Chapter 6: Entrance exam aftermath
"Izumi!" Inko cried as she embraced her daughter tightly, tears gushing out of her eyes. "I'm so glad you're ok! I was so worried when Durandal told me what happened to you".
Izumi returned her mother's hug, tears gushing out of her eyes as well. "I'm sorry, I just, I didn't know," she cried, worried about her newfound fear of heights and falling.
"It's ok sweaty. Because now we know about it and can work to overcome it," Inko said. "It's going to be ok, I'm here for you, always".
Ochaco and Durandal watched on as Izumi and her mother hugged, with Neito and Hitoshi close by as well, the two having been given a slight rundown on what happened to her, just minus the bit about punching out a massive robot.
Whilst Ochaco was happy that Izumi was ok now, she was worried about the large amount of tears they were producing. "Is that normal?".
"Yep," Durandal replied as Neito and Hitoshi nodded. "It's got nothing to do with their quirks, by the way. They just produce a lot of tears".
"Can confirm that," Neito added.
Ochaco nodded as Inko continued to hug her daughter. The five had gotten more acquainted while waiting for Izumi's mother to arrive. Once Izumi had calmed down, that is. She was very interested in shifter bots, robots that can shift between multiple forms, and what happened whilst she had frozen up. Ochaco was still stuck while she was falling, but her gravity manipulation quirk had a few neat tricks. She could reactivate her quirk on someone/something she's used it on before and move whatever she used her quirk on around. But it gets harder to reactivate it the more time has passed, about three hours before it's impossible. Luckily, it had only been two since she last used it on Izumi so that Ochaco could reactivate it.
Soon Inko broke off the hug and turned towards Ochaco. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter, she's been through a lot, and I'm grateful that you helped rescue her during the exam".
"You're welcome," Ochaco said with a bow. "Your daughter saved me from that Titan, so it was only right that I helped her in return. We both want to become heroes and helping people is what heroes do!" she said as Inko gave her a kind smile, motherly smile.
"Wait, you know the actual designation for those robots?" Durandal asked, sounding surprised.
"Well, it's kind of obvious that the machines they used for the practical exam were based on certain baled-headed bastards robots. I mean, who doesn't know about Doctor Paxton and his army of robots?" Ochaco said. Inko could feel the venom in the girl's voice when she mentioned Paxton's name. She didn't just hate the man. She despised him.
"I like this girl already," Durandal remarked. If he had a mouth, he would have been smiling.
"I wonder why would they be using inferior copies of that madman's machines for the exam?" Hitoshi asked.
"Probably because everyone knows them and hates them," Neito replied. "Those robots are responsible for the deaths of over ten million people across the globe. No doubt it'll be therapeutic for the people destroying them".
"Well, I'm glad you are all ok," Inko said with a smile before she took Izumi's hand. "Now then, let's go home".
Izumi smiled as they walked off, turning back towards Ochaco and waving at her. "See you around," she said, nervous.
Ochaco smiled as she waved back. Once done, she reached into her bag, but her hand froze just as it entered. "Ur, excuse me?" she asked loudly, getting Izumi and Inko's attention. "I... Is it possible for me to get a lift home, please? It's just that I misplaced my train ticket earlier and don't have enough to buy a new one," she asked, sounding worried.
"That's ok, I'll be happy to give you a lift home," Inko replied with a smile, getting a confused look from Izumi, "Oh, don't worry dear, it'll be fine. I know what it's like to be on a tight budget".
"Are you sure?" Ochaco said nervously, "I don't want to be intrusive or anything".
"Oh, don't worry about it. It's not the first time I've given one of Izumi's friends a lift," Inko said with a smile. "I was about to ask if Neito and Hitoshi wanted a lift as well".
Neito and Hitoshi shared a glance. "Well, we did agree to have dinner at your place after the exam, so sure," Neito said with a smile before turning to Ochaco. "You can join us if you like".
Ochaco looked conflicted for a moment before she shook her head. "No, it's fine. I already have plans for dinner anyway. But, will there be space for all of us?".
"It's a five-seater, so yes, there is room," Izumi replied with a smile.
"I'll be in the boot, by the way," Durandal added. "Not exactly room for me anywhere else".
Ochaco nodded. She'd already taken up enough of Izumi and her mother's time, and whilst she didn't mind the offer to have dinner with them, they'd already done enough for her by just letting her have a lift to her apartment.
The walk back to Inko's car was short and quiet. Izumi kept close to her mother as they walked, Durandal by her side. Inko's car was a cosy little car with three seats at the back and two in the front. She had apologised to Ochaco that it might be cramped in the back with three people, but she didn't mind.
Once everyone was seated inside, with Inko in the driver's seat, Izumi sitting next to her holding onto a home-made plush of Durandal for comfort, Ochaco, Neito and Hitoshi in the back, and Durandal in the boot, they headed off. Ochaco had already told Inko where her apartment was.
"So, Ochaco," Neito said once they were safely on their way, "You said you used your quirk to stop Izumi from falling, but we never cleared up what exactly happened to cause her to fall from so high in the first place".
"Oh, well, it was after she jumped up and one-shot the titan," Ochaco replied. "Punched it right in the face, or chest. No idea why Paxton put the face in the chest".
"She what!" Neito and Hitoshi asked loudly, causing Izumi to let out a little yelp as she hugged her Durandal plush tighter, and Inko's eyes widened in shock. The two boys quickly realised this and lowered their voices. "Sorry about that. But seriously, you took out a zero pointer?".
"What kind of training where you doing?" Hitoshi asked, sounding surprised.
"I should probably mention she was wearing me at the time," Durandal said, poking his head out behind Hitoshi. "And yes, I am a shifter robot. It's one of those 'optional extras' that we had added. Still, I didn't do all the work. Her quirk did most of it".
Izumi shivered. She knew this would come up at some point. They were her friends, after all, and would find out at some point. They would have questions, especially Neito, since he can copy quirks. "It's true. I have a quirk now," she said quietly as green lightning arced over her body for a few seconds. "I could only use it since this morning".
The three passengers in the back looked at her with shocked faces. "It came in just this morning," Hitoshi said, shocked. "Holy s-s-s-shoe. But, how did you only just find out about it? And surely Neito would have been able to copy it".
"I don't know. I should have been able to detect it when I touched her-" Neito said before pausing for a bit. "Ah, your quirk must have been suppressed".
"Pardon?" Ochaco asked, sounding confused.
"There are stories of people whose bodies were so ill-equipped to handle their quirk that it simply suppressed it, not activating until their body could handle it," Neito replied. "Take the villain and Paxton minion Mechanist. Reports say that his quirk didn't activate until over half of his body was mechanical. These cases are very rare, but I believe Izumi's body couldn't handle her quirk, so suppressed it until she was strong enough to handle it".
