Chapter 18

Love Is Frustrating

The room is a quant four meters by eight meters and situated next to the elevator on the fourth floor. She's mapped the rest of the structure in her head, so she knows that she's under the fifth floor's break room, and that right now Momo and Shoto are probably having a quick cup of tea before starting their day.

That also means that Izuku is across town, opening up his lecture on the 'Art of War'. She knows how he'll open it; he talked about his impromptu book study with her on their way back to her apartment last night. It means that she is starting her day for the first time in several months without seeing him nearly first thing in the morning, and without the cup of coffee she is so used to receiving from him.

It's an odd feeling.

"Good morning, Ms. Uraraka."

Ochako purses her lips, giving the therapist- a Doctor Snow Velvatear- a flat look. She glances at the clock on the side of the room.

8:14 AM.

Forty-six minutes to go.

"We can sit here in silence if you prefer." Dr. Snow replies with a smile, folding her hands together. "I can finish my crossword from yesterday and start on the one from today."

Ochako retains the flat expression.

Dr. Snow huffs, rolling her eyes before pushing herself up from the desk. She stretches, cracking her neck and rolling her shoulders before heading to the cabinets on the left of the room.

Ochako considers the therapist's desk.

It's glass top, no drawers. It's purposefully clean, only a laptop and today and yesterday's paper are nestled onto the surface. There are no fidget toys or even a nameplate. It's bare, and the room feels oddly cold. There aren't any paintings on the walls around her, and even the chair Ochako is sitting in is a soft gray color. There isn't any defining feature or theme in the woman's office.

Idly, she wonders if Izuku has sat in this same chair, pondered the same thoughts, and felt just as unsettled as she did right now.

"Or I can just talk at you, and read your micro expressions, body language, and the shift of your eyes." Dr. Snow adds, pulling out a set of manilla folders.

She can see the name on it, marked in a dark green ink.

'Izuku Midoriya'

"Ah." Dr. Snow smiles as she carries the files and sets them onto her desk. She settles back into her chair, and Ochako watches as she jots something down into a yellow legal pad.

"Isn't reviewing a different patient's records while another is in the room a breach of confidentiality?" Ochako hisses.

"Only if the files are indeed those clients…" Dr. Snow flips the manilla folder on top open to reveal a shiny blank page. "and not a decoy to get you to talk to me." She smiles at Ochako.

Ochako scowls back. "I thought therapists were supposed to be welcoming."

Dr. Snow cocks an eyebrow, her smile widening. "Well, I thought I would take a different approach. We both know you shouldn't be here."

And that surprises Ochako. She frowns, considering the woman for a moment.

"Why?"

She shrugs. "You don't show any signs of instability, you have no initial indications of PTSD or paranoia, nor have you displayed any symptoms of mental illness. I've been assigned to determine if you're mentally stable, and I can assure you that you are." She pauses, "but you already knew that. You're just here because you want to step away, and that is a decision that you have made through a mostly rational logic and with careful consideration to the backlash."

Ochako hums, taken back by Dr. Snow's clinical dismissal of the Hero Commission's mandatory visits. "So you…?"

"Think that this is a waste of time." Snow slides the manilla folders away, opening a desk drawer to pull out a- is that a crossword puzzle? "You neither want to be here, nor want to have any discussion with me. Therapy is only useful when the participant wants to discuss the issues or feelings they're having. To force you to go is doing little more than establishing a negative association with the activity."

"That sounds like you think I need therapy but won't accept it."

Snow glances up from her crossword puzzle, her pen tipping one way and then the other. She considers her, her ice blue eyes so light in hue that Ochako first thought that she didn't have any sclera. The pen dips down, eight characters inked onto the newspaper.

"You do." Her eyes glance back down to the page, humming as she reads the next clue.

"I don't."

"That's like saying you don't need more training."

"That's different."

She inks in another answer. Her eyes flick up. "So, when have you trained enough to never need to?"

"Never." Ochako replies.

She's playing with words, but what's her game? What is she getting at?

"Therapy is like training your mind." Dr. Snow explains, twirling the pen around before tucking it behind her ear. The black pen is a sharp contrast against her white hair. "It's going back and dredging through all your unsorted or unsettled emotions and weeding through them to go: 'yes this is practical, no this is not. Yes, this is right, but no, I didn't react in the right way.'"

