Everything Stays
Ochako Uraraka had been a cheerful and kind young girl. She was bright as the sun, her smile alone captivated and puts to ease her fellow student heroes. She had a harboring secret, one that she held onto herself dearly. It was her secret feelings that she's been harboring for her classmate, Izuku Midoriya. Ever since the two had developed a close friendship, Ochako found herself being drawn closer to the aspiring young man. His smile and positivity reflected the caring nature and selflessness of the young man.
"Ochako-chan… You're in love with Midoriya-kun aren't you?" Tsuyu Asui, her classmate asked. Ochako could only sigh and deny. She kept her feelings grounded so as to not let it distract her from her goal of becoming a hero. She felt that these feelings that she was harboring for Izuku was a fleeting feeling.
"N-No, you're just mistaken Tsu-chan!" she tried to play it off cool and laugh. Tsuyu knew better, but didn't want to pry further on the matter. She had been a good friend to Ochako ever since the start of their training in U.A.
Izuku Midoriya overhead the girls talking and looking towards his general direction, the boy waved towards the two girls sheepishly before getting back to his training. Tsuyu turned her head towards her friend and saw the small smile that Ochako had on her face.
As the cold autumn air blew, both the girls hugged their scarves closer to them. It had been the start of autumn, signaling for the trees to begin losing their leaves and for the air to start getting colder as winter approaches. Ochako's eyes still glanced towards Izuku who was still braving the harsh cold with his training regime. The young girl's eyes trailed and silently cheered on for her friend from the sidelines, Tsuyu shrugged before tapping Ochako's shoulder.
"I'm gonna go back inside now, do you want to come along?" Ochako nodded before passing one last long look towards Izuku. She felt conflicted having feelings towards Izuku. A part of her wanted to accept the feelings that she was having, but in the back of her mind, her stubbornness refused to give in.
"Tsu-chan, would me and Deku-kun make a good couple?" the chestnut-haired girl absent-mindedly spoke whilst lost in her sea of thoughts. She blushed crimson upon replaying what she had just said. Being quick to deny it, Ochako was about to say something before Tsuyu cut in.
"I'll be happy for the both of you. Midoriya-kun is a good person, you of all people know him more than I do. I just want to support you both on what would make you feel happy." Tsuyu laid down the bare facts on Ochako before topping it off with a soft smile towards her friend.
Ochako wrapped her arms around Tsuyu to hug her friend, small streaks of tears falling on her face as the bottle of emotions she'd been storing up finally was opened.
"But what if he doesn't feel the same…?" Ochako asks in between her silent sniffling. Tsuyu patted her on the back before sighing.
"There's only one way to find out. I'll be cheering for you Ochako-chan." She replied with a smile, wiping away the tears on her friends' face.
Katsuki Bakugo who happened to be passing by the two girls, overheard their conversation. The blonde boy looked on ahead before uttering a small nod of encouragement towards Ochako. Katsuki continued his way towards the training ground to see Izuku who was finishing up his training. Normally he would hate the sight of his childhood friend, but his impassive look towards Izuku had him reeling back and thinking.
"Let's talk." He demanded towards Izuku without his usual air of arrogance. A confused look made its way towards Izuku's face before heading over towards Bakugo. "Sit down nerd, there's something you need to know about."
Izuku was about to voice his protest towards Katsuki, but obliged in the end when the blonde boy shot him a serious glare.
"What's this about, Kacchan?" Izuku started. The two boys sat down peacefully on a nearby resting bench. Most of their classmates who seen them talking normally would have their heads scratching in confusion. For the two childhood friends to be talking normally meant that something serious was going on.
"Round-face likes you." There was a pause in his sentence before looking back towards Izuku who looked shocked at the revelation. "I overheard her talking with toad girl earlier." Izuku was still processing what his friend just say, earning him an angered grunt from the impatient Katsuki. "Well? Say something you goddamn nerd!" he yelled, feeling irritated at the confusion on Izuku's face.
"Uhhm… So… I…" Izuku fumbled with his words. The boy was stuck mumbling incoherent sentences. Katsuki sighed loudly and leaned his head back on the bench.
