Nervous was an understatement. Going against Kacchan felt overwhelming and downright scary, especially with how he was looking at me. He didn't know I had a quirk now. I know he's confused and angry about it. But it was too risky to use in such a small building. I would have to rely on Kirishima and my knowledge about Kacchan.

We sat in the waiting area before the battle started.

"Got any plans, Midoriya? You seem to know Bakugo more than anyone else," Krirshima said. He seemed friendly, but I could tell he didn't know what to make of me. I needed to earn his trust.

"He'll probably go after me. My quirk…is kind of unstable right now so I'm hesitant to use it. But I doubt he'd stay anywhere close to Iida. They're planning on a 1v1 situation with us," I said.

"That makes sense. He doesn't really seem like a teamwork kind of guy. But if you can't use your quirk…don't you think I would be more suited to handle him?" He asked.

I looked up at him. "He's explosive and not to mention angry. It would be smarter if you were the one to face him but…are you sure you want to do that?" I asked.

"And leave you hanging? Nah, I'll try to give you an opening if he's focused on you. But Iida is fast. Do you think you can handle getting around him?"

I thought about his words, pondering possible solutions. He was fast. He could probably move in my way before I noticed him coming.

"Let's have two plans just in case," I said before discussing some options with him.

My phone buzzed one final time and I caught it before All Might's voice came on the speakers.

Miss you! Do your best, hero!

It was all I needed.

When we were told to go, we rushed in, not worried about making noise. Kaccchan would be waiting for us.

And with a boom, he was there.

I took a defensive stance, steeling myself in place and locking eyes with Kacchan. He charged forward only to be met by my red haired accomplice.

"Not so fast!" He shouted, launching an attack from behind. Our method of distraction turned out to be effective and he narrowly avoided Kirishima's attack.

"Out of my way!" Kacchan said, launching a counter attack. Kirishima was fast on his feet and with his hardening ability, was able to withstand Kacchans blasts far better than I would.

Which was what we were hoping for.

We needed him distracted and disoriented if we wanted a chance to win. Neither of us, even put together, were enough to take him down purely with strength alone. We needed to outsmart him, and hope he falls for it.

I moved closer to the stairs, causing Kacchan to turn to me, sending another blast that I dodged. The attack caused one of the walls to crumble.

He wasn't holding back and didn't mind collateral damage.

"Do you think you two are clever?"

Kirishima charged but Kacchan was ready, sending out a blast to block him from getting close.

He was catching on, our first plan wasn't going to work. I signaled Kirishima as discreetly as I could. He gave a slight nod in response before running away toward Iida.

I would fight Kacchan alone.

"Do you think you can take me on your own?" He snarled, sending another blast from his hands.

It was getting harder to dodge with less space to move around.

"I'll do whatever it takes to win," I said, panting.

He glared at me before launching a barrage of blasts. "You. Are. Worthless. Deku."

I ran and ducked and ran some more, the building at this point was going to collapse soon if he didn't calm down with his blasts. The building was already damaged. I didn't want to have to use my quirk like this since I still had almost no control over it…but I made a promise that I would do my best. And that's exactly what I'm going to do.

"I don't care," I told him. "Worthless or not, I made a promise. I'm going to do my best…I won't lose to you anymore!"

Green charged around me as I felt One for All coursing through my body.

"Kirishima, get ready!"I shouted.

Kacchan readied his own blast only for me to leap up toward the ceiling.

"SMASH!"

I collapsed on the ground, my body succumbing to the effects of my quirk.

When I came to, I was in the infirmary. Recovery girl, whom I'd met at the entrance exams, was there. I inspected my bandaged limbs as she noticed I was awake.

"That was quite a lot of damage, young man," she said.

I gave her a sheepish look. "I'm sorry, ma'am."

Her expression softened. "Just make sure not to need to see me so much."

I nodded.

My body was tired, but overall I was fine.

Kirishima joined me in the infirmary, and I smiled brightly at him.

"That was so cool, Midoriya!" Krirhsima said. "You're not bad."

"Thanks," I said softly. Praise, even by Uraraka, was still hard for me to accept. But I was working on it.

"We did it, man. We got it. All Might wasn't too happy about the building though."

I scratched the back of my neck. "Oops. I'm still working on controlling my quirk."

"I saw you looking at your phone earlier, you got a girlfriend?" he asked curiously.

My face reddened and I put my hands up in panic, the temperature in the room shooting up ten degrees. "No, no, that was my friend. My best friend."

He perked up at that. "Well, it sounds like they encouraged you to succeed."

Did he hear me talking to Kacchan?

"Yeah, she's great. She actually wanted to be in the hero course too," I said.

"Oh yeah? Did she fail the entrance exams or something?" He asked curiously. It felt less like prying than when Iida had asked.

