So I can’t believe that I’m saying this but Shigaraki was rather empathetic about wanting me to spend more time with you.

“Shigaraki was…” Uraraka finds it hard to parse those words. She was walking down the corridor towards the exit of the dungeon, shield and spears in her hands. It was rather confusing to know how to use them despite never learning it. “Huh, so Old Dusty Face has human emotions, color me surprised.”

Yeah, apparently.

Said he had a dog, and that dogs having their tail straight down means they’re in a very bad mood.

Called me a dumbass for not knowing it.

He was so serious about it that I decided to not tell him that wolves don’t have the same body language as dogs. Especially as, well, I think it’s not the same for the wolf-people.

Uraraka glances behind her back. Yeah, her tail was definitely almost straight down. That was going to make things much more complicated.

“Yeah, to be honest, I just didn’t want to worry you.” She gives up and replies honestly. “You definitely have enough on your own plate as it is. And I really needed a while to just, you know, figure it all out in my head.”

I’m your friend, Uraraka-san.

I get the intention, but please, just tell me that next time, alright?

Learning that from Tomura Shigaraki was a bit…

…unpleasant.

It also stops me from making fun of his social skills and that’s even worse.

“Making fun of… oh, I guess he can’t kill you when you’re trapped in the same object.” Uraraka replies, going through a sudden realization in the middle of it. “You can annoy the hell out of him and he can’t do a single thing to you.”

Yes.

I think it’s… I think the name for that was ‘coping mechanism’.

I don’t know how to deal with the stress, guilt and some existential and/or religious horror in any other way.

I just vent it out on him.

“Well, I can definitely imagine a worse way of managing stress than insulting Shigaraki.” Uraraka replies emphatically. “He really earned our righteous ire for USJ alone! So, yeah, no issues there from me. If anything, if you need help in figuring out new insults, you just have to ask.”

Right, all those years listening in on those construction workers can finally be used for a good cause.

“Deku-kuuun!” She wails loudly. “We were supposed to not speak about it!”

Sorry, sorry!

Yeah, I really missed you.

Or, to be precise, I missed interacting with anyone who isn’t Shigaraki or Toga, but you especially.

They were driving me up the wall.

“Yeah, I can imagine.” Uraraka replies. She had enough of Toga after the Training Camp alone. And that was just one - if really crazy - evening. What did she put poor Deku-kun through while she wasn’t around?! “Really put you through the wringer, eh? Can’t do much about Shigaraki, but if you’re tired of Toga, just say the word. I have some debts to settle with her.”

I’ll remember it the next time she goes as far as to let herself die just so she could get me to call her by her first name.

“She…” Uraraka blinks. “Wow, yeah, that’s really… Toga-like. So, did you agree to that?”

I think we can both agree that I’m really weak to self-sacrificial action, and seeing her get willingly kicked into the ceiling and then guillotined to earn that privilege has managed to achieve more than it probably should.

“I don’t think that it counts as ‘self-sacrificial’ when her goal was to obtain something.” Uraraka points out. “If anything, you’re weak to people being injured. Aside from when it’s you who is being injured, because then it’s just the usual Thursday for you, eh?”

Please don’t bring the bone juice into this.

I got better.

“I wouldn’t call using Eri as your personal instant Recovery Girl as ‘getting better’.” Uraraka frowns a little. She still remembers getting a weird dream afterwards of Izuku charging into battle with Recovery Girl sitting on his shoulders and healing him while hitting the enemies that tried to get too close to him with her cane. “But I get that it was an extreme circumstance and it let you punch Overhaul in the face more efficiently, so I get the reasoning behind it, just… you know.”

Well, I have good news for you.

I literally don’t have arms and legs right now.

I don’t think I can break any bones.

Because I don’t have any.

“Oh!” Uraraka gasps loudly. “The horror! You were now made unstoppable! Having bones was your only weakness!”

The alternative is that my bones are now shaped like 4D objects because my body is technically a tesseract.

Feel free to laugh about my bones being broken and regrowing so many times that they grew thicker in dimensions to withstand further stress.

Uraraka manages to keep it in for maybe three seconds before bursting into laughter. Oh, that was hilarious.

No, seriously, Izuku’s bones developing a fourth dimension was incredibly funny to her, although she’s fairly sure that most people would find that concerning. Because, you know, severe damage to Izuku’s body.

And yes, she finds that concerning, but she was just one person in the long list of people telling him to stop and he knew that. And now that he knew that, the only thing left to Uraraka Ochako was to always be there as close to him as possible so that she could beat her own share of villains to spare his bones some further fractures.

