When I lost to Todoroki, I wondered if Ochako would be upset with me. I lost sight of the objective of winning and urged Todoroki to use both sides of his quirk, ensuring his victory over me and ending my time in the sports festival. But she disagreed and told me that I did the right thing, that she was proud I valued helping a friend over winning a match.

Kacchan was quieter than usual too. I think her words actually had an effect on him. The class adored her. Several of them stated that they would like to talk to her when she was feeling well enough at the hospital.

It was our week off, allowing for me to spend lots of time with Ochako. She resumed her treatments, making her tired and sickly again. But having a few days off helped her build her strength, making it not as taxing on her body.

I sat next to her on the small couch in the room in front of the TV.

"They're still talking about you, you know," I said. "They love you."

She looked away and smiled. "It was nothing really, you know. I really liked meeting everyone too. I wish I could've gone to class with everyone."

"Kacchan has barely said a word," I told her, who perked up. "Unfortunately I'm not as brave as you so I'm just a Deku to him."

"Deku?" She questioned. "What's that mean?"

I sighed. "I'm surprised I haven't told you about it yet."

"You don't like talking about Bakugou," she countered.

"Right, well Deku is what he's called me since we were little. It means useless," I said. Somehow even after all this time, that word still brings me down.

"That's weird. To me, it sounds more like you can do it!"

"Wait, really?"

She nodded. "It's a cute name when you put it like that."

Cute…Deku is cute? My stomach started to feel funny and I almost laughed out loud. Of course she would turn that name upside down and turn embarrassment into butterflies.

"Well, if you really think so," I said softly.

"Of course," she said. "I hope you still don't believe that stuff from back then."

I flinched and she raised her eyebrows before sighing into her hand. I tried not to, I really did. But it was all I heard for years. Even when you're trying your best to tune everything out, it still sinks in.

"You are kind and sweet. You're helpful, smart and strong. Your quirk is amazing but it's your heart that really makes you stand out. You care about people, you want to make them smile. You're everything that a hero should be. You've been by my side through all of this and never once treated me with anything but respect. I hope you know how much that means to me," she said.

She left me speechless. I was used to her compliments but when she said I was what a hero should be I nearly lost it. Ochako smiled before fluffing my hair, unphased by my emotional mess.

"And you have the fluffiest hair and cute little freckles—"

I whined and batted her away. "Now you're just calling me a little boy!"

She giggled and adjusted my hair, her fingers soft and relaxing. I almost forgot what we were talking about.

"I am not. You are incredibly handsome. It's called boyish charm," she said.

Did…she just call me handsome? Me? Maybe it was because nobody had ever said anything like that to me before, but it made my heart pound and I was sure my cheeks matched that of a fire truck.

Her hands relaxed by her sides as she stared out the window.

The sun reflected on her face and caused her brown hair to shine. I remembered how she looked in her pink dress from the sports festival.

"You are too, you know," I said quietly.

She turned around with a cheesy smile. "I'm handsome too?"

I laughed and bumped her shoulder. "I believe you used the word incredibly."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm skinny as a toothpick, sickly, and throw up everywhere. Clearly, I have all the charm."

It was odd to hear her speak so negatively about herself like that. Most of the time she avoided the topic. I hadn't known she thought like that. I frowned, realizing I hadn't been supporting my friend in the way she needed. I planned on fixing that, right away.

"You're beautiful, Ochako."

Her head snapped to mine, her eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. I'd caught her off guard, for sure but…I wasn't prepared how it would affect me when she looked at me like that. Her brown eyes held mine, searching for something. I couldn't look away. I wanted to move closer to her. I wanted—

"You're not saying that because I have cancer, right?"

It was my turn to give her the look. She knew how I felt when she joked like that. "Ochako, if you truly don't believe me then I have done a terrible job at being your best friend. Do you think I would lie to you? I'm a terrible liar."

She waved her hands in front of her face. "No, no. You're the best. It's just…hard to feel good about yourself when you feel miserable all the time. It's hard to wash my hair and I definitely don't have time for makeup. I'm too weak to exercise and I know that I've lost too much weight. I look a lot different than I did when we first met. Back when I felt pretty."

While I understood what she was saying, I didn't want her doubting herself like that. I couldn't experience everything she was feeling right now but I could at least empathize with battling self-doubts.

"You were beautiful then and you are beautiful now," I told her. "I can say it until you believe me."

She shook her head, her cheeks turning pinker. "You really think that? Really?"

