feel too embarrassed on her first day. Once Ochako had calmed down, Gunhead motioned to a place for Ochako to stand and began to walk her through some basic stretches to warm her up.

Izuku panted heavily as he circled around All Might, avoiding a padded mitten that sailed past his face as he leaned backward. Straightening back Izuku watched as All Might left his chest open for a counter, but unlike the multiple times before these last few days Izuku did not press the sudden opening and instead kept his eyes on the other mit that soon followed sweeping at him ready to punish Izuku if he had been reckless enough to fall for the false opening. Again. Over the last few days, All Might had worked with Izuku through a sparring routine, with the end goal being Izuku landing a direct finishing hit on All Might. The routine was long, and had several trap openings and moments meant to punish izuku for being too reckless or reserved. It has taken several days, bruises and ice packs, but Izuku was now able to get to the tail end of the routine. He had struggled here for a while, being tired made him sloppy, which All Might punished relentlessly. But now, now he was near the end, and he was going to win.

With both swings dodged, Izuku closed the distance quickly and unloaded a fury of punches into All Might before just as quickly skipping back when All Might had 'recovered' and 'retaliated'. This time the attack from All Might was more wild. More unfocused. Izuku recalled what All Might had taught him, that an injured villain could be just as dangerous, if not more so than when he was healthy. And sometimes the best way to deal with wild attacks was to just avoid them and not engage at all.

So Izuku back tracked, keeping himself away from the wide swings, waiting for his moment. All Might swung a giant arm down but made the 'mistake' of letting his own momentum carry him off balance. Resulting in tripping himself up and leaving his head completely exposed, unprotected and right at the perfect height for Izuku to hit it.

There's my shot!

Izuku rushed forward before digging his feet into the ground. Twisting his hips, Izuku attacked with a hard right cross, screaming at the top of his lungs, "SMASH!"

The punched landed cleanly, right into All Mights jaw, with a solid smack. For a second both fighters stood completely still, All Might hunched over, and Izuku with his glove smashed against All Mights face. Then with a smile, All Might threw himself back dramatically, landing on his back, "Curse you hero, I am defeated!"

Izuku stood frozen in place for a few fleeting seconds before an almost unbridled joy bubbled out and he lept into the air cheering, "I did it! I did it!"

As he landed, Izuku felt his legs give out from the stress of the day and he tumbled into the sand, but he didn't care. After days of hard work. Days of non stop practice, and having techniques drilled into his skull he had won his first fight.

"Very good Young Midoriya. Very good."

All Might stood over him, and reached down to help him up. Izuku looked up at All Might smiling, "I guess I had to get it eventually."

"Don't sell yourself short. You've made incredible progress considering the short amount of time you've had to work with."

All Might meant this. After a few days of learning some basics punching forms and foot work, Izuku had been thrown into the deep end, so to speak. Izuku was forced to learn quickly if he wanted to capitalize on the time available to him, and sparring gave him the closest to real life experience he could get. So All Might ran him through the ringer. The first few days were rough, but in Izuku's own words, 'the sooner he learned, the sooner All Might would stop hitting him.' All Might was very happy Inko was nowhere near to hear Izuku say that. That phrasing needed work.

"So All Might," Izuku began, "I only have a couple more days left until school starts back up. Do we have time for me to learn anything else?"

All Might rubbed his chin, "Honestly you burned through everything I had planned for you and then some. In fact, I think you've earned yourself a little rest."

Izuku smiled brightly before All Might finished, "For today at least. I want you well rested for tomorrow."

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" Izuku asked, not sure he liked the change in All Mights smile.

"I have a new sparring partner for you. I think it's time you fought someone not me."

"Really? Who is it?"

"It's a surprise."

Ochako took a deep breath to calm her nerves and steady herself. Today was her last day at Gunheads dojo and the pro hero had set up several stations to test her knowledge and skills that she had learned since she had started. She had completed the stations that tested her grappling and throws. She was quite proud of herself after finishing her throwing challenge when she had been able to send toss Gunhead himself to the mat, without having to use her quirk to lighten him first. Now though, she was about to begin her routine for her strikes. As she walked through the moves one last time before she would begin, she thought back to the day Gunhead first started to teach her how to strike and attack her opponents.

"Now Ochako, show me what's the first thing you think to do when I tell you to strike someone?" Gunhead asked as he stood in front of Ochako.

