8

5:46 PM, Tuesday

Yagi wore a natural smile on his face, today.

It was small but didn't fade as the man took his usual spot on the beach(next to a napping Nono, and just close enough to help Izuku and Uraraka if anything went wrong). His shoulders seemed far lighter too, as if he'd been finally relieved of a great burden.

"You seem really happy today, Yagi-san." Uraraka piped up, echoing Izuku's thoughts. "Did something good happen?" 

"Yes- something long overdue. I talked to an old friend for the first time in five years."

"What was that like?" Izuku asked, curious.

"Not nearly as scary as I thought it'd be," Yagi said, almost wistful. "It was quite nice to catch up with him. He hasn't changed a bit."

"Does he live far away? It must be hard, not having many chances to meet up-"

"Ah, no, Young Midoriya. That isn't it. We had something of an argument, all those years ago. Both of us had strong opinions on my future, and well, neither of us wanted to give in to the other. We were left at a standstill and stopped working together, separated, then gradually fell out of contact."

"For years? " Uraraka questioned, incredulous. "Why didn't either of you try to fix things?"

"We can both be...incredibly stubborn," Yagi admitted, sheepishly. "I didn't know how to reach out first and apparently neither did he. There is another, more personal issue, that made things even more complicated. But I feel like we're on good terms again now."

"Oh," Uraraka's eyes widened in realization. "I get it. You two were in a relationship."

"W-What?" Yagi sputtered. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"You basically just described a breakup, Yagi-san."

"Of a partnership, a partnership. We were coworkers!"

Uraraka snorted. "Yeah, I bet you were."

"But what made you take that first step?" Izuku asked. "After procrastinating so long?"

"Well, a particularly interesting case was brought to my attention. I thought of Mirai, and how this was exactly the kind of thing he'd want to see. And someone close to me convinced me to call him."

"Are you allowed to tell us what the assignment was about?"

Yagi cupped his chin thoughtfully. "Actually, I could probably tell you about this one. This wasn't official, anyway."

"Is it really okay to give out agency information like this?" Nono wondered. Izuku hadn't noticed her wake up, but there were two cats now curled up onto her beach blanket with her. Where had they even come from? 

"Yep, as long as the three-" Yagi smiled down at the animals. "-five of you don't go around telling anyone, I doubt it'll become an issue. Besides, I want Young Midoriya's opinion on this."

Well, now he was curious-

"We have a new, anonymous informant. They're quite a skilled hacker, entering our systems and personal communications to drop tips without a trace. Most fascinating, though, is their quirk."

Izuku stared at the blonde man in disbelief, feeling Uraraka shift at his side. There was no way this was a coincidence. Was it?

"Calling themselves Prophet, they have shown the ability to see the future-and with incredible accuracy, too," Yagi stated, a hint of respect in his voice. "Every case they've reported has been resolved easily, our heroes arriving early to the crime scene."

"But you said they were an informant, right?" Izuku repeated. "Not a vigilante?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Then they aren't really breaking any laws. So why is your agency, uh, looking for them?"

"We aren't trying to arrest Prophet." Yagi clarified, and Izuku held back a relieved sigh. "But foresight quirks like Prophet's-especially ones so accurate-are very rare and very sought after. Without protection and assistance, Prophet is in extreme danger. Also, we'd like to try convincing them to properly join the police."

Huh.

Izuku shared a glance with Uraraka. There was a choice here. 

They trusted both Tsukauchi and Yagi, and could potentially reveal themselves to the police through them. If the police learned Prophet was just three teenagers it'd change things, but they'd probably still let them help out as informants. 

But on the other hand, Yagi and Tsukauchi would definitely have to report who Prophet was to their higher-ups. Report Uraraka's second quirk. And connecting themselves to the police would make them much more obvious to outside attention as well. 

Uraraka's Reset was simply too powerful to risk.

Izuku shook his head subtly, and Uraraka's eyes flicked back to Yagi.

"If they are living under that much danger and secrecy, they probably won't accept that invitation." Uraraka mused, slowly. "I mean, the only other foresight quirk user I've ever heard of is Sir Nighteye. And not even Izuku knew anything about that guy before he was a hero."

Yagi's lips tilted upward ever so slightly at the mention. 

"You're old 'friend', the one that's helping you on this Prophet case. It's Sir Nighteye, right?"

Yagi blinked, stunned, before breaking into a smile. "You really are smart, Young Midoriya. Yes, that's correct-"

"You're telling me your ex is Sir Nighteye?" Izuku exclaimed, hands flying to his mouth. "Oh my god. I can't believe I know someone who's dated him."

"Don't forget that he knows All Might, too," Uraraka interjected.

"Uraraka, please, I still haven't even processed that one yet-"

"For the last time, Young Uraraka, I was not in a relationship with Mirai."

"...Uh-huh."

"I wasn't!"

