Chapter 46: WispSummary:
Uraraka can't stay still.
Notes:
Sorry for all the weirdness lately!
Memes!
X X X X X X X X X X X X X
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ochako looked at Midoriya for a long moment, then promptly burst into tears, "Oh thank goodness. I...please tell you know what's going on!"
"Umm…" Midoriya gave her a sheepish smile as he sat down on the bed beside her. "Not yet, but we're gonna figure it out together, ok! We can do this!"
Ochako took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, "Yeah! We can do this! What do you need to know?"
Midoriya grabbed a notebook out of his pocket and opened it to a fresh page, "Alright, so first of all, do you know where you are?"
"Well, you're interning on I-Island, so…" Ochako thought for a moment, "well, either I'm on I-Island somehow, or you came back early."
Midoriya laughed, "It's the first one. Do you know how you got here? Was there a villain involved?"
"No. I was at Gunhead's agency, so there wasn't a villain." Ochako wracked her brain. "One minute I was sparring with Shinso and…"
She felt gravity shift again, but not as intensely as it had last time and she was still in the hospital when it righted itself just in time for her to throw up again. Thankfully, the nurses had had the foresight to put a tub beside the bed and Midoriya just tossed his notebook out of the splash zone and rubbed her back until she was finished.
"Ugh." Ochako wiped her mouth. "I'm sorry, that's gross."
"Well, you are suffering from quirk exhaustion." Midoriya reminded her. "Which...well, what else do you remember?"
"Um...well, it was kinda like what happened just now." Ochako grimaced. "I was completely fine this morning, but then I got really dizzy and all of a sudden I was someplace else."
"Hmm." Izuku made a note of something. "Any other details? What you were trying to do during the spar, what you were thinking about, ect?"
Ochako thought for a moment, "I mean, in the spar, I was just trying to keep Shinso from pinning me, but I was also thinking about how once internships were over, I needed to talk to Mei about…"
Izuku jerked back in surprise as Uraraka just...disappeared into thin air. Sure, there were slight traces of some sort of light, but mostly, she simply blinked out of existence, exactly like Shinso had described. It was a weird sight and he almost didn't believe his eyes, but at least now he could form some theories.
"Dr. Shield." He looked up from his notebook. "You wouldn't happen to have any equipment for measuring gravitational fields on this island, would you?"
The moment Ochacko felt gravity shift again, she tensed. Even though she'd half been expecting it this time, the bed disappearing out from under her was still a shock and she didn't have nearly enough time to get her feet under her before she was falling hard on the floor.
"Seriously? Which of you beautiful babies decided to fall off the…" Mei circled the table and she stopped and blinked when she saw Ochako on the floor, the gesture looking even more strange with the way her eyes were magnified underneath her goggles. "Oh, hi gravity girl! I didn't see you come in! You're supposed to be missing, so how did you get all the way out here?"
Ochako groaned and flopped down on the floor, "Yeah, that's what I'd like to know."
Mei hummed, "Well, as long as you're here, you may as well earn your keep! I need an extra set of hands."
Ochako nodded and groaned as she stood up. She still felt unbearably nauseous, but she didn't feel like she was going to lose what was left of her breakfast at any moment, so that was a positive. Maybe it was because she didn't go as far this time? But, of course, that brought up the question of why she'd gone at all and Ochako wasn't sure she really wanted the answer to that.
Mei handed her what looked like the handle of a lightsaber, "Just hold that part steady, alright?"
Ochako nodded again and let Mei do her thing, but her thoughts started to spiral again and she bit her lip nervously as she remembered the reason why she'd been thinking about Mei in the first place, "Um, Hatsume? Do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Sure, but Hatsume's too formal!" Mei tightened another screw. "I thought I told you to call me Mei!"
Ochako half-smiled, "Heh, yeah. Um...why did you choose to go into support?"
Mei grinned, "It's fun! I get to make so many wonderful babies!"
Ochako frowned, "And, uh, is that why you want to have your own company too?"
"Eh, I could work for somebody else and still make cool stuff." Mei stuck out her tongue in disgust. "But if I'm gonna make these babies, I want everybody to know who made them! It's branding! One day, I'm gonna be famous for all these beautiful babies, just you wait and see!"
"But…" Ochako struggled to figure out a polite way to phrase it before realizing that Mei probably didn't care. "Um, isn't that kinda selfish."
"Yeah." Mei tightened something else on her device. "So?"
Ochako stared at her, "So?"
Mei cackled, "A lot of people have this really stupid idea that being selfish is bad, just like they think failure is bad, but failure is how you make wonderful babies! If being selfish helps motivate me to be a better inventor, then why in the world wouldn't I do that?!"
"Huh," Ochako blinked a few times, feeling like the world had shifted underneath her in a way that wasn't literal. "I guess I'd never thought of it like that."
"That's because too many people limit themselves and don't give into the best ideas!" Mei declared, tightening one final screw and taking the device from Ochako. "If something isn't helping, throw it out! And if something is helping, then make it a part of the design!"
Ochako smiled as Mei turned on her device, only to frown when nothing happened. Mei, however, just shrugged and threw the device over her shoulder, "The original design was better. Back to the drawing board!"
Ochako laughed, "If at first you don't succeed…"
"Then use that failure to fuel your next success!" Mei returned with a wide grin. "Hand me that wrench. Oh, and I'm glad you're alright, by the way. Sorry I forgot to mention that. Shinso said you just went poof! "
Ochako groaned, "I'm dunno. Before I came to talk to you, I was hoping that Midoriya could…"
The gravity shifted again and Ochako had to resist the urge to scream in frustration as she found herself on a random street, somewhere. She was just so done with the whole thing. She felt emotionally and physically exhausted and she just wanted to stay still for a little while! Was that really too much to ask?!
At least she was finally getting used to the sensation. Ochako still didn't know what was going on, but she was almost certain at this point that it was One for All's fault, even if she couldn't pinpoint how. Alright, so maybe trying to push all that power down until it blew up hadn't been the best idea, because her new quirk obviously wasn't letting her repress it anymore, considering she could potentially end up halfway across the world with just a stray thought.
"Alright, how did I do this last time?" Ochako grumbled. "I was just thinking about Midoriya and…"
Gravity shifted and Ochako felt a brief sense of pride until she looked around at her new location and Midoirya was nowhere to be seen. "You've got to be kidding me!"
Izuku popped his head into the lab, "Hey, uh, kind of a weird question, but have you seen Uraraka?"
Mei looked up from her current project, "She just popped out."
"Of course." Izuku groaned, "Did she give any clue of where she was going?"
"Nope!" Mei shrugged, then thought for a minute. "But I think she was talking about you when she disappeared."
"That...alright that makes sense." Izuku scribbled a few things down in his notebook. "Her quirk must be using people to anchor her when she warps, but the only question is which people...and of course where she ended up this time."
"If you were her anchor point, Izu-kun," Mei pointed out, "then shouldn't she be with you?"
"You'd think so, but no." Izuku jumped up to sit on the table. "Her quirk uses gravity, but that's such a widespread force that she's probably only able to approximate her target, at least right now."
Mei hummed, "I didn't even know she could teleport."
"Neither did she." Izuku shook his head in amusement. "I'm still trying to figure out why, but it's like her quirk got more powerful overnight and now she's dealing with a new manifestation of it. It's really cool, but she hasn't had time to develop the ability, so she doesn't have any way to stop herself from warping."
"Or any way to predict where she'll end up." Mei finished. She pushed her project to the side and started grabbing more materials. "Well, I can help with one of those."
Dr. Shield smiled and lifted the tarp, "It's been a while since I had an excuse to dust off this old baby."
Melissa rolled her eyes, "You realize you could take it out for a spin at any time, right? You're just old and boring."
"Is that the car you and All Might used during his study abroad?!" Izuku's eyes were wide as he dissolved into a muttering storm of facts. "The technology was state of the art at the time and still holds up under today's standards. The engine alone is…"
"Come on, Izu-kun, you can nerd out in the car." Mei grabbed him by the collar and hauled him into the back seat. The device in her hand was only mostly finished, but Dr. Shield had been tracking the gravitational fields around the island and Uraraka's warps were becoming more frequent, so they needed to find her before she accidentally ended up in the water or something.
"Alright, Midoriya! Your turn to navigate!" Melissa said, strapping herself into the passenger seat as Dr. Shield started the car. "You connected your laptop to the gravity sensors, right?"
