Ochaco's face was turning green. Toga's "mask" was beginning to melt away. To an observer, it was a truly unsettling sight. If this were a variety show, it would have been a goldmine for ratings; unfortunately, it was a combat exercise. No one was looking for "laughs" here.
The end came suddenly, from a direction neither of them expected.
"I'm going for it, Uraraka-san—! SMAAAAASH!!"
From below.
Accompanied by a boy's roar, a titanic shockwave tore through the building, shaking it to its foundations. A hole erupted through every floor from the first to the roof, followed by a delayed, deafening boom.
"Wha—whoa!?"
"Deku-kun made it! He's here!"
The impact was the final straw for Toga's concentration; her transformation dissolved. Simultaneously, the zero-gravity effect on Ochaco vanished.
Toga, still weightless, was sent tumbling through the air by the force of the blast. Ochaco, regaining her gravity, was the only one left standing near the objective.
"Hurgh... g-gotta... t-touch... it...!"
Fighting back the wave of nausea and the violent urge to vomit, Ochaco clamped a hand over her mouth and crawled toward the model.
And then...
[[ HERO TEAM... WINS!! ]]
The moment Ochaco's trembling hand brushed the model, All Might's voice thundered through the building.
The announcement snapped the final thread of Ochaco's composure. The nausea she had been fighting finally won. She collapsed and vomited. She was a teenage girl with her fair share of pride, so she tried to hide from the cameras, but it was too late. All she could do was bury her face behind the model.
Behind her, Toga appeared. She held a fresh syringe, her face still wearing the hunger of someone who wanted another taste.
But the moment she saw Ochaco pale and retching, the Dark Side presence that had filled Toga receded like a tide.
I shouldn't do any more. She felt it instinctively. If she pushed further, she would be hated... just like what happened with Saito-kun.
"Ochaco-chan, are you okay?"
Toga tossed the syringe aside and began to rub Ochaco's back. As she did, her appearance shifted back into that of Rina.
"Huh... Rina-chan...? No... H-Himiko-chan...?"
"Yes, it's me, Toga. Did you get motion sickness?"
"Yeah... I feel gross..."
"Oh no! I'll fix it! Hang in there, Ochaco-chan!"
Toga activated Rina's Quirk through her hands as she rubbed the girl's back—a power that allowed her to select and amplify an aspect of whatever she touched.
She chose to amplify the function of Ochaco's semicircular canals to help her regain her balance. It was a sharp medical judgment; Toga hadn't made it into the Hero Course on luck alone.
The treatment worked. Ochaco began to recover almost immediately. Usually, it takes much longer than this, she thought, her mind clearing enough to look at the face of "Rina"—or rather, the Himiko transformed into her.
The terrifying expression from before was gone. The villainous smile had vanished, replaced by the worried face of a friend repeatedly telling her everything would be okay.
Ochaco let out a long, shaky breath of relief.
Thank goodness, she thought. She was just really committed to the role.
"Thanks, Himiko-chan. I'm okay now."
"Are you sure? You shouldn't overdo it. Koto-chan and Papa always say so."
"Yeah... I'm good! Your Quirk is amazing, Himiko!"
Ochaco gave her a bright grin.
Toga smiled back... even as her body melted into a viscous sludge to return to her original form.
"Yikes! That's still bad for my heart!"
"Ahaha, sorry. I can't really help that part."
The two of them laughed together. It was a normal, friendly interaction. For Ochaco, it was business as usual.
But for Toga... it was an interaction where she had locked her true self away. It was fun, yet it left a bitter sediment in her heart.
Will I ever be able to show her? Is she someone who could accept me the way Rina does?
The thought bubbled up, followed closely by the memory of the day she was so cruelly rejected.
I don't want Ochaco-chan to hate me like that...
She felt it—a thought that normally would have been impossible for her. A year spent with a different kind of person had created a profound change in her.
But she didn't let it show. She was used to hiding things, even if she hated it.
"Hey, you two! Time for the review! Come on down!"
All Might's voice drifted up from the floor below.
"Oh! Okay! Come on, Himiko-chan, let's go!"
"Right!"
The two of them stood up and headed for the monitor room, side-by-side.
"...Ugh, wait. Sorry. I think I might still be a little nauseous..."
"Ochaco-chaaan!?"
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