AN: Guest - Sports Festival's the next big event, but I've got a few chapters of fluff and plot lined up before then.

James Birdsong - Thanks!

Iron-slayer-dragon - Izuku and Himiko as adopted siblings is actually a really fun dynamic to write, even if it is rarely seen. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

After spending twenty minutes in Midoriya's apartment, Ochako was certain that she was injured. That somehow Izuku's plan didn't work, and Eijiro wasn't able to hold off the Nomu long enough. She was confident she was actually lying unconscious on the floor of the USJ, and everything that was happening was all inside her head.

It started when the group first arrived at Midoriya's apartment. After opening the door and stepping inside, Izuku was immediately ambushed by a green-haired, middle-aged woman who had tears running down her face, pulling him into a deep hug.

"Oh Izu! When your school called I was so worried!"

Izuku responded by hugging back. "It's ok mom. We are all ok! We even beat the villains!"

"What about you? Did you get hurt at all?"

Izuku laughed nervously. "I, um broke a few fingers? But none of the villains hurt me!"

"What? What did you do?!"

Izuku freed himself enough to show his mom his bandaged fingers. "There were some villains trying to attack us so I sort of came up with a plan that involved using my quirk at full strength? It actually worked and we trapped them!"

"Oh Izu…" That led to more tears as the woman held onto Izuku while he tried to reassure her everything was ok.

That seemed to do the trick as she calmed down a few moments later, unwrapping herself from Izuku. Seemingly just noticing Ochako for the first time, she lunged at her. Ochako let out a startled squeak as she felt herself pulled into a hug.

"And you must be the girl that Himi mentioned on the phone. I'm so sorry you had to go through that today!"

"I-It's ok. I actually didn't get hurt by the villains! Your son actually got hurt a lot worse than me."

Despite her reassurances, Ochako found herself returning the hug. It wasn't as good as her dad's hugs, of course, but it still felt pretty good. And besides, he was hours away by train and Mrs. Midoriya was right here. After a few moments the woman broke her embrace.

"Oh! Where are my manners? I am Inko Midoriya, Izu and Himi's mother."

"I'm Ochako Uraraka, nice to meet you."

"Oh!" Examining her face, Inko seemed to remember something. "You are that nice girl from Izu's acceptance letter! The one who tried giving some of her points to him for his exam."

Ochako felt herself blushing. "Y-you saw that?"

"Of course, what did you think, we weren't going to watch his acceptance letter with him?" Himiko asked as she stepped inside.

"I-I thought that was gonna be private!" Ochako whined.

"If it makes you feel better, I think we're the only ones who know about it." Izuku offered.

"No, it doesn't." Ochako grumbled.

Once Inko finished hugging Himiko, she took the bag of treats that the three students bought and went to deposit them in the kitchen, finally giving them space to take off their shoes and enter the apartment.

Moving into the living room and setting her bag down, Ochako fished her cell phone out, looking at the other two. "Do you mind if I call my parents?"

"Not at all!" Izuku replied quickly. "They probably want to know you're ok."

Ochako nodded and started dialing while Izuku grabbed Himiko and pulled her away to the kitchen to give a little privacy.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the line Ochako heard her mom pick up immediately. "Oh thank goodness 'Chako! Didja make it home safe?"

"Hi mom! Actually, I'm at a friend's house. Remember the green-haired boy I've told you about, Deku?"

"Oh, him! Of course I do!"

"Yeah! He and his sister invited me over for dinner!"

"I'm glad! We were worried about you."

Ochako smiled fondly. "Don't worry, I'm a hero in training! If any more villains showed up I'd just have to take care of them!"

"That's our gal! But still, I'm glad you're not alone tonight."

"Me too." Ochako admitted.

"How are ya feelin now? We heard your principal's speech, but do ya believe him?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's not like we asked to get attacked. And the teachers arrived as quickly as they could!"

"So ya think the school is really going to work ta keep everyone safe?"

Ochako nodded, even though her mom couldn't see her. "Yeah! Everyone here is really nice, and the teachers really care about us. They're not going to let something like today disrupt school for long, and I'm not going to let some villains stop me from becoming a hero!"

She can just imagine her mom smiling at her. "That's ma daughter! We support ya all the way, we just worry, ya know? It's hard knowing you're living by yourself and we're so far away."

"Don't worry about me, I've got this!"

"It certainly sounds like ya do! Oh, one last thing - can I talk to Mrs. Midoriya? I'd like ta at least thank the woman who is taking care of my daughter tonight."

That seemed to catch Ochacko off guard. "S-Sure. Let me give her the phone."

