Here's a slightly longer chapter to say sorry for the wait! I really enjoyed writing the dialogue in this, and the callbacks to the source material. Hopefully you're all still enjoying this very AU thing.

Dungeons and Dragons

Ochako yawned. Was that the third yawn in the last twenty minutes? Maybe it was the fourth? She rubbed her tired eyes again and took a huge gulp of her scalding coffee, slamming the cup back down to her desk.

A more sensible part of herself knew that if she just went to bed earlier she wouldn't feel so tired when she was inevitably woken up at five in the morning. The stubborn part of her demanded that she should go to bed whenever she wanted to. Ochako groaned and bent over so that she rested her cheek on the cold desk. I wonder what time Izuku goes to bed… He seemed responsible and sensible too – she supposed he had to be, to be a paramedic – so he probably went to sleep early. She remembered how alert he'd looked the morning before, while she'd been barely functioning, and tried not to cringe again at the memory. In her defence, three hours sleep wasn't healthy to try and keep up for long, and that had been the second night in a row. This morning makes the third, she realised grimly, sitting herself back up and downing the rest of her coffee.

At least she had the day off and it's not like she had anything taxing planned, so she could just spend the rest of the day wrapped up in a blanket watching Netflix and it wouldn't matter. Except… Izuku had said that he would come and visit her after he'd finished work, to check up on her twisted ankle (that no longer even hurt at all) and she hadn't asked him what time that would be. He'd said he started work at seven, didn't he? So it's not like she was expecting him to be early. But what if he'd got a morning shift? Or a half day? Or decided to check up on her at lunch time or something?

Ochako opened her wardrobe and rummaged through her clothes while she thought. She'd never been the sort of person to worry about what she wore, or how her hair looked, or anything like that, she preferred skirts and shorts, even in the winter, just because she didn't like too much restriction in her legs, and many of her tops were various shades of pink or plain white. She hadn't got a fussy style, just whatever was cheap and practical. Mina was always bugging her to buy something 'cuter' but she didn't see the need to spend much money on clothing – the plain stuff was always the cheapest. Tsu always said she looked cute in whatever she wore anyway.

So now she felt a little silly trying on clothes and wondering if they looked nice or not, something she never really considered when she picked an outfit. Sometimes it was just whatever she put her hand on first. She brushed her hair while she cast a critical eye at the clothes she'd laid out on her bed. It wasn't like she was going on a date or anything; Izuku was just going to see if her ankle was better and then go back to his apartment, and unknowingly continue to wake her up at five every morning. She threw her hairbrush back onto her dresser and sighed. That was a problem she was going to have to address eventually, since she knew she couldn't live like this forever. The smartest solution would just be to tell him that it was disturbing her mornings and she was unable to go to sleep again afterwards, so would he please just turn it down? But she already knew it would distress him to know that he had been disturbing her, and she didn't want their first meeting to be revealed to be built on something so negative before they'd even had a chance to get to know each other and become friends.

His kind smile flashed in her memory again, and the thought that he'd be upset and guilty about it sat heavy and cold in her gut.

This was getting ridiculous – she'd never felt like this before. She'd met him once. One time. Briefly. Why was she even spending a second thought on what she would wear? Why was she was so bothered about hurting his feelings and making him feel embarrassed about his alarm? What was wrong with her?

Shaking her head Ochako settled on a pink shirt and black shorts, sure Mina would be horrified at the plainness of them, and could almost imagine the kinds of tips and advice she'd be telling her she could give on how to impress a boy…

Wait…

Was that what this was? Was she trying to impress him?

Ochako put both her palms flat against her cheeks, hating the way they were heating up instantly at just the idea.

What could he possibly find interesting about her, when he went around saving lives and she poured coffees in a pretend astronaut suit?

No, she had to put that thought away firmly and remember that all this just meant that she'd have her hair brushed, be wearing regular clothes, and show him that she was a normal member of society that he could be friends with – it would be nice to know someone who lived in the building. Nothing more than that.

