Everything unfolded exactly as Herman had planned.
The moment Ochaco got the CCTV footage, she hurried to a nearby cafe to review its contents, but as the footage played, Ochaco felt her world shattered.
She saw with her own eyes how her father was brutally beaten by a group of thugs, and her mother was forced into a van by the man who came to her house.
Her mother's screams from the rocking van were the final straw, shattering the last remnants of Ochaco's sanity.
The hypnotic suggestions implanted in her mind blossomed like a dark flower, and she rushed to the nearby police station, desperate to report everything she saw.
However, before she could reach the police station, she was attacked by a villain.
Naturally, the villain was one of the thugs from the Takamine gang, working under Herman's orders, and Ochaco recognized him instantly from the CCTV footage, but recognition offered her no comfort.
Bang!
Caught off guard by the surprise attack, before she could react, a large metal board, used like a bat, connected with her body, sending her flying.
She crashed into a wall, and her body slid down to the ground.
The memory card she was tightly clutching in her hand had already been tossed far away and was easily picked up by the villain, who crushed it on the spot under his boots, destroying all of Ochaco's hope with it.
In the distance, the villain was slowly moving toward the somewhat bloodied and battered Ochaco, who was lying at the base of a nearby wall.
"Even after the boss's warning, you bitch dared to go out and report to the police. I'll kill you! Then beat your father and let the boss fuck and sell your mother to a brothel after we all have our fun with her."
Desperation and fear gripped Ochaco's heart. The world spun around her, and the scent of death filled her nostrils.
"Someone... anyone, please save me."
Unable to take it anymore in the face of her impending death, Ochaco cried, but all she got in response was the sight of the villain lifting a massive metal bat, almost as tall as she was, ready to deliver the final blow.
She understood that if this bat even touched her, she would certainly die.
Ochaco's heart sank, her body tensed up to brace for the inevitable blow, and she closed her eyes, surrendering herself to the grim fate that awaited her.
Bang!
The bat hit… but not her, and the pain Ochaco expected never came. Instead, two strong arms enveloped her, lifting her in a gentle yet firm embrace from the ground.
For a fleeting moment, she felt her body go weightless as a gust of wind brushed against her skin.
"Damn, bitch, I will kill you!"
The villain's roar faded into the distance, growing smaller by the second. Ochaco's heart raced as she realized that someone had saved her from the brink of death.
Curiosity got the better of her, and she slowly opened her eyes, only to be greeted by the familiar, handsome face of the person she trusted most after her parents.
But today, there was no smile on that face, only a grimace of pain, with blood trickling down his lips.
"Ugh."
Herman's groan of pain made Ochaco realize that he had taken the hit of that massive bat for her, shielding her from the brunt of the attack.
She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could utter a word, Herman lost his balance, and they both tumbled to the ground.
Luckily, they crashed near a river, and so without hesitation, Herman jumped into the water, carrying Ochaco with him.
At the same moment, multiple thugs arrived at their location, and, seeing their silhouette from under the river, a shudder ran down Ochaco's body.
Fortunately for them, the villains seemed to have lost them because of the river and left.
Seizing the opportunity, Herman swam in the opposite direction, pretending to be exhausted as if he could barely support his own body, let alone the weight of Ochaco.
Once they were finally a safe distance away, he jumped out, their body relaxed, and Herman, as if he had no strength left, stumbled into a corner behind a tree.
"Herman, are you okay?"
Ochaco's voice trembled with worry as she clung to him, her eyes searching his face for any sign of injury. She had witnessed his heroic actions, and the memory of it made her heart ache.
Herman pretended to notice her concern, and his grip on her hands tightened as if to transfer his strength to her.
"I'm fine… I will never let you get hurt."
The tremors that had racked her body began to subside, replaced by a warm, comforting sensation that spread from her chest to her fingertips.
Subconsciously smiling lightly, she nodded her head.
"I believe you."
At that moment, Ochaco was completely dependent on Herman. He had saved her from the jaws of death, and in doing so, had become somewhat like an anchor in a stormy sea to her, and he was still holding her tightly in his arms and looked at her tenderly, as if she were his most prized possession.
Feeling such care in her most vulnerable moments, Ochaco found herself falling hopelessly in love with him.
Moreover, as Herman used hypnosis on her to amplify her feelings, her eyes got cloudy when she looked at him, and taking advantage of it, he tightened his grip on her and lowered his head.
In response, lost in the heat of the moment with a hazy mind, Ochaco reciprocated his advances.
Gently, their lips met.
Herman's mouth felt the gentle touch of her lips, and they intertwined their tongues and drank each other's saliva.
"Haa... Slurp..."
The space was filled with the strange sound of two people craving each other, and like crazy beasts in heat, they craved each other's mouths.
It was more so for Ochaco, who was kissing away all her worries, fears, nervousness, and tension.
Following her instincts, she was trying to flush all her negative emotions through the vent she had just found and had completely lost herself in the current of events.
But Herman had other plans. As their kiss reached its fever pitch, he implanted hypnotic suggestions into her mind, igniting her nervousness and rage.
'Push Herman away... He's forcing himself on you in your vulnerable moment... You can't have a physical relationship before marriage... He is taking advantage... Push him... How dare he kiss you... You don't need anyone... Everything has gone to waste... The thugs know about you... Herman will blame you too... No one understands your feelings...'
Just as he finished, a loud honk from a nearby passing truck jolted Ochaco out of her trance.
"Umm! Umm!"
Her eyes widened in shock and betrayal, and she immediately pushed him away.
"Hiss…"
Ochaco's push also caused him to wince in pain, and her heart ached at the sight, but her body, still under the influence of his hypnosis, betrayed her true feelings.
"H-how could you do this, Herman?!
"What are you saying, Ochaco? I thought we liked each other..."
"And so you forced me?"
Along with the earlier hypnosis, Herman was also using the Quirk Marionette to control her mouth and body movements, and since her mind was already in a mess due to the hypnosis, she felt it was her own will.
"I am grateful that you saved me, but I don't want to be in a relationship with anyone..."
But deep inside her, the more Ochaco heard herself, the more her heart screamed that this wasn't what she wanted to speak, but her mouth didn't stop, and rude words came out of her mouth one after another.
"And don't touch me without my permi..."
"Enough!"
Before she could finish her words, Herman stopped her, and a hurt and disappointed look appeared on his face.
"I thought you were a good girl. I thought you liked me... Well, even if you didn't like me, I thought you had a good character and were a decent person..."
He reached for his back, where the villain's blow had hit him, and his expression twisted in pain and anger. "I just never thought you would be such an ungrateful person... I helped you because I like you, but since you don't need me, nor do you like me, there's no need for me to help you anymore... I am not running a charity."
With those final words, he turned and left, disappearing from her sight.
Ochaco, finally free from the hypnosis, screamed to call him back desperately.
"HERMAN!!!"
But it was too late. He was gone, leaving her alone with her thoughts, her tears, and her self-loathing.
Unbeknownst to her, Herman had not truly left. He was secretly watching as the hypnosis wore off; she was left in a state of shock and despair, and her body slumped down in despair.
But this was just the beginning of her despair, because the moment she reached home after an hour of struggle, what she was met with was not the warm welcome of her mother, but a loud slap and a furious yell.
Smack!
"OCHACO!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
Her mother was carrying someone's broken left hand.
And when Ochaco saw it, recalled the thug's warning and understood it was her father's hand sent as a warning, she finally couldn't bear it any longer; her eyes rolled back, and she fainted on the spot.