Chapter 50: Start of My story
Like before, Hawks had got a first-class compartment, allowing him and Izuku to ride in peace without people surrounding them, asking for photos and autographs. Hawks took this time to try to nap again, while Izuku took the time to work on a project further. Soon after the train had left the station, Izuku slid on a pair of goggles that looked like VR goggles and a pair of black gloves that had white fingertips. He pulled out the blueprints for Ochaco's wire mounts and was working on them.
On the other end of the compartment, Hawks was lying down on the bench, with his feathers littering the floor so he could. Hawks was looking at the news on his phone, he was looking to see if there was any news about HPSC filing for an arrest against Izuku. Hawks sighed as HPSC wouldn't publicly announce anything until Izuku was in cuffs, they didn't want to give any time for Principal Nezu to react. Hawks closed the app on his phone and then did a series of taps on the home button.
His screen went dark before being filled with blue code, after a few seconds the blue code disappeared and was replaced by a blinking upside-down triangle. Once that faded, files appeared and Hawks looked through them, not one of them mentioned when the HPSC would have Izuku arrested. It seemed that the high uppers were playing their cards close to their chest, all their plans for arrests Izuku had to be on their personal server, something Hawks couldn't get access to.
With a sigh, knowing there wasn't anything else to do besides wait, Hawks hit the home button and then powered off his phone. He spun it around between his fingers, before sliding it into the inner pocket of his jacket. He then rolled over and looked over at his intern. Now Hawks had played a few VR games before and he was pretty good at a few of them, but he could tell that Izuku wasn't playing any kind of game.
Hawks sent a feather that tickled Izuku's upper lip, "Hey Kid, what are you working on?"
Izuku batted the feather away, then rotated his right hand, while closing it into a fist. He then reached up and pulled the goggles up from his head. He set the goggles down on the bench next to him and looked over at Hawks, "Ochaco Uraraka from Class 1-A asked if I could design a modification for her support equipment.'
"Cool, but how did you know you could help?" Hawks asked.
"Because I'm the support student with an advanced suit of armor that nearly won the Sports Festival." Izuku said with a smirk, then rubbed his hair, "She asked during the Sports Festival if she could run a time for support equipment by me afterwards. I think it was after the cavalry battle since she used my old prototype boots. Then when she came to my support work station. One of her classmates, Momo Yaoyorozu, asked if I could build her a pair of sunglasses that had a HUD and could display information."
"Huh. I noticed that the rest of Class 1-a seemed familiar with you at the station. I mean beyond they know you because you beat them all." Hawks said with a bit of a chuckle.
Izuku gave a small laugh, "I might have dropped off Yaoyorozu's sunglasses during one of their heroics class last Friday."
Hawks matched Izuku's chuckle, "Gave them a show didn't you." Izuku just blushed, "I thought they would have to go through the support company that created their equipment."
"If it modification like I'm going for Uraraka, then yeah. But they can still practice with my prototype while their support company constructs the finished product. But if it's something entirely new." Izuku said as he reached into his pocket and pulled his wallet. He pulled out a card and showed it to Hawks, "But I'm a registered worker for Hatsume Industries, this is my support gear license. Meaning I can design and build new equipment for any pro hero that asks."
"Sounds like Class 1-A is going to owe you a few favors." Hawks chuckled. It would be good to have some pro heroes who owe you a favor. Could help in future, getting out of a tight spot. Hawks knew all about having friends in high places.
"And I suspect Class 1-B, too. Once they figure out what I'm doing for Class 1-A. I'll have to brush up on my notes for Class 1-B, once they make their way to me." Izuku said, already imagining how little free he would have in the future. But he was getting pretty good at keeping a schedule and he always said working on different projects helped him get new ideas for his suit.
"Do you not care about having any free time?" Hawks said. As
personally, he savored every free evening he got, enjoyed as much fried chicken as he wanted, watched some movies, and played some games. Right now it sounded like not only did Izuku know what this meant, but it sounded like he was prepared to never have a free evening again.
"Working on stuff like this helps me think about stuff to work into my own suit. Seeing things from a different angle, that kind of stuff." Izuku said. Working on Ochaco's wire mounts had inspired the net modular on his gauntlet.
"Eraserhead isn't probably going to be too happy if you continue during this once you're transferred to his class. Your grades will probably slip." Hawks said. Izuku was going to have to juggle working on his own suit, training, homework and then building stuff for the other students. Something was bound to go wrong.
"They might, but they haven't so far," Izuku said. Izuku had a good schedule of doing homework right after school, and then spending whatever time he had left to work on his suit or other projects.
"Well get some rest. Once we get back, we'll get your suit and have some light training. Your fight against class 1-A told me a lot of the training stuck, but there's some items that you still need to approve on. Then we'll be making our way to Hosu. The hero killer Stain is causing some trouble and I've been asked to help." Hawks said.
Izuku looked at Hawks. Was his mentor bringing him to an area where a notorious serial killer was hunting down pro heroes, "Isn't that a bit above my level? I've read the reports of Stain's victims. I don't think I'm ready for that." Going from basic training to fighting a villain who had killed and harmed several high-level heroes seemed crazy in Izuku's book. He wasn't officially a hero student yet and he'd rather not die before that actually happened.
"Don't worry, chances are you won't be running into him." Hawks said, then turned around, "Besides if we do you have your armor. And what better way to level up then fight a boss stronger than you."
Izuku paused, Stain's been known to cut through metal. "He got through Igenium's armor." Izuku said, starting to panic, Hawks was serious about this and not making it out to be a joke. Izuku could feel his soul starting to leave his body.
"You'll be fine, just work on your side project for now. Don't worry about something until it actually happens." Hawks said, but Izuku's knee started to bounce.
