159Chapter 2; Exam Arc pt.2
Pre-Chapter Author Note: Considering how this chapter goes and effects the rest of the story, I feel like I should mention that 90% of anything I do here is a byproduct of me going "you know what would be funny? Wait, I can do something with this."
How well I do anything is to be seen, however.
On that note, onto the chapter
"For pushing your body past reasonable limits, you gained 1 Strength point!"
"For pushing your body past reasonable limits, you gained 1 Endurance point!"
"For being a dumbass and pushing your body past reasonable limits, you took 5 damage!"
Izuku sighed as he looked down at the windows. He had at least pushed the truck to the base of the stairs but hadn't had the strength to push it up the steps.
That hadn't stopped All Might from forcing him to put several times his weight into the truck's bed, however.
On the upside, his health seemed directly tied to his Endurance since he was currently at (45/50). And his body didn't ache despite moving a truck without wheel several meters in the sand, so that was great.
Now he just had to get through another day of school. Katsuki had seemed to be in a calmer mood last Saturday, much to his surprise considering the previous day's events.
'Hopefully, he would more like that again today.' Izuku thought as he felt a knot of dread form in his stomach.
Everything seemed normal as Izuku took his seat in his class. Thanks to his Empathy skill being passive it had managed to reach level four on the train ride to school, he could feel the general boredom of the class as they looked forward to the school day.
It was oddly quiet, he realized as the clock ticked closer to the first bell of the day. Izuku looked around searching for a familiar set of blond hair and came to the shocking realization that Katsuki hadn't shown up.
'He's usually here before me,' He thought as he watched the minute hand tick dangerously close to the start of the school day, feeling the dread in his stomach tighten, 'I don't think he's ever been late.'
'Maybe he's sick?' Izuku worriedly thought, 'Just in case I'll take notes for him.'
Thankfully the two were in the same classes, so it would be easy.
"For pushing your hand to its limits, you gained 1 Dexterity point!"
"For having the foresight to take notes for a 'sick' friend, you gained 1 Wisdom point!"
"For being kind and selfless, you gained 1 Charisma point!"
"Empathy level up"
Izuku blinked at the notifications he received as he exited the school. If the game was going to reward him for being a decent person then he wasn't going to complain.
"I'll reward you for it, but you're a dumbass for trying to write two sets of notes at the same time."
'What else was I supposed to do?' Izuku thought as he closed out the windows, Empathy had leveled up several times that day and was resting at level 8 now.
"Wait till you have all the notes and then copy them?"
"Or better yet, take a picture of them?
'I don't have time to copy them after the fact and I don't have Bakugo's number.' Izuku answered, pulling out his phone as a thought struck him, 'Speaking of, that reminds me.'
Izuku: [Hey All Might, I'm going to be a little late for after school training, I need to take a sick friend some notes from today]
Yagi: [No problem my boy, you're doing a heroic act.]
Yagi: [Plus I'll get that missed time out of you one way or another]
Izuku blinked down at the almost threatening text.
Yagi: [Also, please refrain from referring to me as All Might on this number. It's mostly paranoia but you can never be too sure these days!]
Izuku: [Sorry, I'll make sure to hurry and get these notes to her]
Izuku: [*Her]
Izuku: [**Her]
Izuku glared at his phone as autocorrect reared its incompetent head.
Izuku: [Sorry, autocorrect is being dumb today for some reason]
Yagi: [No problem my boy, hurry along now!]
Izuku sighed as he pocketed his phone. Hopefully, his phone was just being stupid and would fix itself on its own.
"You can't make me!" Izuku heard an unfamiliar girl screech as he stepped onto the short path leading to the Bakugo residence.
"You're going to have to till we can figure this out!" He recognized the Bakugo Matriarchs' voice as she shouted back to the first.
"Like hell, I will!" Izuku hesitated a moment on the Bakugo's doorstep. He and Kaachan may not have been on the best of terms recently, but that was no reason not to be kind.
He quickly pressed the doorbell before the argument could continue, hopefully, that would get their attention.
The house was silent as he waited in front of the door, rummaging through his bag to get the note copies as he had worked on for someone to answer the door. As much as he wanted to visibly check on his friend, he knew that entering any area where a Bakugo was arguing would be a really dumb idea.
So, he'd settle for being a delivery boy.
"Oh Izuku," Masaru Bakugo answered from a partially opened door, radiating nervousness, "What are you doing here?"
