Something is wrong, and Ochako needs to find a solution.

12:00. Midnight.

Ochako blinked at the bin in front of her. She'd cleaned it of trash yesterday and replaced the bag. Before she came into the room, it had been clean and empty. Now, yellow petals stared at her, mocking her with their unlikely origins.

"This… is a joke, right?"

Her words were meant to break the silence. And beat back her own fears. And small part—a very small part—of her was hoping that saying something would somehow wake her up. That she had fallen asleep on the train, dreamt of that beautiful alone time with Deku, and was now dreaming about throwing up…flowers.

Of course. This was a dream. It had to be.

Well, dream or not, she wasn't going to bed with the taste of flowers in her mouth. The drawbacks of her own quirk made her all too familiar with the aftereffects of not brushing your teeth after vomiting, and she didn't want to risk dealing with all of that again. She had been planning on waiting until the morning to shower because of how tired she was, but if she was heading to the bathroom to wash the taste out of her mouth, she might as well do a thorough job of it all.

Besides, something as jarring as throwing up flowers tended to wake a person up just a little bit.

She quickly collected her items and eased out of her room. A quick check down the hall told her that Mina's door was shut tight and that it was probably safe to head down to the communal bathroom. She scurried on her way.

The elevator ride was short, and her shower was quick—learning to save money on running water had left a few habits behind that she was currently grateful for. It wasn't long before she was dressed in her most comfortable pajamas, brushing her teeth, and glaring tiredly in the mirror as she tried to puzzle out what strange phenomenon lay in her room.

"Maybe I just overworked myself and threw up something normal…" mused the girl, staring in the mirror. "It has been a long day… Wouldn't be the first time I saw something weird when I was too tired."

Which was true. One time, she thought she saw Toru bench press Ojiro. Not that the invisible girl couldn't do it, but there was never a reason for Toru to do that. Another time, she thought she saw Iida race on the ceiling. Again, he probably could with his superfast engines, but she didn't think there was ever a plausible reason for the studious Iida to run inside a building, much less on the ceiling. Then there was that one time she thought she saw Tokoyami hide some silverware in his pockets before leaving the kitchen.

Part of her still thinks that one was real despite her common sense telling her it wasn't.

However, even she could tell that her tired reflection didn't believe a word of what she'd said. Part of that doubt manifested in her face, forcing her to find some other workaround. Something that wasn't straight up denial.

"Okay, okay," she relented, giving in to the piercing gaze coming from the mirror. She decided to strike a deal with her dream reflection. "Tell you what: if it's still there in the morning, I'll go to Recovery Girl and make sure everything's okay, okay?"

The girl in the mirror stared at her for the longest time while brushing her teeth. But by the time she'd spat the cleaning mixture out of her mouth and returned her gaze to the glass, she seemed moderately reassured.

"In the morning," she promised, watching the other girl mouth the words along with her.

If it's still there…

"Don't worry, I've got you!"

Pro-hero Uravity held the children in her arms, careful not to jostle them too much as she maneuvered them away from danger. The children, however, seemed to take her words to heart, and they beamed at her. Perhaps they knew, somehow intrinsically, that they were completely safe in her hold. Whatever impossible disaster had occurred was behind them now, and they were safe in the hands of Pro-hero Uravity.

The children cheered as she touched down on the ground, her quirk reacting to her will alone in order to return gravity to everyone in her care. The children almost immediately swarmed her with their arms, each clambering to give her a final hug before shimmying safely to the ground. She watched with a full and happy heart as each child, perfectly unscathed, returned to their parents. The adults, fuzzy in the fact that they were not her focus, waved gratefully to their hero.

Their Pro-hero Uravity.

She waved back as everyone departed. Maybe they were going home; maybe they were going to the park; maybe they were going on a vacation.

But she knew one thing for sure: there was nothing but good times ahead for them now that they had been saved. They were safe, and it was a job well done in her eyes. She couldn't help but swell in pride.

"You saved them," breathed a familiar voice. She turned, her mind casting aside the scene she had just been a part of and focusing on the two beloved figures before her. "Just like you saved us."

Her daddy and momma were smiling at her, no hint of weary work hanging from their features. Their eyes were bright and full and happy. She didn't think she'd ever seen her daddy look so strong and healthy. Or her momma glowing as brilliantly as she did now. Maybe the beach did that to her. Maybe it was the sunshine and the sand. Or maybe it was the huuuuge house behind them. A house she somehow knew was theirs and theirs alone.

She'd done that. She'd secured that house for them here in Hawai'i. She'd fulfilled her promise.