"Then why do you say his name like that? Hmm?"

Izuku snickered. He knew firsthand how tough changing Uraraka's mind was once she was set on something.

Yagi gave up with a long sigh, laying back onto the sand. Nono reached up to pat him softly on the head like she was consoling a cat. 

"At least you believe me, Young Nono..."

Nono didn't say anything.

"...right?"

7:15 PM, Tuesday

"Did you tell him?" Uraraka asked as soon as they left the beach together, Yagi's tall form long since out of sight. 

"Tell him what?"

"I mean, did you tell Yagi about-" Uraraka gestured around with her hands. "-Prophet and my quirk. And then use a Reset to redo it, since it didn't work out."

"Ah, no. That was the uh, first time I went through that conversation." 

"Really? You seemed so sure."

"Did you want to tell him?" Izuku asked.

"No," Uraraka answered firmly. "The more I think about it, the less appealing it is. And also, I have a feeling Prophet isn't going to be a simple, legal informant much longer. Watching a news report and then telling someone about it just isn't enough to save everyone you want to, is it?"

Izuku really couldn't hide anything from her. 

"Yeah. I know wanting to do more as Prophet is selfish and really going into vigilante territory." Izuku confessed. "I mean, all I can do is fight kinda well and hack into things. We haven't even gotten into hero school, yet-"

"Izuku-kun." Uraraka cut him off. "If I can rescue even more people with you, I will. You don't need to convince me." 

Izuku blinked, stunned, before breaking into a smile.

"Thanks, Uraraka." 

In return, she poked him in the chest. "Ochako."

"Ura-"

" Ochako ."

3:27 PM, Thursday

Yagi's hand swung down, chopping the air between them.

"Start!"

Ochako immediately swung straight for his jaw.

Ochako always fought far more offensively than Izuku did, rushing straight for her opponent(and seeming to insist on aiming for his face, terrifyingly enough) with blows and grapples; a complete contrast to Izuku's more careful, analytical attacks. 

Izuku raised his arm on reflex to block, throwing his own jab at her face in the same instant. Ochako didn't stop, instead leaning just out of the way so that his knuckles only grazed her cheek.

Her next punch was a little too telegraphed and was caught easily in his palm- only for Ochako to step around him, grabbing and twisting his arm behind his back. Her grip was tight enough to lock the limb in place despite how careful she was to only use four fingers.

"Gotcha!" Ochako claimed brightly from behind him. "Now, surrender-

Izuku brought his free arm to his trapped one, pushing down to counter her hold. Then he suddenly twisted to slam his elbow into her stomach, breaking free as she stumbled back.

"You're going to have to try harder than that." Izuku teased, lightly.

Ochako placed her hands on her knees, straightening up again. Her brown eyes flashed. "Oh, I will!"

Ochako kicked it up a notch. Her fists lashed out like whips against his arms and shoulders, pushing him back blow by blow on the beach.

Izuku stepped out of the way of a roundhouse kick, saving his ankles. She didn't pause, pivoting on her heel and throwing a chop with her momentum. 

Izuku's favorite red sneakers traced an arc in the sand as he dodged, letting the attack fly by. He went to counter, only for Ochako to stomp hard on his foot-ouch-literally stopping him in his tracks. Both of her palms shot for his face, and Izuku rose his arms to cover it on reflex. But no impact came.

A feint, he realized too late.

Ochako snapped her leg up, kneeing him in the gut without hesitation. Izuku held back a wince.

"Payback." Ochako grinned, smug, and tensed her legs to dash in again.

This time, Izuku beat her to it. 

Izuku met her halfway, and her eyes widened. In a fluid motion he grabbed her fist and turned sharply, his leg sliding to sweep her off her feet. His other hand pushed her shoulder just the right amount and his opponent flipped over with a yelp.

Ochako's back crashed down on the sand, defeated, and Izuku smiled.

"Gotcha."

Ochako crossed her arms, almost pouting. "...I should've seen that coming. Stupid YouTube throws."

Izuku chuckled. 

"...YouTube throws?" Yagi questioned from where he'd been silently observing.

"Yeah. I get a lot of my moves from the internet."

Yagi blinked. "Well. That certainly explains that weird, mid-air twisting kick you messed up last week-"

Ochako snickered, and Izuku's cheeks flushed red.

"Usually I get good stuff from there. That was an uh, mistake."

"Clearly." Yagi agreed with a small smile. "But then who taught you the rest? And trained you to fight so well? You can't have gotten this skilled through just recollection, no matter how many videos you've watched."

Here we go again. "I used to go to a dojo. Tanaka-sensei is an amazing teacher, and she can give the instruction that I really can't. That's why I want Ochako to meet her, but-"

"I'm not ready!" Ochako protested, sitting up. "I mean, I've barely been training a few months, she'll totally think I'm terrible-"

"She won't." Izuku interrupted. "And even if-"

"When." Ochako corrected.