Ochako yawned again and glanced at the clock, feeling her shoulders sag slightly when she noticed it was only quarter-past six. She had so much of the day left. While normally that would be the only benefit of getting up at obscenely-early-o'clock, she knew she'd be left ruminating over her feelings and thoughts about Izuku all day until he knocked on her door, and that meant the day was just going to be long and tedious, unless she did something distracting.

Once she'd had a nice long shower, she felt slightly more human and had finally stopped yawning after the caffeine from her strong coffee had kicked in. Ochako glanced at herself in the mirror and smiled at her own reflection; the clothes she'd picked out were fine, her hair was freshly washed and blow dried and her body lotion made her smell like vanilla marshmallows (according to the bottle).

(She resolutely and stubbornly ignored the buzz of anticipation in the back of her mind. This was not a date. She had no reason to be excited.)

Ochako shook her head and made her way to the kitchen, ready for breakfast. Her cupboards were full of glass jars and air-tight tubs, all filled with various foods and labelled clearly; it was more cost effective to buy food in huge packets, usually the bulk giant packs that restaurants would buy, and then portion it out into tubs and jars. Porridge especially was almost a fraction of the cost she would have paid at a supermarket, and she lived on the stuff. It made a great breakfast, a hearty snack and even a warming midnight supper.

Most of the food she ate was something instant, or something that accompanied rice or noodles, just for convenience and cost mostly. It had been a long time since she'd cooked something more complex, so she brightened as she thought of a good idea for distraction; she would go and treat herself to some ingredients for a stew. She could even cook enough for two meals, if she ate half and froze the other half for another time.

Ochako bounced over to her coffee table and scribbled down the ingredients she would need in a notebook. She usually hated the amount of time it took to peel and chop all the vegetables, but today that was going to be a blessing.

Just as Ochako was considering what to do with her time before she went on her trip to the supermarket, her phone buzzed nearby, and she picked it up curiously. It was a message from Mina, but when she opened it there was only a picture of Mew from Pokémon with the words 'Good luck! MEW got this!' in bold letters on top of it. She spluttered a laugh, wishing she wasn't as weak to bad puns as she was, and that Mina didn't know and exploit this fact at every opportunity. It warmed her heart to think that her friend was obviously on her break and had been thinking about her, even though Ochako really wanted to point out there was nothing to be wished good luck for because it wasn't like that. Instead she rolled her eyes at her phone and tapped out a reply of a flexing arm emoji and a heart. (Mina would get a kick out of that.)

Cooking her stew was indeed as therapeutic as she had hoped. Ochako peeled and chopped and peeled and chopped. The beef was seared and ready, as per her mother's instructions from the recipe that she had learned by heart, and the whole lot simmered and bubbled on her small stove for the rest of the afternoon while she watched a movie. In truth she'd almost completely forgotten about her visit from Izuku, so when a knock at the door came at seven, while she was giving her dinner a stir, she nearly dropped the spoon in the pot.

Ochako was about to hurry to the door when she remembered that she was still wearing her cooking apron, splattered with crusty bits of dried stew from earlier, and had her hair tied back to keep her bangs out of her face. She threw off the apron onto her kitchen counter and yanked out her hair tie, shaking her head to let her hair relax back into shape, and flew forwards, turned the latch and swung open the door. She was slightly more flustered than she had wanted to be, but a smile brightened her face before she could stop it as she caught sight of Izuku in her doorway. His green hair was just as messy as she remembered, his freckles dusted cutely across the bridge of his nose and high on his cheeks. He was still in his green paramedic's uniform, looking professional, even if his eyes and expression looked tired – he must see and do such a lot in one day, she knew how busy the ambulances were in the city these days.

He seemed a little lost for words and Ochako became aware that she hadn't spoken either.

"Hi-"

"Hey-"

They said at the same time.

She laughed a little while he rubbed the back of his neck. Izuku smiled and motioned with his hand that she should go first but she shook her head wildly and made an even bigger motion that he should go first instead.