I frowned, shaking my head. "No. She got in, actually. She was going to be in our class too but…she had to focus on her health for a bit first and couldn't attend."

His eyes widened. "Whoa, really? It had to be serious if she had to turn down UA…"

I nodded, my eyes focused on my lap. "It is. But even through all of that, she still finds a way to smile. She told me to do my best today. I didn't want to let her down."

He placed a hand on my shoulder. "She sounds like a great friend, Midoriya."

"She really is."

"You're pretty cool though and you're wicked smart. Maybe we could be friends too," he said.

Another friend, already? I smiled, trying to hide the excitement coursing through me. Uraraka was going to be so excited. All Might was going to be so excited. "You're really cool too, I'd like that."

"Sweet, see ya later!"

"Uraraka, I wish you could have been there!" I said on the phone. I was laying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling as I recounted the events of the day to her.

She giggled over the receiver. "I wish I could have too. Tell me about the teachers. Were they nice? Scary?"

"Our home room teacher, Aizawa, showed up in a sleeping bag," I said.

"No way!" She said, "Why would he do that?"

"I think he was sleeping before that, but he yelled at us and had us practice with our quirks."

"You didn't hurt yourself though, right?" She asked, her voice filled with concern that made me smile. I obviously hadn't told her about One for All, but she had seen firsthand how damaging my quirk is. It made me happy to have someone who worried about me.

"Aizawa told me not to injure myself so much so I found a way to make my quirk channel through my finger for a ball throw, but I didn't use my quirk for the other events," I said.

"That's smart. Still not a permanent solution, but it's a start," she said. "I hate when you get injured using your quirk."

"I'll figure something out for it. Oh, yeah! I think I made friends?"

She laughed again. "Why did you say that like a question? I told you you would. You're so cool and sweet, who wouldn't want to be friends with you?"

"A lot of people, Uraraka,"I said deadpanning. Everyone in middle school looked at me like I was nothing. Treated me like I was nothing, too.

"Well then they're just missing out and they don't deserve you. No self-depreciating, mister. Now, tell me more," she said.

I described the day in as much detail as I could. The class, the training, even the talk with Kirishima.

"Bakugo seemed to take your late-quirk development personally, huh?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. Even if her studies didn't come as easily to her she was a natural at reading people. I supposed that also applied to people she hadn't even met.

"From what you told me, which I know you haven't said much, he's got a need to feel superior. And, if you were quirkless until a few weeks ago and have this massive, super-cool quirk, he probably felt that you were purposefully holding back. Like you were waiting for the right moment to knock him off his feet…Or, I'm wrong and he's just a jerk."

I hadn't ever thought of it like that, but it made a lot of sense. Kacchan probably felt a sense of security being on top like that and my declaration to not lose to him…was probably disorienting.

"Maybe it's a bit of both," I said.

She told me about her online work, and how she was very tired but overall doing pretty well. Her first round of treatment was coming up, and she was going to spend the weekend with me before her appointment on Monday. Part of me was super surprised our parents had no problem with her staying over at my house but the other half figured that they knew it would be fine. It was us after all.

"Okay, so we have to have pizza, and you're in charge of the movies—I am so excited!" She exclaimed.

I couldn't help but smile.

"I can tell, but I am too. To be honest, I've never had a sleepover before," I admitted softly. Which, I would be embarrassed over, but Uraraka knows I had no friends before her and it never seemed to bother her.

"To be honest, I haven't either. But it's okay. We have each other now," she said.

My heart swelled. Never had I ever imagined I would find someone so similar who just understood. It meant the world that I wasn't alone anymore.

"You're absolutely right and it's getting late. I know you're tired," I said.

Uraraka was starting to become an open book to me. I didn't have to see her to know she was pouting. "But I want to keep talking to you—"

I smiled. She was probably the first person to ever tell me she ~~wanted to talk to me. "And as much as I want to talk to you, you need your rest. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Fine. Goodnight, bestest friend."

"Goodnight, best friend in the whole world."

The weekend felt like it took months to get here, but it was finally time. I met Uraraka at the train station and walked her to the house. I noticed that this time, walking was a bit more laborious for her. Her breath increased quickly but she refused to let me give her a piggyback ride. I walked slower to try and let her not have to work so hard, but it still seemed like a challenge.

It was almost more of a relief for me when we finally got there so I wouldn't have to worry about her so much. She could hide her condition well over the phone, but in person…it was clear she had gotten worse.

Mom was ecstatic to see her, greeting her with a hug, which Uraraka fully embraced.

She got caught up with my mom for a bit, telling her about online school and how her parents were doing. In a strange way, though it was only her second time over at my place, it felt like she easily belonged here. Maybe it was simply because I felt so attached to her. Maybe because it was so easy to be around her.

"I've got a surprise for you two!" Mom said, causing us to look at each other questioningly.

