Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As he sits beside the hospital bed, dull emerald eyes focused on the edge of the bruise curling over a pale shoulder, he can’t help but to replay the events that led them here over and over in his head. The villain taunting Dynamight. Dynamight, obviously, taking the bait. The explosions released in rapid succession. The smoke slowly clearing to reveal Dynamight grinning triumphantly. Only for that grin to turn into a look of confusion at the lack of a subdued villain.

Danger sense stabbing through his confusion at the same time he hears a shout of his hero name. Him spinning around, eyes widening at the fist flying toward him. He doesn’t have time to move, the villain’s too fast. He crosses his arms in front of his face, closing his eyes and bracing for the hit. He recognizes the sound of a fist connecting with flesh, and a familiar voice cry out in pain. His eyes snap open, his arms moving to catch the person falling against him in the next second.

Uravity’s hands grasp lightly at his upper arms, her body sagging against his as her breaths come out ragged and pain filled. He calls her name frantically, panic seeping into his voice. He hears Dynamight shout something, but he can’t make out the words in his panicked stated. He hears the villain chuckle, and the comment about stupid little girls, and anger rips through him. Black whip comes to life in a barrage of writhing black tentacles.

He’s too focused on Uravity to see the villain stumble away from him, to see Froppy come out of nowhere to knock the villain out. He doesn’t even register that Shoto is standing in front of him until he feels a chill. He glances up to see Shoto’s right arm stretched out toward Uravity. Looking down over her shoulder confirms that Shoto’s hand is flat against Uravity’s back, a thin layer of frost covering her suit.

“She needs medical,” his friend states in his monotonous voice. “There could be internal damage.”

He nods, moving to gently slip an arm under her knees, his movements feeling mechanical, stiff. When he lifts her into his arms, she cries out again, her hands moving to tightly grip his shoulders. He winces, quickly muttering an apology to her.

A hand on his shoulder as him glancing up into the green eyes of Froppy. “Take care of her, Midoriya-chan.”

The rustling of bed sheets pulls him out of the memory, his eyes snapping away from the bruises edge to focus on the pale face of Uraraka Ochako. Ochre eyes slowly flutter open as a pale hand reaches up to rest against her forehead. A low groan slips past her lips.

“Uraraka-san?”

His voice is low, shaky, as if he’s afraid of being too loud. As if that would shatter the moment and send him back to that nightmare.

“Deku-kun?” she murmurs in confusion, eyes sliding over to take in his form sitting in the chair beside her bed. Her eyes widen almost as soon as they settle on him, and she jerks up into a sitting position with an exclamation of, “Are you okay?!” followed by a hiss of pain.

He’s out of the chair in the next second, eyes wide as he gently guides her to lay back down. “D-Don’t sit up,” he manages to say, stuttering over the first word. “Y-You have a pretty nasty bruise, so it’ll hurt to move around too much.”

She allows him to ease her back down onto the bed, the worry in her eyes lessening as she takes him in. “You’re okay?” she asks again.

Something inside of him snaps at her disregard of her own state of wellbeing. “Of course, I’m okay,” he snaps, his eyes flashing in a way that she’s never seen directed at her before. “You jumped in front of the hit meant for me when you didn’t need to!”

“You weren’t even looking!” she snaps back. “He was using the smoke from Bakugou’s explosions to sneak up on you!”

“I have Danger Sense!”

“You still didn’t have time to move!”

“I could’ve taken it!”

“I seemed to have taken it just fine!”

“You had internal bleeding, Uraraka-san! You could’ve died!”

“And there are healing Quirks, Deku-kun! Clearly, I’m fine!”

“You can’t just throw yourself into danger like that!”

“You do it all the time!”

“T-That’s different!”

She scoffs at him, crossing her arms and hiding her wince of discomfort with a glare. “How the hell is it different?!”

“It’s just... I don’t....” He rakes a hand through his hair in frustration before levelling her with an annoyed glare. “It doesn’t matter if I get hit too hard!”

“It matters to me!” she cries, tears spilling over her eyelids to trail down her cheeks. His eyes widen as he takes a step back, his knees hitting the chair he’d previously been sitting in. “I’m so damn tired of you using that excuse, belittling the feelings of those that love you! Do you ever think of how we feel every time you recklessly throw yourself into danger?! Yeah, I took a risk, but I’m tired of watching you fight as if your life is expendable! Because it’s not! It’s not to your mom! It’s not to your friends! It’s not to Yagi-san! It’s not to Eri-chan! And it damn sure isn’t to me!”

For a few minutes, he can only stare at her in awe and slight apprehension. She’s never gone off on him like that, with that much anger mixing with the sadness in her words. Her words. He tries not to over analyze them. To jump to conclusions. He knows what it sounds like she was saying, but he needs clarification before he allows himself to hope.

“Uraraka-san?” he starts hesitantly. She’s not looking at him anymore, her head lowered so that her bangs hide her eyes. “Why.... Why does it matter so much? To you?”

He sees her shoulders tense and hears a hiss slip past her lips. He moves closer to the bed again with the intent to ask her if she’s okay, when he hears her whisper “Because I love you.”

His eyes widen as he sucks in a sharp breath. “You... You love me?”

She nods once, a small movement of her head, still refusing to look at him. “Sorry, Deku-kun,” she continues in a whisper, sorrow leaking into her words. “I... I didn’t want to tell you. I know you’re focus is to become a hero, and I don’t want to distract you from that.”

Her words cause a sharp pain to lance his heart, before a burning determination overtakes him. “You didn’t do a very good job,” he states, causing her head to shoot up so that their eyes meet. He reaches up to rub the back of his neck, eyes darting away from hers as his shy nature returns. “Of not distracting me. You’re very distracting, Uraraka-san.”

“What?” she whispers, confusion settling over her features.

He squeezes his eyes shut tight as he musters up every ounce of courage he has. When he opens his eyes again, they lock with hers. “I love you, too, Ochako-chan.”