Hawks noticed, it seemed Izuku couldn't control his nerves. It was understandable, he wasn't even in the hero course, he didn't have any kind of training, but someone who was supposed to be teaching him was acting as going against a serial killer who's taken down pro heroes before was okay. Hawks rolled back over and sat up, "Hey Kid." Izuku looked over at his mentor, "In this line of work, there's always going to be that fear when going up against a strong villain. You can try to psych yourself up and distract yourself until the issue becomes too big to ignore. The biggest task for every pro hero is separating your personal life from your work.
"The moment you put on that armor, it tells people they can rely on you. That you're there to save the day and that you will. So if you don't think you're up for that, then you better not put on that armor. Because the moment you arrive on the scene of a villain attack, you have to act. You can think all you want, but the moment you have to save someone's life, you have to act."
"Even if you're scared out of your mind, you act. You act, you save lives. And if you don't think you can do that, then you fool yourself. Make yourself believe you're the kind of guy that runs into the burning building. The first one to show up to training and the last one to leave. The kind of person you look for in a pro hero, someone who would bring you comfort and make you feel like everything is going to be alright. That even in the middle of your worst day, you feel safe. And if you can do that, then someday, in a moment where it matters, you'll learn something."
"What's that?" Izuku asked.
"That someday, somewhere along the line, you'll realize you're no longer fooling yourself. Because one day you stopped pretending and you became that guy." Hawks said, then laid down back on the bench.
"When did you have that moment?" Izuku said.
Hawks chuckled, "Please I've always been that guy." Then silence overtook the compartment, "Midoriya, you're not going to come up against Stain. It's not become I don't think you won't win, I'm sure you would be able to think your way out of that issue. But it's because you don't need to. You're a first-year student, it's not your responsibility, so leave it to those who have taken upon themselves that responsibility.
"But if you do come across Stain, I want you to do one thing. Run away. No one will think less of you if you do. Send word about your location and then you get the hell away from him." Hawks said as he looked over at Izuku.
"Got it." Izuku said, then reached for his pair of goggles. He started to begin to bring it up to his head but paused.
"Remember what I said. Think while you can, and right now you're not being asked to act. So work on that project of yours, making the equipment for your friends. So when her moment comes to act, she has the tools to do so." Hawks said.
That gave Izuku a soft smile. That was a nice way to think about all the equipment he would make for other pro heroes. He would make them, so when their moment came to save a life, they had the tool to do so and would have the tool to do so because he made them. A pro hero that helps other pro heroes.
The next day in Hosu, Ilda had woken up bright and early to learn. He was anxious. He wanted nothing more than to get through morning training and get out onto the street. To save people, in the moment and in the future. Manuel had set a small test of Ilda, to help gauge how much he knew and what he needed to focus on. Then after breakfast, and a quick spar, Manuel and his sidekicks went out to patrol Hosu, with Ilda shadowing Manuel.
The morning and afternoon were quiet, with only thugs of opportunity. Purse snatcher, smash and grab, nothing that took much effort. And Ilda was impressed with how Manuel used his quirk, he often made the floor too slippery, causing the thugs to slip and fall. The most interesting part of the day was when a fire hydrant ruptured, spreading water in every direction. To stop the water from pushing anyone to the ground and help the fire department get to the fire hydrant without too much issue, Manuel used his quirk on the water.
Manuel raised the water into the air and turned it into a show. Making the water do tricks, or turn into different animals. It was like a small circus show that had people cheering and taking out their phones to take videos.
Once the fire hydrant was replaced, Manuel forced most of the water back into the pump, while using a small bit to create a rainbow. Ilda was impressed by Manuel's control over his quirk. Manuel explained that pro heroes always had to be at the top of their games, and quirks were like muscle. Finding something simple that involved their quirk was a good way to keep it ready to use.
As the afternoon turned into the evening, Ilda felt frustrated. He had been keeping his eyes open but he hadn't seen a single sign of Stain. But now the sun was starting to go down, and soon it would be Stain's hunting time. Ilda swore he was going to get revenge for his brother and stop Stain from hurting other pro heroes. Ilda would find Stain and make him pay for his actions.
"Hey, Ilda. Where's your head?' Manuel asked, pulling Ilda out of his thoughts.
"Sorry, what was that?" Ilda said, embarrassed that he stumbled over his response.
"Guess that answers my question. What were you doing?" Manuel asked.
"Guess I got lost in thought for a bit." Ilda quickly said.
"It can happen. Doing the same routine day after day can just be boring, but can be dangerous. If you're too focused on what's happening up here, then you can miss what's happening right in front of you. I've found it helps to say your thoughts out loud, helps you finish them. So what are you thinking about?'" Manuel asked.
"It's just a student from the support course at UA who has been a good friend of my class. He's done a bit to help some of my fellow classmates." Ilda said. During the train ride over, Ilda had thought how everyone from Class 1-A, Bakugo excluded, seemed extremely friendly and comfortable around Izuku. As even though he could be a bit awkward he had this light in him that seemed to radiate peace.
"Izuku Midoriya. He was the student that wore that suit of armor during the last event of the sports festival, right?" Manuel asked and Ilda nodded to confirm. "I'll tell ya, seeing a support student win the Sports Festival. It turned heads, as no one in a million years thought it was possible. Made me wonder why he wasn't in the hero course from the start. I was really hoping to send in an internship offer to him and I'm sure I wasn't the only pro hero going to do the same. Bet he would have gotten offers from top pro forms around the world if he was allowed."
"Well apparently he got special permission to get an internship with Hawks." Ilda said. Izuku showing up at the train station was a big surprise, even more so when he revealed he was with Hawks.
"Lucky kid." Manuel laughed, then rubbed the back of his head.
