If you recall the Giorno vs. Cioccolata fight, Gold Experience was shown making a big ass tree to skewer Cioccolata's helicopter to keep him from escaping, so that's why I went for something similar last chapter.

And Made in Heaven has absolutely nothing to do with Steel Ball Run and JoJolion. I'm really getting tired of having to tell people that.

Now, you get an IzuOcha chapter before the Sports Festival, because I feel like I'm going too fast in my pacing.

XII. I Love the Thought of Being With You

As he sank further into water, Izuku lay still in shock and disappointment from his efforts having achieved nothing, before he recollected himself and began to swiftly swim back up to the surface with the help of his Quirk. However, he was stopped when a villain suddenly entered his field of vision, and was quickly closing in.

Glaring at his attacker, Izuku waited for him to get within Gold Experience's range, when he was stopped by Tsuyu Asui, who landed on and pushed him back in the opposite direction by using him as a platform to push herself off, dragging Izuku along using her long tongue. After being lifted onto the nearby yacht, Izuku briefly checked himself for any damage, before looking over the side and reaching out a hand to his classmate. "Let me help you up, Asui-san."

"Thanks, Midoriya-chan," she replied, taking the offered hand. "But call me Tsuyu-chan." Oh. Well then. He wasn't even on a first-name basis with Ochako yet, and she was his-

Izuku closed his eyes and slowly exhaled through his nose. Now was not the time to get distracted. Right now, they had to find a way to safely get out of wherever they were and away from the villains surrounding them.

"Tsuyu-chan," he began. "Is your tongue the only long-ranged capability you have?"

"That's right, ribbit."

Hm. Well, it was obvious what would happen if they tried anything with that, but it wasn't like Izuku had anything in that department, either. The maximum range Gold Experience could manifest away from him was two meters, and Izuku would've had to have lost most of his brain cells to ever consider jumping down and face the Villains head-on, not to mention that the only aquatic animals he could make that were dangerous enough could kill them.

'Actually...'

He looked back at Tsuyu. "I think I have a plan," he said, summoning Gold Experience and commanding it to punch the wall.

"Uraraka-san!"

At the sound of her name, Ochako turned from her conversation with Katsuki and Tenya to see Izuku quickly walking towards her, and promptly ran over to meet him halfway with a smile. "Deku-kun!" she exclaimed, tightly wrapping her arms around him in a hug. It wasn't the first time the two had ever hugged since they decided to immediately try dating each other, but being this close with Izuku still made Ochako feel safe and content all the same, as her fears of him being hurt ebbed away.

The two teenagers stayed like this for a few more moments, before they finally separated. "Are you okay?" Izuku asked. "Did you get hurt at all?"

Ochako shook her head. "Iida-kun got me out of the way," she replied. "What happened with you?"

Izuku then proceeded to tell her how he and Tsuyu had gotten warped to the Shipwreck Zone, and how he used Gold Experience to break off large chunks from the ship, before throwing them down into the water where the Villains were waiting. Apparently, they were still in the exact same location surrounded by several sharks and piranhas constantly circling around them, while Izuku and Tsuyu sped off away from the Shipwreck Zone using dolphins.

Sometimes the best thing to do in a fight was to run away and avoid the enemy altogether, but the fact that just imagining it was so bizarre even with context made her giggle.

"Anyway," Izuku continued, as he suddenly grew nervous. "I know we've only been doing this for a few days, and we just got out of a Villain attack, but uh...do you...would you like to..."

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Ochako finished for him.

Izuku paused in his stammering, before clearing his throat. "...yes. Yes I am."

Ochako smiled and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. "There's my answer." When she leaned back, she found it cute how Izuku started heavily blushing like the last time she went for it, before she watched him shake his head and return the favor, making it her turn to blush.

The two continued to smile at each other for a moment, before their attention was turned to Tenya loudly clearing his throat. "Everyone," he began, standing in front of the entire class, before bowing deeply. "I would like to apologize. While I am relieved to see the majority of you all unharmed, the fact remains that I failed to do my part. It was my duty to bring backup from the school as soon as possible, and I was still too slow in that regard. I-"

He was interrupted by All Might putting a hand on his shoulder. "You did what you could, young Iida, and that's what matters, but don't sell yourself short! The threat was contained relatively quickly, though..." Here, his wide grin began to noticeably dip. "It wasn't without casualties."

