IZUKU MIDORIYA POV
My legs still felt like jelly, but my heart had never beaten this fast.
Everyone keeps asking me why I ran toward that monster. The pro-heroes scolded me until their faces were red, the onlookers stared like I was some kind of freak, and Kacchan… Kacchan looked like he wanted to kill me. But as I looked at my trembling hands, I knew one thing for certain: if it wasn't for Riko-chan, I'd be dead.
When the Sludge Villain first attacked me in that tunnel, I didn't just freeze. The "Riko Special" training kicked in. My muscles, hardened by years of her brutal strength conditioning, moved on instinct. Because of her, I had the presence of mind to twist, clawing at the muck to create a pocket of air. I held out just long enough for a hero to arrive.
And then... He appeared.
All Might. The Symbol of Peace. I clutched the hem of my shirt, tears stinging my eyes as he stood before me on that rooftop and said the words I'd waited my whole life to hear. He said the exact same thing Riko told me all those years ago.
"You can become a hero."
He was the second person to ever truly believe in me. The first had been Riko-chan, years ago, when she looked at a quirkless, crying kid and told him to start lifting weights instead of sobbing.
I grabbed my phone, my thumbs hovering over the keypad. I wanted to tell her everything. I couldn't mention the Quirk, All Might said that had to be a secret....but I wanted to tell her that I finally felt like I was standing on the starting line. I wanted to thank her for the dojo suggestion, for the training, for being the only one who didn't laugh at my dream.
To: Riko-chan - Riko-chan! Are you okay? I haven't seen you since the incident. I have so much to tell you! All Might talked to me! He said-
I deleted the message. Then I rewrote it. Then I deleted it again. No, a text wasn't enough.
But she hadn't come to school for two days. When I walked into class this morning, her desk was empty. It felt... wrong. The back of the room was too quiet without her dry wit or the sight of her sleeping through a lecture.
I looked over at Kacchan. He was staring at Riko's empty chair too, his brow furrowed, and his hands shoved deep into his pockets. He looked... unsettled. For once, he wasn't yelling. When he caught me looking, he let out a sharp "Tsk" and turned away, but he didn't launch his usual explosive threats.
The silence was worrying.
I have All Might as my mentor now. I have a path to U.A. But as I looked at the Tokyo Ghoul poster on my wall, the one Riko got me signed as Kira, for my birthday, the realisation hit me. The hero world wouldn't feel right if the person who pushed me into it wasn't there to see it.
"Please be okay, Riko-chan," I whispered to the quiet room.
THIRD PERSON POV
The morning air in Musutafu was crisp, but for Katsuki Bakugo, it felt suffocating. He adjusted the strap of his black school bag, his jaw set in its usual permanent scowl. Two days. Two days of silence. Two days of staring at an empty desk and wondering if that "punk" will finally show up.
He walked past the familiar convenience store, his mind churning with a mix of irritation and a low-level anxiety he refused to name. He was halfway through a mental rant about how he was going to blast her into the next century when a blur of movement caught the corner of his eye.
"HEYYYY! SLUDGE-Boiiii!"
Bakugo didn't even have time to turn his head before a weight slammed into his back. A pair of arms locked around his neck in a mock-chokehold, and the familiar scent of ink and lime shampoo hit him.
"What the-?! Get off me, you damn parasite!" Bakugo roared, sparking an explosion in his palm to force the intruder off.
Riko Akabane did a mid-air flip, landing perfectly on her feet a few paces away. She was wearing her school uniform with the same sloppiness as always, her hands folded. She stared at him…her eyes having the same…..annoying look that always got under his skin.
"Woah, easy there, Sparky," Riko grinned, her teeth flashing in a way that felt like a challenge. "You're awfully jumpy today. Is it the trauma? Do I need to buy you a teddy bear to help you sleep at night, or did the sludge clog up your ears?"
Bakugo's face turned a shade of crimson that rivaled a tomato. "Shut up! I wasn't jumpy! You're just a freak who sneaks around like a damn villain!"
"A villain? Me?" Riko placed a hand over her heart, looking mock-offended. "I'm hurt, Katsuki. I really am. Especially after I spent the last forty-eight hours fighting for my life."
Bakugo's anger faltered for a fraction of a second, his red eyes narrowing. "Fighting for your life? What the hell happened? You didn't answer your phone, and you weren't at school. I thought you finally got hit by a truck or something."
Riko waved a hand dismissively, turning to walk alongside him as if she hadn't just assaulted him. "Worse. Food poisoning. I had some 'discount' sushi from that place near the studio. Let's just say it was a battle of wills between my digestive system and a very angry piece of salmon. I was basically tethered to the bathroom floor. It was a tragedy, really. Shakespearian."
Bakugo stared at her, scanning her face for any hint of a lie. She looked tired, but she was talking at a mile a minute, her energy levels seeming high. "Food poisoning? You missed two days of school because of bad fish? You're pathetic."