"Yeah, everyone thought so. He wanted to become a hero, but some stuff happened and he failed the hero entrance exam. But since then he's been working hard to get transferred. Winning the Sports Festival was a good first step and I guess helping 1-A with their support equipment will help make it so he doesn't feel much like an outsider when he gets transferred." Ilda remembered the order Mr. Aizawa had given. Their job was to learn how to act like heroes while finding ways to improve their gears. Izuku had agreed to help them do that, an offer Ilda was thankful for but not entirely sure he would take advantage of. Izuku had shown he was good with Momo's glass, yet the issue lay with Ilda, as he hadn't run into any issue with his equipment and couldn't think of any way to improve it.
"Well it sounds like he'll have plenty of friends when he gets transferred. In the world of heroes, no man is an island. So make sure you have a group of friends you can always rely on. While on the clock and more importantly while off of it." Manual laughed.
"I'll take that advice. Tensei always talked about what he wished he had said in better touch with his class from high school. This world has taken a lot, I'll make sure when Midoirya gets transferred 1-a welcomes him with open hands." Ilda said, then looked down at the horizon, in a few minutes the sun would begin to set and Stain would begin hunting. The hero killer had left Tensei to lead a life full of regret and Ilda was going to relieve some of that grief.
Yet before the daytime pro heroes could call for the day, a sudden scream cut through the calm air that had overtaken Hosu. All the pro heroes in the air stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the scream. What they saw made them freeze for a second. In the middle of the street was a large purple portal many recognized from the report of the attack on the USJ. Kurogiri's quirk, but that alone wasn't what made the pro heroes freeze. No, it was the three large Nomus coming there.
The first looked similar to the one from the USJ but it was noticeably smaller and its skin was more purple than black. The second Nomu immediately took off into the sky as it had wings on its back. The third Nomu was the shortest and had multiple arms along its side and it ran towards the nearest civilian.
"Those are Nomu." Ilda informed Manual but then took in the side of the three Nomus," but they're different from the one that attacks us at USj."
"Then they probably have different quirks. But right now that is not important. Right now, our job is to evacuate everyone to safety. The reports stated that the USJ Nomu could take hits from All Might, we need to get everyone off the street before that kind of fight can start. So let's focus on our strengths." Manuel said, taking off to help people
"Understood," Ilda said, following Manuel to get people to safety. But as he ran he couldn't help but think that Stain had a hand in this attack in some way. The pro heroes had been closing on the hero killer for a while, making it harder for the villain to kill a pro hero and get away with it. So now he was using the League of Villains to cause a distraction so Stain could more easily kill without getting caught. And with the chaos three Nomus created Stain could easily kill multiple pro heroes and one would be the wiser.
Ilda looked around and saw a dark alleyway. Ilda was sure the pro heroes would be able to handle the three Nomu. Like Manual said they most likely had different quirks. So what was more important was stopping the killing that was happening behind the curtains of this show. And most importantly Ilda would get his revenge.
A few minutes prior, Hawks and Izuku were flying through the air, at a good speed. Hawks hoped to get to Hosu before sundown, unfortunately, training went longer than expected and Izuku wasn't used to flying accurately at high speed. Soon the city appeared on the horizon, the setting sun making the city look like it was from a painting.
"Would you look at that? What an amazing sight, the benefits of being able to fly, I guess." Hawks said.
"Yeah, I could get used to seeing sights like that." Izuku's voice came over Hawks earpiece. Izuku had connected to it, after finding it was hard to communicate while flying at high speeds and having a helmet that muffled his voice.
"Before we head to Ingeumin's agency, I want us to fly around and mark the location that Stain's victims have been found. That will give us a clearer picture of his hunting grounds, then any report could. His actions might seem random at first, but there's going to be an unseen pattern he follows" Hawks said, as they flew in the city. Izuku slowed down to make sure he didn't hit any skyscrapers.
People started to notice them and look up, "Wave. Your helmet doesn't exactly have a happy expression on it." Hawks smiled and waved at the people below them
"I know. I'm thinking of a way to get around that." Izuku said, waving alongside Hawks.
"Well we've made our presence known, now we see how Stain reacts." Hawks said as they passed over some alleyways. Hawks began looking for anything out of the ordinary, yet to Izuku all the alleyways looked the same.
Izuku was about to say something when Jabisu said, "Sir I'm picking up an spatial anomaly." A Map of Hosu appeared with a pinned location.
"Hold on Hawks, Jabisu where?" Izuku said, looking over the map. It appeared to only be a short distance from their location.
"Four blocks west, five north. It appears someone is using a wrap quirk to teleport to that location" Jabisu said, Izuku looked in that direction and saw the top of a swirling purple cloud. And nothing else out of the ordinary Izuku had to ask that was the cause of the spatial anomaly.
"Hawks, we've got a situation. Follow me." Izuku took off, not waiting for an answer. However, Hawks was right behind him. Izuku followed Jabisu's directions, and after coming around a corner, saw the large purple swirling cloud, that had three large creatures coming out of it.
"Sh432t, those are Nomu. One was used to attack the USJ. The report stated it took a few hits from All Might. Midoriya, the people are in danger, our best strategy is to help slow the nomu down until everyone is evacuated, no massive attack until every civilian is clear. Once everyone is out of the way, you have my permission to use your quirk and equipment by any means necessary." Hawks said as a feather blade appeared in his hands, making sure he permitted Izuku to use his quirk.
"Just make sure you don't destroy my boots." Izuku said. Both went down toward the Nomus. Other pro heroes had arrived and were fighting the nomu, while sidekicks and those unable to danger the nomu while helping civilians get away. The white nomu had wings, allowing it to fly around, making it more difficult to attack. The purple one was similar to the one from the USJ, it was tanking hits and swapping heroes away. The last one was red and was trying to run away to cause destruction somewhere else.