"Yep!" Izuku said. "I'm probably going to have to write a program to really track her, but for now these readings will at least tell us when she moves and get us in the general ballpark of where she is...oh, she moved again. Head west!"
Ochako sighed and tried not to think of anything at all as she made her way down the streets, too tired to pay attention to the weird looks she was getting for wearing a full hospital gown in the middle of the city. At least it wasn't one of the ones that was open in the back, but honestly, at this point she didn't care. Maybe if she just didn't think she wouldn't find herself suddenly halfway across the city with no way of knowing where she'd end up.
She passed a fast food place and only hesitated for a moment before muttering, "Screw it."
An electronic bell chimed as she pushed open the door and the look on the poor cashier's face when he saw her was way more funny than it had the right to be, but Ochako was too tired to laugh or even really care as she walked up to the counter, "Hey, do you guys sell ginger ale?"
"Um…yes?" He looked her up and down, and Ochako knew she should be embarrassed, but she just found herself half wondering whether they'd turn her away for violating a no shoes, no shirt, no service policy or whether they'd just roll with it. The cashier hesitated for another moment before meeting her eyes again. "I, uh, I'm assuming you don't have any money with you?"
"She warped again!" Izuku yelled. "Ooh, she's closer this time!"
"Where to next, then?" Dr. Shield stopped the car, ready to double back if they needed to. "Where is she?"
"She's…" Izuku looked at the screen and his eyes widened. "She's two streets over!"
"Great! We can cut through that alley!" Mei grabbed his hand and Izuku had just enough presence of mind to set down his laptop before she was pulling him from the car and running toward the alley.
"Wait!" Melissa called. "Shouldn't we…"
"Sorry, we'll meet you there!" Izuku yelled back. It was only a few seconds before they were running out onto the next street, which was more crowded than the one they'd just come from, "Excuse me! Has anyone seen a girl in a hospital gown?"
Ochako sipped on her soda and took a few deep breaths as she ignored the stares of the other patrons. She'd wasn't nearly as nauseous as she'd been when she'd first gotten to I-Island, and she could feel herself steadily regaining energy especially with the way that One for All was buzzing just underneath her skin, but she still wasn't used to it. It would have been nice if One for All came with an off switch because the way things were going, she would be having to shower in a bathing suit for the foreseeable future.
She slumped further down in the hard plastic seat and took another sip, only partially sitting up when she heard the bell on the door chime.
"Hey Gravity Girl!" Mei grinned as she bounced up to her table. "Happy Birthday!"
"But...but it's not my birthday." She stared at Mei in shocked confusion as she grabbed Ochako's arm and fastened something around her wrist.
"Nope!" Mei confirmed. "But I got you something! That's a tracking bracelet! I'll make you a better one when we get back, but this little baby will keep us from having to chase you down again! We'll be able to see where you are even if you accidentally warp yourself to America!"
Ochako shuddered, "Oh god, I hope that doesn't happen."
"Unfortunately, it's a possibility." Izuku ran up to them, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. "But this way, even if it does, we'll be able to find you!"
"Ok, yeah...that'll be nice." Ochako nodded gratefully. "Thanks, Mei."
"Now come on! We gotta get back to the labs so I can get back to work on my babies!" Mei said. "And not that the hospital gown isn't a statement piece, but we should get you some actual clothes, come on, let's get going!"
Ochako stood and stretched, "Yes, please and thank you."
The two gremlins led her outside, where a red sports car was waiting to pick her up. She recognized the driver from her unfortunate arrival and he smiled when she slid into the backseat, "You must be Ochako Uraraka. It's nice to officially meet you, I'm Dr. David Shield and this is my daughter Melissa."
Ochako grimaced, "Sorry about...you know."
"No, don't worry about it." Dr. Shield laughed. "Honestly, now that we know you're not a security threat and we figured out how you got in, it's more entertaining than anything else. Freaked us out a bit at first, but we're good."
"Well, I'm glad someone found it entertaining." Ochako grumbled. "I honestly wasn't expecting to learn how to teleport when I woke up this morning."
"I know! Everyone back in Japan was really…" Izuku's eyes widened. "Wait, Mei, did you ever tell anyone we found her?"
Mei frowned, "No, I think I assumed you told them and then I was too focused on the tracking bracelet to think about anything else."
"I believe that our people were focused on making sure our security was up to date and incorporating a warning for gravitational shifts." Dr. Shield scowled. "How did we forget that?"
"Didn't you ever call them, Midoriya?" Melissa asked.
Izuku groaned and put his head in his hands, "No, I was busy trying to figure out the quirk science of how she was even warping! Everyone's probably still freaking out!"
Mei shrugged and grabbed her phone, "Well, better late than never!"
Shouta wasn't doing well. All the teachers had been called in and some of the more adept reporters were starting to realize that something was wrong. Uraraka's parents had been contacted and were with a police escort, but there wasn't a whole lot they could tell them. Their daughter had been missing for over four hours now and they still hadn't found a single lead. He, All Might and Tsukauchi were all gathered in Nedzu's office, grimly combing through what meager evidence they could find as they came to terms with the fact that they had failed as teachers and as heroes.
His phone rang and he took one look at teh caller ID before picking up, "Hatsume, please tell me your safe. I really don't have the time or energy to deal with two…"
"Oh, I know!" Mei interrupted. "I thought you might want to know that we found your missing student!"
Shouta immediately sat up straight, "You found Uraraka?! How did you even... Nevermind, I'm putting you on speaker. Where is she?"
Mei cackled, "She's sitting right next to me! Say hi Gravity Girl!"
Uraraka's voice sounded tired, but she was there, "Hi Sensei. Sorry for worrying you."
Nedzu came closer to teh phone, "Nevermind that, young lady. Are you alright?"
"I'm tired and overused my quirk, but I'm already getting my energy back!" Uraraka's voice echoed with a kind of forced cheerfulness. "Don't worry, I'm gonna be fine!"
"I'm glad to hear it." Nedzu said. "Although, if you are with young Midoirya and Hatsume, then…"
"Yeah, that means she's here on I-Island." Midoriya said. "It's complicated. It took us a few hours to even realize she was here, but we're working on it!"
"I'm assuming that Shinso was the one that told you she was missing?" Shouta asked tiredly. "I would probably lecture him about confidentiality, but I guess it's a good thing you were aware she was missing."
"Oh, I'd almost forgotten about Shinso!" Uraraka fretted. "He's probably so…"
Shouta looked at the receiver in confusion as there was a brief shout and then he heard the phone drop and the audio became slightly muffled as Midoirya started speaking, "Uraraka, focus on me, ok? Don't think about Shinso or anyone else, just focus on me and Mei and where we are right...and she's gone. Mei?"
"Already on it."
There was the sound of shuffling as the phone was picked up and Shouta looked at the others in confusion and worry. What did Midoriya mean she's gone?!
"Ugh. Sorry, I really didn't think she had enough energy for that already." Midoriya said finally. "But, uh, good news, Uraraka's back in Japan and we'll send Shinso her location so he can pick her up!"
"She…she's back in Japan?" All Might stuttered. "Young Midoriya, that's at least a five hour journey!"
Midoriya sighed, "Not really. Do you want the short explanation or the long one?"
Nedzu took the phone, "I believe any explanation will do at the moment, Midoirya, thank you."
That made Midioriya chuckle, "I guess that's true. Well, basically, I guess I should start by saying that Uraraka does not have a gravity cancellation quirk like we thought. Her quirk, which I think got a lot stronger recently for some reason, is actually some sort of gravity manipulation and, since according to the theory of relativity gravity is basically just bends in spacetime, then, well…"
"Uraraka can use gravity manipulation to warp." Mei finished. "She uses people as her anchors…"
"Most likely people that she's already used her quirk on." Midoirya interrupted. "Otherwise she would have teleported to you, Eraserhead."
"Yeah, that." Mei agreed. "But she can't control it yet, which is why we fitted her with a tracker! She's across town from Gunhead's agency, and I'm sending her location to Shinso...now!"
"She'll probably be a little worse for wear when he finds her." Midoriya added. "The warp here knocked her out for over two hours. Let us know if you have any questions."
"Good luck!" Mei hung up, leaving a room full of shocked adults to process whatever that had been.
"Well…" All Might cleared his throat awkwardly. "At least it wasn't villains?"
Notes:
Next Update: 04.28.2021
New Update Schedule:
Monday: Viridian
Tuesday: Deku
Wednesday: Cheat Code
Thursday: Mastermind
Friday: Viridan
Chapter 47: FoundSummary:
Another day of internships!
