My Hero Academia: From The Ground Up

Chapter 19: Better For Him

"That no-good prissy little snake!" Ochaco hissed as she marched to the train station with Katsuki.

"I don't like it either." Katsuki grumbled.

"She's got some nerve talking to Izuku like that!" She steamed.

"Mhmm." He agreed, rolling his eyes.

"I mean. What does she have that I don't?!" Ochaco huffed.

"Roundface." Katsuki looked at her, noticing her face growing more and more red.

"What?!" She shouted and forced herself to take a breath and look back at him.

"I know that you like Deku." He said.

She stopped walking and froze in embarrassment.

"But you never made a move on the guy. You've known each other for almost ten years now and you never went past 'just friends'. This happens when you snooze. You LOSE!" He got in her face to emphasize. "Now shut up about him. I'm pissed that he ditched us for her so quickly. I mean, this is one of the only days of the year people can freely use their quirks in public without much regulation and where tons of heroes are available for autographs and stuff. Yet he ditched us for some girl."

Ochaco sighed. Her face losing the red blush.

"Shit happens. Maybe she does have something we don't." Katsuki shrugged.

"She said she was quirkless... Maybe he felt more comfortable with her because of that.... Something we could never understand." She lowered her head in shame.

"Yeah! Probably! So what? Who needs him! He's finally got someone he can relate to and not slow down." Katsuki said.

"What do you mean by that?" Ochaco looked up at him defensively.

"You know what I mean. The inevitable truth! You and I are gonna become heroes. That's a fact. We got quirks. We got determination. We're tough. Deku?... He only has some of those things. The day is gonna come when we move on to UA and he stays here." He explained.

Ochaco wanted to protest. She wanted to argue and defend Deku. But everything Katsuki said was right, a little harsh but right.

"So it only makes sense that we let him go now. So when that day comes, we're not leaving him alone out here. So really, this situation is a good thing!" Katsuki continued.

Ochaco bit her lip. She still wasn't comfortable crying in front of Katsuki. He wasn't the affectionate and empathetic type. "I don't want to leave Izuku behind..."

The blonde-haired boy exhaled. "You don't really have to. But things will be different by the end of the summer. We'll be in the entrance exam for UA, which generally requires a quirk if you want to score enough points. Even if he passes the written exam with us, he won't get far. It's inevitable, Ochaco."

"So you're saying that maybe I should..." She sniffed.

"...Yeah." He threw his arms up to his shoulder height as a sign of how sad the truth to her was. "As long as we become heroes and he doesn't, it might only bring him shame and sadness to see us. So it may be inevitable that things are cut off."

Ochaco lifted her hands to her eyes and sobbed.

Katsuki sighed and put his arm on her shoulder. "He'll be okay. And so will we. Now come on. I'll walk you home, Roundface."

~~~~~~

The next morning came and as promised, Izuku came running as fast as he could to the beach. As he approached, he could make out All Might's tall silhouette in the sunrise.

"Ah! First to arrive! Welcome, young Midoriya!" All Might cheered.

"All Might!" Izuku called to him as he rapidly approached on the sand. The entire beach aside from their space, was littered with garbage of every shape and size. Even old furniture and appliances laid around abandoned.

The green-haired boy stopped and rested his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. Seeing All Might again in his large hero form felt different. Perhaps the saying "never meet your heroes" is correct. The events of yesterday felt like a dream to Izuku.

"Is that girl coming?" All Might asked.

"I thought....she was....already here...." Izuku said in-between breaths.

"Interesting. She's late. If you two were so adamant about wanting to train with me, you both should have been here. Perhaps we'll start without her." The hero sighed.

"W-wait, All Might-sensei...." Izuku requested. "M-maybe we should give her a few more minutes to come."

"That won't be necessary." A new voice joined in.

Izuku and All Might turned quickly to see a tall young man in a red leather jacket standing confidently before them.

Beside him was a man with the large tail of a snake in place of where legs normally would be. His neck was a bit longer than normal and his head was elongated and snake-like with a fleshy hood like a cobra. Two long, narrow tentacled growths sprouted on his exposed shoulders and ended with large mouths, as if they were snakes of their own. His skin was red with brown speckles all over.

"Who are you?" All Might asked.

"Name's Densist! This here is Naga." The man exclaimed, talking with his hands and gesturing to the snake man.

Naga made a grumble that sounded like a hiss with his arms folded, visibly unamused.

"That little brat, Mariko said you'd be here. So here we are too." Densist shrugged.

All Might took a step forward, blocking Izuku. "What have you done to young Mariko?" He asked. His smile had dropped.

"The same thing we're gonna do to that brat behind you. And the explosion brat. And the zero G brat." Densist chuckled.

"Here's what is going to happen, gentlemen. I'm going to pound you into the ground and you're going to tell me where you've put miss Mariko." All Might threatened.

Naga hissed louder in defiance, showing off a mouth full of sharp teeth, especially two giant retractable fangs.

"Now I'm no top tier villain you go toe to toe with. But I got a couple tricks up my sleeve. For one... You're gonna fight us in a place perfect for Naga's quirk. And all this garbage around is perfect for my quirk." Densist sneered.

"Young Midoriya. I need you to turn and run away. Get the police. This is going to get ugly. I recognize Densist. Wanted criminal that disappeared off the radar for a couple years now. He's very dangerous. Now go!" All Might ordered.

Izuku looked up at him worriedly then turn and ran. As he looked back, he watched in horror as the snake man dove into the sand like water.