"I've got the air." Hawks yelled, and the pro heroes that were firing at the white nomu, hearing the call, stopped their assault and turned their attention to the other two nomu. Before going after the white Nomu, Hawks turned to Midoriya, "Midoriya, help with the other two."
"On it." Izuku said, then dove for the big nomu, "Incoming!" Izuku yelled as he tackled the big purple nomu, forcing it to its knees. Izuku then blasted it in the chest with high-powered beams. Izuku saw the burnt chest slowly heal. Izuku was then backhand away, he crashed into a food cart.
Izuku quickly got to his feet, "So it can heal. Even from 20%." Izuku saw a hero get punched and come in his direction. Izuku flew over and caught the hero in mid-air, then landed and helped the hero to his feet.
"Thanks for the save." The pro hero said.
"No problem," Izuku said as he looked back at the purple nomu. Its regeneration was beyond anything Izuku had read about before. But there was one census that applied to any regeneration type quirks, the user couldn't regenerate dead cells. So the best way to defeat the purple nomu was to carbonize a part of its body. The most impactful would be its spine, disrupting its central nervous system so it could no longer move its body. Izuku knew his repulsers could achieve that level of heat, but the build would take a while and once his repulsers reached that level of heat they could very well damage themselves. So for now Izuku would need to switch to his blades until a large enough window presented itself.
Izuku flicked out his arms and his blades came out. Izuku stood tall and yelled, "Hey Frankenstein." Izuku engaged his boots and flew at the purple nomu. The purple Nomu turned around and faced Izuku, clearly marking him as a target as Izuku had been the only one to damage it.
"We can't hurt that thing, it just regenerates from our attack." A hero yelled as if trying to defer Izuku from attack, but Izuku knew what to do.
As Izuku got close, the purple nomu reached his right hand forward to grab him. However, Izuku hit the ground and then kicked the hand away. Transferring his momentum to his arm, Izuku cut cleanly through its wrists. Nomu's hand went flying as Izuku blasted the stump to slow the regeneration. The Nomu hand landed in front of a pro hero, who looked away as they held a hand up to their mouth.
The large nomu reached forward and tried to grab Izuku, as its other hand healed. Izuku blasted back and flipped into the air, only landing once he was a safe distance away. The surrounding pro hero looked at Izuku and one of them noticed, "That's the support student from UA, he's that one who won the sports Festival."
"Well he's the first one to hurt that thing and whatever he did is causing the hand to slow down its regeneration." Another pro hero said as they were all scared that Izuku had been about to damage the purple nomu.
"Everyone, cover the support student. Give him every opening to hurt that thing." the lead pro hero yelled.
From there the battle shifted. The heroes weren't focused on stopping the purple nomu, that was Izuku's job, they just had to distract it. After getting in close and cutting the purple nomu across the chest, he flew up into the air and blasted some heated shots. The purple nomu raised its arms to block the blasts. When the attack hit Izuku saw that the purple nomu's arms were burned for a while by quickly regenerated.
A hero with a mirage quirk jumped forward and 20 copies of them appeared. The purple nomu looked around trying to find the real one, once its back was to Izuku. Izuku dove down and roundhouse kicked Nomu in the head, then sliced up its back, as he fell to the ground. Using his repulsers, Izuku quickly got back on his feet and fired some shots that had the open wound. As the purple nomu screeched and turned around to swing at Izuku, he flew up into the air and out of the range of the purple nomu's attack.
Izuku smirked, it seemed he was really beginning to understand Hawk's advice. He had the aerial advantage and he needed to rely on it. Making It impossible for his opponent to hit him and only get in close when he had an opening. Quick but heavy strikes, dealt lasting danger and then rested before his opponent had a chance to counter. But the purple Nomu would regenerate, meaning any attack that didn't immediately end the fight had no effect.
Hawks dodged a charge from the flying white nomu and managed to bring his blade up and cut a long gash on the underside of his Nomu. The Nomu let out a blood-curdling scream, as it turned around and faced Hawks. Furling out his wings, HAwks caught himself and turned around, he looked over at the white nomu and saw his attack didn't do much damage, going barely deep enough to draw blood.
"So You're able to fly and my blade didn't cut you in half, so your second quirk must increase the durability of your skin" Hawks said. The flying nomu came charging again, and Hawks got ready with his sword out in front of him, ready to plunge deep into the creature's underbelly. But then something new happened.
As the flying nomu was getting closer, a white pulse formed around its body and its speed suddenly increased. This sudden increase in speed caught Hawks off guard, and he dropped down to avoid a swipe from the white Nomu, but not without having some tufts of hair cut off. Once Hawks was clear he pushed his wings caught himself and quickly turned around to face the flying nomu. Which had stopped itself and was perched on top of a roof.
"Alright three quirks." Hawks huffed as he prepared his blade. The flying white nomu screeched as it looked across the road at Hawks, it had pushed off the roof and shot towards Hawks. This time Hawks was ready, so when he saw the white pulse appear around the flying nomu's body he dropped down and thrusted his sword up. But before Hawks' sword couldn't pierce the skin of the flying Nomu, it closed its hand around Hawks's waist and then began to dive.
Hawks were unable to escape and they soon crashed into a moving train. As Hawks' back hit the cold metal floor of the rain he lost his grip on his sword. As the ringing in his ears died down he could hear the sound of civilians screaming. Hawks grabbed the flying nomu's hand that was holding him down but he couldn't free himself. But then suddenly a white and yellow blur came shooting down the train and kicked the white nomu out of the hole they had come from.
"You've got to be kidding me, do you young folk not know how to keep property damage off the list." The elderly pro hero said.
Chapter 51: Fear of the Old Man
Ochaco didn't sleep much that night, only falling asleep well past midnight, only for her to be rudely awakened by Gran Torino kicking the door down. "It's time for you to wake up noobie."
