A/N: Hi everyone, I hope you all enjoyed my new story "Krish: The Tortured Hero". If you didn't know, I released a new story last week, which is why this chapter has been delayed a week. But to make up for it, this chapter is extra long, like some of my earlier stuff, so I hope you enjoy this chapter!
The group of friends made their way over to the beach, the clear ocean basking in the warm rays of the sun, the gentle orange hue radiating onto it. A beach at dusk was a truly picturesque, beautiful site. The sky, clearer than it had ever been that day, with everyone comfortably able to look at the stare without the risk of being blinded, though the teens were still cautious.
Finding a good spot to sit down, the group all laid out their towels on the soft, smooth surface of the sand. The way it sank down under their body weights, the sun gently shimmering over them, illuminating the right or left sides of their faces, and the feeling of spending time with friends was truly a thing to be cherished. There was only one way to describe this.
Bliss.
As everyone got into a comfortable position, with Camie sitting between Katsuki's legs, Eri leaning on the shoulder of her older brother, Nejire sitting with her knees tucked up to her chin, Mirio and Tamaki leaning back, legs outstretched and propping themselves up using their arms, and Ochako patiently sitting with her legs crossed and her spare blanket covering her legs.
"I knew wearing these short shorts was a mistake, it's getting cooler and my legs are cold. Wait, doesn't saying short shorts sound redundant. Who the hell came up with that? Why not something els- I'm getting off-topic. Hopefully, they'll finally tell me how they all met each other." She thought to herself, looking at everyone for any indication that she could start speaking.
"Guys I think Uraraka's gonna die of curiosity, you should probably tell her how you all met." Eri pointed out, looking at the brunette.
"Well, how are we gonna do it? No offense but the last time you guys were fumbling over your words a lot." Camie asked, looking back at her partner, who was drinking some water.
"Well that was partially your fault" Katsuki grumbled, thinking back to when Camie met everyone.
"Well I'm sure you can behave this time Kaachan" Nejire taunted, smiling at the blonde-haired boy.
"Hey!" Izuku and Bakugo retorted in unison before Izuku carried on, "We can only call each other that! Didn't you read Mirio's Bro Code?"
(A/N: If you get this reference, then I'll be your wingman. I've got an 85% success rate and before you ask no it wasn't my fault.)
"Really? It's a "book" written by a drunk student, not the bible. Honestly, what will I do with you two." Nejire replied, sarcastically disappointed at her pseudo younger brothers, although sometimes they did feel like her children, for better or for worse.
"It's official, and who said I was drunk?!" Mirio interjected, looking at his cyan-haired classmate.
"I did when you had to start over after spilled a shot of vodka on the draft." Tamaki replied, flashing back to that moment.
"That was water Tamaki. I swear on the Bro Code" Mirio said with fake seriousness.
"Then why did you pay ¥1200 yen for 25ml of water?" Tamaki retorted, raising an eyebrow.
"It's holy water, and it's the only reason I had the divine knowledge to write the book." Mirio smugly replied.
"Well religion is corrupt anyway, and as I recall, you used some of it that same night to try and do some very unholy things as well." Izuku chimed in, slyly looking at the soon-to-be third year.
"How did you-" Mirio replied nervously, sitting upright now, before being cut off by the green-haired student, "Aunt Mitsuki told me whilst you were asleep on her couch.
"Seriously Mirio, you're not setting a good example for me, I'm so disillusioned." Eri sarcastically added, berating him.
"That's enough though, I think Uraraka's gonna hold a gun to our heads if we don't tell her." Izuku pointed out, still chuckling.
"Don't cross me then, Izuku Midoriya." Ochako replied in a fake sinister tone, squinting her eyes slightly to look intimidating.
"Well since Izuku's the social centre of this group, I think we should let him start, plus chronological order would help." Camie suggested.
"What? How is the damn nerd the leader of this group?" Katsuki argued.
"Looks like someone's defensive, did that hurt your pride that much? Something tells me you're overcompensating" Eri teased.
"Eri! You shouldn't be thinking about that, you're still too young. Izuku how could you let her innocence leave like this?" Nejire sarcastically complained in an over-the-top motherly tone.
"You know the internet exists right? Seriously Nejire, I mean I know you're not blonde but you're still dumb. Guess you and Toga are cousins." Izuku replied sarcastically, feigning disappointment.
"You're stereotyping now?" Nejire responded, to which Izuku just shrugged his shoulders.
"Well before we get onto our 69th tangent," Izuku started, with Katsuki saying "Nice" as he said 69th, and then subsequently continuing, "Let me tell you the tale of how this sarcastic, dysfunctional group of people met." he stated, with everyone's eyes on him now.