Notes:
Art!
D4rkCh13f73n
Memes!
X X X X X X X X X X X
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
From: Kidnapper #1
We found Gravity Girl!
(Location Ping)
Let us know when she disappears again!
Call you with more info tonight!
Hitoshi stared at his phone in a mix of shock and relief. He really shouldn't be surprised that his kidnappers had managed to find his kidnapped friend, but it was still impressive that they'd found her in a matter of hours. Also, should he be concerned that they seemed to fully be expecting her to disappear again.
He shook his head and knocked on the door to Gunhead's office before pushing it open, "I just got a location for Uraraka, I'm going to go pick her up."
Gunhead almost dropped his coffee, "You found her?!"
" I didn't find her. My kidnappers did." Hitoshi shrugged. "Sorry, my friends in the support course. They tracked her down somehow. The important thing is that I know where she is and I'm going to go get her. I just wanted to let you know."
"Uh, right." Gunhead set his coffee down and stood up. "Let's go."
Mineta had actually finished the chores Mt. Lady had told him to do hours ago, but she was too absorbed in checking her social media to notice that. She was a new hero, and notoriously obsessed with her image, so it wasn't a hard choice when he needed to find someone to drool over that would still allow him time to keep tabs on all his other classmates.
He hadn't been expecting all that much to happen this week, honestly, except that Iida was most likely going to try to go off the rails, which Sensei would be delighted about if the hero he was interning under couldn't stop him in time, but today had been busier than expected. There was a distinct lack of UA in the media this morning, which meant that they were actively trying to stay out of it, which meant that they were hiding something. He hadn't been able to dig up what exactly it was yet, but he'd sent out a few feelers to the rest of his classmates, just asking them how they were doing. None of the girls had responded, which was irritating, but understandable considering his cover, and Shinso was the only guy to leave him on read, which meant that he was either involved in whatever they were trying to cover up, or he was just too close to the girls, either one. If the news didn't break, he'd look into it more tomorrow.
His main interest at the moment was I-Island. The notification that they had gone into lockdown this morning didn't seem like major news for Japan, but Sensei had asked him to keep an eye on the support course and it was odd enough that two of the first years had been asked to intern there. Add an island-wide lockdown to that and it was exactly the type of thing Sensei would want to know about. Maybe if they were lucky, those two had actually caused the lockdown and there might be some chance for recruitment. Maybe they could even help the league find this Cheat Code know-it-all who kept breathing down their necks.
"Grape Juice!" Mt. Lady called. "Can you be a babe and get me another soda from the fridge? I'll love you forever!"
"Anything for you, gorgeous!" Mineta read one final notification before putting away his phone and made a note to pass it along in his report.
@I-IslandOfficial
Sorry for any panic this morning's lockdown might have caused. Our experts have determined that a quirk accident was at fault for this morning's apparent security breach. The situation has been resolved and our security system has been updated to prevent a repeat of this morning's false alarm. No sensitive information was compromised.
Shouto walked a few steps behind Edgeshot, not really sure what he was supposed to be doing at the moment. With Endeavor, he was supposed to be learning from the best and projecting as much don't talk to me energy as he could, but did other heroes try to seem more likable to the media? Was he supposed to be looking for villains or would that count as getting in the way?
"I can hear you thinking from here." Edgeshot said.
"Oh, sorry." Shouto said quickly. "I'll stop."
Edgeshot stopped and looked at him strangely, "Stop? Why would I ask you to stop thinking? Intelligence is an essential part of being a hero. I just wanted to know what was on your mind."
"Sorry." Shouto apologized again. "I suppose I was just wondering what the purpose of this patrol is. Aren't you mostly a nocturnal hero?"
Edgeshot gave him an appraising look, "Yes, I am. But why do you think I would patrol during the day?"
"To catch criminals in the act." Shouto said. "And to be visible to the media."
Edgshot paused thoughtfully for a moment, "The media, yes, partially. The criminals, not so much. Most of my takes downs, like you said, are at night, so I'm content to leave everyday purse snatchers to lesser heroes, but the main reason I routinely patrol during the day is for the people."
"Yes." Shouto nodded. "To protect them."
Edgeshot looked ahead, "That's part of it, but it's actually not what I was referring to. Shouto, do you know why people become villains?"
Shouto got the idea that this was like one of Aizawa's logical ruses, but didnt' know what the trick was, "Because they put their own desires over what's good."
"Sometimes." Edgeshot nodded. "Or they simply don't trust that the law is good. A lot of people struggle in this world and if a hero is out and about during the day, they know that someone is there to save them if ever they need it. We can't save everyone, unfortunately, but even just being visible can keep some from falling into despair and taking matters into their own hands."
"So a hero's job isn't just to protect the defenseless from villains?" Shouto frowned. "Interesting…"
Edgeshot didn't seem like he was expecting anything else from the conversation, so Shouto followed along in silence for a few more minutes. He paid attention to how people looked at them. If he was with Endeavor, he'd be getting both awed and terrified looks, and maybe a few angry, which didn't seem like it would help bring people hope like Edgeshot was describing. The civilians they passed didn't look at Edgeshot with as much obvious admiration as they did Endeavor, but it almost seemed like they trusted him, which was hard to wrap his head around.
Shouto heard a familiar yowl and turned to see Epurr weaving in and out of people's legs as she rushed toward him. Shouto couldn't be bothered to hold back a smile as he crouched down. Seeing a hero student petting a cat on patrol would be reassuring, right? It would piss off his father at the very least.
"Oh wonderful, it's the devil cat." Edgeshot muttered. "Careful. She may look cute, but don't…get too close?"
Edgeshot trailed off as Epurr butted up against Shouto's hand and made him scratch her between the ears. She always went for his left side first, which Shouto thought was hilarious. His father spent so much effort and planning to get a child with the perfect duel quirk and he used it to attract cats. It was beautifully ironic.
"Devil cat? Yeah, that describes her pretty well." Shouto said fondly, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly as she purred and headbutted him again. "Epurr can be pretty mean when she doesn't get her way."
When Edgshot didn't respond, Shouto looked up to see him staring at them in shock, "She...Did she really let you name her?!"
Shouto shrugged and stood up, "Is that weird?"
Edgeshot shook his head in disbelief, "You realize that every hero that patrols near here has tried to pet that cat, right? She's scratched at every single one. Anytime anyone tries to give her a name, even some of the shop owners that feed her, she hisses and refuses to respond to it. That's why we call her the devil cat. She's way more likely to attack you than let her pet you."
He started walking and Shouto followed behind, Epurr ran alongside them, hopping up onto a nearby fence, "Maybe she wasn't in the mood to be pet? From what I've seen she has ways of getting whatever she wants...No, Epurr, not...ok."
Epurr had launched herself off the fence and onto Shouto's shoulder and almost immediately settled in and started grooming him. He reached to grab her and make her go back to the ground, but she simply swatted at him with a hiss and kept working. Shouto pouted and felt his face heat up as he turned to Edgeshot and gave a small bow, careful not to knock Epurr loose, "My apologies sir, but I'm afraid that she never lets me stop her when she gets like this, so unfortunately, this predicament might last a while. I understand that patrolling with a stray cat on my shoulder is highly unprofessional, so if you would like me to return to the agency until the situation is resolved, I…."
He trailed off and straightened up as he realized that Edgeshot was laughing at him. Sure, it wasn't loud, but his shoulders were shaking and his eyes were starting to tear up as he held a hand over his mouth, "Ah, this makes much more sense."
"What?" Shouto absentmindedly reached up to pet Epurr, who purred and flicked him with her tail. "I'm deeply…"
"I had thought you managed to tame her." Edgeshot chuckled. "But nope. I guess it's just a rule of the universe that the devil cat can't be tamed."
"I wasn't trying to tame her." Shouto insisted. "I was just sitting down once and she came and sat on my lap because I have a fire quirk and it makes me warm."
"Burnin' has a fire quirk too, and she's never been able to get close to the little devil." Even with his mask, Shouto could tell that Edgeshot was smiling. "Nope, I can't believe that...what did you call her? Epurr? I'm pretty sure she thinks you're her kitten."
"What?" Shouto blinked. "I'm sorry, but you're mistaken. I'm much larger than a kitten."