And, well, be his best friend.

It seems that your tail has started wagging. Should I take that as a sign of friendship well done?

Can’t really call that a job, now can I?

“Yes, yes it was pretty good.” She replies. And yes, she can definitely feel her tail wagging. That’s… very strange when you’re not used to having, you know, a tail. “So, what sort of skills can we do? I don’t seem to have my quirk anymore. And yes, I checked.”

And let me guess, it ruined your beautiful dream of throwing Toga into the Sun?

“Guilty as charged.” Uraraka replies shortly. Toga injured her friend and tried to stab her, so Uraraka was totally justified! “So?”

Well, you’re apparently a Barbarian Warrior, level 12, and you can use martial arts. Shield Bash skill and footwork called Predator’s Advance that should allow you to run faster.

There are two more martial arts techniques we can give you, but the mechanics restrain us, we’ll give them to you as soon as possible.

You should test them if you have a moment, Toga’s own martial arts came pretty naturally to her.

“And what sort of martial arts does she have?” Uraraka asks. Martial arts were definitely her jam, even if these ones used weapons.

She seems to be specializing in attacks from above now. She can do some really lengthy and agile leaps, bounce off the walls and has a technique that lets her stab harder.

For as long as you manage to pin her down or grab her, she should go down quickly.

We’re yet to figure out the differences between species perfectly, but thus far it seems that your species has an aptitude for direct fighting while hers more for rogues.

“So she has agility, flexibility and speed.” Uraraka decides. “While I have strength, durability and endurance.”

Yes.

“Makes sense.” She nods. “I’ll have to spend a moment acclimating to it, because usually I had agility and speed. Strength and endurance were more of your thing.” No one misses the distinct lack of ‘durability’ there. “What about that gooey sound I can hear from the corridor ahead?”

… that’s the trap. You know, the one.

There is a way around it if you’re ready to walk through some really tight passage.

You’ll probably have to crawl a bit.

“Nothing that I haven’t yet done as a part of the prestigious Hero Course.” Uraraka replies before glancing at the things in her hands. “My first time doing that with a spear and a shield, though.”

Yeah.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Just wait for a second, I’ll spawn a plank over it, we’ve got beechwood unlocked either way.

I’ll just need to get him to approve.

HEY, SHIGARAKI!

What do you want

I’m mourning Mon-chan for the second time in my life

Uhm.

Still not your family?

Still not my family.

Yeah, I’m not even going to try to unpack that.

So, Uraraka doesn’t have the same jumping ability as Toga has so we have to spawn a temporary bridge over the slime trap to let her pass. Something that can be easily dismantled by someone before the intruders get there.

Can’t she just crawl?

Have you ever tried crawling with a spear and a shield in your hands? Especially through a passage this long.

sigh

Fine, design it real quick, I’ll accept it.

Alright.

“Huh.” Uraraka blinks as a short and very simple wooden bridge materializes over it, a long plank with two small supports on both sides. “That’s cool. It’s like that Mimic guy’s quirk, except stronger, right?”

Much stronger.

And I don’t need Trigger to do it.

So, yeah, pretty cool.

I still miss my old quirk though.

And my body.

“Yeah, I get that, I get that.” She steps on the plank and quickly walks over the trap. “So is that a trapdoor and… what’s beneath?”

A lot of very cute slimes.

Toga instantly adopted one and calls him Slimy-chan.

The idea was to have people fall in and be restrained by the slimes, forcing them to surrender, give up their goods and leave.

The problem is, I didn’t think of people falling to all fours and getting completely submerged in the liquid pool of disarming cuteness and asphyxiating.

“Ooof.” Uraraka lets out before stepping off the bridge on the other side. “I’m kind of surprised that they didn’t hear it. It’s… quite loud when you listen closely.”

They were racing with their companion through the Dungeon.

Likely heard it but failed to stop in time.

“They were sent into a spooky Dungeon potentially filled with traps… and tried to race through it?” Uraraka shakes her head. “Wow, that was some Darwin Award-level thinking. You remember Kaminari trying to check if he can lick a power socket?”

Oh, yeah, same energy.

Although Kaminari at least had the explanation of having his brain partially fried by his quirk.

Anyway, give me a second, I’ll check on Toga to see if she isn’t trying to sneak on you or anything, okay?

“Sure thing, go give her hell before I do.” Uraraka replies. And yes, her tail - the traitor - was still wagging.

***

Toga, it turned out, was lying on the particularly large tree branch a few meters above the ground, hugging it closely and letting her tail wag around as she was intently observing the area and clearly listening to something.

