Hey everyone! Finally back with another chapter of "Through the Rough" after not too long! As I said before, I am releasing chapters on a review-based cadence. However, I have decided to lower that number to 4 reviews per update for the time being. I think that's fair and will help get chapters out much faster as time goes on.
No guest reviews to call back to from the previous chapter. For those of you who've read the full story already from the forum, we're still a long way away from catching up. So I urge you, review when you can. Only then will the chapters come.
Anyways, that's enough from me! Let's get back into "Through the Rough"!
"Yo, Witch," Sister greeted, getting the Sorcery Quirk user's attention as she turned to see the nurse approach her in the hallway, "How's the first year at UA starting for you?" she asked curiously, putting her hands onto her hips.
"It's been quite interesting thus far," the fellow Shining Star Hero admitted in response, "From what I gather between both hero course classes, there are at least six Ether-Type Quirks," she pointed out in remembrance.
"One of whom happens to be your very own kid," Sister pointed out cheekily, "Gotta say, she's filled out nicely..." she remarked in a sly tone, licking her lips.
"Please do not refer to Lady Rebecca in such a way, Ivry..." Witch pleaded as a drop of sweat trickled down from her head.
"Sorry, sorry..." the nurse apologized repeatedly, rubbing the back of her head, "I'm really happy for her, though," she noted.
"As am I," her fellow Shining Star Hero agreed, "I never imagined that Lady Rebecca would want to travel down the hero path," she admitted, glancing out the window for a moment, "But... perhaps Sir Izuku had something to do with her change in fate..." she assumed.
"Izuku?" Sister repeated in confusion.
"Oh, Lady Rebecca's childhood friend outside the orphanage," Witch answered, "Perhaps if it weren't for him, she would be doing something much differently than take on such a path..." she pointed out, letting off a smile.
"They're doing the training with Toshinori today, huh?" the nurse guessed, raising an eyebrow, "Wonder if I'll end up seeing one of them..." she remarked aloud.
"I'm sure you've already met Sir Izuku," her fellow Shining Star Hero noted, causing her to perk up, "He did break his finger yesterday..." she recalled.
"He's that kid?!" Sister exclaimed upon remembering, "Tsk..." she scoffed, "Chiyo didn't even let me try my Dispel Driver to ease his fatigue..." she pointed out in frustration. A trickle of sweat rolled down Witch's head as she silently chuckled.
"Ivry..." she continued curiously, getting her fellow Shining Star Hero's attention, "have you been in contact with Mio recently?" she asked, causing her to blink in surprise.
"No, actually..." she replied, "Why?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmm..." Witch hummed in thought, placing a hand onto her chin in thought, "When you and I announced our tenures here at this school, I would've assumed she'd take notice and contact us..." she told her colleague.
"Well, I can't blame Hermit for being offline with us..." Sister admitted, glancing off to the side, "After what happened to Valkyrie-"
"Ivry, please," Witch interjected, causing her fellow Shining Star to silence herself, "As worried as I am, I know this is something we can solve," she pointed out, "I'll try to reach out to her before the end of today," she promised, walking off.
"Okay then..." the nurse uttered out, giving off an awkward wave goodbye. She wondered just how such a conversation would go between the two Shining Star Heroes, who hadn't met in ages...
Rebecca couldn't help but fidget nervously as she stared up at the screen in the viewing section for her and the rest of the class. Izuku was about to go up against probably his worst nightmare in Katsuki. And on the other side of things, the Explosion Quirk user was probably planning to prove just how strong he was to his rival. Someone he wouldn't even have considered a rival up until now.
"Bluegarden, you good?" Kyoka asked of her partner, getting her attention.
"Oh, uh, yeah!" she stuttered in response, "It's just... Izuku and I went to the same middle school as Kacchan..." she pointed out, glancing off to the side for a moment, "If you couldn't already tell from yesterday, Kacchan's not exactly the nicest person, especially when it comes to us..." she mentioned.
"Sounds rough..." the Earphone Jack Quirk user admitted, folding her arms over her chest.
"Mmm..." Rebecca hummed out as she looked down sadly. It had been rough for her and her best friend.
FLASHBACK
"Ugh... Izuku groaned out as he lied upon the playground dirt, having taken yet another beating from Katsuki.
"This is the little boy you were telling me about?" Witch asked of Rebecca, who were both standing by the downed little boy.
"Mm-hmm..." the Leaper Quirk user answered with a nod, "He's Quirkless, so he keeps getting bullied..." she mentioned as tears were pricking her eyes.
"How horrible..." her caretaker remarked, kneeling down beside Izuku, "I may not be as refined as Sister, but I can at least provide him some comfort," she assured. A few moments later, the little boy was sitting up with bandages upon his face, arms, and legs. "Do you feel a little better?" Witch asked him. He nodded.
"Thank you..." he said meekly with gratitude.
"Momma, you forgot something," Rebecca pointed out, getting their attentions.
"And what would that be, Rebecca?" Witch asked curiously.