"It's always like this with you. You can't even grow a backbone even if your life depended on it…" Izuku swore that he heard a disappointed tone in his friends' voice, but decided not to point that out. "Here I am telling you that the girl you like likes you back and there you go being a dumb idiot not knowing what to say."
Izuku had an unreadable expression on his face. It took into consideration what his friend just revealed to him, the boy was stuck in deep thought.
"Why are you telling me this, Kacchan?" he looked at his friend with a serious look on his face. Gone away was the mumbling mess that he was a few seconds ago. "And why should I even believe that what you said is true?"
"Because if I didn't push you into believing it, you wouldn't believe round-face herself if she confessed to you. Here I am wasting my time telling you all this shit, yet there you go asking me dumb questions!" a small smile formed on Izuku's lips before chuckling at their current situation. It had been a slow process with him and Katsuki building up their rocky friendship. Ever since the two of them fought each other and revealed their vulnerabilities, the two of them started to look at each other in another light. Katsuki over the course of a few months, acknowledged his friends' progress. Izuku on the other hand, become to come out of his shell and become more confident in his abilities. All those years of them fighting each other had come to a gradual crawl as the two started to become friends again.
"Do you like her back?" asked Katsuki. Izuku turned his head towards his friend's direction and looked at him in the eyes. "I notice you two are pretty close along with glasses, but other than that, I don't know if you're just blushing like an idiot or you like her." Izuku felt like a child being caught red-handed by their parents. Katsuki had cornered him and there was no room to escape.
"I… Never really imagined anyone 'like' liking me… Uraraka-san is a good friend who cheered me along the way." Izuku looked down on his hands and traced the scars that he had acquired over the course of a year in training. "She's always there to support me. I even decided on using your nickname for me as my hero name because of her." He closed his eyes and recalled the day that they first met. He recalled those shared moments that they had, and from the time that he jumped into to punch the giant robot that was about to crush Ochako.
"A lot of stuff changes, you yourself changed a lot. Man up nerd, before I smash your face in. Grow a damn backbone already!" Katsuki grinned, punching Izuku hard on the shoulder. The blonde boy stood up from the bench that they were sitting on and started walking away. "If you fuck this up, you'll be hearing from me from the other end of my AP Shot." Izuku sheepishly nodded before looking at the back of his friend.
"I'll keep that in mind, Kacchan, thanks again." He smiled, hearing an audible grunt from his friend.
Izuku began his way back into the dormitories to call it a day. He felt a little overwhelmed from his serious talk with Katsuki. The young boy sighed as he reached the front of the dormitory house. He opened it to see Ochako and the other girls talking in the lounge while some guys were greeting him.
"Hey dude! Welcome back, dinner's being cooked tonight by Bakugo!" Denki hollered from the couch where he and Eijiro were playing video games.
"Yo Midoriya! Did you see Bakugo yet? The dude looks like he's in a good mood!" Eijiro laughed as Katsuki shot them a death glare from the kitchen.
"You better not be expecting dinner tonight shitty hair, you and pikachu won't be eating dinner tonight you assholes!" Katsuki yelled back and fumed at the two.
From across the room, Ochako immediately turned her head towards Izuku and saw the boy blush in surprise. A lot of their classmates noticed the sudden tension between Izuku and Ochako. Mina was the first one to break the ice by prying Ochako, while Denki and Eijiro whistled.
"Izuku Midoriya, you are a grade A Casanova." Denki chided and winked at his friend, teasing the boy further. Not everyone decided to look into the growing elephant in the room any further, as others opted to not meddle with Ochako and Izuku's business. Most girls kept Mina in check while the guys were still busy teasing Izuku.
Dinner went by without a hitch. Everyone had their usual share of stories while others like Tsuyu and Katsuki who knew about what was happening between Izuku and Ochako were silent. Eventually, their classmates dropped the awkward moment between Ochako and Izuku earlier.
