End of a Chapter
A cold wind bellowed throughout the halls of Yuuei Academy. All of the classrooms were empty, the halls were desolate, and the training fields were void of any life. It would seem the entire campus was empty, if it wasn't for the overwhelming sound of conversation erupting from the auditorium. Every student, teacher and staff member collected themselves inside the large room for one final meeting. It was finally the last day of the year, and the end of year ceremony was about to begin.
"Alright everyone!" Principle Nezu said, immediately stopping any and all conversation.
"It's finally that time of year! And as tradition, I have called you all here to celebrate the end of it!"
The auditorium was immediately filled with the sound of excited clapping and whistling.
"Right! Now, before I hand this over to one of our teachers, I'd like to say a few things."
Nezu straightened his tie, and cleared his throat.
"First, we cannot sit here and celebrate the good while ignoring the bad. A lot of terrible things have happened this year, and I must address them. I am not going to relay each of these events to you all, as I'm sure you all know what they are. But, I must say that these were all terrible tragedies that cannot, and will not repeat themselves. When you second and first years return next year, you will return to see a strengthened and emboldened campus. I am making this my number one concern over break."
Once again, the room filled with clapping.
"Second, I want to congratulate each and every one of you. You've all shown great progress since you first started this year, and I am so proud to see how all of you have improved and moved onwards in your quest to become heroes. Yuuei Academy is not called the most prestigious and hardest hero course in the country for a reason. You all should be sincerely proud of yourselves!"
Another wave of exciting clapping and whistling swarmed the room.
"And finally, I want to address one class in particular. Normally, I don't do things like this, but I am afraid it's necessary. Class 1-A, I would like you all to stand up."
Hesitantly, each student of class 1-A stood up from their seats, and nervously looked around the room. All eyes were now on them.
"I want to address you all in front of everyone. Words cannot express how proud I am of all of you. Each and every one of you have been through so much, and it is incredible that you are all still here with us. You've faced unbelievable odds, and have overcome those odds flawlessly. You've really come together as a team. You deserve to be recognized for this, and I have no doubt in my mind that you will all become fantastic heroes."
All of class 1-A blushed in crazy embarrassment from the sudden overwhelming praise from their principle, and all responded at the same time.
"Thank you, Sensei!"
"It's quite alright. You may be seated."
Almost immediately, the kids took their seats.
"Now, I am going to hand this over to one of our teachers, then you will all be sent back to your homerooms. All Might?"
The mention of All Might perked the ears of Izuku Midoriya, who was sitting with his class 1-A peers.
The skeletal man slowly picked himself up from his chair, and shuffled towards the microphone. Every student in the auditorium expected to see the symbol of peace in his full glory, towering at just over 7 feet tall with bulging muscles. They were quickly reminded of his retirement.
All Might stood in front of the podium, coughed up a little bit of blood, and revealed a few notecards from his pocket.
"Ahem!"
His voice cut like a knife into the crowd. Instead of the booming, strong voice they all knew and loved, a modest and weak voice was all they heard.
"I just wanted to say a few things to you all. First and foremost, I am so proud to have been part of the staff here. I have watched you all grow and change on your path to becoming pros, and I couldn't be more impressed. This world needs heroes now more than ever in my absence, and I have no doubt that you all will fill the void in the people's hearts."
All Might paused to cough again, and straighten out his index cards.
"Although it may have appeared that I had a few favorite students, that is not the case. I have treated you all completely indifferent of each other, and could not choose a favorite, even If I tried."
These words caused Izuku to shift around in his seat a little. He knew All Might meant well by lying, but he couldn't help but feel a little bad. He and All Might had such a close relationship that was kept secret from everyone else, and he was clearly All Might's favorite. He wasn't dense enough to question that.
Neither was Katsuki Bakugo, who was seated just a few rows behind him. He scoffed at the lie he just heard, and started to burn a hole in the back of Izuku's head.
"I am extremely satisfied with how this year's curriculum has turned out, and I cannot wait to return next year to continue to teach you all, despite my retirement."
All Might looked up from his note cards, and realized how serious everyone appeared to be. This was a time for celebrating, not being serious. He threw his note cards into the air, and slammed the podium with his fist. This caused everyone in the auditorium to jump, and everyone was exhilarated when they saw All Might now wore a gigantic, albeit skeletal smile.