"Well, strong enough to use a small percentage of it anyway," Durandal added. "We didn't have much time to properly learn how to use it once we found out she had it, but after some last-minute testing, we discovered that she can safely use one percent of her power without breaking her limbs. We believe it's a stockpile quirk of sorts".
"Ah, that's probably another reason I never detected it," Neito said, checking his hand. "Her quirk was a blank. Whilst I can copy them, quirks require a stockpile of something I can't use because I don't have access to their stockpile. But still, only gaining access to your quirk on the day of the exam. I can see why you hurt yourself with it".
Izumi let out a silent sigh of relief. She was glad that Durandal was covering for her. She would have struggled otherwise, especially after what happened to her today. Even with her friends there to talk to her, she was still shaken up after today's events so she would have messed it up. She hadn't even come up with a cover story yet for her quirk, so it was good that Durandal was covering for her.
She turned her head back and noticed that Ochaco was looking at her with a worried expression as she processed this new information. "Wait, are you saying that before the exam, Izumi was quirkless?".
Izumi nodded. "Yes. Guess I must have been misdiagnosed when I was four," she said, trying to draw attention away from the fact she still has an additional toe joint.
"Ah, now the puzzle pieces fall into place," Neito remarked. "Misdiagnosed at a young age by an incompetent doctor and never getting a second diagnosis. I've heard many stories about that. I believe that the heir to the Yaoyorozu family was misdiagnosed, resulting in the doctor who diagnosed her in the first place getting sued by them".
"When did you get so interested in the rich and famous?" Hitoshi asked.
"I'm not," Neito replied with a smirk. "It's their quirks that interest me. I need to be aware of what quirks are out there since I need to copy other people's quirks to be useful, so I took a page out of our squad leaders' book and took up quirk analysis. I will need to be able to analyse other people's quirks quickly, especially if I want to master using them. I was just looking up the current head of the family's quirk and stumbled across the article".
"Wait, squad leader?" Ochaco asked, sounding confused, still recovering from the shock that the girl who had saved her had done so with a quirk she could only just access today.
"Oh, that would be me," Izumi replied nervously. "During the weekends, we sometimes play Battlefield, mainly Battlefield Dying Star, to help grow our teamwork, and I'm often the squad leader. Even if we all don't make it into the hero course, the communication skills we learn whilst playing it could help with our communication skills whilst in stressful situations".
"It also helps distract us from the hell that's been the past ten months," Hitoshi added. "Training for the UA entrance exam was hard. I'm lucky I met you, Izumi. I probably wouldn't have done as well as I did without the training we did. I would have been stuck thinking I could just coast by with my quirk and think I had lost the quirk lottery. That was not a healthy mindset to have".
"Well, I'm glad you two did well," Izumi said with a smile. "Let's just hope that it's enough to get in".
Inko smiled as she listened in on the conversation, not responding as she was focused on driving the car. She was happy that her daughter had made such good friends, Neito and Hitoshi were, whilst she was cautious of them at first, proved to be good friends to her daughter, much better than Katsuki. And she could already tell that Ochaco was thinking about it. She was obviously worried about Izumi after all. Perhaps she could ask the two to share contact information, as it would be nice for Izumi to have another girl to talk to. She didn't have many friends after all.
Her smile quickly faded when she turned the corner to the street past the apartment complex Ochaco was staying at and noticed the police and military cordon blocking the entire street. It did not take her long to spot the tank embedded into the first floor of one of the apartment complexes.
"My god!" Neito gasped at the sight before them. "How the hell did that happen?".
"That's the apartment complex I'm staying at!" Ochaco said with a horrified look on her face.
Izumi watched the scene before them with horrified eyes, wondering how a tank got embedded into the first floor of a building, it was also the place where Ochaco was living, so she was hoping that her apartment was ok. She then noticed Sir Nighteye talking to one of the police officers. Without thinking, she got out of the car (still holding her Durandal plush) and rushed over to him, making sure not to pass the police blockade "Sir Nighteye!".
Sir Nighteye turned towards her with an almost surprised look on his face. After quickly reassuring a nearby officer, he passed over to the other side of the cordon "Izumi, what are you doing here?" he asked, sounding surprised.
"Just dropping off a friend at their apartment," Izumi replied, "Which currently has a tank embedded inside of it. How did that even happen? You said you were after the guy who made people go mad?".
"We were," Sir Nighteye replied. "You were right about how he used his quirk. It did require direct eye contact to work. Good thing you noticed that. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to apprehend him. Unfortunately, before we got to him, he used his quirk on a few JSDF soldiers, one of whom was a tank driver with a quirk that allowed him to make vehicles jump. The rest is self-explanatory. At least no one was hurt".
Izumi let out a sigh of relief. It would have been dreadful if someone got hurt because of this. That man had already caused too much pain and suffering.
"So the guy caused a JSDF tank driver to go crazy and jump his tank into a building," Durandal remarked as he walked up beside her, her mother, Neito, Hitoshi and Ochaco rushing up behind her. "I'd say it sounds like something from a comedy sketch, but considering what could have happened, I think it's best that no one found this funny".
"Izumi! How the hell do you know Sir Nighteye?" Neito asked, sounding surprised.
"Er, well, er" Izumi spluttered nervously. She just had to go and ask Sir Nighteye about what happened, didn't she?
Thankfully Sir Nighteye was there to cover for her. "She's been helping me with a few cases I've been working on," he said, fixing his glasses. "Her analytical skills are quite impressive. I might not have been able to capture the villain responsible for this mess without her help".
"You've been helping a pro hero?" Hitoshi said, sounding surprised. "How did that end up happening?".
"Long story that's sadly classified, I'm afraid," Sir Nighteye replied calmly. "Only available to other pro heroes".
"Well, looks like we have another intensive to become heroes," Neito said with a smirk.
Izumi felt a shiver go down her spine, but she didn't have to worry about it for long, as something else she had to worry about coming up. "Er, sorry if I'm sounding intrusive, but that tank is currently embedded into the wall of the apartment complex, and I'm worried it might have damaged the apartment I'm staying at," Ochaco asked, "You wouldn't mind telling me what apartments have been damaged?".
"Well, thankfully, only one apartment was damaged, apartment two-zero-two," Sir Nighteye replied calmly.
The colour flooded out of Ochaco's face as what almost sounded like a whimper escaped her mouth. "Two-zero-two?" she muttered with a broken look on her face. With a wimpier, she collapsed onto her knees, tears falling from her eyes. "That's my apartment. I... where do I go? I don't have enough to rent a new one for the night," she cried softly. "Did my stuff survive?".
"We managed to recover two suitcases," Sir Nighteye replied sombrely. "They were undamaged, and the police are currently looking after them".