I nodded. "Absolutely."

She still couldn't look at me, her face morphing into a pout that was absolutely adorable. "Well..how about I believe you if you believe that you're the Deku that does his best?"

My own face started to heat up. Talking about insecurities was one thing but to actively face them together like this…was one of the reasons why I cared about her so much. And if she could work hard to work on what was troubling her, I could do the same for myself.

"Okay," I agreed.

When it was time for school to start again, we picked out our hero names and Ochako gave me the biggest hug when I told her mine.

The odd thing was, my mind kept going back to her expression when I complimented her. How she stared at me and I couldn't look away. It was an odd feeling.

I'd known she was the prettiest girl I'd ever met since the first time I saw her. And while it did take some time to get used to it, now it just felt like the most obvious thing in the world. I wished she saw herself the same way I did.

I knew it would be hard on her when my internship began with Gran Torino. We were so used to seeing each other that going back to phone calls was difficult—when I wasn't too exhausted. It was hard on me too. Seeing her in person was not only a comfort to me but it was also my way of knowing she was okay.

Gran Torino was confusing and a little frustrating but he did help me work on One for All. It had taken far longer than I wanted, but I developed full cowling, a way of protecting my arms in battle and not putting all the stress on them. Something that was inspired from Iida.

Iida had looked off ever since the sports festival, but I honestly hadn't had time to check in with him. With everything going on with his brother…I'm sure that is no easy burden to bear.

The second day of my internship, Gran Tornio decided to take us downtown to practice fighting villains but on the way we had to stop. The town was on fire. Nomu and other villains were destroying buildings and terrorizing the citizens. There would be no time for practice. This was time to be a hero.

I rushed around trying to keep up with Gran Torino until I heard one of the pro hero's call out Tenya's name. I stood frozen in place, Iida wasn't the kind of guy to run off. Something big must have happened. He was either hurt or…he ran after the villain who had attacked his brother: Stain, the Hero Killer.

I rushed as quickly as I could, searching every alley until I saw him, bleeding on the ground, the terrifying villain hovering above him with his blade clenched in his fist.

I didn't have time for panic or fear. I was the Deku who did his best, so I didn't hesitate. I geared up One for All and was next to him in a second, knocking Stain away from Iida.

"Don't worry. I'm here to save you," I told him.

I kept my eyes on Stain but I could tell Iida didn't like the position he was in. He wanted revenge, not to be saved.

"I can't move."

So his quirk was related to his blade. I almost charged again when I saw the civilian on the ground and I knew then and there that I would not be able to defeat stain, and save Iida and the civilian. I needed backup.

Unwilling to risk being caught, I did the only thing I could think of, and sent my location to our class's group chat before discreetly sliding my phone back in my pocket.

"Don't get involved, Midoriya!" He shouted.

"It's a little too late for that!" I said as I launched another full cowling.

Stain dogged and swiped at me with his blade. When I landed, I felt a slight sting on my arm.

Oh no.

He brought the blade to his mouth and my body was paralyzed.

I was wrong. It's blood.

He moved over to where Iida was, about to thrust his blade into him.

"Stop! Please!" I cried. I was supposed to be All Might's successor, the symbol of peace and I couldn't even help my friend? Why was I still so useless? I was still so far behind from where I needed to be.

We felt a scorching heat as flames errupted and blasted Stain away from Iida.

"Midoriya we need more information than just your location," Shouto said. "But the pros are on their way now."

He charged at him while I willed my body to move. Surely…stain couldn't keep us all down at the same time. And I refused to let him hurt Iida or Todoroki.

"He's mine to defeat!" Iida cried.

I could relate to how he felt. While I didn't share his pain of having a brother ruthlessly attacked and paralyzed, I knew what it was like to watch helplessly while a loved one suffers.

If it were her…

I shook my head from the thought. That's not what Iida needs right now. We needed to get out of here and then I would be there for him too.

I finally was able to stand and made my way to Todoroki, standing in front of Iida.

It all happened so fast, in a barrage of attacks, one of us picking up after the other, we finally seemed to land a critical attack on Stain, sending him flying to the ground.

The relief we felt was short lived, even after the pros showed up, including a very grumpy Gran Torino, when a nomu came down and snatched me from the clutches of the pro-hero carrying me. I'd been frightened many times in my life but almost none of them held a candle to being in the nomu's clutches, too weak to defend myself. For a moment I was that same helpless kid I had always been. My heart hammered a mile a minute as I wondered how long I had. And all I could think about was that I failed. I didn't want to leave her alone. She still needed me.