"I took notes for Kaachan," Izuku held the copies out, "I figured it would be a good thing to do."
"Oh, that was nice of you," Masaru took the notes and handed them to someone behind the door. Izuku had no idea who it was, but he could feel that they were scared, "Katsuki was sick today, so I'm sure these will be appreciated."
An awkward silence filled the air as Izuku contemplated asking about who was behind the door, or if he should check on his old friend.
"Well, I should get going." Izuku finally settled, he knew the Bakugo's well enough that he'd let them sort whatever they were dealing with on their own, "Please tell Kaachan to get better for me."
"I'll make sure to do that," Masaru gave a small smile as Izuku turned to leave. He felt both Masaru and the hidden person's emotions turn to relief, although the hidden person was quickly shifting again to anger.
'I'll ask about it tomorrow if Kaachan is still sick.' Izuku promised himself as he pulled his phone.
Izuku: [Notes delivered, heading to the beach]
Yagi: [Ah, yes.]
Yagi: [We can still squeeze in an hour or so of clean up today, and I have an idea that may make it more effective]
Izuku: [Should I be worried?]
Yagi: [With that body of yours, not at all!]
Izuku was strangely not comforted by that.
"Training weights?" Izuku asked, looking down at the box a deflated All Might was holding open for him, a set of four bands resting in it.
"Training weights!" All Might echoed cheerfully.
"..." Izuku looked from the box to his smiling teacher's face, "I'm not following."
"These should help speed up your Strength and Endurance training!" All Might reached in and pulled one of the bands out, the metal on it clinking in his hand as he held it out for Izuku, "Or at least the former, just wear these all the time and you'll be set!"
"I don't think a little weight is going to- Holy shit!" Izuku nearly collapsed as the unexpected weight tried to rip his arm off, how the hell could something so small weigh so heavy?"
"Each one of these suckers is about ten percent of my when I'm in my buff form, so four of these should greatly enhance the process!" His teacher gleefully cheered.
"I think this is going to kill me." Izuku grunted as he tried to lift one weight with both of his hands.
"You'll be fine!" All Might slapped him on the back, "Now put the weights on, we'll spend some time getting you used to them."
He was fourteen points away from his quest goal in both Strength and Endurance, he could do this, and he had already gotten one point this morning from a few hours of work. He could do this.
He could do this.
He hoped.
"For pushing your body past reasonable limits, you gained 1 Strength point!"
"For pushing your body past reasonable limits, you gained 1 Endurance point!"
"For being a dumbass and pushing your body past reasonable limits, you took 5 damage!"
"Empathy level up."
Health: (50/60)
He was already almost a fifth of the way there already after one day, Izuku marveled as he realized this power was amazing.
"Ah, you're making me blush"
He'd have to take back that thought.
"Fuck you too"
He would've retaliated if he had the mental energy. While his "Gamer" perk kept his body from aching or feeling tired he couldn't deny that his brain was starting to fry after he finished his homework.
"Why is your life so boring?"
'I literally spent several hours today training with the most popular hero in all of Japan, most people wouldn't consider that boring.' Izuku retaliated as he went through his nightly routine. 'Plus, I was attacked by a villain less than a week ago, so kindly fuck off.'
"Someone's grouchy."
'Sorry,' Izuku apologized as he crawled into bed.
"Let's fix that."
'What do you me-" Before Izuku could finish his thought his world was drowned in black as he entered unconsciousness.
"You've been forcefully awakened, health fully restored."
Izuku blinked in confusion at the screen as his mind struggled to make sense of anything and everything.
"What th-" Izuku felt a soft hand cover his mouth, causing his eyes to widen in fear. On instinct, he grabbed onto the limb as fingernails dug into his cheeks.
"What the hell did you do to me you fucking Deku." A female voice growled over Izuku, causing the green-haired teen to trace up the length of the arm and meet the familiar red eyes in the dim light of his room.
"Kaachan?" Izuku was able to squeak out, the tightening of the hand on his face affirming his guess.
"I know this is somehow your fault," Bakugo leaned in as she growled. "You're going to fix this right now."
"What happened to you?" Izuku's mind was scrambling, he remembered Katsuki as a boy, he'd been in the same locker room enough times with him to know that as a fact.
"That sounds gay as hell."
'Now's not the time!' Izuku could tell that Katsuki was well and truly pissed thanks to his Empathy skill, although he could sense something else that he couldn't identify. His latest level up must have granted him an extra emotion to sense.
