Chapter Text
Memories
Sorry this took so long! I got a little wrapped up with school. And...lots and lots of osu. I’ve been playing WAY too much osu. It’s almost to the point where it isn’t exactly healthy, with my hand cramps and stuff. And good news for some of you! This didn’t wrap up this chapter like I thought it would. You’ll all be getting an epilogue in a few days’ time. Hopefully not too long, as I need to work on a new chapter for my pokemon fic AND izuocha week.
Anyways, that’ll be it from me for now! Enjoy this last chapter of the main story.
The pen dropped to the ground.
“Wait, no!” He shouted, reaching to pick up the pen, as if grabbing ahold of it would bring Ochako back.
“I’ve gotta write it down! Her name!” He said, scrambling to grab the pen from where it had rolled to on the rocky ground. He brought the pen up to his hand.
“Her name, it was…” Suddenly, there was a gap in his mind. Like something that ought to be there no longer was.
“What was her name!?” He cried out, falling to his knees.
“What was her...what was…” It was like he was reaching after something running away from him. Like he was trying to grab the air.
And then it was gone.
Izuku looked around, eyes scanning the landscape
“Why am I here?”
When Izuku’s hand disappeared, the black landscape disappeared with him. Ochako was now looking at the lively landscape of Itomori below her. It took a moment for the whole situation to sink in.
She had something to do.
Suddenly taking off at a sprint, Ochako started down the hill back towards the town, legs moving as fast as they could take her.
“I won't forget! I won’t!” She shouted as she ran, “Izuku! Izuku, that’s your name! It’s Izuku!”
She knew she should be going over the plan, the one he’d made to save the city, but that was taking a backseat. Something more important was completely absorbing her mind.
“Izuku! Izuku!” She repeated, not giving herself a moment’s break.
“It’s Izuku! Izu-” Ochako was cut off as her foot caught on a rock, sending her flying towards the ground. Her forwards momentum carried her down the hill where she struck the ground with a distinctive crack of her shoulder, and rolled a few meters before skidding to a stop. Her entire right side burned with pain, and she knew she was covered in scratches from the rocky trail.
You can’t give up! Do it for...for… She drew a blank. His name! What was his name?
Ochako tried to force herself to her feet, only for her right arm to give out, sending her back to the ground.
“I-Iz…” She trailed off. She couldn’t remember. Why couldn’t she remember? She swore she wouldn't forget! Why now? Why…
Tears came to her face, and she couldn’t tell if it was from pain or something else. Her right hand fell to the ground, falling limp in front of her face. On the inside of her palm, she saw something. Black streaks.
His name? She opened her palm slowly, reading the writing on her palm.
...
“I love you.”
...
For some reason, Ochako smiled. She should be sad, she should by crying more. He hadn’t written his name. Still, for some reason, it helped. A soft smile came to her face, and the tears ran down from her eyes.
“I can’t remember your name with this…” She said softly. Miraculously, this time, when she pushed herself back up, her legs didn’t give out under her. She continued her run.
“I have to finish this.” She ran.
With every step she took, her mind seemed to be getting cloudier and cloudier. As she ran down the hill towards town, she filled her mind with two things. Two simple things to keep her going. The words written on the inside of her hand, and what she had to do in order to save the town. She ran through the entire plan over and over, and every time she doubted it, she looked at the inside of her hand again.
She had no idea who had written it there, but for whatever reason, when she saw it, her heart fluttered, and she found the determination to push on. When she finally got to the town, her legs were sore and everything hurt. Still, she pushed on.
“I think everything is in place.” Kirishima said, looking down at his watch.
“Kiri, are we really going to blow up the power plant?” Mina said nervously, scratching at the back of her head. Kirishima frowned. It wasn’t the best idea, but it seemed like the only option.
He sighed, “I trust Uraraka, and if she’s right about there being a villain attack tonight, then I don’t really see any other options.” Mina clicked her tongue.
“I can’t help but get a bad feeling in my chest about all of this.”
Kirishima nodded, “I feel you there. Now, if we can find-” he trailed off, looking over Mina’s shoulder, before smiling and waving, “Uraraka, hey!”
Mina spun around to greet their friend. As soon as saw Ochako, she rushed over, running towards their friend.
“‘Chako, are you okay?” Mina asked, looking at Ochako. Her face was red and puffy, she was covered in small scrapes and bruises, and she was cradling her right arm.
“Y-yeah, I’m okay. I just fell.” She brushed off Mina’s hand, but Kirishima could tell that it was something more than a little fall. Her tone of voice was flat and lifeless. He almost said something, but quickly decided against it. There were more important things to worry about right now.
Ochako turned to Kirishima, tilting her head, “Is everything set up?”