How are you doing?

“How are you doing, Himiko?” She corrects him quietly. “And I’m hunting. Now, shh. They’re approaching downwind and that sorts out the smell, but I can’t let them hear me.”

His unspoken questions are answered maybe half a minute later when something emerges from the brushes nearby.

It’s a deer.

Or, he corrects himself a second later, two deers. For as far as his knowledge about forest animals goes, of relatively average size for their species.

They both walk… oh. In a few seconds, they’ll be walking directly beneath the branch that Toga was lying on.

She quietly pulls a knife out of her belt and slightly rises above the branch, clearly waiting for them to get close. All while making practically no noises whatsoever.

She let the first one pass underneath her. But the second one gets close, Toga suddenly lets herself fall down, before gracefully landing directly on the deer’s back.

The animal barely has the time to realize what was happening and try to shake her off, before Toga’s blade cuts through its throat. The catwoman then immediately jumps off and then jumps further back, letting both deers scatter into the woods.

That was an interesting way of hunting. Was it some sort of beastkin thing? Izuku couldn’t help but be curious.

Not pursuing them?

“Nah.” Toga raises her blade to her eyes, to let him see the blood covering it. “I cut through its trachea and carotid artery. It’ll drop dead soon enough. I just have to follow it at my own pace. So, Izukun? Did Ochako speak about me?”

Uhm. Now, how to reply to that? Should he just… pretend he had to move his attention elsewhere? But despite everything, he still doesn’t like to lie to people. So maybe just… a small white lie?

She is, errr…

She is thinking some quite… warm thoughts about you.

“Really?!” Toga forgets about her hunting for a moment. “She does?” Izuku quickly apologizes to All Might in his thoughts, because this does make him feel guilty.

I think it was his heroic way of saying ‘she hopes you’ll burn in hell’, Toga

“Shiggy, stop interrupting!” Toga replies quickly. “So, Izuku?” And that was going to get extremely awkward. Thank you, Shigaraki.

He might be mean, but he isn’t exactly… super wrong.

I think that Uraraka has an opinion about your behavior in that forest.

And not a very flattering one.

“Oh…” Toga deflates a little. “I really wanted to talk about love with her! To talk about you, and how we could share you and also have some fun with each other, and… you know, have a lot of fun in general!”

…

I don’t even know if I can call you ‘normies’ anymore, because I think that this is going beyond that.

Shhh.

T… Himiko, look, it’s all fun and games, but you’ve also tried to stab some people, and she doesn’t like that.

To be honest, neither do I.

Please don’t stab people.

I mean, aside from the intruders.

What, are you a therapist right now?

Someone clearly has to be.

Want me to be yours?

Lmao, no

I’m perfect the way I am

“But… you would all look so much better covered in blood!” Toga wails. “C’mon, it makes everything better, cuter and livelier!”

Shigaraki, did she just say that making blood leave someone’s body makes them livelier?

Look, you just learn to ignore certain things, okay?

There is one trait in the League that I’m genuinely impressed by.

It’s your ability to adapt to truly insurmountable amounts of mindrending insanity and continue living as if nothing has happened.

I didn’t adapt to it.

I just ignored it.

Thank you for snapping me out of my extremely brief moment of being actually impressed by something your organization did.

Ouch, I felt that

T… Himiko, listen, if you make too much blood leave someone’s body, you won’t be able to admire how, errr, lively and cute they are.

So, you’re just preserving liveliness and cuteness to be able to experience it for a longer time, got it?

Surely having less of both can be excused for that goal, right?

“Alriiight.” Toga rolls her eyes around. “Fine! Can I still admire you or her when you’re covered by the blood of your enemies, though?”

…alright.

“Yey!” Toga throws her arms up. “Alright, so I gotta go find that deer before another predator snatches it from me. Tell Ochako to get ready for dinner! If she knows how to get some candles or other things to get that romantic vibe going, now’s the time to pull them out!”

A part of me knows how it’s going to end and that it’s going to be an absolute disaster, and that I should do everything I can to stop them from meeting each other anytime soon.

But another part of me wants to witness it happening.

Let’s just say that I’d actually share my popcorn with you if I had any.

And I wouldn’t poison it.

… too much.

***

Izuku switched his attention back to Uraraka who just finished crawling through the entrance passage. She quickly dusted herself and then walked towards the entrance to the Dungeon, before finally getting to see this world for the first time.

Izuku was actually borrowing her senses at the time. The smells and sounds were…almost overwhelming. To him. Uraraka seemed to be faring with it pretty well.