Nighttime soon came and Izuku didn't make any move to confess to Ochako. Their awkward moment from earlier made it harder for the boy to talk to his friend even in a casual manner. Dinner time went without them talking or Ochako asking him questions. Their friends noticed, but brushed it off thinking that the two could've been fighting.
"Midoriya, what're you still doing here at this hour?" Shoto Todoroki came into the living room downstairs and saw his friend hunched over the couch with a magazine on his hand.
"Couldn't get a wink of sleep, what about you Todoroki-kun?" Shoto hummed and sat beside Izuku on the couch with a warm mug of milk. "I didn't peg you for the type to be drinking warm milk." Izuku joked. Shoto chuckled and nodded shrugged.
"You'd be surprised by the amount of things I started to do nowadays. Tea is good, but warm milk keeps me calm at night." There was a slight pause between them before Izuku asked Shoto about his situation.
"You and Yaoyorozu are good friends right?" Izuku started, Shoto raised his eyebrow and wondered what the other boy was on about. Shoto lifted up the mug of warm milk that was on the coffee table before taking a sip.
"Well yes, I've developed a good relationship with Momo-san ever since we have been partnered up. She's as talented as anyone's gonna get." Shoto trailed off, pointing at the other various points that he respected Momo for. Izuku couldn't help but smile as Shoto continued to talk about Momo, a similar thing that he does from time to time when he's talking with his mom about Ochako.
"Todoroki-kun… Do you like Yaoyorozu-san?" Izuku asked, seeing the warm blush that spread across Shoto's face. The other boy coughed and set down his mug, taken by surprised with the question.
"I haven't considered the possibility yet. Do you happen to like her, Midoriya?" Shoto asked seriously, something about the gaze in his eyes guarded a secret within them. Izuku quickly shot the thought down and shook his head.
"No, I only see Yaoyorozu-san as a good friend." The boys then silently continued on with what they were doing before Shoto asked another question.
"Do you have anyone that you like?" It was a question that Izuku couldn't answer yet.
"I don't know… These feelings are tough to understand." He replied looking back down at his hands before their conversation ended.
The days went by that Izuku and Ochako started to have a rift in their friendship. The two slowly started to talk less with each other. Their classmates started to look into it more and noticed that the two became cold towards each other. Tsuyu voiced out her concern towards Ochako, while her friend leaned onto her for emotional support.
"Ochako-chan… Did you and Midoriya-kun have a fight?" Tsuyu asked, wondering why her friend was down on the weather lately.
"I think… He hates me. I don't know what happened between us…" Tsuyu did not know what to say, opting to stay silent and offer her ear instead. The many days that passed eventually turned into a week, then another week.
"What's going on between the two of you?" asked Denki towards Izuku as they were preparing for the autumn ball that was announced at the start of the month. Izuku was conflicted himself. In his mind, if he makes the first move, it would only result in causing a further rift between the two of him and Ochako.
"Don't worry about it! It's nothing!" The boy smiled throughout it all and tried to focus his attention instead on his training.
The night of the ball came and everyone dressed up nicely. The students were excited to see their teachers dressing up while also being eager to dance with the other students of U.A. Katsuki saw the disheveled state of Izuku's necktie as they were about to head out. He stopped his friend and pulled him to the side.
"I don't know what's going on between you and round-face, but this is making me annoyed. This is getting stupid, Deku, fix your shit." He grunted before finishing up the work on Izuku's necktie. Outside of the dormitory, the boys waited for the girls.
"Ochako-chan, are you ready to go now?" Tsuyu asked. The girl smiled when she saw Ochako's shy smile while wearing the dress that they picked out along with the other girls when they went shopping.
"I guess… I don't know what I should do when I see Deku-kun… I think he's starting to hate me." Ochako frowned. Tsuyu shook her head and reassured Ochako.
"That's absurd. Midyoriya-kun would never hate you." She smiled taking Ochako's hand as they joined their other friends to go downstairs with the boys.
The moment Izuku saw Ochako he felt his heart freezing over. She looked beautiful in her dress. A warm smile made its way across his face as he couldn't help but wave at her from downstairs. Ochako noticed him and shyly waved back, rubbing her and being back to her usual bubbly self.