"I don't need therapy. I can sort through my emotions all on my own." Ochako grumbles back.

"So, why did you jerk in your seat and blush when I pulled out Izuku Midoriya's file?"

Fuck.

Abort.

Deflect.

"Why did you pull out a different client's information?" Ochako challenges, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why are you avoiding my question and my line of sight?" Dr. Snow's grin is predatory, even as she calmly sits at her desk. "Is that question slightly too invasive?

"Izuku has nothing to do with my emotions." Ochako huffs back. The burn on her cheeks says otherwise, but she's trying to deny it, at least vocally.

"Oh, but doesn't he?" It's a sickly-sweet smile now, like Ochako has been caught in a trap and there is no amount of backpedaling or damage control that will get her out of it.

She snaps her mouth shut.

Snow does not seem surprised by the reaction, and instead turns her head back to her crossword. She finishes it twelve minutes later, setting it to the side before picking up the next one.

"It's been a while since I talked with anyone that has any passing knowledge on interrogation and counter interrogation." Snow hums, smiling at Ochako over her crossword. "But I don't want to turn this into a fight every time you come in the door. We'll be seeing each other twice a week by court order, so let's try and keep this pleasant."

Ochako cocks an eyebrow at her.

"How about I don't bring up Izuku if you don't." Snow suggests, twirling her pen around her fingers as she considers the next question she's looking at. "And in exchange, we have conversation so our hour together isn't insufferable. That way we appease the people that have too much time and money on their hands and not enough real-world experience to know that in order to be as successful in the killing business as you, then you need to have a good head on your shoulders and have your own coping mechanisms that aren't therapist reliant."

It sounds almost too good to be true, like a deal that Ochako could finagle to always be in her favor. The only thing that keeps her from immediately agreeing is Dr. Snow's inattentive look as she considers her newspaper.

She's already shown just how insightful and attentive she can be. She's already betrayed the fact that whatever counter interrogation technique Ochako may offer up will either be ignored, bypassed, or handled without issue. Which means that these interactions will be centered entirely on how well one can play the other.

How well can Ochako play Dr. Snow?

Who will get inside whose head first?

What are the stakes for winning?

What is the consequence for losing?

"We'll see." Ochako replies instead.

"I'll see you Thursday then." Dr. Snow smiles at her.

Ochako checks the clock. 8:37 AM. "It isn't time yet."

"Therapy doesn't need to have strict times." Snow dismisses. "Just because I have you for an hour doesn't mean it's beneficial for me to have you for all of that hour."

"So, I'm…" Ochako hesitates, but gets to her feet. "Free to go?"

Snow shrugs her shoulders, considering for a moment. "What's a ten-letter word for making amends?"

Ochako frowns, considering. "Redemption?"

Snow hums, lips moving slowly as she slots in the word. Then she nods, scribbling the word into the blank. "See you Thursday." She repeats.

Ochako isn't sure if she's relieved or confounded at the therapist's blaise-faire attitude. On one hand, it's refreshing and nice, but on the other, it's countered by the sudden shifts to sharp questions and intent stares. Ochako stalls for just a moment at the door, and when she does, Dr. Snow glances up at her, something accusing or curious in her expression.

"Did you forget something?" She asks.

"No." Ochako is quick to responds, but she doesn't scurry out the door, instead she holds her ground and considers the woman.

She is utterly civilian by all appearances, and even if she wasn't, Ochako can't imagine her slender limbs being capable of handling any sort of weapon with much power. Her Quirk hadn't been disclosed, but Ochako had a feeling she knew why the room was so cold. It wasn't for appearances or function, but perhaps a hint at practicality. As for why this room didn't have any windows, and why it was situated in the center of the building as opposed to a set of windows- that Ochako had no explanation for.

She doesn't wait for Dr. Snow to ask any more questions and instead leaves without another word. The door clicks closed behind her, and Ochako heads down the hall and takes the elevator up to the fifth floor.

Mina is the first to notice her, and she waves at her before her hand drops onto the cubicle wall, tapping out a quick rhythm. Ochako can now distinguish it as a five-beat rhythm, a never changing, ever steady beat. She smiles, and in exchange jingle the charm bracelet Momo made her.

"Good morning to you, Murder Queen." Mina greets.

Ochako huffs, rolling her eyes. "You're still searching for a nickname?"