Tears welled up in her eyes, joy bursting from her heart. There they were. Her parents. Living easy and enjoying life. Did they like the beach? Did they like having their breakfasts prepared for them? Did they like having enough time to walk together? Did they like having the choice to not go to work if they didn't want to? Did they like the freedom she'd worked so hard to give to them?

The kind smiles in their faces told her they did. They loved it, and they loved her.

She reached for them and took their hands in her own. She drew them into a hug, relishing in the fact that she could finally, finally, finally do this for them. They more than deserved it in her eyes. She almost didn't notice when her arms drew closer together, accommodating for one person instead of two.

"That's amazing. I won't lose to you."

Her mind refused to be surprised by his presence. He was the one thing her entire world had been missing. And now he wasn't missing. He was there. In her arms. Without hesitation, she allowed herself to snuggle into him more, feeling the feather-light touch of his hands on her.

"Deku…" she whispered, giggling his nickname in spite of herself.

A shift in mood, a light tickling on the back of her skull, made her draw away from him. She hungrily drank in his fluffy green hair, his beautiful green eyes, his playful freckles that danced upon blushing cheeks. Oh my! Was he embarrassed? Like her? He didn't need to be…

Like some sort of shift had taken place, confidence swam into his features, and he smiled at her. She smiled back. Sometimes, that smile of his just took her breath away.

Carefully, slowly, he eased into her space. His actions were slow and careful, yet also somehow confident. His eyes burned, and her heart fluttered. A deep sense of longing filled her that she couldn't ignore any longer. She tilted her head up in assent, their proximity somehow already stealing her air.

The last thing she knew was that the touch of his lips upon hers was feather light and oh-so-soft.

The first thing Ochako knew was that her throat burned and that she had to spit something out of her mouth right now.

She pitched herself over the side of her bed, grabbed the bin, and threw up whatever it was that had woken her. She coughed and forced whatever it was out of her body as powerfully as she could. For a moment, the one action was all her dizzy, waking mind could process as she coughed the last dredges out.

Thankfully, the action was over nearly as quickly as it had begun. Sweet air rushed into her lungs and out again, giving her brain some much-needed fuel to process what had just happened.

A dream. A wonderful dream. She'd gone pro. She'd given her parents a good retirement. And Deku…

Her face flushed, and she wondered when her subconscious had gotten so bold. Even thinking about the idea of him… of him…

Her waking mind had more shame than her dreaming one, and she dove into her blankets. Perhaps if she burrowed far enough, she would eventually escape these feelings that felt entitled enough to reveal themselves in the cover of—

Ochako's mouth violently protested the gradual invasion of a foreign object, and she had to quickly escape her makeshift shelter in order to spit yet again. This time, she watched with abject horror as small, yellow flowers—the like that seemed vaguely familiar though she could not recall from where—fell into her bin. It rested atop a small mound of similarly shaped flowers. Some had already wilted from the night before.

The night before… she… she really had thrown up flowers, hadn't she? It hadn't been a dream…

But it doesn't make sense, thought Ochako, forcibly pushing away her dream in order to concentrate on the impossible scene before her. People didn't throw up flowers. Ochako didn't, at least. That wasn't her quirk. This whole thing wasn't normal. This wasn't right. This was wrong.

Something was wrong.

And if she didn't do something about it, she could really choke on flower petals in her sleep next time.

The thought sobered her. She had to do something now.

"Okay," she relented, mechanically pushing herself away from the…evidence. A very small part of her still hoped that she would blink and that the whole pile would disappear. The greater part of her recognized that it had been there since she'd fallen asleep and wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. She needed to be responsible. She needed to do something. She needed… she needed…

"I need to go see Recovery Girl…"

Right. That's what she needed to do. That's what she'd told herself she would do last night, right? Go see Recovery Girl if the problem kept up.

Ochako took a deep breath. Then she looked at her phone. It was on the other side of her room, flipped closed and charging, exactly where she'd deliberately placed it before falling asleep. She needed to get to it. She maneuvered out of bed, edged around the bin, and ambled her way to the desk and her small device. When she flipped it open—her mittens made the task much harder than it needed to be, but she was entirely too focused on getting more information to do something as sensible as take them off right now—the time of 5:15 burned into her retinas.

Almost four and a half hours of sleep. That was enough. It had to be.

But would Recovery Girl be in her office by now?

Ochako took a deep breath and exhaled. The action helped to ease her rushing thoughts and pull herself together. She wasn't going to go back to sleep now. Not when she could end up choking on flower petals by accident. That was a serious medical hazard. She needed to go see Recovery Girl. But she didn't know if Recovery Girl was available. But the only way to know was to check. And in order to check, she needed to leave her room. In order to leave her room, she needed to change out of her pajamas, at least.