“Wow.” She says, staring at the forest in front of her, the colors shifted just as earlier but with an added blur that seemed to start ten meters ahead of her. Her eyes were really, really bad. To call them ‘shortsighted’ would be an understatement. “You know, my eyesight sucks, but the rest more than makes up for it.”

You like it?

“I mean, I’m used to fighting in melee, so in combat it's fine, I’ll see everything I need.” Uraraka replies. “Outside of it, I can see what I’m doing and the ability to see in the dark’s pretty cool. And both my hearing and smell are awesome. I…” Uraraka sniffs loudly. “Oh, I can smell fresh blood in the air. It’s Toga, isn’t it?”

Yeah, she just killed a deer.

Wants to have a ‘romantic dinner’ with you.

“Oh, I’ll show her a ‘romantic dinner’, alright.” Uraraka groans. “But yeah, I think that she’s… around one hundred-fifty meters in that direction.” She points her spear towards the woods, her ears already facing that direction. “Sure, it’s only because the wind’s blowing in my direction, but this is still incredibly cool. You think that this is how Hound Dog saw the world?”

Maybe? He is known for his extreme sense of smell.

If yours is as good as his, you should be able to smell emotions on people!

Oh, wait, you already did. Toga earlier, right.

“I… didn’t exactly smell her emotions, at least not directly.” Uraraka replies after a few seconds of considering her words very carefully.

…

Eugh.

To speak about less disturbing subjects: So, do you like your new body?

“It is pretty cool, yeah.” She replies before deciding to confirm her earlier suspicions and does a few stretches and practice swings. “I also think that it’s a bit stronger than my human body! So yeah, I really like it.”

I find it really odd that neither you nor Toga seem to have any issues with having a body of completely different species. Shouldn’t that make you feel… odd?

“Well, it clearly doesn’t.” Uraraka shrugs. “Hey, that’s just easier for us, right? It would be a big problem if we’d be suffering from mental problems if our bodies weren’t human anymore, especially as there doesn’t seem to be a lot of humans around.”

Right.

Let’s not complain when it’s something good for us for once.

“Aye!” Uraraka replies before grinning wildly while cracking her knuckles. “So, what exactly is Toga doing? I can’t wait to get… intimately acquainted with her. And to have a bit of a corrective talk about how she’s treating you.”

She’s heading towards you. With a dead deer. Just wait for her there.

You know what, those two are really best picks for their species

Hmm?

Just look at them

Uraraka is fiercely loyal to you, protective, steadfast and emotionally caring.

Like, you know, a dog.

Toga in the meantime changes her mood every five seconds, is ready to bite you for no apparent reason and is selfish af.

Like, you know, a cat.

Yes, Shigaraki, we’ve already established that you’re a dog person.

No need to repeat yourself.

Now, shh.

I want to see how it plays out.

***

Toga approached the entrance to the cave, saw Uraraka standing there, immediately dropped the deer carcass that she was carrying over her shoulder and then ran towards her shouting ‘OCHAKO-CHAN!”

What followed afterwards was a very brief blurry of motion, with Uraraka exploiting her natural advantage in close quarters over the more hit-and-run Toga. All of that has led to the current situation, in which she was holding Toga’s head in a chokehold, just as the catgirl did her best to free herself from this position.

She did not succeed. All that Uraraka earned was a few scratch marks, with both of Toga’s knives knocked outside of her arm’s reach.

“S-so, what are you going to s-say now?” Uraraka says, slightly winded after the struggle. She also looses her grasp just enough to let Toga speak.

“H-harder, O-Ochako!” Toga, the unrepentant pervert, decides to enjoy what was happening. Unfortunately for her, Uraraka would have none of it.

Theoretically.

Because in the end, she did oblige.

Uhm, Uraraka-san?

I think she’s about to asphyxiate for real.

And while we can resurrect her, it’ll cost us some mana, and this will delay other expansions of this place.

“I know.” Uraraka replies dryly, her arms still tightly wrapped around Toga’s neck. “I also know that she is still enjoying it. Ugh.”

She finally lets it go, and Toga falls to the ground and lands on her butt, before starting to fight for air, which quickly has her decline into a coughing fit, the woman still too weak to even try to stand up.

Despite that, Izuku is certain that he knows the reason for why her cheeks are so flushed.

This is what you get when you take fear of death out of Toga lol

She’s now literally too kinky to torture

She knows that everything will heal and she can just enjoy the ride

I didn’t want to know that!

Eugh.

I’d ask ‘what sort of messed up people did League recruit’ but then I realized that you just invited people similar to yourself.

What an absolute mess.

Tell me about it