She blinks at him once, twice, before her blush marks deepen from their natural pink to red. Her eyes shift away from his, her bangs falling to hide them from him once more, but he can see the smile that’s fighting its way onto her lips. Her whole body relaxes, and she moves to settle back against the bed once more.

They are bathed in silence for a few minutes before she speaks again, her voice soft. “Izuku-kun?”

He startles at the use of his given name, his heart hammering in his chest in his euphoria. “Y-Yeah?”

She shifts to one side of the bed and pats the now empty side. When she looks up at him, her eyes are drooping with exhaustion. “Stay with me?”

He gulps, his heartrate increasing at the thought of sharing a bed, even if it’s a hospital bed, with her. He kicks off his shoes, arranging them to sit under the chair he was previously using, and using that time to calm his nerves. By the time he climbs onto the bed, her eyes are fully closed. The bed isn’t really big enough for two people, so he gently pulls her to lay on his chest, careful not to jostle her back too much. She snuggles against him, and while he would ordinarily be racked with nerves, he can feel his own eyelids growing heavy.

The embarrassment that follows the two of them waking up to a disapproving nurse is worth it to see the dazzling smile she gives him upon the realization that it wasn’t a fever dream.

Chapter Text

He doesn’t regret asking her if they can keep their relationship a secret for now. He wants to have her to himself, wants to explore this newfound dynamic without outside interruption, even if just for a little while. He just didn’t realize when he made the request how hard it would be for him to comply.

It’s not every aspect of this new version of them that has him struggling to keep his cool throughout the day. Hell, it’s not even most. It’s just one. One tiny, insignificant change that pushes him to the brink of insanity every day. At least, some would say it’s tiny and insignificant, but to him, it’s monumental.

He has permission to touch her now, on a scale much larger than before.

He’s allowed to pull her close and nuzzle her cute, round cheeks. To wrap his arms around her from behind and rest his chin on her shoulder. To bury his face in the junction of her neck and shoulder, pulling a soft giggle from her. To run his fingers through her hair as he captures her lips with his own.

He indulges himself every chance he gets, whenever they’re safely tucked away in the privacy of one of their dorm rooms, but it never seems to be enough.

It’s not too bad when they’re in the classroom, her desk situated far enough behind his that he would have to turn to see her. He can resist turning around and seeking her out with his emerald irises. Besides, it’s not the sight of her he craves.

It’s when they have any kind of class that requires them to be outside, not confined to desks and free to stand together with their friends. Ochako’s always managed to find her way to his side during these classes, and while he can’t exactly say her presence has never been distracting, it’s distracting now for entirely different reasons.

He almost blows their cover in Heroics class, when his hand moves toward hers while he listens to Iida commentate on the battle going on between Kirishima and Shoji. He hums and nods, green eyes focused on the taller boy, but his mind is filled with thoughts of soft finger pads resting against the back of his hand, his fingers intertwined with hers.

“Are you alright, Midoriya-kun?”

Iida’s question makes him jump, and he feels his cheeks heating up with a blush. “O-Oh, yeah. I’m fine.”

He tries to give his friend a reassuring smile, but Iida simply frowns down at him, reaching up to push his glasses further up onto his nose. “You seem to be distracted by something, which is quite unusual for you during classes where our classmates are utilizing their Quirks. I don’t wish to sound, ah, what’s the word -”

“Salty?” Tsu supplies from where she stands next to Ochako, her index finger resting against her chin.

Iida clears his throat, shifting his head just slightly so that a glare falls over his glasses, hiding his eyes from view. “Ahem, I suppose that is an appropriate choice of wording,” he mutters, before continuing in a louder tone, “but nonetheless, I’ve not been speaking on the fights simply to hear myself talk. I was hoping you would observe my analysis skills and provide me with tips in the areas I am lacking.”

Izuku feels his blush deepen, his eyes shifting away from Iida as he bashfully rubs the back of his neck. “S-sorry, Iida-kun,” he apologizes. “I-I have been listening, even if it seems like I wasn’t, and you’re on the right track with your analysis of Kirishima. I think your underestimating Shoji, though. I could write out some notes after class to go over with you, if you’d like?”

Iida relaxes as much as he can, which isn’t much, but Izuku gets the feeling that his friend is less agitated now. “Thank you, Midoriya-kun. We can simply add analysis notes to our study session this afternoon.” He starts to turn his attention back to the fight but hesitates for a moment. “I’d like to remind you that if there is anything you are needing to talk about, I am always willing to listen.”

Izuku gives Iida a soft, genuine smile, grateful for his friend’s concern. “Thanks, Iida-kun.”

As Iida turns to give his full attention to the fight that’s still taking place, Izuku risks a glance at Ochako, but his eyes don’t quite make it to her. They fall on Tsu first, who’s giving him her equivalent of a smug look, the corners of her lips turned up. He feels his blush return in full force as he quickly glances away, knowing full well that Tsu at the very least suspects.

He spends the rest of class hyper focused on every word that Iida says, trying to keep himself from thinking about the girl standing next to him. It gets a bit easier when she leaves his side to face Ashido in a one-on-one, and he finds it much easier to focus on Iida’s words. A softer version of a familiar sound has him glancing over at Tsu, only to find she’s chuckling under her breath, croaks lacing the sound. He blushes again, snapping his eyes back to the screen displaying the fight.

His relief is short lived, because as soon as Ochako returns victorious, the urge to pull her into his arms is so overwhelming that he preemptively runs off to prepare for his own fight against Tokoyami. He hears Tsu’s croaking laugh increase in volume as Iida voices his confusion before he makes it out of earshot.

They do get a moment of privacy after his victory, when he finds her waiting for him outside of the monitoring room. She tilts her head to the side, looking far too adorable even with the concern lighting her eyes.

“Are you okay, Deku-kun?”