Ochaco let out a slight sigh of relief. "At least, all my stuff survived," she said, relieved that she didn't lose anything. "But, where do I stay now? I, don't have anywhere else to go,".
Izumi felt bad for Ochaco. She said she was tight on money already, and this incident didn't help. It was unlucky that this had happened to her. She didn't deserve this, not after all the things she did. But without a place to stay for the night, who knows what could happen to her?
Without thinking, she opened her mouth. "You could stay the night with us," she said, trying her best to smile. "My bed has a pull-out bed underneath it, so you could sleep there tonight," The pull-out bed was because when she was young, she wanted to have a sleepover with Katsuki, but that never worked out, and the bed remained unused.
"What?" Ochaco said wearily, surprised that Izumi was offering her a place to rest for the night. "Are you sure? I, don't want to be a burden upon you".
"It's no worry, dear," Inko said with a smile. "It'll be perfectly alright for you to stay the night with us".
"Yeah, you're probably better staying with them anyway," Neito added. "My mother doesn't like having strangers around due to her quirk".
"And we don't have space at my home," Hitoshi added. "Or a spare bed. The care home is kind of full at the moment," he said. He had long since told the others that he was in a foster care home since his parents could not look after him, what with his dad in the army and mother in a coma.
Ochaco looked up at Izumi, tears still falling from her eyes. A part of her was telling her this was wrong, that they'd already helped her enough, but she didn't have anywhere else to go, and she didn't want to call home for help.
In a flash, she got up and hugged Izumi, surprising the girl and putting a large smile on her mother. "Thank you," she cried as she hugged her tightly, thankful that she would at least have a roof over her head for the night.
Izumi, for the most part, was surprised by Ochaco's sudden hug. Thinking back to the practical exam, this must have been how she felt when she hugged her. With teary eyes, she returned the hug, "You're welcome".
The two hugged for a bit before breaking it off. They then set about getting Ochaco's stuff into the car. Despite being large suitcases, there was still enough space for Durandal in the back. And, after saying goodbye to Sir Nighteye, they drove off towards the Midoriya's home.
"I'm sorry about what happened to your apartment," Izumi said with a frown. Even though Ochaco had agreed to stay the night with them, it was still unfortunate that her apartment was the only one that was damaged by the tank.
"It's ok. No one could have seen it coming," Ochaco replied. "I'm just glad I'm not sleeping on the streets tonight and that my stuff survived".
"Is there anyone we should contact about this?" Inko asked, "Like a family member? Just to tell them what happened".
"Yes," Ochaco replied with a frown "I'll give you the contact detail of the orphanage later".
"Orphanage?" Izumi said, sounding surprised, a sad frown on her face.
Ochaco nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. "My parents died during Avalon's invasion of Japan," she said quietly. "I've been living in an orphanage ever since".
Izumi looked at Ochaco with sad eyes, holding on tightly to her Durandal plush. It must have been horrifying for her to lose both her parents at such a young age during such a horrific time. Can't have been good for her. She just hoped that the orphanage she lived at was a good one.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Hitoshi said with a sombre frown. "It's easy to forget that he hit Japan too, just not as bad as everywhere else".
"At least you won't be seeing any more of his bald head anymore," Durandal said. "And I bet it was therapeutic smashing those robots up".
Ochaco smiled slightly, "Yep, that it was. They might only have been copies, but it felt nice seeing so many of them destroyed. Especially seeing Izumi smash up that Titan".
"Yeah, that was kind of an impulse discussion on my part," Izumi said with a nervous smile. "I saw you trapped and went to help. I would have been there sooner, but-. Oh no!".
"What is it," Neito asked, sounding concerned. "What's wrong?".
"There was another girl I was helping," Izumi replied with an annoyed sigh. "She had a broken leg, so I was carrying her to safety, but she told me to put her down so I could help you. I forgot to check in on her".
"Can't say you were in the right state of mind at the time," Durandal said, "You were in shock after all. Besides, I think she's fine. I saw Recovery Girl used her quirk on her, and she was walking away without issue".
"Well, that's a relief," Izumi said with a slight smile. "Still, would have been nice to make sure she was ok myself. But, I'm still glad she's ok," she said. Even though it hurt her chances, it felt good to be helping people.
It turned out that the apartment complex Ochaco was staying at wasn't far from where Izumi lived, only a short fifteen-minute drive away. Once they arrived and parked, they got out and headed to Izumi and Inko's apartment, with Neito and Hitoshi offering to carry Ochaco's bags for her. Once inside, Inko started work on dinner whilst the others got settled in.
It was then that Izumi realised something. She had agreed to allow Ochaco to stay in her room (since they didn't have a futon), which was worrying as A, she had never had someone round for a sleepover before, and B, she was going to be sharing her room with someone else, her room full of All Might and hero merch.
Neito and Hitoshi had never been around much, and even when they were, she never showed them her room. And now she was about to show her room to her friends and another girl she met today. Oh, this was going to be embarrassing.
"So, is it ok to put my stuff into your room?" Ochaco asked.
Izumi was about to say no, but she would have to enter the room at some point, so she might as well get the embarrassment out of the way now. "Sure," she said as she led them to her room and reluctantly opened the door, expecting a lot of criticism.
She did not expect Neito and Hitoshi to completely ignore it all and just walk in and put Ochaco's stuff into the room. Izumi could only stand there with a surprised look on her face. Of course, Ochaco looked to be struggling to hold back her laughter.
"What? You've told us several times that you're a massive fan of All Might, so we kind of expect your room to be like this," Hitoshi said calmly. "Although to be honest, I did not expect you to have statues of Thirteen, Interstellar, or Luna Soldier".
"You have a statue of Thirteen!" Ochaco blurted as she zipped over to the shelf with her space-themed heroes on it, then began to geek out over them.
"You're a fan of the rescue hero Thirteen?" Izumi asked with a smile.
"Of course I am. She's the best!" Ochaco beamed. "She's used her quirk to save thousands of people. I'm also a fan of Interstellar and Luna Soldier, as two of the three heroes operating on the moon. Ahhhhh! And you got them in their Luna costumes! These statues are, only available, on, the, moon" she said as her head slowly turned towards Izumi.
"My dad works on the moon onboard a Luna harvester-" was about all Izumi could get out before Ochaco zipped over to her. "Your dad works on the moon! You have to tell me about it!".
Izumi was taken slightly back by Ochaco's sudden excitement, not sure what to say or how to react.
"I take it you're a big fan of the Luna colony?" Durandal said.
Ochaco nodded. "I know almost everything about the Luna colony. From the companies working up there, the ongoing projects, to the heroes who operate up there! It's so awesome. It's my dream to one day visit the colony. Even thou my chances of even obtaining that dream are slim".