So she did just that.

Okay. The next thing to do was leave her room, go downstairs, go out the door, and go into the UA main building to find Recovery Girl's office.

So she did the first two things on that list.

By the time Ochako made it to the living room, she felt slightly better. Throwing up flowers was still a big deal, but she didn't feel as thrown off-guard as she had been when she woke up.

Then again, nearly choking in your sleep could throw anyone off-guard. At least a little.

Her relative calm made it easier to say hello to Momo and Tsu, both of whom were already up and in the living room for who-knows-what-reason. Momo nursed a cup of tea while Tsu held a glass of water between her hands. Both had turned when Ochako entered the room in order to leave.

Well, it was five in the morning. They probably hadn't been expecting anyone to come down.

"Good morning, Uraraka-san!" Momo's voice was soothing and calm despite the fact that Ochako was sure her appearance was a surprise. The young woman briefly wondered what sort of magical properties her friend's tea held and if they had anything to do with her friend's ability to roll with the punches as well as she seemed to. "How are you?"

The question gave Ochako pause. It was a simple question, and it had a simple answer. In fact, 'fine' had darted to the tip of her tongue, but it had been halted by something. The taste of flowers. She hadn't washed it out yet.

Ew.

Instinctively, she made a face.

"Do you need a glass of water?" asked Tsu. Ochako waved her hand with a strained smile and hoped that her friend wouldn't trouble herself. The water, though, wasn't a bad idea. Quickly, she bypassed the two heroes-in-training and made her way to the kitchen, where she grabbed a glass, turned the faucet, and ran it under the tap for a moment. First, she rinsed the taste out of her mouth. Then, she refilled the glass and drank what liquid she could.

It helped. A lot.

"I could have gotten it for you, kero. It wouldn't have been a bother."

"Are you feeling all right?"

Ochako froze in the middle of taking yet another gulp. Just why did she think her friends would just go back to their conversation after her abrupt entrance and exit? She probably wouldn't if Jirou had done something like that.

At five in the morning.

Looking like she'd seen a ghost.

She winced. Yeah, she probably didn't look all that great, given everything. But she didn't want to bring down her friends, so she turned to them with as bright a smile as she could manage and tried to reassure them.

"I'm fine," chirped she.

But the looks on her friend's faces said that they didn't believe her.

Which… was fair. She laughed lightly, trying to make herself comfortable under their scrutiny. It was an abysmal effort with lackluster results as grey and green eyes pierced through her lie effortlessly. She amended her statement. "Just not feeling that great."

Momo's face immediately revealed her sympathies. Tsu's took on a troubled inquisitiveness. Ochako raised up her hands, hoping that maybe she could stem the oncoming worry and salvage the situation.

"It's fine, though! I'm going to see Recovery Girl, so I'm sure I'll be A-okay soon enough!"

Unfortunately, her reassurances only seemed to trouble her friends further.

"It's serious enough to need to see Recovery Girl, kero?" asked Tsu. "Did something happen during your patrol last night?"

Ochako blinked. Oh. Oh, yeah. That was a possibility.

"I'm…not sure," she admitted. She was sure that she'd handcuffed the leader and neutralized his quirk before he could have hit her, but what about the second villain? What was his quirk again? Had she seen him in the database?

She couldn't remember.

"Perhaps you'll remember on your way to Recovery Girl," said Momo hopefully. Ochako nodded, grateful to see some of the concern melt out of her friends' faces. She never liked to worry her friends and often did her best to avoid doing anything that could bring their moods down. Despite the appeasement appearing to have worked, Momo's eyebrows creased after a moment.

"And…forgive my intrusion…would you mind if I, at least, accompanied you on your way to Recovery Girl? As your classmate and friend, I would like to make sure you are in good health."

"Me too, kero," said Tsu. Her face was set in gentle determination. "Maybe talking through your patrol on the way could help you find some answers."

Ochako thought her options over. She loved her friends, and she knew with certainty that if she asked to go alone, they would let her go and expect a report back later. They were considerate of her space in that way. However, she honestly didn't want to go to Recovery Girl alone. She'd been willing to do so out of necessity, but when the opportunity came to spend some time with her friends…

"I'm sure that whatever's going on, Recovery Girl will set me straight in no time," said Ochako, her smile warm and her mind made up. "But I wouldn't mind some company on the way."

With equally warm smiles, the other two nodded their heads, and the three quickly washed their glasses. With that finished, they hurried out the door and took to the pathway that would lead them into the UA main building and, eventually, Recovery Girl.