'Do you have anyone you like?' the words echoed into Izuku's mind once again. This time, he was face to face with Ochako under the moonlight. It was now time for the dance, and Izuku had come up to Ochako to ask her for a dance. The girl took his hand with a big smile on her face, eventually being able to affect Izuku who had a smile on his own.
"Deku-kun… Do you… Hate me?" Ochako voiced out, her tone trembling as if she was terrified for the answer. Izuku's gaze softened as he held her hand silently, the dance about to start soon.
"I don't hate you… Uraraka-san." The music played, and the students then started to sway to the beat of the melodic tune of the song. He looked back at her and saw the girl frowning.
"But why is it that there's this invisible barrier between us…" she asked again, thinking back on the times they've spent awkwardly avoiding each other or trying to play off their conversation coolly. Time and time again they would dance around the matter. Both were afraid to make the first move. It had been months in the making in between their good friendship that Ochako started to harbor feelings towards Izuku.
"An invisible barrier…?" Izuku repeated as he looked at Ochako in confusion. "I just got immersed with all the training I've been doing…" he smiled, trying to turn his eyes away. Ochako pouted and knew that he was lying.
"You're lying…" she pointed out, looking down at their feet and feeling a little disappointed towards her friend. "I know you are, but I want to know why you started to talk to me less…" The dance went on, and Izuku felt his palms sweating from the loud beating of his heart. He couldn't fake his way out of this situation and he felt bad for making Ochako frown.
"Uraraka-san… I didn't mean to make you feel upset…" he admitted, looking down in shame. Ochako reassured him that it was fine, opting to not want to make Izuku feel guilty.
"It's alright. I don't want to get in between with our training to become heroes. It's okay Deku-kun!" the dance ended. The music stopped. Ochako was about to let go of Izuku's hand, accepting the fact that her feelings didn't belonged anywhere. She wanted to keep them a secret. As she was about to turn away and bury her feelings for Izuku, she felt her hand not being able to leave from Izuku's hold.
"I… You're a very important person to me, Uraraka-san." He trailed off, wanting to let out all the thoughts that he had been thinking about for the past two weeks. "I never meant to hurt you in any way…" he frowned, looking down to see Ochako tightening her grip around his hand.
"You're so unfair, Deku-kun…" Ochako had a small smile on her face. "I like you, I've been so afraid of telling you because you were acting cold lately." She smiled. Izuku heard it with his very own ears; the words that he thought were nothing but a fantasy that Katsuki told him two weeks ago.
He felt warmth spreading across his chest. Izuku slowly pulled Ochako closer to him and wrapped her in a hug. He was giggling like a little boy in excitement. While Izuku and Ochako were hugging and talking normally again, Katsuki watched from afar with a small smile on his face. He felt happy for the two of his friends. Smiling at the sight he might be, Katsuki was taken by surprise by the tears that fell on his face. He laughed at himself bitterly before angrily wiping away the stray tears.
"Can't win 'em all." Eijiro who was passing by, noticed Katsuki who cried. He patted his friend on the shoulder and handed him a cup of punch, which Katsuki took graciously.
"That fucking nerd better take care of her." Katsuki grunted back.
The rest of the night went smoothly for Izuku and Ochako. Izuku was thanking Katsuki and Shoto for their advices, while not being too loud about the recent development between him and Ochako. Katsuki slapped Izuku's back and congratulated his friend. Shoto on the other hand, revealed that he and Momo started dating months ago.
"Hold on icy hot, since when did you and the other nerd started dating?" Katsuki interjected, Shoto gave him a dry look before stating the obvious.
"Momo-san and I kept it a secret from everyone. We didn't want anyone to be teasing us anytime soon. Keep our secret safe?" Shoto asked towards the both of them. Izuku smiled and cheered on his friend while Katsuki let out an annoyed grunt and shrugged in displeasure, leaving Shoto and Izuku.
Ochako snuck her way towards Izuku as his back was turned, using her hands to cover the boy's eyes.
