Chapter 51: DecisionsSummary:
Internships are over, back to school!
Notes:
Memes!
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
"I'm gonna miss you!" Melissa gave him a big hug. "It's been fun having another quirkless person around."
Izuku sniffed, "I'm sorry! I'll try to come back as soon as possible, I promise!"
"We better." Mei threatened. "I'm ruined for any lesser labs! How am I gonna survive without a micro plasma fusion printer?!"
Dr. Shield held back a smile, "You can always make your own."
A wide grin spread across her face, "I like the way you think!"
Izuku wiped his tears away and shook his head, "You know that Powerloader is going to hate you for that, right?"
"Nah, old Iron Claws will be fine." Dr. Shield said. "He secretly likes the chaotic ones, he just likes to complain to hide how proud he is."
An automated voice echoed through the airport, "Last boarding for Tokyo, Last boarding for Tokyo."
Izuku sighed, "Do we really have to go?"
"Yes!" Melissa laughed. "You have to run field tests with Uravity and tell us how she likes the earrings, remember?"
"Oh right!" Mei grabbed Izuku's hand and started dragging him away. "Come on, Izu-kun! The sooner we get on the plane, the sooner we can get back to testing our babies!"
"I don't think that's exactly how it works, Mei-chan." Izuku chuckled. He turned as best he could to wave goodbye to the shields. "Bye! We'll be back!"
"Hey Shindig, do you know why they wanted us to come straight to the school?" Ochako asked. "I mean, doesn't it make more sense to drop off our stuff at home first?"
Hitoshi shrugged, "I think it's timing. For me, my adults are already at work, but you don't live with your parents, so I don't know why they're having you tag along with me."
Ochako sighed, "Well, it would be a lot more annoying if I couldn't make our bags weightless. Do you think they'll let us leave them in the office?"
"I'm sure they will." Hitoshi nodded. "But if not, then my kidnappers can probably stash them in the tunnels for us, so it's not a big deal."
Ochako rolled her eyes, "You're forgetting that I don't know how to get into those."
"You don't have to." Hitoshi gave her a mischievous look. "All you have to do is focus on the right person and you'll pop right in!"
Ochako shook her head, but couldn't hold back a smile. Their nightly games of hide and seek had become the highlight of their internship, and Gunhead had gotten them all mochi last night to celebrate Ochako getting in the same room as him. Sure, that room had been the training room, which was the largest room in the agency, but she'd done it! Next, she might even be able to stop teleporting randomly without Hitohsi's help!
Aizawa and Mic met them at the door and Mic lit up as soon as he saw them coming, "Hey, little listeners! We're glad to see you're ok! We were a little worried there for a minute!"
"Uraraka, give your bags to Shinso." Aizawa ordered. "You can put them in Midoriya's workroom for now, or the teacher's lounge, I don't care. Hizashi'll help you. Now hurry up, everyone's waiting for us."
"Everyone?" Uraraka left her bags floating and hurried to catch up with Aizawa, who was already striding down the hall. "What's going on?"
Aizawa raised an eyebrow, "You really thought that you could disappear for half a day and not get a call home to your parents? We're having a parent teacher conference."
Ochako's eyes widened, "Mom and Dad are…" she felt gravity shift and she was suddenly down the hall from the principal's office, "here?"
She grinned and started running forward, only to stop. Was she supposed to wait for Aizawa? That would make sense, but then again, they knew that she could teleport and so it wouldn't be a surprise that she'd gotten there faster. The decision was made for her when Nedzu's door opened invitingly. It looked like they were expecting her.
She ran straight into her dad's arms, "Dad! What are you doing here?!"
Dad kissed the top of her head, "I just needed to see that you were all right with my own two eyes, Ochako. You really gave us a scare!"
"Sorry." Ochako smiled sheepishly. "My quirk kinda…"
"They are well aware of the changes to your quirk." Nedzu piped up. "Or quirks as the case may be."
Ochako froze in panic. They knew? But All Might had said that it was a secret and she wasn' allowed to tell anyone…someone cleared their throat and she whirled around to see All Might in the corner, still in his smaller form, with a bloody handkerchief in his hand.
"My apologies, young Uraraka." He said. "I had attempted to keep the knowledge of One for All in as small a circle as possible, but when you disappeared, well…"
"The main concern was that you had been kidnapped." Aizawa finished, finally walking through the door and closing it behind him. "All Might has plenty of enemies, many of which would jump at the chance to target his quirk while it was vulnerable with a new, untrained holder."
"We decided that telling your parents was the only call we could make in good conscience." Nedzu explained. "If you had been kidnapped because you were holding One for All, they deserved to know why their daughter had disappeared."
"We deserved to know before the decision was made." Mom said sternly. "Ochako is a teenager! You can't expect her to make such a big decision without even being allowed to talk to anyone about it!"
All Might hung his head, "I see that now, and once again, I apologize to both you and to young Uraraka for putting her in that position. It was unfair of me and I was blind to how the secrecy would impact her decision. I also had no idea how drastically One for All would affect her quirk. I was under the impression that I was giving her a simple strength enhancer, not...well, all this to say that I would like to make this right."
He took a deep breath and turned to face Ochako, "It was unfair of me to push this quirk onto you with no explanation or understanding of the consequences. So I would like to offer you the opportunity to choose if you truly want this quirk. I will understand completely if you decide that it is too much trouble and give it back to me."
"No." Ochako hardly even waited for him to finish the sentence before she gave her answer. "Absolutely not."
Everyone looked a bit taken aback, and All Might coughed into his handkerchief again, "Uh, are you sure? You can take all the time you need to think about…"
"My answer is no." Ochako repeated firmly. "One for All is mine now and there is absolutely no way you are getting it back."
There was a long moment of shocked silence before Nedzu chuckled, "Well, it seems you are quite determined, young lady. Would you mind giving us an explanation for your decision?"
"I didn't want this quirk." Ochako answered plainly. "But then it gave me a challenge and if I can't rise to that then I don't want to call myself a hero. Forgive my language, but I have worked too damn hard to throw in the towel. I am going to make this quirk my bitch and use it to save as many people as humanly possible, and then I am going to move back home with my parents and save on rent by teleporting to school and you can't stop me."
There was a beat and then her dad started laughing, "Well, you heard her. Our Ochako is gonna win this! The quirk stays!"
"How long do you think it'll be before you move home?" Mom asked. "Oh no, honey, we've been using her room as an extra office! Where are we gonna put everything?"
