Chương 2051: 70
The walk from Izuku's apartment to the mall wasn't too bad, but they did have to take the train. If she had been alone, Ochako could have easily just anchored to Mina and been there in the blink of an eye, but Mei and Izuku had never teleported with her before and she didn't want to put Hitoshi through that twice in a row like she had with All Might, so she was happy just walk and spend time with her friends.
Mina saw them walk in the door and grinned as she called out to them, "Ochako! Shinso! Over here!"
Ochako was right at her side before she even realized she'd activated her quirk, "Hey everybody! How's it going?"
"Pretty well. No complaints." Jiro shrugged. "Those your friends form teh support course, right?"
"Oh yeah!" Ochako smiled as the other three walked over. "Everybody, this is Izuku Midoriya and Mei Hatsume. You might recognize them from the sports festival!"
"Of course." Kirishima grinned. "How could we forget the crazy team that blew up the ten million point headband?"
"It was savage, but effective." Todoroki said simply. "Definitely impactful."
"Oh yeah! That was Izu-kun's idea!" Mei said proudly, elbowing Izuku. "It was so much fun to see if we could actually pull it off!"
"Mei!" Izuku blushed and shoved her away gently. "I mean, it wasn't that cool. We were trying to make an impact and that was just a pretty simple way to do it, you know?"
Ochako caught Mina looking at her out of the corner of her eye and turned toward her. Mina's eyes narrowed and she cast a pointed glance toward Mei and Izuku. Ochako shrugged and looked away. Ok, so maybe bringing along those two hadn't been the most subtle strategy, but if everyone was focused on the support gremlins, then it would take attention off her and HItoshi. Mina probably wouldn't get too distracted, but it would hopefully keep the rest of the class from joining in on whatever scheme she'd cooked up to try and get her and Shindig alone together. Hopefully.
"So, are we going to actually shop or did you extras just drag me along to hang out with Deku?" Bakugo shot a glare toward Izuku. "And don't pretend like it wasn't you and your little girlfriend that planted that glitter bomb, Deku. I know it was you."
"I...It…" Izuku stuttered. "She's not my girlfriend!"
Mina's head whipped around in surprise, "Wait, you're not?!"
Ochako let out a quiet sigh of relief. New friends might not be enough to distract her, but new targets definitely would. She felt a little guilty for kinda-not-really throwing Mei and Izuku under the bus, but...well, like, it was probably high time for them to get together anyway and everybody already thought they were dating so...she'd have to apologize later, but for now, she was just going to take it for the blessing it was.
"Come now, Ashido, it's impolite to meddle in other's love lives!" Tenya said, chopping the air with his robotic arm. "That being said, I had been under the impression that you two were dating. My apologies for making assumptions."
"It's fine." Izuku blushed. "Don't worry about it."
"Yeah, Izu-kun and I have more important things to worry about than what other people think!" Mei said. "We've got these great projects and we really need to prepare for the design bootcamp and make sure you all have the right support items for your little camping trip and…"
"And I think we should split up!" Mina declared. "We're not shopping for the same things, right? So that means that it's gonna be more effective shopping in small groups and stuff! Groups of two should work, right?"
"That sounds wonderful." Yaoyorozu said, ignoring the way that Mina was winking at Ochako. "And then we can meet back here for lunch!"
Before Ochako could figure out what Mina had planned, she was already being dragged by the arm in Hitoshi's general direction. Mina grinned at her as she pushed her into Hitoshi's arms, "You two have fun! Take good care of her, Shinso, you hear?"
"Uh…" Hitoshi just blinked in confusion. "Ok…?"
Mina nodded in satisfaction as she grabbed Mei's arm with one hand and Izuku's with the other, "You two are support kids right? I saw this science shop with lots of cool toys, so why don't you two go have fun there…"
Within seconds everyone had split off and Ochako realized that Mina was a lot better at multitasking different targets than she'd anticipated, "What just happened?"
"Uh...I dunno." Hitoshi stared blankly in the direction his kidnappers had just disappeared in. "But I think you're stuck with me."
Ochako sighed, turning away to hide her red cheeks, "I mean, that's not the worst thing, right?"
Hitoshi smiled softly, "No, it's not."
Izuku and Mei looked around the store that Mina had abandoned them in and Izuku frowned, "You can totally build everything in here, can't you?"
"Yep!" Mei huffed. "I think I made a version of that little electricity ball thing they're so proud of when I was eight."
"So…?" Izuku frowned. "What do you want to do, then? Do you want to meet back up with Hitoshi and Ochako?"
"Sure!" Mei smiled. "Do you know where they are?"
"No. I could always just use my tracking program to see where Ochako is." Izuku trailed off as he saw the security cameras in the corner of the store. "Or we could have a little fun first and find them the hard way."
Tomura didn't know exactly where he was going, mostly just wandering and clearing his head , like Kurogiri had suggested. He just felt so conflicted and he hated it. Why did he have to care so much, it's not like he had any stake in those stupid NPCs lives. What did he care if Sensei manipulated them? For all he knew, they wanted to be villains and killed people because they thought it was fun, not because they were taught from a young age that it was the ideal outlet for spare rage. They probably weren't like him or if they were, they didn't care. Plus, at the root of it all, Tomura wasn't a hero. He didn't save people. As of right now, he couldn't even save himself.