"So if we're going off chronological order in terms of how I met everyone, then I guess we have to start with the most boring story: how Kaachan and I met." Izuku narrated, only to be met with the incoherent muttering of said Kaachan, before carrying on, "We both met before Eri was born while we were in kindergarten. We liked the same things and got on, and we've stayed friends ever since. One year after we met, Eri was born" Izuku explained, seeing the surprise on Ochako's face.
"Wait, so you've known Bakugo longer than you've known your own sister?" Ochako rhetorically asked, astonished.
"Yeah! Which is always a point he likes to bring up in an argument with Eri." Izuku pointed out.
"I have no idea what you mean." Katsuki replied, feigning denial.
"Clearly. Anyways the next story is a lot more interesting, and the third person I met in this group was Nejire, around 2 years ago." Izuku kept going, "So over the summer I needed to get a job so that I could support Eri and not be broke." he elaborated.
"Why? You were only 16 though?" Ochako asked, shocked at this.
"Well I was technically allowed ownership of our flat then, and I wanted to get used to living on my own, I mean the experience has clearly served me well, and me, Uncle Masaru, and Aunt Mitsuki worked out how I could do it, so they sent me money to cover my bills, they still paid taxes since I was a minor, and they still had their names on the lease." Izuku answered, reminiscing.
(A/N: Now I have very limited knowledge of the law in this context and how it would work, let alone the way it'd work in Japan, and although this would maybe make sense where I live, I have no idea if this is accurate, despite my best efforts. If there's anyone who knows better, please tell me how to improve this in the comments)
"Oh okay, that makes sense. That's admirable though, to think that you were able to go through with that." Ochako responded, in awe of her roommate.
"So I got a job working at the local convenience store, and Nejire was the other person working my shift." Izuku started again, looking at Nejire, "And we became friends that way. Her curiosity for the world around her reminded me of Eri, especially since she was only 12 at the time, and so it was always fun to talk to her and learn about a lot of random things. And in turn, I got to learn a lot about UA and how she applied and what she did for that." Izuku went on feeling the nostalgia
"Wait, I can see why you'd work at a convenience store," Ochako began, looking at Izuku, "But you were 18 at the time, and you'd been accepted into UA. So couldn't you have gotten a better job?" Ochako inquired curiously, turning to look at Nejire
"Well, it's because I like to meet new people. Every time someone walked through those doors it could be a different person, and you can learn something new about them as well. Sure I could have gotten a job that paid more and gave me better work experience, but you can't really get that social interaction anywhere else, so I chose to work there, not for the money, it's not like I needed it, but for that experience." Nejire answered, explaining her thought process to Ochako.
"Wow, that's, something new. That's really interesting, and it's nice to see that you're so curious and fascinated with the world around us. I wouldn't ever be so intrigued with something as simple as that, and the fact that you can appreciate the beauty of every little thing is so cool." Ochako replied, surprised to see a less playful side of Nejire.
"And if you don't mind, I think I'll take over this part of the story Izuku." Nejire asked, with Izuku nodding in confirmation.
"Now after the summer, I was originally gonna get a better job, I was gonna be a UA student after all. But I enjoyed talking to Izuku and the customers so much that I decided to stay there for a while, and I took up another weekend job for the work experience." Nejire began, before seeing the look on Ochako's face, surmising she had a question, which led to her pausing for a second.
"What job did you get, and by extension what are you studying?" Ochako asked.
"Well I got a job working at a Dam control centre, and I'm getting a degree in wave and hydroelectric power since I've always been interested in wave or spiral energy as a kid. In fact, I did my entrance thesis on that." Nejire answered, seeing the younger female's eyes light up.
"That's really cool! I've always loved astronauts, so I want to work in a space training program, so I did my entrance thesis on Zero Gravity." Ochako answered, reciprocating her own experience with the UA entrance exam so to speak.
"That's incredible! It's nice to see some range of topics and normal ones at that." Nejire exclaimed, looking towards Mirio and Tamaki.
"Our topics were perfectly normal." Tamaki blurted out.
"So your thesis on animal traits and physical characteristics and how humans avoided manifesting them and Mirio's thesis on the intangibility and its real-life applications are normal? Sure Darwin, sure" Nejire sarcastically asked, rolling her eyes, looking back to see the look of shock on Ochako's face.
"You did your essay on the real-life application of intangibility? How? That doesn't even exist, at least to my knowledge!" Ochako exclaimed, in awe of how difficult Mirio's thesis topic was.