Ochaco could almost chuckle at finally learning where All Might had learned his smack talk during classes.
"I got you for a week and I'm going to make sure that you know exactly what you have gotten yourself into." Gran Torino continued to yell.
A groan grabbed one her deflated pillow and covered her head with it, in an attempt to black out Gran Torino. She was used to low end beds, but the bed Gran Torino had provided. It was something Ochaco won't even classify as a bed. It was more like a sadistic torture device, as the whole night Ochaco felt like she was sleeping on broken glass and barded wire.
At some point after midnight Ochaco found a small rip in the seam and after making it big, looked around the inside of the matter. All she found were worn out springs and nothing else. Though knowing that didn't help much and that meant the little amount of sleep she did get, wasn't good quality.
"Can I get like ten more minutes." Ochaco said, her voice muffled by the pillow. She knew she should have just slept on the floor.
"Evil never sleeps, and neither should you." Gran Torino said, walking over and kicking Ochaco's side. Ochaco felt the wind knock off her, just from the small kick. And now she was beginning to understand why Gizon had laughed when Toshinori's legs had begun to shake when she told her mentor she was accepting the retired pro hero's internship offer/
"Hey. That's rude." Ochaco said she wasn't the kind to use the 'you should never hit a girl' card, but right now she was willing to use any excuse to get more sleep. And she was never one for beauty sleep either, but right now she wanted some.
"I trained with Nina Shimura, I'm not afraid to ruff up a bratty girl that asked for my help." Gran Torino said, then somehow managed to flip Ochaco, along with the mattress and bed frame. So now Ochaco was laying on the ground with the mattress and bed frame on top of her. Now that she was on the floor, she realized she was right to think earlier that she would have better luck sleeping on the floor. Because compared to the bed, the hardwood floor felt more comfortable.
Gran Torino then hopped on top of the bed frame and began jumping on it like a little kid having a temper tantrum. Each hit Gran Torino, Ochaco found it a little hard to breathe, "You want to sleep then you have to hit me."
"What?" Ochaco's mind was still fuzzy and the mattress was muffled Gran Torino. Did he just tell her to him? Had he never been on the receiving end of a power that was powered up by One of All. The only people Ochaco had ever really hit with One for All was Gizon, whose quirk allowed him to tank it, and Nomu, who was built to have All Might's strength. Really the only other person Ochaco had punched while having One for All active was Bakugo and even at a low percent he went flying into the air.
"I want you to hit me with your strongest One for All attack, until you do that, you won't get to sleep." Gran Torino said, repeating himself. He started to jump a little harder.
Ochaco managed to wiggle around a bit and stick her head out from under the mattress, "I've fallen asleep to the sound of construction, you honestly think I can't fall asleep to you jumping on the bed?'
"Who says I was going to be jumping." Gran Torino said, then started to jet away. Ochaco felt wide from remembering yesterday. Gran Torino might be older and not be so heavy, but if he landed on the bed while using his quirk, Ochaco would definitely feel it, "No zero gravity."
Ochaco sighed, then powered up One for All to 8%. She easily lifted up the mattress and bed frame, then slipped out from underneath it. Her eyes followed the yellow blur that was Gran Torino as he jumped around the room.
Suddenly the yellow blur came straight towards her, Ochaco dodged, but too early. Only briefly slowing down, Gran Torino angled one of his feet and shot out a jet of air. This allow him to adjust mid air and rammed into into Ochaco's left ribs. Ochaco fell to her knees as pain exploded in her ribs from Gran Torino's attack.
"You don't know how to take a hit do you." Gran Torino mocked. With that mocking tone, Ochaco felt her blood pressure rise, she was not a morning person and was a little high strung because of how little sleep she had gotten. So with a yell she jumped at Gran Ochaco yelled and jumped at Gran Torino, who blasted away. Ochaco was starting to follow Gran Torino's movement. She was able to dodge his attack and stay safe.
After half an hour of dodging, Ochaco saw an opportunity to attack. Gran Torion was going from corner to opposite corner, so once Ochaco dodge, she had time and room to move. Ochaco took a step forward, but Gran Torino hit the wall, then without turning around, jumped straight back. He crashed in Ochaco and they fell to the floor.
Ochaco felt blood flowing into her mouth. She raised her hand to her nose and felt that it was bleeding. She quickly flicked the blood off of her finger, she could handle a small nose bleed. She had worse injuries helping her parents at their construction sights.
"Get that taken care of, then we're having breakfast. First Aid kit is in the bathroom." Gran Torino said, "After that it's more training, but now you seem like you're finally awake." Gran Torino walked out of the room and headed down the stairs to the kitchen. Ochaco got to her feet and quickly walked to the bathroom.
After using a towel to clean her upper lips and finger, Ochaco fixed her blood nose to the point that blood stopped leaking out. She then took a few painkillers, in anticipation of what was to come. Because if what had happened so far was an indication it didn't look good for Ochaco.
Then once Ochaco felt up to it, she walked out of the bathroom and headed down the stairs. Turning the small corner at the end of the stairs, Ochaco found Gran Torino cooking at the stove top. What made her let out a quiet chuckle and a funny mental image to reflect on later when Gran Torion was beating her butt, was the fact that to reach the top of the stove Gran Torino was having to stand on a stool.
"Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes, use that time wisely." Gran Torino said. Ochaco figured out what he meant. She immediately dropped to the floor and began to do some push up. It was an exercise All Might had made part of her training to help prepare her body to receive One for All. And what Gizon expanded upon by adding a few extra exercises that target specific muscles.