"I am here! Young Midoriya!" she deepened her voice and tried to make her best All-Might impression. Izuku giggled and grabbed her hands, causing Ochako to be the one that's blushing.
"That's a really bad All-Might impression." Izuku chuckled. Ochako, not wanting to lose in the teasing battle, leaned in to kiss Izuku's cheek.
"That's for teasing me…" she shyly said before turning her back on the boy to join her friends. Izuku was left dumbfounded with his hand on the spot where Ochako kissed him.
Izuku and Ochako walked hand in hand on the way back to the dormitory. They stayed behind the group so no one would notice them. After eventually getting changed to their pajamas, Izuku and Ochako wanted to call it a night. Plenty of things happened between the two of them that they would like to keep to themselves. The two teens were happy with what had transpired between them. However, Ochako suddenly found it hard to sleep.
The girl snuck out of her room in the middle of the night and went over to the side of the boys. She would get in trouble if she got caught. Prancing her way to towards Izuku's room, Ochako eventually reached his door and sent him a text.
"I hope he's still awake…" she mumbled while clutching her phone close to her. A few seconds later, Izuku came out of his door and saw Ochako smiling at him awkwardly.
"Uraraka-san…? Do you want to come in?" Izuku absent mindedly asked, forgetting the fact that he invited over a girl in his room full of All-Might memorabilia. Ochako huddled over a wall on Izuku's room and patted the side beside her.
"Deku-kun… Can we keep this a secret?" she frowned a little, hoping that it wouldn't hurt Izuku's feelings. But it did, and Ochako saw a look of hurt flashing on Izuku's face. "W-Wait, sit down! I didn't mean it like that!" Ochako grabbed onto Izuku's arm before the boy would jump to conclusions.
Izuku avoided her gaze and looked down on the floor. A part of him understood why she wanted to keep it a secret, but the doubts that he had in his mind kept him worrying about trivial things.
"Did I do something wrong…?" Izuku asked Ochako, looking at her with a frown on his face. He felt hurt, but didn't want to make it obvious to Ochako. Before he could look away however, Ochako cupped his cheeks, causing the boy to float in place.
"No silly! I want you to promise me something first!" she saw the look of confusion of Izuku's face as the boy was floating in the air. Ochako held on his cheeks so that he wouldn't have the chance to turn away from her. "What? Did you think I'd be that easy to get?" she teased at Izuku.
She gently released him back from the air, causing Izuku to land on the floor with an audible thud. Ochako uttered a quick apology before continuing to explain herself.
"You're always doing all these reckless stuff fighting villains. I know it's stupid to ask you this… But I want you to promise me that you'll always be safe." Ochako held out her pinky towards Izuku and waited for him.
Izuku knew the burden that he had been tasked on carrying ever since he accepted One For All. It was his responsibility to become the next symbol of peace. Being the symbol of peace meant that his life would be in constant danger while he's protecting everyone.
"Uraraka-san… I'm so sorry… But I can't promise you that…" Ochako bit her lip in anger before grabbing Izuku's hands.
"Then I want you to rely on me from now on!" Izuku's train of thought kept running as she trailed off with what she was saying. The rest of what Ochako was saying seemingly lost in Izuku's mind as all that he registered was her demanding to him that he rely on her more.
Ochako finished her rant huffing, all red faced and feeling more and more upset with Izuku's dumbfounded look.
"Don't make me worry every time you go out to fight villains." Ochako leaned her head onto Izuku's shoulder, tired from all the ranting that she did.
Izuku remembered the important advice that his mother gave him when he was having girl troubles with Ochako. It certainly helped him decide on what he wanted to do next in his situation. His mother had given him the best advice that anyone could ask who was in his place.
"Okay… From now on, I won't do anything too reckless unless it's really necessary to protect you." He smiled, taking Ochako's hand and wrapping it with his scarred one. Ochako hummed and traced the scars on his arm, imagining the pain that he felt. She wanted to share the pain with him, to help him carry on the burden that he was given. They talked more until the sun came up. Time flew by quickly when the caught up with each other's happenings in their own lives. Izuku was telling Ochako about his recent progress with his full cowl while Ochako was telling him about her recent techniques in using her quirk.