"-if she does, then that just means she'll have to train you even more-"

"-but she'll be disappointed, and you'll look bad for bringing me-"

"-and there's no way she'll be disappointed when she sees you, Ochako." Izuku snorted. 

"Izuku-kun, as soon as you started trying I went down instantly." 

"Only because I have a lot more experience than you do." Izuku reminded gently. "Remember?"

"Young Midoriya is right." Yagi chimed in. "For someone who started so recently, you are doing remarkably well in hand-to-hand combat."

"You're amazing, Ochako." 

Izuku gave her his hand and she took it, letting him pull her up. 

Ochako brushed the sand off her legs with a sigh.

"I guess I've pushed this off far too long, huh?"

4:02 PM, Thursday

Toshinori didn't know much about teenagers if he was being honest. Or kids in general. It had been a long, long time since he was one, after all.

But it was easy to tell how much potential Midoriya and Uraraka had.

They set out to clean the trash-infested Dagobah Beach with just the two of them for no reason other than training and community service.

They had the drive needed to become truly great heroes, training daily long before they would even get to U.A. Toshinori had no doubt that they would pass the exam by a landslide. 

Midoriya in particular. His quirk analysis was on a professional level, and he knew how to adapt that knowledge as well. And his hand-to-hand combat was already better than most actual heroes- enough for him to be the one teaching his peers. 

So, Toshinori was pleasantly surprised when Midoriya asked him to tag along, and quite excited to meet the person who taught the boy. 

He probably made a weird sight on the street, though; a tall, painfully thin man walking next to two teenagers that he looked nothing like.

"How long have you been learning from this Tanaka-sensei, Young Midoriya?" Toshinori asked.

Midoriya ran a hand through his fluffy hair. "A couple of years. She's super good- she could probably even beat you, Yagi-san! Tanaka-sensei's pretty cool." 

Toshinori could almost hear the respect in the boy's voice. "Huh. Do you think she'll let me spar with her then, sometime?"

He didn't fight much in his weaker form. If the time he could use One for All kept decreasing...it'd be better if he tried practicing more without it. 

(The idea of losing One for All completely, of not having the comfortable warmth that had rested in his soul for decades, made him shiver despite the perfect weather.)

"Yeah. Though, Yagi-san, for someone with a desk job you're quite excited at the possibility of a fight."

Toshinori chuckled. Ah, if only he knew. "A desk job at a hero agency, my boy. I can't help but be influenced a little."

Midoriya hummed. "Fair enough."

'The dojo' was a fairly big wooden building, shouts, and voices easily audible as they approached. The inside was all traditional colors and padded with tatami mats.

The three of them drew some glances as they walked in before the practicing students went back to what they were doing. All of them were clad in white martial arts uniforms. 

Then a woman nearly as tall as Toshinori broke away from a group of teenagers to greet them. Her black hair was tied back in a ponytail and her expression held stern as she took them in, only lightening up the slightest bit when her eyes landed on Midoriya. 

"Izuku." The woman greeted. "It's been a while." 

"It has." Midoriya agreed, apologetically. "Sorry that I haven't been coming to spar very often recently, Tanaka-sensei."

She waved him off. "Don't worry about it, I can tell you've been training anyway. Who are they?"

Midoriya gestured at each of them in turn. "This is Uraraka Ochako and Yagi Toshinori. Guys, meet Tanaka-sensei."

"It's nice to meet you." Uraraka greeted, and Toshinori nodded to the woman politely.

Tanaka nodded back, then glanced to Midoriya. "You want me to train the girl."

It was more of a statement than a question. 

"Yeah. I've shown her a lot these past few months, and Ochako's really talented. She has potential."

"...Ochako, huh." Tanaka mused as the mentioned girl blushed at the praise. "You've never brought me any of your friends before, Izuku. And who's this guy? Your dad?"

Toshinori nearly coughed up blood. "Ah, no, that is certainly not the case, Tanaka-san. I'm just a friend of Young Midoriya and Young Uraraka, and wished to meet the dojo sensei I've heard so much about."

If she found Midoriya befriending someone decades older than him strange, she didn't show it. "I see."

"Uh...are you going to test me, somehow?" Uraraka asked tentatively. "Before I'm allowed to join, I mean."

Tanaka's hands folded neatly behind her back as she scrutinized the brunette. "I do usually have a pre-test of sorts, but it's not an entrance exam. I would let you join my dojo, either way, provided that you've gotten permission from Uraraka's guardians...which you have, right?"

A pause. 

"I knew I missed something," Midoriya muttered.

Tanaka sighed, almost fond. "Of course you did, Izuku. It's not like you have a perfect memory or anything."

"That's what I always say!" Uraraka blurted out. "Like, how do you forget something when you have a quirk that remembers everything!"