Nodding, Ochako shifted herself on the training mat and threw a punch, much like she had done several times in Gunhead's exercises. Gunhead nodded, "That is indeed the most basic form of an attack most people know. However, do you remember what I told you the first day you came here?"

"You mean about keeping my hands safe?"

"Correct. So while I know you can throw a good punch, I don't think it's the best form of attack for you to use. A badly thrown punch could damage your hand or fingers and that could be especially dangerous for you. That isn't to say you should avoid punches altogether mind you. But I'm going to teach you there are other ways to fight your opponent. Besides your firsts there are three other points of attack on your body...Well technically there are four other points, but I'm not sure we'll cover using your head while you are here. First off is your feet, which of course you would use for kicking."

Gunhead punctuated this by showing off several different forms of kicks, from sweeps to direct hits.

"Next are your knees and elbows. These can be especially devastating to your opponent if you land them right."

Ochako nodded as she watched Gunhead demonstrate more varied strikes.

"So Ochako, let's say you are in a fight, your opponent more often than not is going to be watching your hands. Either because that's the most common place to expect an attack, or because they know thats where your quirk is. But there is the catch, if they are just watching for attacks from your hands…" Gunhead trailed off for OChako to finish.

"OH! They won't be looking for an attack from somewhere else!"

"Exactly. And there is a flip side to this as well."

"There is?"

"Yes. if your attacks are constantly coming from your legs or elbows, your opponent may very well forget completely to keep and eye on your hands. When they do that, you'll have your perfect opening to use your quirk on them and finish the fight."

Opening her eyes, Ochako looked down the line of different dummies, each posed in a different pose of attack or defence. She was supposed to move down the line of dummies and demonstrate she knew how to properly attack her opponent no matter what position they were in. behind her, Gunhead stood off the mat ready to begin the final test. He knew she would do well, she had absorbed everything he had taught her like a sponge. It was a shame he knew he would not be available to take on work studies and interns this year, or he would already be making plans to make sure Ochako was back in his dojo to continue training under him. He could tell she was still a little nervous for this last test, so he decided to give her one good push, "One last bit of advice for this test Ochako. I always find it helps me when I visualize someone I don't like standing in front of me, instead of a dummy. Makes me go just that bit harder."

Ochako glanced back towards Gunhead with a determined smile, "Thank you Gunhead."

"On your time then Ochako."

Turning back to face the first dummy she nodded once, set her stance, and with one last deep steadying breath, attacked. Ochako moved down the line, striking openings in defences on some dummies, or moving to block incoming attack from others. Ochako continued on after a call out from Gunhead signaled her to do so. A dummy with a high block, attack with her legs, swiping at the base. Another yell from Gunhead and Ochako moved to the next dummy. A punch to her head, she deflected with her arms, and countered with an elbow to the chest. Gunhead called out again, and she moved. He called out again and she moved. Over and over down the line of dummies. Sometimes she would only be allowed to make a single move, other she went through multiple. Kick, knee, block, elbow, block, palm strike, block, deflect, counter, kick. Ochako was blur.

Final dummy.

A simple standing dummy.

There for Ochako to cut loose. And she did.

Ochako went through every move that Gunhead had taught her. Striking at soft points. Solar plexus, kidneys, the back of legs and jaw. Behind her Ochako heard Gunhead call out for her to deliver her finishing blow. At that moment she could also hear his advice from earlier, 'visualize someone I don't like'. As she thought of that, the dummy in front of her changed.

She could see his straw blond hair.

She could see his arrogant eyes.

She could see his condescending smirk.

She could see Bakugou Katsuki standing right in front of her, and Ochako cut loose and unleashed all hell. Reaching out, she gripped the dummy by the shoulder and yanked it forward, while at the same time delivered an elbow strike right underneath its chin, and into its throat.

Ochako stood over the fallen dummy, panting as the red mist in her vision faded, and from exerting herself so hard throughout the test. Gunhead walked up to her, clapping, "Masterfully done Ochako. You've passed every test I had for you. Congratulations."

Ochako looked up at Gunhead and smiled, so proud to hear him say that. Putting a hand on her shoulder, Gunhead lead Ochako away from the training mat, "Come on. Let me buy your lunch before you head on home."

"Thank you!"

Gunhead glanced back at the fallen dummy, "Oh and Ochako. Do me a favor."

"Hmm?"

"I know you must really dislike that bully, but promise me that you won't do that to him when you see him in school."

