The observation room hummed with scattered conversations as the hero and villain teams returned from the fifth floor. Izuku had one arm wrapped around Ochako's waist, holding her upright as her legs wobbled beneath her with every step.
All Might stood at the front of the room with his arms crossed over his chest, his smile blazing at maximum wattage as he waited for everyone to settle in. The instant the door shut behind Bakugo, who was still radiating killing intent, All Might raised a huge hand and pointed directly at Ochako.
"YOUNG URARAKA!"
Ochako's head snapped up so fast that Izuku had to tighten his grip to keep her from tipping sideways.
"The MVP of this match was YOU! Your tactical execution, your creative application of your Quirk under extreme pressure, and your ability to adapt to a completely new facet of your power in the middle of a real combat scenario were EXCEPTIONAL! Well done!"
Ochako's eyes went wide.
Me?!
Her brain froze for a second and then started spiraling immediately.
But it was Izuku who came up with the plan! I just did what he told me to do! He planned the window entry, he set up the nunchaku trap, he distracted Bakugo while I dealt with Iida! I don't deserve to be MVP, it should be him!
She opened her mouth, already lifting her hand to protest.
Izuku's fingers tightened gently around her waist. He pulled her a fraction of an inch closer, leaned in until his lips were right beside her ear, and whispered in a voice so low that only she could hear it.
"You were the best out there, Ochako. Just wait until they explain why."
His hand slid along her waist in a slow movement that sent a shiver running down her spine.
Ochako froze halfway through a sigh.
Does he really think I was the best?
She bit her lip, caught between the overwhelming certainty that Izuku deserved the credit and the small, fragile hope that maybe, just maybe, she really had done something incredible on her own.
All Might scanned the room with his hands on his hips and his radiant smile in place.
"Now then! Can anyone tell me WHY young Uraraka was the standout of this match?"
Momo's hand shot up immediately.
"Yes, young Yaoyorozu! Please, share your analysis!"
Momo straightened her posture, folded her hands neatly at her waist, and spoke in a calm tone.
"While the initial strategy was orchestrated by Midoriya kun, it was Uraraka san's tactical execution and exponential growth during the match that secured the hero team's victory against opponents as formidable as Bakugo kun and Iida kun."
She paused, her gaze flicking briefly to Ochako before returning to All Might.
"Uraraka san didn't just keep Iida kun occupied for most of the engagement, she neutralized him completely using creative applications of her Quirk. She accessed a gravity inversion component of her ability that she'd never used before, increasing Iida kun's weight exponentially to limit his mobility. Then she compressed debris around him to create a temporary containment structure. In the final moments of the match, she built a rotating sphere of debris that trapped Bakugo kun in the air and kept him from reaching the mock weapon, allowing Midoriya kun to secure the objective."
Momo's voice grew a little more animated as she continued.
"Uraraka san demonstrated the ability to learn and apply completely unfamiliar aspects of her Quirk in real time, under combat conditions, with no prior training or acclimation. That level of adaptability is extraordinary."
Ochako's mouth fell open. Her cheeks turned a deep red as she stared at Momo in total disbelief.
She... she really thinks I did all that?
Izuku leaned in again.
"See? You're incredible. Everyone noticed how amazing you were out there."
He paused, and she could hear the smile in his voice when he added:
"You're not just a cute butt, Ochako."
"C-cute... butt?!"
The blush came back with a vengeance. She turned her head to look at him with wide, shocked eyes, and he simply gave her a smile in return.
All Might cleared his throat loudly.
"EXCELLENT TACTICAL ANALYSIS, YOUNG YAOYOROZU!... Now then, while the battle strategy was executed with remarkable precision, I... ahem..." He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "I would prefer that in future combat exercises we refrain from any... inappropriate physical contact during combat scenarios."
His eyes drifted over to Izuku, who had already taken off his mask and was now grinning at him.
Izuku gave him a cheerful thumbs up.
A fresh bead of sweat rolled down All Might's temple.
Momo's hand went up again.
"Respectfully, I disagree, All Might sensei."
Every head in the room turned to look at her.