He nodded, “I set the time for…” He looked at his watch, “well, about one minute from now.”
As if on queue, the sound of an explosion ripped across the area, drawing the attention of everyone in the area. Looking towards the mountain, a smoke plume could be see rising into the air.
Step one complete. Ochako thought, Now for step two, insight panic
“It’s a villain attack! Everyone get to safety!” Ochako screamed at the top of her lungs. To emphasize her point, she grabbed Kirishima and Mina’s hands and took off at a run.
“Everyone take shelter at the high school!” Mina added, yelling so that all around her could hear.
“There’s a villain attack!”
“Take shelter at the high school!”
“Everyone, run!”
The three of them ran up and down the streets of Itomori, spreading the word of a villain attack. It wasn’t long before there was a crowd following them, yelling the same types of things. Everyone was evacuating. It was working!
“Kirishima, Mina, we need to split up here. Go searching for someone fishy and send anyone you know towards the school. It should be out of the danger zone.” Ochako said under her breath, nodding to her friends. They nodded in return, splitting off.
Ochako was able to get away from the mass of people moving to safety, and started heading back towards the areas that they hadn’t covered yet. Specifically, the area where the festival was going to be held, that way she could get anyone that was setting up for the event away from danger.
Ochako found a couple families in her trek, and they had all believed her enough to head towards the safe zone, much to her relief. Ochako continued towards her target area.
Once she was about halfway there, she heard the familiar sound of the town’s notification system firing up. The speakers were dispersed throughout the entire town, allowing the local government to communicate with the townsfolk.
“It has come to our attention that there has been a villain attack at the power plant up the hill. We have called the most readily available hero agency to come diffuse the situation. For now, we would like to advise all civilians to evacuate to the high school. Thank you for your cooperation.” The announcement ended with a click, and Ochako let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. At least everyone was going to be in a relatively safe spot.
That also meant one more thing. The only people that she should see lurking around this side of town would be either herself, Kirishima, Mina, or the villain they were trying to catch. Ochako ducked her head, continuing her search.
By the time Ochako made it to the festival grounds, she hadn’t found a single person. She could see the tips of the red tents at the top of the hill, and she hurried up the stairs.
“Ochako!” She heard a whisper-shout. Ochako spun around, immediately on guard. When she took in what she was seeing, however, she realized it was just Mina waving to her...from behind a tree?
Ochako rushed over, and when she rounded the tree, she saw that Kirishima was also crouching near the ground, “What is it?” Ochako whispered.
“We saw someone enter that white tent and zip themselves inside.” Kirishima explained, motioning for Ochako to step behind the tree as well.
“Do you think it’s the villain?” Mina said, voice wavering a little bit.
Ochako put her finger to her chin, humming, “It could be. The announcement said to get to safety on the other side of the canyon, so it doesn’t make sense why anyone else would be over here.”
“Unless you’re crazy, like us.” Mina added at the end. Ochako barely stifled a laugh.
They sat in silence for a few moments, noone daring to move yet. “How long have they been in there?” Ochako asked eventually.
Kirishima looked down at his watch, “About seven minutes.” Ochako frowned.
“I think we need to go in there and see what’s up. It may not even be the villain, just a lost civilian.” Ochako said, eliciting a squeak from Mina.
“C-can’t we wait for a hero to come or something?” She asked.
“What if the villain does something bad before a hero can get here?” Ochako said. Mina immediately froze.
Kirishima cleared his throat , “I think Uraraka is right on this one, If we can do something, we should. Didn’t we all want to be heroes when we were kids?” he smiled, “Maybe this is our shot at it.”
Mina gulped, before standing up a little straighter, “Let’s do this.”
Ochako smiled at her friend, “Let’s go be heroes.”
Ochako, Mina, and Kirishima tip toed up the steps, trying to not draw attention. As they got close to the white tent, Ochako noticed that it was zipped closed.
“Mina,” Ochako whispered, “We want to get the drop on whoever is in there. Could you just melt the side off?”
Mina silently nodded, as everyone took up positions around the tent. Mina looked to Ochako for confirmation, who nodded to her friend. Mina took a deep breath, before throwing her hands out in front of her, thick balls of acid falling onto the side of the thin material, which in response melted away.
“Gah! What the hell?” A man’s voice said from inside the tent. Ochako rushed over to look in the opening. There was a man wearing a large coat sitting on the ground, his hand up against a...large boulder? There was a soft humming sound that filled the air.
He was tall, with short blonde hair that was covered up by a beanie. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, and when he moved, he didn’t take his hand off of the rock.
“Sir, what are you doing out here?” Ochako asked, putting on a nice front. Just looking at the man, Ochako got an odd feeling in her chest. The back of her mind was screaming at her that there was some kind of danger.