"You know exactly what 'Kaachan' is feeling, don't be dense.'
'I'll unpack that when rage isn't the strongest emotion.' Izuku tried not to squirm under Katsuki's piercing gaze as the other teen straddled him.
"You know exactly what happened, so you tell me." Katsuki growled, "So cut the shit and fix this."
"You remember those 'damages' from when you first got me?"
'Is this relevant?'
"Well, considering this is one of them, yes."
'Fuck.' Izuku swore as he tried to piece a way to explain this.
"Kaachan, I think I have an idea of what happened-" He felt the hand on his face began to heat up as smoke trailed into the air, "But it's not my fault and I don't think I can fix-"
He wasn't given an opportunity to finish as he quickly found himself face down on the floor.
"Like hell you can't fix this!" Katsuki all but roared, pinning him to the ground with one arm beneath him and the other on his back.
'Alright, talking isn't going to work.' He knew Katsuki well enough to know when she would be on a warpath.
"Quest Unlocked:"
Physical Therapy
Bakugo is currently on a warpath, and your ass is first in line! Take this opportunity to work out half a decade of unresolved tension in the only way that matters in a Shonen setting, with violence!
Requirements.
Land a hit on Bakugo
Rewards.
A better relationship with Bakugo
10 EXP
Optional;
Reduce Bakugo's HP to 50%
Reduce Bakugo's HP to 25%
Beat Bakugo (Reduce Bakugo's HP to 10%)
Optional Rewards;
20 EXP
30 EXP
50 EXP
A better relationship with Bakugo (variable based on what goals completed.)
'Is that really needed?' Izuku asked the game as he tried to think of a way out of this.
"You're going to fight anyway; would you rather not be rewarded for it."
'Fair enough.' Izuku tried to visualize his bedroom in his mind's eye, his bed was to his right, his computer desk in front of him, and his shelf was to his left. His left arm was pinned to his back, and his right was pinned beneath him.
An idea struck him as he remembered an ancient flashlight that had been knocked under his bed from when he was still scared of the dark, hopefully, it still had juice.
"Kaachan, I'm sorry for what happened but I can't fix this." Izuku focused on the flashlight, willing it closer to the edge of the bed, "I'm not going to let you walk on me for something I had nothing to do with."
He called the hefty light to his hand, flicking it on and aiming it as well as he could at the blonde's face.
While not as bright as it could've been, the room was still dark and it had been completely unexpected, allowing Izuku just enough time to break free of Katsuki's stunned grip and spin around, air filling his lungs as he called on another ability.
He let the flaming breath loose in a yell, a small spiral of flame towering from his open mouth.
Katsuki recoiled as the flames licked across her face, she somehow managed to avoid being severely burned as soot dusted her cheeks.
"That would be my doing, all damage you're doing is considered "subdue" damage, so you're only going to cause any major or permanent damage if you really want to"
'That's neat'
"Not that your opponent will know that"
Izuku jumped to his feet as he looked Katsuki in the eye, all but glowing with rage. 'Shit.'
"Since when could you do that?" Katsuki asked in a dangerously neutral tone.
"Would you believe since yesterday?" Izuku asked in turn as he tried to think of another plan. Katsuki knew his biggest card now, and he hardly believed he'd be able to get another one off as well as that one.
Something above the blonde's head caught Izuku's attention, a red bar that seemed to be missing a tenth of its max capacity.
'Yeah, I'll be lucky if I land another of those' Izuku grumbled to himself, 'Let alone ten of them'
'And that's ignoring how variable the damage could be.'
Before he could further devise a plan, Katsuki launched forward with a small explosion, quickly closing the small distance in the tight room.
Izuku raised his arms and caught the right hook the blond had started to throw, spinning with the momentum to slam her into his bed, apparently hard enough for something to audibly crack in the wood.
Katsuki wheezed in shock as the air was knocked from her lungs. Izuku frowned at how her health bar nudged slightly down.
Izuku wasn't one to kick someone while they were down, but he took peace in knowing that Katsuki would likely counter him before he landed another blow.
He chose to ignore the part of him that screamed about how he was owed a pound of flesh for all the shit Katsuki put him through.
Izuku knitted his fingers together as he aimed to hammer down on the blond, and much as he expected, she countered by blasting him in the chest with an explosion.
The blast was strong enough to launch him, but thanks to forgetting to remove his weights the attack only caused him to stumble back. He spared a glance up at his health bar:
Health: (54/60)
Either Katsuki was holding back, or the attack didn't land well.