"Sorry I'm kind of late, I was hoping to come over a bit earlier than this, but the last patient of the day was a tricky one," he sighed.

"Don't be silly, you're not late at all." Ochako moved aside to let him into her apartment. She decided not to mention that this was still very early in the evening for her and that she would be up for a long time later than this. (Despite the early morning wake up call she was sure to get.)

He flashed her a smile as he walked inside and took his boots off – they were bright red with a thick white sole. His gym trainers had been red too, she realised, and wondered if he particularly liked red shoes. When he stood straight again, she could see him looking around with his eyes and she became aware, with a creeping feeling of embarrassment crawling up her spine, that her apartment would look so barren and plain compared to his. He said nothing about it though, which she appreciated.

"Wow, that smells amazing," he blurted out.

Ochako fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. "Really? Thanks, I thought I'd make something a bit more wholesome than I usually do."

"In that big pot on the stove? Wow, I'm impressed. I usually live off everything instant, since I never know when I'll be getting back from a shift."

"Me too usually. Seriously, this is a total one-time limited edition rarity."

"Well it smells good. You know," he added conversationally, not meeting her eyes, "I, uh, I almost didn't recognise you at the door, you look really- Oh no, it's bubbling over! Your food's bubbling out the pot!"

"Eh!?" Ochako squeaked in alarm as she snapped around and rushed over to the sudden sounds of bubbling and sizzling as the liquid hit the hot stove. "Oh no no no," she muttered as she grabbed the handles and pulled the pot of stew off the heat, making it calm down instantly. She clicked the temperature dial to the 'off' position and let out a breath, then realised Izuku was close at her side.

"Are you okay? You didn't burn yourself, did you?"

Ochako felt warmth bloom in her cheeks. "No, I'm okay. Can't say the same about my stove though… Ugh, I'll have to clean that up later." She flicked the heat back on low and returned the pot to its original position. "I was supposed to turn it down before I answered the door and completely forgot – oops."

"Well at least you're not hurt," he breathed. Then, as if he realised just how close he was, he cleared his throat a little and took a tiny step back. "Anyway, I- I just wanted to check how your ankle was doing? The way you ran to that pot makes it seem like it must be fine though?"

Ochako stirred the stew and hung her head with a dramatic groan. "I can't believe we've only known each other for five minutes and you've already seen how much of a bad cook I am."

"That's not true! I could never cook something like this, so you're way better than me. Not that that's very difficult to do." He gave her a kind and genuine smile and it warmed her to her toes. "But your ankle – it's okay now?"

"Oh, sorry, yep, never better, see?" Ochako turned to face him, lifted her foot in the air and twisted it in circles to demonstrate.

Oh no.

Her socks.

She'd been so preoccupied with what she was going to wear, then deciding she didn't care what she wore, (even though she secretly did), that she hadn't even thought about her socks. Why would she? They were on her feet. So she'd pulled out the first pair she'd put her hands on in the drawer and just yanked them on. Only now did she notice, while her foot was suspended in the air between them both, that they were white with a bright green cartoon rabbit surrounded by hearts stitched into them.

"Wait, are those… are they… Deku socks?" Izuku asked.

She slammed her foot to the floor and her voice tumbled out with another squeak, "O-Oh yeah! It's not like I watch the show or anything, I mean, I did when I was a kid, but he's kind of retro and cool again now so my mom bought me these last Christmas."

Ironically, she remembered Izuku being embarrassed by all the superhero merchandise in his apartment, and now here she was cringing because she was wearing Deku socks. It was a cartoon she'd watched avidly as a child and typically the simple kid's cartoon about a kind and heroic green rabbit was suddenly back in style because it was 'retro' – merchandise for him was everywhere now.

When she could bear to glance back up at Izuku's face she realised he was smiling, with not even a hint of judgement. She supposed she should have expected as much; he didn't seem like the sort of person to judge anyone by what they liked, especially since he'd filled his entire living room with superhero merchandise. She relaxed and narrowed her eyes playfully. "You recognised him pretty fast, are you a fan too?"