"He's just so absentminded, sometimes."

"Yeah, definitely. I remember one-time last week when he was so focused on analyzing a quirk we saw on TV that I couldn't get his attention for a full thirty minutes! "

Tanaka nodded in sympathy. "When he does that, all you can do is wait for him to finish."

"Wait, that happened?" Midoriya asked, tilting his head to find the moment. "...Oh. Sorry, Ochako."

"It's alright, Izuku-kun."

"It makes sense when you think about it." Toshinori chimed in, amused. "All of the space in his mind is filled up with heroes and quirks. The rest's just been shuffled to the side."

"C'mon, I'm not that bad-"

"What'd you eat for breakfast yesterday?" Ochako interrupted.

A notable pause. "...Uh, waffles. Why-"

"Who's the 13th ranked hero in America?"

"Fury, actual name James Clay. His quirk's called Rage; he gets physically enhanced the angrier he is. It's pretty cool in action. Most of his ranking is from his combat prowess and niche fanbase. Blood type: A, and at 32 he was diagnosed with- actually, that's probably private..."

Toshinori stared, equal parts terrified and fascinated, as the boy rambled through all kinds of data on a man that most people in Japan probably wouldn't have even heard of. Some of that stuff definitely wasn't on the record.

"...resolved cases and with very low amounts of property damage despite his general image-oh." Midoriya finally caught himself, looking sheepish. "Yeah, I see what you mean, now."

"Uh-huh." Tanaka turned to Uraraka. "Get permission from your parents and come see me tomorrow. I'll see what you've got then. We'll be fighting with quirks, so make your preparations." 

The clear threat only seemed to make Uraraka look more determined. 

4:47 PM, Friday

Uraraka Ochako's parents weren't poor, but they weren't exactly rich, either.

They owned a small construction company that did well, but only because of how hard both her Papa and Mama worked every single day.

Ochako wanted to help them.

So when Ochako got Zero Gravity and accidentally floated up her toys in that pretty, pink glow, she was so happy. Her parents wouldn't have to worry about heavy lifting or anything; she could make everything so much easier for them!

And Ochako was smart. She could do all of that annoying business stuff if she tried, easily.

Sure, she wouldn't be able to become a rescue hero like Thirteen and learn to fly up, up to the stars to save people like she'd always dreamed of. But it'd be worth it.

Papa and Mama didn't see it that way. They loved her and cared about that dream even more than she did.

So an older Ochako made a compromise. She'd become an amazing rescue hero, one of the best, and make more than enough money to give her parents the rich, relaxed life they deserved. Something like those couples in movies, maybe; resting peacefully together in one of those cliche perfect houses.

She trained her quirk hard and learned what little fitness and hand-to-hand combat she could without any direction.

Two years before U.A's entrance exam Ochako moved into a small apartment in Musutafu to prepare. It was hard at first to live alone, yeah, but she adapted.

She called her parents every day on video. Papa and Mama always squished together to appear in the frame of her small phone and seemed to brighten up as soon as they saw her face.

She got new gloves- nice, black ones that made her look cool - and friends at her new school.

She went on long walks around Musutafu to get used to the place(or maybe just when she couldn't take sitting in an empty house anymore).

She got a part-time job at a cafe for a while. It had a nice atmosphere, decent pay, and lots of new people to see every day.

Ochako definitely wasn't expecting her cafe to be robbed by a dangerous villain, and that dangerous villain to be stopped by a brilliant, green-haired boy her age. And then for that boy to casually lie to a police detective and then reveal that she had a second quirk all these years.

Ochako's quirk was part of her identity, who she was. Learning that she had another...took a lot of time to process.

But Reset was amazing. Even though she couldn't remember what she erased-she'd probably never tell Izuku just how much she hated that she forgot everything-she had the ability to reverse time. 

All of the terrible words, moments, tragedies, and deaths she would see as a hero could have happier possibilities if she worked with Izuku.

How could she say no?

And that eventually led Ochako here, willfully heading off to fight a Very Scary Lady after getting parental permission from her confused yet supportive parents.

There were no stakes here, she knew. She'll lose against Tanaka badly(have you seen those muscles?), hopefully not making Izuku look like too bad of a teacher, and Tanaka would then accept her into the dojo anyway. It didn't actually matter if she impressed Izuku's old sensei or not.

But to Ochako, it felt like more than a meaningless pre-test. To her, this was a challenge. A way to prove her strength, quirk, and potential. 

So when she tugged Izuku aside she didn't ask him anything about Tanaka's fighting style, her weaknesses, or even her quirk. If he helped her, there wouldn't be any point.

Instead, she silently handed him her precious black gloves. She instantly missed them and the comfort they brought, but she knew Izuku would take good care of them.

Then Ochako pressed her bare fingertips together, feeling the thrum of energy in her gut.

"Save; Friday, 4:48 PM."

