Six months, three days and 18 hours passed until Ochako finally saw Midoriya.

Ochako couldn't believe at first. She blinked several times to make sure he wasn't one of her 'ghosts'. But he was very real. She still couldn't believe it.

His mop of green hair was as shaggy as ever. That was she see as she was facing his back. She imagined his freckled face. His dreamy eyes. His fidgety hands. His bright smile when someone mentioned All Might. Oh, she had missed him so, so much.

Deku. Deku. Deku. Deku.

How many times had she dreamt about this moment? Too many to count. Some were nice dreams in which he showed him his awkward grin and blushed cheeks. Others were raging nightmares that left her anxious and terrified for days.

She was about to rush head first towards him, but the warmness in her right hand reminded her that she wasn't alone. Bakugou was at her side wearing a wild face that was ten thousand gentler when he was with her. When the nightmares came to worse, he was the one at her side telling everything will be alright and softly petting her head. She swallowed hard the knot in her throat.

"Ochako?" He still hadn't noticed his childhood rival, but he did notice she was anxious about something. "Do you need to go to the infirmary?"
She shook her head slowly, and as she kept her eyes fixated on someone ahead he looked for whatever caused distress to his girlfriend. Bakugou quickly released her hand on reflex when he finally saw him. As always, Bakugou caught what she was thinking.

"That's Deku...isnt he?" His face turned scarily neutral as they approached him. He was trying hard not to dash towards him, but she saw the sparkles in his fingers. A self-control technique Endeavor had taught him some time ago

They weren't the first to notice him. Momo and Iida were approaching him with huge, silly grins on their face. There would be a lot more people around him if it wasn't so damn early in the morning. As a matter of fact, only the students of 3-A were appointed beforehand the first day of the semester. Just then Ochako understood that it might have been related to the return of Midoriya.

"Midoriya!" Iida shouted ecstatic. His every movement suggested he was eager to meet his former friend-his engines boosted his stride-, but he still kept a bit of his composure. Midoriya turned towards Iida. Everyone froze in place.

There were some evident changes in Midoriya. He was way taller than before and he got brawnier. He had more scars on his arms than any of them remembered and Ochako knew quite well how many of them he had. What caused the shock was his face. Two large, pink scars from the neck to the cheekbones marked his former smooth skin. And... both his eyes were milky white.

He slowly blinked as if to remember whose voice was that. Ochako remembered a time when she was a little girl. A small dog lived in her neighborhood. The dog was defenseless, and the kids usually bothered him. It began with throwing small rocks to the dog and quickly evolved into a macabre game of who harmed the dog the most. When she finally got help to save the dog as she was frightened of fighting middle schoolers, it was already too late. One of the kids had to have a metal quirk and he used it to stab his abdomen. She called for the dog one last time, and he watched her with those milky white eyes as lost as Midoriya looked right then. Ochako dashed towards Midoriya.

At first, it was weird to be so close to him after so many time. In their first and second years, he used to be slightly taller than her but now he towered over her even more than Katsuki did. She grabbed his calloused hands between her tender ones. He took a tremulous breath as he felt her warmness. Midoriya was alive! He really wasn't an illusion! She wanted to cry right then. Yes, he was in a deplorable state, but he was breathing right in front of her.

"Uraraka?" She felt her throat closed so she squeezed his hand for an answer. As soon as he was sure it was actually her, he embraced her tightly and buried his face in her hair. She left her arms dangling on her sides incapable of doing anything else. "Sorry", he repeated and more relieved tears slid down her face.

Suddenly someone coughed and Ochako felt awfully self-conscious. His former crush was hugging her as if his life depended on it while her boyfriend stared at them quite irritated. Not to mention Midoriya's well know relationship with Katsuki. More like a lack of it. She forcefully disentangled herself from Midoriya's embrace. He kept his arm on her shoulders like the old times.

Most of her classmates had arrived and stared at them awkwardly. Katsuki was about to explode at any moment, but she stood there as it really felt like before that day. She knew she was being unthoughtful with Katsuki so she averted her eyes. He looked hurt, but the sparks in his hands blew out. Ochako thanked him silently from the bottom of her heart.

"Is everyone here, Uraraka?". She jumped when she felt his mouth near her ear. His voice had gotten hoarser too. Even if his arm around his shoulders felt familiar, he didn't feel the same way back as he did before. What had happened to him in those six months?

"Only Mineta and Shouto are left". She didn't miss that when she said Todoroki's name his eyebrow shot upwards. So un-Midoriya like. As soon as she mentioned them, the two guys crossed the entrance.

When Midoriya disappeared, Todoroki, who was aloof from the beginning, became more reserved. Ochako knew what was going inside that brain of his as she lived with the same kind of guilt. She found her safe haven in Katsuki while Todoroki beat himself over it alone. His reaction when he saw the green haired boy was similar to hers too. It was too good to be true, an illusion, so he didn't believe at first. When she nodded her head, he finally acknowledged it. He was about to approach him, but UA's gym doors opened; Mr. Principal waiting for them.

Midoriya was the last to enter cast out by Mr. Principal himself. Everyone entered eager to talk and hear about what happened to Midoriya. For a brief moment, Fumikage felt something odd as he passed by Midoriya's side, but his usual shy grin shut off whatever suspicion Fumikage had about him. A slight smirk showed on Midoriya's lips, but it was too faint for anyone to notice it.

"Midoriya, don't forget about we talked about."

"..."

"Midoriya?" The principal pressed him lowering his voice menacingly.

"Yes, yes. I remember, Mr. Principal. No talking about what happened." His left eye twitched as he remembered their last conversation a few days ago when they found him.

"Leave all the details to we grown-ups." Midoriya nodded obediently. "Good boy."

The small creature closed the gym doors and followed the students with Midoriya closely behind.

Gosh. I'm so sorry for the wait. This was my last year of HS and it has been hectic. Anyways, here is this. It's not as good as I would like to and it may be all over the place, but fret not as I plan to edit this while the story disinvolves. The relationships here are not definitive at all btw. Every review, bad or good, is welcomed. AND expect regular updates (fuck high school). Bye.