Fear not, shippers! More IzuOcha goodness has arrived! Because I AM HERE. Something, something, something, PLUS ULTRA!
Disclaimer: My Hero Academia belongs to the Plus-Ultra-AMAZING Kohei Horikoshi, and I am but a humble fan showing my appreciation. Also I still can't think of a better disclaimer.
A Week's Worth of Green Tea
Day 4: Living Arrangements
"Deku, I couldn't. It-It's too much."
"It's not too much. Honest!"
"No, Deku, I-I don't want to impose..."
"You wouldn't be imposing, Uraraka. It was my idea!"
"I... I don't..."
"I already talked it over with my mom, and she thinks it a great idea."
"... You're not gonna take 'no' for an answer, are you?"
"Nope!"
"*Sigh* You know, you can be real stubborn sometimes, Deku. You know that?"
"So is that a 'Yes'?"
*Nod*
"Great! I'll go call my mom."
Ochaco sighed as she watched Deku walk off and dial his cell phone. She should've considered a possibility like this. About a week ago, some bugs found their way into UA's dorm building, and has since grown into a bit of an infestation. The school had contacted an exterminator who said that given the size of the building, a full tent-and-bug-bombing procedure would take about 3 days. So, Principal Nezu broke the news to the student body and asked that the students try to find some temporary living arrangements.
Therein lays Uraraka's problem. For most students, this just means moving back in with their parents for the next 3 days. Unfortunately, Uraraka's parents live far away, far enough that they rented an apartment for her to live closer to school when she started at UA; an apartment she moved out of upon moving into the dorms and is no longer renting, because the literal last thing she wants to do is to waste what little money her parents have on something she isn't using. Getting a hotel room on such short notice would be difficult –not to mention probably prohibitively expensive- and any motel within her meager budget would likely be found in the red light district, and Uraraka would rather die before such embarrassment than from it. Thus Uraraka had resigned herself to an ungodly commute for a couple days.
That is, until Deku had to go and be his usual amazing, selfless, Deku self and offer to let her stay with him and his mother during the extermination. Uraraka tried to gently decline, but Deku was his usual persistent Deku self and wore her down quite quickly. She appreciated the offer, she really did. Unfortunately, Mina's already suspicious of her feelings towards the green-haired lad, so she's already not letting her hear the end of it. Too late to change plans now; might as well just roll with it.
Finishing packing some things into a suitcase, Uraraka walked back to the common area. She stood there for a moment, still feeling a bit awkward about the situation.
"Oh, hey. You all packed?" Deku came up to her with a suitcase of his own, his seeming just a bit overstuffed... Is that the arm of an All Might figurine sticking out?
"Um, yeah," Uraraka said.
"Well then, shall we go?" Deku asked as he held the door open like a gentleman. This, combined with the aforementioned All Might figurine sticking out of his bag, brought a smile to her face.
"Yup!" she chirped happily, deciding she was just psyching herself out by being nervous and that she should just be grateful to her best friend.
-Later, at Casa De Midoriya-
"Here we are," Midoriya said as he unlocked the door to the apartment. He again held the door open for Uraraka. "Ladies first."
"Oh. Um, thank you," Uraraka entered the door and began taking off her shoes.
"Oh! Izuku, is that you, honey?" a woman's voice called from inside the apartment.
"Yeah, Mom, we're home!" Deku replied.
A plump older woman with dark green hair entered the room, a big smile on her face as she gave Deku what appeared to be quite the powerful hug.
"Oh, it's so good to have you home, Izuku!" she said as gave a smiling-but-just-a-little-bit-red-faced Deku a kiss on the cheek as she released him from the hug. Ochaco couldn't help but find the whole exchange amusing and adorable.
Deku cracked his neck back into alignment after being released from his mother's embrace and introduced the two women. "Uraraka, I'd like you to meet my mother Inko. Mom, this is my friend Ochaco Uraraka."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Midoriya," Uraraka said, bowing respectfully to the older woman. "I really appreciate you two opening your home to me like this. I really hope it's not too much trouble."
"Oh, it's no trouble at all, dear. Please, come in, come in," Inko replied cheerfully as she ushered the two further into the apartment. "Oh, Izuku, why don't you-"
"Way ahead of you, Mom," Izuku said as he picked up Uraraka's suitcase.
"Oh, Deku, you don't have to-"
"Don't worry, I got it," Deku said as he picked up both suitcases. "Where should I put these, Mom?"
"Oh, just put them in your room for now, dear," Inko said.
