Chapter 3: Stargaze

Ida opened the door to the roof to the clear night sky. He immediately saw Uraraka sitting on the ground, facing away from him. She wore a light grey jacket with a hoodie and blue jeans. Next to her was a large folded white blanket. The boy then scanned the rest of the roof but was puzzled at the absence of a particular object. As he approached his girlfriend, he said, "Looking at the stars without a telescope seems impractical."

Ochako didn't turn around as she answered, "Nothing that interesting to see with my low power telescope in this kind of sky."

"This kind of sky?"

"Lots of light pollution."

"Hmm, hard to avoid considering we are just outside the largest city in the world."

"Yeah. Even with a new moon and clear night like tonight, it's still bare compared to what I see back at home."

Tenya sat down next to the girl as he asked, "I guess that explains why we are doing this at midnight."

"Sorta, but the main reason is that this is now in full view," Ochako said as she pointed to the sky.

I took a moment for the boy to recognize it. "Orion."

"Yup, my favorite constellation," Uraraka explained as she unfolded the blanket next to her. "If we were out earlier, it would still be on the horizon. Now it has a decent view in the sky." Once finished, she laid down and motioned for her boyfriend to join her.

As Ida laid on his back, he asked, "Cause of the myth associated with it?"

"Nah. I mean, some of the myths are good, and Orion is definitely one of the better ones, but overall they don't interest me that much."

"Because?"

"Because most of them involve Zeus being a worse pervert than Mineta-kun."

"That's quite a feat."

"Anyways, take a look at the sky in general."

Tenya scanned the sky above for a few moments.

Ochako then asked, "See any other recognizable constellations?"

"Hmm, just the Big Dipper."

"An asterism that's a part of Ursa Major, but we can't see the whole thing tonight," Uraraka stated with a sigh. "Most of what's out is too dim to see." She started to point to various points in the sky as she explained. "To the north would be the Ursa Minor and Draco, the west Pegasus plus Pisces, and Cancer in the southeast."

"They are that dim, huh?"

"Well, parts of them. But if enough is missing, they are not recognizable at all." Ochako then happily stated, "But then comes Orion. One of the brightest of constellations. You got Betelgeuse and Bellatrix for his shoulders and Rigel for his leg. The three stars that makeup Orion's belt. Which happen to all be binary or trinary stars..."

Ida chuckled. "Sounds like you should pursue a career in astronomy after you get your hero license."

"It's just a hobby."

The boy turned his head and gave Uraraka a smirk.

"One that I just like to gush about is all."

Tenya raised an arm and placed it on her shoulder as he said, "I'm just happy you are so passionate about it. It's not often I know so little of something."

"Well, if it was a part of our curriculum, I bet you would run circles around me."

Ida then moved his hand from Uraraka's shoulder to her hand and said, "Perhaps, but I see as more meaningful that you sought out this knowledge outside the need of a school. I can't say the same at all for me."

Ochako looked away. "I forget how smooth you can sometimes be."

"It's mostly unintentional, I swear."

The girl looked back at him with a blush on her face as she said, "Yeah, you're just genuine, but it still has that effect on me." She then sighed before, "Hagakure-chan says Deku-kun does the same a lot."

"I wonder if it's as effective," Ida stated with a grin.

"I'm sure it is."

"Well, either way, continue your gushing. It fascinates me."

Uraraka cleared her throat. "My point with Orion was that most of its stars are quite bright. It also is surrounded by a few visible constellations. Below to the left, you have Canis Major, which contains the brightest star in the sky."

"Sirius, right?"

"Yup. Then above to the left of Orion, you have Gemini, and to the right, Taurus. And if it were a better night sky, we would see Cancer to the left of Gemini. A nice little cluster of constellations with Orion at the center, even on poor nights like these."

"So, what would you consider a good night?"

Ochako thought for a bit before saying, "I guess I have a way to grade if it's a good night or a great one."

"Which are?"

"If I can see Orion's sword, it's a good night."

Tenya peered at the constellation once more. "And where would the sword be?"

"It's holstered on his belt, with three stars going below it between his legs. The middle star contains Orion's Nebula."

After another look, the boy said, "So yeah, not a good night."

"Nope. Then a great night would be seeing the Milky Way."

"That would be a sight. Never seen it in the sky before."

"Then you should stay the night next time you come to my place."

"Stay the night!?"