Ochako grimaced at the memory of seeing Thirteen's suit being ripped apart by her Quirk, as well as seeing All Might carrying an unconscious Aizawa-sensei, beat-up from having been surrounded by the Villains. To her shame, all she did was sit by the Space Hero's unconscious form and cry with Mina, while she could have done something to help.

She clenched her fist as a wave of determination passed through her. The next time she faced a Villain (and there would be a next time; she was training to become a hero, after all), she wouldn't cower or flee, and follow Izuku's example when faced with the odds against him.

"All Might!" Izuku called out, as he quickly walked towards the hero. "I forgot to tell you I've been keeping some Villains stranded at the shipwreck area."

Their teacher turned to look at him for a moment, before he nodded in reply. "Thank you, young Midoriya. The teachers and I will begin rounding up the other Villains momentarily. For now, why don't you go spend some time with young Uraraka?"

Okay, even though he was one of their teachers now, the very thought of the Number One Hero acknowledging their relationship was still pretty surreal.

After all of the Villains involved in the USJ attack had been arrested, and eyewitness accounts taken from All Might and Class 1-A, the students returned to the school to change back into their uniforms, before being allowed to go home for the next three days, as the school would be closed during that time to review security and how the 'League of Villains' knew the lesson plans.

It was also during the first of those three days, that Izuku found himself with nothing to do, and spent some time trying to figure out what to do with Ochako on their first date. He had never been in any romantic relationships before, and unfortunately, he couldn't get much help from either Katsuki or Tenya (neither of them had seen any point in being in relationships, but for some reason that didn't apply to him), and the advice they did give him was summed as just to 'be himself'.

And while Ochako had agreed to go on a date with him, they both agreed that it felt like that sort of thing was too soon, in light of having just survived a Villain attack. However, that didn't mean they didn't have to spend time together, and his mother (and Katsuki) would kill him if he left her alone for the entire three days.

"Hey, mom?" Izuku asked, walking out of his room to see his mother on the couch reading a book.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Can I invite Uraraka-san over for dinner tonight?"

Inko visibly lit up at the mention of Ochako. "Your girlfriend? I don't see why not," she replied. "I have been wanting to meet her again." Thanking his mother with a smile, Izuku went back to his room to get his phone and unlock it to call Ochako. After a moment of waiting, the call was answered by her cheerful voice.

"What's up, Deku-kun?" she greeted.

"Hey, Uraraka-san. Um, do you..." he began nervously, before he paused and steeled himself, and spoke a bit louder. "Do wanna come over for dinner tonight? My mom's been wanting to get to know you."

The other line was silent for a few moments before Ochako spoke up. "Oh. Well, I don't have anything planned, so yeah, I'd love to! What time should I be there?"

"Oh, uh, I was thinking of walking over to your place around 6:00 and walking with you."`

"Are you sure? I don't wanna have to make you walk so much."

"No, it's fine," he reaffirmed. "I've just been cooped up in here all day and just needed something to do, and it'd be pretty rude to make you walk all the way here and then back by yourself when you're the one coming over."

"...I guess you're right," Ochako conceded. "But you don't have to be such a gentleman, Deku-kun. I can take care of myself, you know." Well, naturally. She was training to become a hero, after all, except Izuku's reasoning was because he kind of missed holding her hand, but he didn't really know how to tell her that. "Ooh, I know!" she then said. "How 'bout we compromise? I go over there, by myself, and you can walk with me on the way back! Sound good?"

"...yeah, that sounds good."

"Great! I'll be there somewhere around six. See ya then!"

"Bye." Tapping on the screen, Izuku closed the call, before flopping on his bed as he tried to figure out how to occupy himself for the next three hours.