"Before we discuss your patrol, perhaps we ought to discuss what's ailing you," said Momo. Her sensible approach made Ochako smile and reminded her why she was the vice president of their class. "It doesn't appear as though you have a fever or any sort of physical mutation."

"I'm sure you would have gone to Recovery Girl much sooner if it were that straightforward, kero," pointed out Tsu, unintentionally sending a twinge of guilt through Ochako. She had thought about seeing Recovery Girl sooner, but…

She waved her hand to assure her friends and banish the 'what-if's from her mind. The past was done with. All she could do was look to the future now.

"You're right; it's nothing like that," she said. Suddenly, the mental images of the flowers returned to her mind. In the darkness of her room and the obscureness of her memories, the angles of the petals seemed sharper, more dangerous. Their presence was an anomaly and one that she was rightfully wary of. She frowned. Even though ruminating on the past wouldn't do her any good, she silently chided herself for not being more cautious of the strange phenomenon. "I… I started throwing up flowers last night."

Silence reigned for a moment as the three walked. Momo and Tsu might have been absorbing what Ochako had just said, but she herself had absorbed the fact by now. Flowers had come out of her mouth, and she had no idea where they had come from or why. Before anything really serious happened, she had to figure it out.

"That sounds like something a quirk would be responsible for, kero," said Tsu at long last. Ochako glanced over at Momo to see her friend nodding along.

"Tsuyu-san has a point. Was there any point during your patrol where you might have come into contact with another person's quirk? An altercation, perhaps?"

The answer was immediate. "Edgeshot and I weren't out for very long when we stopped a bank robbery. I came into contact with two of the villains that we caught, and the other two didn't have enough of a chance to do anything to me. One of them had a minor speed quirk, but I can't remember the other's quirk. After we caught them, we spent the rest of my shift in the office going over paperwork for capturing villains and how to file it correctly."

"So if it's a quirk, then there's a large possibility it would be the second villain's, kero," mused Tsu. "There wasn't anything in any of the paperwork about his quirk?"

Ochako shook her head. "Nothing's coming to mind right now. I was kind of overloaded with information at the time."

"Well," said Momo as she opened the door in front of them. Gratefully, the three hurried into the building and out of the winter morning chill. "At least we can tell Recovery Girl what we think this is. If necessary, we can make our way to Edgeshot's agency in order to revisit that paperwork and see how dangerous this is. Class resumes in a few days, after all."

Relief blossomed in her chest. Any answers, even possibilities of answers, made this morning easier to swallow. In a sense.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're an angel and a saint, Momo-chan?" asked Ochako. Immediately, her friend's face flushed, and she held her hands in front of her, waving them with a hint of franticness.

"I— um— well, thank you, but I—"

Embarrassed, Momo squeaked before hiding her face behind her hands. Both Ochako and Tsu giggled as they all walked the rest of the way to Recovery Girl's office.

This is nice, mused Ochako as she observed her friends. Momo, ever unflappable except in the face of a genuine and unexpected compliment. Tsu, always reliable and level-headed and always up for a bit of companionship. I should hang out with them more…

"We're here, kero," said Tsu, bringing all three girls to a halt in front of the familiar door. How many times had she been here as a visitor…? How many times as a patient…? Over the past two and a half years, too many times to count. Tsu knocked on the door. "Excuse us!"

Ochako held her breath as they waited. Were they too early? She knew that Recovery Girl, like all the other teachers, had a dorm allocated to herself. However, she had no idea where their resident nurse lived. It was more common for students to seek out their homeroom teacher, who would then inform Recovery Girl if medical assistance was necessary, than to go in search of her themselves.

Did they need to go back to their dorm and alert Aizawa-sensei? She bit her lip. She hoped not.

"Ara, ara. I didn't think any of you students would injure yourselves so early in the morning. Well, with a few exceptions, of course."

The door opened to reveal the Pro-hero in question. She was a short, elderly woman with her grey hair drawn and netted into a tight bun. A light smile was worn on her weary face, and she was somehow already prepared for the day. Her lab coat seemed impeccable, and the only difference from her usual attire was the fact that she had her syringe cane in one hand and a cup of steaming tea in the other. Curiously, her almost closed eyes managed to carefully examine the three of them exactly where they stood.

It was a familiar feeling when standing before Recovery Girl.

"Please forgive us for disturbing you at such an early hour—"

Momo's earnest sincerity was cut off by a not unkind wave. Recovery Girl's smile was equally warm.