"I'm sure you'll figure it out." Nedzu said with a smile. "And please, let us know if there's anything we can do to help you with this transition. We've already contacted an old mentor of All Might's to give Uraraka some remedial quirk counselling and he is well aware of the special circumstances surrounding One for All, and between him and our support students, I expect that we'll have her popping over to see you in a few weeks!"
"Is that all?" Ochako asked. "Can I go to class now?"
Aizawa jerked his head toward the door, "Fine. And tell Shinso that next time he leaves for a week, he should clean his room before he goes."
"Ok?" Ochako said slowly. "Oh, and I might be a little late for class. I have to drop by and see his kidnappers first."
Aizawa groaned as she disappeared.
Izuku reached out and grabbed Mei's hands, "Stop. They'll work perfectly and Uraraka will love them."
"I know… " Mei bit her lip. "But there's still so many ways that they can be better and…"
"And you'll have plenty of time to perfect the design later." Izuku said patiently. "But even the current design will help her so much."
Mei smiled, "I guess you're right. I need to…"
She was cut off by a short scream out in the main labs and they both rushed out of Izuku's workroom to see the rest of the class looked at Uraraka in shock as Kohaku fumed, "What the fuck?! What did you two do?"
"Oh, Gravity Girl!" Mei grinned widely as she pulled her into Izuku's room by the arm. "Your control's getting better! You like pink, right? I looked at your costume and the accents were pink, so we assumed you liked it."
"Yep!" Uraraka nodded, rolling with the weird questions like a pro, but then again, Izuku assumed she was used to weirdness at this point.
"Good! Here!" Mei shoved a jewelry box into her hands. "Happy birthday!"
Uraraka shook her head, "Still not my birthday, but these are the tracking earrings, right? Woah! Are they moving?!"
"Yep!" Izuku said. "Be careful. Melissa suggested using gyroscopes, so yeah, they shouldn't get caught on anything, but it's still not a good idea to just stick your fingers in them or something."
"They're so cute!" Uraraka gushed, putting them in. "And they'll track my warping, right?"
"Right." Mei said. "And Izu-kun wrote the program, so he can track your location and send a ping to Extra-Credit-Kun's phone when you jump. That way we won't lose you again!"
"That's more of a training wheel feature." Izuku explained. "But, yeah, we tested them and they should beep when the gravity around you shifts too much, which will warn you of any incoming warps!"
"Thank you so much!" Uraraka pulled them both into a hug. "This means so much and it'll be super helpful. You two...I don't think I would have gotten through this without you. I probably would have just given it back by this point if I'd gone to anyone else on my first jump. See you later, bye!"
There was a quiet chirping sound and there was a brief light that surrounded her like an aurora before she disappeared, probably using Shinso as an anchor again. Izuku frowned and turned to Mei, "What did she mean by give it back ?"
Hitoshi held back a smile as Ochako ran into the room two seconds before the bell. Mina immediately abandoned her attempts at interrogating him and ran over to her, only for Aizawa to banish them all to their seats before she could get a word out. Mina pouted and shot a glare at Hitoshi, who just shrugged unapologetically. Sure, he probably could have explained how and why she'd gotten a surprise visit in the middle of their internships, but that wasn't nearly as fun as saying you'll have to ask Ochako yourself.
"All right, class. Welcome back. Most of you did well." Aizawa said. "Now, today's lesson is going to be about…"
"Sensei?" Yaomomo's hand shot into the air. "Do you know where Iida is? He's never late for class, especially not on the first day."
Aizawa sighed and Hitoshi frowned as an unfamiliar chirping sound echoed around the room. It took him a half second too long to realize what that meant, "Ochako! Wait...and she's gone again. Oh well, I guess she'll say hi to Iida for us."
The classroom erupted into confused whispers and it took a full ten seconds for Aizawa to glare them all into submission, "Isn't it your job to make sure that doesn't happen, Shinso?"
Hitoshi shrugged, "Well, you know her. Ocha-go….Ocha-going...Ocha-gone."
Aizawa groaned, "Well then, we were trying to keep this under wraps, considering that it's a miracle that the media hasn't picked it up yet, but since Uraraka is going to figure it out, I may as well make you aware that there was an incident during Iida's internship."
"You mean the Nomu attack?" Todoroki asked. "But that was on the news."
"No." Aizawa began. "It happened around the same time, but…"
Hitoshi's phone buzzed and he checked the message to see that he'd been sent Ochako's new location, "Wait, where is...Iida's in the hospital?!"
Aizawa sighed, "And that, students, is why today's lesson is on the dangers of vigilantism."
How in the world had Iida ended up in the hospital?
Ochako tried to look like she knew where she was going as she tried to figure out what room he was in. He had to be here somewhere, right? But at least now she could tell Yaomomo why he wasn't in class. Being in the hospital kinda came with a free late pass.
"Hey, shouldn't you be in school?" A guy in a wheelchair called out to her. "I mean, UA started again today, right?"
Ochako nodded, "Don't worry, my teacher knows where I am...or at least he should be able to figure it out. Um, I'm actually here visiting a friend but, uh...ok, this is silly, but I forgot the room number. Do you know if there's any nurses around who would know?"
"The nurses' station is just around the corner, but I've been here long enough that I might be able to help." The guy smiled, the movement making his bandages shift slightly. "I'm Tensei Iida, who are you looking for?"
"Tensei Iida?" Ochako sighed in relief. "Oh, you might be the perfect person to ask then. I'm looking for my classmate, Tenya Iida. Are you related?"
Tensei's face fell, "He...he's my brother. Um, you didn't call ahead, did you?"
"Uh, not really, no." Ochako grimaced. "Coming here was kinda impulsive."
"Well, I'm sorry, but you just missed him." Tensei said kindly. "The doctors just took him back for surgery about a half hour ago."
"Surgery?" Ochako's eyes widened. "What happened?"
Tensei looked at her in confusion, "You don't know?"
"Uh…" Ochako took a second to think of a better excuse than I only know something's wrong because I can't control my quirk . "Aizawa told us he was in the hospital, but didn't tell us any details. So?"
Tensei stared at the floor, "It's my fault. If I hadn't been so weak and gotten hurt.."
"I'm sure Iida doesn't blame you." Ochako assured him.
Tensei smiled sadly, "Thanks, but I don't think that matters much. Tenya...well, I guess he wanted revenge. He went after the hero killer."