Mina shrugs, offering her a smile as she spins her chair around and gets up. "Gotta find something interesting to tease you about." She spreads her arms wide, and it says something about Ochako's sense of security in that she's now willing to hug someone that could dissolve her at any moment with a single touch.

Mina embraces her, a light squeeze before she pulls away and drops back into her desk chair. "So, what can I do for you today, Ochako?"

Ochako shrugs, leaning against the cubicle wall. "Nothing specific." She glances around the office, pursing her lips.

Technically she could call Kiri and ask him for an update on the other jobsite. She could also be a responsible construction project manager and go to her jobsite, but that required getting into her car and driving to UA. Neither of which she specifically wanted to do. She could also check her email and see if there were any job offers, or if there were any quotes or invoices she needed to clear out.

Again.

Not appealing.

"Procrastinating?" Mina guesses, and Ochako hums her agreement.

"Hardcore. Got anything for me to occupy my time with? I'm fresh out of mandatory therapy and itching for anything other than that woman's questions in my mind."

"She's intense." Mina agrees, eyes shifting from Ochako back to her screen. "Unfortunately, I'm in the middle of doing a report about my patrol last night, I had three robberies and two muggings. But I think Momo is free if you want to talk."

Ochako shrugs and shakes her head. "No. I just…" She shuffles her feet, "I don't want to bother y'all." She purses her lips, eyes scanning the room again.

Momo has settled into her desk, one of her coins dancing across her knuckles. Shoto lingers beside her, his hand open on the desk as if he's expecting her to take it. They have yet to clarify their relationship- which Ochako supposes they technically don't have to. It's just interesting how close and how intimate they are with some of the most casual gestures, and how no one has ever called them out on it.

It's almost like they're already in a long-term relationship, or even married.

"Well." Mina interrupts her thoughts. "Let me know if I can do anything for you." She flashes Ochako a brief smile. "I know me and the others want to hang out with you sometime soon, maybe go to a mall or a concert?"

Ochako agrees, even while something in the back of her mind argues against it. Malls are public places, and they're open to attacks from multiple vantage points and through an assortment of methods. Concerts were even worse, with hundreds of people crammed into one location and a very limited number of egress points. The other half of her mind recognizes that those are thoughts from her past life, and she should enjoy some of the same things regular civilians do.

"Text me the details on it, you know my schedule so just let me know what day and I'll see if I can't move some things around." Ochako offers.

Internally, she cringes. Hisashi trained her to always be mindful of certain things and dictating a specific time and place where she'd be in a public, unprotected place, was asking for trouble.

Mina hums back her response, but her focus is entirely on her screen. She doesn't look up after a moment, but does excuse herself. "I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just trying to finish up this report so I can go the fuck to sleep."

Ochako hums, pushing off the cubicle wall to give Mina her space. She has nothing pressing at the moment. She's already got the UA site covered for the morning, and there's no big project that is in dire need for her to check in on. It leaves her morning oddly and painfully open.

It leaves her uncomfortably aware of the fact that her new civilian life is populated by people who are assigned to watch her, and that outside of work and Izuku, her life is hollow and empty.

She shuffles uncomfortably at that.

"It's okay if you just want to hang around."

She startles slightly, blinking owlishly as Shoto approaches, holding out a cup of hot tea with his hand. She accepts it slowly, unsure of what connotations come attached to accepting the beverage.

He offers her a slight smile. "You looked a bit uncomfortable. I know exactly how that feels."

"He does!" Momo calls from her desk.

Shoto shoots a look back at her, and laughter is her only response.

Shoto gestures towards Izuku and his shared office before bringing his coffee up to his lips. He sips it long and slow, staring at her placidly. They've never really talked before, and Ochako gives him a slightly confused look.

It's not that it isn't a friendly gesture, but she can't find the angle for Shoto's offer. They've talked before, had some in-depth conversations even, but he's never extended such a gesture before.

She shuffles into the office a bit uncertainly, and Shoto leaves the door open as he follows her in.

"Did you want something?" Ochako asks as Shoto leans back against his desk.

It's tidier than she's seen it in days, and that could have been a result of Shoto getting the office to himself more and more as Izuku started back into the school season and spending more time at UA. The stray files on their desks have been put away, Izuku's desk clean for probably the first time in months.

"No." Shoto replies, setting his tea down. He dips a finger in, and the beverage bubbles slightly before a waft of fresh steam comes off the surface and Shoto removes his finger.

