Chapter 12: Ochako Uraraka
After the mall incident, Uraraka kept her distance from Bakugo and Midoriya. That evening she returned to her room after politely requesting her space and immediately stripped and hopped in the shower. Halfway through her wash routine she stopped, put down her soap, and cried. It wasn't an upset cry, or a cry of irritation at the two boys, she was simply tired. Classes had been buckling down on work, she was out on patrol more often, and her internship with Ryuku was putting her in more serious battles time after time. It was only the middle of December, holiday season was in full-swing, and her 18th birthday was coming up, yet she felt as if she had no reason to be positive about anything at all. She tried so hard to keep everything together, and she pushed herself all the time to be the best of the best, but it never failed that she was always overlooked or told a simple 'Good job'.
It was frustrating to say the least. To always be 110% of herself and reduced to the expectations of a rescue hero, the second-hand best friend, and the sunshine of the class was enough, but now the two people that were supposed to be her escape were putting her in the middle of their life-long quarrel. Her mind shifted from her clogged-up life to Bakugo, and she sighed. He was supposed to be the one that hugged all her problems away, the one that made her feel seen, and here he was, acting like a possessive little guard dog when she told him he had nothing to worry about. But she supposed that was untrue to an extent, because she was equally upset that Midoriya wasn't acting like the best friend that saved her from her periods of self-doubt. He wasn't being the one that made her want to push herself harder, and he certainly wasn't being the sweet and kind boy she had grown used to. He was being immature, needy, and slightly annoying, popping up at the most inopportune times.
She couldn't totally cast Midoriya aside though, he did make the effort to ask what she wanted while Bakugo answered for her. And he had been a comforting presence in the last few weeks, studying with her and making sure she was on top of her schoolwork. It would've been normal behavior from her best friend, but it was a little different now. After Midoriya let everyone know he was no longer seeing anyone, the air felt a little different to Uraraka. Times they crossed each others paths and happened to be alone for a few minutes were now tense and suggestive instead of lighthearted and familiar. As much as Uraraka tried to shift her mind from doing anything to hurt Bakugo, who clearly had feelings for her, she couldn't ignore the part of herself that had been nearly obsessed with Midoriya in their first and second years. She chalked these indecisive feelings up to not completely being over Midoriya when she said she was, and the tears that had stopped falling threatened to leak again. It did hurt when Midoriya got into a relationship, it was upsetting when he would cancel their weekly outings and movie nights to spend time with Mei. Uraraka had no choice but to force herself to get over him, and it never felt like the process was organic. It was out of respect for her friend's relationship, and once again, she found herself dismissing her feelings for the sake of someone else's.
Before she could cry again, and she was not about to let herself cry over two boys, she turned off her shower and wrapped herself in a pink fluffy towel. She didn't bother with her nightly routine, just dried herself off, threw on some panties and a big t-shirt, and started for her bed. She passed her vanity-desk mirror and realized she was wearing one of Bakugo's t-shirts, the soft, black fabric hugging her in his absence. Her hand reached up to her neck, feeling for the thin gold necklace from Midoriya. Frustrated once more, she groaned loudly and threw herself on her bed.
Why is this happening NOW? She asked herself. Her phone buzzed in the middle of her moment of self-deprecation and general annoyance with life, and she reluctantly picked it up. I am so not in the mood right now, she told herself, scrolling past the girl's groupchat, missed calls from Mina and Tsu, and one thoughtful message from Kirishima, pausing at the (many) texts from Bakugo and Midoriya.
DynaMight: Did you get back safe?
DynaMight: Not that I care
DynaMight: Just wanted to know if your dumbass was alright
DynaMight: I know you can handle yourself. Gn Cheeks
Deku :): Are you in the dorms?
Deku :): Uraraka? Are you okay?
Deku :): I'm sorry about earlier. Please call me when you get back. Do you need anything?
Deku :): Sorry again. Forgot you wanted to be alone. Goodnight, Ochako.
Uraraka turned her phone off and threw somewhere in her room. Content with a thud that sounded like her phone wasn't cracked, she crawled under her comforter and let her tired, stressed body fall asleep.