Izuku smiled and tilted his head (which did something very odd to the beating of her heart). "Not exactly," he chuckled. "I used to watch Deku as a kid too, every day after school with my best friend Katsuki. When we got a bit older, he decided he was too mature to watch it with me anymore and that I was childish for liking it, even though he'd liked it too." He shrugged with a small frown, as if the hurt was still fresh. "So, he started calling me Deku just to tease me."

Ochako pouted. "Well that's mean. He doesn't sound like he was a very good friend…"

"It was- it is a… complicated friendship."

"Hm, sounds like it."

"The problem is that he still calls me Deku, even at work," he sighed.

"You work with him and he still does that?" Her eyebrows scrunched together.

"Oh, uh, sort of. He's a doctor, so I see him around the hospital sometimes. And he'll call me Deku every time he sees me to tease me about it and make me feel small. Like we're still little kids and he's the mature one and I'm just the green rabbit." Izuku's eyes widened and he shook his head, waving his hands wildly. "Ah, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to ramble about myself so much. You don't want to hear about my silly nickname."

"Well we are neighbours. Sort of. So it's nice to get to know you a little better. And it's not a silly nickname," Ochako said defensively, her hands balling into enthusiastic fists, "Deku is the kindest most positive cartoon character ever, he's always there for his friends, everyone trusts him, he never lies, and he always saves the day… Besides, I think it's a cute name and, I think it suits you."

A strangled noise came out of him in reply and Ochako turned away quickly, her cheeks blazing, before she could see his expression and regret what she'd said. She stirred the stew vigorously.

For a long moment neither of them made a sound. She wondered what he was thinking about.

A shrill ringing cut through the silence making Ochako yelp, even though she had been the one to set the timer in the first place, and she slammed her hand onto the egg timer to silence it.

"That means your food is ready, right? I should, um, I should go. But I'm really glad that your ankle is better."

Ochako whipped around. "You should stay!"

"Wh-?"

"I have so much food," she explained, "more than I could eat alone. And I bet you haven't had any dinner either." She pushed down the small voice that reminded her that she was going to freeze half of it, finding that she cared a lot less than she expected. She had the opportunity to share a mealtime with someone – that was worth not having a portion for tomorrow. She could always make herself something else just as easily.

"R-Really? Are you sure? I don't want to eat your dinner if it leaves less for you. I don't mind making myself something." Surprise flashed across his expression and a dusting of pink crept onto his cheeks.

"Sure I'm sure! Please sit down and I'll plate it up." Ochako put her hands gently onto his shoulders, turned him towards her small table, and steered him to a chair. He put up no resistance.

His shoulders were firm and warm.

"Okay, okay," he laughed, sliding into a seat, "thank you! Wow, I can't remember the last time I ate a homemade meal like this."

"I don't know, I would save the thanks until after you've tried it – I'm not a very good cook." She shrugged and laughed too, but she could barely hear it above the pounding of her heart. Why was her heart racing? So they were eating a meal together, that she had cooked, that still didn't make it a date, right?

Nerves seemed to jangle throughout her body as she brought the bowls of fresh stew over to the table. If the beef was tough or the sauce too thin, she would eat it anyway and shrug it off, but she suddenly wished she'd taken more care now, and hoped that it would be a good enough effort that he could enjoy.

"Thank you," he repeated as they picked up their spoons, "I work so hard I forget how hungry I get and standing there smelling your food was torture – I was hoping you couldn't hear my stomach growling."

"You're welcome! Beats having leftovers I can't eat. And don't worry, not a single growl was heard." Ochako paused on that for a moment, her thought process stalling with the realisation that she really needed to improve her brain to mouth filter whenever she was with Izuku because she needed to stop coming out with stuff that made her look like she had never held a real conversation in her life.

"This tastes even better than it smells!"

When she looked back up at him his eyes were shining with pure bliss.

"I'm so glad! Sometimes it comes out a little watery, or not seasoned enough…"

"No, it really is amazing," he breathed, "I think you underestimate yourself."

