章 2030: 49
Ochako had never been so grateful to be tired. Apparently, the trip to I-Island and back had burned through all the energy from her week of repressing One for All, so it was taking her longer to recover than it had when she'd first started teleporting, which she would normally have found really frustrating, but right now, she was just relieved. If she was tired, then that limited how far she could warp and it seemed like the only person who was in that radius at the moment was Shinso, so the farthest she'd ended up in the past day was a block from the agency. It was a nice change of pace.
Being grounded also meant that she could actually focus on the quirkless sparring techniques that Gunhead was teaching them. They were fun, but she could also see how they were going to be useful in their fights. Her match against Bakugo would have been so much easier with skills like that under her belt.
They'd just finished the last spar of the day when Gunhead clapped his hands to get their attention, "Alright everybody! We're gonna do something a little different for our cooldown today! We're gonna play a game of hide and seek with our very own Uravity!"
Ochako blinked in confusion as everyone turned to look at her, "What?"
"Hide and go seek!" Gunhead repeated, grinning. "You use your quirk on all of us so you can use everyone as anchors. Then we'll all spread out throughout the agency and you try to get as close to your target as possible! It'll be a nice way for the boys to wind down after a long day of training, and it'll be great quirk training for you, so it's a win-win! Plus it's fun!"
"I mean, he has a point." Shinso said. "You'll be able to focus on accuracy without exhausting yourself or throwing up again, since the jumps will be pretty short..."
"That's a good point." Ochako said thoughtfully, "It's not gonna help me stay put through, is it?"
"Uh, no..." Gunhead grimaced apologetically. "But at your current energy level, it looks like you're confined to the city right? So we don't have to worry about you going too far away!"
"Only until she gets her energy back up." Shinso pointed out. "Then it's off to wherever the whims of fate take her!"
"Well, then your goal is to control fate, so then at least you'll know where you're going!" Gunhead gave them a big thumbs up, "I believe in you!"
"Well, you already control gravity." Shinso shrugged. "So why not? Shouldn't be too hard."
Ochako clenched her fists in determination, "Alright! Let's do this!"
Izuku sighed, "No, Mei-chan, you can't make Uraraka get gauges."
"But it'd be so much easier to fit the tech!" Mei groaned. "No, it's ok! I'm Mei Hatsume! I can do this!"
"Yeah, gauges might not fit her marketing image very well." Melissa agreed. "But we've already managed to make the sensing tech almost three times smaller, so we're making progress."
Mei glared at her, "That's not that special when the original tech is the size of a room."
"Mei, just go explode something already." Izuku said, turning back to his computer. "You'll feel better, I promise."
"Alright, fine!" Mei scooped an armful of suspicious items off the table and stomped off to one of the testing rooms, which started giving off muffled booms within seconds of her going in. She was always such a fast worker.
"It's cute how you always seem to know what she needs." Melissa gave him a sly smile. "I wish I had a boyfriend like that."
Izuku almost deleted an entire paragraph of code as he jumped and almost slammed his hands into the keyboard, "I-I already told you! We're not dating or anything! We're just good friends!"
Melissa laughed, "I'm just messing with you, Midoriya, don't worry! But still, the relationship that you two do have, even if it's just friendship, just seems so special. We inventors can be intimidating sometimes, so having someone around who can encourage our weirdness and give us permission to go make things explode sometimes? It's rare, but it can make all the difference in the world to us, especially when projects get frustrating. I just think it's sweet that you're willing to be that person for her."
Izuku shrugged and got back to work, "It's not that special. I mean, it's no more that what she does for me. People can find my analysis...creepy? But Mei-chan just thinks it's cool, and she's really one of the only people I've ever met that really support me and thinks I can do anything, so honestly, I'm just returning the favor."
Melissa frowned sympathetically, "Bullies?"
"Yeah." Izuku nodded. "But, I mean, I wanted to be a hero as a kid, so obviously people weren't going to support that."
"Why not?" Melissa asked.
She looked genuinely confused and Izuku realized with a start that she probably didn't know. Quirks weren't that important in support internships, after all. His first instinct was to hide it. He could just come up with an excuse about being a crybaby or something, but his inner Mei was screaming at him to stop being such a coward and just own up to it. Eventually, he decided to compromise between the two, if she really wanted to know, she could ask more questions, "Quirk stuff."
"What is your quirk, if you don't mind me asking?" Melissa asked. "When Dad showed me your file, the quirk section was just blank. Uncle Might's is kinda like that too, so I was wondering if it was confidential or something? Like I said, it might be a rude question, so you don't have to tell me or anything, I was just curious."