Now that she set her mind to it, she'd do the best she could.

"Hey, Izuku-kun. Did'ya bring your notebook?"

"Of course, why?"

"No reason."

He glanced at her, eyebrows scrunched up the way he did while trying to figure something out. A second later Izuku's face faded into understanding, a knowing smile growing across his face as he gave her a small nod.

This was the first loop.

"Alright."

They caught up to Yagi and walked into the dojo together.

It was mostly a haze from there. The tall, imposing figure of Tanaka walked up, clad in a black gi, and Ochako said...something before Izuku handled the rest of the talking. 

And then suddenly she was standing in front of Tanaka again, just the two of them in the center of the dojo and its huge training mat.

There was a big audience of students around them, for some reason. Was watching their Sensei fight people that funny?

The conditions were winning were throwing her opponent out of bounds or knocking her out. She met Tanaka's eyes again and wondered if that was even possible.

"Start!" Izuku called off from the side, and Ochako snapped back to attention.

Focus, Ochako! 

She started running, and her opponent shot forward in the same instant.

Ochako made her first move, tapping her clothes and activating Zero Gravity to make herself lighter. She used the sudden burst in speed to lunge, palms outstretched.

If she could just remove Tanaka's gravity, she'd have the advantage!

Tanaka's eyes flicked towards her open fingers at that moment, calculating. Then the woman twisted to let Ochako's hands fly past her and grabbed her arm in an iron grip. The world spun, and Ochako's back slammed hard into the tatami mat.

So that's where Izuku learned to do that.

Luckily, her weight was still reduced. Ochako recovered almost instantly, rolling to her feet- just in time to block a powerful roundhouse kick aimed straight at her face.

Her arms trembled through her glowing shirt. Tanaka wasn't holding back at all!

Ochako let the heavy leg slide off to throw a palm strike, feeling it get batted away instantly. She dashed around to attack Tanaka's blindspot, just like Izuku taught her, but the woman shot a kick behind her without even a glance that made Ochako leap out of range.

She didn't give up, using a hook that missed Tanaka completely(annoying tall people) that suddenly turned into an uppercut that actually did come close to her opponent's jaw.

And then Tanaka started to speed up, underestimating her less and less and oh fuck.

Tanaka launched into a really cool-looking series of kicks that Ochako would have loved to observe if, you know, they weren't aimed at her. As it was, it was all she could do to defend against the barrage.

But she was being easily overwhelmed more and more as the seconds passed. Even though every attack was carefully aimed to avoid Ochako's hands, they came from every angle relentlessly. 

A front kick snapped through the air by Ochako's face and her opponent's other foot crashed painfully against her raised arms. She ducked under one jab, then another, but missed the third one flying straight towards her face-

Everything went black.

4:56 PM, Friday

The first thing Ochako saw when she opened her eyes was Izuku. He was looking down at her, fingers tapping a rhythm against the notebook in his hands.

"Izuku-kun? What-what happened?" Ochako asked, sitting up. Her head hurt a little, but she pushed the feeling away. She was still on a tatami mat, but everybody seemed to have wandered to other parts of the dojo except Izuku.

"Tanaka-sensei knocked you out." Izuku sighed. "It's sort of a rite of passage in a way; she knocks out everyone who joins up with some experience already. She has the skill to do it safely but...yeah."

That explained the required parental permission. And the audience.

"You're officially a student of this dojo now, Ochako," Izuku said, his voice a little softer now. 

(She ignored the little twitch her fingers made when he said her name like that.)

"You earned it, and you showed her some of your potential. But you aren't satisfied with just that much, are you?"

Ochako wordlessly reached out and Izuku handed over his precious notebook, along with a pencil.

She took it carefully in her hands, pinkies off the covers, and flipped past his amazing notes to the first open page.

And then she began to write.

4:48 PM, Friday(First Reset)

Now that she set her mind to it, she'd do the best she could.

"Hey, Izuku-kun. Did'ya bring your notebook?"

"Yeah."

Ochako glanced over to see him writing into it in neat, careful strokes. A couple of seconds passed before he handed his precious notebook over to her. 

She took it carefully in her hands, pinkies off the covers, and flipped past his amazing notes to the first open page.

Reset #1

Hello, past self! This is so cool, it's like I'm making a time capsule- but for the past!

Tanaka is even faster than I(we?) thought. And she hits really, really hard. I couldn't even make her use her quirk!

When you try to float her she's going to throw you over her shoulder and then aim a vicious kick at your face. I couldn't even figure out how to hit her, after that!

Good luck!

Okay. That sounded terrifying. Her future self was probably exaggerating, though. The dojo's sensei would definitely be holding back on her since she wasn't even a student yet.

4:48 PM, Friday(Second Reset)

Now that she set her mind to it, she'd do the best she could.

"Hey, Izuku-kun. Did'ya bring your notebook?"