Something warm flared in her chest, moved up to her cheeks and lit up a smile on her face. "Thank you."

For a few minutes they ate in companionable silence. The nerves hadn't quite left Ochako, but she was more at ease and just relieved that she'd made enough extra that she was able to invite him to stay at all. There was no stew left for her tomorrow, but she didn't care at all anymore.

"So, if today's your day off, what is it that you do, Ochako?" Izuku broke the silence between a spoonful of stew.

She swallowed down her own mouthful forcefully. "Oh, I…"

The one question she really didn't want to answer, and it's thrown right at her. She already knew that he was kind enough not to change his opinion of her, whatever job she had, but she still felt the sting of it being much less important than his successful career as a paramedic.

Ochako looked into his patient, curious green eyes and sucked in a small breath. "I'm a barista in a coffee shop actually. I don't know if you know it, but it's called 'Zero Gravity' – it's the space themed one near the crossroads, just outside the city centre." She carefully crafted her voice to sound casual, but her hands were tense as she spoke.

"Oh, wow, a barista! I think I've heard of it... I haven't been there, but I'm sure my friend Denki has. It sounds so cool, the way the ceiling is full of stars, I bet you could look up into them and feel like you're about to fall into the sky. I've always wanted to go, I've never been to a themed café before," Izuku chattered excitedly.

Ochako blinked, lost for words. "The ceiling is just some fairy lights really, nothing like stars if you look hard."

"That's why you've got to use your imagination. I love places like that, where you get to pretend that you're somewhere else. What a cool place to work! I've always had a pretty big imagination, at least that's what everyone always tells me," he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I'd be that weird customer asking you what constellations are up there."

"No, that's… that's such a nice thing to have. I forget sometimes, to find the magic in the ordinary, and enjoy the little things." She thought of her how her dream had never really come true, in regard to her own grand plans for her future, but how happy her job did make her feel deep down and how fulfilled she often felt after a long, tiring day. She thought about laughing with Mina and looking up into the 'stars' on the ceiling in the dark, feeling a spark of warmth that felt a little bit like home. Maybe she really was happy, she'd just never let herself acknowledge or indulge in that feeling, because she felt like she should be aiming higher - not because she felt like that personally but because she felt like that's how she should feel.

She'd always been like that; aiming for the stars that were always out of her reach even when she was surrounded by them.

She should be looking for the constellations in the fairy lights…

Ochako felt her heart leap in her chest and said in a small, shy voice, "Maybe one day I'll show you."

"I-I'd like that." Their eyes met briefly but they looked away quickly.

"Oh, but, maybe on one of my days off," Ochako added with a grimace, "my uniform is pretty awful. I don't think I want you to see me like that."

Izuku laughed, "It can't be that bad."

She shook her head in reply, the grimace still pinching her face.

"Can't be as unflattering as this," he added, raising his arms and grabbing the spare fabric of his green shirt. He had a slight, lean frame, despite his broad chest and solid muscles, so the shirt did seem to swamp him somewhat, as if they didn't have one that went down to his size. The slightly baggy shirt completely hid the definition of muscle she knew must be there underneath it – nobody would know just from looking at him. She tried not to let a blush colour her face as she thought of the piggyback ride he'd given her and how she'd felt them firsthand.

She coughed a little and shook her head. "Nope, sorry, my space suit still wins the cringiest uniform award."

"Space suit?" Izuku's eyebrows scrunched, prompting a giggle from her.

"I get to be an astronaut while I'm at work," she said with a surprising touch of pride, "though I'd say it was the down side of working in a themed coffee shop, my friend Mina would say it's a perk."

Izuku's eyes gleamed. "It's like you get to cosplay every day, and get paid for it."

"I'd never thought about it like that," Ochako said. "But I guess people dress up in your uniform too - in the be-"

She'd about to say 'in the bedroom' and mentally stalled.

Dumb dumb dumb! That's so inappropriate!