Edgeshot rolled his eyes, "Yes, I'm aware of that. But adoption is pretty common in cats, actually, and they'll even adopt babies from other species if the real parents aren't around. To her, she may not have given birth to you, but she's acting like she just woke up one day and decided to be your mother. So I'm sorry to break it to you, Shouto, but you're adopted."
Shouto huffed softly, "Well, Epurr just needs to give me a good scratch and I'll have scars from both my moms."
Edgeshot frowned, "What was that? Sorry, you were muttering and I didn't quite catch it."
"Oh nothing." Shouto shook his head. "Wait a minute...are those people taking pictures?!"
Edgeshot chuckled again, "Are you kidding? Kid, this is why we go on patrol. You're going to be trending by the time school lets out."
"Oh." Shouto took a deep breath and Epurr's presence on his shoulder was oddly steadying considering that this was all her fault. "Ok. That's a good thing, right?"
"Yes." Edgeshot shook his head in amusement. "Yes, Shouto. That's a very good thing."
Hitoshi looked down at his phone again, then up at the park, "Well, according to Izuku and Mei, she should be somewhere around here, hopefully. They did warn me that she might disappear again though, so I guess I could text and ask if they know anything?"
Gunhead nodded, "Yes, that would probably be best."
Hitoshi was halfway through a text when a yell from the playground caught his attention, "No! Get away from there! You don't know what kinds of diseases that thing has!"
A little girl was trying to tug herschel free as her mother pulled her away, "It's not a thing, it's a person! What if they need to go to the hospital?!" She caught sight of Hitoshi and Gunhead and immediately started waving them over with her whole arm, "Are you guys heroes! We need your help!"
They shared a glance before Gunhead put on a happier voice and bounced over, "Of course. We can't say long, we're looking for someone you see, but I'm sure we can get someone to help out with whatever the issue is."
"It's not an issue." The mother groaned. "It's just a drunk who decided that the playground was a good place to sleep after a mid-morning bender. I looked up from my phone and there she was, a raggedy thing puking in the trashcan before crawling in the tunnel and passing out. Disgusting. I mean, she wasn't even wearing any shoes! I don't want my daughter being around those kinds of influences, I'm sure you understand."
"She was puking?" Shinso blinked, "Where did you say she went?"
"Over there in the play tunnel!" The little girl slipped out of her mom's grip and grabbed Hitoshi's hand, "Here! I'll take you to her!"
"Aia! Get back here right this instant!"
Aia didn't listen as she dragged Hitoshi to the playground and tugged him to the ground outside the tunnel, "Look! There! Can you help her?"
"I am so sorry." Aia's mother grabbed her by the shoulder as Hitoshi knelt down to look inside the tunnel. "You need to apologize to the heroes! You can't just go grabbing them, they have important things to do!"
"But, Mom…!" Aia started to protest, but stopped when she saw Hitoshi's face. "Mr. Hero? What is it? What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Hitoshi tried to smile reassuringly, but he had a feeling it fell flat. "I just need to yell at my friends to make sure they give me all the information next time they send me to find someone. Gunhead! Over here! I found her!"
The sunset was beautiful and Kurogiri wished he could pay it the attention it deserved, but young Tomura was enjoying the view for a very different reason. He grinned as he scratched at his neck, the three Nomu that Sensei had given him standing dead-eyed and at the ready, waiting for their orders. Even if he should be used to it by now, it was still creepy enough to send a shiver down Kurogiri's spine.
"I'll show him!" Shigaraki grinned. "Let's see who's in the news tomorrow, hero killer!"
Notes:
Next Update: 05.05.2021
Chapter 48: WarmthSummary:
For better or worse, the day continues.
Notes:
Art!
Opalizero
Ireth
Kuno
Memes!
X X X X X X X X X X X X
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku frowned as he looked at his notes from the morning, "I really don't think I want to do any of these ideas."
"I know!" Mei scribbled something frantically and tore a page out of her sketchbook, crumpling it and tossing it over her shoulder as she started jotting things down again. "Gravity Girl's new quirk is giving me so many good ideas!"
"It's not a new quirk." Izuku rolled his eyes. "Actually, it does kind of act like one, doesn't it? I wonder…"
Melissa giggled as she watched them both bury themselves in their notes, "You can still change your mind, you know! Normally you would have already picked your projects, but today obviously wasn't normal. Besides, since Dad wasn't around this morning, you pretty much have until he comes back to really make your decisions. What do you have in mind?"
"Well, my first thought is to find a way to stop Uraraka from teleporting with a support item or something." Izuku said, grabbing his laptop. "But I don't think that will be very practical, and repressing a quirk can often make it more difficult to control, so it'll be best to just throw that out the window."
"Hmm." Melissa said. "I mean, I wouldn't know, but that makes sense. I wonder if you could make something like training wheels, Mei? Like, to help her learn to control her quirk?"
"I like the way you think, Lab Assistant!" Mei grinned and wrote a few things down, then groaned. "But there's a lot of mistakes and explosions between now and being able to use technology to impact gravity. We need to grow a few more giants before we can stand on their shoulders!"
Izuku thought for a moment, "I mean, I know you already gave her the bracelet, Mei-chan, but I could always perfect this program for tracking her warps."
"That's an idea. It could help her find patterns in where she usually ends up and help her warp more accurately." Melissa nodded encouragingly. "And didn't you try to use it to predict that she was about to disappear in the car?"
Izuku's eyes widened, "Oh yeah! I mean, the program is just tracking her gravity fluctuations and everything starts going wonky before she teleports, so if I get it running fast enough…"
Melissa grinned as she finished his thought, "Then she could potentially have enough warning to stop unintentional warps!"
"You'd need a good alarm system." Mei said. "Sure, you could always do an app, but that's no fun! And what if she doesn't have her phone?! It would need to be small, portable, and…"
She trailed off as her eye caught on Melissa, who started fidgeting as the seconds dragged on, "Um, Mei? Is something wrong? Is there something on my face or something?"
Mei's face slowly morphed into a terrifying grin, "Your earrings!"
"M-my earrings?" Melissa took a step back.
Izuku gasped, "That's brilliant Mei-chan! Melissa! You invented those to counteract panic attacks, right? How do they work?"
Melissa stopped and she slowly started smiling as well as she caught up to what they were thinking, "They track a person's vital signs so they can send an alert when their heart rate or breathing goes too high. I've been brainstorming different options, but it shouldn't be that hard to just make them beep when the activation requirements are met."
"Good." Izuku opened up his tracking program, "I can debug this program and focus on giving Uraraka as much warning as possible before she warps and Mei-chan can…"
"Figure out how to make gravity sensors fit inside a pair of earrings!" Mei's eyes zoomed in anticipation and she made grabby hands to tell Melissa to hand over the jewelry. "Oooh! This baby is gonna be so much fun!!!"
Melissa giggled as she took out her earrings and handed one to each of them, "You guys really are a power couple, aren't you?"
Izuku fumbled the earring and almost dropped it as he blushed a bright red, "Power couple?! Uh, we, uh, we're not dating or anything! Mei's just my best friend and I mean, I know we spend a lot of time together and everything, but that doesn't mean..."
"Yeah, I just use Izu-kun to help me make babies." Mei said distractedly, eyes already moving rapidly to visually dissect every tiny detail of the earring on the table in front of her. "Lab assistant, get your dad already! I need to take a look at your gravity sensors!"
Hitoshi had half-dozed off by the time Uraraka groaned and blinked her eyes open, "Ugh, I feel like I just puked a skittles factory."
Hitoshi flinched awake and he almost fell out of his chair, but after half a second, he breathed a sigh of relief as he double-checked that Uraraka was here. She was safe on Gunhead's couch. She was fine.
He chuckled and shook his head, "Yeah, well, for all I know, you did. What happened? Izuku and Mei didn't give me any details on what happened, they just told me where to find you. We were all so worried about you."
Uraraka played with a bracelet on her wrist that Hitoshi didn't recognize, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, Shindig, I just was stupid and thought I could just push it down, but then I lost control and...yeah, somehow I ended up on I-Island."
Hitoshi blinked, "Uh, can you maybe run that by me again?"
Uraraka sighed, "I accidentally bent space-time, teleported to I-Island. Yeah, it's about as crazy as it sounds."
"Whoa." Hitoshi took a second to process that. "Uh, that's one hell of a quirk evolution, I guess."
That made Uraraka snort and she shook her head as she sat up, "Yeah. It's great! And what's even better is that I can't stay put because I can't control it yet. It's a real joy."
Hitoshi chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, "So that's why you disappeared?"
