What Is A Hero?

Part 2 : Chapter 18

"Late, I see!" All Might exclaimed. He was the very definition of exuberant - the way he spoke, the way he acted and the way he overall carried himself. Always the admiral type and remained so even as he scolded someone with a plastered genuine grin.

That smile was one reason Izuku had admired All Might as a child. And unintentionally, Izuku imitated that image he had of All Might - forever smiling, exuberant and forever unstoppable - in his own twisted way.

"Yes, we are!" Izuku replied, returning a bright closed-eyed smile.

"But honestly, what are we supposed to be doing here anyway?" Shinso asked, looking around.

Utter chaos is what he would call their training at first sight, but he saw everyone working hard to improve their quirks. He saw a few of the student's experiments here and there, but nothing that seemed to work for him or Izuku Midoriya. Class 1A were working on their 'ultimate moves' and here they were, almost a year's work behind.

He's quirkless and Hitoshi has a non-combat type quirk. What would they be training? And would they let Izuku train? Technically, he is still seen as a villain and training him would be the same as training your enemy.

"Hypothetically speaking, if we had to train, it would be mostly physical training," Izuku side-glanced All Might, "wouldn't it?"

"Yes, that's correct! Sharp as ever, aren't you!" All Might praised yet one could see the single sweat slipping down his forehead.

"That looked hard to say," Izuku whispered to Shinso a little too loudly.

Shinso decided to ignore Izuku's attempt to make the retired hero uncomfortable. He decided, however, to comment on Izuku's prior words. A word in particular, caught his interest.

"Why 'hypothetically'?" Shinso asked.

"Hypothetically?" Izuku repeated as if he had to think about it, "Oh! Yes, hypothetically, because I don't plan on training like all of you. It's a pain!"

Shinso frowned. All Might would have done so too if not for his Symbol of Peace facade.

This was unexpected. He wouldn't have thought he would refuse something that was initially part of the deal they made. He knew the boy would be unmotivated, but not to this extent. Was his good marks and good work ethic that blinding that they'd forgotten he was an accomplice of the League of Villains?

All Might cleared his throat. "I'm afraid this is part of your and Young Hitoshi's circular, so it's not negotiable. So let me go through the--"

Izuku wasn't paying attention; something or rather, someone caught his attention.

His smile grew a little genuine as he exclaimed: "Ochako-chan!"

The girl in question had just landed from a quirk endurance test. He ran towards her, dodging a few rocks and multiple quirks on his way to her. He was either too far away to hear All Might's calls or he ignored it.

Shinso shook his head, while All Might watched Izuku with surprise - speechless by what he was seeing.

He says he won't train, but there he is, running to go see a girl.

And just to tease her? Who knows.

Sometimes I really wonder what's wrong with that guy.

Shinso sighed.

He really did not want to follow him all the way there.

"All Might," he said, "Please explain what we'll be doing. I'll tell him later."

On the other hand, Izuku was going to have the time of his life teasing Ochako. When he arrived, students curiously glanced at them. He could hear some of them questioning the way he addressed her.

Ochako was all too aware of this fact too. Her friends would interrogate her later, she bet.

"Ochako-chan, what are you up to?" He asked sweetly.

"Uh," Uraraka took a step back from him when he leaned forward, "I'm training my quirk endurance."

"Quirk endurance?"

Ochako noticed he had stopped his acting. Was he interested in her training now? Either way, his curiosity made him forget about teasing her, so she decided to take advantage of this.

"Yeah, there's something I want to try for my 'ultimate move', but I need to get used to making myself float for longer periods of time. It'll help my quirk grow stronger in the long run."

Izuku hummed.

"That's true. When your endurance training succeeds, it would be useful to-- do you perhaps have some kind of tool on your hero outfit to maneuver around while you're in the air?" He asked, deep in his scattered thoughts.

Ochako was sure she heard something close to excitement in his voice under that focused look. He was mumbling again too like the first time they met.

"And making someone else float too would be possible. Then something could be attached to them like that one over there." He pointed at the person who caught his attention.

"Sero?" Uraraka asked, confused.

"Yes, zero gravity could be useful to move around in the air. The person could have equipment like that tape and weight adjustments to move around swiftly. Or just simply to move around things, Uraraka--" He made eye contact with her but froze as he done so.

His face was inches away from hers. Her smile and her eyes - staring at him in a way he wasn't used to - had caught him off guard. He asked himself a million questions.

Why was she looking at him like that?

Did she hear him call her by her second name?

Did she notice his enthusiasm?

Would she find out how much of a quirk fanatic he was?

Why...?

"You're really amazing, Deku," she said and chuckled right after.

Why do I feel so flustered?