Ochaco had barely slept a wink the night before their first date. She'd been so antsy that her mind felt like a pinball machine, bouncing around a thousand different thoughts at once. What should she say? What should she do? Was it a mistake? Dating had always been this faraway concept, an idle fantasy in the back of her mind as she focused on working hard and taking each individual step along the way to reaching her dream. Dating had never been part of the equation – until now, when it had dropped into her life like a crash-landing UFO.
But all her worries had evaporated when she saw Deku, wearing a green shirt and his signature red boots and somehow managing to be even more anxious than she was. When she was with him her self-doubts seemed so small and insignificant – there was no hiding, no uncertainty, just his tremulous but heartfelt smile of greeting that put her at ease.
They'd spent a sunny Sunday afternoon at a park, sitting in the shade and sharing a picnic together. And it had been wonderful, talking for hours about school work, their friends, their families and a hundred other little topics. They'd both been flustered and awkward at first, stumbling over their words and blushing up a storm, but once they'd gotten into the conversation it had flowed naturally. She'd always found it so easy to get on with him, even back when they'd first met – once she got over her initial butterflies, now they were dating the only real differences were the shy glances, the touching hands and the way the heat would rise to her cheeks whenever he smiled at her.
It was only once the sky had begun to go dark that they had made their way home. On the train back to the dorms they'd talked quietly and she'd felt a thrill as he shyly took hold of her hand, his thumb trailing over the little pads on her fingertips. The train carriage was mostly empty, which she was thankful for, but it still made her feel like they were a real couple and she'd leant against his shoulder with a hum of contentment. He'd seized up under her like a statue and she'd held back laughter at his forced attempts to look casual.
As they reached the school gates she came to a halt. "Thanks, Deku. I was really nervous, but I had such a good day."
He flushed red. "Y-Yeah, I… I had a lot of fun too. I'm really looking forward to next time." There was a moment of silence before he hastily amended, "That is, if you want there to be a next time – I don't want to assume and I know you're busy and –"
She cut him off with a laugh. "It's fine. I definitely want to. What do you want to do?"
He let out a sigh of relief and glanced across at her, abashed. "Umm… to be honest, I hadn't exactly thought that far ahead. I'm not exactly experienced with this couple stuff… Maybe next time we could see a movie?"
She nodded, grinning widely. She'd been so uncertain and worried and confused over her feelings towards him for so long, now that she could let them out and explore them she felt almost giddy with excitement. "A movie would be fun, sure. There's that new action one that came out the other day."
The smile that lit up his face was so bright it was almost luminous. "I – yeah! That sounds great. I think I saw the trailer for it a couple of months back."
"Oh yeah, I saw it too! It was so corny with all the explosions and the one liners, but the fights looked really good."
They lapsed into silence momentarily, before Deku sighed. "It's gonna feel weird being back in class tomorrow. This was so different, but it'll be back to normal next morning."
She nudged him teasingly. "You sure about that? Studying to be a pro hero doesn't sound too normal to me."
"Umm, normal-er then," he amended, shuffling his feet a little. "But, whatever happens, I… I really want to make this work. Us. As a couple."
Ochaco stared at him in surprise. His face was pink, but the look of determination in his eyes was unmistakeable – it reminded her of how he looked in a fight, intense and single-mindedly focused. It sent a shiver down her spine to see him look that way at her. "How do you mean?" she asked, conscious of her own face heating up.
Deku scrunched his face up, obviously trying to find the words. "There's just so many things we have to spend our time on," he blurted out at last. "Schoolwork, training, our internships, our families, our other friends. But I swear I'll find a way – any way – to make the time for you. And I know how serious you are about being a pro and earning money to help your parents and I promise – I promise I won't distract you from that!"
His voice was getting faster and faster with urgency and she reached out a hand to his shoulder in concern, trying to articulate her own feelings. "Deku, I… that's really sweet of you. But please don't think that way. Being with you has never distracted me. If anything… it was without you I was distracted."
"Huh? I – I don't understand…" He looked so adorably confused at her words she couldn't help but giggle, in spite of her blush.
"There was a point when I just didn't know what my feelings were," she said softly, laying a hand over her heart. "You're incredible. You work so hard and you're so strong and brave and kind that I – I felt like I couldn't compare to you. Every time I looked at you I felt so unsure – you were my friend, my best friend, and suddenly it was more than that and it was scary. I didn't know how to process it. At first I admired you. Then I wanted to be like you. And now… now I want to be with you."
She looked down momentarily, embarrassed – if her face got any hotter she was going to have to call the fire department. When she looked back up, to her amazement she saw him wipe a sleeve over his eyes. "Uraraka…" he whispered, voice all choked up. "I – I always thought you were amazing. I owe you so much. You've always been supporting me, ever since we first met, back at the entry exam. It was amazing, how brave and positive you were. And you – you changed me. You changed the way I thought about myself. It was you that made my hero name mean 'I can do it too'." His breath came unevenly as he met her gaze. "You were the one that made me feel like I could be a hero and –"
Ochaco cut him off with the biggest hug she could manage. "Deku, you've saved so many people who needed help. You are a hero. Maybe not a pro yet, but you're a hero to me."
He stared at her in undisguised awe and fireworks went off in her stomach as he swallowed and gingerly hugged her back. "I – I've always thought you were my hero too," he murmured, voice cracking. "Y-You're amazing, Uraraka."
Her smile felt like it would never leave her face. "Then let's… let's keep being each other's heroes, ok?"