"Yaoyoruzu-chan, you're not a disturbance. In fact, I rarely see you in here, so it's refreshing to see your face every once in a while," said Recovery Girl gently. She looked at each girl without a change in her expression. "That goes for both of you as well, Uraraka-chan, Asui-chan."

Ochako smiled at the kind welcome, bowing her head slightly. "It's nice to see you, too, Recovery Girl."

"Kero."

With a nod, the woman retreated into her office. It was an obvious invitation to enter, so the three girls did so quickly. When the door was shut behind them, Recovery Girl took her seat and gestured to its empty twin in front of her. "Now, I'm sure at least one of you is feeling unwell in order to visit little old me. And given the time," —at this, Recovery Girl glanced pointedly at her darkened window— "I would presume to say that it's somewhat serious."

Ochako stepped forward and eased herself into the chair with only the barest touch of hesitance. "Yes, ma'am. That would be me."

"I see," said Recovery Girl. Immediately, she turned to the rows of binders on her desk and scanned them. "Would you prefer to speak with me privately? I'm sure Yaoyoruzu-chan and Asui-chan wouldn't mind waiting outside if it would make you more comfortable."

Ochako looked over at her friends. Both of them were giving her looks that were nothing short of encouraging. It was true. They wouldn't mind. She smiled.

"No, they can stay," she said. "They already know what I'm here for and they've already tried helping me figure it out."

"I see," hummed the Pro-hero, swiftly pulling a binder out of its place and opening it. Momo and Tsu stood closer to Ochako than to Recovery Girl, which meant that the contents were known only to the medical professional of the room. Having obtained the file she needed, Recovery Girl turned her understanding gaze to the young woman. "Now, what appears to be the problem?"

Ochako took a breath. She let it out. Yes, the situation was strange, but that's why she was here. She faced Recovery Girl head on, refusing to be cowed by this abnormal position of hers.

"I started throwing up flowers last night. Around midnight."

Recovery Girl paused for a moment, observing the girl in front of her. She then turned to the file beside her. After a moment of searching, she seemed to find what she needed. She nodded to herself and then turned back to Ochako, who was patiently confused by the whole thing. "Uraraka-chan, do you know your family's medical history?"

Wait… medical history?

"My… family's medical… history?" asked Ochako, blinking. Wait, did that mean…

"You mean this isn't the work of a quirk, kero?"

Recovery Girl lightly tapped her file in response to the question, humming as she contemplated her answer. "It could be, but I don't believe Edgeshot would have allowed his intern to return to UA unaccompanied while under the influence of a quirk. As a Pro-hero and a trusted mentor to this school, he's fully aware that the heath and survival of our students is his responsibility while you're under his care."

Oh. That made sense.

"That being said, Uraraka-chan, I would like to look at what may be more probable. Do you know your family's medical history?"

Ochako grimaced as she thought about it. She and her parents had filled out extensive forms upon her acceptance into UA. Among those forms had been medical inquiries. They'd written down her weight, her quirk, her body mass index, and whatever genetic conditions they could have thought of among other things. From what Ochako remembered, the most serious at the time had seemed to be color blindness from her mother's side of the family.

But it had been years since those forms. A lot of the words used at the time had gone over her head and she hadn't remembered them.

"I… No. Not off the top of my head." Ochako's answer didn't seem to be either right or wrong. Recovery Girl just nodded with an understanding air. It was simultaneously comforting and worrying. "Why?"

Ochako's answer came in the form of the file being handed to her. She took it carefully and reviewed familiar handwriting. Her daddy's handwriting was a barely legible scrawl while her momma's words were neat and careful. She knew he'd been trying his best at the time; he just always wrote horribly and had to be reminded that he couldn't write in shorthand for these kinds of things.

The familiarity helped ease some of the nervousness, but the content of the page was as confusing to her now as it had been when she was fourteen. Conditions that she'd never heard of were listed, and a rough family tree was drawn on the side with little circles and squiggles. Maybe something to help them remember who had what? It seemed like something they would do.

"Uraraka-chan, your file says that your family has a variation of hanahaki disease."

Ochako glanced at Recovery Girl before returning her attention to the list in front of her. Her eyes widened when she saw her daddy's scrawl of 'hanahaki' right above the family tree. 'x2'? What did 'x2' mean?

She returned the file and her attention to the nurse, frowning. "What's hanahaki? Can I make it go away?"

Recovery Girl took the file with a somber expression. The compassion was still in her voice, but it had definitely taken on a sorrowful note as she began to explain. "Hanahaki is a genetic disease. It surfaced around the same time that humans were beginning to manifest quirks. In fact, some people would rather classify hanahaki as a quirk instead of as a disease."