"I believe Midoriya kun's physical contact with Uraraka san was an integral component of a highly effective tactical strategy. Their unconventional entry caught both Bakugo kun and Iida kun completely off guard, allowing the hero team to skip the ground floor defenses entirely and strike directly at the objective. I would argue that Midoriya kun's strategic ingenuity was just as critical to the team's victory as Uraraka san's execution."
All Might opened his mouth, tried to say something, and finally settled for nodding slowly with a forced smile plastered on his face.
"Ah... yes. Strategic ingenuity. Of course."
In the farthest corner of the room, Mineta sat on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest, tears rolling silently down his cheeks as he stared at the ground.
"I'm a strategist too...," he whispered to himself. "A strategist of love..."
His head snapped up.
Wait.
A slow, predatory smile spread across his face.
If Midoriya can do it, so can I! It's all about strategy, right? I just need to find the right moment to...!
He turned his head to scan the room, and his eyes landed on Momo.
Perfect.
The instant their eyes met, Momo's expression changed. Her polite, composed smile vanished, replaced by a cold, sharp, utterly ruthless look. Her hand moved in a blur, and suddenly she was holding a canister of pepper spray that definitely had not been there two seconds ago.
HOW DID THAT GET INTO HER HAND?! SHE HAD NOTHING A SECOND AGO!
He shrank back against the wall, his whole body trembling as Momo kept glaring at him with pure contempt.
Strategic audacity officially abandoned, he thought miserably. Better save this one for another day.
All Might clapped his hands together.
"ALRIGHT! IT'S TIME FOR THE NEXT MATCH!"
He reached into the boxes and pulled out two balls, one white and one black, holding them up for the class to see.
"Team Two will face Team Five! Shoto Todoroki and Mezo Shoji will act as the heroes, while Toru Hagakure and Mashirao Ojiro defend as the villains!"
Izuku scratched his chin, frowning slightly.
Who the hell is Toru Hagakure?
He'd made it his goal to learn all the girls' names on the first day, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember ever seeing anyone by that name. He'd definitely remember if he had.
He leaned toward Ochako.
"Hey, which one's Hagakure?"
Ochako blinked at him, still recovering from the cute butt comment.
"Huh? Oh, she's the invisible girl. Over there."
She pointed to the other side of the room.
Izuku turned his head. His eyes locked onto a pair of floating gloves and a pair of boots standing in the middle of the observation room.
His jaw dropped.
"AN EXHIBITIONIST?!"
"I'M NOT AN EXHIBITIONIST!" Hagakure shrieked from across the room, her gloves waving frantically in the air.
Izuku narrowed his eyes as he stared directly at the floating gloves.
"That's exactly what an exhibitionist would say."
"YOU...!"
Hagakure's gloves clenched into fists and she took a step forward, clearly ready to launch a full counterattack.
"BEGIN!" All Might's voice boomed across the room, cutting off whatever Hagakure had been about to say.
She spun on her heels and stormed off toward the exit, her boots thudding hard against the floor. As she passed by Izuku, she leaned in close and hissed wickedly.
"This isn't over, broccoli head."
Izuku's eye twitched.
Broccoli head?!
He kept his face carefully neutral, refusing to give her the satisfaction of a reaction.
I'm not going to dignify that with a response. I won't let her win this argument.
The door slammed shut behind the villain team, and the monitors flickered to life, showing multiple camera angles from inside the building.
The match lasted only a few minutes.
Todoroki walked up to the building, placed his right hand against the interior wall, and unleashed a tide of ice that swallowed the entire structure. The temperature in the observation room dropped several degrees just from watching the feed. Frost climbed the walls, sealed the windows, and turned every surface into a frozen wasteland. Shoji, who had been posted outside as a lookout, simply stood there with his arms crossed, watching Todoroki work.
When the ice finally stopped spreading, Todoroki walked in through the main entrance, strolled straight to the fifth floor without running into a single obstacle, and placed his hand on the mock weapon.
"HERO TEAM WINS!"
The entire class sat in stunned silence.
Izuku stared at the screen with his mouth slightly open, his mind racing through the possibilities.
That kind of power... if I could analyze a Quirk like that...