Ochako didn't know what to say. The hero killer. Honestly, he was lucky he was only in surgery and not in a box, "Oh."
"Yeah." Tensei gave a small chuckle. "He was lucky to escape alive, but the hero killer targeted a lot of major arteries, mostly in his arm and shoulder. The paramedics were able to save his life, but...well, he was never going to be able to use that arm again…"
Ochako panicked, reaching out to Iida again with her quirk. Maybe she could jump close enough to the operating room, she could...well, she didn't know what she'd do, but it didn't matter, because no matter how hard she looked for it, Iida's familiar gravity signature was gone.
Tensei was grim, "We had to make the decision to amputate."
Notes:
Next Update: June 2, 2021
Chapter 52: SomethingSummary:
New projects!
Notes:
Art!
A true gentlebee
Memes!
X X X X X X X X X X X
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
By the time Ochako walked into the classroom again, the mood was a lot more somber. Aizawa just nodded to her as she found her seat and she nodded back, ignoring the curious stares of their classmates for the rest of class. As soon as the bell rang, Hitoshi made a beeline toward her and put his hand on her shoulder, "Hey, Ocha. Are you ok? Did you see him?"
Ochako shook her head, "He was in surgery, so I couldn't go in. But...Hitoshi, I can't feel him anymore."
Hitoshi furrowed his eyebrows, "What are you talking about."
"My quirk." Ochako had tears in her eyes as she looked at him. "They had to cut off his arm, Shindig. It threw off his gravity and I can't anchor to him anymore."
Hitoshi didn't say anything, just pulled her into a hug, "I'm so sorry, Ochako."
"I…" Ochako buried her face in his shoulder. "I could have helped him. If I just had better control over this quirk...I even thought about him and if I hadn't been so exhausted."
"Then you would have been exhausted when you got there and you would have been hurt too." Hitoshi reminded her firmly. "You just barely developed this ability, Ocha. Don't blame yourself for not being perfect. Remember what Mei says about failed experiments?"
Ochako sniffed, "They're what our successes are built on."
"Exactly." Hitoshi smiled. "Now, come on. Everyone is freaking out over you disappearing. I would probably just let them suffer, but you're too nice for that."
"Yeah, I should give them some sort of explanation, at least." Ochako said tiredly. "Wait, did we ever tell Mina how I got there?"
"Nope." Hitoshi smirked. "And I didn't explain anything this morning before you got there. Like I said, I personally would just let them suffer."
Ochako hit him in the arm, "Don't be mean, Shindig. They're our friends, and eventually, I'm hopefully going to learn how to use it in a fight, so they deserve to know. Not everyone can just get away with confusing people constantly like you can."
"Meh, not everyone has the support of vent gremlins." Hitoshi shrugged.
He took a few steps before he noticed that Ochako wasn't beside him and he sighed, making sure she wasn't behind him before switching directions and heading toward the support classrooms. This was gonna take some adjustment.
Mei was pouting. At the beginning of class, Powerloader had gone over how their final exams were going to work, which was more of a final project, not that she'd expected anything different, but it was supposed to be something that was going to challenge them and even three different explosions hadn't been enough to get the creative juices flowing.
She almost wanted to go pester Izu-kun about it, but he was so deep in his program that he hadn't even heard Powerloader telling him class was over, so she didn't want to bother him. If only she could count Gravity Girl's earrings as her final, they'd be perfect, but then she'd be bored for the rest of the semester. She just wanted a baby to work on!
Almost as if on cue, Gravity Girl herself slammed the door to the labs open, "Mei-chan! I need your help!"
"Oh, thank god." Mei swiveled around in her chair to face her. "Please tell me that you need a baby!"
"I don't." Ochako said, and Mei made to turn around in her seat, "but one of my classmates definitely does."
Mei immediately grabbed a pen and a sketchbook, "I could kiss you right now."
"Oh, you can save that for Midoriya." Ochako teased. "But seriously, it's about Iida."
"Iida...Iida...Iida…" Mei tapped her chin with the pencil. "Oh! Engine legs! He's like a living cyborg!"
"That's the one!" Ochako grinned, but her expression fell after a moment. "I was actually hoping there might be a way to make him more cyborg, if you think that's possible."
"Uraraka-kun, don't encourage her." Izu-kun walked out of his workroom, rubbing his eyes. "I already have to talk her out of making cyborgs every other week."
"But it's for a good cause this time!" Ochako insisted. "One of my classmates...he got injured during his internship."
"Oh no." Izu-kun looked like he was about to start sympathy crying. "I'm so sorry."
Ochako nodded grimly, "He was attacked by the hero killer and lost his arm. It's a career ending injury, unless…"
"Unless we make him a new one!" Mei immediately started scribbling down ideas as fast as she could. "I need everything. Measurements, quirk limitations, nickel allergies. Izu-kun! I get to make a cyborg!"
Izu-kun, the killjoy, just rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand, "Consent, Mei-chan. We need to talk to Iida and see if he's even interested in continuing hero work first before you make him our new pet project."
Mei pouted, "Ok, but if he says yes, then can I make him a cyborg?"
"Yes," Izuku gave her a sly smile, "Then you can make him a cyborg."
Mineta ignored the glares the girls were sending his way, not really caring if he came across as oblivious or just straight up rude. Either would make him underestimate him and think he was paying attention to their bodies instead of their words.
"And then she disappeared just like this morning, and Shinso just hung up on me!" Mina cried. "The audacity! And now nobody will give me a single ounce of explanation!"
"Hmm." Tsu tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe Midoriya and Hatsume would know what's going on?"
Jiro rolled her eyes, "Just because they act like cryptids doesn't mean they're all knowing. If it's a quirk thing, and let's be honest it probably is, then you'd have better luck asking Cheat Code."
Mineta perked up.
"Did you see Midoirya at the sports festival?" Hagakure asked incredulously. "He's almost as smart as Cheat Code is, and way easier to contact."
"He is Nedzu's personal student." Yaoyorozu mused. "So I doubt he has anything less than spectacular intelligence. But Cheat Code is a professional analyst and doesn't Midoriya focus on creating inventions with Hatsume? They both interned on I-Island, after all."
"They were the ones interning on I-Island?!" Mineta blurted out.
Jiro glared at him, "Don't act like you actually care. You're only interested because Hatsume has big boobs."
"And she refers to inventing as making babies!" Hagakure added helpfully.