Ochako looked back to the fallen dummy and was surprised at what she saw. The stitches that hold the head to the rest of the body had been ripped apart. Leaving the dummies head hanging by only a few threads. Ochako realized she had more or less just decapitated the poor piece of training equipment.

Month 6 (September)

It was the day for All Might's surprise sparring match and Izuku sat on the tailgate of All Mights truck, trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach flying around. After a month of practice and preparation, today he was going to have his first sparring match. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Izuku finished wrapping the tape around his hands and wrists, chuckling dryly that he didn't have to redo it a fourth time. With the tape done, Izuku put on his headgear and gloves and hurried down to the beach where All Might had set up a shabby, but usable, makeshift boxing ring.

At the far corner of the ring All Might was busy talking to someone, his sparring partner for the day he guessed, who had their back turned to Izuku. Unlike Izuku, who was wearing a basic long sleeved gym shirt and shorts for the match, this person was sporting a martial arts gi, and on top of the same gear he had for his head and hands, they had added padding on their elbows and knees.

Am I fighting a martial artist? Shouldn't I be fighting another boxer like me?

As Deku stepped into the ring, All Might waved at him, "Good. You look like you are ready to go."

"Yes, I'm ready to start. Um, is this who I'm going to be fighting?"

The person turned around and Izuku felt himself tense up in surprise, "Uraraka!?"

Uraraka smiled and waved happily at Izuku, "Deku it's great to seeEEP"

Much to Ochako's surprise, Izuku rushed forward to wrap his arms around her in a tight hug and lifted her up in his excitement, "Uraraka! I thought you'd be back later today!"

"All Might drove out and picked me up last night so I could be here," Ochako quickly stammered out, still shocked by Izuku's welcome.

While attempting to steady herself, Ochako's arms lay on Izuku's shoulders and her hands locked behind his head. Anyone looking right then might have the impression that the two where a young couple. At least All Might thought so, "Do you two need a moment to yourselves? I can go grab a cup of coffee if you want some privacy."

Both Izuku and Ochako looked over at All Might before looking back towards each other before they too realized the intimate situation they were in. Mechanically, but gently, Izuku put Ochako down before covering his now beet red face with his arms and whirling around away from everyone to hide, "I'msosorry!Iwasjustsohappytoseeyouagain!"

Ochako at the same time pressed her hands to her face, hiding the fact that her cheeks had also turned several deeper shades of pink, and inadvertently floated herself. As she tumbled in the air, upside down, she squeaked out, "It'sokayDeku!Itwasjustalittlesurprisingisall!Igotexcitedseeingyouagaintoo!"

As she floated by, Ochako bumped into Izuku, startling both of them. When they both looked at each other, red faced and upside down, neither could stop the laughter that bubbled out. The whole scene was too ridiculous. After a few seconds of laughing, Izuku reached out his hand for Ochako to grab, "It really is good to see you again Uraraka. Phone calls are nice, but I definitely like it better when you are here."

Ochako took his hand and turned herself right side up before letting herself drop back to the ground, "Same here Deku. Nothing beats having my best friend around."

All Might couldn't help but smile as the two caught up. However while he was happy for the two, they were here for a reason. So after giving them a few more seconds to talk amongst themselves he clapped his hands together to grab their attention, "You two will have plenty of time later to talk. This is the last day before your summer break ends. You've both used this time to begin honing your combat abilities. I know you've both come a long way in a very short amount of time."

Izuku and Ochako beamed with pride at that, though All Might was quick to put his words into perspective, "Don't let it go to your head you two. These past few weeks have only given you a foundation to build on. Understand?"

"Yes All Might!" They replied simultaniasly.

"Good. Good. Now if you two remember you'll be having yourselves a sparring match today. Now why don't you head to your corners and we can get started."

Izuku blinked and glanced to his side at Ochako. Truthfully he had been so excited at seeing Ochako again he'd actually forgotten that had been the plan.

"Looks like I'll get to see what All Might taught you. This should be fun." Ochako smirked before walking over to her side of the ring.

"Yeah…" Izuku frowned as he walked to his corner. The butterflies from before, now twisting his stomach into knots.

