Chapter 2: Training and Adoptions
It was early morning at Takoba Beach. Or, Dagoba Beach, as the locals preferred to call it. It was a weekend, so most teenagers would be sleeping in at such an early hour.
Not Ochako Uraraka.
As it turned out, the easy part was getting her parents' blessing to begin training to become a Hero. They were actually happy to see their little girl actually knowing what she wanted to do with her life.
However, the hard part was the actual training.
She was currently trying, and failing, to move a fridge in the middle of this sea's worth of trash. Of course, perhaps the actual problem was the fact that…
"Hey, hey, hey! It's pretty comfy up on this fridge! How are you doing down there?" All Might joked, as Ochako fell into the sand, exhausted. "People move these everyday, you know. And most of them don't have any super-strength."
"There's an extra six hundred pounds with you on top of it."
"Nah, I've lost weight, so I'm down to five hundred and sixty these days. In this form, at least."
"Great, much better. Why do you have me dragging trash across the beach, anyway?" the brown-haired girl asked. "I could easily lift all of this with my Quirk."
"Because you need to train your body, not your Quirk," the No 1 Hero explained. "My Quirk, One For All, is a whole lot to handle. An unprepared body can't fully inherit it."
"Okay, so this whole trash thing is some kind of hard-core gym workout?"
"You got it! But there's another reason, too. I did a little research a few days ago. Turns out, this part of the beach used to be beautiful, but it's been a total mess for the last few years. Heroes these days are all about showing off and catching flashy Villains," All Might said, as he casually crushed the fridge with his bare hands.
CRUNCH…
"Things were different before Quirks: Service was what mattered. Back then, "heroes" were those who helped the community, even if it was a little boring. You will resepte the coastline for this entire section of the beach. That is your first step on becoming a Hero."
"This is insane…" Ochako muttered under her breath.
"The good news is that you do have muscle on your body, so this shouldn't be too hard. But you still need to prepare for your second Quirk within ten months of the UA Entrance Exam. But not to worry! I adjusted the "Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan" to fit in your commute from Mie to here, while also scheduling every single other aspect of your everyday life!"
"Even my sleep is scheduled..." she said, reading the paper.
"If I'm being super honest, this is going to be super-hard. Do you think you're up for it?"
"Yeah, sure I am. I mean, I already told my parents I would be training for UA out here for the next ten months, so I can't back down now, can I? My parents didn't raise a quitter!"
All Might merely nodded at Ochako's shaky smile.
It was a calming day in the Aizawa household. Neither Shouta nor Emi had to teach at UA or Ketsubutsu, since it was a three-day weekend, and they didn't have any patrols until later in the day. So, the married couple decided to enjoy their day free of teaching.
The young couple was currently enjoying the sensation of simply sitting on their couch, drinking some tea and coffee respectively, and reading a good book, and or newspaper.
Honestly, Eraserhead never thought he would get married, not in a million years.
It happened almost ten years ago. Present Mic was sick that day, so like a good friend, Shouta covered his friend's day shift, which included patrolling near a public park.
The problem was, the idiot didn't tell him that his patrol partner would be Ms. Joke.
Both Shouta Aizawa and Emi Fukukado knew each other for a long time. When they were both students, the agencies they were working at were close to each other, so it was only natural that the two of them would help each other out. But good Lord, was it tiring.
She was a Twilight Hero who was always an optimist, while Eraserhead was an Underground Hero who liked to look at things rationally. But for some reason, she thought that the two of them together, outside of the Hero life, would be a good idea. At some point, Emi ended up going so far as to saying that if they stuck together, they would "make a family full of laughter", something which Eraser thought would be an actually goddamn nightmare.
But despite shooting her down like that, the green-haired woman kept persisting, like a roach that refused to die. Every time they met, she would always ask him out, and he would always shoot her down, and that day they went patrolling together was no exception.
However, it would be aggravated due to a single child.
Said child was some eight-year-old with green hair that somehow recognized both him and Emi, bouncing up and down at the fact that he was meeting two Pros. Sure, he could understand how the kid knew Emi, she was kinda popular, but how did he know HE was Eraserhead?
Wouldn't normal kids be more excited to see All Might? Or Endeavor?
Regardless, Emi decided to play along with the little kid, who wanted both her and Shouta's autographs. Shouta refused, until the kid gave him puppy eyes so big that Shouta groaned and took the kid's notebook. Though, he had to admit, he was kinda surprised that the kid had written an entire page dedicated to him, his fighting style, and his Quirk. It was quite thorough.