"BUT ALWAYS REMEMBER! PUSH PAST YOUR LIMITS, EVEN DURING BREAK!"
Everyone in the room gleamed with anticipation for his next sentence.
"ALWAYS GO! BEYOND!"
All Might brought his now throbbing arm behind his shoulder, and shot a glare of determination towards the crowd.
"PLUS ULTRA!"
He launched his fist forwards, causing the room to roar with applause and shouts. Everyone was now invigorated to no end, and a hundred fists were punching the air. Izuku almost activated his quirk from sheer excitement, and Bakugo almost set off a humongous explosion.
Shortly after All Might's explosive ending to his speech, Nezu had all the students return to their homerooms. The auditorium quickly emptied, and each student walked back to their classrooms. But All Might made sure to catch his young pupil just before he exited the room.
"Hey, Midoriya! A word!"
Izuku paused his movements, and excitedly looked back towards his mentor.
"I'll catch you in homeroom, Iida!"
"Alright Midoriya! Just don't be late!"
Izuku waved to his friend, and walked over to where All Might was standing. He was happy to see that he still had his smile, so it couldn't be anything serious.
"Y-Yes, All Might?"
After looking to make sure no one was looking, All Might placed his hand on top of his pupil's head, and brought him into a hug. This completely caught Izuku off guard.
"Believe me, If I could, I would have praised you to no end. In my honest opinion, you have come farther than anyone else, and I only played a small role in your success. I am so, so proud of you, and I couldn't have asked for a better successor."
All Might released Izuku from his hug, and sighed when he saw his face full of tears. He also noticed his shirt was all wet.
"But THAT we have to work on. How are you going to get a girlfriend if you keep crying like that?"
Izuku's cheeks lit up like a christmas tree, and he flailed his arms around in confusion.
"W-WHERE DID T-THAT COME FROM?"
"HAHAHAH! Don't worry, my boy! I'm just messing with you!"
All Might ruffled his student's hair, and nudged him towards the door.
"Now, you should probably get going! Don't want to be late."
"Y-Yes sir!"
Izuku turned around and started running in the direction of the door, while wiping away his tears to avoid embarrassing himself in front of his entire class.
"Oh, and Midoriya!"
Izuku almost tripped as he quickly spun around to face the former pro.
"Yeah, All Might?"
"Remember! Your training with Gran Torino and myself starts next monday! You have this weekend to rest, but you better get yourself ready!"
He nodded his head, and clenched his fists in determination.
"Yes! I can't wait for it!"
All Might gave his student a thumbs up, and watched as he ran off to his homeroom class.
'Oooh you can, Midoriya. Trust me, you're going to need all the rest you can get.'
Still pumped up from All Might's speech, the students of class 1-A were now excitedly chatting away inside of their homeroom since Aizawa was late as usual.
"I'm finally going to take a break! We've been through so much already, so I decided to finally relax and hang out with my friends! Of course, you're all invited to come by anytime!" Mina shouted while excitedly glancing over to Toru. She even gave a very subtle wink to Kirishima.
Kirishima started to blush, and he was relieved when he realized that no one else noticed.
"Y-Yeah, I might swing by if I find the time! But my main focus over break is going to be my internship with Fat Gum. You can't stop training, even if you're given a chance to rest! Training is the manliest thing you can do, especially when you're trying to be a pro!"
Mina gave him a disappointed look, but she was quickly caught by surprise by a certain class president repeatedly waving his arm in her face.
"Ashido! Spending all of your free time being lazy and with friends is irresponsible of an aspiring hero! You should be spending your time training and strengthening your quirk!"
"Alright Mr. Class President! How do you plan on spending your vacation, then?"
Iida adjusted his glasses and straightened his posture, becoming a human board.
"I'm going to spend all of my time training so I can become worthy to inherit the hero name Ingenium! I'll also be spending time at my family's agency to learn as much as I can about my family's agency!"
"That's lame!"
The class turned around to see no one at first, until they looked down. They were all instantly annoyed by what they saw. Mineta was excitedly looking towards Iida with an obviously mischievous glare.
"Why spend your time like that when you could be going to the gym!"
Everyone gasped in astonishment. Could Mineta actually be focusing on something other than his perverted desires for once?
"And stare at all the hot chicks who go there in yoga pants!"