He glances to his left to see Tokoyami disappearing into the room before his eyes shift to the right. Once he’s certain they’re alone, he turns back to her. “Did the next pair already leave for their area?”

She nods, confusion mixing with the worry in her ochre orbs. That’s swiftly replaced by surprise in the next second when he darts forward, slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him. He buries his nose in her hair just behind her ear, his eyes slipping closed as he sighs.

He feels her giggle before he hears it as her arms move to wrap around his neck. “Is this what you needed?” He nods slightly, her hair brushing against his cheeks. “I think you might be touch starved, Izuku-kun.”

He feels a smile pull at the corner of his lips at the sound of his given name. “I know I’m touch starved, Ochako-chan,” he replies, lifting his head so that he can rest his forehead against hers. “I think I may have blown our cover. At least with Asu- er.. Tsu-chan.”

She giggles again. “Yeah, I think you did, but that’s okay. She’s actually the reason I was able to slip away and meet you out here.”

“Remind me to thank her later,” he murmurs, his eyes shifting from hers to glance down at her lips. He leans in a little closer, his nose brushing against hers before his eyes jump back up to meet hers, a silent question shining in their emerald depths.

Despite her blush marks deepening in color, she grins at him and tugs him closer. A happy hum vibrates in his throat as soon as their lips meet.

Chapter Text

He’s never been a fan of the rain. Which isn’t surprising considering the number of people who place negative connotations on the showers that pour from the sky. Even his own mother was not immune to the societal construct that rain was not a positive, occasionally muttering to herself about how the day had been so beautiful when it was bright and sunny, implying that once it started to rain, that was no longer true.

He can remember lying on the ground after another bout of bullying, staring up at the clear, blue sky, and wondering why it wasn’t raining. Shouldn’t it be raining? Rain is dreary and downcast and misery, so why did the sun shine more often than not on the days he was tormented by his classmates?

So he’s surprised to learn that his girlfriend, his bright, kind, bubbly, cheerful girlfriend, absolutely loves the rain.

She laughs at the incredulous look on his face, and is still giggling incessantly when she says in a teasing tone, “You look like I just told you I hate All Might.”

A strangled sound escapes his throat. “Don’t even joke about that, Ochako!”

She laughs again, light and airy, as she leans over to press a kiss to his freckled cheek. “Sorry,” she murmurs against his cheek, causing him to shudder as her breathe fans out across his skin. She pulls back so that she can look him in the eyes again. “But seriously, how can you not like the rain?”

“I just don’t,” he replies with a shrug, reaching up to run a hand through his green curls. “It’s dark and gloomy and just seems to drag everyone’s mood down.”

She studies him for a moment, silence stretching between them, and he starts to internally panic. Is she going to hate him now, for putting down the weather she enjoys? Will they break up? How can he go back to a life without Ochako, because she surely won’t want to be his friend after this?

“I’m not going to break up with you over weather, silly.” Despite the teasing name at the end of her sentence, her voice is soft and reassuring.

He feels the blush spreading across his cheeks even as he gives her a small, embarrassed smile. “I said that out loud.”

It’s not a question, but she nods anyway, reaching up to cup both of his cheeks with her hands, making sure her pinkies are raised so she doesn’t activate her Quirk on him. “I love you, Izuku, and that’s not going to change because we have different opinions on the small things. What matters is that we agree on the big things, and we leave room for negotiation on the things that can be negotiated.”

His cheeks heat up further at her declaration of love, like they always do. He thought that he would be used to it by now, because she does it often. Tells him she loves him. She started doing so after she learned about his past, as if she was single-handedly trying to make up for the lack of affection he had back then.

His smile turns from embarrassed to loving as her words register. “How do you always know the perfect thing to say?”

He watches as her blush marks deepen in color and she shifts slightly, her turn to don an embarrassing smile having arrived. “I overheard Momma say it to Papa once, but I didn’t really understand what it meant. Not until we started dating.”

He leans in, his nose brushing against hers before their lips meet. One of his hands comes up to slip into the silky strands of her hair, cupping the back of her head as he kisses her. If there’s one aspect of their relationship that Izuku just can’t get enough of, it’s kissing her. The way she melts into his touch, ochre eyes fluttering closed, as his lips move against hers.

There’s a sudden cacophony of noise against the sliding door that leads to the narrow balcony of his dorm room that causes them to jerk away from each other. He glowers at the sight of rain pounding against the glass, adding interrupting his kiss with Ochako to the reasons he dislikes the precipitation. Ochako, however, lets out a breathless squeal, ochre eyes lighting up as they turn to lock with his own emerald irises.

“Come on!” she exclaims, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the sliding door.

“W-What?” he squawks as she quickly slides the door open, pulling him out into the rain before shutting it once again. “Ochako!”

Her name spills from his lips in an incredulous cry, but it only causes her to laugh as she throws her arms around his neck. “Take us down,” she calls to him over the downpour, “and I’ll show you how much fun the rain can be!”

“Or we could just go back inside,” he grumbles loudly, walking backwards toward the door and pulling her along. “Where it’s nice and dry and -”

“Please, Izuku.”

He freezes with his hand on the door handle. She’s looking up at him with a pout on her lips, her eyes large and pleading, and he knows he’s lost. With a sigh, he lets go of the handle and wraps his arms around her waist, stepping away from the door. She squeals in delight, her arms tightening around his neck as she bends her knees to pull her legs up behind her.

He jumps off his second-floor balcony, landing with practiced ease on the ground even with her added weight. As soon as he lands, she places her feet on the ground and starts to sway from side to side. He arches an eyebrow at her, not even bothering to hide the frown that’s resting on his lips. “What are you doing?”

She rolls her eyes at him. “I’m trying to get you to dance with me.”

“Dance?” he repeats, disbelief clear in his tone. “You want to dance in the rain?”

“Yes!”