Eventually, the kid's babysitter, some woman with pink and indigo hair, showed up and scolded the bart for running off to see the first Pro he saw. Called him Izu-something.
Anyway, just when it seemed that it was over, the little shit opened his mouth one last time.
"Bye, Eraserhead! Bye, Ms. Joke!" the kid waved as his guardian carried him away on her shoulders. "You two are really cute together!"
Even after so many years, Eraserhead could still remember that. VIVIDLY.
Because as soon as the kid was gone, Emi kept saying that the kid was a sign from the universe saying that the two of them had to be together and other crap like that, until he finally had enough. He agreed to ONE date, just to get her to shut up.
One hundred and forty-seven dates later, Emi Fukukado was now Emi Aizawa.
Shouta calculated that the kid that caused all of this was probably a teenager by now, and he vowed to himself that if he ever came across that green-haired kid again, he would first thank him, and then slap him. Or, better yet, if he became one of his students, expel him on the spot.
But for now, he would just enjoy his time on the couch with his wife.
Looking over to her husband, Emi smiled. "Hey, Sho?"
"Yes?"
"I want a –"
Knock, knock.
The two Heroes turned their heads towards the entrance of their apartment, where they found the origin of that knock, the knock on their front door. How very suspicious.
"Hizashi and Nemuri aren't coming over today, right?"
"No," Shouta answered. "And neither are Tensei or Mirai."
Knock, knock.
Slowly getting up, the two Pros slowly approached the door. Aside from their friends, no one else knew where they lived. Well, except for maybe Nedzu, but that one was a given.
Knock, knock.
Quickly, the green-haired woman slipped on her brass knuckles, while her husband grabbed his capture weapon and activated his Quirk, taking the lead, and signaling that he would quickly open the door on the count of three.
Quickly opening the door, Eraserhead scanned around the outside of the apartment complex, and found no one. Looking down, however, he saw…
… a small child. Who was looking up at him with fear in her eyes.
It was a little girl, with pale, blue-gray hair, almost white, in Shouta's opinion. Wide, red eyes which appeared innocent, but given the way she looked at him, implied that she had seen some seriously messed up things. Oh, she also had a small horn poking out of the right side of her forehead. And to top it all off, she looked like she was wearing a dirtied hospital gown, with her arms wrapped with bandages. Oh, and absolutely no shoes, whatsoever.
"Emi?" he called out to his wife, who was in as much shock as he was.
"I'm seeing her, too, Sho," his wife answered.
Looking back outside, he looked around and called out, "Hello? Is anyone there?"
Deciding that no one was there, Shouta looked down at the shaking child, and quietly said, "It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you. Are your parents here?"
Little did Shouta Aizawa know, up on the roof of the building across the apartment complex, someone with curly green hair and freckles was watching him, and smiled as he saw Eraserhead escorting the little girl into his apartment complex.
This was her second day, and Ochako already wanted to die.
She knew she was going to feel sore after the first day of lifting garbage, but she had no idea how it would be THIS bad. But she made a commitment, and she was going to stick by it.
After all, All Might pretty much made the decision of ditching his agency in Tokyo to hang around Musutafu, explicitly to help her out, at least whenever he was available.
Hauling a microwave towards the dumpster, she thought to herself, Okay, so I'm using different muscle groups depending on the size and shape of the trash I'm hauling. I have ten months to finish this, and I have to study to get into UA, while also… working… out…
Ochako's mind stopped as she caught something from the corner of her eye. Turning around, she saw that a girl with black hair and blue eyes was staring at her from behind the trash.
So, naturally, she did what any reasonable person would do.
She screamed.
"AIIEEE!"
While also dropping the microwave on her foot.
SLAM!
"OW! Fuckin' piece o' shit, fuckwit, goddamn, dick-headed, motherfucker –"
"Occhan."
"Huh?" Ochako asked, before she suddenly recognized the girl. "Yui-chan?"
"Mm," the black-haired girl nodded in confirmation. "It's been too long."
Yui Kodai. Back when Ochao first moved to Musutafu, she ended up in the same primary school as Yui. In fact, they were in the same class. As it turned out, kids were cruel, so they would obviously target both the new girl and the fatherless child when it came to their bullying.
So, Ochako and Yui stuck together. The two of them hit it off pretty good. Plus, given their similar Quirks and appearances, it became their inside joke that they were cousins.
It was sad seeing Yui go to Mustafu Private Middle School, while Ochako went to Mabu, but they promised each other that they would call every day and meet up on weekends.