Everyone sighed in annoyance. Of course he wasn't.
"Right, Kaminari?"
The focus was now redirected at Kaminari, who started rubbing the back of his head in panic. The girls were now setting him ablaze with their stares, causing him to start sweating like a pig.
"Sorry man, but I gotta pass on this one. The past few weeks have really left an impression on me, and I can't just sit around anymore. I gotta buckle down and train so my stupid brain won't short circuit so much anymore. I hate to say it, but I gotta agree with Mr. Class Prez for once."
All of the girls gasped, and most of the boys nodded in admiration. They expected him to turn around at some point. He's a little stupid, but they knew he wasn't completely lost. His reply also caught the attention of Jiro, who was even more shocked than anyone else.
'Hm. Maybe he isn't such an idiot after all?'
The class continued to go around one by one explaining what they're going to do over break. Asui, Ojiro, Koda, Sato, Shoji, Jiro, Sero, Tokoyami, Todoroki, Hagakure, and Yaoyorozu all stated the same general thing. They were all going to hone their quirks, and continue their internships. Aoyama stated that he too would be training his quirk so that it would last longer, but he also mentioned going on a quest to make himself shine even brighter. When Bakugo was asked what he'd be doing, he just told everyone to shut the fuck up and mind their own damn business. Then, the focus was turned onto Izuku.
"So Midoriya, What are you going to do?" Yaoyorozu asked, who had become genuinely curious about the green haired boy since his recent amazing display of power against Overhaul.
"O-Oh, me? Well, I'm actually going to go train with Gran Torino, the hero who I first interned with for the whole break."
"Oh, that's cool Midoriya! But you'll still have time to hang out with us, right?" Asked Mina, who also took an interest in him after his recent breakthrough.
"U-Uh, I'm not sure. He lives in the city, and he's pretty harsh when it comes to training, so I might not be around at all, unfortunately. Sorry."
His words disappointed everyone in the room. They all grew to really admire and appreciate their green haired classmate, and were saddened to learn they might not get to see him at all over break. These words especially caught the attention of a certain brown haired girl.
'Deku isn't going to be around? It's great that he's training so hard and I wouldn't expect anything else from him, but… why do I feel so sad?'
She started to feel a bit sick. How could she live without the person who's changed her life so much? The person who she's developed such strong feelings for? Ever since he saved her from the 0 point robot, she has always spent her time with him. She couldn't even imagine a world without him now.
"What are you doing over break, Uraraka?"
A familiar voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she locked eyes with his. Emerald green marbles, the eyes she adored to no end.
"O-Oh! Um, I'm probably going to just focus on my internship with Ryukyu and keep training my quirk like everyone else! Yeah!"
"That's awesome, Uraraka! Ryukyu is a fantastic hero, and I have no doubt that you'll become an even better hero after break! I can't wait to see how far you go!"
The entire room noticed the huge blush that grew on Ochako's face. They've all suspected that the two have had a thing for eachother since Mina correctly guessed that she was in love, but now it was unquestionable. They felt bad for her to a degree, though. Izuku was definitely a little too dense for his own good.
The door to the classroom caught everyone off guard, and they all scrambled back to their seats.
"Alright."
It was Aizawa, and he was even more tired than usual. The man shuffled in his pink slippers over to his desk, and grabbed a yellow box out from one of his drawers.
"Now, I'm sure that you are all super excited for break, but I'm going to warn you. The amount of students I've seen fall behind over break and eventually fail because of it is a lot more than I'd want. I don't expect this mistake to be made by any of you-"
Aizawa shot a cold stare over towards Mina, Mineta, and Kaminari, who froze like ice in response.
"But, I feel like I need to remind you all to practice and train as hard as you can. The road to becoming a hero is perilous, so you're going to need to become as strong as you possibly can as fast as you can."
Aizawa opened the box he had on his desk, and took out a brand new sleeping bag suit. It had two entirely separate pouches for the legs, so he could walk and sleep comfortably at the same time.
"I also feel like I need to address you all in another way, as well."
He threw on the sleep suit, and started to search for a comfortable place underneath his desk.
"You've all been through a considerable amount. The action you all have been in so far was way too much for even some third years, yet you all managed to deal with it flawlessly. I…"
Aizawa grit his teeth. He obviously didn't want to show too much emotion, but he just respected these kids too damn much.
