Ochako sighed as she plopped down on a couch in the common room. She blew a strand of hair out of her face and reclined further into the couch.
It had been months since Izuku had...left, and Eri was left without a caretaker. U.A. had attempted to put her into a foster home but the little girl had refused to leave Ochako's side. She never realized just how much work went into taking care of a child.
Eri was sleeping currently, a rare occasion unless Ochako was in the same bed, giving her the chance to rest for once. It was during times like these where she was incredibly thankful that Nezu had forced Aizawa to go easy on her.
"Hey, you ok?" A deep voice from behind her asked.
This was her classmate Rikido Satou, a tall buff man with thick lips and spiky brown hair, he was also the best baker in the world.
"I'm fine Satou," Ochako lied.
"Now that's bullshit and ye know it." Rhys stepped out from his hole in the wall to call her out, "Ye look half dead, lass!"
"I don't think I'll ever get used to you."
"Well maybe I won't get used to ye then," Rhys retorted back at Rikido.
"I just wish I wasn't doing it alone," Ochako admitted, "But she doesn't trust anyone but me right now."
"Well then we get her to trust the rest of us," Rikido said simply.
"But how?" Ochako questioned.
"I have an idea, you said that apples were her favorite fruit, right?" A smile spread across Rikido's face.
Eri let out a small yawn as she padded down the stairs, she had woken up without the woman she had claimed as her mother and it had scared her, so naturally, she began wandering around looking for her.
"Mama?" Eri peered around the corner of the kitchen, watching Ochako and an unknown man pratle around.
"Hi sweetie," Ochako greeted, noticing the girl behind them, "Come here, me and Satou have something for you."
Ochako knelt down in front of her and handed her what looked to be an apple with a stick running through it, covered in a sticky red substance.
"What is it?" Eri hesitantly asked, taking the treat from Ochako.
"It's a candy apple. You'll love it I promise," Ochako smiled.
Eri took a slow and small bite, before her eyes exploded in sparkles.
"You made these for me?" she quietly asked Rikido.
"Wouldn't make 'em for anyone else," he replied.
Eri paused for a few seconds, looking at the candy apple and muttering a soft 'Thank you' to Rikido.
"That's for the help Satou, but It's getting late and it's time for Eri to go to sleep. I've already got a plan in store for tomorrow," Ochako explained, picking up Eri and taking her to the stairwell.
"Bye sugar man," mumbled Eri as she was carried off.
"Are you sure this is ok, Mina? I'd hate for you to miss your date with Shinsou," Ochako said.
All of the class 3-A girls and Eri were at one of the many malls scattered around the city, this one just so happened to be the one where Hitoshi had his close encounter with Tomura Shigaraki, formerly known as All For One.
"Eh he's fine with it, he isn't a big fan of our public dates. Actually he isn't a big fan of the public, he hates being recognized," Mina answered.
"Y'know I still don't know how you managed to get him to date you. You two are polar opposites," Kyouka remarked.
"Simple, I was persistent. He even used his quirk on me a few times to get me to go away. It eventually, I learned that the best sentence to ever be strung together by humans was: 'You wore me down'." Mina made a few exaggerated hand gestures when she said that last part.
"Kero, speaking of relationship, Yaomomo cover the child's ears." Momo did what she was told, thankfully Eri now trusted the five of them or she might of freaked out.
"How busy did you get with that Midoriya dude for her to be calling you 'Mama'?" Tsuyu croaked.
Ochako immediately turned red and began to sputter, "M-me and Izuku didn't do anything!"
"Hmm, first name basis, nice," Toru teased.
Ochako almost buried her face in her hands out of embarrassment but was stopped by Kyouka.
"Alright you guys, let's not send her to the sun just yet, curfew is in an hour or two so we need to get moving," she told the girls, who all nodded and began to make their exit.
None of them noticed the hooded figure that had been following them since they arrived.
"I'm not gonna help you take care of that kid," Katsuki answered before she could even get the question out.
"Come on Bakugo, even Todoroki has given it a shot. You don't have to take care of her, you just have to bond with her a little bit," Ochako argued.
"I'm not good with kids, so you can count me out," Katsuki said, he then sighed before continuing, "But I know someone who is."
"Really?" Ochako asked.
Katsuki dipped into his room and came back a few seconds later with a slip of paper, "Take the brat there, explain everything to the woman who lives in the apartment and she'll be more than happy to help."