And apparently, she now stumbled across Ochako's cleaning grounds.
"Oh, yeah, it has been a while, hasn't it? I have been meaning to call you," Ochako said, scratching her head. "Sorry for giving you radio silence for the last two weeks."
"Mm, it's okay," she nodded. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, uh, this?!" she said, getting nervous. "Well, uh, my trainer, yeah, he wants me to clean up this beach. It's some basic strength training to help me get into UA!"
"Oh. Well, then I guess I'll do the same thing."
"Wait, here?!"
"It's a public space."
"Yeah, but…"
"There's more than enough trash for everyone."
"That's fair."
"Plus, I also wanna go to UA."
"Well, in that case… welcome aboard, Yui-chan!" Ochako smiled, while she was thinking internally, How the fuck am I gonna explain this to All Might?
"Mm," Yui nodded, as she went to grab some garbage.
Naomasa Tsukauchi was having a… tiresome day.
If he was being honest, he wasn't expecting to see Aizawa at the police station in the early afternoon. Not only that, but his wife was with him, along with some kid. He didn't know if it was odd that she was wearing clothes that were a little bit too big for her. Specifically, Aizawa's.
However, after hearing from Aizawa that she was wearing rags when she appeared at his doorstep yesterday, he decided it was for the best. The scars all over her arms were a bad sign already. At least Ms. Joke knew how to make sure such injuries didn't get infected.
Hearing the door open behind him, Tsukacuhi knew that Nedzu was here, too.
"Good afternoon, Detective!" the white-furred mammal smiled. "How is your sister doing?"
"If you're referring to her recent engagement to Koichi, she's definitely having a better time about it than me," the detective groaned. "I know that O'Clock vouched for him, but still…"
"Yes, I am well-aware of your views on Vigilantism, even former Vigilantism. But you still have to remember that the Crawler and Pop Step are now official Pro Heroes," the principal of UA spoke. "Speaking of Heroes… I heard that one of my employees had an interesting story."
"Ah, right," he said, looking over at the one-way mirror. "Apparently, Shouta and Emi were simply enjoying their day off of Hero work when suddenly, they heard a knock on their door. Opening it, they find a little girl, all by herself, with the only thing she was carrying was this."
Tsukauchi handed the rodent the hand-written note that the girl was carrying along with her.
CONGRATULATIONS ON BECOMING NEW PARENTS!
- L.O.V.
PS: If you hurt her, every Villain I know will have your home address, knowledge of your Quirks, fighting styles, and how to counteract both of them.
"Hmm…" Nedzu hummed. "This is quite troubling. Has she spoken?"
"We have been able to get her to talk a little," the detective answered. "Apparently, whoever sent her to the Aizawas told her that they could be trusted, so they've had to be around her the entire time, but she did tell us a few things, but not much."
"Well, what do we know so far?"
"Her name is Eri, no surname. Her Quirk is suspected to be extremely powerful, powerful enough to cause someone to "disappear," her words, not mine. She was being abused by some small-time criminals, until yesterday, that is. Apparently, some bigger gang showed up, and sent her to the Aizawas, while also giving her that lovely handwritten note to hand to the couple."
"Hmm… any names?"
"She didn't give names, but she did describe one of the criminals who rescued her. He appears to be a male, with green eyes, freckles, and "fluffy green hair," according to her description."
"Well then!" Nedzu clapped his paws. "I have come to a decision! It's clear that the young girl feels most comfortable around the Aizawas, so the two of them will use their Hero licenses to have temporary custody of young Eri! Best case scenario, they become her adoptive parents!"
"And what about the letter?"
"It's clear that whoever sent the letter knows where they live, and who they are. That means that they're both smart, and dangerous," the white-furred mammal said. "The safest bet would be to have them remain at UA, but Ms. Joke works at Ketsubutsu. So…"
"So, what?" Tsukauchi said, looking a little worried.
"How would she like a job at UA?"
It was now the third week of strength training for Ochako Uraraka.
She had explained to All Might how her old childhood friend found her hauling trash by herself on the Sunday morning he left her alone to do official Hero work, so the Symbol of Peace couldn't exactly blame her for being discovered by the black-haired girl.
However, he was slightly upset that the girl insisted on staying and helping.
On the one hand, All Might kinda wanted to keep this place a secret, but on the other hand, Yui Kodai did indeed have a point that the beach was public property and that simply helping someone clean it up was not a crime, so he figured it was fine for her to stay.