"'Kay."
"Come on, dear, I made us all some tea," Inko said to Uraraka, ushering her further into the living room.
"Oh, you didn't have to do that, ma'am," Uraraka said.
"Don't be silly, dear. It's fine," Inko rebutted. "It gives us a chance to get to know each other! Izuku's already told me so much about you, dear. Although one thing I've already noticed is that you're even prettier than he said you were!"
"MOOOOOOOOOM!" Izuku whined in embarrassment, face beet red, as he came into the room. Uraraka, for what it's worth, was also red in the face, mostly from embarrassment like Deku, but there was also the tiniest hint of a smile on her face from the implication of Inko's words: 'He said I'm pretty?'
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. Was that supposed to be a secret?" Inko asked with that smile mothers do (you know the one). Izuku could only sigh in defeat and sit down and accept the cup of tea.
"So, Uraraka, I've only heard Izuku's side of the story how he's made friends at UA. I'm curious, is there anything he didn't tell me?" Inko asked. It was similar to the parental grilling Uraraka half-expected, but friendlier and more like Inko was using her to grill her son.
"Oh, um, well, did you see the Sports Festival? Cuz the robots from the first event were from the Entrance Exam..." Uraraka began telling Inko about how her son saved her from being squished by a giant robot. Then Izuku pointed out that she saved him from splatting onto the ground. The two teenagers had a bit of a laugh, but Inko was slightly less amused.
After telling a few more stories, Inko noticed the time. "Oh my, where did the time go? I didn't even give you two a chance to change out of your uniforms. Silly me. Why don't you two go do that while I get dinner ready?"
"Thanks Mom," Izuku said. He led Uraraka to what could only be his room, based solely on the All Might-themed sign on the door with his name on it... And based on the wall-to-wall All Might memorabilia, she wasn't wrong.
"Oh, my God, Deku! This looks just like your room at school!" Uraraka laughed out loud, causing Deku to blush and scratch the back of his head.
"Would you believe me if I told you nothing in my dorm room came from here?"
Ochaco sputtered with laughter. "You're kidding! And they're both still Wall-to-Wall Might?"
"What? My parents are fans, too! I've been collecting this stuff for longer than I can remember," Deku admitted.
"Aw, that's actually kinda sweet," Uraraka replied. "It's like a family hobby."
Izuku liked that interpretation. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
He pointed to the two suitcases on the bed. "If you want, you can change in here and I'll change in the bathroom."
Uraraka shook her head. "No, Deku. You're already doing so much just by letting me stay here. I'm not gonna kick you out of your own room."
"Well, okay then," Izuku said. "Bathroom's down the hall."
"Thank you," Uraraka said as she grabbed her suitcase and went to the bathroom to change out of her school uniform and into something more casual.
After they both changed, they hung out in Izuku's room, chatting about basically nothing while waiting for dinner. Izuku even showed Uraraka his favorite internet video of All Might, the one he's been watching for years (you know the one).
Inko then announced that dinner was ready, and after eating, the two teenagers did their homework together in the living room. Uraraka actually ended up falling asleep upon finishing first; the homework was that hard, exhausting, and boring.
-The Next Morning-
Uraraka sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Upon her brain booting up all the way, she noticed some things. First was that she was in the same casual clothes she'd put on last night. Second was that she was in Deku's room. Third (and this one really woke her up) was that she was sitting in Deku's bed. And finally, she saw that there was an empty futon on the floor.
Blood rushing to her cheeks, she found her suitcase and grabbed her school uniform and tried to sneak out of the room.
"Is that you, Uraraka?" Inko's voice called from the kitchen. "I'm starting on breakfast right now, but if you'd like to take a shower first, you should do it now before Izuku comes back from his morning run."
"Uh, thanks, Mrs. Midoriya," Uraraka said. A morning run; that explains a few things, at least. Uraraka took Inko's advice and took a shower; she finished getting dressed just as Deku returned.
"Hey, I'm home," Deku said as he entered the apartment, wearing the same green tracksuit as during the entrance exam.
"Welcome back, sweetie," Inko said. "Uraraka and I were about to eat breakfast. Hurry and wash up before it gets cold. I don't want you to go to school on an empty stomach."
"Got it," Deku said as he hit the shower. He came out, got most-of-the-way dressed in his school uniform, and sat down to breakfast. After eating, he tried to help with the dishes, but Uraraka insisted on helping. That just left Izuku to put on his tie and he'd be ready to go to school.