Uraraka woke up Monday morning startled, breathing heavy and sweating immensely. In the middle of being dragged to the right by a small child with green hair and brown eyes, and also to the left by another child with brown hair and red eyes, a large shadow covered the three, filling Uraraka with dread. The feeling of worry was so intense she felt as if she was suffocating, and she awoke in a panic. This was the second time in a row this dream occurred, two peculiar-looking children tugging her in opposite directions. It was disturbing to say the least, the world around them was in smoke, the paths unclear, and it ended with an ominous-looking cloud swallowing all three of them. Before she had a chance to analyze the dream on her own, Uraraka remembered the weekend had ended and she had to get to school. Checking her phone, she had roughly 15 minutes to get ready and get to class. She leaped out of bed, tugged on the nearest uniform in her closet, swiped her bag from her desk and ran out of her room. Knowing she was doing her body a disservice by skipping breakfast, she dashed into the kitchen and grabbed a granola bar, ripping it open and scarfing it down in the same minute. Then, she burst outside and hauled ass to her classroom.
With a minute left to spare, Uraraka stumbled into class, hair frazzled and uniform a wrinkled mess. Instead of usual homeroom with Aizawa, All Might, Ryuku, Best Jeanist, and Fatgum stood at the front of the class, blinking at the disheveled girl before them. Embarrassed, Uraraka began spewing apologies, stopping only when All Might waved his hand.
"It's quite alright young lady," the thin ex-hero began. "I remember the days I could barely get out bed." A small laugh came from the class, Uraraka shuffling past her peers to her desk. She didn't bother to look around, not wanting to make eye contact with two specific individuals.
"Yes, probably because you were too incapacitated to do so," Aizawa retorted. "If everyone is present and accounted for on time, there are a few heroes here with an important announcement." The aforementioned heroes stepped forward.
"As of this moment, crime has been relatively low, but we have reason to believe a large-scale attack is coming." Ryuku started, keeping a close eye on Uraraka. "We don't think it would too wide-spread that we need the entire class, but for the moment I would like my interns, as well as my colleagues', to be on high-alert and on-call in case something happens."
"Your current sidekicks and members of your agencies aren't enough?" Tsu spoke up. At first, the question seemed insulting, and Bakugo considered her ungrateful for the opportunity to kick some ass, but then he realized the frog girl was forming a point. If sidekicks weren't enough, what kind of threat were they facing?
"We've all talked the matter over," said Best Jeanist, "and decided that it would be great experience for our interns to dip their hands in some rescue-based work."
Great, Uraraka and Bakugo thought. As if her insecurities about not being a reliable combat hero weren't eating her alive every day, now they were confirmed. Bakugo groaned out loud, clearly frustrating with getting the short end of the stick.
"Need I remind you all this is a privilege your classmates aren't getting," Aizawa spoke up, "This still is real-world experience, and some of you could use all you could get."
"Exactly, plus, guys, it'll get you out of class," Fatgum grinned. "So, let's see here, Kirishima, Bakugo, Asui, Todoroki, added by recommendation, Midoriya, and a uh, Uraraka, you'll be expected be aware at all times, okay?"
The six teens nodded slowly. The heroes concluded with a few more remarks, adding that additional students from the class may be considered if things escalate out of control. Aizawa took control of his class once more, and lessons began.
Uraraka wished she could have clung to the normalcy of regular school day a little longer.
A little over a week passed when shit hit the fan.
It was Thursday again, and instead of wondering if Uraraka was finally ready to end her silent treatment over a regularly scheduled lunch, Bakugo was running out of the cafeteria and down to the locker room, Kirishima, Midoriya, and Todoroki in tow. A news broadcast had just popped up, the entire cafeteria buzzing, ringing, and pinging, detailing a villain attack led by a group with elemental quirks. The broadcast seemed pretty standard, but the heroes involved were Ryuku, Best Jeanist, and Fatgum, meaning...
"Let's fucking go! Get your ass out here!" Bakugo yelled with impatience. Kirishima hopped out of the locker room moments later, still adjusting his hero costume.
"Should we even be going down there?" the redhead asked, "We haven't been called to arrive on the scene."
"You see your mentor getting his ass beat and you wanna wait around for the green light? Are you fucking insane?!" Bakugo turned to his friend.