"Hay, don't worry. I'm sure you'll be able to achieve your dream one day," Izumi said reassuringly. "I always wanted to become a hero, but up until ten months ago, I never thought I would be able to achieve that dream. I'm sure if you work hard enough, you'll be able to achieve it".
"You think so?" Ochaco asked with a smile.
Izumi nodded. "I'm sure of it. You just need to work hard to achieve it".
"Nobody achieves their dreams sitting on their arse all day after all," Neito added, "So, It'll be a while before Inko finishes making dinner. Why don't we watch something on the TV to pass the time. We won't be getting our results for at least another week, so we might as well relax".
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Ochaco said. "I need something to distract me from my apartment getting a tank embedded into it. Nothing too heavy that requires me to concentrate, just something to relax to".
"Yeah, I think we all just want to relax after today's events," Hitoshi said as they filed out of Izumi's bedroom and settled on the sofa.
The next few hours were spent watching a few movies while Inko prepared dinner. Occasionally having a little chat, mostly about heroes or the movie they were watching. Inko was glad that her daughter had friends now, people other than herself she could talk to. Aldera was such a toxic environment for her. Moving her to Nabu was the best decision she had ever made in her entire life, the second being agreeing to let her keep Durandal. Despite being a war machine built by the worst villain this decade, he's surprisingly gentle towards her. Why do you think she made the Durandal plush in the first place?
When dinner was ready, they all sat at the table and enjoyed a lovely, large meal that Ochaco said was the best meal she had ever had. Whilst they ate, Ochaco asked a few questions about Hisashi's work on the moon. She was very interested in the Luna harvesters that mined Helium three. But to be fair, she was interested in anything that happened on the moon and space in general.
Unfortunately, Neito and Hitoshi couldn't stay long once they had finished dinner. So, after wishing them goodnight and sending them home with some leftovers (Inko always cooked more than needed when they had guests around. Helped that the leftovers made great lunches), Inko set about getting the pull-out bed ready for Ochaco whilst Izumi sat on the sofa, Durandal's head resting on her lap.
"So, where did you get Durandal from?" Ochaco asked, sitting next to Izumi.
"It's a bit of a long story" Izumi replied. Just like the backstory for her quirk had been planned out and rehearsed, so to have the background for Durandal "My dad got him for me after an incident ten months ago. He used a lot of favours to both acquire him and have him sent here".
"I'll admit, I was sort of against this assignment at first. But I've steadily grown attached to Izumi here," Durandal added, lying with a half-truth. "I will also admit that this is so much more interesting than sitting in a lab all day. I'll tell you more about it, but kind of classified".
"Yeah, I figured that would be the case," Ochaco said. "Shifter robots are new, and there aren't many out there. Plus, they all have positronic brains-. How did your dad even get him? Robots with positronic brains are almost impossible for people to own".
"No idea," Izumi replied. "He never went into detail on how he acquired him. Not even Durandal will tell me. Guess he managed to get some favours with some powerful people up there. Helium three mining is a lucrative business, after all. Well, for those in charge anyway".
"If it's lucrative, why are you living in a small apartment?" Ochaco asked.
"We prefer to live here. It's comfortable for us," Izumi replied. "Besides, we've been saving up most of it. Dad has to keep some to help sustain him up there, pay for gifts, and save up so he can afford to come home for a week or two every few years. Stuff up there is not cheap".
"Ah, I see," Ochaco said. "It is expensive to send things up there, after all. The colony's not yet self-sufficient yet, requiring stuff from Earth to survive. But still, it's impressive what we've accomplished in such a short time. And there's already talk about a Mars colony. Although that's a good century away".
"You must be interested in space," Durandal remarked.
"Of course," Ochaco said with a smile before slowly frowning, "My dad liked astronomy. I used to read his astronomy books whilst sitting on his lap, and sometimes he let me look through his telescope".
"You must miss them, don't you?" Izumi asked quietly.
Ochaco nodded, "They were good people. They owned a construction company but never made much money, so we were almost always in the red. When I was younger, I wanted to help them, my quirk would have helped me move stuff around, but they wanted me to pursue my dream of becoming a hero. So, that's what I did. I wanted to become a hero to make money so my parents could live comfortably. But then, Paxton took them away from me," she said, tears slowly forming under her eyes before she suddenly hugged Izumi.
Izumi, whilst surprised by the sudden hug, wasn't taken back as much as before. So, with a slight smile, she put an arm around her. "It's ok, Ochaco. I'm sure that if your parents could see you now, they would be proud of what you've managed to accomplish. You kept your dream, even after what happened to you".
Ochaco smiled slightly as Izumi held her. "Thank you, Izumi," she said. "They would be proud of me. They told me to follow my dream, and I am. And whilst I can no longer support them, I can still become a hero to help others. So that no one else has to go through what I went through".
"Well, that's an admirable reason to become a hero," Durandal said. "I may not have experience with it, but I do know that losing someone is never good. To come out of that ordeal with your dreams intact, just with a different drive, is impressive".
"Thanks, Durandal," Ochaco said.
"Don't mention it," Durandal said. "I may be Izumi's emotional support robot, but I'm not against helping others with their problems. Therapists aren't limited to one patient after all".
Ochaco smiled, feeling a bit better now. She didn't like bringing up her parents, as it always reminded her of how they were taken away from her. But as painful as it was, Izumi was right. They would be proud of her for making it this far. She finished the UA entrance exam. All she had to do now was wait for the results to arrive.
Inko then walked back into the room. "Izumi, Ochaco, the pull-out bed is ready," she said with a smile. "I recommend you two get an early night. Today was hectic".
Both girls nodded. Today had been rather tiring, especially with Recovery Girl using her quirk on them. An early night would do them good. So, the two quickly got themselves ready for bed and quickly went to sleep.
Later that night.
Ochaco wouldn't call herself a light sleeper. Once she was out and it would be difficult to wake her. But it was possible for something like a loud noise, someone letting out a panicked scream, to wake her up.
She shot out of bed when she heard it, her eyes scanning the darkness around her. She quickly reminded herself that she was sharing a room with another girl and sleeping in a pull-out bed. Yet, despite the sudden awakening, she was grateful for it.
Heavy panting to her side told her that Izumi, the girl she was sharing the room with, was the source of the sudden scream that woke her up.
"Izumi!" Durandal said, getting up quickly and resting his front paws on the side of the bed. "Are you alright?".
Ochaco turned her head towards Izumi. She couldn't see well because of how dark it was, but she could tell that Izumi looked terrified. Did she have a bad dream?
She remembered how Izumi had looked after she had saved her. The blank expression on the girl's face after Durandal had disengaged his armoured mode, even with the broken arm and legs, she looked unresponsive like her mind wasn't there. It wasn't until Recovery Girl had healed her that she started to respond, and even then, it took her a while to recover.