He blinks slowly down at her, and he knows he’s going to dance in the rain, but it’s going to be strictly for her. He’s only going to enjoy it, because it’s going to make her happy. The rain’s not cold, he’ll admit that it's surprisingly pleasantly warm, but he’s still thoroughly soaked with his curls weighing down his hair like his clothes are weighing down his body.

“Ten minutes,” he tells her firmly as he reaches up to push wet curls out of his eyes. “Then we’re going back inside.”

She bounces up on her toes to press another kiss to his cheek, the one she didn’t kiss earlier, and whisper her thanks in his ear. A shiver that has nothing to do with the rain pelting down on him races down his spine, but he doesn’t get the chance to dwell on it. In the next second, her hands move to grasp his own, removing them from around her waist and pulling him into an impromptu dance filled with rambunctious twirling.

With every twirl, he feels his discomfort slowly melt away and be replaced with enjoyment, and soon he’s laughing along with her as they spin together. He knows they’ve past the ten-minute mark he set, but he can’t bring himself to care. Not when he’s having more fun than he ever thought to be possible for rainy days.

He spins her away from him before tugging her back into his chest, his other hand moving to slip around her waist as he slows their dancing to a soft sway. As he leans down to capture her lips in a soft kiss, he thinks to himself that maybe the rain isn’t so bad after all.

Chapter Text

He regains consciousness with a groan, reaching up to place a hand against his head.  

“’Bout time you woke up,” a familiar voice with a bored undertone says from his right, cutting through his pounding headache. “Any longer and Recovery Girl might start charging you rent.” 

“Shut up,” he replies, but there’s no real bite to his words. “That joke got old the first time you used it.” 

The response is a dry chuckle. “It’s a classic,” the voice of his best friend argues, his tone no more enthusiastic than normal. “At least I don’t ship you with the bed.” 

He groans again, this time in exasperation. “That’s because you aren’t Ashido-san’s level of ridiculous.”  

He frowns as he opens his eyes, moving his head to where he knows Shinsou is sitting in a chair beside his bed. When their eyes meet, a flash of worried brown eyes superimposes over Shinsou’s own. He blinks slowly, finding nothing but indigo staring back at him. 

“You okay?” 

He nods, trying to form a reassuring smile. By the look on his friend’s face, it doesn’t work. “I’m okay, really. Head’s just a little foggy. Uh, remind me what happened?” 

A snort slip through Shinsou’s lips. “You won the Sports Festival. Knocked Bakugou-san’s ass into the outer wall.” A rare grin makes its way onto Shinsou’s lips. “It was fucking brilliant.” He shakes his head, as if to shake the distracting imagery from his mind. “Unfortunately, he’d got you good right before, so you collapsed immediately after.” 

Once again, he blinks slowly, but this time it’s accompanied by a smile slowly stretching across his lips. “I won,” he whispers in awed disbelief. His eyes turn to look with Shinsou’s again, emerald irises sparkling with delight. “I won!!” 

Shinsou’s deep chuckles ring through the room, barely heard over Izuku’s joyous laughter. “Yeah, yeah,” the lavender-haired boy says offhandedly, but there’s a small smile playing on his lips that lets Izuku know he’s not brushing this off. “There’s no doubt that you’ll get into the Hero Course now.” 

Izuku’s celebratory cheers are abruptly cut short as he turns his attention back to his friend. There’s no malice in Shinsou’s words, no bitterness, no jealousy. Just happiness at his friend’s victory. Still, Izuku feels his own excitement die down. “I won’t go unless they take you, too.” 

Shinsou rolls his eyes. “Calm down, Mr. I Put Everyone Else Above Myself,” he deadpans, but Izuku can see the teasing glint in his eyes. “I’m not giving up. Even if it’s not right now, I’m getting into the Hero Course, too.” 

“Hell yeah you are!” Izuku cheers, pumping a fist into the air. “We’re going to be heroes together!” 

We’re going to be heroes together!!  The voice that flits through his mind, repeating the words that just left his mouth, is soft and feminine and full of joy.  

He slowly lowers his hand, his smile fading in his confusion. Whose voice is that? Why does it sound so familiar? 

You don’t know? This is a distinctly different feminine voice. It sounds like it belongs to someone older, while the one before was likely someone around his age. Izuku, you didn’t fight Bakugou Katsuki in the Sports Festival. ______ did.  

“You sure you’re alright?” 

The clear concern in Shinsou’s voice lets Izuku know that whatever’s going on is having a noticable effect on him. He shoots Shinsou a wobbly smile. “My head’s still funny. Maybe I need to rest more.” 

Shinsou nods as he stands up from the chair. “Relax, then. I’ll go get Recovery Girl. Be back in a minute.” 

Izuku lays back down, watching as his friend leaves the room. Once he’s alone, he closed his eyes, trying to will himself to drift off to sleep, and he can’t help but to feel like he’s missing something important.  

The next time he opens his eyes, he’s standing in vast expanse of darkness. There’s a strange, mist like substance holding him in place that covers him to just under his nose, leaving only his eyes and the top of his head exposed. He starts to panic, trying to move his hands to claw at the substance, and though the mist around his limbs is more like tentacles, he can’t break free. 

“It’s okay, Izuku,” the same, older feminine voice from before speaks up. His eyes shoot up, locking onto the figure of a tall woman standing not far from him. She’s wearing a sleeveless black bodysuit that disappears into white boots. There’s a matching white cape around her shoulders, and a much shorter red cape tied around her waist, looking like a half skirt. Large, yellow gloves cover her hands, one resting against her chin as she stares at what looks to be a screen situated in front of her. “You’re not in danger here.” 

He wants to ask who she is, where they are, why he’s here, but the images on the screen catch his attention. Flashes of his life flit in and out of existence before his eyes. The morning of the entrance exam, when Shinsou had grabbed the back of his uniform jacket to keep him from falling on his face. His rejection letter for the Hero Course, having gotten zero points during the practical exam. Meeting Shinsou again in the General Education class they shared. Their friendship forming over their mutual want to join the Hero Course, to prove they were worthy. His confiding in Shinsou about One for All, after getting All Might’s approval, and their friendship strengthening because of it. 