"And why I'll probably disappear again." Uraraka nodded and slumped back against the armrest. "I feel like I'm turning into you! I'm just exhausted!"
He gave her a small smile, "Are you sure you want to add a terrible sleep schedule to everything you've got going on?"
"Ugh, no!" Uraraka rubbed her eyes. "How about this, Shindig, you keep your sleep issues and I keep my disappearing act. Deal?"
She held out her hand for a fist bump and Hitoshi returned it, "Deal. Also, where did the Shindig nickname come from? It's not bad, it's just...why?"
Uraraka chuckled, "Uh, it's dumb. I just wanted payback after you confused the hell out of everyone with your quirk activation requirements at the sports festival and thought a dumb nickname would be a fun way to confuse you back." She frowned. "Not that I haven't done a bang up job of that already."
"Yeah, you definitely threw me for a loop, but whatever." Hitoshi shrugged. "Um, am I supposed to have a nickname for you? I mean, you have one for me and I did just pull you out of a play tunnel an hour ago, so…?"
Uraraka blushed and buried her face in her hands, "Ugh, don't remind me! That's so embarrassing! Those kids probably thought I was crazy or something!"
"Drunk, actually." Hitoshi pointed out helpfully. "So, what nickname do you want?"
Uraraka groaned.
By the time Izuku and Mei called, Ochako was feeling a little more like herself. She hadn't teleported at all since getting back to Japan, but she had a sneaking suspicion that she probably would have if she wasn't so exhausted from two long jumps and all the little ones she'd made while on I-Island. She'd had the weird world-tilty feeling a few times, whenever she thought about Mei or Izuku or really any one of her friends that wasn't in the room with her, but she hadn't gone anywhere, so for now, she figured that as long as she stayed close to Shinso, there wasn't much risk of her ending up somewhere she wasn't intending to be. That might change in a couple of hours, depending on how much One for All hated her at the moment, but that was a tomorrow problem.
Shinso's phone rang just as everyone was finishing up dinner and he took one look at the caller ID and picked up, "Hey Izuku, how are you? Next time you send me a cryptic location, could you add a few details?"
Ochako giggled as she imagined Izuku panicking on the other end of the phone, but she stopped when Gunhead came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, "Alright you two, let's take this to my office."
Her heart sank and even though she knew she probably wasn't, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was in trouble. She had messed up. Maybe if she had just tried to use One for All earlier or if she'd realized her quirk was gravity manipulation or if she had better self control than she wouldn't have made everyone panic by disappearing out of the blue like that. It was her fault that everyone had thought she'd been kidnapped or something, despite that she had no control over it. More accurately, it was her fault because she had no control over it.
She dragged her feet as Gunhead closed the door behind them, "Alright, put it on speaker. I'm your hero mentor and in order to help you, I need to know what's going on too. Is that alright?"
Shinso raised an eyebrow at Ochako, who took a deep breath before nodding resolutely. Gunhead was here to teach her and help her. She'd already learned a lot, even though she'd only really had a couple of hours to spar with him yesterday and today had been, well, today, so she just had to trust that he wouldn't judge her too harshly for losing control of her quirk.
Shinso shrugged and pressed the button, "Alright, almighty kidnappers, care to explain what in the world is going on?"
"I mean, Uraraka should have explained part of it already." Izuku said.
"I explained what I know." Ochako interrupted. "But that isn't really that much. I mean, I get that I'm warping space-time and it seems to be related to people, but, uh...that's pretty much all I know."
Gunhead took the phone from Shinso and set it on the desk, "What we really need to know is what's causing her to teleport and what we can do to help her control it. These kids seem to think you know what you're talking about, so do you have any advice?"
"Can you tell me how to stop?" Ochako added desperately. "It would be really nice to be able to just turn it off."
"Unfortunately, that's not really gonna be an option." Izuku said sheepishly. "Until you get enough practice and learn how to control it, you're probably going to instinctively teleport to any anchor that pops into your head."
"Anchor?" Shinso said. "Those are people, right?"
"Yep!" Izuku sounded excited. "So, I've been thinking about it and I'm pretty sure how it works now! Uraraka, when you use your quirk on someone, you don't just cancel their gravity, you basically change it somehow. We're gonna have to run a few more tests with that part. But! That means that your quirk basically becomes familiar with the way gravity naturally affects them and you can use that unique gravity signature as an anchor to warp to them! With training, you might even be able to use objects, but that will probably be a lot more difficult, since people are more distinct in weight, body shape, muscle distribution…"
Shinso rolled his eyes, "So what you're saying is that once she's canceled a person's gravity once, she can find them forever?"
"Pretty much!" Mei jumped in. "Well, unless they go on a diet or get fat or something."
"Yeah." Izuku agreed. "A bit of fluctuation shouldn't affect things, but if their gravity signature changes too much, then you'll probably have to use your quirk on them again to refamiliarize yourself."
"Ok." Ochako sighed. "So basically, anyone who I've ever activated my quirk on could be receiving a surprise visit from me at any time?"
"For right now, yeah, sorry." Izuku said.
"But we're gonna help!" Mei said. "Izu-kun has this really cool program that he's rewriting to help predict your jumps! And I'm gonna make you some super awesome earrings that'll warn you when you're about to go poof!"
"We're going to hopefully have them ready by the end of internship week." Izuku added. "For now, it's clunky, but I can send Hitoshi an app that'll do basically what the earrings are supposed to do and if it's a bad time and you don't want to warp, he can brainwash you and order you to stay."
"Will that actually work?" Shinso asked skeptically.
"No idea!" Mei answered. "Now come on, Izu-kun! Dr. Shield's almost here with the circuit boards and I wanted to have the prototypes ready with the…"
Ochako ended the call and sighed as she headed toward the door, "It's gonna be a long week, isn't it?"
"Sure is." Shinso agreed. "I'd offer to brainwash you the whole time, but uh, not quite there yet."
"It's fine." Ochako said. "I need to learn eventually, right?"
"And you're gonna do great!" Gunhead said. "This is what internships are for! Learning new skills and doing hard things! And you know what? You have me and Shinso and all the other interns here to help you out, all right?"
Ochako gave a small smile in spite of everything, "Yeah! Let's do it!"
They walked back into the common room where all the other interns were hanging out only to see them all crowded around the tv and watching the news tensely. Gunhead immediately took charge, "What's going on?"
"There's an attack in Hosu." One of them answered. "There's, like, these monster things attacking everything and tearing things up."
"Monsters?" Ochako got closer to the screen and gasped. "That's a nomu. What the hell is a nomu doing in Hosu?!"
"So it's the league?" Shinso frowned. "That's not good. I mean, obviously, but uh...nobody here's from Hosu, are they?"
Everyone shook their heads and Ochako frowned, "I mean, wasn't that where Ingenium was? Wait, Iida's intern…"
Shinso shouted her name, but she couldn't really focus on him with the way the world was shifting. After a moment, things stopped spinning and she swallowed a wave of nausea as she looked around, "Ok, I'm still here. I guess quirk exhaustion has its perks, heh?"
Shinso glared at her, "Seriously? You freaked me out! I thought you were gonna just pop right into the middle of an attack and pass out again!"
"Yeah." Ochako chuckled. "That wouldn't have been fun...passing out sounds like a really good idea though! I think I'm gonna go do that."
Shouto followed behind Edgeshot, stomping the street to create another ice slide as the chaos finally wound down. His father would probably be pissed that he'd been relegated to rescue work the whole time, but Edgeshot didn't make it feel like a punishment or a second tier of heroism at all! He just gave Shouto permission to use his quirk, then went and saved as many people as they could, simple as that. No explanation. No complaining. Just rescuing any civilians who had been unlucky enough to be in the upper stories of the surrounding buildings when the Nomu attacked. It was odd.
Shouto was starting to shiver at this point, but Edgeshot had been told that the monsters had all been captured, so it wouldn't be too much longer until he'd be able to get back to the agency and warm up. He just had to push through it until then and he'd be fine. He could do this.
The building they were currently working with was close to collapsing, but Shouto held his slide steady as Edgeshot herded all the people onto it. He gave the signal for all clear and Shouto had to hold back a sigh of relief as he stopped producing ice. Just a little longer.
He heard a cat scream behind him and whirled around to see Epurr standing far too close to the ruined building to be safe, "What are you doing, you stupid cat?! Get away from there! The building's coming down!"