Izuku swallowed, "No, uh, it's not confidential, just...nonexistent?"
Melissa's eyes widened, "Oh..."
Izuku nodded, his mouth dry, "Yeah. Quirkless heroes don't really exist though, so I had to find another dream."
"Me too." Melissa said. "I wanted to be a hero too. I mean, what kid doesn't, right? But, uh, after Dad got the x-rays back and we realized my quirk wasn't just late, Uncle Might encouraged me to follow my Dad's example and go into support."
Izuku stopped and stared at her, "You're quirkless too?!"
Melissa smiled sadly, "Yep. Certifiably part of the less evolved."
"Woah." Izuku sat back in his chair. "I guess we all end up in support, then, huh?"
Melissa shrugged, "If you can't join them, help them, right?"
Izuku chuckled, "Right. It's so frustrating sometimes, though, because, like, I know quirks and sometimes I'll see someone and think, oh, they could just be so much more powerful if they just did things this way . I mean, sometimes, I just wanna say, ok, give it here and just let me do it! You know?"
Melissa laughed, "I thought I was the only one! It's just so frustrating! I'll make an item for someone, but then I can't really test it because using technology to imitate a quirk can only get you so far. And then, of course, they refuse to use it because they think relying on their quirk is enough, so it doesn't even matter."
"You get it!" Izuku tore at his hair. "It's just so frustrating! And then, of course, they have the audacity to look at you and tell you that you don't know what you're talking about, just because you can't change your eye color! It's like they think being quirkless is a mental disability, not a physical one."
"They really do though." Melissa made a face. "I had a teacher in elementary school that tried to put me in remedial classes, even though I was at the top of my grade in academics."
"Oof." Izuku grimaced. "That sucks."
Melissa nodded seriously, "Yeah, it was ridiculous. Thankfully, though, I went crying to Dad and he pulled me out the next day. He didn't stand for anyone treating me like I was less than anyone else just because I was quirkless."
"I wish my mom was like that." Izuku's eyes widened and he hurried to explain. "Not that she was bad or anything! She did her best, I know that! It's just that she'd trust the teachers sometimes, you know? Especially near the beginning. It didn't help that she always just thought I was weaker than everyone else. I mean, I get it, my best friend as a toddler has an insane quirk, so she was probably just comparing me to him, but I had a teacher who wouldn't let me play outside during recess because I'd break, and she didn't even question it."
"Wow…" Melissa gave a low whistle. "Yeah, I guess wanting to be a hero wouldn't really be the easiest thing for her to swallow."
Izuku shugged, "At least she supports my analysis. It keeps me away from fights, ish, so yeah. I get to save people and she gets to stop worrying about whether or not I'm safe. We both win."
They worked in silence for a few seconds, listening to Mei's explosions through the wall, before Melissa spoke up again, "Are you glad you changed your mind and picked support instead?"
Izuku nodded, "Yeah, if I hadn't, I never would have met Mei-chan or done any of the amazing things I've been able to do. It's fulfilling and I'm able to be successful and even respected. That never would have happened if I'd still been chasing after an impossible dream."
Melissa nodded and she looked like she was about to say something when the door to the testing room slammed open and Mei came out, covered head to toe in soot, "I figured it out! We just need to vaporize everything that's unnecessary! Back to work!"
Izuku smiled and shook his head fondly, rolling his eyes when Melissa shot him a knowing smile. They may just be friends, but he was beyond lucky to have a friend like her.
"Everyone's in position." Hitoshi said. "You ready?"
Uraraka scrunched her nose in frustration, "No. I'm probably not gonna be able to find any of them. It's gonna be so embarrassing."
"Yep." Hitoshi nodded. "Sure will."
Uraraka glared at him, "Gee thanks, Shindig. I'm glad I have your undying support."
"You're welcome!" He gave her a shit-eating grin. "But, hey, now you have to prove me wrong."
She kept her glare up for as long as she could before bursting into a fit of laughter, "Ugh, this is gonna be terrible. Who should I try to find first?"
"Hmm, Gunhead maybe?" Hitoshi shrugged. "I mean, it is his agency, so…"
The app Izuku had sent him beeped and Hitoshi blinked as he watched Uraraka disappear. When she was actually trying to jump, the process was a little bit slower than when she did it by accident, and he couldn't keep his jaw from dropping at what he saw. It only lasted a split second, but for that tiny moment after Uraraka had activated her quirk and before she'd warped to wherever she was thinking of, it was like the entire energy of the universe had lit up around her. He didn't know if it was because she was messing with space and gravity or if it was just something about her quirk, but it was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen.
Uraraka had been surrounded by the aurora borealis.
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