Mineta filed that information away for later to help him identify Hatsume just in case he couldn't swing an introduction. And if she and Midoriya were always talked about as a pair, that meant he was probably her boyfriend or something and if he found one, the other wouldn't be far behind. Sure, All for One had said Cheat Code was probably a second or third year, but they were looking for a student, so it was still worth investigating. Plus, Nedzu wouldn't dream of taking on a personal student unless they were almost smarter than he was, so even if this Midoriya guy wasn't Cheat Code, All for One would still want to know about him. Who knew? Maybe he'd find some other way to make use of him.
"You!" Mina's shreik knocked him out of his thoughts and he saw Uraraka walking toward them with Shinso following a few seconds behind. Mina pointed her finger at them accusingly, "You have so much explaining to do, young lady!"
Uraraka giggled, "Yeah, I guess I do, don't I?"
Mineta inched a little closer, only to be stopped by Jiro's glare when he got a little too close to Yaoyorozu, "Buzz off, you little pervert."
Mineta gulped as Shinso turned to look at him, a bored expression on his face, "Is this guy bothering you?"
Yaoyorozu blushed, "N-no, well, I mean, but it's fine…"
"Yes." Jiro cut in.
Shinso hummed and stared at him far too intensely for a few seconds until Mineta was shuffling in place, "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Why would I ever explain myself to a villain like you?" Mineta whined. "You could have any girl you wanted with that quirk of yours, and you wouldn't even have the balls to tell them how it works…"
He trailed off as his brain clouded over and everyone's voices sounded suddenly far away. Shinso didn't stop staring at him, "Go away. Don't wake up until you're at least three halls away from here."
"Thanks a million Shinso!" MIna said as Mineta was forced to stop walking away.
"Yeah." Uraraka added. "We owe you one."
"If only you could teleport other people with your quirk, Ocha." Shinso said. "But, whatever, my quirk's perfect for getting rid of creeps."
If Mineta had control over his facial expressions, he would have been grinning. A teleporter in class 1A? Now that was valuable information.
Notes:
Next Update: June 09, 2021
Apologies, I had originally mistakenly put the sixth, but that probably won't be doable at this point.
Chapter 53: IngeniumSummary:
Every hero has a legacy.
Notes:
Art!
Limedoodle
Blackwinged_Angel
Avroux
Memes!
X X X X X X
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"No. Absolutely not." Izuku put his foot down. "You can't bring explosive materials into a hospital Mei-chan!"
"But I want to start testing as soon as possible!" Mei pouted. "It's nothing too dangerous, just a teeny, tiny micro…"
"It's a hospital, Mei-chan." Izuku interrupted. "Everything is dangerous."
"I'm sure they'd let Bakugo in if he came to visit." Mei grumbled. "And he's the definition of explosive."
"He's also a person, Mei-chan." Izuku sighed. "So still no."
"But I already brought it!" Mei whined. "I can't just leave it outside!"
"Make Ocha take it back to the school." Hitoshi suggested. "I think Sero had detention today, so he should still be at school. She can use him as an anchor point, then take whatever you need back to the lab."
Ochako nodded, "Yeah! It'll be good practice."
Mei glared at them before giving in and shoving her bag into Ochako's hands, "Fine! But be quick about it!"
Ochako grinned and Izuku reached for his notebook. He'd really only seen that weird light around her a few times now, since most of the time she was disappearing too fast for him to get a good look, but it seemed to appear whenever she was searching for an anchor, which made Izuku completely nerd out with questions. How did she tell anchors apart? Could she train her quirk to figure out how far away they were or even where? If she used two anchors, could she theoretically jump to a point between them?
There was a beep from the tracking earrings and Hitoshi whistled as Ochako popped out of existence, "I keep thinking that'll get less impressive, but so far, no luck. It was really freaky the first time, though. Now it's just cool."
Izuku frowned, "It's weird that it came on so suddenly. I would have expected her quirk to get stronger gradually, which means there would have been signs and then she could have trained herself to jump, rather than jumping and having to train herself to not."
"Well, she has been pushing her quirk a lot." Mei said. "Would that affect it at all?"
"There is a trend of hero students' quirks changing while they train." Izuku acknowledged. "But those normally happen during the second year when training gets more intense in preparation for licensing exams, not when they've barely started training."
"I think Izuku might be onto something." Hitoshi butt in. "Eraser's been acting super weird about her quirk too, like there's some sort of secret about it or something. But then again, he's also been pretty frustrated with All Might and that seems to be normal, so it might be nothing. I'm kinda still learning how to read him and Mic. What with internships and everything, me and my adults haven't really just had time to hang out at home, you know?"
Mei leaned into his personal space and looked him in the eye, "But it's better, right? They weren't lying about protecting you and making sure you had a better place to live than that stupid foster home, right?"
Hitoshi nodded, "They actually encourage me to talk at home, which is nice, but I never know how to respond when they ask me how quirk training is going. I've never had any adults be genuinely interested before. I fthey asked, they were just testing the waters to make sure I wasn't going to murder them in their sleep or soething."
"Who are you going to murder?" Ochako had popped into the middle of the conversation. "I hope they deserve it."
"They would have." Hitoshi assured her. "But don't worry about it too much. You ready to introduce robo-boy to his new kidnappers."
"Hitoshi!" Izuku squawked. "You can't just call us kidnappers in everyday conversation!"
"Why not?" Hitoshi said innocently. "Mei-chan calls things her babies all the time."
"I'm pretty sure that makes it worse." Ochako giggled. "If you're not careful, people are going to think you two steal people's babies or something."
"I would never steal another person's baby!" Mei said indignantly. "It's much more fun to make them myself!"
The rest of them laughed as Izuku groaned loudly, "Can we just go now? We don't want to keep Iida waiting."
"Yeah! Let's go!" Ochako led the way. "And can we just appreciate that we just talked about Iida and I didn't immediately disappear?!"
"Good work, Gravity Girl!" Mei clapped her on the back. "A little more control and I'll be able to make you such awesome babies!"
Izuku grabbed his notebook again, "What are you doing differently? If we can figure it out…"
Ochako shook her head, "It won't really work that well for everything. Right now, I'm just reminding the stupid quirk that Iida is right there, so I don't need to go to him. That's about it, but I'm not usually close enough for that trick to work."
"Still pretty good practice." Hitoshi shrugged as they arrived at Iida's room. "So...should we just knock?"
Mei was already barging through the door before he could even finish his question.