"You've got a point. What about Midoriya and Todoroki? Let's wai-"
"They'll bring their asses," Bakugo growled, stiffening when said boys walked out of the locker room. He turned away from them quickly, starting down the hall. "If they know what's good for them, they'll stay the fuck outta my way."
Uraraka and Tsu burst out of the girls locker room when the boys passed, nearly knocking them over. Uraraka and Bakugo locked eyes for a second, before her gaze darted to Midoriya. Noticing this small look, Bakugo pushed past her, muttering a few words.
"Be careful out there dumbass."
The teens sighed in relief when they arrived on the scene, the damage was minimal, and any civilians in the area were evacuated by emergency services. Instead of rescue, they were now promoted to being support to the pros and sidekicks, and fit in where they could.
There were four villains in all, each with two groupies, totaling 12 criminals in all. The main four seemed to have quirks that represented the elements, one controlling water, fire, earth, and air. The additional villains seemed to control the sub-elements of their respective leader, and snow flushed around, plants grew wildly, the weather was unstable, and lightning crackled. The amount of villains was the problem, all of them seemed to be pretty weak, but their combined quirks were causing a hassle. The teens began throwing hits and releasing attacks, wasting no time.
Uraraka shied away from Bakugo and Midoriya, not wanting any personal feelings to cloud her judgment. It was too late however, as soon as she took one look at the blonde, she was reminded of the way he brushed past her earlier, his gruff voice sending a chill down her spine. Looking over at him, he was in the middle of fighting the lackey with the snow quirk, but was blasted away with a wall of snow. Uraraka grabbed debris around her, sending it in the villain's direction, timing her release so that the flying debris knocked him out on contact. She ran over to Bakugo and dug him out of the snow, making sure he was alright. He gave her a quick grin, and shook the snow off of him before jumping back into action.
"I didn't need your help, Cheeks," He called out to her, firing off an explosion into the lightning quirk's face. The girl stumbled back a bit.
"Consider it the end of my silent treatment." Uraraka shouted back, ducking from an incoming blow. Bakugo advanced on the lightning girl, sending an explosive punch her way.
"Fucking finally," He breathed out, knocking out the girl at the same time. He straightened from his fighting stance and turned to Uraraka, searching for anyone else to handle near her. A lanky boy with a plant quirk had joined a girl with a cloud-based quirk in attacking Uraraka, and Bakugo wasted no time coming to her aid.
Midoriya saw them from the corner of his eye, barely picking up on their conversation, but still feeling a bead of jealousy in his chest. He took out the guy wielding a heat-based quirk against him, and turned in the direction he heard Uraraka's voice coming from. He watched her fight for a second, admiring her firm stance and agility, and couldn't help but feel as if he should be fighting next to her just like they used to. Midoriya noticed the plant guy the same moment Bakugo did, and sprung into action without noticing the blonde at all.
They arrived to Uraraka's rescue at the same time, and much to Midoriya's dismay, Bakugo had already begun firing off attacks. Uraraka however, had been stunned by a mysterious fog from the cloud girl, and stumbled around trying to regain her focus. Midoriya noticed Bakugo was getting dangerously close to hitting Uraraka, and pushed the blonde out of the way.
"Idiot! You could've hit Uraraka!" Midoriya cried out. He dodged a vine being whipped towards him from the plant guy, and also dodged a kick from Bakugo.
"What the fuck were you thinking?! I wasn't going to hit her, jackass." Bakugo started attacking again, heading straight for the plant guy. The cloud girl jumped in his way to shield the plant boy however, and expelled the same weird fog from her hands that had disoriented Uraraka.
"Greenhouse, now!" The girl yelled out. The plant boy, apparently named Greenhouse, sprinted towards Uraraka at a rather astonishing speed.
"You got it, WeatherVane." He replied. A thick green vine shot out from his hand, wrapping itself around a dazed Uraraka, who had been left alone thanks to Midoriya's intrusion. Midoriya watched as Uraraka was lifted in to the air and swung across their current battlefield. Bakugo, who had avoided WeatherVane's stunning fog by quickly taking her out, gazed in horror as Uraraka's body slammed into a nearby brick building. The hit knocked her out of her daze, and she opened her mouth in shock as the air left her body. The vine wrapped around her torso retreated, and she came crashing down to the ground.