As the time moved closer and closer to six o'clock, Izuku, having already taken a shower and changed into a green plaid shirt and blue jeans, was currently sitting on the couch playing a game on his phone, in an attempt to distract himself from the increasingly-growing feelings of nervousness and mild excitement in his stomach. Not to mention that the smell of his mother's delicious katsudon being prepared wasn't helping the matter either.

Not long after the time just hit 6:05, the doorbell finally rang, prompting Izuku to stand up and open the door to see Ochako wearing a white dress and a light-blue denim jacket, along with some light makeup on her face.

"...Hi," she said with a soft smile.

Izuku could only keep staring as he took in her appearance. 'Cute...!'

Ochako giggled in response. "Why thank you, Deku-kun! You look good as well."

...

Yup, he really needed to work on not muttering his thoughts out loud.

Izuku shook his head as he realized they were standing at the doorway for too long. "Ah, sorry! Please come in." He stepped aside to let Ochako walk inside, before closing the door behind her and locking it. When he turned back around, he saw his mother walking up to them with a smile on her face.

"It's so nice to meet you properly, Uraraka-chan," she said, giving a slight bow. "And I have to say, I'm so happy my Izuku is with such a beautiful girl like you."

Ochako smiled in response as she returned the bow with a deeper one. "It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Midoriya. Thank you for having me." Seeing as Inko was still finishing up in the kitchen, it was suggested that Izuku show Ochako his room for a bit, along with a stern reminder to keep the door slightly open, to which the two teenagers blushed profusely.

"That's...a lot of merch," was all Ochako could say at the enormous amount of All Might merchandise that decorated Izuku's room. Honestly, even though she was pretty obsessed with Thirteen, she didn't have a lot of her merchandise (mostly due to the fact that she almost never had the extra money to spend).

Izuku nervously chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah...I'm a pretty hardcore All Might fan...I've even got some of the super rare stuff." He pointed to the wall just above his computer, where there was a signed copy of an All Might poster that had the hero wearing his debut costume.

Ochako blinked as she considered just how much everything in here was worth. "Huh." As she continued looking around his room, she saw a notebook lying on his desk labeled Hero Analysis for the Future, U.A. Edition. "Is this where you put your analysis of everyone's Quirks in our class?" she asked.

"Yeah," Izuku replied, picking up the notebook and handing it to her. "I've only written down what I've seen of them so far, but I'm hoping it can help them improve on them if they haven't already. I have your Quirk written on page four."

Ochako moved to the edge of his bed and sat down, flipping open the book to its first page, where a detailed description of Izuku's Quirk was neatly written. As she continued reading, the information was starting to become more and more familiar to her, as if she already knew everything about (including what Izuku hadn't already told her) and was just being reminded. When she flipped the page, she was met with a detailed drawing of Gold Experience in a standing pose.

Ochako was starting to get really confused (and maybe more than a little bit freaked out) at the drawing; it looked exactly like one of the figures in her dreams. There was simply just no way for her to already know what Gold Experience could look like, especially when she had never seen the being before when Izuku was actively using his Quirk.

But as she was about to voice her thoughts to Izuku, she was interrupted by the sound of knocking from the door. "Dinner's ready, you two," said the voice of Izuku's mother, prompting her and Izuku to stand up and move to the dining table.

She'd just have to bring it up with Izuku after dinner.

Dinner couldn't have gone better, in Izuku's opinion. Ochako had already had katsudon at U.A., but Lunch Rush's recipe was largely overshadowed by his mother's, which was something she gushed about when she took a bite of the fried pork. When the conversation turned to their ambitions for being heroes, Ochako explained her family's financial situation, and that she was currently living by herself, to which Inko passive-aggressively convinced her to come have dinner with them every night that she could.

Fortunately, they then started talking about more positive things, such as the shenanigans Izuku and Katsuki would get up to when they were younger. Ochako found the stories to be hilarious, especially the one where Izuku had tried to make various small animals and insects in his room. Even after they finished eating and the dishes were placed in the sink, Izuku and Ochako kept trading stories about their childhoods and Quirk accidents. Eventually, the time came for her to head back to her apartment, and he was going to make good on their compromise.

"Thanks again for inviting me over, Deku-kun," Ochako said, once they reached the entrance to her apartment complex. "Your mother is a really kind person."

