The bell marking the end of the school day was a starting pistol. As their classmates scattered, talking about video games and afternoon plans, Izuku and Ochako exchanged a knowing glance across the classroom. They met discreetly near the exit, trying to blend in with the tide of students.
"Alright, where are we going?" Izuku whispered. "We can't just start levitating things in the middle of the main courtyard."
"I have a place," Ochako said in a low voice, a spark of clandestine excitement in her eyes. "But you have to follow me. And don't get lost."
"With me, that last part is never a guarantee," he joked, remembering his disastrous first attempt to find their classroom.
Ochako led the way. To Izuku's surprise, they didn't head toward any of the obvious academic or training areas. They veered toward the back of the campus, a section he didn't even know existed, past the gyms and the Support Course workshops. It was a service area, filled with recycling bins, car-sized air conditioning units, and a network of ugly industrial pipes.
"Wow, Uraraka, how did you find this place?" Izuku asked, genuinely impressed. "I still get lost looking for the bathroom."
"Ah, well…" She blushed a little, scratching her cheek. "I passed by here during lunch. I wanted a quiet place and realized this area seems… forgotten."
She stopped in front of a gap between two warehouse buildings, which opened into a small courtyard overgrown with neglected grass and dotted with rotting wooden crates.
"Besides," she added, with an impeccably pragmatic logic that Izuku found adorable, "I figured if we accidentally floated something and it broke, they'd be less likely to charge us for it if it's something that already looks like junk."
Izuku laughed, a genuine sound full of admiration. "Uraraka, you're a genius of stealth! And financial risk management! I like it."
He dropped his backpack on the ground, the excitement of the secret mission bubbling inside him. "No one will bother us here," he said, his voice charged with enthusiasm. "The risk is what makes it exciting, don't you think?"
"As long as the risk doesn't involve expulsion, I agree!" she replied, though her smile showed she was enjoying the adventure too.
"Alright," Izuku announced, adopting an air of scientific seriousness that comically contrasted with the dilapidated surroundings. "First official session of the 'Booster Protocol.'"
Ochako rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Are we really calling it that?"
"It's an excellent name! It sounds official and mysterious!" he insisted. "Today's objective is simple: to replicate the stable activation of my Quirk so we can start consistently measuring and boosting your progress. This is science, partner. And science requires experimentation."
Their first series of experiments was a clumsy and embarrassing disaster.
"Hypothesis number one," Izuku said, consulting a scribbled page in his notebook. "During the exam, the contact was total and the emotion was intense. But when I activated the Quirk with my mom, the contact was minimal, though focused on the nervous system. Let's start there. I need a point of high neural concentration. Hold still."
He approached her. Ochako looked at him with apprehension. With the utmost delicacy, he placed his fingertips on the nape of her neck. Ochako's skin tingled instantly.
"Y-your hands are cold!" she yelped, flinching slightly.
"Shhh. Science," he murmured, though he was acutely aware of the warmth radiating from her and how soft her skin was. He blushed a little but hid it with false concentration. "Now, the toolbox. Try to lift it."
Ochako tried to focus, but the unexpected contact was completely distracting. The toolbox wobbled a few inches into the air and fell.
"Negative," Izuku ruled, pulling his hand back and jotting in his notebook. "The test subject is too jumpy. The 'ticklishness' variable is interfering with the results."
"I wasn't ticklish!" she protested, her face red.
"Hypothesis two: the main conduit, the spinal column. Turn around."
"Deku-kun, this is weird!"
"Progress, Uraraka, progress!" he insisted with a cheeky grin.
She sighed and turned around. With exaggerated concentration, he traced a line with his finger down her back, over the fabric of her uniform. "Searching for the nexus… the lumbar region seems promising…"
She shivered and stifled a nervous giggle. He smiled to himself. He was definitely enjoying the "science."
"Try it!"
This time was better. He received a "flicker" of information, a fragment of the manual, but it was like reading through a veil.
"Unstable," he noted. "Not efficient. That leaves us with the nuclear option."
"The nuclear option?" she asked fearfully.