"Uravity!" Midoriya and Bakugo screamed out. They both turned to help her, but were stopped short by a man with a fire quirk and a woman with a water quirk, presumably 2 of the 4 main villains. Their assumption was correct, because both adults began attacking with such raw power that neither Bakugo or Midoriya could help Uraraka. Caught up in their battle, Bakugo yelled out to Kirishima.
"Red Riot! Uravity's down, and I need to know she's fucking okay!" He screamed, narrowly avoided a blast of fire. Kirishima, caught up in his own fight against the woman wielding air, quickly responded he was a little caught up.
Uraraka, who was presumed unconscious, snapped back to reality, gasping for air. Her entire body hurt, and her mind was fuzzy. Still, she willed herself to get up and continue the fight. She couldn't be the one knocked out of the ring first, it would just confirm everyone's suspicions that she wasn't meant from combat. Slowly standing up, she grabbed her spinning head and looked around. Bakugo and Midoriya were taking on the fire and water quirks, and she couldn't be bothered with helping them. Fighting near them had gotten her hurt in the first place, and it was clear their personal problems were just going to interfere even more if she didn't separate herself. She glanced at her mentor, Ryuku, who was fighting the earth quirk, and she wasn't doing to well. The woman, covered in mud and dirt, was slinging massive boulders at Ryuku, the continuous battering keeping the dragon woman from making any headway in the fight. Shaking the last of her cloudiness off, Uraraka headed over to help.
Uraraka figured she could win this fight, she was used to throwing rocks and lifting heavy amounts with her quirk at this point in her career. She did not expect the woman, who she quickly learned went by Gaia, to be this strong. Uraraka jumped in the fight as a particularly large piece of earth was hurtling her way, and she reached her palm out and activated her quirk. Feeling her stomach slightly bubble, Uraraka pushed the rock back as soon as she made contact, sending it back to Gaia. She released the rock and expected it to hit the villain, but it was only sent back her way once again. Surprised, Uraraka tried again, receiving the same result, and initiating a period of time where the rock would volley back and forth between them. She figured out the woman was moving the earth freely at her touch, similarly to how she was able to push weightless objects around, and tried to think of a way to overwhelm the villain long enough to stun her.
As the one large rock was sent back and forth, Uraraka flipped and twisted her body between each volley, touching random things around her. She attempted an attack similar to her first year sports festival, gathering enough material to hurl all at once as a distraction, then touch the woman and suspend her in air. It was proving difficult for her however, the rock being passed back and forth required Uraraka to activate and release her quirk over and over, and while she would have kept it weightless, she released it every time she sent it back in hopes Gaia would slip up. She didn't.
Uraraka felt the familiar strain on her body, the sick feeling rising up her throat with each pass. She swallowed it all down, telling herself she couldn't give up until she had taken someone out. Once she was certain she amassed enough objects of different size and shape, she stopped the rock coming back her way with one touch and released it, letting it fall in front of her. Taking shelter behind it, Uraraka closed her eyes and focused. She began imagining the objects she gathered floating around her, and opened her eyes. To her surprise, her special move had worked. With rigorous training and ample research, Uraraka had found she could manipulate her own gravity in a way that projected her own personal gravitational field. This allowed her to have resources on her person without having to keep finding things to touch. In this case however, she needed a bunch of weightless objects at her disposal, and once she created her own field, they all came hovering towards her. Because she had control of this gravitational field comprised of her own gravity, she was able to fire objects in the field away from her, similar to a magnetic field. Unlike a magnet, she found once she expelled something from her field, it knocked off her equilibrium more than her quirk normally affected her, so she could only create and sustain a field of gravity for a short period of time.
Knowing she had a limited opportunity, she touched the huge rock she had been saving, drawing it into her field. From her position in front of her, Gaia tried to control the earth Uraraka was holding, but found she was unable to do so. Pleased with this failed attempt, Uraraka drew in a deep breath, touched her hands together, then pushed them out in front of her. The rocks and debris she had been holding shot forward, and Uraraka felt her body being rocked by a sensation she had never felt before. It was like her insides had been flipped inside out and turned around in her body, and unable to control her body, she vomited violently, not used to keeping her composure after expelling such force with her own gravity.