I knew I'd be having a match today but I didn't think it'd be with Uraraka… This means I'll be trying to hit her… What if I do hit her!? I can't hit her, I might… I might…

"Now you two listen closely. While this will pretty much be a free for all for you two, it's not a street brawl. There will still be some rules. The moment either of you see's the other call for the fight to end, you pull up right then and there. The same goes for when I ring this bell here. You don't start fighting until I ring it, and you stop immediately when I ring it again. Young Midoriya, this will be the first time you've fought someone who will be able to kick you. So the no hitting below the belt rule doesn't really apply anymore, so watch out for that. However Young Uraraka," All Might made sure he had Ochako's undivided attention, "try to be careful where you kick."

Ochako nodded vigorously, showing she understood exactly what All Might meant.

"Good girl. Now if there are no questions, I'll ring the bell and you two can-"

"Wait a second All Might!" Izuku quickly interrupted, "I just...um" Izuku glanced at Ochako before turning away.

"What is it Young Midoriya?"

All Might noticed Izuku give Ochako another glance. He could see him becoming more uncomfortable as he fidgeted around and picked at his gloves. When he looked over at Ochako again only to look away just as quickly, All Might had a suspicion what was on the boys mind.

Young man, don't say what I know you're thinking

"Are you sure this is ok? For us to fight like this? I don't want to accidentally hurt Uraraka if I hit her too hard."

...He actually said it...

There was a pause before Izuku guessed he probably had said something he shouldn't have. All Might was rubbing his brow, clearly embarrassed by his prodige. At what, Izuku couldn't guess. He didn't think he had said anything that emarressing. Then Izuku looked at Ochako, and he knew he had screwed up. Ochako looked pissed. Before Izuku could try to apologize however, Ochako whipped her head over towards All Might, and through gritted teeth simply said, "Ring the bell."

Wait, what?

All Might nodded once and pulled the cord on the bell, signaling the start of the round. The ringing hadn't even started to fade when Ochako whirled back to face Izuku and dashed forward.

Panicked, Izuku stumbled back, "Wait Uraraka! Hold on!"

Ochako had closed the distance between them, and Izuku, tripping over his own feet as he tried to step back, threw a wild punch that went wide. While it was never going to hit Ochako, it did give her the perfect chance to finish the fight there and then. Ochako sidestepped and with one hand grabbed hold of Izuku's wrist. Pivoting she let his own momentum carry him forward and she reached behind with her other hand grabbed Izuku the back of his neck. At this point if she followed Gunhead's training she would pull Izuku down to the mat, and pin him face down. However after what Izuku had said, she wanted to make sure he never made the same mistake again. With the hand holding Izuku's neck, she pressed each finger into his skin. She felt her quirk activate and Izuku was now weightless and defenseless. Turning to make sure she was facing the right way, she threw Izuku up and out of the ring, and out towards the ocean. She waited for what she thought was an appropriate amount of time before slapping her hands together and releasing Izuku from the effecting of her quirk. Izuku fell unceremoniously into the water with a splash, before sputtering back to the surface.

Izuku floated on the water's surface for a few moments as he collected himself and swam back towards the beach. Izuku kept his head down as he shuffled back to the ring. Once back inside Izuku looked up to find Ochako back in her corner, arms crossed and giving him a very intense and measured glare. In a snap, Izuku bowed till he was almost parallel to the ground, "Please forgive me! It was wrong of me to say something like that! It was completely disrespectful and out of line! I'm truly, truly sorry..."

Izuku stayed as he was, not daring to look up. He shook and trembled, not from the chill from being soaked, but from a fear that he may have irrevocably damaged his friendship with Ochako. For Izuku the next few moments of silence seemed to drag on forever until he heard footsteps on the cheap plywood mat. As the footsteps got closer and Izuku could start to see the outline of a shadow, he screwed his eyes shut.

This is it. I just screwed up and there's no going back. I'm such an idiot -!

Izuku's thoughts were interrupted when he felt a towel dropped onto his head, and someone beginning to dry his hair. Startled, Izuku looked up to find Ochako standing over him, smiling.

"Uraraka?!"

"Easy there. You can't really spar with me if you have to wipe those wet bangs out of your eyes every second. So let's get you dried up some."

Struck dumb, Izuku couldn't say or do anything as he waited for Ochako to finish. When she draped the towel over his shoulder, she nodded in satisfaction, "There we go. Much better. I think you can take care of the rest."

When she turned to walk away, Izuku found his voice, "Wait? You're… I mean, you don't…"

Izuku trailed off, not wanting to put his thoughts from before into words. Still afraid that by doing so, would make them a reality. Ochako looked at Izuku, her head tilted in confusion, "I don't, what?"