Ochako then flicked the boy's forehead with her free hand, "Oh shush, you know that's not what I meant."

"Right, sorry." Tenya cleared his throat.

"Though I guess we could just go to one of my dream spots to watch the stars during our summer break."

"Are they that far away?"

"Some of them are."

"Well, what are they?"

"Hmm, well, there's Nikko National Park which is north of Tokyo. Nobeyama Highland and Achi Village in Nagano. Mt. Kusatsu-Shirane in Gunma. Lake Shoji in Yamanashi..."

"That's quite a lot."

"Oh, I was just getting started."

"Really?"

"I have quite a list."

"A lot for me to consider then," Ida stated with a sigh.

Uraraka took a moment to ponder that last statement before a smirk developed over her lips. "You're scheming like Deku-kun does."

With his free hand, the boy adjusted his glasses as he stated, "Perhaps."

The girl chuckled. "Alright, I won't say anything more." She then turned to her side and embraced her boyfriend.

The new position made Tenya clear his throat before asking, "So if it was a better night, what could we see in your scope?"

"The Planets. We could see Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn, depending on when we looked. I mean, we could see Mercury or Venus, but it's only a small window to see it since it's so close to the sun, and they wouldn't look that interesting at all."

"Not interesting?"

"Well, for the ones that are, you can see the red of Mars, the largest moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and the latter's rings. The inner planets are just featureless in comparison."

"You are trying to convince me to go to one of your dream spots."

With a mischievous smile, Ochako asked, "Is it working?"

"Sort of. Though, summer break is still quite far off."

"I'm okay waiting."

"I figured, it's just I am wondering if you are also scheming something else here."

"Well, I thought we could use the opportunity to have our parents meet."

A long pause followed before Ida said, "You know, that's a brilliant idea. We could even make it into a joint trip for a few days around wherever dream spot you choose."

"Right? I don't think I'll have any issue convincing my parents, but what about yours? They seem so busy, especially since your brother retired."

"And this is why you are asking me so far in advance."

"Yep!"

"I am sure it can be arranged given this much time."

"Be sure to have your brother tag along!"

"Of course." Tenya then turned over to embrace his girlfriend.

There was silence for some time until Uraraka asked, "So uh, I got to ask."

"Yeah?"

"It's bothered me all night."

"Go ahead."

"Why are you in your pajamas?"

The class president sat up on his knees and asked, "I beg your pardon?" He was indeed wearing PJs. He wore white slippers, blue and white striped pants, a plain blue shirt, and a white nightcap.

"It's just; I don't know, odd."

"Considering the time, I wanted the ability to head straight to bed after we were done stargazing. So I came prepared."

"Do you always sleep like this?"

"Yes. Even during our summer training trip," Ida stated with confidence.

Ochako proceeded to laugh. "Do you wear long johns in the winter too?"

"I prefer the word, thermal underwear, but if it's particularly cold, then yes. They are quite good at their function."

"You act like such an old man sometimes."

"Which always seems to bring you much humor."

"Yeah, it can be quite a hoot," Uraraka stated after calming down from her laughing fit. She then crawled forward before saying, "You know. It's been a bit since we practiced kissing."

"Hagakure-chan truly is rubbing off on you."

"Can you blame me?"

"No, I am sure she is quite the bragger."

"Then is that a yes?"

"A quick," he coughed, "session couldn't hurt."

"That's fine, just means I need to be more intense to make up for the lost time."

Tenya was unable to respond to the last statement as his girlfriend jumped on top of him before he could say anything.

I know I promised for the chapter to be longer but in the end, it wasn't. The original was to have this chapter have the two just hang out in Ochako's room. However, it felt a bit generic and the idea evolved into them using her telescope. Then, considering a limited angle to see things from her room (and not knowing what direction her room faces) I just turned it into an activity on the roof. And finally, once I considered the problem of light pollution meant a more simple observation of the stars was settled on. Some subjects I wanted to go over instead got pushed aside for the astronomy talk. Their context has nothing to do with the time frame so pushing back to another chapter won't change anything.

So, while the position of the stars doesn't change, when they are visible at night during what time of the year it does. And not being a resident of Japan, took some research to figure out where their positions would be at this time. Speaking of time, this chapter takes place during chapter 30 of Cubicity, so early November. The next chapter will take place during the third term, and I haven't decided on the main subject matter as of yet.