"Yeah."

Ochako glanced over to see him writing into it in neat, careful strokes. A couple of seconds passed before he handed his precious notebook over to her. 

She took it carefully in her hands, pinkies off the covers, and flipped past his amazing notes to the first open page.

Reset #2

Hello, past self. This is so cool, it's like we're in a relay race!

Tanaka is even faster than we thought, and hits really, really hard. NO, WE ARE NOT EXAGGERATING. My arms hurt. I couldn't even make her use her quirk.

When you try to float her she's going to throw you over her shoulder and then aim a vicious kick. I know what you're thinking- just grab onto her leg. Nope! She sees it coming and dodges!

I couldn't even figure out how to hit her, after that!

That was fewer exclamation points than Ochako would have expected from a letter to herself. She must have expected that try to go far better, and been disappointed. Poor Ochako!

Was pitying a future version of herself self-pity? Huh.

Anyway, it sounded like that first lunge was a bad idea. She should make that a feint instead. Tanaka should be expecting that less. 

4:48 PM, Friday(Fourth Reset)

Reset #4

Hello, past self! This is so cool, it's like we're in a relay race!

Tanaka hits really, really hard! Don't try to take her hits head-on. 

She's fast, graceful, like Izuku-kun.

In Reset #3 we apparently tried a feint(you know which one I mean) and she immediately caught on and threw me over her shoulder. I tried going for a different feint, but then she saw through that one, too!

So no longer how we make the first palm strike, we're getting thrown over her shoulder. I think you should work from that.

As soon as you hit the mat she's going to try to kick you. Don't try to grab it, roll to the side. Instead of what comes as instinct in that spot, another palm strike, go for a leg sweep. This probably isn't going to land, but you'll know how she reacts at least!

That sequence of attacks, when she speeds up. You need to watch out for the jabs! 

I couldn't make her use her quirk!

It sounded like Tanaka figured out Zero Gravity in just an instant. Whoa.

No wonder the note was telling her to vary it up. More kicks, more kicks...

4:48 PM, Friday(Fifth Reset)

Reset #5

Hello, past self! This is so cool, it's like we're in a relay race!

Tanaka hits really, really hard! Don't try to take her hits head-on. 

She's fast, graceful, like Izuku-kun.

This didn't happen to me, but if you get thrown over her shoulder she's gonna try to kick you. Don't try to grab it, roll to the side.

New plan. Try to hide your quirk until the right moment. So don't use it on your clothes. I know this'll make you slower but trust me; I am literally you.

Start off with a leg sweep. She's going to do this epic jump kick thing that you're gonna duck under, and then she's gonna aim this punch at your face. I did not dodge that punch. You should.

You need to watch for the Cool Kicks, and then for her jabs(there's not two, but three!)

You see an opening and try to get her with the palm strike. It's too obvious, and we suffer for it.

I couldn't make her use her quirk. But I found a weakness. She is still underestimating us, despite what you think. So when you go for that second opening you see, put everything you have into it.

Good luck!

Ochako bit her lip. Five whole fights that she didn't remember, and she still didn't even have her opponent's quirk!

But she still had plenty of precious thoughts and ideas to use.

She met Izuku's eyes, beautiful emerald-green calmly watching her think. He must've seen her fight Tanaka five times already, but he was still here to pass on the little information five Ochako's had managed to obtain. 

She had the support of five Uraraka Ochako's and one Midoriya Izuku, and that gave Ochako a new burst of confidence.

Let's try out this plan.

4:48 PM, Friday(Eighth Reset)

"Hey, Izuku-kun. Did'ya bring your notebook?"

"Yeah."

Ochako glanced over to see him writing into it in neat, careful strokes, pencil quietly transcribing a long message. 

A full minute passed before he handed his precious notebook over to her. 

She took it carefully in her hands, pinkies off the covers, and flipped past his amazing notes to the first open page.

There was an entire letter written there, nearly taking up all of the given lines.

Reset #8

Hello, past self! This is so cool, it's like we're in a relay race!

Tanaka hits really, really hard! Don't try to take her hits head-on. 

She's fast, graceful, like Izuku-kun.

We got her to use her quirk on Reset #6 for the first time. I carefully hid Zero Gravity for a while then struck(the second opening, not the first.) and hit her. Tanaka started to float and was surprised enough that I could push her towards the boundary.

But then, the dojo mats suddenly rose up to wrap around her like an anchor. On #6, we were so surprised that we got blindsided by a huge mass of floor!

Ouch.

It's some kind of cotton manipulation- or whatever tatami mats are made of. And to a scary extent. Once you get her to use it, you NEED to start dodging.

This is going to be a lot to remember, I know. It's a lot to write, even! But you got to.

Don't use your quirk or any palm strikes until the right moment. 