Ochako cocks an eyebrow at him, and he shrugs his shoulders as if that answers why he pulled her into his office.

"Momo said you looked like you wanted to talk. I'm not the best at picking up on social cues, but I was free."

"You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to."

"You're an interesting person, and you're becoming someone very…" Shoto shifts on the desk, as if he isn't certain what word best fits. He seems to settle after a sip of tea, choosing to finish his sentence with, "important to Izuku."

"We're not dating."

It's a question she has gotten a lot at this point.

Kiri asked her last week.

An assortment of students asked her last semester, and she was anticipating even more now that Izuku and her were… closer…

"Never said you were." Shoto stares at her, facial expressions vacant as he considers her. "Though I will say you two are very… personable with your time together."

Ochako crosses her arms over her chest. "So are you and Momo. Y'all aren't married."

"We are."

Ochako fumbles her tea, spilling it onto the carpet as she physically and mentally stumbles over the admission.

"Excuse me?"

"You remember three months ago when Momo and I went abroad to fill a request for help in England?"

"Yeah?"

"There was no request. That was both the wedding and the honeymoon. Her parents met us there."

Ochako flushes, a smattering of emotions climbing up her throat as she stares at him. Her eyes drop to his hand, and he offers it towards her. There is no ring obviously, but the sheer fact that he offered it means there is something there.

She misses it on the first pass, but on the second she sees the difference in pigment on his left ring finger, a band of softer white runs over the top of his finger.

"We had it tattooed." Shoto explains. "We haven't announced it yet, and right now it's only you, Sir Nighteye, and Tsuyu that know. We wanted a grace period where we could… get settled with each other before the media gets wind of it."

"H-how have you…?" She swallows, unsure of what she even wants to ask.

How had they managed to hide it?

What was it like being married as ProHeroes?

Why hadn't they told anyone?

What caused them to just… up and get married?

Did their families approve?

Did that complicate things? Did that make it easier?

Whose apartment did they move into?

"I'm not the most emotionally intelligent person," Shoto admits, "but I have always liked Momo. I didn't really realize I loved her until we graduated." He hesitates, thumb rubbing the top of his teacup as he considers her words. His eyes narrow slightly, as if he's sizing something up. Either the weight of his words or the possible vulnerability that those words will cause.

"She's important to me. And I always knew that. And we never officially dated, but we always…"

"Went out together?" Ochako suggests.

And they have. It's always been a media gossip piece on how Todoroki always seems to escort Yaoyorozu to any public event, whether it be an interview or a Hero Gala. One always comes with the other. It caused gossip at first, but soon it became just another oddity that fell by the wayside for their class. The first few times Shoto had been seen taking Momo out to a restaurant without prompting and without alternative reason, it had been a scandal. The fifth, sixth, and twenty-eight time? It just became regular. Expected.

"How long have you been…?" Ochako ventures, unsure of what answer she's looking for.

"Probably since we graduated. We always… gravitated towards one another. I respected her as a Hero… then as a friend and I guess as a little bit more." He rubs his ring finger, a new nervous tick that Ochako had noticed he'd picked up but never given any thought to.

He was feeling the tattoo. He was tracing the near-invisible mark that told him and the world that he belonged to Momo Yaoyorozu. She couldn't tell if it was something he did to comfort himself, or something he did just to make sure it was still there.

"Why are you telling me?" She asks.

He shrugs, as if he himself doesn't know his own particular motives. "Felt like it." He dismisses.

"You just… felt like… telling the newest member of your friend group that you and Momo basically eloped in a different country, and then proceeded to explain to me how sometimes friends can fall in love?"

Shoto hums again and shrugs.

Ochako stares at him.

"Just thought it might be helpful." He explains, taking a sip of tea.

"In?"

"To give you reassurance that friends can become a bit more than friends."

She glares at him. He is unphased, or possibly immune to the threat of death she's trying to convey with sheer force of will.

"Izuku likes you." He informs her.

She knows what he means, but she's going to struggle and strain and protest his point as much as she can, if for nothing else than her own sanity at this point. "That tends to happen when two people become friends."

"You know what I mean."

She sips her own tea, innocently giving him a look as she drains half the cup. "Do I though? Do I?"

Shoto gives her a look, and Ochako smirks at him.