Mineta may have known exactly how he'd gotten here, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Seriously, how had All for One stayed in power this long if he thought it was a good idea to send a first year hero student against a serial killer? What kind of stupid plan was that?
He wasn't actually going to fight the serial killer. Unlike Shigaraki's beloved Sensei, Mineta wasn't an idiot. If he faced Stain head on, he was gonna end up like Iida or probably even worse, so no thank you. That didn't mean he was giving up, though. There was more than one way to skin a cat.
He looked around the alleyway one more time, making sure all of his traps were in place before taking out his burner phone. He'd stolen Mt. Lady's login information for the hero network during his internship, not that b1ga$$Lady was a very secure password to begin with, but it gave him access to a lot of the investigation files he wouldn't have been able to access as a student and allowed him to make some connections that made him doubt the competency of the Hero Commission.
The police had already picked up on the pattern of four heroes per city. He'd moved on after Hosu and only had one attack so far, so Mineta wasn't too concerned about missing him, especially because of the pattern the police had missed. With the exception of Ingenium, who seemed to have simply stumbled into him, there was usually a call on the hero network a few minutes before the hero was attacked, which meant that Stain was either looking for crimes and chasing them to the heroes or, more likely, listening to police and hero scanners to find and trap his targets. All Mineta needed to turn that tactic against him was a little bit of bait.
He dialed the police and took a few shallow breaths so that it sounded like he was hyperventilating by the time the operator responded, "Please! Please, you gotta help me!"
"Kid, take a deep breath with me, ok? What's going on?"
"I...I don't know!" Mineta choked out. "I was just walking home from school, and i have to pass through his alley…"
"Is it a villain?"
"I…" Mineta looked around the empty alley. "I think so, yeah."
"Just one?"
"I think so?" Mineta answered. "I don't think the guy on the ground is a villain."
"Are you safe?"
"I think so…" Mineta had to pinch himself to keep himself from laughing, "Oh no, he's coming this way!"
"We're sending the nearest hero to your location, stay hidden and stay on the line…"
Mineta rolled his eyes and slammed the phone on the ground, stomping on it for good measure. According to the hero network, the nearest hero was some D-lister by the name of Slugger who had a reputation for leaving the difficult fights to other heroes while he warmed the bench, which should be a tempting enough target to bait his real target.
He used some of his balls to scale the wall and watch the chaos from the roof. All that was left to do was wait for a bite.
Tenya stared at the sheets and tried to ignore Tensei's disappointed glare from the corner. He had just about as much success with that as he had with ignoring his parents' tears the past few days, which was to say practically none. Why had he let his anger get the best of him like that? Why hadn't he talked to someone or thought through how it would affect his parents to have not one, but both of their sons lose all chances of being a hero within two weeks of each other? Why had he been so prideful as to think he could actually take on Stain?
Tensei sighed, "How are you feeling?"
"Strange." Tenya responded. "My arm hurts."
Tensei frowned, "I thought Recovery Girl was able to repair the damage in that one. Maybe there's something wrong. We can call the doctors…"
"Not that one." Tenya cut him off. "I think they called it phantom pain."
"Oh." Tensei said softly. "I'm sorry."
"It is not your fault that my stupidity got me injured." Tenya said firmly.
"I should have been there for you." Tensei looked like he was going to start crying again. "I shouldn't have put so much pressure on you to be the next Ingenium and now…"
Tenya didn't have any response to that. Ingenium was gone. There were no more Iida sons to carry on the name. Generations of heroes, cut short by a monster with a katana. What a legacy.
Tensei opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the door bursting open. A girl with pink hair that he vaguely recognized from the sports festival rushed in, "So! You're the boy that lost the arm! Let me see!"
Another student with green hair ran after her in a panic, "Mei-chan! You can't just say things like that!"
"Why not, Izu-kun?" Mei asked. "If I'm going to be making him a new arm, then I need to see the situation!"
"It's a sensitive topic, Mei-chan!" Izu-kun said. "We don't even know if he still wants to be a hero, much less if he's willing to…"
"Who are you?" Tenya's brain was still catching up as he spluttered. "And your companion is quite right, it is quite rude to burst in here like that."
To his surprise, Uraraka rushed into the room as well, "I am so sorry, Iida. I know Mei and Izuku can be a bit much the first time you meet them, but I…"
Tenya's brain finished buffering and his eyes widened, "Wait, why do you want to know if I still want to be a hero?"
"So we can help you, silly!" Mei had pulled a tape measure from nowhere and Tenya flinched as she started measuring his shoulder. "Are you allergic to any metals? How well do you respond to radioactive materials?"
Shinso walked in and for some reason, in contrast to Uraraka's arrival, his arrival made complete sense. These two must be the support students, Midoriya and Hatsume, that helped him win the sports festival, then. It still didn't make any of this make any more sense, but at least someone was here who knew how to navigate the chaos.
"They want to make you their new project, just like Ocha and I have been." Shinso said. "I'd recommend just rolling with it...uh, no offense, wheelchair guy."
"None taken." Tensei said calmly. "But what would this project entail exactly?"
"Cyborg hero!" Mei shot him a manic grin. "Half man! Half groundbreaking Hatsume tech!"
Midoriya sighed, "What she means is that she wants to make him a new arm. A lot of heroes have managed to continue their careers after losing a limb, Ectoplasm being the prime example, but it'll be difficult, and I'm sure there's a lot of different issues, so don't feel obligated to…"
"I can still be a hero?" Tenya asked softly. "But I…"
"Well, you're still going to get into trouble for the vigilantism, obviously." Shinso said. "But you're still a student, so enough community service and a probation period should be enough to put you back on track, if you can manage to get Nedzu on your side."
"Do you want lasers in your fingers?" Mei asked, then nodded quickly. "I'm giving you lasers in your fingers."
From the corner, Tensei cleared his throat, "Hatsume, was it? What do you know about modifying wheelchairs?"
Mei grinned and Midoriya started scribbling something down in his notebook. Tenya felt vaguely terrified, but also oddly hopeful for the first time since the sports festival. What had he just signed up for?
Notes:
Next Update: June 16, 2021
Chapter 54: TrapperSummary:
Stain vs. Mineta
Notes:
Art!
Chicax
Tess
The biggest fangirl
Memes!