"Replicating the exam scenario. Without the panic, I hope."
The attempt to replicate the fireman's carry was a chaos of tangled limbs and stifled laughter. They ended up in a messy heap on the ground, having achieved no results beyond confirming they had no future in acrobatic gymnastics.
"Okay, this is a disaster," Izuku admitted, sitting on the ground and catching his breath. Frustration was beginning to set in. He looked at Ochako, who was brushing grass off her uniform.
And then, he saw it. Not her, but the memory of the pose from the exam.
"Wait…" he said slowly, his eyes unfocused. "It's not the panic. It's not the amount of contact…"
He jumped to his feet with newfound energy. "It's a circuit! Of course! Like in basic electronics! When I carried you, my right hand was on your back and my left arm was under your knees. They were two distinct points of contact! I created a flow, a circuit through your body for the information to pass through!"
His face lit up with the pure joy of discovery. Ochako looked at him, caught up in his enthusiasm.
"So that's the key!" she exclaimed.
"That's the key!" he confirmed. "We have to find the right stance. The most efficient entry and exit points."
He approached her, his "science" mode back on, but this time with real confidence. "Okay. Stand in front of me. I need to test the new hypothesis."
She nodded, her heart starting to race again. With a surgeon's precision, he placed his right palm on her upper back, between her shoulder blades. The warmth of his hand seeped through the fabric. Then, he knelt slightly and placed his left hand on the back of her right knee.
The pose was strange and intimate. It forced her to lean slightly toward him to keep her balance, her shoulder almost brushing against his chest. They were incredibly close.
"Now," Izuku whispered, his voice thick with anticipation. "The toolbox. Gently."
Ochako activated her Quirk. The box rose.
In the same instant, Izuku felt the connection. It was like plugging in a cable. A clear, crisp, steady stream of data flooded his mind. He closed his eyes, not just reading, but observing.
And he saw the miracle.
He saw the line of code in his mind: [NAUSEA RESISTANCE (VESTIBULAR CONDITIONING): 20%]
And as his power flowed, he watched it blink. [BOOSTER MODE ACTIVE: NAUSEA RESISTANCE -> 21%... 22%... 23%]
It was climbing! His Quirk was actively strengthening hers in real time!
[MASS LIMIT (ESTIMATED): 3.2 TONS]
The line blinked. [BOOSTER MODE ACTIVE: MASS LIMIT -> 3.25 TONS]
He opened his eyes, a grin of absolute triumph on his face. "I've got it! It works! Okay, drop the box!"
She let it fall with a thud.
"Now!" he ordered, his voice vibrating. "The control experiment! Make yourself float and do three spins! Go!"
Trusting him blindly, Ochako rose and spun three times in the air. She landed, bracing for the usual wave of dizziness. But this time, it was just a slight disorientation that passed in a second.
"Deku-kun!" she exclaimed, her eyes shining with amazement. "I barely got dizzy! It was… almost nothing!"
He beamed, a wide smile full of pride. "I know. I just saw your resistance improve. And I bet you could lift that rusty beam over there without much trouble right now."
The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky an intense orange that filtered between the two buildings. They were sitting next to each other on the ground, catching their breath, the thrill of success creating a palpable buzz between them.
"This is… incredible," Ochako said softly, looking at her hands. "I'm really getting better every time we train. Thank you, Deku-kun. You're the best coach."
Izuku laughed, filled with a confidence that felt warm and new. He gave her a playful pat on the head, a gesture that was both a proud coach's and a very close friend's.
"Partner, this is just the warm-up," he said, his voice full of a cheeky, fun-loving ambition. "We're just starting to figure out the manual's tricks."
He turned to look at her, his green eyes glinting with a mischievous light in the sunset.
"At this rate, by the time the real exams come around, you're not going to be a rescue specialist who floats things. You're going to be a hurricane with the face of an angel."
The compliment hit her with the force of a three-point robot. She blushed so intensely she was sure her face could be used as an emergency beacon. But through the embarrassment, a brilliant smile full of possibilities broke through. A hurricane with the face of an angel. She liked the sound of that.