As Gran Torino continued to cook breakfast, he tossed a glance over a Ochaco and saw her doing tricep push up. He let out a scoff, it seemed Nana's foolish muscle exercise continued to live on in One for All. For the next few minutes Ochaco did a few sets of push ups, sit ups and lounges to properly warm her body up for the training she would be going through. As Ochaco finished her last set of lounges, Gran Torino called breakfast.
Swiping some sweat from her brow, Ochaco walked over to the table and sat down. Where Gran Torino served up a traditional breakfast of rice, grilled salmon and a small bowl of miso soup. After giving thanks Ochaco took a small bite of the salmon. Gran Toniro might seem like a cranking old man, whose best years were his 20's and the pleasure he got out of life was terrorizing teenagers, but Ochaco had never tasted a better home grilled salmon. She quickly finished her fish, then moved on to miso soup, which was better than the grilled salmon. She quickly drank the miso then moved onto the rice.
After the sleepless night and rough awakening she had, it tasted like mana from the gods. Ochaco's face brought out into a pleasant grin. This could almost make the constantly getting beat up worth it. Almost, to Ochaco the only food that could make this experience a net positive was some fresh mochi. Something she was probably going to treat herself to once her internship with Gran Torino was over.
"When you live by yourself, you either survive by eating fast food or you learn to cook for yourself." Gran Torino said, taking a slow bite from his salmon. After Nina passed and he had started to mentor Toshinori, Gran Torino had started to cook for Toshinori. Toshinori always stated that Gran Torino should have become a chief.
That caused Toshinori to receive a long lecture on why Gran Torino had chosen to become a hero. And that was just the start of the torment Gran Torino put the younger eighth wielder through that turned him into the only man who could make the symbol of peace quake in his boots.
After breakfast was cleaned up, Gran Torino went back to kicking the snot out of Ochaco. He blasted around the room, jumping off different appliances, changing his trajectory while in the air. All in an effort to keep Ocahco confused about his next move. With each hit a new bruise slowly formed on Ochaco's body. This continued for the whole day and into the second. Around midday Gran Torino noticed how Ochaco was starting to get into the rhythm of fighting him.
Even with the low percent of One for All she was using, Gran Torino could tell she was starting to be able to track his movements. Thus she had been able to predict his movement and dodge out of the way, though very often she was still too slow about it or dodged too early. And the times she did dodge, she was never fast enough to counter attack. Yet for a day and half amount of work, it wasn't bad.
"Alright, we're stopping for now" Gran Torino stopped himself on the wall, clinging to the wall like a spider before he began to slide down to the floor, "If you just fight me, then you're going to pick some weird habits. Habits that aren't going to help you fight someone with a completely different move set. Switch into your hero costume, then we;ll be going off to crack some skulls."
Ochaco caught herself at Gran Torino in the last sentence, "By 'cracking skulls' I assume you mean we're going out to patrol and fight villains." While she was grateful for a switch up in training, though she would have just preferred a break, she didn't like what Gran Torino was insinuating.
Bending down and grabbing his wooden cane, Gran Torino stood up with a hunch, "We'll see how lenient the law is today. On go, before I decide to leave you behind."
Ochaco bowed then turned and ran up the stairs. When Ochaco had first met Gran Torino, she wasn't too surprised by how he acted, he matched the mental image she had gotten from how All Might talked about his old mentor. Both since breakfast Gran Torino kept on surprising her. And now he was talking about cracking skulls like he was yakuza enforced, heading out to shake down a business owner that owed him money. Making her seriously concerned about the fact Gran Torino needed to be admitted to a psych ward.
Not wanting Gran Torino to turn that crazed grandpa thinking towards her, Ochaco quickly changed into her hero costume. She then found Gran Torino waiting for her on the broken front porch. And when Gran Torino first saw her hero costume he made an under the breath comment about how improper it was for a pro hero costume. But then he remembered how Nana whacked him alongside the back of his head when he had made a similar comment when they had first met.
As they walked down the street, Gran Torino let it slip that they were headed towards the train station and were going to Hosu. Something Ochaco frozen as bit at, not so over that fact that was where the hero killer stain was at the moment, but that where Ilda was as well. At the train station, as Gran Torino bought their ticket, Ocahco noticed a few people seemed to be recognizing her, while a few made comments about having no idea who Gran Torino was.
Once on the train Gran Torino appeared to fall asleep, allowing Ochaco to pull out her phone to see if anyone had text in the group chat. Yet it seemed everyone was too busy with their internship, so Ocahco switched to looking over the news to see what was happening in Hosu. In the hope there wasn't any more news about another pro hero being attacked by Stain.
After making sure her class's president had done nothing stupid yet, Ochaco turned off her phone and decided to follow Gran Torino's example and try to take a small nap. As Ochaco was about to doze off the train suddenly violently rocked and the brake engaging causing the train to squeal to a stop. Immediately Ochaco's eyes were open, while Gran Torino stood up and was looking around.
Looking through the door into another compartment, both retired pro hero and pro hero trainee spotted the nomu. Ochaco heard Gran Torino take in a deep breath then turn to the latest wielder of his best friend's quirk, "Uravity, help the civilian get off this train. Use your quirk to do so, that creature's mine."
Before Ochaco would give any form of confirmation, Gran Torino took off towards the door and with his small statue busted through the window into the next compartment. Ochaco then looked around for a way to get people off the train. Looking out the window across from her, she noticed the train had stopped next to a building whose roof was level with the train track.
"That can work." Ochaco ran to the opposite side and over to the door. Summoning One for All, Ochaco forced the door open and saw there was about a 15 foot gap between the door and the roof. Though that won't be an issue if Ochaco used Zero Gravity. Though it would be slow if Ochaco was jumping back and forth carrying people. Looking around Ochaco said, "Listen up, I need everyone to come over here and give me a hand."