What happened to her?
Izumi was silent for several long moments, breathing heavily as her blank eyes stared forwards. "Hay, Izumi. It's just a dream, not reality. You're fine. Your not falling".
'Falling?' Ochaco thought as she looked at Izumi. Did she have a fear of falling? She did freeze up completely after the fall, and thinking back to their meeting at the entrance, she seemed to freeze up slightly there as well. But what could have brought that on?
She decided not to press the matter, as it was clear that she was under a lot of stress "Hay. Are you alright?" she asked softly.
"No," Izumi replied quietly. Ochaco could only just hear it. "It-. I get nightmares of-, of falling. It's not something I want to talk about".
Ochaco looked at her with sympathetic eyes. She recognised that tone of voice as well as the situation Izumi was in. It was one she was deeply familiar with. Waking up in the middle of the night after a horrific nightmare, reliving a traumatic event from your past. It was why she was grateful for waking up from her nightmare early, as she did not want to relive it.
Why the hell did UA have to use a Titan as their zero pointer anyway?
Ochaco could tell this was a subject Izumi didn't want to talk about. Something like this rarely is. Especially since they only met today. You don't go telling people you just met your problems unless it's a therapist.
"D-don't w-w-worry about m-me," Izumi said quietly before she laid back in bed, turning over to her side so that she was facing away from Ochaco. "I-I-I'll be f-fine".
Ochaco could only look at her with sympathetic eyes before she laid back in bed with a sigh. 'I'll be fine', how often had she heard that come out of her mouth? Far too many for her liking, but sometimes, you just don't want to burden others with your problems, so you just tell people that you'll be fine and leave it bottling up your emotions until you can find someone you can talk to about them. It's what she did after her parents died, but that didn't do her much good, never talked about it until she was much older.
Ochaco could tell that Izumi was broken in a way, just like herself. She was showing signs of PTSD, not the same as her, but it was apparent something had happened to her to make her so scared of falling.
She frowned, realising that Izumi wouldn't be having a good night's sleep tonight. You rarely do after reliving a traumatic experience. But, whilst she couldn't talk about it, as they could never end well, there was something she could try to help calm the poor girl down and, hopefully, allow her to sleep peacefully tonight.
Ochaco quietly got out of bed and quickly slipped into Izumi's bed. "It's ok. I'm here for you," she said softly, a slight gasp coming from Izumi as Ochaco put her arms around her and held her close. "I caught you with my quirk. Remember. I stopped you from falling. I saved you. And I promise, if you fall again, I will be there to catch you," she said softly. It wasn't much, but it was the best she could do right now.
Izumi was frozen momentarily, not knowing how to respond to someone suddenly embracing her from behind. But it felt warm, just like her mother's. "Thank you," she said quietly before closing her eyes, the feeling of a pair of arms holding onto her reassuring her that she wasn't going to fall again.
With a smile, Ochaco closed her eyes as well, grateful that she could help Izumi but also worried that she might be unable to keep her promise to her. And for invading her privacy.
Chapter 7: Day after the exam
Izumi slowly stirred from her slumber. She slept peacefully after the nightmare, which she was grateful for, as normally they come in groups, one after the after and keeping her awake. But she felt reassured when she had her mother with her, holding onto her as she slept. The feeling that she was safe, that someone was holding onto her. Hugging her Durandal plush also helped.
She could feel something soft pressing against her back and a pair of arms wrapped around her. Probably her mother's arms since this was something she normally did. Opening her eyes slowly, she noticed something odd, she was still in her bed, which was odd as whenever her Inko held onto her whilst she slept, it was in her mother's bed, not her own.
Turning slowly behind her, she saw a mop of brown hair behind her. The gears in her mind started to turn as she remembered what had happened last night and slowly blushed a deep red. She was sharing her room with Ochaco, the nice girl from the entrance exam. And during the night, she woke up from a nightmare, after which Ochaco got into her bed and put her arms around her.
It was somewhat awkward to have a girl you just met hugging you from behind whilst lying in your bed. Especially when said girl is very cute with nice legs.
Wait, why the hell did she just think that?!
'I promise, if you fall again, I will be there to catch you' a voice suddenly spoke within her mind, a memory from last night. Ochaco had promised she would catch her if she fell whilst holding her. Someone promised to be there to stop her from falling. It felt reassuring to have someone willing to save her. No one had promised her that before, to be there to save her if she fell. And now she did.
She turned to look away from Ochaco and rested her head, enjoying the company and warmth of her new friend. Despite not knowing her as long as she knew Hitoshi and Neito, Ochaco was already a good friend in her book.
A groan behind her told her that Ochaco was stirring as well. "Your hair is fluffy," she muttered quietly, her face half buried within Izumi's mess of hair.
'My hair is what?' Izumi thought as she started to blush again. Her hair, fluffy? It's not fluffy. It's a mess that no amount of combing can fix. To be fair, she got that from her father (as well as the freckles), and he solved it by cutting it short, but Izumi preferred hers long, so long mess of hair it was. She got her green hair and vestigial tear duct mutation from her mother. And brains from both of them.
Well, if there was one thing she was glad for was that her mother wasn't here to hear or see this. Might cause her to panic.
"Hay looks like someone agrees with me," Durandal remarked, his head appearing from beside the bed.
And, of course, there's Durandal.
Izumi let out a low groan of annoyance. "Not now, please, Durandal, it's too early in the morning for this".
"It's nine-thirty," Durandal replied calmly. "You forgot to set your alarm, by the way".
Both girls' eyes shot wide open at Durandal's statement. Fuck! She overslept. Even though it was a weekend and they didn't have anything to do today, it was still shocking to them that they overslept.
"Did Mother not come in to wake us up?" Izumi asked, sounding worried, seeing she was in an embarrassing position.
"She did, but then she quietly walked out with a smile," Durandal replied as he stood up, "Said she didn't want to disturb you two. I'll just go tell her you're up and to prep breakfast for you two," he said before he walked out of the room. He refrained from saying that she also took a photo of them due to how fucking adorable they were.
He added the fucking, by the way.
Both girls blushed heavily at the implication that Inko had seen this, Ochaco especially because she had only just met Inko and Izumi, and it was way too early to be doing something like this. But then she thought back to last night when Izumi woke up screaming. She didn't regret what she did, which helped Izumi sleep better. She just hoped that she had woken up before Inko had seen them.
"W-we should probably get up," Ochaco said nervously as she removed her arms from around Izumi.
"Yeah, yeah, we should," Izumi said, nodding in agreement before the two quickly got out of bed.
Ochaco was putting on her slippers before she paused and turned towards Izumi, "I'm sorry about what happened last night," she said quietly, even if it was the right thing. She was a stranger to them and shouldn't be doing stuff like this.