Izuku really hoped it was the former.
Izuku barely had a moment to recover as Katsuki seemed to appear in his face, grabbing at his ruined shirt and trying to flip him onto the ground, only succeeding in ripping it off.
Izuku took the opportunity as Katsuki was thrown off by his unexpected weight, grappling the blond and swallowing another gulp of air.
"Don't you-" Izuku felt an explosion against his stomach as he let loose another torrent of flame point-blank into Katsuki's face.
Katsuki broke free after a moment in the flames, taking a cheap shot with an explosion below the belt.
"That's a critical hit for both parties."
Izuku barely paid mind to the window as he looked between his health bar and Katsuki', the latter of whom was missing little more than a third of her health. Izuku's meanwhile was:
Health: (42/60)
'Headshots are good then,' Izuku thought as he recovered from the blow to his manhood. The physical pain was practically gone but psychologically his body still hadn't adapted to the lack of continuous pain reception.
Taking a cheap shot of his own, Izuku swung at the dazed bomber. His first strike landed and did practically nothing to his friend's health bar. His second strike was less successful, if he hadn't been weighed down it may have connected but the stun provided by his strike didn't last long enough to prevent the blonde from catching his second strike.
Using his arm as leverage, Katsuki blasted an explosion in his face, "Feels good, doesn't it dickhead!"
Health: (36/60)
'Alright, time to get stupid' Izuku thought as he used the one none weighted part of his body, his head.
Lurching forward he felt his skull connect with the short blondes, as she staggered back, he latched onto her again, this time full body as he let gravity take over.
He took another inhale of air; he was going to finish this.
He felt explosions go off on his chest as he let loose a torrent of flame, it was going to be a dps battle now.
Health: (30/60)
She was at fifty percent, he was two objectives in.
Health: (24/60)
She was steadily dropping, forty percent.
Health: (18/60)
It was getting close, but he pushed on, thirty percent.
Health: (12/60)
He was so close, Twenty percent!
Health: (6/60)
He felt his fire fail him. Smoke trailing from his mouth as he tried to push for more.
"You are out of chakra."
Fuck, he forgot about the chakra cost. He should've monitored that.
He was out of options.
He lost.
He waited for unconsciousness to take him, confident that his friend wouldn't go as far as to kill him.
After a moment he realized that not only was he still awake, he hadn't been hit again.
Izuku looked down at the blond in his arms, her face defiant and beat red.
"Quest completed!"
Physical Therapy
Objectives met;
Land a hit on Bakugo
Reduce Bakugo's HP to 50%
Reduce Bakugo's HP to 25%
Beat Bakugo (Reduce Bakugo's HP to 10%)
Izuku stared at the window wide-eyed. 'That was close.'
"Congratulations, you leveled up!"
"Night vision Level up"
"Fire Breath Level up x3"
"Telekinesis Level up"
"Although that's not as important as the half-naked flustered blond in your arms."
'Pardon?' Izuku thought as he returned his focus to Katsuki, finding that while his flame hadn't left her with anything more than a soot-covered face, her shirt hadn't shared the same fate.
"Would you like to borrow a shirt?" He awkwardly asked, looking away.
"After what just happened, that's what you're going to fucking ask?" Katsuki growled although it lacked any solid anger behind it.
"You're kind of… exposed." Izuku tried to find the right words, causing Katsuki to look down and back up at him.
"I'm still not used to this shit." She grumbled.
"Are you willing to listen to reason now?" Izuku asked after a moment, neither making an effort to move.
"Are you going to keep holding onto me until I do?" Katsuki asked in return. Izuku released his deadlock on the smaller blonde, letting his arms fall to the side as he ignored the feeling of disappointment, he felt from Katsuki.
"I kind of know why you're a girl, but it's not the most in-depth explanation." Izuku started to explain, ignoring that Katsuki seemed to refuse to move off of him. "Long story short, something almost broke reality a couple of times, and Gaia apparently had to rush the fix."
"The abilities you saw me use are actually compensation for that." Izuku mentally willed the necessary windows to send Katsuki a party invite. "Accept that and you'll get to see the thing that gave me this"
"I am not a "thing" as you so rudely put it!"
'I never got a pronoun from you, so you're 'it' until you say otherwise.'
"The fuck am I looking at?" Katsuki asked after a moment of looking around.
"Congratulations, life's a video game," Izuku dryly grumbled, it was too late for this shit. Or was it too early? "Now could you get off me?"