"I thought you wanted to talk about that." Shoto says a moment later, just when she thinks he'll drop the matter. "Dr. Snow has a tendency to attack issues she knows we're vulnerable about or aren't… sure about."

Ochako stares at him. "And you thought that…?"

"Momo said I should talk to you. I thought it was about Izuku."

Ochako groans, setting her tea down and dredging her fingers through her hair. "Oh my God." She could happily throw herself out the window, but Izuku's office window is not only bulletproof glass, but currently blocked by Shoto, and she doubts the Hero would let her without a fight.

Not that she wouldn't win, but that's a hassle she isn't willing to undertake as of yet.

"I didn't know you were religious."

"Oh my God." Ochako whispers again.

Why did everyone in this damn office have to have an opinion about her and Izuku's friendship?

"Oh wait, are you…?" Shoto trails off suddenly, and Ochako pushes herself off the desk, marching to the door. She catches herself on the door, and either the burst of movement or her expression catches the occupants' attention.

Mina freezes, eyes jerking from her computer screen to look at her, and Momo politely sets her own tea down, sliding a stack of papers away from the beverage.

"Let me make myself utterly and inequitably clear. I am NOT dating Izuku, and I don't PLAN to be dating Izuku! You may NOT take bets on this, you may NOT challenge me on this, or I WILL break my probation just to remove your tongue from your mouth. Is that understood?"

She is answered by deafening silence before Mina slowly gets up, walks to that curious little whiteboard that no one has yet to explain to her, and calmly erases the date by her name and exchanges it for one four weeks from now. Ochako gives her the stink eye, and Mina smiles brightly at her, as if in silent challenge of Ochako's threat.

Sir Nighteye calms the situation, either sensing that Ochako is about to pull the knife concealed at her belt or anticipating another form of squabble. All it takes is a simple, "We understand, Ms. Uraraka." And a polite nod.

He retreats into his office after another moment, as if making sure no one was about to get knifed. The only person Ochako knows would dare be so openly defiant is Mina, and she seems content with the subtlety of her earlier gesture.

She turns back to Shoto, cocking an eyebrow at him. He holds up his hands in surrender.

"That clear enough for you?"

"Quite."

Good.

Now maybe they could stop obsessing over it, and her own heart could stop being reminded so often of its growing desire for Izuku's company and affection.

She has enough happening in her life, in her mind, and the last thing she needed was the added burden of a relationship. She does not need to think about what a relationship with Izuku Midoriya would be like. He has enough on his plate. He's a Hero. She's a killer. He doesn't deserve to have his name and reputation dragged through the dirt for associating publicly with her. It's already bad enough with him acting as a somewhat supervisor while she's in her probationary period. She didn't want the media getting ahold of her past and using it to taunt Izuku.

He didn't deserve that.

And all of this was beside the point.

She didn't deserve someone like him.

He deserves someone… better. Someone that didn't have the same baggage or emotional trauma she had. He deserved someone that didn't have hands sticky with blood.

He deserved that much at least.

"I'm going to head out." Ochako adds to the room, crossing the office and mashing the button for the elevator.

Mina grabs her wrist, giving an apologetic expression even as Ochako shakes her hand off.

"Hey, 'Chako…" She grimaces. "I'm sorry. We're just teasing. I know it's… it's…"

"It's what you do." Ochako huffs, taking a deep breath. "And I know that. But I'm dealing with a lot right now and I… I can't…"

The elevator opens, and Ochako grabs Mina and pulls her into it. Mina doesn't protest, or even pull away until the doors close and Ochako hits the button for the lobby.

"Izuku is a Hero." Ochako whispers. "He's a Hero. I'm a killer, no matter how you hash it. And I'm still getting my life together. I went from a world of killing people and living in the dark to suddenly being friends with people's whose job it is to save lives."

"You left that life." Mina reminds softly. "You aren't a contract killer anymore. You're a construction company owner."

"But that doesn't change my past." Ochako insists. "So you and Momo and everyone else keep telling me I should date Izuku, but all I can see is how he would suffer because of me. He can't handle the thought of Shigiraki's blood on his hand, so how could he manage a relationship with someone like me, who has killed dozens of people?"

Mina gives her a bit of a confused look, as if that thought has never occurred to her. That Ochako's past might be an issue, or even that there might be a conflict of interest in that.

"Mina, you need to understand that when something happens, when a bomb goes off or a gun is pulled, my first instinct is to kill. Your first instinct is to save and capture."