Everyone looked at her as if she was crazy. But then a teenager who was a little older than her, probably just graduated from high school walked up to her as he noticed her costume and recognized her from UA's Sports Festival, "Sure. What can I do to help?"
Ochaco looked at him and saw he was wearing a denim jacket over a blank white t-shirt while wearing ripped jeans. She then noticed she was carrying a backpack that had film equipment coming out of it. She figured he had to be some kind of adrenaline junkie daredevil that made videos to post online. That's probably why he was up for doing something dangerously stupid.
Ochaco quickly explained how she was going to use her quirk to get him over to the roof and how he was going to need to stop people she sent his way from floating away. He got a big smile and held out his arm. Ochaco tapped his arm, causing him to float, before gently pushing him over to the roof. Once he was about to the roof Ocahco pressed her finger, deactivating her quirk and the teenager landed on his feeting. Over setting his backpack over to the side, he gave a wave to show he was ready.
Now that people could see Ochaco was some kind of hero student and she had a plan to get everyone off the train, they began to walk up to her. Doing it with two people at once, Ochaco would use her quirk on them before sending them over to the daredevil teeneger, who would catch them and set them on their feet, allowing Ochaco to cancel her quirk.
Once the last civilian was off the train, Ochaco turned and saw Gran Torino and Hawks launch Nomu out of the train. Japan's number 3 turned to the short retired pro hero and said, "We need to back out there, there's more."
Not waiting for an answer Hawks took off.
Gran Torino turned to his student and with the door broken open, he said, "Try to keep up." Gran Torino then took off after the avian pro hero. Leaving Ochaco to turn back and look over the city of Hosu. Where Stain was still hunting pro heroes to kill, but more importantly where one of her friends was hunting down stain for revenge. This cause Ochaco to recall the small conversation she had with Gizon before she left on her train
"Something happened to Ilda's older brother. I heard him talking to his mother and Tensei was mentioned. I watched the news and apparently Tensei was attacked and paralyzed by Stain." Gizon said as Ochaco stepped onto her train.
"Is that why Ilda been acting reserved?" Ochaco said she had noticed that Ilda was acting differently but figured losing in the Sport Festival put some stress on his mind. She couldn't imagine it was anything like this.
"Yeah. I figured he could work through it, but this morning, when he didn't realize I was already at the locker. The look on his face, it wasn't one of a hero. I think Ilda took his internship in Hosu because that's where Stain is." Gizon said leaving no room for interpretation.
Ochaco gasped, "You don't think."
"For anyone else, I don't think they would, but to Ilda. His family is the single most important thing to him. Ilda's not thinking straight and he'll probably go after Stain at the first sight of him." Gizon said, he wasn't wearing his usual smirk, but a face of knowing.
"But I'm going to be three cities over." Ochaco said. She didn't think that there would be any chance of going to Hosu. Gran Torino was a veteran hero, so she would be lucky to do any kind of patrolling. Let alone in Torino's cities, even then only the top heroes moved around the country and that's when they were called in to assist.
"But you'll be the closest one. If for whatever reason you go to Hosu and there is an attack, try to help Ilda. Stain's a trained hero killer, and Ilda going for revenge will just play into Stain's ideology. Your mission is going to make sure our class president doesn't die. And I mean both ways, I'd rather not see Ilda become a villain." Gizon said. He knew Ochaco understood where this was coming from.
But Ocahco was still worried, "But it's like what you said Stain's a trained killer, what hope do I have against him." If she could she would help Ilda the best she could, but what if Ilda had already found Stain by the time she got to her friend. What could she possibly do then?
"Hey keep your chin up," Gizon said, seeing that look of fear in Ochaco's eyes, "Stain's a trained killer, but you were trained by a better one." She was strong, Gizon knew that, and she just needed to believe the same. But after the Sports Festival her belief in herself of being worthy of One for All was at an all time low.
Moreover Ochaco didn't like how Gizon phrased his statement, "Gizon, have you killed a pro hero?"
"You think I'd be in UA if I had. No, I haven't but with my quirks I easily contend with most of the top 20 heroes." Gizon's smirk returned, hoping it would get Ochaco out of her funk. Ochaco thought about it and honestly she could see that happen, "But hey, just keep your head straight and stay calm. Stain thinks heroes should be flawless people, and whether you think it yourself, you're as close as the world can get."
Before Ochaco could make a remark the train doors closed and began to move to take Ochaco to her internship.
Back in Hosu, Ochaco looked around, Stain was known to attack in back alleys, away from the public. So he could take as much time as needed. The attack seemed to be causing panic throughout the whole city, but it seemed that the northeast side of the city was the least affected.
"Get to the ground and get out of harm's way. We'll make sure this fight is over quickly." Ocahco said, then powered up One for All and took off towards the northeast part of Hosu. As she ran along the roof top she said, "How would Hisahito put it? 'Ilda if you aren't already dead, then I'm going to kill you.' Something like that." -Ochaco then sighed, "Ilda I just hope you're okay."
With the fire and smoke in the distance Ochaco made that her destination. She flew across rooftops, until she was only a few away. As she thought about starting to head down, some head and metal crashed into her. Ocahco was thrown off course as the wind was knocked out of her. Her eyes widened as she saw the street below her coming closer. She began to move her hand to use zero gravity, but then something grabbed the back of her neck collar and her descent abruptly stopped. She was flying down towards the next rooftop when some hard and metal crashed into her.
As Ochaco slowly opened her eyes, she saw that she was only a few inches from kissing the ground. But then a robotic sounding voice said, "Uraraka?" This caused Ochaco to look up and see Izukus' hero suit hovering in the air. Using its left hand and boots to do so, while he held onto her with his left. His faceplate opened up, showing his face, "What are you doing here?"
"Helping with the Nomu. Sidenote: have you seen Ilda anywhere?" Ochaco asked., using her original quirk on herself and floated up to be eye level with Izukus.