Epurr just screamed at him again and took a few steps into the alley she'd come from, which unfortunately meant she was even closer to the building. Shouto felt like the panic was starting to choke him as he gestured wildly for her to come closer, "Come on! Epurr! Don't...No!"
He heard a crack and his eyes widened as the building started falling, a piece of the wall breaking off and hurtling down right toward the alley Epurr was standing in, still screaming at him with no idea of the amount of danger she was in. Shouto didn't have time to think. He rushed forward, ignoring his father's voice in his head saying that love was weakness and that he was risking his future as the ultimate masterpiece. No, his only thought was that he couldn't let an angry orange street cat die.
He dove toward Epurr, wrapping himself around her and creating an ice dome around both of them seconds before the wall slammed down on top of them. The ice creaked ominously, cracking along one side, but ultimately held firm. Shoto didn't uncurl as he desperately scratched behind Epurr's ear, "What were you thinking?! I...you can't leave me like she did! You're...I won't let you!"
Epurr was shivering in his arms and Shouto realized with a start that he was hurting her. He had been creating ice for hours. He knew he was basically a human glacier at this point, and yet, here he was, holding himself right up against her as her hisses and meows grew a little weaker. He hesitated. He'd vowed to never use his father's side in battle and even if this was just a rescue, it was still undeniably a battle, but...Epurr gave another violent shiver and Shouto's face hardened in determination.
His left side was his father's side, but if it meant saving this stupid cat, he'd just have to steal it back. It wasn't his father's side, not anymore. It was his and he wasn't about to let that flame-bearded bastard hurt anyone else he cared about ever again.
He activated his fire side, careful not to warm up too quickly so he didn't burn her, and she'd barely stopped shivering when Edgeshot squeezed his way through one of the cracks, "That was reckless, kid, but it looks like you got it done. Good job."
Shouto uncurled himself slightly as Epurr started hissing again and scratching to be let down, "I don't know what's gotten into her! She just wouldn't come!"
Edgeshot frowned and looked at her, "Cats are smarter than we give them credit for, that one in particular. I'm pretty sure she wants you to follow her."
Shouto looked down at the cat in his arms, who was still fighting to leave, and nodded as he let her go, "Ok. Lead the way."
Epurr scratched at the cold wall of ice that her kitten had made and hissed at him to go faster. She didn't know why he was so cold today when he was normally so warm, but they didn't have time for that! His littermate was in trouble!
She'd been trying to avoid the chaos, she really had. A cat didn't survive on the streets as long as she had if they were stupid enough to run toward every fight they saw, but when she'd been looking for a quiet corner to lay low, she'd caught a scent. It was familiar, at least a little, and she recognized it as one of the scents that always clung to him when he visited her from the other kittens he spent his days with. His littermates.
But the other kitten was in trouble and Epurr couldn't do anything against an attacker with such big claws. Her kitten was strong though, even though he didn't think so, and it was her responsibility to make sure her kitten was socialized correctly and knew how to treat and protect his littermates! She had to get him!
She'd been so focused that she'd almost put herself in danger too, but her kitten had saved her and even warmed himself up in the process, which in any other situation would have made her purr with happiness, but today, she needed to take care of him and he needed to take care of that other poor kitten.
Her kitten melted a hole in the ice large enough for both of them to crawl through and Epurr immediately shot off like a rocket, weaving through the familiar alleys and only stopping occasionally to let her kitten and his babysitter catch up. Almost there…
When she reached the alley, the attacker was already gone and the scent of blood made her hiss and crinkle her nose, screaming for her kitten as she pawed at his littermate. He was still warm, still alive for now, but if her kitten didn't help him soon…
She turned to look at her kitten as he pounded into the alley, skidding to a stop and gasping as she urged him to stop gawking and just hurry already! He just kept staring though, and a soft whisper escaped him as he stood rooted to the cement, "Iida…"
Thankfully, her kitten's babysitter wasn't more than a few seconds behind and he was at least a little calmer than her poor stressed-out kitten, grabbing at his ear and speaking to someone that she couldn't see, "Paramedics? This is Edgeshot. I need two ambulances to my location, priority one."
Notes:
Next Update: 05.12.2021
Chapter 49: AnchorSummary:
Uraraka finds a new way to practice and the I-Island crew is hard at work.
Notes:
Art!
MagicalGirl_23
X Claire;P
dreadedthyme
Cosplay!
@eeveeiseevil.cos
Memes!
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ochako had never been so grateful to be tired. Apparently, the trip to I-Island and back had burned through all the energy from her week of repressing One for All, so it was taking her longer to recover than it had when she'd first started teleporting, which she would normally have found really frustrating, but right now, she was just relieved. If she was tired, then that limited how far she could warp and it seemed like the only person who was in that radius at the moment was Shinso, so the farthest she'd ended up in the past day was a block from the agency. It was a nice change of pace.
Being grounded also meant that she could actually focus on the quirkless sparring techniques that Gunhead was teaching them. They were fun, but she could also see how they were going to be useful in their fights. Her match against Bakugo would have been so much easier with skills like that under her belt.
They'd just finished the last spar of the day when Gunhead clapped his hands to get their attention, "Alright everybody! We're gonna do something a little different for our cooldown today! We're gonna play a game of hide and seek with our very own Uravity!"
Ochako blinked in confusion as everyone turned to look at her, "What?"
"Hide and go seek!" Gunhead repeated, grinning. "You use your quirk on all of us so you can use everyone as anchors. Then we'll all spread out throughout the agency and you try to get as close to your target as possible! It'll be a nice way for the boys to wind down after a long day of training, and it'll be great quirk training for you, so it's a win-win! Plus it's fun!"
"I mean, he has a point." Shinso said. "You'll be able to focus on accuracy without exhausting yourself or throwing up again, since the jumps will be pretty short..."
"That's a good point." Ochako said thoughtfully, "It's not gonna help me stay put through, is it?"
"Uh, no..." Gunhead grimaced apologetically. "But at your current energy level, it looks like you're confined to the city right? So we don't have to worry about you going too far away!"
"Only until she gets her energy back up." Shinso pointed out. "Then it's off to wherever the whims of fate take her!"
"Well, then your goal is to control fate, so then at least you'll know where you're going!" Gunhead gave them a big thumbs up, "I believe in you!"
"Well, you already control gravity." Shinso shrugged. "So why not? Shouldn't be too hard."
Ochako clenched her fists in determination, "Alright! Let's do this!"
Izuku sighed, "No, Mei-chan, you can't make Uraraka get gauges."
"But it'd be so much easier to fit the tech!" Mei groaned. "No, it's ok! I'm Mei Hatsume! I can do this!"
"Yeah, gauges might not fit her marketing image very well." Melissa agreed. "But we've already managed to make the sensing tech almost three times smaller, so we're making progress."
Mei glared at her, "That's not that special when the original tech is the size of a room."
"Mei, just go explode something already." Izuku said, turning back to his computer. "You'll feel better, I promise."
"Alright, fine!" Mei scooped an armful of suspicious items off the table and stomped off to one of the testing rooms, which started giving off muffled booms within seconds of her going in. She was always such a fast worker.
"It's cute how you always seem to know what she needs." Melissa gave him a sly smile. "I wish I had a boyfriend like that."
Izuku almost deleted an entire paragraph of code as he jumped and almost slammed his hands into the keyboard, "I-I already told you! We're not dating or anything! We're just good friends!"
Melissa laughed, "I'm just messing with you, Midoriya, don't worry! But still, the relationship that you two do have, even if it's just friendship, just seems so special. We inventors can be intimidating sometimes, so having someone around who can encourage our weirdness and give us permission to go make things explode sometimes? It's rare, but it can make all the difference in the world to us, especially when projects get frustrating. I just think it's sweet that you're willing to be that person for her."
Izuku shrugged and got back to work, "It's not that special. I mean, it's no more that what she does for me. People can find my analysis...creepy? But Mei-chan just thinks it's cool, and she's really one of the only people I've ever met that really support me and thinks I can do anything, so honestly, I'm just returning the favor."
Melissa frowned sympathetically, "Bullies?"
"Yeah." Izuku nodded. "But, I mean, I wanted to be a hero as a kid, so obviously people weren't going to support that."
"Why not?" Melissa asked.
She looked genuinely confused and Izuku realized with a start that she probably didn't know. Quirks weren't that important in support internships, after all. His first instinct was to hide it. He could just come up with an excuse about being a crybaby or something, but his inner Mei was screaming at him to stop being such a coward and just own up to it. Eventually, he decided to compromise between the two, if she really wanted to know, she could ask more questions, "Quirk stuff."