"I understand that."

"But do you?" Ochako stares her down, waiting for Mina's confident façade to crack and fall apart.

It doesn't.

"I do." Mina reassures. "Which is why I know when something like that happens, my first priority is making sure you aren't in a situation where you have to handle it like that."

The elevator slows and halts. Ochako stares her down, unsure what she's looking for, only that she is looking for something.

Maybe it's for Mina's determined expression to falter, for her smile to crack and the steadfast look in her eyes to wither under Ochako's gaze.

She isn't sure.

Ochako is the first to look away, heading out. She doesn't want to go to the job, nor does she want to go to any other appointment she has. She could start verifying quotes or paying invoices or get a head start on her taxes this year.

She does not want to do any of those.

"Chako." Mina calls, and she pauses at the door to look back at her. "Call me? We can talk later, maybe go out for lunch tomorrow? I have a half day tomorrow."

She doesn't particularly want to, but she nods and gives Mina a half-hearted smile. "Sounds like a plan. I'm gonna run, okay?"

Then she leaves.

She gets in her truck and cranks it up. Radio static fills the cab, and she spends a few minutes tuning it to a station she likes. The news rolls in, but none of it is particularly interesting. She shifts the truck into gear, feeling the mechanics in the car rumble and shift as to drive.

She gives it a little gas, and the truck rattles just before getting in motion. She pulls out of Sir Nighteye's Agency, listening to a reel of stock market highs and lows.

There was a major drug bust recently, and Ochako runs through her mind trying to figure out which syndicate operated in that district. The knowledge is nearly a year old, but some things tend to remain consistent.

Politicians were moving towards more Hero accountability, but most of it sounded like posturing or unreasonable methods for doing so. Clipping cameras to Heroes and having it livestream it back to a service? How much money would that cost? There were hundreds of thousands of Heroes. What kind of corporation could manage and track any of that footage effectively? It would be impossible.

She scoffs, rolling her eyes at the idea.

Plus, what happens when those cameras get damaged or go out? Would it be a tool used to target Heroes, or a tool to safeguard them from other violations?

Truthfully, she thinks they should just have a tertiary non-affiliated corporation auditing and validating Hero's logs and reports. Like construction companies do for safety evaluations and checks, an entity that is completely unbiased and unaffiliated with anything Hero Network. It could even be an overseas company. It just had to be someone difficult to influence, and the audits had to be thorough.

She huffs, rolling her eyes as she pulls the truck into an available space. Some things never changed. People trying to weigh in on processes and protocols they never experienced firsthand and never had any intentions of doing so.

The anxious energy that had been held at bay by driving slowly seeps back in as Ochako gets out of her truck. Her fingers itch, wanting to act, do, move, fight, something. Anything other than thinking about Izuku and how she kept getting closer knowing that she didn't belong like that in his life and yet no one listened to her protests.

"Hey, Ochako, you… okay?"

The source of her problem interrupts her thoughts, and she sighs as she turns to consider him.

Izuku is in trackpants at the moment, a dry fit shirt stretched over his chest. She can see some of the kids in his class jogging around the track behind him, and it occurs to her that due to her early out from therapy, she got to UA near the time his first class let out and his second class started.

"Therapy is shit." She replies because that's about as much truth as she's willing to give him.

The alternative is that she spills her guts to him that she spent the last hour deflecting comments that they should date, and she's pretty sure that whiteboard that has been up for months (if not years at this point) is a betting pool on when her and Izuku will get together.

Izuku laughs, and she wants to tell him to stop it because the sound makes her chest feel tight and it makes her fingers dance and curl into fists because if she doesn't restrain them, she'll want to reach out and touch him to make sure he's real. How can someone so beaten and hurt make a sound so sweet and pure? How can anyone that has ever had to deal with death, destruction and betrayal ever be so of genuine joy?

She doesn't deserve to be with him.

She shouldn't taint that happiness with her lingering sorrows or even just by association with her past.

"You're going to your second class of the day right?" Ochako asks.

Izuku pauses, green eyes so deep and so warm she wants to melt in them. "Yeah, why? I thought you had to take over for Kirishima. He mentioned he'd be leaving a little early to have brunch with Mina."

"The jobsite can manage for an extra hour without supervision. If it can't, then I need to fire my subcontractors." Ochako leans back into her truck, opening the glove box and pulling out a pair of brown drawing gloves. She tugs them on, flexing them to make sure the leather hasn't dried out. Hisashi had them specially made for her when they started combat training.