“This is all wrong,” the woman mutters, concern lighting her dark eyes as she finally turns to look at him. “I know you can feel that.” 

This time there’s nothing to distract him from the need to speak, and he’s surprised when the mist retracts from around his mouth so that he can do so. 

“U-Um, who are you?” 

The woman before him frowns. “You don’t remember?” He quickly shakes his head, sending his green curls flying. She huffs, moving her hands to rest her fists on her hips. “I guess that explains why I’m the only one here.” 

“W-Where is here?” 

His voice cracks in his nervousness, and she responds by giving him a warm smile, and while it’s not quite as boisterous as All Might’s, it gives him the same, safe feeling. “Here is in your head, Izuku.” 

“M-My head?” he squeaks, eyes blowing wide. “Y-You’re serious?!” 

“I am,” she replies with a nod of her head. “And I’m sorry, but I get the feeling that I don’t have time to ease you into things.” She glances back at the screen, where he can see Shinsou and himself sitting down to dinner with his mother, who is ecstatic at meeting his friend. Her eyebrows pull down as she frowns, turning back to him. “My name is Shimura Nana -” 

He gasps, eyes lighting up in recognition of the name as he interrupts. “You’re All Might’s mentor!!” 

She chuckles at that, but the haunted look doesn’t leave her eyes. “I am... er... I was.” 

He wants to shuffle his feet, or reach up to rub at the back of his head, in embarrassment. Of course he knows that Shimura Nana is dead. “S-Sorry.” 

This time she laughs, but it’s not as full and cheerful as he knows it can be. How does he know that? “Relax, kid,” she says, “I’m over it for the most part.”  

“S-So...,” he begins, unsure of where to even begin with the questions he wants to ask. He settles for what seems to be the most impending. “W-Why are you in m-my head?” 

She sighs, moving her arms to cross them under her chest. “One for All,” she answers. “It allows you to speak with the previous holders. Or at least, it did, but I seem to be the only one who can talk to you right now.” 

“W-What?” 

“Something’s wrong, Izuku,” she tells him, turning to look at him. “I can feel it, and I know you can, too. This,” she uncrosses one of her arms to wave it at the screen that’s continuing to play moments from his life, “isn’t the way it happened.” 

“Something’s missing,” he whispers, remembering the feeling he had just before he drifted off. 

“Yes!” she exclaims, balling her hands into fists in front of her. “More specifically, someone is missing!! I’ve tried giving you hints, but it’s hard to find any solid traces of ___." She blinks at the lack of sound at the end of her sentence. 

Izuku tilts his head in curiosity. He’d seen her lips move, seen her mouth a word, but there was no sound accompanying the movement. He knows by her reaction that she wasn’t expecting that. “You,” he begins slowly, pieces slowly falling into place as he remembers the first time she spoke to him, outside of this place, “you said earlier, before I came here, that I didn’t fight Bakugou. That someone else did, but just like now, there was silence when you tried to say who. Maybe... maybe we can’t speak about that person in specifics?” 

Nana blinks again, before a large grin spreads across her lips. This one looks more on par with one he would expect to see on All Might’s features. “I see! Well, then, let’s talk non specifics!!”

“How are we going to do that?” he asks, bewilderment showing clearly on his features.  

“Deku sounds like ‘Dekiru’,” she tells him. He blinks up at her in confusion, a frown starting to tug the corners of his mouth down. “Like ‘You can do it’!” 

My ‘Deku’ isn’t always going to mean ‘useless!’ His voice rings through the air, determination clear in his tone. My ‘Deku’ means ‘You can do it!’  

Wide, emerald eyes dart around, trying to find a source for what he just heard, but there is none. Even the screen previously displaying his memories has gone blank. His eyes dart back to Nana, only to widen in shock. Where Nana was standing before his voice sounded, there stands a girl his age, wearing a pink and black outfit. The girl flickers out of existence the second he sees her, preventing him from taking in any specifics of her appearance. It’s just Nana standing there once again. 

“W-Who was t-that?” 

Nana’s smile widens, but she doesn’t answer his question. Instead, she says, “It’s better to team up with people you get along with!” 

Again, his voice echoes around the darkness. It’s just that you’re so bright, that I can’t look straight at you...  

A bright smile set on a face with pink cheeks flashes through his mind, and he furrows his brows. He knows that smile, doesn’t he? 

“What’s important is controlling your heart.”  

Izuku’s eyes move to the right of Nana, where this new voice seems to have spoken from. A large man steps out of the mist, almost blending completely in due to his dark leather outfit, the only color on his clothing the golden shoulder pads and the golden goggles resting on his forehead above his eyes. He wears a jacket left open, with no shirt underneath and a bandolier resting across his torso, leaving most of his chest as bare as his hands. 

He opens his mouth to ask who he is, but he doesn’t get the chance. Another voice interrupts him, the same soft, feminine voice from before, when he was awake. Deku-kun, are you okay?  

He hears his own voice reply in concern, the first word broken and incomplete. U___a_____n, you’re hurt. Immediately following that sentence, to the point where they overlapped just slightly, is another sentence in his voice, this one filled with irritation. Of course, I’m okay. You jumped in front of the hit meant for me when you didn’t need to!  

The smell of a hospital room assaults his nose, even though the darkness around him doesn’t change. He starts to recoil, but then an image flashes through his mind. A pale shoulder with the edge of a dark bruise wrapping around it.  

“Banjo!” Nana cheers, drawing Izuku’s gaze back to her. “You showing up must mean we’re making progress!” 

The man, presumably named Banjo, crosses his arms over his chest and shoots a side glance at Nana. “Makes sense,” he replies in his gruff voice. He turns his gaze to Izuku, and while he looks like he’s angry, Izuku feels nothing but acceptance. “Are you alright, Midoriya-kun?” 