Luckily Izuku didn't seem to have caught on because he tilted his head a little waiting for her to finish. Instead Ochako cleared her throat loudly and gave an exaggerated look to the empty bowls that had been sitting in front of them for a while. "Oh, we're both finished! I should clear up." She reached over with two hands for his bowl at the same moment he tried to pass it over to her – so her hands closed over both of his instead. She could feel rough scars under one of her palms, and smooth, firm skin under the other.

Ochako snatched her hands back. "Sorry."

Izuku gave a soft laugh and pulled his hands back too. "N-No problem."

She looked back up, forced a smile through her racing heartbeat and hoped he wouldn't notice her blazing cheeks, remembering her thought that she just wanted to be friends, and hearing the voice in the back of her head that it was all that she deserved of him anyway.

As she moved all the bowls and cutlery to the sink, wishing she could hide her face behind her hands, she considered asking him about his scars, partly for a change of topic and partly out of a real curiosity. She really wanted to know the story of how he became a paramedic in the first place, because she found that she really wanted to know more about his hopes and dreams too, and what it had been like to be able to achieve them. She did remember that when they'd first met he'd mentioned being involved in an accident, and being inspired by a paramedic there. Didn't he mention that he used to be very accident-prone? The boxes of medical paraphernalia she'd seen in his apartment made her wonder if he was a hypochondriac or something…

"Um, Ochako."

His voice broke her out of her thoughts and made her jump at the sink. She turned back to face him with a curious tilt of her head. "Y-Yes?"

"About what you said earlier… about my nickname…"

"Mm?"

"The next time Katsuki calls me Deku I'm going to think about what you said." Izuku locked eyes with her. "It's going to stop being a way he can make me feel small and useless, and it'll make me feel like the Deku that you described. So, thank you."

Ochako blinked. She'd never been able to do something like that for anyone before; make a real impact on them. Was this how Izuku felt when he helped someone?

"That's the spirit, Deku!" she yelled as she punched her arm in the air enthusiastically.

He seemed to stiffen at that, his eyes widening a fraction, but before she could apologise for impulsively using the nickname, he beamed at her. His nose was pink. "It sounds so different when you say it," he whispered. He suddenly pulled his phone out of his pocket. "A-Actually, I-I really wanted to ask you if I could get your num-"

A long uninterrupted string of knocking at her door cut off whatever Izuku was going to say and colour drained out of Ochako's face as she realised the only person that kind of knocking belonged to. "Oh, no. Oh! I completely forgot."

Izuku shoved his phone back in his pocket and shot up. "Y-You've got company! Don't worry about it, I should probably get going anyway."

The knocking continued, mostly drowning out Izuku's words, so Ochako raced over to her door and flung it open.

"Hiya, Ocha!" Mina said brightly. She had a red hoodie on (that Ochako would say clashed with her pink hair, if she had any kind of fashion sense she could rely on) that she knew must be Eijiro's, since it was too big on her. She had a black backpack slung over one shoulder that rattled as she bounced on her heels. "I'm a little early because I want to hear all about the visit from your cute paramedic."

Distress locked Ochako's voice, and Mina must have noticed her wide eyes because she continued in a loud voice, "No! Don't tell me he didn't show? You were the one who told me about how much of a good person he was!"

Ochako shook her head violently, panic still seizing her vocal chords, despite how much she was willing her friend to stop talking. "Oh, don't shake your head at me, he's the floor below you, he won't be able to hear me through his ceiling. I'm so sorry for you, Ocha, I know you really liked him. I don't think I've ever seen you like that over a boy before. Goes to show you that you can't trust a cute smile."

Ochako felt like she was far too well acquainted with the feeling of desperately wanting the floor to open beneath her. Here it was again.

Completely unable to turn around to face the table she knew Izuku would still be standing at, Ochako simply accepted the hug that Mina pulled her into.

Nononononono.

"It'll be okay, sweetie." Mina gave her one last squeeze and walked around her into the room, while Ochako closed the door numbly.