"No. Why?" Izuku asked.
"He took his internship here. And after learning about his brother. Hisahito and I are concerned about him trying to hunt down Stain." Ochaco said. She could only hope Ilda had come across the hero killer and that she could find him before he did. She, like Hisahito, didn't want to see Ilda lose himself.
Izuku had a look of confusion but then green lightning jumped behind his eyes and he said, "Oh. Ingenium, yeah I read about that on the news." -Then Izuku faceplate fell back down into place, "Unfortunately I can't help you in your search. I have to help with the large nomu, so far I'm the only one that's been able to damage it."
Ochaco looked disappointed at that, but then Izuku said, "However, I can give you his location." -It was Ochaco's turn to looked confused, "Jabisu hack his phone and pin it's GPS location. Here I'll send it to your phone."
Ochaco felt her phone go off and pulling it out saw she had a text from Izuku's with an address "Just get there as quickly as possible, it looks like he's in an alleyway and isn't moving. I'll send backup as soon as I can. Make sure Ilda stays alive." Izuku took off to re-engage the Nomu's. Ochaco saw how far she was from Ilda's location, she canceled her quick and the moment she hit the ground activated One for All and took off towards her friend.
With his speed it didn't take long for Ilda to find his targets. And while he might have been confident going in, as he had trust on his side, the moment the fighting began Ilda knew he was outmatched. His opponent's speed, strength and veracity was greater than his own in the tight alleyway. Ilda's legs had been cut so he could barely stand, but he wasn't going to give up, not until he had his revenge.
"Your skill is admirable, but can you only fight because your desire is so wicked. You're selfish, just like your brother." Stain said, looking at the blood that was on his katana.
"Shut up, my brother was the perfect hero. He cared about the people he protected. He helped in any way he could, going beyond his duties. He showed me what a hero should do and you took that away from him." Ilda yelled, he could not allow such a wick villain to talk about his brother that way.
"A hero should do their job without pay. They should accept people's cheer and their praise for their service and nothing else. Your brother was selfish by taking pay and spending it." Stain threw a small blade and it got stuck in Ilda's leg. Ilda stumbled back, biting his tongue to stay on his feet and to stay conscious. His vision was starting to go black and the setting sun wasn't helping, "A hero must be flawless and there's only one that fits that title."
Stain licked the blood off his blade, then as Ilda began to fall to the ground, he dashed forward ready to end the traitor's life, but suddenly a pink blur dashed past his target and hit him in the jaw. Stain jumped back to dodge the attack. He looked over and saw another hero student.
"It's a pro hero's duty to protect those around them. Allow them to live their everyday lives with a smile." If Stain could twist All Might's ideology to fit his intentions, so could Ochaco, "A pro hero must be willing to sacrifice their lives and future to allow those around them the peace and comfort they deserve."
"So you're a true believer too. You came here to protect, not to fight, but for the betterment of the future, you must allow me to destroy this betrayer." Stain said. Ochaco didn't move, so Stain dashed forwards ready to take Ilda's life. However as he passed Ochaco, she drew back her fist and hit Stain in the jaw. Stain went flying back, landing on his feet having just barely prepared himself for the hit.
"I hear those phrases from All Might all day long. I have them memorized, but I think I would like to add something extra. A pro hero must save and rescue those around them, even those who don't want to be rescued or don't deserve it. My friend might have come here to get revenge, I'm here to make sure he doesn't die. So he has a chance to live, a chance to make up for his mistake" Ochaco called out as her conviction grew strong and her hair took on a pink hue.
"Such a noble fight, but your friend is staining the society of heroes. He does not fight for others, only his selfish desires." Stain said, pointing his sword at Ilda.
"That might be true, but anyone can make mistakes. And you have no right to judge people on them." Ochaco said. She stepped to the side, blocking Ilda from Stain's view.
"If you are not willing to let me purge these traitors, then you will die right beside them." Stain said, readying his blade. His bloodlust began to fill the alleyway.
Traitored, Ochaoc was confused, but then she noticed a pro hero lying against the wall of the alley. Great, there went her plan to simply grab Ilda and run. But now she couldn't just leave the pro hero behind to die. And she wasn't confident she could outpace Stain while carrying two people. Now, she would have to face and defeat Stain before she could recuse the others.
Stain dashed forwards and Ochaco met him head on. Stain speed and reflexes were faster than Ochaco had ever seen. Stain cut Ochaco down her arm, leaving a long gash that immediately started to bleed. Jumping back Stain began to bring his katana up to his mouth, however Ochaco rush forwards and knocked the katana out of his hand. As the blade fell to the ground Ochaco punched Stain down the alleyway.
In midair Stain was about to correct himself and once he touched the ground, dash back towards Ochaco. As he ran he drew two dagger-like blades and used them to fend off Ochaco, then kicked her back to Ilda.
As Ochaco hit the ground and rolled back to Ilda, Stain grabbed his main sword from the ground. He brought it up to the mouth and licked Ochaco's blood. The next second she felt her body freeze, as if it had been locked in place. Ochaco tried to move but her body wouldn't respond to any command it was receiving.
"It is my mission to purge this world of its stain. I will kill every unworthy hero that holds that title." Stain said. He looked at Ochaco and Ilda. His aura of murder exploded out into the alleyway, making the atmosphere tense and making Stain seem like he was ten feet tall, "And I will not be stopped until he that is worthy of the title of hero is the only one that remains."
Stain took a step forwards, his aura made it hard to breathe. It was suffocating. However when Stain was only a few steps around, a cold chill came through the alleyway cutting stian's aur in half and freezing it. Then a giant ice wall formed, blocking Stain from his prey.
"You kill unworthy heroes, do you take requests?" Shoto had arrived just in time.