O-Oh, yeah. I’m fine. His voice replies, echoing around in the darkness instead of coming from his open mouth, but he gets the distinct feeling that that’s not true.  

An image of Iida superimposes itself over Banjo, his friend’s eyes looking down at him from behind his glasses, shining with concern. “You seem to be distracted by something...” 

A flurry of phantom touches assaults his senses, even though the mist surrounding him doesn’t recede. Strong arms wrapping around him in a comforting hug. A gentle grip on his arm. Fingertips pressed against the back of his hand, softer than any he’s ever felt. A cheek pressed against his own. His fingers entangling in silky strands of hair. 

I think you might be touch starved, Izuku-kun. That voice again, so foreign and yet so familiar at the same time.  

The image of Iida fades away as more people start to appear behind Nana and Banjo. A man with short, spiky hair, a large scar across the front of his face, wearing a combat jacket with a large black collar. Another man in a combat jacket, but with his hair tied up in a spiky ponytail and a black bandana covering his forehead. A man with light colored hair and a crack on his face that runs from his left eyes to his left lower lip, only his head visible over the shoulders of Banjo and Nana. A man with dark hair and a high collared jacket obscuring his mouth, standing behind Banjo’s other shoulder. Two men who both appear to be sickly, one of average height while the other easily towers over the rest, stand on opposite ends of the small group.  

He recognizes the taller of the men as Yagi Toshinori, better known as All Might. He expects to be filled with shock and worry, because Toshinori isn’t dead, not as far as Izuku knows, but he’s not. He’s filled with a knowing calm that Toshinori will remain silent in this mindscape.  

The shorter of these two men has white hair that falls to his shoulders and is staring at Izuku with warm green eyes. A small smile tugs at the corners of his lips. “How can you not like the rain?” 

Izuku’s own green eyes widen as the sound of a downpour crashes into his ears, but there’s no rain falling onto his person. It’s just the noise rain brings, and Izuku’s surprised to find that there is no immediate dislike coursing through him. Again, his voice rings through the air, though he doesn’t physically speak.  

I just don’t. It’s dark and gloomy and just seems to drag everyone’s mood down.  

That soft, feminine voice responds, a note of delight in its words. I’ll show you how much fun the rain can be!  

Something warm and wet lands on his cheek, causing him to tilt his head back to look above him. As soon as he does, the sound of rain is suddenly accompanied by its physical counterpart as hundreds of drops pour down from the darkness above him.  

With the physical manifestation of the rain comes a cacophony of memories that flood his senses. He screams, falling to his knees as he clutches his head, eyes clenched shut, unable to make sense of the information being released all at once. He doesn’t even realize the mist is no longer holding him in place. 

A heavy hand comes to rest on his shoulder and the assault on his mind comes to an abrupt stop. One memory comes to the forefront of the frozen barrage. It’s the girl he briefly saw earlier, but she’s as faded as she had looked then. She’s clear enough that he can make out her features in detail.  

Soft brown hair falls in a bob haircut that falls just short of her shoulders, with two longer strands in the front. Warm ochre eyes shine at him from behind long lashes. A soft, loving smile stretches across pale, full lips, the corners of her mouth almost touching the pink blush marks donning her cheeks.  

His eyes shoot open, locking with the brilliant blue irises of Yagi Toshinori. The rain has stopped, the darkness returning to its previous state. “Ochako,” Izuku gasps out, and Toshinori smiles.  

“It’s time to wake up, Izuku.” 

The voice is that of the white-haired man’s, the one Izuku now remembers to be Shigaraki Yoichi, the first wielder of One for All. He adjusts to look past Toshinori and is surprised to see the previous wielders fading back into the darkness. He doesn’t panic, though. He knows they’ll be there again when he needs them. 

Toshinori’s hand falls from his shoulder as he, too, begins to fade back into the darkness. Once he’s alone, he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. 

Awareness comes back to him all at once. He tries to lift his right hand to rub his eyes, feeling as if he’s been asleep for days, but it’s caught in a tight grip. He uses his left hand instead, but it freezes halfway through its task.

“Izuku?” 

The voice is just as soft and sweet as it was in his mindscape, but there is no confusion as to who it belongs to now. He drops his hand away from his eyes, which snap open and turn to look at the person sitting at his bedside. 

There she is, both hands clutching desperately at his right one, revealing the reason he couldn’t move it earlier. Her eyes are rimmed red, as if she’s been crying, and it makes his heart ache. She isn’t smiling, but staring at him in disbelief.  

“Ochako.” Her name passes his lips in a voice that’s hoarse and its only then that he realizes how dry his throat feels, as if its been out of use for a while. 

Fresh tears well up at the edges of her ochre eyes and he opens his mouth to tell her not to cry, but he doesn’t get the chance. In the next second, she’s jumping on him, her arms wrapping around his neck as she buries her face in his chest.  

“The doctors said you wouldn’t wake up. That no one’s ever pulled themselves out of the effects of the Quirk you were hit with.” She’s shaking, her voice barely audible, so unlike the girl he’s used to. He’s quick to wrap his arms around her, as tight as he dares to, and bury his nose in her hair. “I didn’t believe them. I knew you’d come back.” 

He feels his own tears start to form, pouring over his eyelids in rivers. There’s so much he could say to her, so much to tell her, but there will be time for that later. All he wants to do right now is hold her, to keep her close to him, afraid if he lets go, she’ll cease to exist. Again. 

“I promise,” he whispers, adjusting his hold on her to try to pull her closer, even if it isn’t physically possible, “that whenever it’s within my ability to do so, I’ll always come back to you.” 

He feels her stop shaking, but neither of them let go of the other. For the moment, they are content to stay wrapped around each other. 

Chapter Text

She knows she can’t hide this from him, he’s always been a very empathic person. Even before they started dating, but now it seems like he’s even more attuned to her emotions than before. He always knows what she’s feeling, sometimes even before she, herself, has worked it out.  