"Seriously, Deku. Have you ever considered asking Iida for tips on how to tie a tie?" Uraraka asked with a giggle as she went up to him, undid his tie and began redoing it properly. She worked a tad slowly. "Say, Deku?"
"Um, y-yeah?" Deku was stiff as a board and red as a tomato with her standing so close.
Uraraka's naturally constant blush deepened as she asked the question she's had all morning. "How, uh, how did I end up... in your b-bed last night?"
"Oh, uh, you fell asleep like, right after you finished the assignment from Present Mic, so I put you in the bed and I took the futon," Deku explained.
"Okay, now that's too much, Deku," Uraraka said indignantly. "I really do appreciate you letting me stay here a couple days, but I never wanted to kick you out of your own bed!"
"Nonono!" Deku put up his hands. "It's not like that! I didn't want you to sleep on the couch, and I didn't want to risk stepping on or tripping over you when I got up early for my morning runs if you took the floor, so I just figured that I'd take the floor. Honest!"
"... Oh. You... really thought of everything, huh?" Uraraka said, feeling a small weight lift from her shoulders and feeling a little silly at the same time. She finished tying his tie. "There we go! All done."
"Huh. Not bad," Deku said as he looked in the mirror by the door. Uraraka giggled at that.
"Alright, stud," she jokingly called him. "Let's go before we miss the train!"
School was relatively uneventful. The two got some mild teasing when Midoriya's properly-tied tie was noticed, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. Besides, since they had to change back into their uniforms in the locker rooms after training, Deku didn't have Uraraka around to fix his tie again, so it was its usual stubby version on the way home.
-Saturday (A/N: I'm pretty sure Japanese students still have school on Saturdays... the heathens)-
The next day was basically a repeat of the previous day, minus Uraraka feeling so awkward about waking up in Deku's bed. It was still a bit awkward, just nowhere near as much as the first time. Deku's explanation really helped.
-Sunday-
It was Sunday. The students were scheduled to move back into the dorms tomorrow. All in all, Uraraka had a nice time staying with Deku and his mother; they treated her like family. She wanted to repay them. They would say it's not necessary, but Deku didn't take 'no' for an answer and neither would she!
The gods must be on Uraraka's side, as Inko had to go run some errands and asked her son to come with her to carry some things. Uraraka was able to excuse herself from this outing by saying she had some paperwork from her internship to catch up on (she was actually all caught up). They bought it and left her to her own devices.
They finally came back in the late afternoon.
"Hey, guys," Uraraka greeted, wearing an apron. "I hope you guys are hungry. I made dinner!"
"Oh, how sweet of you, dear," Inko said. "But you didn't have to go to the trouble."
Uraraka shook her head. "No. I wanted to. I wanted to do something to thank you both for letting me stay with you. Making dinner before going back to the dorms was the least I could do."
"Well, then in that case, what do you say we wash up and dig in?" Inko replied.
As they gathered around the dinner table, Izuku's eyes lit up as he saw what he was about to eat. "Is this...?"
"Katsudon," Uraraka answered, her cheeks darkening just a bit. "It's your favorite, isn't it?"
"Yeah!" Izuku replied with a big smile, bringing a big smile to Uraraka's face. "Oh, man. This katsudon's great! It's... uhhh... Well it's..."
"You can say it, dear," Inko said. "I know when I'm beat. It's better than mine."
"Well, um, yeah," Izuku said sheepishly. "Sorry, Mom."
"Oh, no, I didn't mean-"
"Oh don't worry about it, dear," Inko said.
"Yeah! It's great!" Izuku said. "I love it."
That brought a smile and blush to Uraraka's face as they ate the feast she'd made as a thank-you for this living arrangement.
-End of Day 4-
Prompt for Day 4: Domestic
For the record, I started this one the day after seeing RWBY Volume 6 Chapter 3, which can only be described as a lore nuke. I am honestly impressed with myself that I'm able to write after such a thorough, paradigm-altering mind-blow. Maybe I slept it off?
And now I've finished just in time to see the fallout from that lore nuke. Yeah, apologies if the end there felt a little rushed. That's because it kinda was. Like Day 2, this prompt was a little hard for me to come up with any ideas at first (it was just the word 'Domestic' for Pete's sake; what am supposed to do with that?). I neither had any ideas for any shenanigans, nor did I really want any; they are adorkable cinnamon buns, and this one took maybe a day or two longer to write than I was hoping for. Thanks for reading, and I'll (hopefully) see you tomorrow.