His brain immediately conjured an image of himself reaching out to touch Todoroki's chest to trigger his Quirk reading.
And then his imagination helpfully supplied the next logical step.
What if the contact requirement changes depending on the person's gender? What if I need to touch... his...
Izuku's face went pale. His entire body locked up in horror.
No. No, no, no, absolutely not, NEVER.
He grabbed Ochako's waist with both hands and pulled her toward him, clinging to her soft warmth with desperate need.
Ochako blinked at him in confusion.
"Izuku? What's wrong?"
"I just traumatized myself with my own imagination," he muttered, his voice flat and hollow.
She tilted her head, frowning with concern.
"Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine in a moment."
Thank God for soft waists and the ability to block intrusive thoughts.
Ochako looked back at the screen, where Todoroki was already walking out of the building without a single scratch on him.
"He's really strong, isn't he?" she said quietly. "His Quirk is... overwhelming. I don't know what I'd do if I had to fight him."
Izuku nodded slowly, grateful for the misunderstanding.
Yeah, let's go with that. Much better than explaining what I was actually thinking.
"He's definitely one of the heavy hitters," Izuku said, forcing his voice back to its normal tone. "But you took down Bakugo and Iida. Don't sell yourself short."
Ochako smiled at him, her cheeks turning pink.
"Thanks, Izuku."
The matches continued one after another in a blur of Quirks, explosions, and strategic failures. Izuku watched each one with half his attention, analyzing his classmates' strengths and weaknesses while the other half of his brain kept cataloging every piece of information his Quirk had pulled from Ochako during the fight. The gravity inversion ability was fascinating, and the vector control opened up possibilities he hadn't even considered when he first touched her.
If she can increase and decrease weight independently, then theoretically she could...
His train of thought cut off when All Might reached into the boxes one last time and pulled out the final two balls.
"AND NOW, FOR OUR LAST MATCH OF THE DAY!"
He held up the balls with a dramatic flourish.
"Team One versus Team Ten! Momo Yaoyorozu and Minoru Mineta will defend as the villains, while Kyoka Jiro and Denki Kaminari will attack as the heroes!"
Izuku's head snapped up, his full attention zeroing in on the announcement.
Finally.
This was the match he'd been waiting for.
He wanted to help her. Partly because she'd been kind to him, partly because he had an intense curiosity to see just how far his Quirk could boost someone with that much raw potential, and also because convincing her to join his training sessions with Ochako would give him more data on how Train actually worked.
And if boosting her Quirk before her match happened to tip the scales in her favor, all the better.
Izuku gently released Ochako's waist and stepped away, giving her a quick smile.
"I'll be right back."
"Huh? Where are you going?"
He didn't answer. He was already moving, crossing the observation room with long, determined strides, his eyes fixed on Momo's back.
She turned her head slightly as he approached, her gray eyes meeting his with a spark of curiosity.
"Izuku kun?"
Izuku stopped directly in front of her and smiled.
"Yaoyorozu. Got a second?"
Time to go grope some butts.
*******
Hey everyone — my dear readers and free followers alike!
Just like I promised in the poll, I've gone ahead and uploaded 3 chapters back-to-back, which comes out to roughly 7,500 words. Honestly? It was a real challenge that took me the entire day, so I do have to stop here for now — but I'll be dropping the two chapters I still owe you tomorrow. My eyes literally can't take any more tonight! That said, this is on me — I'm the one who makes these kinds of wild promises and then has to figure out how to keep them.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the reading!
And for my free members — I've gone ahead and unlocked Chapter 18 so it's completely free to read. Consider it a little spoiler if you're curious about where things are headed. Feel free to dive in!
Thank you all so much for your support, and happy reading!
---
Free members, click the link below to go to Chapter 18:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/chapter-18-blood-155479725
Where are your Power Stones, my dear readers? Have you lost interest in the story? Is this the end for Hero Trainer?!!! Well, to keep the dream alive, if we hit our goal of 600 Power Stones before the Sunday reset, I'll release 2 bonus chapters on top of the regular schedule. Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day!"
hitting that Power Stone button is the best way to let me know you want more.
Want to read ahead? Check out my Patreon: > p @ t r e o n .com/itszeroo