"...Hate me?"

Ochako blinked in surprise, "Hate you? Of course I don't hate you."

"But what I said before…"

"What you said was really stupid Deku. And it was a little hurtful too. I'd hope you would respect me a little more than that."

"OF COURSE I RESPECT YOU!" Izuku declared with just a twinge of fear in his voice, "I do, I really do. I just...I was just…"

Ochako walked over and put her hand on Izuku's shoulder, "You were just being a little stupid. It happens to everyone. You were stupid, and then you apoligized. Problem solved"

"But you looked so mad…"

"I'm allowed to be mad when someone says something that pisses me off Deku. Though," Ochako rubbed the back of her head as a bit of embarrassment and regret crept into her voice, "Maybe throwing you into the ocean was a bit...much."

"You did look pretty cool though…" Izuku said softly.

"Hmm?"

"Looking back, the way you just um, charged me like that was pretty cool. I guess you learned a lot from Gunhead."

Ochako wasn't prepared to suddenly be complemented by Izuku like that. A light blush returned to her cheeks as she glanced away, "Yeah, I guess I did pick up a few things."

Another pause stretched between the two. Ochako could still see that while Izuku was no longer afraid that she hated him, he was still nervous about the match they were supposed to be having. She needed a way to help him get over this, so they could get on with their match.

I just need to figure out a way to show him he won't hurt me. I suppose the fastest way would be to let him hit me. Actually…

"Say Deku, you're still worried about hurting me, aren't you?"

Izuku flinched, but still nodded.

Yep, I knew it. Well I'm nipping this in the bud right now.

"Deku, hit me."

Izuku's eyes bulged as she snapped his head to look at Ochako, "WHAT!?"

"I want you to hit me."

"Wait, why would you want me to do that!"

"You're worried that you'll accidentally hurt me if we fight. I'm going to prove to you that won't happen. So I want you to hit me as hard as you can, and I'll show you that you can't hurt me."

As Izuku stood dumbfounded at Ochako's request, All Might suppressed another groan. While he was tempted, very tempted, to step in and stop this, he honestly felt that while this might not be the best way for the two to work this issue out, it would at least be the quickest. Not only for Izuku, but Ochako as well.

I don't think she realizes just how strong the boy is. At least its not just the boy thats dumb. I swear these two share brain cells at this point...Note to self, I need to see if I can update my bet with Inko. I think I picked a date way too far off. No way they make it to their second year without realizing something.

"Uraraka I don't know about this…"

"Deku if you don't punch me right now, I will get mad again."

"Okay, okay!" Izuku waved his hands frantically, "I'll hit you. Um where do you want it? Not the face right?"

Ochako thought about it for a second, "Nah, let's avoid that whole area. Just um… hit me in the stomach. That should be fine."

As Ochako stood tall, giving Izuku a clear shot, Izuku readied himself, "okay, sure just a punch to your gut then...On three?"

"Sure."

Okay Izuku, you can do this. She's asking for it, so it's fine...right?

"Alright, on three." Izuku confirmed.

Ochako nodded as she readied herself.

"One...Two...Thr...are you really sure about this?"

"Grrr Deku just HIT ME ALREADY!"

And he did.

Izuku hit Ochako has hard as he could, driving his fist right into stomach, and driving all the air out of Ochako's lungs. Ochako's knees hit the mat as she dropped to the ground, hard. Wrapping her arms around her stomach and with her forehead pressed down on the mat, she coughed and gagged vehemently as she tried desperately to refill her lungs with air, while at the same time, keep herself from losing her breakfast all over everything. Above her she could hear Izuku panicking, asking if she was okay, if she needed help. Saying how this was a bad idea. Through sheer will, Ochako pull an arm away from her shuddering stomach and held up a hand, silencing Izuku on the spot.

Okay...that...that was...OW OW OW ow ow ow!

Ochako ground her head into the mat as she tried to get her thoughts back in order.

Need to...stand up. Stand up and show Deku that this...oh, no no no don't throw up.

Pulling her arm back, Ochako rubbed her stomach, desperately trying to calm herself. She hadn't thrown up in over two months, a testament to her strengthening her resilience and limit of her quirk, and she was not about to break that streak.

Just a few more seconds, and I'll be fine...yeah just fine… So Deku learned how to throw a punch, good to know.

Slowly as she was able to calm her breathing, she could feel her nausea begin to fade as well. Soon she had both under control enough that she was able to lift herself up into a kneeling position, before with a grunt, she forced herself to stand up.