Ochako repositioned Eri on her hip so she could knock on the door properly, a few seconds later the door slowly opened, revealing a short, plump woman, with green hair and eyes, she looked almost identical to Izuku except she didn't have freckles.
"Are you Inko Midoriya?" Ochako asked.
"Yes, who's asking?" Inko answered.
"My name is Ochako Uraraka, I'm—" Ochako paused, realizing her mistake, "Was a friend of Izuku's...and this is Eri, you're granddaughter."
Inko froze, "Izuku had a child?"
"Not technically, he kind of adopted her, but she's his daughter," Ochako explained.
Eri, who had been burying her face in her mother's shoulder, turned her head just slightly so that she could gaze at the other woman with one eye.
"May I?" Inko asked, gesturing to the little girl.
Ochako let Eri down and nudged her towards Inko, "Don't worry, she won't hurt you."
Eri slowly approached Inko, who knelt down in front of her, practically sobbing. Suddenly, Eri began to giggle.
"You cry like papa."
'Izuku was capable of crying?' Ochako thought to herself.
"Please, come inside. I'd love to get to know my grandbaby." Inko began to pull them into their home.
"Actually Mrs. Midoriya—"
"Inko, please dear," she corrected.
"Right, Inko, I'm sorry but we can't stay. There is something that I wanted to ask of you though: I have final exams coming up soon and I don't have anyone to watch Eri. If it's ok with her, would you like to do it?" Ochako asked.
"You don't even have to ask, darling," Inko smiled.
"Eri, sweetie, would you be okay if I left you with Inko while I did my exams?" Ochako knelt down to get on eye level with her daughter.
Eri looked down for a bit, seemingly in thought, before simply saying, "I'd like to stay with grandma."
"Perfect!" Ochako smiled, "Inko, are the seventeenth and eighteenth good for you?"
"They're just fine," Inko replied, a smile spread wide on her face.
Ochako picked up Eri once more and began to leave, but stopped as a thought crossed her mind.
"Inko, I just wanted to say that your son was a real hero. He saved me twice...and I just wish I could have returned the favor."
The mother guiltily looked into her apartment, almost as if she was hiding something, "I'm sure just hearing that would have been more than enough dear."
Three months.
It had been three months since Izuku died and Ochako still wasn't over it. Why did she feel this way? She barely knew the guy but it felt like he had been a part of her life for years.
As she was lost in thought, she failed to notice her daughter walking up to her, a small leather book in her hands.
"Mama?" She asked, breaking up Ochako's inner monologue.
"What is it, sweetie?"
Eri held the book out for her to take, "I took this from Papa before we left, I think he'd want you to have it."
Ochako suspiciously took the book, and slowly flipped to the first page.
Day 1095,
Something weird happened today, a woman showed up inside the barrier, I had to pry one of the anorexic bastards off of her. Something felt...off when I looked at her, for the life of me I can't figure out what it was.
-Izuku
Ochako's eyes widened as she realized what day this was referring to, and she quickly flipped past three more pages.
Day 1098,
She came back, and she brought friends with her, and one of them just so happened to be Katsuki. Apparently her name is Ochako and she came back to thank me, but she just so happened to run into a Sporpion and a couple of those tree monsters. I'm not gonna lie, she's a nice girl, she helped me cook breakfast, chop firewood, and she even gets along with Eri pretty well. I still get that feeling when I look at her, like something is tugging at my heart, it almost feels like what happened with Mia.
-Izuku
Day 1099,
I feel this may be my last entry, so I'm making this quick, a Mancubus attacked me and Ochako. I know I killed all of those things, which means the worst is happening. So I'm writing my final message now, if this survives the explosion, I'd like it to reach my mother eventually, she deserves to know why I disappeared. I guess one good thing is coming out of this, I got to talk to Julius early this morning and I asked him about the feeling I had when I was around Ochako and he explained that he had a similar feeling when he met his wife. I guess after all I've seen, maybe a soulmate isn't such a crazy idea.
-Izuku
Ochako was only now aware of the few tears that had been running down her cheek.
"Mama, are you okay?" Eri cautiously asked.
Ochako set the book down, brought her child into her lap, and hugged her tightly.
"I'm fine sweetie, I'm fine."
We've got one more chapter before this story is finished so just sit tight, all will be explained soon. That's it for now, Peace.