Plus, All Might couldn't shake the feeling that Kodai kept staring right into his soul with her "unnerving stare", even though Ochako tried to explain to him that Yui's expressionless face was simply her default state. Still, in All Might's humble opinion, the more Yui Kodai focused on the beach trash instead of drilling a hole in the back of the blond's head with her eyes, the better.
On her third weekend of training, All Might dropped Ochako off a few blocks away from the beach via pickup truck, as he told her he would meet her there after completing a few errands in his deflated form, better known as "Toshinori Yagi".
Enjoying the smell of fresh flowers, Ochako hummed a happy tune, when –
"You're a Villain and that's all you'll ever be!"
The brown-haired girl snapped out of her little world, and saw a trio of kids his age ganging up on some kid with fluffy purple hair, and really tired-looking eyes.
She immediately recognized who that was.
That's Shinso from Class B!
"Why are you even thinking of applying to UA?!"
"Why would a school like UA even think of letting you be a Hero?!"
It's a three-to-one fight, Ochako analyzed. They had him cornered with a wall, keeping him from moving. Picking up a rock from the ground, she smirked, Let's even the odds.
"What are you look – OW!"
"The fuck?!"
Suddenly, the other two bullies stopped picking on the purple-haired kid, and turned their heads, seeing that their buddy was hit in the head with a rock, and was now bleeding.
"What the – YAAA!"
"LEAVE HIM ALONE, ASSHOLES!"
When the two other bullies were distracted by their buddy's bleeding head, Ochako ran towards one of them and kicked him in the shin, bringing him down, while punching the other one square in the nose. If she gave them time to prepare, it would make her job harder.
CRACK!
"Guh!"
As Ochako punched the third guy square in the nose, the tired-looking kid suddenly felt his hand getting grabbed, and felt himself getting pulled by the brown-haired kid.
"Come on!" she exclaimed.
The two of them ran through the streets and ducked behind one of the alleway. When they heard the trio of bullies run past them, both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
"Phew…" Ochako sighed, feeling her adrenaline dying down.
"Why'd you do that?" the purple-haired kid asked.
"'Cause helping people is common sense?" Ochako said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Stretching her hand out to him, she gave him the friendliest smile she had.
"Thanks," he groaned. "I'm Hitoshi Shinso."
"I know. We both go to the same school. Ochako Uraraka," Ochako decided to ask the question. "So, uh… let me guess: Those guys were bothering you because of your Quirk?"
It really was no secret. Everyone in Nabu Middle School knew about Shinso's Brainwashing Quirk, and how it could make him command anyone who responded to him. Most people tended to avoid him because of that, if not outright bullied him.
But for some reason, this girl wasn't scared of Shinso.
It confused him.
"You don't think it's scary? My Quirk, I mean?" he asked.
"What? No! I always thought it was super cool!"
"So… you don't think it's a Villainous Quirk?"
Ochako gave Shinso a look that seemed slightly offensive. "There's no such thing as a Villainous Quirk, only Villains who use their Quirks for evil. And besides, you want to go to UA, don't you? Don't deny it, I heard one of those jerks saying that you wanted to get in."
"Yeah?"
"See? Your Quirk is perfect for a Hero!"
"How?"
"Well, you could save people in a hostage situation, perfect for espionage, and suicide prevention, and that's just a few from the top of my head! But I…" Ochako stopped as she noticed Shinso's build. "Why are you so skinny?"
"What do you mean?"
"Your arms," she pointed. "They look like they've never exercised a day in their life."
"That's because… I haven't?"
There was silence for a moment.
Then there was a scream.
"WHAT?!" Ochako yelled. "How do you expect to get into the Hero Course looking like that?!"
"I mean, try my hardest, and if that fails, make it to the General Department, and then transfer during the Sports Festival?" Shinso answered, but it sounded more like a question.
Ocako decided she needed to do something about that.
Grabbing his hand, she said, "Come with me."
Within the walls of Jaku General Hospital, a woman slept.
She was slim, and her body showed signs that it had been constantly moved by the doctors and nurses, to make sure that her muscles didn't atrophy. Her green hair was long, but not to a ridiculous degree, showing that it was cut every now and then.
And her face seemed at peace, as it had for the last eight years of her life.
But that was all about to change.
She wasn't alone in her room.
Next to her bed, the comatose woman had someone looking over her. He wore a black suit and pants, with a white dress shirt, and had curly hair. However, the one thing anyone who walked in now would notice about him would be the tears falling down his eyes.
Slowly, he placed his hand on the sleeping woman's face.