She still tries. She doesn’t want to burden him with something so trivial.  

As she expected, it doesn’t take him long to catch on. She can tell by the worried glances he’s giving her. She tries to return those glances with reassuring smiles, but she knows he doesn’t buy it.  

He’s been what some would call overly touchy since the start of their relationship, a fact that she doesn’t mind at all , but he tries to keep their public interactions limited. Even after they reveal their relationship to their friends.  

Now, however, he walks over to slip his arms around her waist, chin resting on her shoulder as he watches her prepare the vegetables needed for dinner. Two identical ‘Aww!!’s sound from behind them, followed by a squeal of surprise. Neither of them needs to look to know that Rikido has likely swatted Tooru over the head with a folded dish towel to get her attention back on helping with dinner. It’s a common enough occurrence whenever she or Mina are on cooking duty when the other isn’t.  

“You going to tell me what’s wrong?” he whispers in her ear, audible only to those whose Quirks provide enhanced hearing outside of her.  

She feels her cheeks heat up as tears blur her vision, her knife stilling against a carrot. She takes a deep breath to collect herself, pushing the negative thoughts out of her mind, or trying to. “I can’t,” she admits, blinking rapidly to clear her eyes. She knows he doesn’t miss the way her voice wavers. “Not right now.”  

“Later?”  

“Later,” she confirms with a small nod as she starts to slice the carrot.  

“Okay,” he says, turning his head just slightly to nuzzle her cheek, discreetly placing a kiss over her blush mark.  

While he does remove his arms from around her waist and step away from her, he doesn’t move out of reaching distance, a fact that she’s rather grateful for. His presence helps her shove down the negative thoughts still trying to plague her enough that the rest of prep goes smoothly. She hands the vegetables off to Rikido seconds before Tooru bounds over with the chicken.  

“Thanks, guys,” he says, shooting them a smile. “I can handle it from here.”  

“Whoo!” Tooru exclaims as she bounces out of the kitchen, pulling off the apron she’d been wearing.  

Ochako lingers for a moment, asking, “Are you sure? I could start on clean-up.”    

“Uraraka-chan,” he begins, stopping what he’s doing briefly to give her an exasperated look. “You know as well as I do that clean-up is done by a separate team.” He turns his attention back to the curried rice they’d settled on for dinner, adding, “You have ten seconds to get out of the kitchen, or I’ll get Midoriya-kun to carry you out.”    

She can’t help but to giggle at that, reaching behind her to untie her own apron as she turns away from him. “Okay, okay, I’m going,” she replies, hanging the apron back up on one of the designated hooks. It’s not dirty, considering she was only chopping vegetables, so there’s no need to put it in the laundry bin yet.    

Her eyes lock with Izuku’s as she makes her way over to him, a question lingering in his emerald orbs, but she gives him a subtle shake of her head. He nods his head once, verifying that he understands, and they make their way to the couches that litter the common room.    

They move to sit down on a couch occupied by Tsu, who reaches out to pull Ochako down so that she’ll be sitting in the middle. Two shades of green collide is Izuku catches her eye over Ochako’s head, his brows furrowed as he mouths, ‘You know?’    

She nods once as she snuggles into Ochako’s side, her arms wrapped around Ochako’s one like a worried sibling would do. Ochako sighs as Izuku settles in on her other side, his arm going around her shoulders as she leans against him. Todorki seemingly materializes out of nowhere, causing Ochako to jump in surprise as he settles down on the floor directly in front of her, leaning back against her legs. The limited space left between Tsu and the far arm of the couch is filled with Iida shortly after that, though he barely fits. Tsu shifts a bit, readjusting so that she’s practically sitting in Iida’s lap, something that would’ve made the Class Rep blush profusely a year ago. Now, he simply accepts her weight on him as he engages Izuku in conversation.    

As she watches her friends converse, she can’t stop the smile that stretches across her lips. Tsu, like Izuku, has always been one of the more empathic ones in their group, even if she doesn’t show much emotion herself. Iida was a natural once they drew him out of his head, got him to open up more. Todoroki was the unexpected, pleasant surprise. In the beginning, his social skills had been worse than even Izuku’s, with him having practically been isolated his entire childhood. It took them the better part of six months to get him to stop taking everything so literally. Fortunately, the work they put in for Iida seemed to also influence Todoroki, to the point where he opened up to them about his past quicker than any of them had expected.    

He still doesn’t get a lot of the references some of their classmates make from time to time, and his empathy seems to only extend to the four of them, but they are all more than okay with that, if he is.    

Even when Rikido calls out that dinner was ready, they don’t leave her side, claiming the end of one of the dining tables. They keep the conversation going all through dinner, Tsu quickly bringing up new topics whenever it looks like there’s going to be a lull. It’s effective in keeping her distracted and she makes a mental note to get Tsu a small something in appreciation.    

Luckily, Izuku isn’t on cleaning duty this evening, so he follows her up to her room after they rinse their dishes and place them in the sink. She fidgets nervously in the elevator, one arm crossed behind her back to grasp the other that’s hanging at her side. The feel of his fingers intwining with her own draws her eyes up to meet his. She relaxes at the love she finds shining there, and the soft smile donning his lips, returning it with one of her own, though it's laced with nervousness.  

Once the door shuts behind them, they move to sit on the edge of her bed, hands still intwined. He speaks first, voice soft and full of concern, “What’s wrong, Ocha?”    

She takes a deep, shaky breath before she begins, “When Tsu and I were out getting groceries earlier, we ran into a girl I went to middle school with.” She feels him tense, and she knows he’s recalling what she’s told him about her own bullies. “At first, it wasn’t that bad. She congratulated me on getting into UA. I know it wasn’t genuine, but she was civil about it, so I let it go. She asked how the classes were, what it was like to be taught by Pro Heroes, and even commented on how I made it further in the Sports Festival than she thought I would. I know it was meant to be condescending, but it made me feel a little proud of myself, because I proved her wrong.    