"Hey, it was a near-death experience!" she laughed, poking him in the arm. "But I noticed you didn't answer my question. Did you miss me, Sparky? Did you spend your nights staring at my empty desk, weeping into your pillow because your favourite rival wasn't there to tell you your hair looks like a startled hedgehog?"
"In your dreams, Fuse-box!" Bakugo snapped, though he looked away quickly, his ears turning a tell-tale pink. "I was glad for the peace and quiet. The whole class was better off without your constant yapping."
"Liar," Riko sang-songed, skipping a step ahead of him.
THIRD PERSON POV
The moment the classroom door swung shut after the morning bell, the atmosphere was already a powder keg. The teacher, looking like he needed a triple shot of espresso just to survive the period, cleared his throat and shuffled through a stack of late submissions.
"Before we start," the teacher droned, holding up a single, crisp sheet of paper. "I received a late career aspiration form. It seems we have one more student aiming for the U.A. Hero Course."
He looked over his glasses, sighing. "Akabane. You finally decided to stop being a 'professional slacker'?"
The class went silent. Then, with the grace of a stage performer, Riko kicked her chair back. The metal legs screeched against the floor as she stood up, her arms crossed and a predatory grin on her face.
"That's right, bitches!" she shouted, her voice echoing off the walls. "Your girl's officially going to be pro hero!"
The classroom erupted. Half the kids were laughing, the other half looked genuinely terrified that a girl who could detonate a pencil was now aiming for a license to do it legally.
Riko didn't stop there. She leaned over her desk, pointing a finger directly at the back of Bakugo's head.
"And you, Sparky!" she barked. "When I become the greatest hero and feel generous enough, I might let you be my Sidekick. What da ya say?"
The silence that followed was the kind you find right before a volcanic eruption.
Bakugo's shoulders began to shake. Tiny, rapid-fire pops…pop-pop-pop…sounded from his palms, smelling like burnt sugar. He slowly turned around, his face a mask of pure, murderous twitching.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME, YOU DAMN IDIOT?!" Bakugo screamed, his voice hitting a decibel that probably shattered glass in the next ward over. "SIDEKICK? I'LL BLOW YOU INTO SO MANY PIECES THE DOCTORS WILL HAVE TO REASSEMBLE YOU BY COLOR!"
"Aww, look! He's sparkling with excitement!" Riko turned to the class, waving her hands dramatically. "Don't worry, Bakugo, I'll let you handle the paperwork and the low-level street thugs. I'll take care of the heavy lifting."
"I WILL LITERALLY END YOUR LINEAGE!" Bakugo roared, jumping onto his desk. "I'M THE ONE WHO GOES TO U.A.! I'M THE ONE WHO SURPASSES ALL MIGHT! YOU'RE JUST AN EXTRA WITH AN ATTITUDE PROBLEM!"
"That's the best you've got?" Riko leaned in, her eyes narrowed in a mock-challenge. "I've seen more intimidation coming of roaches. If you're gonna be my sidekick, you really need to work on your threats. 'Die' is so last season, Katsuki."
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
Meanwhile, Izuku Midoriya was trying to vibrate out of existence. He had buried his face so deep into his 'Hero Analysis for the Future' notebook that he was practically sniffing the ink.
"Riko-chan, please stop!" Izuku wailed internally. "He's actually going to explode the school! And since when are you joining U.A.?! Everything is changing so fast!"
He stole a glance through his fingers. Riko looked like she was having the time of her life, dodging a stray notebook Bakugo had chucked at her head, while the teacher just sat at his desk, staring blankly at the ceiling and wondering if his pension was worth this.
"SIDEKICK!?" Bakugo let out one final, strangled yell. "I'LL SHOW YOU SIDEKICK! TEN MONTHS, AKABANE! AT THE ENTRANCE EXAM, I'M GONNA SCORE SO HIGH THEY'LL HAVE TO REWRITE THE GRADING SCALE, AND YOU'LL BE LUCKY TO PASS!"
"Is that a challenge, Sparky?" Riko winked at him, completely unfazed by the threat of third-degree burns. "Bet. Loser has to buy the winner lunch for the first month of U.A."
"DEAL! PREPARE TO GO BROKE, YOU CRAZY HAG!"
Riko sat back down, propping her feet up on the desk as the class slowly settled into a low hum of shocked whispers. She looked over at Izuku and gave him a thumbs-up.
Izuku just gave a weak, shaky nod, wondering how he was supposed to survive ten months of training when his two best friends were already planning to turn the U.A. Entrance Exam into a personalized battle arena.
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Author's lab
So tis was a big chapter according to me....also rate this novel. Also, don't cuss me on the lame jokes....I have already cringed hard on them....but lazy I am so... all the best.
peace out