Izuku POV:
It's been about five days since the incident with the Yakuza raid. To be completely honest, I feel like I've been on the top of the world recently. Most of the problems I had in the past that had me worried like the fact my quirks were dangerous, the stuff my father did, the things I did in the past unwillingly. It's no longer doing anything to affect me. I hate to say it, but the fact I now have freedom was arguably the best thing that could've ever happened to me. "Midoriya. Can you answer this question."
"Yes. 473 over 90."
"Nicely done." I smiled at this while continuing my notes as well as reading a book about parenting. The fact Eri calls me dad now doesn't make me afraid, but it actually makes me wanna be a better version of myself for her sake. Our childhoods might've been messed up, but hers is more reversible than mine is. "Uraraka. Can you answer this question please?" I glanced over to see Uraraka in a bit of a daze to confuse people. "Uraraka?"
"Huh?" She snapped back to reality and looked at the question while trying to figure it out on the spot. "Uhhh......"
Ectoplasm let out a sigh before turning back to the board. "Pay attention please. These formulas are on tests."
"S-sorry, sir." Uraraka sat back down looking somewhat defeated with her not acting the same as she normally would.
'Is she alright? This isn't like her.' I tried to ignore this as the thought was still eating at me. 'Maybe I should see if she's alright later.'
During the afternoon, Ochako POV:
While the ordeals of Midoriya finally came to an end, I started to question myself a bit. More specifically, what my role with my quirk now is. ' Just what the heck am I supposed to do now? All For One is in jail, Overhaul is taken down and Midoriya as a whole doesn't want anything to do with his father's ideals. Is this what they call an impasse?' I kept trying to think of what to do. My entire goal to being a hero was to find and take down Midoriya and his dad. Now that that's gone...I feel like everything up to now is wasted time.'
"Oi, Uraraka." I glanced up from where I was to see Bakugou glaring at me. "Get up. Time to head home." I got out of my seat and grabbed my things before heading out with Bakugou. "What are you doing later?"
"Let's see, Midoriya is helping Eri with her homework, so that means I'll be able to do mine first. After that, I have dinner duty tonight. I was thinking maybe some kind of mild curry for Eri. We're having a bit of problems trying to get some milk in her, so I'm thinking add some in the mix. I remember Tsu saying she had a recipe for that in particular-"
"STOP ACTING LIKE THE NERD!" I was cut off by Bakugou shouting at me while also glaring me down. "You're getting complacent. Did you forget what he did to you? You spent years struggling because that asshole stole your quirk, AND NOW YOU'RE TRYING TO BE BUDDIES WITH HIM!? DOES EVERYTHING YOU DID UP TILL NOW MEAN NOTHING!?"
I was in shock at that moment. Bakugou was right about one thing at least. I did spent a lot of time and effort training. Preparing myself to defeat and maybe even kill Midoriya. Now that everything is settled and there's peace with us, does that mean all I did up till now meant nothing? Did I waste almost 10 years of my life for something that was in the end not worth wasting a thought on. "I-I gotta go."
"Yeah, just keep walking away from this. Cause the second you realize you were wrong for trusting the villain, you're gonna realize how stupid you were!" I started walking quickly towards the gates. I was afraid I think of Bakugou's words. They were insane, but the point he gave about the work I put in was right.
I started heading into town to start looking for some things I knew we needed. I also shot a text to Midoriya to check and make sure we had some things while also asking Tsu about the milk thing. When I was told what I needed, I picked up the odd ends and walked out. When I did, I passed a shop holding a news report of the ordeals of Kamino and the Yakuza raid on it.
"The young hero in training Tsugenai has completed quite a bit in his short time in the public eye. If we look at what he had done thus far, the defeat of the Hero Killer, the downfall of the Yakuza and most importantly the defeat of the man known as All For One, it's safe to assume that the boy is working quite hard to get in people's good graces."
"Is it possible that we are seeing a different method of how the boy could take us by surprise?"
"It's a possible assumption. Power such as his that can obtain any and all quirks he desires more power and being on the top gives you privileges that a normal pro cannot have. However, I do not think this is the case."
"Do you have anything for the general public to go on backing that theory?"
The one specialist the news anchor brought in began leaning forward in his explanation. "If he were to attempt to take quirks from people, he would have done so with the Hero Killer and the man All For One. However, he has not and made it a point in differentiating himself from the villain All For One. This is him solidifying the position he has as someone who is not doing this for a hunger in quirks. However, this could also be a rouse for us to fall for. But unless we have something that we can't fully debunk with recent scenarios, these fears are overall baseless and don't have as significant value."
"You heard it here folks. For now, any unsettling beliefs with the hero Tsugenai must be held in until given more valid reason. Next up, the unknown tunnels being filled in and what this means for you." I walked out of the area and sat on a nearby bench thinking of what I just heard.
'People as a whole are starting to see Midoriya as a hero. That's good. But...why do I feel like I'm afraid of letting go of this fear?' I glanced up at the sky and started feeling exhausted for some reason. 'Is this because I don't want to accept I wasted so much of my time on this belief? Maybe it's cause I don't have a purpose to have this quirk if I don't.' I shut my eyes and began fading into a bit of a sleep.
3rd person POV:
Ochako began opening her eyes to realize she was in a different location all together. It looked as if it was a forest with a single path. "Where am I?" She started walking down the path unsure where it was going for it to become narrow and narrow the farther down she went. "Just what is this place?"