"I truly feel that you all will become great heroes. And I hope that I get to teach you again next year."
No one could believe their ears. Eraserhead, their emotionless teacher who expelled students for fun, just said he wished he could be their teacher again next year. Before they could even get a chance to respond, the bell rang, indicating that the last day before break had finally come to an end. Everyone quickly shot out of their seats, and ran out the door.
Iida, Ochako, and Izuku all walked together to the front gates.
"Well! I wish you two the best of luck during our time off. I trust you both enough, so I know that you won't slack off."
"You too, Iida! I know that you'll get even stronger!" Izuku said, giving his engine legged friend a firm handshake.
"Yeah, Iida! I promise I'll train as hard as I can!" Ochako said, giving her overwhelmingly tall friend a tight hug.
"Well, I really need to catch my train. I cannot be late! I'm heading off to my family's agency!"
Ochako felt a pit grow in her stomach. Not only was she going to not see Izuku, she also couldn't even see Iida. She was going to be completely alone again over break. She hated to admit, but she could deal with losing Iida for a few months, but Izuku? She couldn't even comprehend how she was going to deal with this.
Iida started running off to his train's boarding area, waving goodbye the whole time.
"Goodbye, Iida! See you in a few months!"
Ochako and Izuku now stood in complete silence. The air blew and the leaves under their feet danced around in the gust of wind, and everything around them seemed to freeze. They desperately wanted to break the ice, but neither one had any idea how.
"W-Well, I should probably go too. I have a lot to get ready for monday!" Izuku said, breaking the incredibly awkward ice.
"I-I'm really going to miss you, Uraraka! I'll keep in touch with you as much as I can!"
He was always terrible at expressing his emotions towards others. He truly cared for her, way more than he realized. She truly meant the world to him, and he owed her so much. She's helped him in more ways than he could ever imagine, and he will forever be in her debt. But, he's been so focused on becoming the next symbol of peace that he's never stopped to think about their relationship. If he did, he would quickly find some buried romantic feelings he had for her which his brain subconsciously hid from himself so his heart wouldn't send him astray from his one true goal.
He turned around to walk to his boarding station, desperately wanting to escape from the awkward situation he found himself in.
He was stopped by a hand grabbing his sleeve.
He turned around to see what the problem was, and nearly fainted at the sight of an adorable Ochako blushing like crazy, who was clinging onto his sleeve. This sent him in a blushing frenzy, and he could feel his stutter return in full force.
"W-What's wrong, U-Uraraka?"
Ochako's blushed deepened. She desperately tried to say what was on her mind, but found herself unable to cough up the words she needed to say for a few seconds. It took every ounce of her courage to speak, and every ounce of her strength to look him in the eye.
"D-Deku, I… I'm really going to miss you too, and I wish you nothing but the best in your training, b-but…"
She choked on her own words. Both kids were now blushing brighter than the sun, and Izuku was in complete astonishment at what he was looking at. Even while she was a flustered mess, she was absolutely beautiful. From her chestnut brown hair, her gorgeous brown eyes, her adorable cute face, to her bubbly personality. He was at a loss for words.
"I-I can't even imagine a world without you, anymore. You've done so much for me, and we've done so much together that I can't remember my life without y-you in it. D-Deku… there's something I need to tell you. Something that I've been struggling with for a long time, but… I don't think I can hold it back anymore now that I know you're leaving for so long…"
Izuku gulped. He can feel his skin pouring sweat out by the gallon, and he anxiously awaited for her next words. Ochako releases her grip on his sleeve, and starts to twiddle her thumbs. She interrupts their eye contact and looks down towards the ground, trying to muster up the last bit of courage she needs to blurt out what she truly wanted to say.
The silence was palpable, and both were now clamoring for something to say. But, the silence finally gave Izuku time to really think. For the first time since he first met her, he finally took a second to realize just how much she meant to him, and he unearthed all the repressed feelings he buried deep inside his heart the second they came up. He's been so focused on being a hero, that his mind must have subconsciously set those feelings aside before he could even feel them. This realization hit him like a truck.
"D-Deku, I…"
She didn't give him a chance to express his new feelings.
"I like you! I really really like you!"