"Oh, sorry, didn't realise you already had company," Mina laughed, obviously not recognising Izuku from Ochako's descriptions of him the day before. "Hi, my name's Mina, I work with…"

Ah, Ochako thought distantly, still turned away from them both, she's just noticing the green hair and green eyes. And the uniform.

There was a beat of pure and utter silence.

Ochako finally did put her face in her hands.

Izuku barked one strained laugh that came out as barely more than a squeak. "I-I-I should, um, I-I'll go. Nice to meet you, Mina," he added as if he couldn't help his good manners, "thank you for- thanks for the dinner, Ochako."

She should say something. Something… Anything!

The click of her door sounded before she could lift her face out of her hands.

Mina sighed and slumped into the chair Izuku had just vacated, letting her bag slide off her shoulder and thump to the floor. "That was…"

Ochako sighed too and joined her at the table in the chair opposite. "Yep."

"And I just…"

"Yeah."

Mina's face twisted into a look of pure regret and sorrow, and it almost physically hurt Ochako to see her friend with such a sad expression. "Oh, Ocha, I am so so so sorry! I can't believe I did that… I'm such a bad friend!"

Ochako shook her head and leaned forward to grip her hands in her own, holding them tightly on the table. "You didn't know! It's not your fault. You didn't know…" She hung her head and groaned. "Except now he's never gonna talk to me again."

Mina wailed. "I'm a terrible friend!"

"No you're not, Mina. Don't say that!" Ochako swept around the table and hugged her friend tightly again. "I already knew it wasn't going to work out between us, I didn't think we'd ever be more than friends anyway. He's so far away from me, I'd never catch up. He wouldn't want to be with me." She didn't mention that she was scared that he wouldn't even want to be friends with her anyway. She was all kinds of a disaster.

"Don't be silly. There's no 'catching up' you have to do at all," Mina hiccupped, "you're Ochako Uraraka and you are an amazing person. You deserve love and a relationship with whoever you find that your heart falls for – no matter what profession they're in. It matters who you are, not what you do. Okay?"

She wasn't so sure, but she nodded anyway. "Okay."

"But I really am sorry."

Ochako pulled out of the hug and returned to her seat, wiping her face free of tears before Mina could see. "It's okay, really. Let's just… Let's just focus on getting everything set up for the D and D session before the others turn up and you're here crying over me."

Mina took a deep breath. "Good plan." She put her bag on the table and began pulling out everything the group would need for their weekly Dungeons and Dragons night. Ochako had forgotten all about it in her enthusiasm of her dinner with Izuku. At least she had a bit of time to compose herself before their other friends turned up.

"Oh, nearly forgot, Toru's going to be a no-show again tonight," Mina said while she fumbled with a handful of pens.

Ochako tried to sound normal when she answered. "Again? I swear I never get to see her anymore. But the others are still coming, right?"

"Yeah, Tsu is driving her, Ji and Yaomomo here. Apparently there was some drama in Momo's class today at school – some kid got injured or something."

"Really?" Ochako still felt a little bit numb, but she was hoping that would fade.

"Yeah, said she'll tell us about it later. They'll be here soon anyway, and- hey, what's that?"

Ochako looked up from the papers she'd been arranging and lifted an eyebrow at Mina's curious expression. Mina pointed to the front door. "I think something's on your doormat."

Ochako stretched around in her seat, letting the back dig into her ribs a little as she twisted to see. What the…

She got up and strode over to the square of white that was sitting half on her doormat, and half still under the door where it had obviously been pushed through. When she picked it up she realised it was a piece of paper folded in half. Unfolding it revealed paper with a printed Captain America shield in the bottom corner and a string of numbers with the words 'This is my number, please text me yours ?' written in neat handwriting underneath. Ochako laughed so long and so loudly that she heard Mina call her name in alarm.

"It's his phone number," she explained with a beaming smile that pinched up her pink cheeks. She was dimly aware of Mina yelling excitedly, but she could only hear the loud beating of her own heart in her ears.