“W-what’s it to you? I’m just trying to make sure everything is in order for the festival today!” He said, as if he were convincing himself as he came up with the lie.
Ochako frowned, opening her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Kirishima, “Why don’t you come out of the tent and we can talk?”
The man just looked up at Kirishima, before slowly getting up, his right hand not moving off of the rock. Why won’t he let go of this boulder?
“Here, just let me grab…” He leaned forwards, grabbing a little blue ball off of the table next to him. Ochako watched as the blue ball started to change color as the man held onto it. It turned from blue to a soft yellow, to orange, to red, and then to white.
“Catch!” He said, throwing the now-white ball at Kirishima. Ochako’s gut twisted, telling her something was wrong. Ochako immediately launched into action, tackling Mina away, using her quirk on the girl and herself, allowing them to jump a significant amount of distance away from the tent.
Ochako looked over her shoulder to see Kirishima catch the object, rolling it over in his hand. At that moment, she saw the man from inside the tent burst out of the zipper, diving for safety as well.
“Kirishima!” Ochako shouted, but she was too late.
Boom!
An explosion erupted from where Kirishima had been standing, the area getting enveloped in a fiery blast.
“No!” Mina screamed, reaching out with one arm towards their friend. Ochako released her quirk, trying to scramble to her feet. She got up just as the man did, and he put himself between Ochako and the smokey ball that concealed where Kirishima had been before the explosion.
“Why do you kids have to get in the way?” The man, the villain, said.
“You-!” Mina choked back. Ochako could see the anger in her eyes as she pushed herself to her feet. As soon as she was up, she tried to sprint at the villain.
“Mina, no!” Ochako said, grabbing her shirt, holding her back. “We don’t even know what that villain can do.”
Mina looked to Ochako, tears at the corners of her eyes, “But Kiri-! He...he…”
“Damn, I really liked that shirt, too.” A voice that was distinctly not the villain said. A figure strode out of the cloud of smoke, his skin straight and spiky. Kirishima had activated his quirk.
The villain spun around, looking at Kirishima incredulously, “How did you-”
“No time for questions!” Kirishima said, rushing forwards, body still hardened. He threw his arm forwards, striking the villain in the shoulder with a punch, sending him sprawling away.
“Gah!” The villain cried in pain, pushing himself to his feet.
“Ochako, what do we do?” Mina asked, the nervousness audible in her voice.
“We fight. Even as a villain, he doesn’t really stand a chance against three of us.” Ochako said, “Though, that doesn’t mean you can be reckless. Play around his quirk, and use yours to your advantage.”
“What is his quirk anyways?” Kirishima asked, “It’s obviously some way to make explosions.”
“It-Watch out!” Ochako said, diving away from where another glowing ball had landed near their feet. This one exploded in the exact same way as the previous one. An idea was forming in her head.
“It looks like he can make anything explode if he holds onto it for long enough!” Ochako shouted out her hypotheses, watching for the villain’s reaction. When he flinched, Ochako knew her theory was confirmed.
“You got me there, not like it matters.” He said, “The bigger the object, the bigger the explosion. Now, die!” He reached into his coat, grabbing another ball from the inside and throwing it directly at Ochako. The way this one was going, she wouldn’t be able to get out of the way in time.
Until something intercepted it mid-air, stopping it in its tracks. The ball melted mid-air, falling to the ground as a little pile of goop.
“Don’t worry, ‘Chako! I’ve got you!” Mina said, giving Ochako a thumbs up and a smile. Ochako smiled back at her friend before turning to the task at hand.
“Kirishima, pressure him up close, Mina, try to dissolve anything that he throws at us!” Ochako said, “I’ll try to incapacitate him!”
The three students sprung into action immediately, working as a unit. Kirishima rushed forwards, trying to get in close to the villain. The villain reached inside his jacket, and just as Kirishima got close, he threw out a series of little bead-like objects, that exploded like a package of a bunch of miniature explosions.
Kirishima was obviously okay due to his quirk, but it was enough to stop his advance and give the villain enough time to keep running away.
“He’s gonna outrun us!” Kirishima said as soon as he recovered from the explosion.
“Don’t worry!” Mina said, running on ahead, chasing after the villain. She seemed like she was skating on land, and she was gaining on the villain quickly. Acid skating Ochako realized.
“Take...this!” Mina said, punching the villain square in the back with a spray of an acid, some of which landing on his skin.
Ochako caught up before the villain could get up again, placing her hand on his chest, removing gravity’s hold on him. She moved him into the air where he couldn’t run away any longer.