Uraraka leaned close. "Did you know she got us something?"

I whispered back. "No idea."

She returned with two sets of onesie pajamas, one being a solid green and the other pink. Uraraka's eyes lit up as she jumped up to collect hers.

"Oh my goodness! Thank you so much! Can we wear them now?" She rushed, all but snatching the garment from my mothers hands.

Mom chuckled and smiled at her. "Of course, dear."

Uraraka turned to me. "Is that okay with you?"

"I'm pretty sure you would disown me as your best friend if I told you no," I said.

She laughed. "No, I would never do that. But I would be rather sad."

We took the clothes and I offered her the bathroom while I changed in my room. The material was comfortable, even if I did feel a little silly wearing it. But Uraraka was so happy that I wasn't about to complain.

I came out of my room at almost the same time as her, mom was ready with her camera and urging us to stand close to each other. Uraraka leaned her head into me and I very awkwardly brought my hand up to rest on her back. I was going off of zero experience with how to take pictures with people, but it seemed like that was the appropriate place for my hand with us standing so close. I did my best to smile, Uraraka held up a peace sigh which I copied with my free hand.

"Perfect!" Mom said. "You guys have fun with your movies!"

Uraraka nodded and dragged me into my room. She looked around with a smile, causing me to flush. She knew I was a fan of All Might, but I don't think she knew just how much.

"This is so cool! You must have been collecting these things for years!" She gushed.

I scratched the back of my neck. "Only you would think this is cool and not creepy."

She turned to me with a serious look, grabbing my shoulders and causing me to nearly fall down with her sudden touch. "Hey, no self-deprecating talk. You're allowed to like things. Life is short, you don't have time to not go all-out because you're worried about how other people will react."

While her words did partially succeed in making me feel better about my nerd-shrine of a room, I felt like there was more to her statement. I frowned, and her smile faltered for a second before composing herself again.

"Should we start the first movie?" She asked.

I nodded and started the first of many movies that I had lined up for us as she plopped down on the floor, leaning against my bed.

We watched a total of three movies before Uraraka started to yawn. We snacked on mochi and came out to eat pizza with my mom before returning to my room. I knew she would get tired sooner rather than later, even if she didn't want to admit it.

It was already evening, and I was starting to feel like our time was running out. She got up and sat beside me, our shoulders touching and laid her head on my shoulder. Part of me wanted to shrivel up in embarrassment because of how close she was to me, but I knew that she would be back home soon and likely not feeling great after her first treatment. I embraced her warmth and closeness.

"Hey," she said, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"I'm nervous about tomorrow," she said.

My stomach dropped, I knew she was, how could she not, but hearing her say it so candidly…

"I wish I could go with you," I said. "So you wouldn't be alone"

She sighed. "It's okay. I have to do it…it's part of getting better and then I can focus on getting into UA again and hero training. I just…I feel like it'll start getting real. I mean, I know it's real and all but…I'm sorry, I know this must sound so weird."

I leaned my head on hers, hoping it would bring her some comfort. "No, no, I get it. But if anyone can handle it…it's you. Even if I really wish you didn't have to."

"At least I have you," she said, causing my heart to swell. "You seriously have no idea how much I appreciate you."

If I wasn't starting to get used to Uraraka's openness, I'd likely have passed out from someone saying that to me. Growing up without friends and really nobody who would even be willing to talk to me, affection and friendliness weren't things I was used to. But Uraraka liked to wear her heart on her sleeve. She often told me over the phone that she appreciated me talking to her and how she was happy to be my friend. She didn't know how much that meant to me. I was healing so much because of her.

"I could say the exact same thing about you. My mom can back me up on this, I don't shut up about how awesome you are."

She chuckled. "Same, but thank you. You know, now you're at UA doing a bunch of hero stuff and making friends…I'm happy for you, I really am," she said, stopping me from cutting her off. "Since you're going to be all popular and cool now, can I be the first to call you Izuku?"

"You mean it?" I asked her. It was crazy enough that the students at UA were calling me Midoriya and not Deku…I'd never had a friend call me Izuku in a very long time.

I reached over and hugged her tightly, causing her to laugh before placing her arms around me.

"Of course I mean it, we are best friends after all," she said. "Also I've never really been on a first-name basis with anyone before."

"You know, if you start calling me that, you'll never get rid of me," I said.

"Good thing I don't want to, Izuku!"

Somehow, I felt heavier and lighter at the same time. She was the greatest girl—greatest person ever and she actually enjoys me. No tricks, no schemes, she puts up with my dorkiness and odd behavior and doesn't judge me for being so introverted.

"You're the best, Ochako."

And as she fell asleep on my shoulder and I had to move her to my bed so I could take my spot on the floor, one thought kept floating through my mind: why did someone like her have to be sick?