Get it together, Ochako, she told herself. She could barely see, but she knew the color of blood when she saw it. Her body racked with each heave, the spots of red growing larger in her puddle of vomit, but she looked up and saw her plan worked. Unable to control every piece of earth sent her way, Gaia had been hit with several pieces of debris and laid on the ground feet away. Uraraka willed herself one more time to get up and stumble over to opponent to send her into the air.
Midoriya shook his head, jumping to his feet after taking yet another blow. The woman he was fighting had a strong water quirk that made simple water fueled attacks feel like he was being hit by concrete. Bakugo was no help to him either, he spewed insults back to back while handling his own villain. Before jumping back into battle, Midoriya scanned the area for any life-threatening situations. His eyes stopped on Uraraka, who had vomited profusely. He watched her heave, noting the blood coming from her mouth, and watched her stand and stumble to keep fighting the woman lying on the ground near her. Each step she took was shakier than the last, it was clear she over exerted herself. Midoriya was hurt watching her push herself so hard, he desperately wished he could scoop her up and take her far away from this mess. The woman he was fighting mirrored his gaze, smirking when she saw the struggling teen girl.
"Ember..." The woman spoke to her fire counterpart. The man, who had been locked in intense battle with Bakugo, perked up at her voice.
"Yes, Slick?" He answered, firing burst of flames at Bakugo, who whizzed past them all. He connected the glances being shared, stopped when he got to Uraraka. The pieces clicked, and instead of propelling himself to Ember, he shot an arm out and fired away, changing course. Not on my watch.
Midoriya, who sprang into action the moment the woman spoke, felt his body slam into Bakugo's before he could see it. The two hit the ground, gasping for air.
"What are you doing?!" Midoriya hissed. He was on his way to save Uraraka, Bakugo was supposed to keep the two villains busy. But of course his stupid inflated ego wouldn't let that happen.
"I'm saving Uravity, what the fuck are you doing?" Bakugo jumped to his feet. He was pissed. There was the girl of dreams, weakly engaging in a battle her body wouldn't allow her to win, and here come this dipshit trying to fuck it all up.
"I'll get to her faster, don't let those two get away!" Midoriya positioned himself to get ready to sprint.
"No, the fuck you won't, I'm going." Bakugo fired a blast behind him, evaporating a bubble of water. The two enemies they left behind were closing in.
"Why the hell are you being so stubborn now?!" Midoriya ducked from a wave of fire.
"The fuck does it matter?! I'm a fucking hero, I'm doing my damn job!" The blonde hit the ground, a sweeping kick knocking down the woman that had caught up to him.
"I'm a hero too!" Midoriya screamed back. He felt his confidence being tried, and even though he knew this was not the time to get his personal feelings involved, he had enough. The one person he wanted to save was seconds away from collapsing and it was going to kill him if he couldn't be her hero. That's all he ever wanted to be since the day he met her. Midoriya knew he would be sick if anything happened to Uraraka under his watch, and he cursed Bakugo for not being able to see that.
Bakugo roared, firing off multiple blasts in his anger. The two villains, Slick and Ember, caught the brunt of his rage and teetered back momentarily. "I want to be the one, I can't let anything happen to her, and you sure as fuck won't get in my way!" Bakugo yelled, his chest heaving as he turned to Mdioriya. It was wrong to turn his back in the middle of a fight, but he watched Uraraka suffer for too long. Her peers, teachers, and so many others had looked down on her for so long, Bakugo wanted to scream every day Can't you see how hard she's trying?! It wasn't like him to care this much about someone other than himself, but he had no choice when she made it so easy to respect her for who she was. The sheer fact Midoriya was trying to get in the way of that angered him to a point he never felt before.
"Why do you care, Kacchan?! You never cared about anyone but yourself, and being number one!" Midoriya's voice cracked. He sent a swift roundhouse kick behind him, the aftershock producing a wave of air that knocked the stumbling villains back even more.
"I fucking care about her! You won't let her down and fucking step all over her anymore, damn Deku!"