"So it can be controlled? Trained?" asked Momo hopefully. Ochako nodded along, grateful that her friend had asked. To her dismay, Recovery Girl shook her head.

"Unfortunately, the hanahaki disease isn't truly a quirk at all. It's not like a muscle that you can work out. Instead, the hanahaki disease runs independently of the will of the person who has it and causes more harm than good, which is why it is officially classified as a disease."

Ochako, recalling the feeling of choking on seemingly harmless flower petals, couldn't help but agree. If it couldn't be controlled, then the side effects were just too dangerous.

"Wouldn't a genetic disease have shown up sooner than this, kero? Why is Ochako-chan throwing up flowers only now?"

"There are a couple of reasons this can be," said Recovery Girl. "The first reason is that the qualifications have finally been met. However, I've kept an eye on every student in this school. You met the qualifications for this disease several years ago. The most probable reason for your delayed reaction to the disease is due to the specific variation that runs in your family."

Information swirled in Ochako's mind. She wasn't sure which part to ask about first.

"Qualifications? Variation?" she asked, pulling out the words which she thought were the most important. She studied Recovery Girl, some part of her hoping that just looking at the woman would help her. "I don't understand…"

"I'll explain the variation aspect of it first." Recovery Girl held up one finger, and Ochako focused on it. Having one point to focus on helped her declutter some of the mess that her mind had become in only a few moments. "As I said, your family has a variation of the hanahaki disease. For some people, the hanahaki disease reveals itself immediately after the original qualifications have been met. For others, the hanahaki disease requires more. I believe that in addition to the normal qualifications that this disease requires to present itself, the variation within your family also exists on a biological timer. Once your body reached eighteen years of age, something shifted. This allowed the disease to proceed reacting as normal."

"What 'something' shifted? Can I shift it back?" asked Ochako, her mind reaching out to whatever solution could present itself. Recovery Girl shook her head.

"That would be like asking your body to return to as it was when you were a child," explained the Pro-hero. "Once your body moves forward, there is no rewinding it. And before you suggest that perhaps Eri-chan can use her quirk to rewind you, you must know that whenever your body thinks it is eighteen, this disease will reappear. Again and again. Do you understand what that means?"

Ochako nodded, her throat dry as she had been tossing the idea briefly in her mind. "I'd have to stay seventeen forever," she said. "My body would never grow. I'd never get stronger. I'd never be able to become a Pro-hero."

Recovery Girl nodded solemnly, and Ochako allowed herself to fully say farewell to that idea. The disease was here. Attempting to go back would only cause her more harm than good. She took a deep breath.

She was a hero. Heroes found solutions. Even if it took them a few tries to get there.

"Okay," she said, forcing herself to get her figurative feet underneath her. This was no time to feel hopeless. She looked Recovery Girl in the eye. "You keep saying that qualifications have to be met in order for the hanahaki disease to go forward. What kind of qualifications are they?"

"You need to experience a romantic love."

A moment. There was a single moment. Nothing in particular changed during this moment. The sky was still dark outside. The binders on Recovery Girl's desk were still upright. Even Momo and Tsu did not move during this moment. However, when the singular qualification left Recovery Girl's lips, something inside Ochako might as well have cracked a little bit.

Because… because no disease needed that in order to show up.

Right?

…

Right?

It was impossible, right?

Recovery Girl's patient sigh brought Ochako away from the cliff's edge of hysterical panic. Not that the idea didn't still sound tempting. Immediately, the girl's attention latched onto Recovery Girl and, with all the professionalism and complexity she could muster, asked what was on her mind.

"Huh?"

And like that, a dam broke.

"Experience a romantic love?"

"Uraraka-san, why didn't you tell us? Oh, were you worried about your privacy? Especially after all of that teasing in first year?"

"Can something like that really be necessary for a medical illness, kero? I've heard of a broken heart leading to bouts of depression, but just falling in love…?"

"Wait! Must it be romantic love? After all, Uraraka-san loves her parents very much! And her friends. And becoming a Pro-hero. There are many routes which love may take; are you certain that only romantic love can trigger this?"

The chatter was broken by a resounding clack! The three girls' attention was drawn to the large syringe that had just firmly rapped against the tiled floor. It was attached to one firm-faced Recovery Girl.

They all murmured their apologies.

"I understand that this can be confusing, so allow me to explain what is known about this disease," said Recovery Girl, indirectly accepting their remorse and moving forward. "Love is a combination of many things. It is as widespread, mysterious, and varied as any other human experience. In love, there is, of course, a feeling that is difficult to place and wonderful to experience. However, there is also a chemical reaction that happens in your brain, which allows this feeling to intensify and sustain itself. It's then up to the will of the person in question to make a choice about the feeling they have. In summary, the feeling fuels the chemicals and the chemicals react to the person's choice.