"She really is," he agreed. "I really wouldn't be where I am today without her support." Even though Gold Experience's abilities would help mitigate the majority of injuries and dangers that came with being a Pro Hero, his mother never once suggested he try to do something else with his life, and supported his ambitions from the moment he first got his Quirk.

"I had a really good time today...call me tomorrow, yeah?" she asked, and Izuku smiled back at her as they shared a hug.

"Good night, Uraraka-san."

"Good night, Deku-kun."

Izuku turned around to walk back towards his own apartment, but after taking several steps, stopped to consider something. Because even though he considered tonight a massive success when it came to their relationship, there was still something that was missing. Something that needed to be done before he walked any further.

Something he was fairly sure Ochako would reciprocate, even if the idea of going for it didn't help at all to calm his heart rate down.

Izuku exhaled as his hand curled up in a fist. 'Fuck it.'

He turned back around to find Ochako also looking back at him, and didn't really pay any mind to the sudden reminder of pink hair when he saw her also moving to meet him halfway, until he found himself once again holding her in an embrace as their lips met.

It was everything he imagined it would be like and so much more, as if this singular moment made him realize he felt like he had been missing a piece of himself his entire life, and had only just found it again. However, as much as he wanted to stay like this for much longer, he eventually had to break away for some much-needed air. "Uraraka-san, I-"

Ochako stopped him by pressing a finger against his lips. "Call me Ochako," she said softly.

"...Huh?"

"We're already dating, so shouldn't you be calling me by my given name?"

"Ah...well, I guess you're right...Ochako-san," he conceded. "But please call me Izuku as well!"

"If it's all the same to you," she said with a smile. "I'd like to just keep calling you 'Deku-kun'. And..." Here, she bit her lip to consider her next words, before looking back to him. "I also have to tell you something."

Izuku stared back at her for a moment, before he nodded. "...Okay."

Ochako took a deep breath. "You're literally the first boyfriend I've ever had," she began. "But for some reason, I feel this...this connection with you. Back when I first met you at the entrance exam, I felt like I knew you from somewhere, and when I was reading about your Quirk, I got the strangest feeling of déjà vu, like I'm somehow already supposed to know about it, and...and for some reason, all of this feels right, like I was always meant to do this."

Oh. Well, he'd be convincing no one if he said he didn't at least reciprocate her feelings, but the fact that he felt the exact same way towards her, meant that there was possibly something else at play.

Izuku's eyes widened as he suddenly remembered something. "Ochako-san...do you believe in gravity?"

He was met with Ochako tilting her head sideways and looking back at him in confusion. "Gravity...? I don't..."

"Sorry, I worded that wrong," he quickly said, slightly waving his hands out. "Let me explain."

Gravity, according to Albert Einstein, was the result of planets warping the geometry of space-time around them, and was seen as more accurate than Isaac Newton's theory of gravity being the result of certain forces being attracted to one another. However, the latter was still what more people knew about (and what was taught in secondary education schools).

It was based on Newton's theory, that someone (Izuku couldn't recall the person's username - something about God) made a post in a forum he had stumbled across, saying that gravity was the direct cause of certain people being drawn to one another, whether romantically or otherwise, but in this case, it was in the context of fate.

Because of the strong attraction they felt towards each other after only a relatively short period of time, Izuku believed that there was a possibility that he and Ochako were fated to meet, and somehow, she agreed with him.

NIGERUNDAYO! This chapter took me a long-ass while to write cuz I was busy working on several other fics, as well as schoolwork. If I could just drop all of my classes and focus all my attention on writing, I would.

I also chose to summarize the majority of the dinner scene because let's be real, you guys and I aren't here for that.

Remember that this fic takes place in the Ireneverse, not the original Stone Ocean universe. The gravity thing is merely a reference, nothing more. Pucci is effectively nonexistent post-Part 6.

BTW the chapter title is a song lyric from 'Peach Scone' byHobo Johnson.

To Guest 9: I'm glad to hear it.

To Constantine (Guest): Thank you!

To Hirohiko Araki (Guest): LMAO