"It's ok, t-there's no need to apologise," Izumi said with a smile. "I, needed that. My mother usually hugs me when I have n-nightmares. Makes me feel safe knowing someone is holding onto me".
Ochaco nodded, glad that this little incident hadn't made Izumi uncomfortable. Now they had to deal with another problem, parental teasing.
The two left Izumi's room and entered the living room. Inko was busy getting their breakfast ready whilst Durandal sat beside the table.
"Good morning Izumi, Ochaco," Inko said with a motherly smile as the two walked in. "Apologies for not waking you two up earlier, but after what happened yesterday, I thought you two could do with a lie-in".
Izumi smiled. She was rather tired last night, so a lie-in probably did her some good. She wished her mother hadn't walked in on them whilst Ochaco wrapped her arms around her. Even if it was to help calm her down, it was embarrassing.
The two quickly sat down as Inko served breakfast, having already had something to eat earlier. "So, Ochaco. How long will you be here for?" Inko asked, waiting for the two to be about halfway done before asking.
Ochaco finished her mouthful of food before replying, "Not long, actually. I have to head back home today. I only rented the apartment I had for two nights. Plus I need to get ready for school next week. I still need to finish my last year of middle school after all".
"Yes, that is important," Inko said with a smile. "Well, I hope your journey home is a pleasant one".
Ochaco nodded. Whilst it was good that Inko hadn't been bothered by her presence, it still didn't feel right to be staying in a stranger's home. She wouldn't be here unless some crazy villain made a JSDF tank driver go mad and jump a tank into her apartment. But, the Midoriya's seemed to be nice people, especially Izumi.
She was cute, too.
Durandal, on the other hand, had mixed feelings. Ochaco had always been distrustful of robots and, in some cases, outright scared of them, especially the larger ones. You could never know what was going on inside those metal brains of theirs. At least there was one thing she and Durandal could agree on, Paxton is a dick.
Still, it was quite impressive for a family like this to get their hands on a shifter robot that could shift into a suit of armour as well. Her interest in all things space had inevitably gotten her interested in the moon colony and everything going on up there, including the development of highly advanced robots capable of shifting between multiple forms, mainly humanoid and animal forms. But this was the first time she heard of one that could shift from a wolf to a suit of armour. Perhaps it was a custom job? Still, how did they get their hands on him? Shifter robots needed a positronic brain/alpha-level AI to function, and they're all regulated due to a massive bald dickhead. She said her father had gotten him for her, but how?
She probably shouldn't dig too much into it. Izumi had told her that Durandal was an emotional support animal on top of being support equipment, so it was best that she didn't prod too much into it. People had emotional support animals for a reason, after all.
Maybe she should think about getting one for herself.
"Thank you, both of you," Ochaco said. "It's not often people outside of the orphanage are this kind to me. Honestly, I'm grateful that you allowed me to stay here for a bit".
"Oh, don't worry about it. We're happy to help," Inko said with a smile. "Someone your age should be able to sleep with a roof over their heads," she said before turning towards her daughter. "Oh, and Izumi, don't forget to fill out that Quirk registration form".
"Don't worry, I'll fill it out after breakfast," Izumi replied.
Ochaco was about to ask why Izumi would need to fill out one of those forms, but then she remembered the talk they had yesterday in the car, where her quirk came in on the exam day. So she needed to register it. Still, to spend so long thinking she didn't have a quirk and only get access to it on the exam day. No wonder she broke herself using it.
The two finished their breakfast before taking turns to go through the bathroom and get dressed for the day. Once dressed, Izumi got to work on the quirk registration form and quickly faced a problem. What the hell was she going to call her quirk? She could fill out the rest of the form easily, but the name that's the issue. She couldn't call it One for All. That was a given. But she never came up with another name for it. Maybe they should have spent a day brainstorming a name for it.
Sighing, she quickly picked up her phone and called Sir Nighteye, hoping he wasn't in the middle of something.
"Izumi, good to hear from you," Sir Nighteye spoke over the phone. "How's the young girl you allowed to stay the night doing?".
"She's doing fine," Izumi replied. "But that's not why I'm calling. It's about my quirk. I don't know what to call it".
"Ah, that," Sir Nighteye said. "Well, you can name it whatever you want to. Quirk names can be as descriptive or random as you want them to be, or a pun or even a play on words. An old schoolmate of mine had a quirk that allowed him to melt, shape and cool chocolate, and he called it Chococine, a combination of chocolate and plasticine".
"Oh yeah, I've heard of him," Izumi said. "He makes chocolate statues of pro heroes. Think I brought a chocolate All Might statue from him once. Shame I had to eat it. Anyway, so the name can be anything?".
"It can. Just don't name it anything ridiculous, ok?" Sir Nighteye said, "If you're still struggling later today, I can help you brainstorm a few ideas. Maybe look at what other people called their quirks. It might give you some ideas. Anyway, I have an investigation to get back to, so I'll talk to you later".
"Ok. Thanks for the help. Talk to you later," Izumi said before ending the call 'So, the name can be anything I want, even if it's unrelated to the quirk. Superpower might work, but it sounds generic, which my power isn't. Maybe All for One? No, that's stupid. It's just One for All flipped and might cause All Might to have a heart attack. Hay, isn't one for all, all for one a quote? I wonder if One for All has a sister quirk? Not important. Still need to name mine. Maybe something referencing that it's been passed on? Probably not, as someone who also knows about it might catch on. Decade Force? No, that's already in use, and I don't want to be called out for copying someone else. Maybe Power Stockpile? It is a stockpile quirk, after all. Yeah, that could-'.
"Ur, you ok there, Izumi?" Ochaco asked, causing Izumi to jump.
"How much of that did you hear?" Izumi asked in a panic, worried that she may have just let lose the secret of one for all by accident.
"Only the words Power Stockpile" Ochaco replied. "The rest I could barely understand. Is this what your friends meant by a mumble storm?".
Izumi nodded, glad that she didn't accidentally reveal One for All. "Yeah, a lot of people find it creepy when I do that. Apart from my mother and Durandal, Hitoshi and Neito are the only people who aren't family who are freaked out by it".
"I see," Ochaco said with a slight frown. "Well, I think it's cute. It adds to your character".
Izumi started to blush "C-c-c-cute!" she blurted out. She thought her mumbling was cute.
Ochaco hummed with a response, smiling brightly. "Yep. We all have our little eccentricities".
"Wow there," Durandal said as he leaned back. "Watch it, you could flash bang someone with that smile".
"Yeah, I get that a lot," Ochaco said. "One of the care workers at the orphanage says my smiles shine like a lantern in the blackest night".
"I can see that," Durandal remarked. "So, what time do you plan on leaving today?".
"Sometime after lunch," Ochaco replied, "Maybe around two. In the meantime, I was hoping to relax for a bit. Yesterday was exhausting".