"It's interesting to see you." I looked in front of me to see a younger version of me who seemed to be extremely angry looking. "It's time you and I had a heart to heart." The younger me seemed to grow to my age with a glare that made her look like she wanted to kill me. "Why befriend the bastard? Did you forget what he did to us? It's because of him that mom and dad are dead! We could've saved them. We had the quirk suitable to help them. SO WHY ARE YOU SIDING WITH HIM OF ALL PEOPLE!?"
"He's not dangerous! That's why?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. So mom and dad don't matter anymore? We put ourselves through so much work just to become powerful. Just so we can hold one scrap of a chance against Midoriya and you let all that go? His own father hurt All Might. OUR father!"
"But that doesn't mean he's responsible for that!?"
"No, but how certain are we that he won't go down the same boat as his father? He has the quirk, he has the power and all he's missing is motivation to kill which is easy to get! All he needs is a reason to go down the path and you and I know he can. HIS FATHER MADE CERTAIN!"
"But that isn't Midoriya!" I was trying to think of the best way to explain this to myself with it constantly coming out wrong.
"Oh, and how can you be certain? We aren't anything to that villain outside of just assistants to help Eri. He's not as innocent as you think he is also and he knows that. So what's the point in trying to fight for him when we can handle taking him out now before he becomes a problem."
"THEN YOU WANT TO BE A DICTATOR!?"
"I'D RATHER BE A DICTATOR IF THAT MEANS WE CAN FREE OURSELVES FROM THE EVIL THAT MIDORIYA IS! YOU SHOULD LEARN YOUR PLACE!" I stopped and realized the situation as a whole with this woman to calmly answer.
"Now I get it. This is where me and Midoriya differed greatly in the past looking back at my own logic."
"What are you talking about?"
"Midoriya has seen the problems the line of thinking yours has. You think the world could be so much better if you just accept this is a better option and just go on it even if it's wrong. Well here's something I came to realize thanks to him. That logic you have and you're using, is dangerous. People like you are normally the ones that are in power that try to claim you're on top of everyone else, but in reality are losing your grip of the world as a whole you've made. So you resort to underhanded tactics in order to get people on your side again. It's a form of mudslinging. And if we're honest, I'd have agreed with you if I didn't know better." Ochako laughed to herself as her counterpart seemed to have her veins bulge and charge to punch her in the face. "And the second you lose control, you make an act of violence as a way to pull people back in line as a form of fear."
"We are trying to stop the world from falling to ruin. Midoriya is the son of AFO. He was created, raised and nurtured with the purpose of world domination. He is a weapon of destruction with a mind. Don't you get how dangerous he is!? HE'LL DESTROY THE WORLD UNCHECKED!"
"THEN I'LL WAIT AND SEE IF DOES! RIGHT NOW, YOUR BELIEF YES IS NOT NONEXISTENT, I HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT AT LEAST! HOWEVER, I TRUST MORE THAT MIDORIYA WILL NOT BECOME THIS AND I'D STAKE MY OWN LIFE ON THAT! YOU HEAR ME!? YOU AREN'T ME ANYMORE SO GET LOST AND NEVER SHOW YOURSELF TO ME AGAIN!" The alternate Ochako looked at her in disbelief as the sky in front of the real Ochako started to lighten up.
"So no matter what, you believe he will not do harm. What a load of crap." The alternate Ochako turned into a smaller version of her when she lost her parents and shouted at Ochako once more. "THEN WAIT FOR ALL I CARE! YOU AND I BOTH KNOW HE CAN BE A MONSTER AND IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE HE GOES OFF THE DEEP END! DESTROYING THE BOMB WAS A MISTAKE ON YOUR END BECAUSE YOU TOOK AWAY THE ONLY SUREFIRE WAY TO GET RID OF HIM!"
"Then I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. So long, bitch me." Ochako held a smirk as the other her disappeared. She turned to see the first user of OFA clapping his hands with a smile on his face.
"Nicely done, Ochako Uraraka. Though the future we see is unclear, we must always hold out the hope that we can overcome it however we can. As such, the other past users and I wished to see where your resolve has finally brought you when faced with your former self."
"So this whole thing was staged for you all to test me?"
"Precisely. Understand this, you have come a long way since you had first reunited with my nephew. You are stronger now knowing that you are no longer trapped or bound by the belief you are obligated to kill him. But this is seeing the last of your small steps culminating and presented with your starting point with still so much left to go."
The first user was about to leave before Ochako wanted something clarified by him. "If hypothetically Midoriya wanted to steal OFA from me at any given point in time I was like this, could he have?"
The first user stopped and looked at Ochako with a serious face. "During the USJ incident, the majority of us did not side with you. Hence why the power was locked away from you thanks to us. You held our quirk, but we did not deem you privileged for it. As such, it would've been child's play for Midoriya to take it."
"Did that change though?" Ochako wanted to hear this directly if she was still on that path afraid of the truth she heard.
"Find that out for yourself" Ochako saw a bright light to forcibly shut hers. When she opened them back up, Ochako was back where she was before with everything no different than when she passed out. She glanced down to see she's been out for at least 2 hours to immediately get back up and start rushing back to UA.
'What did he mean find out for myself? Do the previous holders still not think me worthy? If so, is there no chance for me?' Continuing to think on it, Ochako was still so confused as she let out a frustrated sigh. "Dammit all."
And that finishes this chapter. So Ochako accepts that her actions in the past were unjust fully and is willing to move forward at long last. Her way of moving forward wasn't focusing on getting past the fear that Izuku could turn into a threat, but instead holding out belief Izuku is better than this as a person. However, she now faces a new fear. The threat that she might be unworthy by the past users still of holding OFA. See how this works out for her next time. Hope you all enjoyed and thanks for reading.