Ochako walked into the kitchen where Inko was preparing tea, and offered her phone to her. "My mom would like to talk to you."

"Oh, gladly!" Inko offered her a soft smile as she took the phone, before walking off to her bedroom to have a private conversation with Mrs. Uraraka.

Returning to the living room, Ochako saw Izuku and Himiko had returned, and were having a quiet discussion. Seeing Ochako, Himiko got a predatory look on her face that made Ochako shudder. Turning to her brother, she spoke up as she asked the next question.

"So, do you want to give her a tour of the apartment or should I?"

Izuku just looked nervously at his sister. "I can show her around. But she's seeing your room as well!"

That caused a laugh out of Himiko. "I have nothing to hide!"

Taking the lead, Izuku began showing her the rest of their apartment. It was sizable, having three bedrooms, but fairly modest. When she saw the All Might-themed nameplate on Izuku's door, she had to admit she was curious.

When he finally opened the door and showed her inside, Ochako gasped. When Izuku said he was a fan of All Might's earlier in that day, he was clearly underselling it. The room felt less like a bedroom, and more like a shrine to All Might. She had to shove down her jealousy over just how much stuff he managed to cram into the room.

"You realize I need pictures before I leave?"

"Wait, why?" Izuku asked nervously.

Ochako found herself grinning as she turned to him. "Tsuyu needs to see this."

"N-no, I don't think she needs to!"

"Of course we can get pictures before you leave." Himiko cut Izuku off, grinning.

Himiko's room, by comparison, felt oddly normal. Ochako was honestly not sure what to expect, but she was greeted with a surprisingly ordinary bedroom - there were some movie posters on the wall, most of which she didn't recognize, and next to her bed was a table with a colorful assortment of stuffed animals carefully arranged on it, with several more spread across her crimson bedsheets.

Ochako wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed by this revelation.

After the tour, the trio returned to the living room, where they attempted to arrange themselves to do homework. Izuku pulled a chair up on one side of the coffee table while Himiko and Ochako arranged themselves on opposite sides of the couch, and they began pulling out their school books, hoping to temporarily distract themselves with their schoolwork.

And that is how Ochako found herself in the position she is now. She got as far as reading the first question on her homework before giving up. Instead, she found herself staring at Himiko, the girl who not even five minutes ago proved how scary she could be. But right now, she was sitting on the opposite end of the couch, hugging a stuffed green rabbit to her chest while she was attempting to read her textbook. Ochako was having a hard time trying to reconcile this image with her other experiences with the older Midoriya sibling.

She didn't realize how obvious her staring was until Izuku spoke up. "You can't study either huh?"

Ochako practically jumped out of her seat and felt her blush spreading. "Y-yeah."

Himiko sighed and closed her book, apparently also done trying to pretend. "Movie?"

"As long as you don't get to choose"

Himiko merely stuck her tongue out at Izuku, but relented. Izuku guided Ochako over to their rather mixed collection of movies. After a short discussion, the three settled on watching a fantasy movie. There was an ongoing movie series about a group of young adventurers thrown together by fate, on a quest to defeat a dark sorcerer that was seeking to rule all of the realms. Much to Ochako's surprise, it was apparently one of Izuku and Himiko's favorite series. She had heard about the series in middle school, but never had the chance to watch for herself, so they pulled out the first movie to watch.

The three students rearranged themselves so that they were all on the couch, with Izuku sitting between Ochako and Himiko, who grabbed her stuffed animal and set it back on her lap. Once they had settled in, Izuku hit play to start the movie.

And that was how Ochako spent her afternoon.

Several hours later Inko told them dinner was ready, and the three paused the movie and moved to set the table. While Izuku insisted that she didn't need to help, because she was a guest, Ochako was having none of that - they were already letting her stay for dinner, the least she could do is help setting the table and cleaning up afterwards!

Once everything was ready, Ochako sat down at her seat, already smelling the plate of katsudon that Inko had given her. She carefully took her chopsticks and picked up a piece of food before eating it, her eyes going wide.

"Wow, this is really good Mrs. Midoriya!" Ochako said, savoring the bite she just ate.

Inko smiled at her. "I'm glad you like it."

"Mom's cooking really is the best." Izuku chimed in.

"It really is!" Himiko added. "Lunch Rush is close, but he doesn't have the personal touch." She held up a piece of meat with a dark red sauce before popping it in her own mouth.

"Lunch Rush's food is probably the best I am going to get for most of the semester." Ochako admitted.

"Oh, why's that?" Inko asked.