"What is your quirk, if you don't mind me asking?" Melissa asked. "When Dad showed me your file, the quirk section was just blank. Uncle Might's is kinda like that too, so I was wondering if it was confidential or something? Like I said, it might be a rude question, so you don't have to tell me or anything, I was just curious."
Izuku swallowed, "No, uh, it's not confidential, just...nonexistent?"
Melissa's eyes widened, "Oh..."
Izuku nodded, his mouth dry, "Yeah. Quirkless heroes don't really exist though, so I had to find another dream."
"Me too." Melissa said. "I wanted to be a hero too. I mean, what kid doesn't, right? But, uh, after Dad got the x-rays back and we realized my quirk wasn't just late, Uncle Might encouraged me to follow my Dad's example and go into support."
Izuku stopped and stared at her, "You're quirkless too?!"
Melissa smiled sadly, "Yep. Certifiably part of the less evolved."
"Woah." Izuku sat back in his chair. "I guess we all end up in support, then, huh?"
Melissa shrugged, "If you can't join them, help them, right?"
Izuku chuckled, "Right. It's so frustrating sometimes, though, because, like, I know quirks and sometimes I'll see someone and think, oh, they could just be so much more powerful if they just did things this way . I mean, sometimes, I just wanna say, ok, give it here and just let me do it! You know?"
Melissa laughed, "I thought I was the only one! It's just so frustrating! I'll make an item for someone, but then I can't really test it because using technology to imitate a quirk can only get you so far. And then, of course, they refuse to use it because they think relying on their quirk is enough, so it doesn't even matter."
"You get it!" Izuku tore at his hair. "It's just so frustrating! And then, of course, they have the audacity to look at you and tell you that you don't know what you're talking about, just because you can't change your eye color! It's like they think being quirkless is a mental disability, not a physical one."
"They really do though." Melissa made a face. "I had a teacher in elementary school that tried to put me in remedial classes, even though I was at the top of my grade in academics."
"Oof." Izuku grimaced. "That sucks."
Melissa nodded seriously, "Yeah, it was ridiculous. Thankfully, though, I went crying to Dad and he pulled me out the next day. He didn't stand for anyone treating me like I was less than anyone else just because I was quirkless."
"I wish my mom was like that." Izuku's eyes widened and he hurried to explain. "Not that she was bad or anything! She did her best, I know that! It's just that she'd trust the teachers sometimes, you know? Especially near the beginning. It didn't help that she always just thought I was weaker than everyone else. I mean, I get it, my best friend as a toddler has an insane quirk, so she was probably just comparing me to him, but I had a teacher who wouldn't let me play outside during recess because I'd break, and she didn't even question it."
"Wow…" Melissa gave a low whistle. "Yeah, I guess wanting to be a hero wouldn't really be the easiest thing for her to swallow."
Izuku shugged, "At least she supports my analysis. It keeps me away from fights, ish, so yeah. I get to save people and she gets to stop worrying about whether or not I'm safe. We both win."
They worked in silence for a few seconds, listening to Mei's explosions through the wall, before Melissa spoke up again, "Are you glad you changed your mind and picked support instead?"
Izuku nodded, "Yeah, if I hadn't, I never would have met Mei-chan or done any of the amazing things I've been able to do. It's fulfilling and I'm able to be successful and even respected. That never would have happened if I'd still been chasing after an impossible dream."
Melissa nodded and she looked like she was about to say something when the door to the testing room slammed open and Mei came out, covered head to toe in soot, "I figured it out! We just need to vaporize everything that's unnecessary! Back to work!"
Izuku smiled and shook his head fondly, rolling his eyes when Melissa shot him a knowing smile. They may just be friends, but he was beyond lucky to have a friend like her.
"Everyone's in position." Hitoshi said. "You ready?"
Uraraka scrunched her nose in frustration, "No. I'm probably not gonna be able to find any of them. It's gonna be so embarrassing."
"Yep." Hitoshi nodded. "Sure will."
Uraraka glared at him, "Gee thanks, Shindig. I'm glad I have your undying support."
"You're welcome!" He gave her a shit-eating grin. "But, hey, now you have to prove me wrong."
She kept her glare up for as long as she could before bursting into a fit of laughter, "Ugh, this is gonna be terrible. Who should I try to find first?"
"Hmm, Gunhead maybe?" Hitoshi shrugged. "I mean, it is his agency, so…"
The app Izuku had sent him beeped and Hitoshi blinked as he watched Uraraka disappear. When she was actually trying to jump, the process was a little bit slower than when she did it by accident, and he couldn't keep his jaw from dropping at what he saw. It only lasted a split second, but for that tiny moment after Uraraka had activated her quirk and before she'd warped to wherever she was thinking of, it was like the entire energy of the universe had lit up around her. He didn't know if it was because she was messing with space and gravity or if it was just something about her quirk, but it was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen.
Uraraka had been surrounded by the aurora borealis.
Notes:
Yes, I am aware that the northern lights are caused more by electromagnetic fields than by gravity, but even if the science doesn't exactly work, the mental image of Ochako having the aurora borealis in place of Deku's lightning was just so gorgeous that I couldn't resist. It gives off all the cool space vibes!
Next Update: 05.19.2021
Chapter 50: PossibilitiesSummary:
Internships continue!
Notes:
Art!
That's so Yikes X
SA Sparks
Toad #3
A True Gentlebee
Law
Memes!
X X X X X X X X X
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku muttered to himself as he worked, not bothering to stop it, since the only people around to hear him weren't going to be annoyed, "So then, if we use that marker and adjust the sensitivity…"
He jumped when Dr. Shield laughed, "You know, Nedzu said you two were impressive, but I just have to say, I wasn't expecting you to tackle revolutionary technology in your first week."
Izuku blushed, "Uh...I mean, it's not that revolutionary, is it? Gravity tracking already exists and all the components…"
"Are being used in new and interesting ways." Dr. Shield finished. "That's what progress is, Midoriya. It's taking something that already exists and changing it to fill a need, just like you're doing for your friend."
Izuku winced, "I guess you probably think it's insane to work so hard just for one person, huh? I mean, aren't support companies supposed to develop and sell to as many people as possible?"
To his surprise, Dr. Shield shrugged, "That actually comes later, most of the time. What usually happens is that you invent something first and then find more uses for it later, because most needs aren't unique. Just look at what Hatsume is working on. Melissa came up with the concept to help panic attacks, and now she's using it to predict a difficult quirk. Imagine how revolutionary those earrings will be in a few years when she figures out how to modify them to other quirks as well and starts marketing them to children who haven't quite figured things out yet. There's a possibility that she could make childhood quirk accidents almost non-existent with the basic tech that she's working on now. Inventions are made to build off of one another and grow, it's how we move forward."
Izuku bit his lip thoughtfully, "Mei says something like that a lot. Basically, she says that failure is a good thing because every failure helps fuel the next success."
Dr. Shield smiled, "She's pretty smart."
Izuku nodded dramatically in agreement, "Definitely. She's amazing. And she knows it, which is even more impressive."
Dr. Shield laughed. "Just remember that you're allowed to steal some of that confidence for yourself too! Your work has just as much potential as hers does, you know. For example, let's consider that program you're writing. What do you want to do?"
Izuku frowned and looked at his almost finished code, "It's supposed to track Uraraka's quirk so that we know where she is without having to rely on a GPS tracker, which could be dangerous once she's a pro-hero."
"That's a good base. It will be very useful to both her and her support team when she's a hero." Dr. Shield praised. "Now let's start taking away those original boundaries. Who else can your program help? What else can it do?"
What else could it do? He'd designed it with Uraraka in mind, so could it even be used for anyone else? It was primarily a tracking program, but that was really only useful for people who were going to be teleporting, and there weren't many others. That Izuku knew of, it was only Uraraka, a couple civilians, and Kurogiri…
"Oh…" Izuku's eyes widened. "Oh…"
"Come up with something good?" Dr. Shield grinned. "Those ideas are the lifeblood of innovation. Keep on working. I'm excited to see what you come up with."
Shigaraki wasn't going to be happy. Sure, the league had made front page in the newspaper and the media wouldn't stop talking about the attack, but it seemed like every single news outlet had decided to balance the tragedy and fear from the Nomu attack with a feelgood story about Todoroki and that stupid cat. There were even memes about him!