Midoriya stopped. His mind stopped, and his emotions took over.
"You don't think I notice how hard she tries? She's about to kill herself right now trying!"
Bakugo flinched. His gaze returned to Uraraka, who had finally reached her villain. She weakly outstretched her hand to touch the woman, when a whip of water snatched her wrist. Midoriya and Bakugo turned around, the woman they had halfway been paying attention to smiling sickly.
You got this, Ochako. Uraraka told herself over and over. Step by step, she made her way to Gaia, the woman beginning to stir. All she had to do was touch her once, and she would win. Uraraka knew it was irresponsible to push herself so hard so early in battle but she couldn't take it anymore. She was sick of being demoted to rescue, sick of being looked at as support and not the real deal. It had been driving her insane for so long, that in actual battle she didn't know how to pace herself. After seeing blood run from her own mouth, she cursed herself for going too far, but knew she had to finish what she started. It was who she was, that was what it meant to be Ochako Uraraka.
She was inches away from securing her victory when what felt like a cold and wet whip grabbed her wrist. She barely had time to turn to see her attacker, when she felt a surge of water surround her head. The water streamed from her wrist and pooled around her head, creating an icy cold bubble of water. By instinct, Uraraka held her breath, her cheeks puffing out. She reached her hands out, clawing at nothing but water, beginning to panic when she realized she couldn't free herself. She moved her head around, trying to duck out of the bubble, but it followed her every move. She saw the watery shapes of Bakugo and Midoriya head her way, yelling a name she couldn't quite hear.
"Uravity!" They shouted over and over. Kirishima, hearing the name over and over turned his attention from his current enemy to the nameholder. He knocked out his attacker in one punch and ran, pushing himself to help his friend. A wall of fire blocked his path however, and he was forced to watch her struggle.
Asui had just taken out two enemies when she heard Bakugo and Midoriya yell. She too, made an advance to help, but was slammed to the ground by a massive wave of water. The water was so cold, and the force was so hard she hit the ground and collapsed, numb and in shock. Her eyes closed gently as she watched her friend squirm for air.
Todoroki, Ryuku, and Fatgum all stopped what they were doing, seeing Uraraka, Kirshima, and Tsu all trapped. Noticing the heroes were all prioritized on this one girl, the villains took advantage. Greenhouse, who had jumped back into battle after his first attack on Uraraka, grabbed her again with another vine, lifting her into the air once more. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the two boys running to help her, and sent two vines to grab them as well.
Uraraka couldn't tell what was happening, too many shapes were moving and blurring together as she lost consciousness. The water surrounding her was so cold she couldn't feel any part of her head, and her body, already weakened by her quirk exertion, became limp and lifeless and she stopped struggling. All she could do was think, and her thoughts cursed her for being so weak. If she had trained more, she could've saved herself. If she wasn't so unprepared, she could've used her quirk more wisely. If she had made a choice, she wouldn't have forced Bakugo and Midoriya to save her.
If only.
She didn't feel her body lift off the ground again. In fact she was barely conscious for the events that ensued next. She didn't hear him call her name, she didn't see his tears hit the pavement as her body swung towards the ground. Her fuzzy mind didn't let her see Bakugo scream so loud his voice was sure to be gone. It didn't let her hear Midoriya's cries as they were held back from reaching her. The water left temporarily, and she could breathe long enough to call out to her heroes.
Bakugo and Midoriya were forced to watch the villains swing Uraraka around like a toy as they drowned her. There was nothing they could do but scream in cry in the grips of the vines that cut into their arms. The pain hardly mattered, there was more to lose than a few drops of blood. Bakugo was losing his mind, he was going ballistic, but to no avail would it save the girl in front of him. Midoriya couldn't think, he couldn't control the surge of energies in him, even though none of it would let him rescue her.
Uraraka grew dizzy again though she could breathe, and she couldn't see anything anymore. She opened her mouth and prayed her words would come out as she was swung mindlessly around in the air.
"...Katsuki."
"Izuku..."
The water surrounded her head again and this time, it came as she tried to speak. She choked on the icy water for a second before her lungs gave up. She wasn't even awake to feel her body slam to the ground.
"Ochako!"