"Well he is the smartest student at UA, so I wouldn't put it past him." Eri interjected, deciding to brag for Mirio since he never does.
"Yeah, Mirio's crazier than all of us and is wickedly smart, which you would never realise unless you were told it" Izuku added, making the older blonde rub his neck sheepishly.
"Oh come on guys, that's enough. Besides, I'm no Toshinori Yagi" Mirio replied, laughing at the absurd comparison.
"I don't think any of us are. Honestly, that guy could probably solve world hunger on a dare." Nejire joked.
"Who's Toshinri Yagi?" Eri asked, clueless as to who this mystery genius was.
"You've never heard of him? And you live with Izuku? Well, that's a shocker." Camie asked, dumbfounded.
"I might have heard Izuku mention him, but I've never thought to look him up." Eri explained.
"Toshinori Yagi is one of the most esteemed and smartest people in the academic world. He's got 4 Ph.D.'s and 3 Master's degrees. Theoretical Physics, Pure Mathematics, Numerical Analysis, and Economics for the Ph.D.'s, and Mechanical Engineering, Education Theory and Sociopolitics. He made a name for himself travelling to the finest research institutes to gain a qualification and help with ongoing research at the same time. He got his first degree at the age of 17, and it's a classic genius story from there. Now he's a guest speaker and lecturer at universities across the world, and UA is his alma mater." Izuku elaborated, his inner fanboy coming out.
"What- I- How- He-" Eri stuttered, her mind crumbling under the sheer weight of his accomplishments.
"And don't tell anyone this, but there are rumors he's gonna be a permanent lecturer at UA starting this year." Mirio chimed in, the giddiness in his voice also present.
"Wait really?! Oh my god, that'll be so cool if that actually happens!" Katsuki exclaimed, also excited.
"So yeah. I may be smart, but that guy is a different level." Mirio said, awestruck.
"That's very true. Still, don't sell yourself short." Ochako replied, not wanting Mirio to put himself down, despite the comparison
"Well, this is a perfect segue into how I met Mirio and Tamaki. Now those two, like Izuku and Katsuki, have known each other ever since they were kids, although not as long. Tamaki was a transfer student to Miro's elementary school, and Mirio was the only person to reach out to him and talk, even with Tamaki's nervousness. And they've been friends ever since, all the way to UA. I moved into the student accommodation there and they were my roommates, and we hit it off ever since.
Ever since we've been the three musketeers, and we'd spend a lot of time together, but since I still had my job at the convenience store, I told Izuku all about them. He, naturally, loved all of my stories, and I got to know him better. He told me his past, and about Eri, so I offered to help out a bit. He never got a chance to go out a lot, and he never had a lot of academic help, not that he needed it. So whilst one of us, usually me or Tamaki, stayed with Eri, Izuku took a break and went out with us, and Katsuki joined in as well, although his habit to procrastinate made it a bit difficult sometimes. So that's how the 5 of us made friends, and we've got a lot of good memories from that time." Nejire narrated, looking at her friends with content, speaking from the heart
"Aww, that's nice. I'm guessing there's a lot of memories you all have that you wanna talk about. Plus I get why you're all so tightly knit now, as well as why you've got so many inside jokes with each other." Ochako responded, trying her best to imagine what it was like for the 5 of them.
"Yeah that's very true, but we can tell you about all of those another time. After all, this is the story of how we met, and so there's one more key piece to the story, and this is by far the best." Eri chimed in, giddy as can be.
"And now to tell you about the second to last person to join the group: Camie. And I'll be taking over this one." Izuku stated, before taking a sip of water and continuing.
"So last summer I was able to save up enough money for me, Kaachan, and Eri to go to the annual I-Island Expo. So we went there for a week, and we booked a hotel close by for the three of us. Now it was a lot of fun, seeing all the cool tech, the shows, stalls, food, and atmosphere. Now to make sure we all had an equally fun experience, we came up with a system. Based on our interests and preferences, we'd choose 3 different activities for that day, so, for example, I'd go to all of the shows or stalls relating to psychology, Eri would go to all of the ones relating to astrology and Kaachan would go to all the ones relating to bombs and explosions." Izuku explained, stopping for a second to catch his breath.
"Okay, first off, you got to go to the I-Island Expo?!" Ochako yelled in excitement, looking at Izuku.
"Yeah! It was a lot of fun, and I really wanna go again. I'm guessing you've never been?" Izuku asked curiously, Ochako's excitement rubbing off onto him.