But, of course, Shigaraki was a worse attention hog than Mt. Lady, so Mineta assumed he wouldn't be content with just that, especially since his most recent tantrum probably meant that Stain had rejected the offer to join. No Stain meant that pretty much the only thing they'd actually accomplished was the USJ attack, which obviously didn't make them seem competent. Recruiting Stain would have added to their credibility and elevated their status in the underworld, hopefully leading to new recruits in the future, but now that was gone and all that was left was Shigaraki throwing temper tantrums.
Real good publicity, right there.
"Are you really just gonna stare at Mt. Lady's ass the entire patrol?" Jiro snapped. "Seriously, if I'd known our mentors were going to work together, I would have gone with someone else."
"Mt. Lady and Death Arms work together all the time." Mineta said sweetly, stalling as he recovered from spacing out. "Unlike you, I did my research!"
"Ugh." Jiro sneered down at him with disgust. "Stupid little grape. You planned this!"
He hadn't, but he wasn't opposed to letting her think he put all his energy into peeping, rather than spying, "Guilty as charged! Aww, don't be like that! I just like you girls so much…"
She jammed her earphone jack at him and he only just managed to close his eyes in time, "Yeah, yeah, shut up."
"Ooh…" Mineta smirked. "I like a girl who takes charge."
Jiro gagged, "Gross. I'm going to go get lunch. Don't you dare follow me."
Normally, he would have ignored her and followed her anyway, but he'd gotten a text from Kurogiri earlier to call as soon as possible, which normally meant a mission. There was a chance it was just another side quest from Shigaraki, but it was always possible that the assignment came from All for One, in which case, it was best not to ignore it.
After checking to make sure Mt. Lady wouldn't miss him, he found a quiet alleyway to duck into and pulled out his phone. It rang twice before Kurogiri picked up, "Hello. I hope your information gathering is going well."
"Of course it is." Mineta grinned. "I'm not an amature."
"I should hope not." Kurogiri drawled. "Otherwise this next mission would be far outside of your expertise."
"Oh?" Mineta started to get excited. "And what is the next mission?"
"Stain." Kurogiri said simply. "Sensei wants you to capture him."
Mineta choked, "Capture Stain?! The hero killer?!"
"Will that be a problem?" Kurogiri challenged. "I thought that with your quirk, capturing a man who relies on hit and run techniques would be child's play, but if not, I can always let Sensei know that…"
"I'll do it." Mineta assured quickly. "Just ask Sensei when he wants it done."
"You have two weeks." Kurogiri responded. "Don't disappoint us."
Ochako felt like she was finally getting the hang of this teleportation thing. She couldn't quite use it in a fight yet, but in tonight's game of hide and seek, she'd been able to consistently get to approximately the same hallway as her target, even if she'd never managed to find the correct room. She was getting used to the sensations of both teleportation and One for All and she was even starting to figure out how different anchor points felt. It wasn't much, but it was still progress!
The system Midoirya had suggested for preventing her warps worked decently well, and with teh extra warning, Shinso was able to stop her about half the time. They never had more than a few seconds, though, which meant that Shinso had had to tell her how his quirk worked. He'd pulled her aside just before breakfast and she'd been terrified at first because he'd just looked so nervous.
"I need to be able to brainwash you quickly, Uraraka." He'd refused to look her in the eye as he spoke. "Which means that I can't afford the time it takes to confuse you."
"So confusion is what activates your quirk!" Ochako had yelled.
"No…" Shinso had somehow gotten even more nervous. "It's verbal response."
She'd had to spend the rest of the morning coaxing him to talk to her, which was mildly frustrating, but she understood why. People had probably avoided answering his questions in the past, but he hadn't taken control of her when they'd talked before, so why would he now? Plus, it made it significantly easier for her to stay put, because as soon as Shinso's phone gave them the notification, he just said her name like it was a question and all she had to do was say yes so he could order her not to teleport. It felt so cool that she was in the know that it almost made up for her not being able to stop on her own. Almost.
As soon as Gunhead released them for the evening, one of the other interns, a second year named Shindou from Ketsubutsu, immediately called out for everyone's attention, "Alright, guys, dinnertime! Who wants to go out to eat?"
She looked over at Shinso who shrugged, "I could eat."
"Let's walk together!" one of the guys turned to her, "And no cheating. You can't teleport to get there faster."
Ochako rolled her eyes, "You know that's not how my quirk works. I'd need an anchor point already at the restaurant."
"Still, don't worry about her falling behind." Shinso smirked. "You remember how strong she is from when she made you eat the mat earlier."
The guy groaned as everyone else laughed and Ochako fell into step with the group, Shinso right beside her. He was good at making sure the other boys didn't make fun of her, but she was also proving that she deserved to be there in her own right as well. Sure, she still lost more spars than she won, but she did win. It was a good feeling.
"So…" Shindo slowed down so he was walking beside them. "What are you guys gonna do when you get back to UA?"
Shinso shrugged, "Probably make sure my kidnappers don't destroy more than about 30% of the school."
"Um…" Shindou gave him a vaguely concerned look. "That's...good? What about you, Uraraka?"
"Oh, you know." She gestured vaguely. "Don't do drugs, stay in school...well, that one probably won't work very well, actually."
Shinso tried and failed to hold back a snort, "Yeah, she'll probably just be here and there. She gets around, you know?"
Shindou sighed and shook his head, "I don't know what I expected. Do you guys have other friends? Are they just as bad as you two are?"
"Oh, my kidnappers definitely are." Shinso nodded. "And we're working on corrupting the rest."
"Are you kidding? Half of them are already corrupted." Ochako laughed, not really registering when Shinso got a text. "I mean, last month, Mina pulled this prank where…"
A wave of nausea hit her, followed by a wave of frustration when she realized she didn't have a clue where she was, "Dang it."
Mina was having a blast. Yoroi Musha was way more dignified than she was used to, but it made him fun to play off of! Plus, she was learning a lot about being a hero, although she wasn't afraid to admit that she was just a little bit jealous of Todoroki. He got to meet a cute cat and go viral? Seriously?! How was that fair?
They were half an hour into their evening patrol when her phone rang. Loudly.
She flinched and looked up at Yoroi sheepishly, "I, uh, guess I forgot to put it on silent?"
"Hmm…" He had a small smile on his face and she almost deflated in relief when she realized he wasn't angry, just amused. "It's a slow night, so you can go ahead and answer it. Perhaps it's important. A hero should always be reachable."
Mina nodded and hurried to answer the phone, "Pinky here! What can I do for ya?"
To her surprise, Shinso's voice greeted her on the other end, "Is Uraraka with you?"
"Uraraka?" Mina frowned. "Aren't you both interning with Gunhead? Shouldn't she be with you?"
"Theoretically." Shinso groaned. "Ugh, can you just take a look around and tell me if you see her anywhere?"
"Um, sure?" Mina pulled the receiver away and turned back to Yoroi, who was looking at her with one eyebrow raised in question. "It's a friend of mine. He was asking if another friend was with me."
Yoroi frowned, "Are they interning in this city?"
"No, they're about an hour away." Mina answered as she started scanning the street. "So I'm not sure why she would be here, but...oh! Ochako! Over here!"
Ochako was still in workout clothes, but she was grinning as she jogged toward them, "Hey Mina! I was wondering when I was gonna run into you!"
"What are you doing here?" Mina asked, giving her a quick hug. "I thought you were interning with Gunhead!"
"Oh, I am!" Ochako assured her. "It's just that things have been super weird lately, but enough about me, how are you?"
"I'm...good?" Mina said. "I mean, it's super fun and I'm learning a lot, but, uh...are you allowed to be so far away from your agency?"
"Oh, this is nothing. " Uraraka muttered. "I mean, technically no, but again, everything's been super weird."
"Yeah…" Mina frowned. "I was just so surprised when Shinso called...Oh wait! I totally forgot to tell him I found you!"
She held the forgotten phone up to her ear, glancing away from Uraraka for a second, "Hey Shinso? Yeah, I found...her? Wait, where...?"
"Oh, she's back." Shinso said suddenly. "Well, down the street, but close enough. Thanks Mina! See you later!"
"You're...welcome?" Mina let the phone fall after he hung up. "He said she's back with him?"
Yoroi looked just as confused as she felt, "I thought you said they were interning an hour away?"
"They are…" Mina looked at the spot Uraraka had been just a second before. "Super weird."
Notes:
Next Update: 05.26.2021