X X 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
Mineta easily blended into the shadows as he watched Slugger hesitantly scope out the alley. He hung back for a long moment before he realized no one was there and he relaxed, stomping into the alley in frustration. He walked around for about thirty seconds before he huffed and activated his comm, "Yeah, It's a bust. Prank call probably. No, there's no one. Yeah, I'll be back soon. Might go get lunch on the way, or something though."
He cut the call and muttered under his breath, "Stupid kids. Wasting my time. Could've been…"
He trailed off and Mineta grinned as he followed Slugger's gaze and caught a glimpse of Stain's scarf before he disappeared into the shadows again. It looked like his prey had taken the bait after all! Good, it would have been annoying to have to go through all this work again.
"W-who's there?" Slugger put on a brave face. "I'm warning you, I'm a pro hero, so you don't want to mess with me! Come out where I can see you!"
A can clattered behind him and Mineta rolled his eyes as Slugger turned toward the sound. Really? Falling for the oldest trick in the book? Society really had too high of expectations if this was what they called a hero.
The moment Slugger turned his back, Stain made his move. He struck hard and fast like a viper, stabbing Slugger's arm and licking the blade before the hero even had a chance to return the blow, "Another false hero for me to cull. How lucky."
Luck had absolutely nothing to do with it, but Mineta wasn't about to criticize what a serial killer said to his victims before they died. He just needed to wait until Slugger was out of the way, then he could make his move. Just a little longer…
Unless, of course, Stain started monologuing, "It's cowards like you who are corrupting the word hero. You use your abilities for your own selfish gain rather than dedicating them to saving others. It's a tragedy that you were even able to get your license in the first place."
It was a good thing that Slugger's agency thought he was out to lunch, because Stain sure was taking his sweet time getting rid of this guy. After another minute or so of rambling about the evils of hero society and fake heroes in particular, Stain finally, finally, got around to actually doing his job and raised his Katana.
"You're a fake and don't deserve to live." Stain declared seriously. "I will stain myself, but at least the world will be clean of your filth."
Mineta tried not to flinch as the blade came down. It wasn't the first time he had watched someone die, and he was sure it was far from the last, so why should he let something like that phase him? He had chosen to work with the villains and this world was a dangerous game. Slugger just wasn't playing on the same level as the rest of them were.
Stain stood and started to wipe off his knife on what was left of the hero's costume and Mineta took that as his cue. He pulled the rope beside him, dropping a net that had dozens of his balls stuck to it down onto where Stain was standing. Stain couldn't fight heroes the way he did if he didn't have good reflexes, but he also wasn't prepared to fight Mineta's quirk, he didn't even know what it was. So while he mostly managed to dodge in time, one of the balls caught on the loose fabric of his pant leg and he would have cut it off if Mineta hadn't immediately dropped two more nets on him. Better safe than sorry.
Once he was sure that Stain was mostly immobilized and his knives were just as stuck as he was, Mineta used the balls he'd scattered around the alley to bounce down so that he was standing behind Stain, just outside of his field of vision, and pulled out his phone, "Kurogiri? Tell Sensei that I finished his little assignment."
Shouto stared at his dinner as his father went on yet another tirade, which had been happening more and more frequently since internships ended. It had only been a week, but Shouto already had all of the go-to phrases memorized. He resisted the urge to mouth along as Endeavor repeated himself for the third time.
"...completely unprofessional." Endeavor huffed. "Honestly, Shouto! How do you expect to be taken seriously as the number one hero when their first introduction to you isn't a rescue or a villain takedown, but a cat meme?! Really?! You're not going to be a gentle hero, Shouto, that's not how you get to number one. You need to be ruthless and willing to do whatever it takes. Who cares about a stupid cat?"
"The internet, obviously." Shouto drawled. "There are three pages of results when you search for the memes."
Endeavor glared at him, the room becoming almost unbearably hot as his moustache flared, "That is exactly the problem Shouto. You don't want to become known for the wrong reasons. And even if you were gaining notoriety for something actually worthwhile, you don't even have a hero name for people to know you by!"
"I do have a hero name." Shouto pointed out. "It's Shouto."
"Your name is not a hero name." Endeavor growled. "The number one hero doesn't just let everyone call him by his first name and he doesn't stop on the street to pet stray cats. I raised you better than this, Shouto. If you keep this up, people are going to see you as weak."
"Most people are weak, Father." Shouto said innocently.
"You're not most people."
Shouto shrugged and took another bite, "It makes me seem relatable."
"You don't need to be relatable, Shouto." Endeavor looked like he was about to explode. "You need to be the best."
Shouto met his father's eyes, "Are you only saying that because you never accomplished either one?"
"Shouto!" Fuyumi hissed. "Stop! Please! Are you trying to get kicked out again?"
"Maybe." Shouto challenged. "It's better than staying here."
Endeavor glared at him for too long and Shouto was prepared for an explosion, but instead, his father went dead silent and left the room. He felt himself go cold. He'd messed up big time, hadn't he?
Fuyumi had tears in her eyes, "Why, Shouto? You know he doesn't like it when you talk back to him."
"Well maybe I don't like just sitting there and taking either." Shouto snapped. "I'm just...it's hard to keep it all inside, Fuyumi. It jumps out."
She looked at him sadly as Endeavor came back into the room, slamming a duffle bag down on the table, "You really think the streets are better than my house? Fine. There's a hundred dollars and some extra clothes. Let's see how long it is until you come crawling back."
"Dad, please." Fuyumi begged. "You don't want to do this! Shouto, just apologize!"
But Shouto had already grabbed the duffel and started walking toward the door, "See you later, Fuyumi. Have a nice life, Endeavor."
"Why you little…"
Shouto slammed the door behind him before he could hear whatever insult Endeavor had come up with and took a deep breath as he started to walk away down the dark street. At least he'd already been adopted by a cat mom. Hopefully Epurr would let him stay with her for a few nights.
Mineta had never really seen All for One before. Sure, he'd heard the rumors and Shigaraki talked about him all the time, plus he was even intimidating over the phone, but somehow his presence managed to be overwhelmingly intimidating from the moment that he stepped out of the portal and into the alley. He turned his head, taking in the scene despite the lack of eyes to do it with, and tilted his head as he turned to face Stain, "You gagged him."
"I wanted to make sure he didn't alert any passerby." Mineta explained. "But it's just one of my balls over his mouth, so I can take it off if you want to talk to him."
"That won't be necessary." All for One replied smoothly. "Good work, Trapper."
Mineta found himself smiling at the praise, especially since All for One was notoriously hard to please. Anyway, he deserved to be a little proud of himself! He'd captured the hero killer! Sure, he hadn't really fought him, but that still counted for something!