Though red faced and teary eyed from coughing so much, Ochako gave Izuku a thumbs up as she quickly gasped out, "See. Fine. Completely. Fine."

This was a horrible idea. Who's idea was this again? Oh yeah, mine.

It took Ochako a few more moments before she completely collected herself, all the while Izuku fretted around her. Mumbling about possible permanent injuries he might have caused her. Ochako waved off his concerns as finally the pain in her stomach had died down to a low throbbing, "Deku calm down. See I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

Ochako sighed before reaching up to her belt, "Do you want to check my stomach to be sure?"

There was a pause before what Ochako had just said started to sink in. Izuku glanced down towards Ochako's stomach, before immediately snapping back, like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Panicked Izuku covered his eyes with his hands, "NO, NO, I BELIEVE YOU! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT!"

Ochako quickly tried to back track, and play it off as a joke as she ripped her hands away from her gi. She was fortunate that Izuku couldn't see her with his eyes covered, since the permanent blush on her cheeks were now practically neon., "I was kidding Deku. Calm down."

I can NOT believe I almost just did that. What is wrong with me. Whats next, gonna show him my br… Do not finish that thought.

Izuku, after making sure he wasn't about to see things he was sure he wasn't supposed to, and pushing down the slight feeling of disappointment that he was very confused by, lowered his hands, "I guess, if you are fine, then I was worried over nothing. Sorry."

Pouncing on the chance to return to a normal conversation, Ochako waved off Izuku, "Don't worry about it Deku. It happened, and now it's in the past. So we good?"

"Of course Uraraka!"

"Then I think we are ready to have our match then."

"If the two of you are actually ready now, perhaps we can have at least one match before noon?" All Might asked, with only a small amount of snark.

Izuku and Ochako looked over at All Might, both completely forgetting he had been there. The entire time. Nodding hastily, both moved to their corners to get themselves ready. As Ochako rechecked her gear, Izuku dried himself off some more, before he looked down at his still dripping shirt before pulling it off, better just take this off. I'd rather not get chafed.

After making sure everything was still in place, Ochako turned her attention back towards Izuku, and promptly her mind came to a grinding, screeching, halt.

Oh…

Momentarily enraptured, Ochako took in the sight before her while her face got redder and redder. Her eyes closely following a droplet of water that dripped down from Izuku's surprisingly well toned chest to run over the forming definition of his abs before it was absorbed into the waistband of his shorts.

When did THAT happen?

Ochako, with great effort, turned away from Izuku and tried to refocus on the bout she was about to have.

Focus already. Stop thinking about those...When did he even get… all of THAT!? I saw him shirtless before when we were doing laps in the ocean. That was only a couple of months ago at most! He looked good back then yeah but… No, don't think like that.

Ochako, after making sure her face was back to a normal shade, turned around, ready to begin her match. Her eyes glanced over the toned lines on his arms, At least now I know why he hits so hard. She thought dryly as she rubbed her stomach.

Seeing that both Izuku and Ochako were both ready to go, All Might put his hand back onto the bell cord, "All right you two, lets give this another go."

When the bell rang, Izuku and Ochako took up their stances and moved, carefully, to the rings center. Ochako held her arms up so that her forearms protected the sides of her head as she watched Izuku start to try and circle around her. Izuku jabbed at her with his right glove, but Ochako easily deflected the punch away. Not that it was meant to actually hit her. Izuku was testing, probing her. Izuku had only had a couple of matches up to this point. All of them against All Might who only ever used boxing mitts for Izuku to hit. With this limited experience in actual sparing, on top of his opponent being a fighter from a completely different field, Izuku was being extremely cautious. Not sure how Ochako would act or react to him. After his next jab however, he quickly found out.

His next jab sailed past Ochako and while his arm was still extended she closed the distance between the two and grabbed hold of his arm and pulled Izuku forward, while at the same time she swept her foot out and hooked it on Izuku's heel. With his foot kicked out from underneath him, Izuku fell down onto the mat with a solid thud. Ochako back off, giving Izuku a chance to get back onto his feet.

Ochako smirked at Izuku as she got back into her stance, "It's two points for me Deku. Any time you want to try and close the gap, be my guest."

"Wait, two? How'd you get two?"

"I threw you into the ocean."

"The ocean throw doesn't count!"