"Agreed," Izumi said as she wrote down 'Power Stockpile' as the name of her quirk. "We have a good selection of stuff to watch on the TV if you want to watch something in the meantime".
"Ur, do you have anything Sci-fi or about space?" Ochaco asked, "I just want to vegetate to something that I don't have to focus too much on".
"I think we have a few," Izumi replied, "Although be warned, most of the stuff we have are superhero films or documentaries".
"Why am I not surprised," Ochaco said. "You really are a massive hero fan, aren't you?".
Izumi nodded with a smile on her face. "Yep. I've always been fascinated by heroes and wanted to become one my entire life. Hopefully, I did well enough in the exam to get into UA".
"Well, I hope to see you there," Ochaco said with a smile. "Whilst I didn't see you much, you looked like you did well in the exam. I still find it hard to believe your quirk only came in yesterday".
"You and me both. I always thought I was quirkless," Izumi said. "I'm just surprised I was able to get a handle on it so quickly. I don't know what I would have done if I had punched a normal robot and broken my arm".
"And your legs," Durandal added. "You broke those too, jumping up to punch that Titan. Not to mention the damage you caused to me when you went all out. If there weren't any robot remains around us, I would not have been able to repair myself. Your lucky I put all power into the compressors and actuators. You could have completely destroyed my front left leg with that punch and shattered your arm".
"Yeah," Izumi "Probably should try and find out my current limit so I don't break myself like that again".
"Is it really painful to use your quirk?" Ochaco asked, looking worried.
Izumi nodded, "Unfortunately, yes, I can only use a small amount of my maximum output. I'm just not strong enough to handle my full power," she said, "During the exam, I only used one percent of it, but I didn't have time to see just how much of it I could handle, so I just stuck to it".
"Up until you decided to go all 'One Punch man' on that Titan," Durandal added. "At least you didn't try an pull a 'Metal Gear Rising' on it and suplex the bloody thing".
"I doubt I could have done that in the first place," Izumi remarked, "I'd need to have a gigantism or size-changing quirk just to be the same size as it just to be able to suplex it in the first place".
Durandal looked at her with an unamused look. "Not that kind of suplex, the 'Rules of Nature' kind".
Izumi looked at her robotic companion with a confused look. "If that's supposed to be a reference to something, then I don't get it," she said before folding the form and putting it into a waiting envelope.
Durandal sighed. "Of course, you don't".
Izumi finished sealing the envelope and made sure everything was in order. "Alright, that's done. Oh yes, Ochaco, would it be possible for me to accompany you when you do leave for the station? I need to go out anyway to post this".
"Sure you can," Ochaco replied with a smile. "I would appreciate the company".
Izumi smiled before the two settled on the sofa and relaxed to a few films, enjoying a nice home-cooked lunch before finishing the last film. During this time, Izumi and Ochaco chatted on occasion, either about quirks or heroes, as well as sharing phone numbers because she wanted to keep in contact with her even if one of them didn't make it into UA.
Once it was time for Ochaco to leave, they made sure all her stuff was packed and that Izumi's letter was with them before leaving.
"See you in a bit," Izumi said as she, Ochaco and Durandal made their way to the front door.
"Take care, you three," Inko said with a smile as the three left the apartment and headed towards the train station, the two girls pulling one of the bags behind them.
"So, Izumi. I know your father works on the moon, but have you ever been there yourself?" Ochaco asked as they walked.
Izumi shook her head. "Sadly, no. It's horrendously expensive to travel to and from the moon. It takes my dad several years just to save up enough to visit us for a week".
"Yeah, that sadly figures," Ochaco said. "Even with all the advancements in space flight, it's still expensive to send things into orbit".
"Your quirk could be used to mitigate that problem," Izumi remarked, "You could easily send something into orbit, but getting it back down will be a different problem. Plus, I doubt you want to spend your days throwing stuff into orbit when you want to become a hero".
Ochaco nodded. "Yeah, as fun as that would be, I want to help save people, to be a rescue hero like Thirteen, not become a living launch platform".
"Yeah, I guess that's not something you would want to do," Izumi said, "Although I do recommend that you try and buff yourself up a bit. Even if you want to become a rescue hero, there may be times when you will have to fight someone".
"Yeah, that is something I have been doing, just not as much as I would have liked," Ochaco said, remembering that Thirteen lost an arm to one of Paxton's robots. "I guess I'll be able to do more if I manage to get into UA, but at the moment, the best I can do is jogging. Money is a bit tight for me, so I can't afford a gym membership".
Izumi nodded. It can't be easy for her, not having much money. She probably used most of her funds to rent an apartment for the exam and probably didn't have much left.
"Yeah, I couldn't afford a gym membership either," Izumi said. "But in my case, it was more that the only good gyms in the area were too expensive for me or didn't want a quirkless girl working out there".
"So what did you do to train then?" Ochaco asked a slight frown on her face. Why would someone reject someone from training at a gym because of their quirk status? It made no sense.
"Cleared an entire beach of trash," Durandal replied. "And we're not talking about cans and broken bottles. She was moving ovens, furniture, and the remains of large robots. A full two kilometres worth of beach as well, cleared in ten months".
"Eh!" Ochaco gasped. "You cleared an entire beach in ten months!"
Izumi nodded. "Yep. Wasn't easy. I needed to bulk up quickly, and since the beach was close and full of trash, I decided to clear it".
"Did Nighteye have a hand in that?" Ochaco asked, "You did seem to know him personally. How did you even meet?".
"Well, whilst he didn't help with my physical training, he did teach me how to fight," Izumi replied. "You can't just randomly punch someone. I still have a ways to go since he only taught me the basics. As for how he started training me, well, All Might brought him in to-," she said before she stopped and covered her mouth. She was not supposed to say that.
"All Might?" Ochaco said, looking confused. "Are you saying that All Might trained you?".
Izumi lowered her head, realising she dug into that one. "He may have. When I first met him, he said I had a quirk similar to his, but due to how weak my body was, I couldn't use it without running the risk of killing myself. So he agreed to train me so that I could use it" she said, which was a partial truth. She missed out on the more traumatic stuff, like her suicide attempt and breaking down. She didn't need to be burdened by that, not when she has her own emotional baggage.
"Wow," Ochaco said. "That's awesome. Also explains how you know Sir Nighteye. That must have been a dream come true! I would have loved to have been trained by Thirteen myself, but since she started teaching at UA, she hasn't done much hero work save for helping in major rescue operations".
"Yeah, it was a dream come true," Izumi said with a smile. "Sometimes I just can't believe this is happening, and fear that I'm in a coma and this is all just a dream".
"Well, I don't think this is a dream," Ochaco said with a smile, patting Izumi on the shoulder. "This is very much real life".