All for One knelt down slowly, careful not to touch anything sticky as he reached through the net and put his palm over where Stain's nose should have been, "Yes, this quirk will be quite useful in the right hands. Unfortunately, Stain, you have proven that those right hands aren't yours."
Stain glared at All for One as his quirk was taken, but Mineta wasn't sure he really understood who he'd just spoken to, because there wasn't any dread or devastation in his expression like he'd expected. Who knew, maybe Stain's conviction was just so strong, he thought he'd be able to continue to carry out his mission without a quirk. The poor guy was delusional.
"What are you going to do with him?" Mineta asked as All for One straightened up. "Do you have something in mind?"
All for One didn't bother turning around as he gave Mineta his orders, "The hero killer has outlived his usefulness. I'm sure I don't need to tell you what might happen if it's linked back to you, do I?"
Mineta swallowed, "Of course not, Sensei. Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
"Good." A portal appeared in front of him and All for One walked through it. "I don't take well to disappointment."
The portal closed and Mineta turned to see Stain glaring at him, daring him to actually do it and Mineta's expression hardened. He was so sick of everyone telling him what he could and couldn't do. If it wasn't that he was too short, it was that his quirk was too silly, or that he was too much of a coward, or that he wasn't good at head to head fights, or that he shouldn't because that wasn't what good little boys did. He was done listening to what society thought as possible.
He was going to prove them all wrong in whatever way he could and that way was right in front of him. Mineta reached past the net and unbuckled one of the knives on Stain's thigh, "So, what do you think, Stain? Do you think I have what it takes to be a true hero?"
Stain's glare didn't falter when Mineta stabbed him the first time. Or the second. Or the third. It wasn't until he had finished bleeding out that Stain's expression finally went blank and Mineta drew in a shaky breath, wiping his hands down on his jacket before digging his backpack out from behind the dumpster and taking out a spray bottle. It was actually Mina's quirk that had given him the idea, and then some of the research he'd done into some of the older support course students had helped him actually accomplish it. His balls didn't really unstick, but Mina's acid could dissolve them until they were unrecognizable as his quirk.
As he sprayed each ball, the chemicals made them turn green and dissolve, expanding and bubbling until they almost resembled clumps of moss rather than purple balls. By the time he was done, the scene would have looked almost like a scene from a forest if it weren't for the bodies tangled in the nets. Mineta lifted his head and made sure his bloody jacket was stuffed inside his bag alongside the spray bottle before walking out of the alley like nothing had happened. It was time to go home and go to bed.
He still had school tomorrow, after all.
Epurr had jumped in his lap and immediately started kneading at his thighs and purring the moment he plopped down in the alley. Storming out had felt good at the moment, but now he was wondering if he'd been an idiot. Actually, scratch that, obviously he'd been an idiot, but the question was how big of an idiot had he been? He shouldn't have pissed off his old man like that, especially since Endeavor had phrased this entire ordeal as a challenge. Going back home now would just be letting his father win, and Shouto was too stubborn to let that happen.
He scratched Epurr between the ears and leaned his head back against the brick wall, perking up slightly when he heard someone walk into the alley.
"I'm surprised Endeavor would let his masterpiece sleep on the streets." Shigaraki rasped as he sat down beside him. "It's good to officially meet you, Shouto Todoroki."
Notes:
Next Update: June 23, 2021 (MDT)
Chapter 55: PartnershipSummary:
Have some fluff and bonding!
Notes:
Sorry this chapter is a day late, I wanted to finish Deku? instead.
Art!
CardinalCat
Claire;P
happyhungrydarkdragon
JoshonBoard
Memes!
X X X X X X X X X X X X
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shouto froze, literally, sending out enough ice to glue Shigaraki to the street as Epurr yoweled and hopped off his lap. Shigaraki was unphased by Shouto's attack. He just rolled his eyes and disintegrated the ice like it was no big deal, but didn't make any move to turn Shouto into dust, which was surprising. He leaned his head back against the wall, "Careful. Do that too often you'll piss off the cat."
"I think she's more concerned about me staying alive." Shouto responded dryly. "You're a villain."
Shigaraki scoffed, "Newb. It's the middle of the night. I'm afk right now, so honestly, I'm not sure much of anything."
Shouto hesitantly warmed himself up a bit, melting some of the remaining ice, "What do you mean?"
Shigaraki shrugged, "You don't do boss fights on loading pages."
"Oh…" Shouto said helplessly. "Ok."
Shigaraki shot him a look out of the corner of his eye, "What? Have you never gamed before?"
"My father literally just kicked me out, do you really think he allowed me to play video games." Shouto deadpanned. "I was too busy training to be his Masterpiece. "
"Your dad sounds like a dick." Shigaraki said. "But hey, at least the cat likes you."
Shouto smiled and extended a hand toward Epurr sighing when she hissed at him and turned away, "If she ever forgives me for suddenly freezing her like that. I'm sorry, Epurr! I panicked."
Epurr just flicked her tail and Shouto huffed, "Well, there goes another mother figure. I need to stop losing those."
Shigaraki frowned, "Your mom's not in the picture?"
"Mental hospital." Shouto explained. He probably shouldn't be telling a villain all this, but Shigaraki was letting him stay in his murder alley and didn't seem like he was in the mood to kill him at the moment, so he didn't want to be impolite. Besides, he'd said he wasn't a villain right now, whatever that meant. "What about yours?"
"No idea." Shigaraki scratched lightly at his neck. "Don't really remember much from before Sensei saved me."
"Oh yes." Shouto drawled. "The trauma."
Shigaraki snorted, "Like you're one to talk, scar boy. How'd you get it anyway?"
Shouto raised one eyebrow, "Did you miss the part where I said my mother is in a mental hospital?"
"She…?" Shigaraki whistled. "Whoa. I would've thought it was your old man."
"I blame him for it." Shouto found himself relaxing more and more in spite of himself. "In every memory I have of my mother, she's crying. She called my left side unbearable right before she poured boiling water on my face. All because I looked like him."
Shigaraki obviously wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so they sat in relative silence for a while, only speaking to try to get Epurr to come back and sit on Shouto's lap. Eventually they managed it, but only because Shouto practically made his body into a furnace as an apology. It felt good to use his left side after so long, especially for things like this. His father hated the cat, so of course the cat got to benefit from the fire he'd stolen from the bastard. Served him right for being father of the year.