Then, suddenly, the entire room exploded in blood.
The two of them arrived at trash-infested Dagoba Beach, where Ochako could see Yui from a distance, lifting a microwave without the usage of her Quirk.
"Yui-chan!" Ochako called out. "Is there a free spot over there?"
The black-haired girl looked at the two of them, then nodded. "Mm," she said, pointing at a part of the beach where the trash was mostly gone. "Talk over there."
"Thanks!" Ochako shouted, then proceeded to drag Shinso to the designated area.
"What are we doing here?" Shinso asked, still confused.
"Strength training," Ochako said. "You need to build up muscle if you want a shot at getting in."
"But what about my Quirk?"
"Look, a Quirk is important, yes, but they aren't everything. Quirks are tools, but you need more skills than just that to be a Hero," the girl from Mie explained. "The fact remains that you need muscle. There will be times where your Quirk won't work for the situation, so you can't rely solely on that. The UA Entrance Exam is in less than ten months, so you'll need to build up enough muscle and train if you want a shot at getting in."
"So this beach is like one giant workout…"
"Exactly," Ochako smiled.
Suddenly, Shinso saw a piece of paper stretched out to him.
"Here," the brown-haired girl said. "Take it."
Shinso looked at the paper quizzically before he took it and read it. "Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan?"
"Mm-hm," Ochako nodded. "It's my training plan. I'm also applying for UA."
"Thanks, but are you sure there won't be any problem?"
"Mm-hm," she nodded. "I only have to do my assigned area, while Yui-chan does hers. The rest is yours. So, we'll be splitting the trash beach clean-up by three parts. One third for each of us."
"Whoa, wait, I didn't agree to this," Shinso protested.
"You wanna be a Hero?" Ochako asked.
"Yeah, but…"
"Then shut up, and accept the help," she said, with the most passive-aggressive smile.
Shinso was silent for a few seconds, before saying, "Fuck it, why not?"
And just like that, Ochako had a new beach-cleaning buddy.
But little did Ochako Uraraka know, from the far side of the beach, right where the parking lot met the entrance sign, a small little camera was watching her every movement.
Katsuki Bakugou was eating when the phone call came in.
In reality, he really didn't think much about it. Even if it was the weekend, his parents were major players in the fashion industry, so getting calls outside of designated work hours was nothing new. Especially when it was easy enough for the family to be having breakfast.
He wasn't really a big fan of breakfast. Sure, he understood that it was the most important meal of the day, and that he needed the fuel to train, but he still thought that it ate away at his time. Especially when his parents made him eat and chat with them like a normal family, rather than letting him scarf it all down and then move on with the rest of the day.
So, while his mom was on the phone, and his dad was looking away, he would stuff his face as much as he could as fast as he could without getting caught by his folks.
"Hello, Bakugou residence," his mother answered. "Yes…? Oh…"
She dropped the phone, and nearly faltered.
"Honey…?" He could hear his dad ask.
Mituski looked at both of them, with the widest eyes.
"Inko's awake."
Katsuki proceeded to choke on his breakfast.
Nejire answered the call on her cell phone as soon as she read the caller ID.
"Heeey, Melissa-chan! Hiii!" the blue-haired girl greeted her friend.
"Hey, Nejire," the blonde girl's voice said from the other side. "Something's come up."
That, specifically, got Nejire's full attention. "Oh? What's up?"
"Our trip to the Gunga Mountains is a go. We're leaving as soon as school's out."
Nejire's smile dropped, as she knew what those words meant. "Understood."
Author's Notes: The pieces have already begun moving…
I have to admit, I didn't think there would be so few comments, but whatever. I still have a job to do, and I still have to go through each one, so let's get started.
SixthroughlevelN: Thank you for defending my honor, I suppose. It's good to see someone from one of my old Re: Zero stories checking out one of my new ones, especially since most old readers aren't really big on MHA. Hope to see you soon!
E3roa: On most cases, I would agree with you, I'm not a major fan of the ship (I'm more of an IzuOcha guy), however, when I was writing the story, my buddies suggesting making the ship, and as I kept writing the characters, yeah, I was pretty compelled.
VinHD15: Yeah, nearly two years in the making, one and off writing, and I'm now ready to publish this story, and hopefully, have consistent updates. Thanks again for helping me with several parts of the story, Vin. Both you and Infinite the Celestian helped make this the best story it could be! Hope you like the final product I'll present.
Welp, that's all the comments. Hopefully, there will be more next time.
If you wanna know more, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules!
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!
- Ernalore