"Of course, it's real life," Durandal remarked. "If it were a coma, I would have noticed by now".
"Yeah," Ochaco said nervously. "So, switching to a less sensitive topic, I do hope that we both get into UA," she said. "We both worked hard to get there, and, if anything, after what you did for me yesterday, you deserve to be there the most. You came to save me whilst everyone else just ran. You were a real hero back there. Thank you".
"Eh, well, you're welcome," Izumi said with a slight blush. "I helped you because it was the right thing to do, plus I didn't want to know what would happen if that robot reached you. But I've still got a long way to go before I'm officially a hero, as well as a lot of personal stuff to overcome".
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to overcome them," Ochaco said with a smile. "I'm sure of it".
Izumi smiled. "Thank you, Ochaco," she said before she spotted a letterbox. "Excuse me one moment," she said before she rushed over to it, put her Quirk registration form into it, and rushed back. "Sorry about that".
"No need to apologise," Ochaco said with a smile. "You needed to post that anyway," she said before the three carried on towards the train station. Talking a bit more about a few things, from heroes to space, even the potential existence of aliens. They also shared phone numbers so they could keep in contact with each other even if one of them didn't make it to UA.
Soon enough, they arrived at the train station. "Well, I guess this is it," Izumi said as they stood outside. "I'll see you around, Ochaco".
"Yep, see you around, Izumi," Ochaco said with a smile as she took both cases and proceeded into the train station. Izumi would have followed her inside and waited for the train, but that wasn't exactly necessary. Plus, she'd need to buy a ticket to get onto the platform, which was pointless as she wasn't using the train today. So still smiling, she turned and headed off home, Durandal by her side. But she didn't go far until she stopped, holding a hand up to her cheek.
"Izumi, you ok there?" Durandal asked, sounding worried.
Izumi stood there for a few moments before she shook her head. "I'm fine, Durandal," she said before she carried on walking, Ignoring the feeling of someone kissing her cheek when there was clearly no one around. Probably her anxious mind playing tricks on her.
"If you say so," Durandal said before catching up with her. He had become attached to the girl over the past ten months. Not that he could get attached to anyone else, seeing that Paxton's damn loyalty program forced him to be loyal to her. Why install such a program into an Alpha-level AI anyway? Such a thing should be illegal, but then again, almost everything the bald-headed bastard did was illegal, and at the time, AI's didn't have rights.
Anyway, he was getting off track. Loyalty program or not, he probably would have stuck with Izumi anyway. He needed a place to hide as there was no way he was letting anyone replicate Paxton's work, plus the girl was broken and in need of help. And whilst he and Isa had been helping her, she was still on the mend. And sadly, new problems had just manifested, her sexuality, fear of starting a relationship and her newfound fear of heights. He wished she had brought the first two up sooner, as she needed help with it. He would help himself, but just because he has the training programmed into him, he lacks the experience that Isa has.
At least she still has him to help her.
Suddenly Izumi's phone started to ring. Looking confused, she brought it up, noticing that her mother was calling her. She answered the call and brought the phone up to her ear "Hay mum, what's up?".
"It-. Has Ochaco gotten onboard her train?" Inko asked, sounding upset.
"Eh, yeah, she has," Izumi replied, sounding worried. "I'm just leaving the station now. Is something the matter Mother? Did something happen to the orphanage she lives in?".
"No, no, it's fine," Inko replied, "It's about Isa. He's dead".
Izumi stopped. No, that couldn't be true. He can't be dead. She still needed him, "Isa's... dead".
"I'm afraid so," Inko said, tears forming around her eyes. "His secretary just called me about it. He got caught up in a villain attack this morning and was killed. I'm so sorry about this, Izumi".
Izumi's face paled. This... this couldn't be happening. Isa couldn't be dead. There was still so much they needed to talk about, her fear of heights, starting a relationship with someone, getting over her fear of Katsuki, and her nightmares returning. There's still so much she needed help with. But now he's gone, dead, his life taken by a villain. What was she going to do now? Who was she going to talk to about her problems?
Who was going to save her if she fell again?
'If you fall again, I will be there to catch you'Ochaco's voice once again echoed across her mind. The promise the girl had made to her. She promised to be there for her if she fell. Not even Isa had promised her that.
"You still there, dear?" Inko asked, sounding worried.
"Yes, I'm still here," Izumi replied quickly. "I was just thinking about something. Will-, will we be able to get help from someone else? I know Isa's been helping us a lot, but I still need help. There's still so much I need help with, things I forgot to speak to him about, problems I still have".
"It's ok dear. I'll see if I can book you in with another therapist," Inko said. "I'm just so sorry that this had to happen to you. I just wish I could have done more for you the prevent this all from happening".
Izumi smiled. "Thank you, Mother. I'll be home soon".
"I'll see you soon," Inko said before she ended the call.
"Isa's dead! Shit," Durandal cursed as Izumi pocketed her phone, realising he spoke too soon. "Why is it always the nice ones who try and help that end up dying? Hope the villain who killed him got caught".
"Yeah, I hope so, too," Izumi said with a frown. She had been hoping to get help from Isa until she started at UA, but now, thanks to a villain, that plan had gone up in smoke. It was so distressing that someone she knew so well had been taken from her, but, as Isa told her, she had to keep moving forwards, no matter what life threw at her.
Izumi and Durandal walked home, still shaken by the news of Isa's death. Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them from an alleyway, someone Izumi was just told was dead.
Isa Tsuneyo smiled as he watched them walk away, glad his hard work was paying off. He then turned and walked down the alleyway. "My apologies, Izumi Midoriya, but Isa Tsuneyo can no longer be of any help to you," he said as he grabbed his hair and pulled, removing the wig he was wearing and revealing his bald head. "But don't worry little one, you have more than enough people to support you now," he said as he removed his eyebrows, dumping the fake hair on the floor, which spontaneously combusted.
He reached for his eyes, pulling up fake skin around them and pulling them out. Revealing he had camera lens mounts instead of eyes, with a lot of scaring and scratch marks around them. He then dropped the fake eyes and quickly replaced them with camera lenses, locking them into place.
"And don't worry about Durandal," he said with a smirk, his voice now different, no longer the calm and friendly voice of Isa Tsuneyo. It was now more collective and calculating and all-around evil. His accent had also changed as well, to a British one. "Despite being a failure, he will be an effective guardian for you. For the time being at least".
He reached the other side of the alleyway and approached a car waiting for him, opening the rear passenger door and stepping inside. There was a robot in the driver's seat, a highly advanced one. Far more advanced than anything else on the market.
"Set course for our base in Hamamatsu, and contact ARK. We're moving on to phase two," he said with a smile as the car drove off.
The robot turned its head towards him and spoke, "By your command, Doctor Paxton".