To Izuku and Ochako autumn had brought a lot of changes in their lives. The fights, their moments spent together just talking, every little moment that they shared held a fond memory engraved in their minds. They went by as normal friends in the day, only Katsuki, Shoto and Tsuyu knew about their special friendship together. The two of them haven't made anything official yet, since they were occupied with their training.
Semester break right around the corner, and everyone was in high spirits. Ochako was eager to visit her parents, while Izuku was thinking about what he could do in his semester break with his mother. The last day of school eventually finished. Everyone grabbed their belongings in the dorms and prepared to leave U.A. for some much needed rest and relaxation.
"Kacchan! What do you plan on doing over the semester break?" Izuku asked his friend as the two boys finished packing their things. Katsuki hauled off his backpack and suitcase, checking once more if he had forgotten anything important.
"Me and shitty hair are going mountain climbing. What about you? Any plans with round-face?" Izuku chuckled and shrugged, admitting that he hasn't made plans yet with Ochako.
"I don't know if I should ask her, she's really eager to visit her family soon." They joined in their friends outside before taking one last long look at the dormitory.
"Then go join her dumbass! Tell your mom that you'll be spending half of your semester break with your damn girlfriend!" their friends overheard Izuku and Katsuki's usual banter, but this time were curious to know who the supposed 'girlfriend' Katsuki was talking about.
"Do you want to come along with me, Deku-kun?" Ochako surprised Izuku from behind. Izuku wondered about it for a while before agreeing.
"Let me just text my mom and let her know." Ochako smiled back happily and waited for Izuku.
The train ride to the Kansai region of Japan had Izuku and Ochako going through many places together. Their train transfers allowed for them to do a little bit of sight-seeing before the reach their destination. It took them about a day to get to Tsu, where Ochako lived since the train ride happened to take longer than expected with the plentiful of commuters going back home for the holidays.
"It's so weird now that you think about it…" Ochako brought up in the midst of their conversation about what it's like in her hometown. Izuku looked at her in confusion and wondered what she was talking about.
"What do you mean?" he asked, unable to read the expression on Ochako's face.
"Well it feels like you're already asking my hand in marriage by coming along with me here in Tsu…" Ochako blushed and tried to hide her face from Izuku. The boy scratched the back of his head awkwardly and laughed.
"Well I hope your parents like me then…" his smile at that moment was different. It wasn't his shy smile that we would give Ochako, the smile he had on his face showed confidence. They got closer to their destination, stopping by shortly on a park to get some drinks on a vending machine.
Something on Ochako's mind concerned her. It had been keeping her up at night sometimes when she had a talk with Tsuyu about it. The night before the last day of school, she talked with Tsuyu about making it official between her and Izuku.
It had been about a year and a few months in the making. When Izuku came back to Ochako with two cans of soda in his hands, he saw her mumbling something before turning back to him with an awkward smile on her face.
"I got you cherry soda, I know you love these." Izuku smiled. Ochako pouted and lunged onto the boy. "Uraraka-san?" he asked in confusion.
"Let's make it official from now on, okay? You're mine and mine alone…" Ochako murmured, wrapping Izuku for a hug. Izuku happily nodded and hugged back Ochako.
"I'll be in your care then!" they congratulated themselves while having sodas, teasing at each other for being so late to make a move.
"You ready to go?" Ochako asked. She held out her hand and waited of Izuku to take it. Izuku stood up from the bench and joined her, the first time holding his hands with his girlfriend.
"I love autumn so much." Izuku sighed onto Ochako.
"I love it too!" she said, before a long pause. "And of course, I love you too, you big nerd!" she teased, kissing Izuku on the cheek.
"Awww you cheater, you beat me to it!" Izuku whined, hugging Ochako from behind before peppering her with kisses. "I love you too, Ochako." He smiled in content as the two of them watched the end of autumn, officially together at last.
~ End