Ochako rolled her eyes, "The bell rang, so it totally counts. Now come on, if I wanted to practice on something that didn't fight back, I'd use a dummy."

Izuku grumbled under his breath before taking his stance. He took a few steps forward, jabbing as he did. Ochako continued to deflect, or move back, keeping herself at a safe distance on the edge of Izuku's strike range. Choosing her moments to move in and deliver a kick at his leg before skidding back while Izuku straightened himself up. Smirking, Ochako taunted Izuku some, egging him on to try and hit her, "Come on Deku. You were so close that time."

While Ochako taunted him however, Izuku was starting to see how her defence worked. While her form was different than what he was used to, what she was doing was simple. Right now she was the one deciding their distance. Keeping herself back until she saw an opening and only then closing the space between them. Knowing that, Izuku decided it was time to change the game. After another less than pleasant kick to the side of his knee, Ochako again moved back to her safe distance, however this time, Izuku wasn't going to let her get away from him. His unfamiliarity from before had made him passive, but that quickly changed, and Ochako, feeling overly confident, was not ready for it. Izuku pushed forward, changing his punches from jabs to body blows. Ochako barely had time to yelp in surprise as she attempted to block the aggressive attack from Izuku. Switching between body blows and hooks, Izuku rushed forward and Ochako quickly found herself over powered. Izuku kept up the attack, pushing Ochako till her back hit the ropes and she tumbled out of the ring and into the sandy beach.

Laying in the sand, and rubbing her now sore sides from several solid hits from Izuku, Ochako looked up to see Izuku leaning on the ropes smirking down at her.

"So that's two-all I think."

With a groan, Ochako sat up, "We counting the gut punch huh."

Izuku's smirk grew into a full smile, which Ochako found extremely annoying. The urge to wipe it away built up inside of her, adding to a feeling she wasn't all to familiar with. It was the same feeling Izuku had as he bent down and offered his hand to help her up, which she was happy to accept. Gripping Izuku's hand, Ochako was pulled back into the ring, but with both now back inside, neither let go of the others hand. Both stared at each other, their grips tightening as that intense feeling enveloped them. At first neither knew what they were feeling. It wasn't resentment. Or some other kind of negative emotion. Neither felt bad or hurt from the quick pot shots they had taken against each other. But both could feel a fire burning inside of them they just had no words for.

All Might looked between the two, a knowing smile crossing his gnaught face. He knew what had been sparked. Even if it had taken a few false starts at the beginning. For the first time since the two met, the fire of competition was raging within them. "Are you two ready to go again?"

Neither took their eyes off the other as they answered with a quick, "yes." Letting go of eachother, they took up their stances ready to go again. Gone was the apprehension, uncertainty and touch of cockiness. It was replaced with determined smiles and eyes burning with a desire to win.

By the end of the day, both Izuku and Ochako sat back to back against each other, panting heavily and nursing more than a few bruises, scuffs, cuts and swollen lips. Each had also gotten in a good solid hit during their bouts, which for Ochako was a nasty cross that left her with a shiner that was swelling her right eye. And for Izuku, he had taken an elbow to the face that came extremely close to giving him a broken nose. At the very least, he had enough tissue shoved up it to clog up a broken dam.

With a heavy sigh, All Might handed the two ice packs, which they gratefully applied to themselves.

"You two do realize that a part of sparing is to also practice defence. Right?"

Sheepish grins were the only response he got, making it clear to him that neither teen felt bad about their situation. It was also clear to him that the two had had way to much fun beating the crap out of each other to really care about the consequences they would face later. That he was going to face later he quickly realized.

"Oh I'm going to die. The moment your mother sees this, she is going to kill me Young Midoriya."

Notes:

So yeah I'm really sorry for the long wait. I'd wanted to get this chapter out before the end of September but work got pretty crazy for a bit. I had to drive down to Chicago to do tests and it was a whole deal. Also to my surprise, this chapter got much longer than I thought it would, so that just compounded the issue. But it's here and I hope you all enjoyed seeing the cinnamon buns get a little toughened up. I haven't tried writing any kind of action scenes since my Legends of the Dovahkiin story so I hope these were good. A little thirst in this chapter too which was oddly fun to write. A little one-sided but don't worry, that won't last long. So, the plan is to have the next chapter be the last of the Aim to Pass series then we finally get to the exam, so I hope you'll all stick around for that. Please, if you see any glaring errors leave a comment. I'm always looking to try and improve.