"It's okay," the Leaper Quirk user assured kneeling down next to her friend, "I can do it," she said. She leaned in, closed her eyes, and pecked Izuku's bandaged cheek with her lips. Witch lightly gasped, and the little boy's face went bright red.
"R-R...Rebecca?" he stammered out. She blinked in confusion before giggling.
"Kissing boo-boos always makes the pain go away!" she noted to him, "That's what Witch always told me!" she mentioned, looking over to her caretaker.
"That's right, Rebecca..." she responded with a grin.
END FLASHBACK
'I can't believe I did that back then...' Rebecca inwardly admitted with a blush across her cheeks, 'Oh well...' she sighed to herself with a shrug, 'I'm glad I kept Izuku going for all these years,' she admitted inwardly, 'Now let's hope all that effort paid off...' she said inwardly. The match began. Izuku and Ochaco snuck into the battle building with ease, carefully making their way around.
Izuku knew that using One For All was going to have to be a last resort in case things got too intense. It was just whatever he could do without a Quirk and Ochaco's Zero Gravity. Against Katsuki and Tenya, that probably wouldn't be enough. At that moment, the Explosion Quirk user lunged around the corner to attack, blasting off half of his rival's mask with an explosion as he had protected his partner beforehand.
"What's the matter, Deku?" Katsuki questioned as the smoke settled, "Scared to face me?" he wondered aloud. Izuku figured that's what his rival would say. He also figured he'd try to come and attack by surprise. "I won't hurt you so bad they'll have to stop the fight!" the Explosion Quirk user declared as he charged toward the One For All inheritor, "Just close!" he yelled out, thrusting his right arm forward. However, Izuku grabbed it. Everyone in the viewing section watched as he went ahead and mightily threw his rival right over his shoulder, slamming him hard against the floor.
"YEAH, TAKE THAT!" Rebecca suddenly cheered with a pump of fist. Her shout was met with looks from everyone though, causing her to blush in embarrassment.
"Guess we know who she's betting on..." Eijiro remarked, folding his arms over his chest.
"Hey, I'm with her!" Mina proclaimed.
"Same!" Toru agreed. The Leaper Quirk user giggled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. All Might looked to her and smiled.
'Seems Young Bluegarden really did believe in the kid for years...' he noted inwardly, 'I hope that'll help drive him forward!' he mentioned to himself. The match continued. Ochaco ran off to find the weapon, leaving Izuku to face Katsuki alone. Rather, the plan was to lure him and try to capture him via the capture tape he had been provided.
But that was proving to be difficult, especially with how persistent and unpredictable the Explosion Quirk user was becoming. It came to the point that he wound up using the grenade-like bracers upon him, unleashing a massive blast that burned through the building and could've easily killed Izuku. Seeing that, Rebecca gasped with fright, clasping her hands over her mouth.
"Sheesh, is that guy nuts?" Weisz wondered, scratching at the back of his head.
"An explosion like that is dangerous, even for a villain..." Homura chimed in.
"Indeed," Momo agreed, "Bakugo seems to be more inclined to attack recklessly due to whatever grudge he's holding against Midoriya..." she pointed out.
"Man, the guy's way too strong..." Denki commented. Hearing their words, all Rebecca could do was hope and pray that Izuku would somehow find his way out of this match. He was struggling now in such an open space, being unable to counterattack without the power of One For All. It came to the point where he knew he'd have to use it, even knowing what the consequences were.
Katsuki shouted at him angrily, thinking that after all those years of being Quirkless, his rival was just pretending to be weak to laugh behind his back. That was far from the truth. And that sparked a fire in Izuku.
"You idiot...!" he growled out, clenching his fists tightly, "THAT'S WHY I WANNA BEAT YOU! BECAUSE YOU'RE AMAZING!" he roared in declaration.
"You're even more of an idiot than I realized..." Katsuki snarled back, "COME AT ME!" he bellowed. The two of them charged at each other, ready to land final blows.
"They're gonna kill each other!" Eijiro exclaimed from the viewing section.
"All Might, you gotta stop this!" Rebecca begged, thinking her best friend was about to die. But he didn't. Instead, he reared his fist back and thrusted it upward, unleashing a powerful blast of pressurized air that slammed through each of the floors, all while taking Katsuki's explosion. In doing so, he provided Ochaco with a means to use a pillar like a baseball bat, hitting debris out to distract Tenya long enough to grab the fake weapon, thus earning her and Izuku the victory.
"You..." Katsuki growled out afterwards, looking at the aftermath of the final attack, "You were playing me this entire time, you bastard!" he yelled to his rival, who looked more battered than he did, with burns along his left arm, while his right was completely broken from his full-powered punch. Tears pricked Rebecca's eyes at the sight. She could only imagine how much pain her best friend was in. Even though he won, he still had a long way to go...
And that brings us to the end of this chapter! Next time, we'll get to see how each of the Edens Zero characters fare in their team matches! Hopefully, that chapter comes sooner than later! Hope to hear your thoughts soon!