"Didn't Deku tell you? I actually live on my own. My family lives down in the Mie Prefecture, which means it would take hours to travel here by train every day. So my parents rented an apartment for me here in Mustafu. Since I'm by myself I mostly rely on cheap, simple recipes. Also I try to make large meals so that I have plenty of leftovers to eat throughout the week. Nothing as good as this!"

Inko gave quick glances to both of her children before she gave Ochako a serious look. "Well dear, if that's the case you should join us more often for dinner."

Ochako made an embarrassed squeak at that, while Himiko also paused eating to give her a predatory look. "Y-you don't have to do that Mrs. Midoriya! I'm ok taking care of myself!"

"Nonsense, it wouldn't be any trouble for you to join us regularly!"

"W-what do you mean regularly?" Ochako asked cautiously.

"Well, since you're on your own, I wouldn't see any problem with you coming over every night for dinner."

"D-doesn't that seem a little much?" Ochako felt her blush spreading.

"Of course not!" Inko assured her.

"I don't want to impose though!"

"Oh, it would be fine." Inko dismissed her concerns. "When you're cooking for three, you are basically cooking for four people anyways."

"B-but what about school work and after school activities?"

Himiko shrugged. "We already do homework right when we get home, and Izu is probably the smartest kid in your class. You can't tell me you wouldn't love doing homework with him."

"T-to be fair, I think there are a few people smarter than me in the class." Izuku tried to offer helpfully.

"I doubt it." Ochako found herself agreeing with Himiko, thinking back to Izuku's on the fly planning from earlier.

"I'd understand if you don't want to make the trip on weekends, but if you're not staying late at school I wouldn't mind at all if you came over daily."

It was then, as Ochako saw both Inko and Himiko staring at her, that she realized that Inko Midoriya, like Himiko earlier, wasn't about to take no for an answer. And Izuku, the traitor, was too busy finding his own food far too interesting to come to her aid. All that was left for Ochako was trying to save as much of her pride as she could.

She was self-sufficient after all, dang it! She didn't need the promise of good food and more time with Izuku. It's not like she could save money by only having to make dinner once or twice a week, and then surprise her parents by giving them that money back at the end of the semester.

Shit.

With a resigned sigh Ochako conceded. "I-I will need to talk to my parents. They will probably want to talk to you before I say yes."

It was a desperate play, she already knew how her parents would respond. As much as they taught her to be independent and self-reliant, she also knew that they would be absolutely thrilled by this idea.

That caused Inko to smile at her. "Oh, your mother was lovely on the phone earlier! We can call her after dinner and talk it over!"

Grumbling, Ochako went back to her meal, its taste soothing her wounded pride.

After they left Midoriya's apartment to head to the train station, Ochako turned to Izuku with a smile on her face.

"Thanks for tonight Deku, I think I needed that."

"Yeah, we've had a day, haven't we?"

Ochako nodded vigorously. "I knew going to UA was going to be exciting, but I never realized it would happen so fast!"

Izuku laughed. "To be fair, Himi's first year was nowhere near this exciting. She only encountered villains on her internship!"

"Your mom is really nice, I can see where you get it from. And I was completely wrong about your sister."

Izuku laughed at that and rubbed the back of his neck. "Her heart's in the right place. She just has trouble showing it sometimes?"

"Tsuyu and Iida will never believe it." Ochako grinned.

"I mean, she did promise to try acting as embarrassing as possible around me."

Silence settled between them as they began walking towards the station, until Izuku finally spoke again.

"I'm sorry about my mom. I wasn't expecting her to invite you over like that."

The sheer absurdity of his comment caused Ochako to descend into a fit of laughter.

"W-what's so funny?"

"Just- you!" Ochako managed to get out between laughs. "You are so nice that you're apologizing because your mom is offering me free food!"

Izuku laughed nervously. "Well, you didn't seem all that excited by the idea at the time?"

Ochako finally calmed herself down and shook her head furiously at that. "N-no! It wasn't that at all! It's just - I don't want to take advantage of your family! Since I'm going to start coming over, I need to help out to pay you back!"

Izuku looked relieved. "I'm sure you can help with the chores if that would make you feel better."

"Y-yeah! I can do that!"

They descended back into silence for the rest of the journey to the station. Before leaving Izuku and descending into the station, Ochako gathered all of her courage to turn and hug him. He seemed to stiffen in surprise before wrapping his arms around her. It felt really nice.

I could get used to this.

Quickly shoving the traitorous thought away, Ochako pulled away and turned around quickly to hide her growing blush.

"Well anyways, I don't want to miss my train, see you tomorrow Deku!" Ochako quickly walked away, while Izuku was too busy trying to get his own blush under control to respond.