"Romantic love, specifically, is different than love directed towards a family member or friend. Familial love is often grown throughout one's life, built through times of duress and trials. It is affection, care, and loyalty through many years. Love for friends is a deep-seated affection as well as a conscious decision to remain connected with the other person. Romantic love incorporates all of this as well as a desire to incorporate the other person in your life as intricately as possible. Bear in mind that none of these types of loves outweigh or outperform the other. They simply exist in a manner that makes them very similar and yet different enough to need classification.

"The hanahaki disease specifically requires romantic love due to the feeling of wanting to incorporate another person in your life as much as possible. Sometimes the person who is experiencing a romantic love makes the choice to actively deny it. There are many reasons to do so, and having such reasons does not make a person any more or less of a human being. However, while having these feelings and learning how to deal with them are both a natural part of life, the denial of one's own feelings is one of two areas where the hanahaki disease makes an appearance."

Recovery Girl paused, watching the three of them. Ochako had the feeling she was waiting for any sort of interruption or indication that they hadn't understood any particular part thus far.

Unfortunately, Ochako felt like she was understanding the situation all too well. Recovery Girl continued.

"When one doesn't choose to accept their feelings of romantic love or they otherwise deny themselves the full extent of their own feelings, the mind will latch onto the idea of the person who they have fallen in love with and find more reasons to become and remain attached. This is a normal aspect of life as well—"

"B-but why? Why does this have to… why does it…" spluttered Ochako, feeling the words hit far too close to home. The thought of Deku flashed across her mind. His soft hair and bright smile. His encouragement and his own determination to reach his goals. The way he said 'Uraraka-san' even after all this time. All of it… It made her heart pound, but she had no time in her life—

A quickly recognizable feeling in her mouth forced her thoughts elsewhere, and she wildly searched for a bucket or something similar. One appeared in her peripheral vision and she quickly latched onto it, spitting cursed yellow flowers out of her mouth.

The attack was over just as quickly as it had begun, and Ochako looked, mortified, at the proof. It was related. Somehow, in some way, it was related… to him.

It couldn't be…

Damnit.

Damnit.

"Dwelling upon someone you have these romantic feelings for is normal, especially when you're unsure if those feelings are returned. It's also normal for that sort of dwelling to produce feelings of frustration or longing," said Recovery Girl, her voice kind as she carefully drew the bucket away from Ochako's face. Even as the traitorous flowers left her field of vision, the girl did her best to hold back her tears; the new information was hurting her in more ways than she could articulate. Recovery Girl showed enough grace to pretend she didn't see them. Instead, she gingerly placed the trash can back on the floor with a quiet and all-consuming ting.

"However, in the case of hanahaki, this same dwelling creates chemicals in the brain that are received as harmful on the body. Because of this, the body forms a specific way of eliminating the threat. For some reason, those who have the hanahaki disease begin to spit out flowers to combat such feelings."

Ochako absorbed all of this as best as she could. It felt like there was just so much to absorb, but she had a feeling they weren't done. She took a shaky breath and let it out.

"Is it possible to forget such feelings, though? For your own health?" asked Momo. Ochako's head hung at the question, the answer apparent to her. For the past two years, she'd done her best to do just that. To forget and move on. To try and regulate such feelings to the background. To somehow make them weaken or go away. But every time she thought she'd moved past it…

"Feelings like this don't simply disappear without good reason," said Recovery Girl, echoing the painful feelings in Ochako's heart. "They need finality and they need time, neither of which are on our side."

Fear grabbed at Ochako's already aching heart. She swiftly turned her gaze to the nurse, throat dry. "What…" she asked, "…do you mean by I don't have time?"

Recovery Girl frowned. "The hanahaki disease is persistent and dangerous. It continues to lower the threshold of longing or frustration needed in order to trigger its flowering response the longer it goes unchecked. Patients in denial typically have a few weeks to make a decision about it before the disease is serious enough to be considered fatal. Accepting their feelings lengthens that time to perhaps three months."

Despite the lack of flowers in her system now, Ochako felt the same choking sensation that had woken her less than an hour ago. Her air was gone.

"That's…"

Ochako tried to take it in. This new information. But it was so much… too much…

"Uraraka-san…"

"Ochako-chan…"

The soothing of her friends through both their murmured voices and gentle touches could not help the wracking of her body. Ochako cried as she buried herself into her friends' embrace, everything hitting her all at once and leaving her feeling vulnerable and unable to do anything.