Start off with a leg sweep. She's going to do this epic jump kick thing that you're gonna duck under, and then she's gonna aim this punch at your face. If you time it just right you can catch it and land Zero Gravity. Do the throw!

Don't get thrown yourself. But if you do she's gonna try to kick you right after. Don't try to grab it, instead roll to the side and create distance.

You need to watch for the Cool Kicks, and then the jabs that come right after(there's not two, but three of them!)

As I said, you need to strike her in that second opening with all you've got. She was near the edge, by then, so the float and push nearly got her out. Then she anchors down with her tatami quirk, and the floor becomes your enemy.

Memorize this, okay? Left, Left, Down, Right, Jump, Down, Duck. That's where I got knocked out.

And remember, you've got eight Ochako's supporting you! And one Izuku, even if he's trying to hide how much he's rooting for us to stay as neutral. Yes, Izuku, you need to copy this part too!

Good luck!

Ochako stared at the letter in her hands in awe. Whoa.

There was so much information there to make sense of. All of those different sequences of events, her original win plan with Zero Gravity, and Tanaka's quirk itself. 

This would be so much easier if she could directly remember things like Izuku could. But she'd clearly made so much progress with just her own efforts; step by step, reset by reset. 

And now it was time to see what she could do with it.

Ochako walked into the dojo, Izuku, and Yagi close behind her.

The tall, imposing figure of Tanaka walked over to them, pitch-black eyes completely focused on Ochako today. The weight there was enough to make a villain tremble.

Scary.

"Are you ready, Uraraka?" Tanaka asked.

But Ochako had this.

Ochako nodded, determined. "Yep."

Tanaka led her over to the huge training mat near the center. There was a large audience around them of students that she ignored completely.

"The spar ends on knockout, or if one of us gets thrown out of bounds." Tanaka intoned, voice low yet carrying all the way to Ochako easily. "Izuku, call it."

Izuku jogged over to the side, offering her a small smile as he passed. "Sure, Tanaka-sensei." 

"Are both of you ready? Alright..."

"Start!"

Ochako started running, her fists clenching in anticipation, and her opponent shot forward in the same instant. 

Ochako made the first move, sweeping her leg low. 

Tanaka leaped up effortlessly for an aerial kick- that was completely useless since Ochako had already dropped low to avoid it. Ochako then raised her arms to catch the incoming punch, all five fingers wrapping around the arm.

Gotcha. 

She twisted as Tanaka's body started to glow pink, easily swinging the weightless adult up, up in an arc over her shoulder before slamming her down into the dojo's tatami mat. Then she jumped back and hurriedly released her quirk, not giving Tanaka any time to realize the nature of her ability.

Tanaka rose back up easily, eyes narrowed and reassessing. Ochako definitely wouldn't get any more free hits.

She raised her arms just in time to block a speeding roundhouse kick, arms trembling through her shirt. Tanaka wasn't holding back at all!

Ochako let the heavy leg slide off her to throw a punch, feeling it get batted away instantly. 

She dashed around to attack Tanaka's blindspot, just like Izuku taught her, but the woman shot a kick behind her without even a glance. Ochako launched an uppercut at her face and it was caught a moment before impact, black fabric brushing against her hand.

Ochako's fists flew as she frantically tried to make an opening.

Tanaka was underestimating her less and less the longer they fought- which was what she wanted, but that didn't make things any less terrifying.

Then the foretold Cool Kicks came(It was easy to realize what the letter meant, being here now. Her future self knew her so well!) and Ochako carefully weaved through them with all of her concentration. A front kick snapped by Ochako's face, and then came lightning-fast jabs; one, two, and then the hidden third one she already knew was coming. 

Tanaka seemed surprised that she'd dodged it(so was Ochako, honestly!)

Ochako saw an opening and almost went for it-hurriedly remembering her future self's warning. She let it flicker by instead, continuing to watch and calculate like Izuku would.

Tanaka slowly backed up from Ochako's assault until she was near the edge, on the defensive but still in control. She wasn't even sweating yet, calmly deflecting every strike headed her way with a natural ease that told Ochako she'd settled in for a long spar.

Izuku's training had increased Ochako's stamina tons, but she wouldn't last nearly as long as the woman would. No matter how determined she was, she'd lose a battle of endurance.

But another, bigger benefit of training with Izuku was that his movements were almost perfect because of his quirk. He rarely ever made any mistakes in form, in his kicks or punches. 

Other people weren't Izuku.

Tanaka overextended just a little on her next punch and Ochako lunged.

Her palm stuck Tanaka's side and Zero Gravity activated. Without pause, the brunette pushed her opponent towards the mat's boundary-

And then the tatami mats suddenly bent unnaturally, reaching up to catch their master. They anchored the now weightless woman to the arena, wrapping around her feet like robed sandals. 

"That's not really fair, is it?" Ochako complained. Reading about it was one thing, but whoa. What a quirk.