“Kirishima, hold him down until the authorities can get here. It shouldn’t be too hard when he’s weightless.” Ochako said. Kirishima nodded. Grabbing the villain harshly by the arms, holding him down against the ground.
“Make sure he can’t get his hands on anything to blow up.” Kirishima nodded again. They all just kind of sat there in a group, catching their breath. It hadn’t been a long fight, but it had been intense.
Eventually, for some reason, the villain started laughing. Ochako tilted her head, looking at the man as he started laughing more and more. It was an insane sort of laughter, the kind that you’d hear from someone that had lost their minds.
“What are you laughing for?” Ochako asked eventually.
“You’re all so naive...you beat me yes, but did you really win?” The villain said.
Did we really- Ochako stopped, freezing as she came to a realization. The man’s quirk let him blow up objects that he touched for long enough.
He’d been touching that boulder in the tent for a long time.
“The rock! It’s gonna blow!” Ochako said, scrambling into a sprint, “Mina, come with me! Kirishima, knock him out!”
Ochako didn’t look back to see if they followed directions. Ochako lightened her clothes so that she could run even faster than she normally could. It wasn’t much, but it was going to have to be enough.
Ochako made it back to the tent and scrambled through the hole that Mina had melted in the side. Inside, the rock was humming with a low buzzing sound, and she could feel a soft heat emanating from it.
More importantly, it was glowing a bright white.
“Ochako!” Mina said, skidding to a stop right next to her. She looked at the scene, and her face dropped.
“It’s gonna blow any second now. We need to get out of here.” Mina said, grabbing Ochako’s arm. Ochako pulled her arm back, shaking her head.
“If this thing blows up, everyone at the school might die. We don’t know how far the explosion could go.” Ochako said, “We need to get rid of it.”
“How the hell do we get rid of a giant ass boulder?” Kirishima said, having made it back, presumably after knocking the villain out.
Ochako, looked at it, trying to think as hard as possible.
“Ochako, your quirk!” Mina finally said, “Can you launch it into the sky?”
Ochako mentally berated herself for not thinking of that sooner. Ochako looked over the boulder, trying to gauge its weight. It looked heavy enough to be at least a couple tons. If she reached her limit before it blew…
I just will have to push past my limit...plus ultra Ochako thought with a mental laugh, that sounds oddly familiar. Where do I know that catchphrase?
“Ochako?” Kirishima snapped, bringing Ochako back to reality.
“Sorry, I was thinking. I think I can to it. I could use your guys’ help to try to throw it as far away as possible. I don’t know how long I can go with holding that thing weightless before I reach my limit.” Ochako said, reaching over towards the rock.
Mina melted the rest of the tent, giving a clear shot towards the sky. Ochako, Mina, and Kirishima gathered around it, ready to go.
“Okay, three, two, one, go!” Ochako said, activating her quirk on the rock. The three of them heaved on the rock, trying to throw it into the air with as much force as possible.
“Let’s hope it goes far enough.” Ochako said. She could already feel the weight taking its toll. It was as if a rock had been put inside her stomach.
“All we can do it hope.” Kirishima said, grabbing ahold of Mina’s hand. Ochako eyed it, but decided to not make a comment on it. She just crossed her fingers, staring up at the object as if floated further and further away.
After a minute or so, Ochako could feel the weight taking a toll on her stomach. She was feeling nauseous, and it wouldn’t be long before her stomach would give out. Looking up, Ochako could only barely make out the white spek against the black background of the night sky.
Then, there was light.
The explosion sent a shockwave through the area so powerful, even from where Ochako was standing, she felt the ground rattle. The explosion was so big, looking up at it, Ochako could feel the heat on her face.
“We did it! Oh my God, we did it!” Mina said, jumping up and down.
“Kiri, we did it!” Mina said again, jumping towards the boy, sticking a kiss on his lips.
“Wha-Mina!” Kirishima said, his face going red as he gave an apologetic smile to Ochako, “This isn’t how we meant to tell you, I swear.”
Ochako just laughed, but for some reason it felt empty, “That’s fine. All that matters is that we did it. We saved everyone. We were real heroes today.”
By all means, she should be ecstatic. She’d saved the day from a villain that could have wiped them all out. Yet, for some reason, she still had that lingering sadness on her mind, the same sadness that had been there inexplicably since she’d gotten back from her trip to the crater. Not to mention all the gaps in her mind. How had she known about the villain attack? How had she known a plan that would make it work?
Ochako found herself looking at the marking on the inside of her right hand again.
I love you It still read. Ochako felt tears poking at the corners of her eyes. She had no idea who wrote it. It could have been some total stranger pulling a prank on her, for all she knew. Even so, her heart screamed one thing. A single sentence she wanted, with all of her heart to say back to that person.
I love you too.