Now she wears them for Izuku.

"Let's give them a demonstration then." Ochako replies.

"We haven't practiced." Izuku protests.

"We can just do grappling and basic hand to hand." Ochako reasons.

She needs to hit something.

She needs to fight something, to feel the burn in her muscles and the rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins. She needs to quell the rising heat in her chest with something that can take all of her mind to focus and occupy her fidgety body.

Izuku gives her a curious look, as if weighing his options.

Then he smiles again. "We'll have a quick pop quiz on Art of War's first two sections, and then how about I meet you at Training Gym Gamma in twenty minutes? That should be enough time." He fishes into his pocket, and hands her his key ring. "I'll let Aizawa-sensei know our plans."

"Is he my tag along for the next month?" Ochako asks, unable to help the question.

According to her probation, she was always supposed to have a fully licensed and approved Hero watching her. Most of the time it was Izuku, Mina, or Momo when she was moving between job sites. But Mina's last day was yesterday, and she returned to regular Hero duty. Momo obviously hadn't been switched off, and neither had Shoto or Izuku.

"Nope." Izuku pops the 'p', as if her question is now a teasing game.

She smirks at him.

She loves how smug he can be when he's in his element. When the situation is moderately in control, and he feels comfortable and safe. She likes seeing the transition of it, watching the tension drain out of his shoulders and his stance open up just a little bit more. She likes seeing how the light shifts in his eyes, as if he's less guarded. She likes hearing him laugh.

She's heard him laugh more in the past six months than she has in all of the recorded interviews and initial meetings together.

"You know." She accuses.

He's playful today. Light and chipper and playful, and she thinks that mood suits him. She likes him being like this as opposed to nervous or tentative or stressed. She likes seeing him mentoring kids, kids like Eri or Kota or the others she's noted on his roster.

"I do." He agrees, but doesn't give anything away. She made the unfortunate mistake of telling him his most obvious tells and now he has learned how to hide them.

"Is it someone new?"

"New to the cycle."

She glares at him, and he shrugs. "See you in twenty minutes." And then he's off, his strange Quirk powering a leap that sends him from the parking lot back to the track.

He lands with a puff of dust, and a moment later, she hears him calling the children together and directing them to the locker room to change and get ready for their next class. She watches him for a moment.

He does make a good teacher.

Nedzu was right.

Even without all the classes and proper education, he's naturally filled into the role. He manages the children easily, allowing them small tangents but keeping them mostly on track. And his personality is… stellar.

"Oh, Ochako." She huffs to herself, shaking her head and setting off towards her jobsite trailer.

She will never admit it aloud but…

She's… starting to fall for him.

It's cheesy, and it's cliché, and it's ridiculous. But she can't help it.

He's too kind. He's far too generous. Izuku is… witty and clever. He can hold a conversation with her, and even when it derails into theories or principles, he keeps up. Their dialogue is fluid and smooth, and there aren't any awkward pauses or lines that get crossed. She's talked about guns and firearms with him, and while he doesn't have personal experience, he still keeps up. He talks about politics and ethics, and they debate back and forth on what is and isn't right, or what should and shouldn't happen. And none of this included chemistry or physiology.

Plain and simple, Izuku was attractive.

There were reasons that there were entire blogs and accounts dedicated to him and catching racy pictures of him. Most of those 'racy' pictures were just him standing over a defeated villain with half his costume shredded.

She shoves the door open to her office, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.

"Something on your mind, Ribbit?"

Ochako glances up, considering the frog-girl currently stuck to her ceiling.

"I'm going to punch Izuku's lights out. Feel like watching?" She's all out of witty quips and snarky responses.

Tsuyu drops down from the ceilings. "I'll bet on you then." She heads out the door, pausing just a moment to say, "I'll be keeping an eye on you for this month."

Great.

The most observant and least trusting of the Izuku Protection Squad was now her parole officer. Wonderful.

Now she really wanted to hit something.

AN:
Thank you for reading this far! I just wanted to give a shout out and official thank you. I will also let you know that for those that can- I cross post this on AO3 and generally interact more in those comments if you feel so inclined. AO3 has a better interaction system between readers and authors in my opinion. That said, my update schedule for both is the same (biweekly unless something else comes up).

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!