Before she could react the floor suddenly rose up, rolling towards her like green ocean waves. Ochako was tossed into the air and launched back before finally hitting the ground face-first.

Ow.

'The floor becomes your enemy'. She needed to get all the way over to Tanaka without being yeeted out of bounds by that powerful, ranged quirk. There was no way Ochako could do that normally.

But luckily, there was one more trick left in her personal strategy guide.

Left!

Ochako blindly rushed forward before curving to the left, green mats flying past her face.

Left!

Ochako dove to the side, a wave of tatami crashing over the arena.

Down!

Tanaka could form the floor into shapes too- a large fist sailed over Ochako's head as she ducked, close enough to ruffle her hair.

And then...uh, what was next again? 

The mats suddenly rose up, slamming into Ochako's right side and nearly knocking her over. Despite being soft tatami mats, they were moving fast enough to hurt!

Jump!

Ochako tapped herself and kicked off the evil ground, taking to the air to dodge pillars-and wasn't that a weird sight to see, the floor's designs all curled into the cylinders. She forced down the nausea that came with floating herself, already moving into the next instruction.

Down!

"Release!"

The tatami shaped into hands and reached up to grab her as Ochako pressed her fingertips together, dropping into a roll to avoid them. She rose up to her feet mere meters away from her opponent, Tanaka's black eyes now wide.

The green tatami shot forward in multiple thin, blunt spikes. Ochako ducked, feeling them just barely miss her body, now finally in range-

"Oshaaa!"

-and slammed her fist into Tanaka's jaw, whipping her face to the side with a satisfying crack.

The world held still for a moment, the dojo completely silent except for Ochako's tired, panting breaths.

She did it. She actually managed to hit her!

Tanaka turned her head back to Ochako, her calloused hand slowly rising up to her face.

Then she smiled.

"That was a great punch, Uraraka."

Ochako beamed. "Thanks, Tanaka-sensei."

She'd impressed someone this strong, someone who taught Izuku. And with nothing but her own body, mind, and quirks.

"Though, I'm still in bounds." Tanaka-sensei's foot tapped the mat below her.

Ochako raised her aching arms up and took a step forward...only for her legs to give out. She fell to her knees with a huff, completely spent.

"And you can barely move. So, what now?"

That was a very good question.

"...I surrender?" Ochako tried.

Tanaka hummed, considering.

"Nah."

4:59 PM, Friday(Eighth Reset)

The first thing Ochako saw when she opened her eyes was Izuku. He was looking down at her, fingers tapping a rhythm against his knees.

"Izuku-kun? What-what happened?" Ochako asked, sitting up. Her head hurt a little, but she pushed the feeling away. She was still on a tatami mat, but everybody seemed to have wandered to other parts of the dojo except Izuku.

"Tanaka-sensei knocked you out." Izuku sighed. "Even though you'd surrendered already. It's a rite of passage in a way; she knocks out everyone who joins the dojo with some kind of experience."

That explained the required parental permission. And the audience.

"But you're officially a student of this dojo now, Ochako," Izuku said, his voice a little softer now. 

(Just like her headache, she ignored the little twitch her fingers made when he said her name like that.)

"You were incredible back there. No one's ever landed a hit on Tanaka-sensei on their first try before, you know."

"Well, I did cheat a little."

Izuku chuckled. "Maybe. But you were just using your quirk, exactly like she was."

That reminded her. "Hold on, Izuku-kun, are you okay?"

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be-"

"I used Reset a whole eight times! I made you live through this fight for so long just to pass me my notes. I'm so selfish-"

"No, you aren't." Izuku cut her off. "I was fully on board with this; just like you often agree to help me with Reset, today we agreed to help you with it."

Izuku smiled. "A ten-minute loop isn't much to me, and this one was so fun. I watched you fight Tanaka-sensei eight times, getting more clever, more intuitive with every reset, willing to do better the next time. You really are amazing, Ochako- I told you she'd never be disappointed."

He made her sound so cool, even though she must have been fumbling blind, struggling to get every little piece of information she'd gotten. 

Ochako couldn't help but smile back, warm. "I guess you did, Izuku-kun. Can I see those memories with you later?"

"Sure!"

Notes:

This chapter turned out pretty long, but I'm really proud of it!

Zero Gravity is a mystery in this fandom that I'm really not smart enough to understand. I've used the simple canon applications so far, but there's the fact that it makes zero sense from an MHA physics perspective(and when every MHA quirk already breaks physics, that's a concern.)

On the time loops that she does here- Ochako could theoretically Reset until she beat any opponent, yes, with notes from her future self passed through Izuku. But realistically, that isn't possible; Ochako can't memorize too much information with only a look. And her combat experience gained in a loop is reset as well.

Just imagine what would happen if one Ochako forgot to include half of her note. All that hard-won information would vanish from her relay race, and she wouldn't even know unless Izuku told her!