The wind howled, and a stream of cherry blossoms danced around in the breeze. The silence cut through her confidence not like a knife, but a chainsaw. Seeing his face in pure astonishment made her panic to no end, and she instantly went to apologize for being so selfish.
"D-Deku! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"
"I-I LIKE YOU T-TOO!"
Izuku spat his words out like verbal diarrhea. He felt immensely guilty for letting the silence linger long enough to make her feel life apologizing. His words apparently worked, as Ochako was instantly thrown out of her panic, and was sent right back into her flustered frenzy. Her eyes shot up to meet his, and she could hardly believe what she just heard.
"I… I've been r-really selfish, haven't I? I've been so f-focused on being a hero that I never stopped to realize how I f-felt about you, too…"
She was absolutely baffled. She was the one confessing, who was risking their friendship because of her feelings, but HE was the one saying sorry?
"B-But, the truth is… I… I really like you t-too. I think I always h-have, but I g-guess I buried those feelings because… I was so focused on becoming number one, and… I never w-would have thought you'd feel the same way…"
Ochako felt tears begin to fill her eyes. Finally, after all this time of struggling with her thoughts and wrestling her feelings into a cage, she finally heard the words she desperately wanted to hear. She wasn't crazy, and she wasn't being selfish. He's felt the same way this whole time, he's just so dense he never realized it.
He noticed her tears, and instantly made the same mistake she did.
"O-Oh no, I'm so sorry! I've been so selfish, I should have waited until-"
He was silenced by a pair of soft, angelic lips locking with his. She had pulled him into a warm embrace, and entwined herself to him with a love lock. He thought he was going crazy at first, but he soon let himself accept that this was really happening, allowed himself to melt in her arms, and returned the hug. They remained entangled in each other's arms for what felt like hours, only releasing each other so that they wouldn't miss their trains.
"S-So…" Izuku said, breaking the silence that followed their kiss.
"A-Are you sure you're okay w-with this? Even If I'm l-leaving?"
"Y-Yeah! Of course! To be honest, I-I've wanted this to happen for a while now, so… I'm okay with waiting a little longer.~"
He almost fainted from pure happiness, but he still couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
"I-I'll come visit! At least once a month! A-And I'll call you every day, I promise!"
She smiled wide at his response.
"I won't hold you to it Deku, but that would be really nice."
Ochako wrapped her arms around his right arm, and they started walking towards his train.
"A-And I promise, once we get back to school, we… we'll act like a real couple!"
Her violent blush came back. She didn't even think about what the others would say about this. Did she really have it in her to show her affection towards Izuku in front of everyone else? She wasn't as bad as he was when it came to showing affection in public, but she still felt like she could die from embarrassment.
"I-I'll find a way to get over my awkwardness!"
She did. If he could do it, and If it meant that she could show the world just how much she loved him, then she'd do it. She pulled his arm in even tighter, and nuzzled her head against his shoulder.
"I will hold you to that, though.~"
Now standing in front of the doors to his train, they were about to let each other go for the first time since confessing to one another.
"W-Wait, Uraraka?"
She glanced up at his adorable face.
"Yeah?"
"I-I think you can catch a train home from the stop outside of my house... "
She smiled, and tightened her hold on him.
"Sounds good to me! Oh, and Izuku?"
He shuttered at the sound of his new girlfriend calling him by his first name.
"Y-Yes?"
"Call me Ochako, okay?"
"A-Alright, O-Ochako!"
Her face started to beam brighter than the stars themselves upon hearing him call her by her first name.
They boarded the train, and never separated from each other for the entire ride. They didn't exchange any more words, they only rested each other's heads on one another, and kept their arms entangled. To her, this was a dream come true. And to him, this was the luckiest day of his entire life.
Author's Notes
And here we are! At the end of Izuocha week 2017! I'm so glad I was able to participate, and I had a lot of fun writing for it! I hope you've enjoyed this last one shot for the week! I've written 3 other fics if you haven't read them already for days 1 2 and 6! They're on both FFnet and AO3! Also, if you haven't heard already, I've made a Tumblr account specifically for my fanfics! You can find me on tumblr under the same name, rumpcrunch! Also, a big shoutout to the Izuocha discord! If you like the ship and you like my fics, don't hesitate to join! Now, I sincerely you've enjoyed my submissions this week, and I'll see you in the next chapter for Romance and Heroics!