"Where are your shirts?" Katsuki asked as she pulled herself from his chest.
"Top one" Izuku pointed to his drawer.
"Who the fuck puts shirts in their drawer?"
"You just broke into my house and assaulted me; you don't have to mock my storage method as well."
That quietened Katsuki. Probably a low blow but Izuku was more than a little exhausted.
'Is this what happens when one or more of those bars empty?'
"Yes, health being the most important due to the whole "not dying" thing"
Izuku looked up at his remarkably low health. 'That was close.'
"No shit Sherlock."
"Hey…" Izuku pulled himself into a sitting position, and looked at the sullen blond "You good?"
"I'm missing my dick and just lost to someone I thought was weak, I'm kind of going through a few crises at the moment." Katsuki pulled her knees to her chest.
"Well, I'm here if you need to talk." Izuku offered, looking around his ruined room "Although I would've liked if we started here and skipped the fighting stuff."
"Outside of losing, that actually helped." Katsuki gave a grim smile, radiating that same strange unidentifiable feeling again.
"Oh, you dense piece of-"
"Maybe this will help."
"Quest Unlocked:"
Tsun or Dere?
Bakugo has always like you deep down, but in a way, you could ever expect! Confront Bakugo about their feelings head-on and see what happens!
Requirements.
Confront Bakugo about their feelings for you!
Rewards.
10 EXP
Expansion to "United we Stand"
Bakugo as a romantic Partner.
Quest continuation: Love is an Explosion!
'For fuck's sake.' Izuku grumbled, 'Let's put this to rest right now.'
"Kaachan, do you like me in a romantic sense?" Izuku skipped to the point, honestly exhausted enough to not give much of a fuck.
"You finally noticed?" Katsuki asked, face flushing as she looked away.
'See, just as I-' Izuku started, brain freezing as he processed what Katsuki had said,
"Hold up, "Finally"?" Izuku asked incredulously.
"Yeah, I've been dropping obvious hints since grade school." Katsuki growled, "You're more than a little dense to not notice."
"What the hell do you mean hints?" Izuku massaged his temple, this was too much to deal with right now, but he couldn't put it off.
"Dude, all I ever did was flirt with you." Katsuki rolled her eyes like it had been plainly obvious.
"Katsuki, that's bullying." Izuku could feel his blood pressure rising.
"No, I learned it from watching the old hag and pops." Katsuki argued, "Both of them seemed to enjoy it."
"Your parents either need to see a therapist or are sadomasochists." Izuku honestly couldn't settle on which was the case, both made sense. "Not to mention you told me to kill myself."
"Dad tells mom to do that all the time," Katsuki dismissed.
"Really?" Izuku honestly couldn't imagine the mild-mannered Masaru saying anything like that.
"Actually, he tells her to choke on his di-" Katsuki started to elaborate, only to find Izuku's hand on her mouth.
"I really don't need that image in my head." Izuku sighed. "So, you actually like me in a romantic, datable, sense?"
"Yes, are you really going to force me to say I have a crush on you?" Katsuki huffed.
"Quest completed!"
Tsun or Dere?
Rewards.
10 EXP
Expansion to "United we Stand"
Bakugo as a romantic Partner.
Quest continuation: Love is an Explosion!
"I am going to have to re-evaluate a lot of things in the morning." Izuku sighed as he pulled himself off the floor.
"So, I assume if I asked you out on a date, you wouldn't give me an answer?" Katsuki deadpanned.
"I'm not in the mental state to make any major decisions." Izuku looked over his bed before shrugging and grabbing a pillow. "Feel free to make yourself comfortable, I'll crash on the couch."
Izuku moved to go into the living room but stopped as he felt a tug on his wrist. Turning, he met the flushed face of Katsuki, who seemed unable to look him in the eye.
"Would you mind staying with me?" She asked, "I can hardly stand being like this, but being around you makes it tolerable…"
"Sure." Izuku sighed, making himself comfortable in the bed, a bombastic blond joining him a moment later, causing the bed to creak dangerously.
"If my bed breaks, you owe me a new one." He deadpanned.
"I don't recall having much of a choice in what happened to your bed," Katsuki smirked into his chest.
As Izuku let the exhaustion take him, he pondered the mess that his room had become, and was thankful that his mother slept like the dead.
I already said my piece at the start of the chapter and don't have much to add to that. So feel free to leave a review and share your thoughts.
Have a good whatever now!