“It wasn’t until Tsu mentioned that we should be heading back that she lost all air of being civil. I had said goodbye and Tsu and I turned to leave, when she asked...” Her voice trails off, a sob lodging itself in her throat and making it impossible to get the words out. Izuku lets go of her hand just long enough to switch it out with the other one so that he can rub her back comfortingly. He doesn’t say anything, just waits patiently for her to gather herself enough to finish her story. “She asked how many people I had to screw to get in.” Her voice is barely above a whisper, but she knows he hears it because his hand stills against her back. “Tsu tried to defend me, told her that I got in on my own merit, but she just laughed. She said there was no way a poor country girl with no potential could’ve made it into UA.” She takes another shuddering breath before she presses on. “She said that the only thing I had to offer was my body, and that even that was dubious, because who would want a fatass.” Tears form in her eyes, quickly spilling over her eyelids to trail down her cheeks. “And I know I shouldn’t have let it get to me, but I worked so hard to get here, and it hurt so much to hear someone reduce it to nothing, and it made me feel weak and pathetic-”    

“Stop.” His voice is still soft, but it’s firm, leaving no room for argument as he interrupts her. “You are human , Ocha. You are allowed to be hurt by the things that... that... idiot said.” She blinks, turning her head to look at him in shock at the venom lacing the word ‘idiot’. There’s a fierce determination shining in his emerald eyes that takes her breath away. “Your friends are here to remind you that none of what she said is true. You have so much more to offer than someone like that, because you’re smart and strong and kind and understanding. You care about your friends’ wellbeing, always checking on us when you think something’s wrong, making sure we know you’re here to talk to if we need it. You risk your life for complete strangers without a second thought. And you’re beautiful , Ochako. You may be, ah, curvy,” his voice cracks here, a fierce blush flooding his cheeks under his freckles, “but you are not fat.”    

She stares at him in awe for a few seconds, still processing everything he said in his passionate speech, before she rips her hand out of his to throw both of her arms around his neck. She presses her lips against his, surprising him for a split second before his arms move to wrap around her waist, pulling her closer. She hadn’t meant for it to turn into full blown make out session, but as they pulled away minutes later, both breathless, she decides there was no other way it should have gone.    

“Thank you,” she whispers against his lips.    

“You’re welcome,” he replies, his nose brushing against hers. “I love you, Ochako.”    

“I love you, too, Izuku,” she says with a soft giggle.  

A smile spreads across his lips seconds before they claim hers in another kiss.  

Chapter Text

She wakes up to a wail tearing itself from her throat, tears already spilling down her cheeks. Her heart is pounding in her chest and her breathing is harsh. She can still see the image of his body disintegrating into ash, Shigaraki standing just beyond that, a wild grin on his lips.  

She rolls out of bed, falling to her knees before scrambling to her feet. Her heart is still beating too fast as she unplugs her phone from its charger before making her way to her door. She doesn’t even check to see what time it is, because it doesn’t matter. It’s a rule that was established early on in their relationship that if one of them has a nightmare, they seek the other out for comfort, no matter the time.  

She takes the elevator, because taking the stairs means travelling down four flights and then back up two, with the way the dorms are situated. She doesn’t feel like she has enough energy to accomplish that safely. The common room is unsurprisingly dark as she passes through, making her way to the boys’ side. The elevator ride to the second floor is much shorter, and yet, she feels like it takes forever before the doors are sliding open again.  

She makes her way to his door as quietly as she can, knocking lightly knowing that he’ll hear it. She wipes her cheeks with her hand as she waits, trying to clear them of any lingering tears. She finds her efforts to be a vain as soon as he opens the door. The second she sees him, whole and alive, standing in front of her, tears well up in her eyes again. She lunges forward, her arms wrapping around his torso as she buries her face in his shirt.  

Having just been roused from sleep, he has to take a step back to keep them both from crashing to the floor. His arms wrap around her on instinct, securing her to him as he mumbles sleepily, “Come on, let’s go sit down.”  

She nods with her face still pressed into his shirt, starting to pull away, but his arms tighten around her. He guides her into the room, carefully walking backwards, and shuts the door. He guides her over to his bed in the same way, where he finally let's go of her, though it’s only long enough for the two of them to crawl onto the bed. He props his pillow up against the wall at the head of the bed before leaning back against it. Taking her hand, he gently tugs her back into his arms so that she’s sitting between his legs, curled up against him.  

“Do you want to talk about it?”  

Her hand clenches around the fabric of his shirt, her voice soft and full of fear. “Y-You got c-caught in the wave of Shigaraki’s Quirk,” she whimpers, the flow of her tears increasing. “I-I couldn’t get to you in time. I-I had to w-watch y-you...”  

She doesn’t finish, she doesn’t have to, instead choosing to bury her face in his shirt again. The arm around her waist tightens as he lays his cheek against the top of her head. “I’m here,” he says, the fingers of his other hand running soothingly through her hair. “I’m right here, and as long as within my power to do so, I’ll always be right here.”  

Even with his assurances, it takes her a while to calm down, though not long enough that they can’t try to get some more rest. They readjust so that they are laying down facing each other, her arms folded between them and one of his wrapped securely around her waist. Her head is tucked under his chin, and she’s using the upper part of his other arm as a pillow while his hand continues to play in her hair.  

“Go to sleep, Ochako,” he murmurs, sleep lacing his words. “I’ll keep the nightmares away.”  

She giggles even as she feels her eyelids start to droop. “My hero,” she sighs as her eyes finally close, her body relaxing against his.  

She doesn’t see his cheeks fill with a light blush, or the large grin stretch across his lips, or the spark of absolute giddiness that enters his emerald eyes. She does feel him pull her impossibly closer, feels the brush of his lips against her head, before sleep claims her once more.