Himiko was laying on her bed, catching up with her class's group chat about today's events, when she saw a call coming in from Atsuko. She immediately picked up.

"Hey 'Suko!" She answered.

"Hi Himi, you sound better."

Himiko sighed. "Yeah, it's been a day."

"How are you holding up?"

"Better now. Tonight helped, although I'm going to need help with the homework tomorrow."

Atsuko laughed on the other end of the line. "I think the teachers will excuse you just this once."

"Hopefully!"

"Besides, Emily and Tomoe will never let you fail."

That caused Himiko to laugh. "Yeah, I still remember Emily threatening to physically drag us to study before finals last semester."

"Exactly! So don't stress about it."

"Thanks." Himiko decided to cut to the chase and deal with the elephant in the room. "I guess the part that terrified me the most was the fact that Izu could have died, and it would have been hours before anyone found out."

"You knew he was going to have to deal with villains sooner or later, though. I mean, we both had internships last year."

Himiko bit her lip. "There's a difference though! It would be one thing for Izu to actively engage villains, it's another thing to be ambushed like they were today, with nobody knowing! And the fact that the villains weren't even actively targeting them? They were simply caught up in some scheme to kill All Might!"

"I think I get it. You'd be fine if he was actively fighting villains for his internship later this semester, but today's situation was different enough to worry you?"

Himiko sighed. She knew she would be upset the first few times he fought villains, but she would never admit that out loud. As much as she wanted to protect him, she eventually had to accept that he deserves to be a hero, probably more than she does, and that means putting himself in danger.

"Yeah. Knowingly facing villains head-on is completely different." She told Atsuko. "Hopefully Nezu was serious about the upgrades so we don't have any more surprises like that!"

"I think so? Did you see the message from Emily that her parents were already in a meeting tonight?"

"No, I was still catching up when you called." Himiko admitted. "You all had a lot to say about the first years you walked home with!"

"Just because the rest of us don't have younger brothers to escort home." Atsuko giggled. "But it's not like you didn't also get bonding time with someone new! Speaking of, how's the future sister-in-law?"

Himiko giggled at that.

"She's cute and super positive. And a little headstrong. I can see why Izu likes her. She's easily flustered though."

"Oh please, not like you haven't tried making things embarrassing for Izuku's friends."

Himiko rolled her eyes. "Maybe I should back off."

Atsuko laughed. "I mean, to be fair, after today I think the first years will be less intimidated by us second and third years. As for myself - Ashido sounds fun! She actually asked to come out for our next movie night."

"She's trusting her fate into the hope that I don't get to choose the movie?"

"Himi! You've already traumatized all of the girls in our class, plus half of 2-A!"

Himiko snickered. "And yet, you all keep letting me pick movies."

"Well yeah, you've become our unofficial rite of passage to movie nights. Once someone has endured watching a horror movie with you they want to share in their suffering."

"Oh please! I'm not that bad!" Himiko responded indignantly.

"Yes, you are, and I swear you have only gotten worse as you lean into your role."

That made Himiko laugh. "You're not wrong. So I have to pick a good one for the first years?"

"No! Well, not for next movie night. Maybe after that if they stick around."

"Deal!"

The two slipped into easy conversation after that. Atsuko always had a good read on Himiko ever since they met, and she was thankful for that. The phone call helped distract her and focus on something that wasn't the events of the day. It wasn't until Himiko heard Izuku return from the train station that she realized how long they had been talking.

"Looks like Izu is back, so I should probably get going. Thanks again 'Suko, you're the best!"

"Anytime Himi. I'm glad you're feeling better."

"See you tomorrow!"

AN: In case anyone was curious: the draft of this chapter was written before the last chapter was posted.

It's actually kind of a funny story. When I started writing this I didn't intend for Ochako to get pulled into the Midoriya household so completely - at least not this early in the school year! However, when I was sketching out the fallout from the USJ attack it just made sense that Inko would invite her over as much as possible. Writing leads to fun surprises sometimes.

Also, sometimes I imagine how canon!Toga would react if she woke up from a dream that she was living Himidoriya's life. This chapter is where I think she hits peak emotional confusion. "Wait… I still love Izuku-kun, and he actually accepts me and loves me back? And we live together? And I now get to spend a lot of time with Ochako-chan? …but why am I not stabbing them and instead trying to decide if I want to wingwoman for both of them? …also, who are all of these second year students and where has UA been hiding them?"

Anyways, It's been a few chapters since Himiko has properly held the spotlight, next chapter let's check on how class 2-B is doing.