"Not yet, and that's so cool! It's like you guys were in a movie or something with the way this is going. And second of all, why explosions? Seems a bit odd." Ochako asked, confused as to the bizarre interests of the bombastic blonde.
"Well I did my entrance thesis on the applications of Nitroglycerin and how they can be used in combat, and I want to create bombs for the military." Katsuki explained, with Ochako nodding in approval.
"Fair enough. Wasn't expecting that, but fair enough." Ochako responded.
"Anyways, while we were at a show about illusions and how they trick the mind, my choice, Kaachan noticed Camie, and like the confident outgoing person he is, didn't look at her afterwards and went redder than a tomato.
Once the show was over, I noticed him ogling her, and as a good wingman should, I helped him out a bit. So Eri and I grabbed him by the arms, as we made our way over to where she was sitting. I start the conversation, talking about the show and using my knowledge of psychology to ease her into the conversation. After that, I introduced her to Kaachan, and then Eri and I carried on with our day." Izuku carried on, seeing the look of attentiveness on Ochako's face.
"And this is where I take over." Eri interjected, pride filling her voice.
"Oh this should be fun." Ochako commented, trying to make Eri feel a little less nervous.
"So after we left Katsuki, Izuku and I had a lot of free time on our hands, so instead of eating dinner at the hotel, we went crazy and ate a ton of the street food they were serving. But we ended up getting to the hotel room early because the final show Izuku wanted to go to was cancelled for that day. But when we got back to the hotel, we see Katsuki and Camie making out in the hotel room, on Izuku's bed. And needless to say, he was pretty pissed. Oh and to add to the image, Katsuki had his shirt off, and Camie was in nothing but her underwear. You know, because it wasn't awkward enough at this point." Eri narrated, seeing the looks of embarrassment on the young couple's faces.
"Can we skip this part of the story?" Camie meekly asked, unable to look anyone in the eyes.
"Oh absolutely not. Should I go into more detail instead? So I walked in, and I saw Katsuki's hands travel up her soft, silky-" Eri began, teasing them, before being cut off by Izuku placing his palm over her mouth.
"Behave Eri. We don't need to know what you want to do with K-" Izuku also began, before being punched in the groin by a thoroughly embarrassed Eri.
"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UPPPPPP!" Eri yelled out, blushing like crazy.
"Okay okay fine" Izuku groaned out in pain, holding his crotch, with the other boys recoiling with the phantom pain of watching Izuku go through that.
"Eri there was no need for that. Well done" Katsuki chimed in with pride, high fiving the girl.
"Shut up Kaachan. And Eri you're grounded for a week" Izuku squeaked out, with Ochako now slightly concerned.
"Is it that bad?" she asked.
"Yeah, but I'll be fine." Izuku replied, sitting up and taking some deep breaths, "Okay, I'm good. Eri you wanna carry on or are you still daydreaming?" Izuku asked passive aggressively.
"Sure. Sorry by the way." Eri apologised, feeling slightly remorseful, before carrying on.
"So after Izuku yelled at them for half an hour straight, the two of them left and Izuku took Katsuki's bed. But after that the 4 of us hung out together at the Expo, despite some awkwardness, but we all got on, and it turned out that Camie lived on the other side of the city, so they kept going out afterwards, and here we are today." Eri finished, taking a breath in once she was done.
"So, what do you think, Ochako?" Izuku asked, wincing as he did, not used to calling Ochako by her first name.
"Wh- what?" Ochako asked, caught off guard by this as well.
"You've met the rest of the family now, so it's only fair we treat you like one of our own, so get used to us calling you by your first name." Izuku said kindly, staring into her eyes.
"I-" Ochako uttered, still processing how she got to meet a group of such incredible people, "Thanks, Izuku." Ochako responded, blushing as she called Izuku by his given name.
"Well now that that's done with, shall we get going?" Mirio asked, seeing the time.
"Sure thing. I'm gonna crash with Camie, so you three can go on without me" Katsuki said, looking at the residents of the Midoriya household, standing up.
"Okay. Well we'll see you all soon then." Izuku replied, getting up too, still in slight pain.
As the group got all of their stuff and went their separate ways, they all turned back, before inhaling, "Bye!" they all said in unison, chuckling to themselves at their coordination.
From now onwards, for better or for worse, Ochako now had a new family. And she couldn't wait to see what was in store for her next...
A/N: Oh wow this really is a long chapter huh? Well I hope it was entertaining enough to the point where none of you got bored reading it. Thanks again for all the support on my new story, "Krish: The Tortured Hero", and I hope you all go and check it out.
Well with that, I hope you all have a great day!