Either way, she wouldn't live to graduation. She wouldn't live to be a Pro-hero. She wouldn't give her parents the retirement they justly deserved.

She was going to die. This disease was actually going to kill her.

Tears weren't enough for how broken this made her feel, but they were all she had.

"Isn't there something we can do, kero?" asked Tsu. Ochako could feel her friend's hand running through her hair. It was a soothing motion that typically kept her grounded when she came to her friend with her problems and fears. Momo, meanwhile, had an arm wrapped around her shoulders, her thumb rubbing small circles into the nearest patch of skin it could reach.

Ochako tried to breathe. Her friends were here. They cared for her. They weren't going to give up on her, even when she herself was too shocked by the news to see the way out right now.

And there had to be a way out.

There had to be.

Heroes found solutions.

"The symptoms of the hanahaki disease are due to the body's way of defending against the pain caused by unrequited romantic feelings," reviewed Recovery Girl. Ochako nodded. It made sense so far. "Because of that, some people choose to address the source of their pain and formally confess their feelings to the person they have fallen in love with."

Ochako's eyes widened. Confess? Now? But that would be…

"If the feelings are reciprocated, the accompanying feelings of longing and frustration begin to fade away; thus, the symptoms begin to fade away as well," continued Recovery Girl. "This is the best-case scenario."

Reciprocated… if Deku felt the same way… If he really felt the same way…

But what about their futures? Their careers? Even if he felt the same way, they still had their lives to attend to! They had their futures to plan for! Right now, where they were in life, romance wasn't an option.

Ochako felt the flowers begin to invade her mouth again, and Momo was the one to bring the trash bin back to her. Once she had finished spitting out even more of those yellow flowers, she thanked Momo and turned her attention back to Recovery Girl.

"What if I confess… and get rejected? Or confess and we choose not to date right now? Will all of this still go away?"

The Pro-hero frowned at her charge, but she answered the question. "Usually, when a confession goes awry due to either non reciprocation or both parties agreeing not to date, there is a grieving process. A period of 'why didn't this work', 'why can't this work', and of emotional pain. The process itself is very normal, and there are many ways for someone who does not have the hanahaki disease to come through such a process a stronger and better person overall.

"However, a person with the hanahaki disease will not have the chance to go through that process at all. If such a person confesses and is rejected, the feelings of frustration and longing surge, just for a moment. Regardless of how well-prepared a person is for it, these are natural human feelings and they happen. Unfortunately, this is the second way in which the hanahaki disease proves fatal. The explosion of frustration and pain lines the lungs, esophagus, and mouth with flowers and effectively chokes out the patient."

Tsu's hand stopped on her hair. Momo's grip tightened on her shoulders. Ochako's knees shook. Death by asphyxiation.

What a terrible way to die…

"Is…is there nothing else we can do?" asked Momo, putting to words the last shred of hope they were all surely feeling. Ochako latched onto that hope with all of her might. Recovery Girl nodded slowly.

"There is one final option."

Ochako's breath hitched. There was a chance!

Recovery Girl frowned as she continued. "Several years ago, an American company perfected a surgery aimed directly at relieving the symptoms of the hanahaki disease. Since doctors still don't know which specific genes contribute to the makeup of the disease itself and the flowering process, their best bet was to take out the section of the brain that creates the chemicals which agitate it."

Ochako felt as though she'd been slapped in the face. She couldn't mean—

"However, this surgery removes the brain's capacity to create the chemicals which are also vital to creating any sort of interpersonal attachment."

Ochako felt cold.

"You wouldn't be able to have a favorite food or a favorite place. You wouldn't have a favorite formative memory. Loved ones will simply become people who you know. This surgery completely removes a person's ability to love in any capacity."

Ochako could feel herself break. Every person she ever loved. Mina. Tsu. Momo. Iida. Deku. Her parents. All of them… reduced to just another person? Her friends, her family… gone? Their significance… just like that?

"Are…those my only options?" she asked, her voice cracking. She could feel the tight hold her friends had on her, but she also couldn't. She was numb. In the face of everything she could lose, she was numb. She could feel the pain swelling again, somehow too close and so distant all at once.

It was suffocating. Despite that, she managed to speak.

"I could confess and survive, confess and die, or get a surgery that would make me keep living without feeling…anything?"

Recovery Girl's look was sympathetic and somber. She saw the answer in her eyes before she heard it with her ears. "I'm afraid so, Uraraka-chan."

Heroes found solutions. That didn't mean they had to like those solutions. No. It just meant that solutions had been found.

Recovery Girl let the girl and her friends cry in her office until well after the sun had risen.