"I'm getting you some games." Shigaraki said suddenly.
Shouto blinked, "Why?"
Shigaraki grinned, "Just trust me, ok? You'll like them."
Izuku was only half listening to the chaos happening behind him as he brainstormed a list of ideas, but Mei was on a roll, so right now he was just letting her do her thing and keeping an eye out to make sure she didn't accidently blow up the entire school, especially since they were technically there after hours. Half the school was probably fine, Ingenium would be able to smooth things over with Powerloader. Hopefully.
"I...I do not think I am comfortable with a retractable knife."
Tenya, as Mei insisted on calling him since saying Iida for both brothers was bound to get confusing, looked politely overwhelmed as he tried to talk Mei out of adding yet another weapon. Izuku sighed, "Mei-chan, Tenya's still recovering and we also have the vigilantism charges to worry about. Why don't you set it as a personal challenge not to add any weapons."
Mei pouted, "But that's no fun?"
"Oh really?" Izuku gave a mischievous grin. "So you don't want to see how complete of a first aid kid you can fit in? Or figure out how to make a grappling hook that doesn't put too much strain on the arm or his body? Or experiment with different holographic projection systems so he can always have a map with the villain's location or…"
"Fine, fine, I get the idea!" Mei said, turning to a new page in her notebook. "Focus on support and rescue, not combat."
"I'm completely fine with weapons." Tensei interjected. "Just for the record."
Mei's eyes glinted with excitement, "Then I'll just give you twice as many!"
"Have you considered whether you'll be fighting as a team?" Izuku asked. "I know that your sidekicks are already taking charge of running the Iida-ten Agency, but you're basically going to have to learn to fight all over again, so you're not going to be heading up the agency for a while."
Tensei sighed, "I know. I already told the team that I want them to just move on. I don't want them waiting on me indefinitely while I recover... if I recover."
"Well, you're not going to get your legs back." Mei sai bluntly. "But we're gonna make this wheelchair baby the next best thing! Might be best to stick to urban heroics, though. We're gonna give you all the bells and whistles, but assuming that most surfaces are paved will streamline the design process and help me make a better baby for you."
"The best thing to do, at least from a marketing standpoint, is actually for the two of you to enter the field together and work as a duo." Izuku said. "Two brothers, injured by the same villain, who worked together to overcome insurmountable odds and be heroes? It's a classic underdog narrative, people will love it."
"Ooh! We could market them as the Cyborg Brothers!" Mei bounced up and down, grabbing Izuku's arm. "Cy-bros? What sounds better?"
"We can talk to the marketing department once they've trained a bit more with their new support items." Izuku interrupted. "For right now, we need to focus on changing their fighting style to accommodate for their disabilities and to coordinate well as a hero duo. Assuming you're ok with that plan?"
"I trust that you are the experts." Tenya said seriously.
Tensei shrugged, "I'm down. I've always wanted to fight crime with my little bro!"
He reached up and tugged Tenya down to his level so he could ruffle his hair and Tenya looked vaguely consternated, but accepting of his brother's affection. If these two could pull this off, they could open doors to hundreds of disabled kids that thought they couldn't be heroes. If a pair of brothers missing arms and legs could be heroes, maybe even a quirkless…
Izuku shook his head and turned to his list, tapping his pencil on a few of the ideas he'd put stars next to, "Tenya, you experience a lot of friction when you use your quirk, right?"
Tenya nodded, "Yes. It's unavoidable, however. I can run faster than the average person, but…"
"But you have to take a lot of steps, which slows you down." Izuku finished. "Have you considered rollerblades? It would match well with Tensei's wheelchair and would reduce the friction. You'd have to practice, of course…"
"But wouldn't that be rather difficult?" Tenya interrupted. "What if I run into stairs or...well, I'm sure fighting on wheels is very different than what I'm used to."
"You're still young, Tenya." Tensei encouraged. "Give it a try. I mean, I'm gonna have to learn wheelie fighting too! We can do it together."
Tenya took a deep breath and nodded decisively, "I will attempt to incorporate it into my fighting style then, but do not put them in my hero costume quite yet."
"Of course not." Izuku grinned. "Um, Tensei? Do you happen to know the pro-hero Artiste?"
Tensei frowned, "we've crossed paths, but we don't really work together that frequently, no. Why?"
Izuku grabbed his phone and started texting Nedzu, "She uses roller skates in her fighting. I want to see if she'd be willing to train you."
Hitoshi couldn't sleep, which wasn't that unusual. What was unusual was that he'd been given the permission to roam the house when that happened and no one was going to think he was up to no good. It was surreal.
He hesitated another moment before leaving his room and heading toward the kitchen. Aizawa was still up too, apparently, just grading papers, and he barely glanced up when he heard Hitoshi come in, "Are you going to make tea?"
Hitoshi nodded on instinct, then remembered he was actually allowed to talk here, "Yeah. I was."
Aizawa hummed, "Make me one too."
"Sure." Hitoshi grabbed the kettle. "Will Mic want one too?"
Aizawa glanced up at the clock, "No, he's not going to be home for at least another hour and that's if nothing weird happens at the station between then and now. He can make his own if he wants when he gets home."
It still threw Hitoshi for a loop every time one of his adults answered his questions without hesitating. Usually it was Aizawa, but even Mic didn't think twice about ansswering him. He'd be lying if he said it didn't feel amazing. It was almost as good as being around Mei and Izuku, so that was saying something.
When he finished the tea, he set a cup down in front of Aizawa and sat down in one of the chairs. Should he go back to his room? Was Aizawa going to get annoyed with him for interrupting his work?
Almost as if he realized Hitoshi's indecision, Aizawa started talking to him, most of his attention still on grading, "How has Uraraka been doing? Has she been adjusting well to her new quirk?"
"Uh, yeah." Hitoshi thought that was a weird way of putting it, but it was a pretty accurate way of describing her new mutation. "The earrings the kidnappers made her are working pretty well and I can stop her most of the time, but she's actually stopped herself a couple times now, and her accuracy's getting better, so that's promising."
"Good." Aizawa nodded. "We'll be starting combat exercises again soon, and I don't want her to be at a disadvantage."
"Don't worry, she can handle herself." Hitoshi said. "Do you, uh, mind if I watch tv?"
Aizawa nodded absently, "Just make sure the show isn't stupid."
Notes:
Next Update: July 1, 2021 (MDT)