He'd found an apartment, finally, one with absolutely zero ties to All for One and a decent monthly payment, but if he wanted it, he'd need some ID, preferably for an identity that Sensei didn't know about, which meant that he couldn't just go to Girian and get one. It was possible, sure, but was it worth it? If Sensei never found out, things would be fine, but if he did find out, then what? If he knew Tomura was trying to leave, would he just kill him without hesitation or would he find a way to manipulate those desires into his own evil plans. Tomura wasn't sure which option was more frightening, but both were something he would prefer to avoid. Life sucked.
Eventually, he decided to head toward the mall. There was a new zombie game that had come out a few days ago that he wanted to try it out. He pulled up his hood and made his way there without anyone recognizing him, not that he thought they would. Even after the USJ attack, his face hadn't really been on the news and people weren't expecting him, so everyone just assumed they were safe. They didn't even know how many villains were hiding among them just waiting for the right moment to strike, but at least they were doing their best to enjoy their lives despite that. Tomura...he kind of wanted that, honestly. He didn't even need to be safe, just free and normal.
He groaned in frustration as he got to the mall. Whatever, all this stupid worrying was just exhausting. He just wanted to get his stupid game and get out of here. He almost stopped short when he saw that brainwashing kid from the sports festival alongside that anti-gravity brat that Trapper had said could teleport. There were hero students here?!
He huffed and pulled his hood forward just a little more. He'd just have to avoid them and hope that if Todoroki was with them, he had the good sense to keep his mouth shut. So much for a relaxing walk.
For someone who was trying to keep an eye on Todoroki, Hitoshi sure had lost sight of him quickly. It wasn't his fault, he'd been focused on Mina dragging Izuku and Mei away and by the time he'd realized what was happening, pretty much everyone had split up and Todoroki was gone. At least he was with Ochako and not one of the classmates he didn't know as well. That would have been awkward as hell. It was still kinda awkward, of course, and Ochako seemed nervous for some reason, but she was amazing, so even if he didn't know what to say, she wouldn't judge him. Definitely better than getting stuck with a stranger.
"So, um...I don't really need anything besides bug spray." Ochako said quietly. "Um...what about you?"
Hitoshi shrugged and sat down next to the fountain, "I don't really need a whole lot of stuff and, like, you've seen Aizawa. He carries around a sleeping bag every single day, so I'm pretty sure we're good on camping gear."
"You've got a point." Ochako giggled as she sat down next to him. "Are you looking forward to the camp?"
"Oh yeah." Hitoshi nodded. "My quirk still has a lot of untapped potential and I've got an entire packet of suggestions from Izuku on what to do with it."
"Don't we all?" Ochako huffed, swinging her legs back and forth. "I feel like the biggest thing is picking just one goal to focus on, you know? Like do I want to focus on telelporting farther? Or carrying more weight? Or maybe getting our classmates used to the g-forces so I can take them with me? There's so many things I need to improve, it's hard to know where to start, you know?"
"Defninatly." Hitoshi agreed. "I've been thinking about working on my information gathering skills, you know? Because Izuku ran some tests a while ago and figured out the theory of it, but we never got any farther than that."
"Hmm…" Ochako frowned. "So you can't just ask someone a question and they answer?"
"It's not that simple." Hitoshi sighed. "I can order them to tell me something I already know pretty easily, but getting new info requires partial control. It's like I'm the gps, but they're driving the car. Theoretically possible, but we've all been so busy with the sports festival and then everything that's been happening with your quirk that I havne't really worked on it much yet."
"That...that sounds really cool, but also really complicated." Ochako said. "But then again, I teleport based on people's gravitational fields, so I guess I can't really talk."
"It's kinda the same idea of holding the connection without taking control." Hitoshi shrugged. "And I had to get really good at that during the sports festival, so my brain knows what it needs to do, I just don't have much practice doing it yet."
Ochako frowned for a moment before her eyes lit up in determination, "Then let's practice!"
Hitoshi jerked back slightly, "What?"
"Well, you let me practice my quirk on you today right?" Ochako said. "So it's only fair to return the favor. Come on! Try to get me to answer something you don't know!"
"Uh...ok. Are you sure?" Hitoshi asked.
Ochako rolled her eyes, "Just hurry up and brainwash me already!"
"Fine." Hitoshi smiled and did his best to only take half control. It felt really weird, like he was half inside and half outside her brain. "Ok, so...what's a good, dumb question that I don't already know the answer to? Um...ok, got it. Why do you think Mina dragged Mei and Izuku off so fast?"
Ochako didn't respond and Hitoshi facepalm, "Oh, wait, that's not gonna work, I'm pretty sure I have to phrase it as an order. Tell me why you think Mina dragged Mei and Izuku off so fast."
He knew it worked when he felt some resistance over the bond and Ochako started speaking in an odd monotone, "Because she's trying to set them up. She was also trying to get us alone together because she knows I have a crush on you."
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