To everyone's surprise, it was Stain the hero killer who saved me and killed the nomu. He shouted at the pros, calling them fake heros, giving off the eeriest look of absolute murder that I'd ever seen.

And for the second time in my life I was too scared to move. I was at his mercy and he for some reason had chosen to help me. But he left, dropping me to the ground. At some point that I couldn't remember, darkness had completely consumed me.

"Izuku!" Someone shouted. "Izuku!"

My eyelids were heavy and I wanted to rest longer. But the voice shouting at me was getting harder to ignore.

When I realized that there were only two people who called me Izuku, my eyes snapped open.

In front of my face was Ochako's teary eyes.

"Ocha-ko," I groaned, starting to sit up. She was panting in between her soft cries, halfway leaning over the hospital bed. "What are you doing here?"

She wrapped her arms around my neck. "I live here, dummy. You weren't supposed to see me so soon."

Oh. I must have been taken to the Hosu City Hospital.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly to me.

"I was so scared when they brought you in."

"It's okay, Ochako. I'm alright," I whispered to her, my hand rubbing her back.

Aizawa's words from the sports festival came to mind. Let her be a reminder not to do anything reckless out there…

It was now clear exactly what he meant. I was reckless and not nearly strong enough to do what I did.. I could have been better to Iida so he wouldn't have pursued Stain to begin with. If I was stronger, the fight wouldn't have lasted as long and I would've been able to save Iida without help. I needed to be so much more than I was. All Might didn't struggle like this.

I held her a little longer before I noticed how much she was straining even while leaning on me for support. I gently pulled her arms off and guided her to sit next to me on the bed, scooting over to make room for her.

"Good to see you're awake, Midoriya," Iida said. "Uraraka was rather worried about you."

Ochacko looked at the ground, flushing while I scratched the back of my neck.

Todoroki also straightened up. "You were at the sports festival, right? Your talk with Bakugo was very inspiring."

She waved her hands in front of her. "Oh, no. It wasn't really all that—"

I cut her off. "He's right and you know it. Please take the compliment."

She nodded, still keeping her eyes on the ground. "Thank you, Todoroki. I thought your fights with Izuku and Bakugo were really cool."

Todoroki nodded with a small smile crossing his face. "Midoriya really helped me out."

This was slowly turning into a compliment war and I couldn't handle it. Ochako shot me a look and I got the feeling that she knew exactly what I was feeling.

"What are friends for," I said with a smile, causing her to grin.

After a moment she got an odd look on her face and started to try and sit up.

"Well, I don't want to intrude on you guys—"

My hand reached out to her hand. "Won't you stay a little longer?"

Her eyes locked onto mine, giving me that same breathless expression with wide brown eyes and lips slightly agape. She stood there silently before smiling. "You sure? I don't mind if you want to hang out with your friends. You did just face a scary, psychotic villain. It's no problem for me if you want to talk to them."

I laughed before reaching to wrap my arms around her once more, physical touch with her now second nature to me. "I do want to hang out with my friends, that includes you too. You are my best friend, after all."

I caught Iida and Shouto's gaze as she smiled and returned my hug.

I couldn't make out their expressions too well but it looked like…they were smirking? Was I missing something? I still didn't understand a lot of social cues. Either way, I knew Ochako didn't want to leave and she likely wanted to talk with Iida and Todoroki too.

She pulled away from me and looked at the guys. "Will you all tell me about your internships so far?"

The police chief had come soon afterward and I didn't know who was going to be more hostile between Ochako and Todoroki, but it ended up being okay. Our actions would be hidden from the public but the chief and Ochako expressed their thanks. She went back to her room for the night but was back first thing in the morning. The three of us were good to go and in the process of getting the paperwork for being discharged. The pair left to get something from the vending machine, leaving me and Ochako by ourselves.

"I'll see you soon, Ochako," I said. "I'll see you as soon as internships are over."

She stood up from her wheelchair and hugged me, leaning her head on my chest. "Don't worry about me. Have fun and learn a lot. I'll be here when you're bored and need someone to talk to."

I held her close to me, enjoying the warmth of my friend. "You are so much more than a person to talk to when I'm bored. You are my best friend. Now, I'll talk to you soon. Please rest up since I know you have another treatment in the morning."

She froze, not saying anything but I felt her nod after a moment. "Tell Iida and Todoroki that I enjoyed talking with them."

When she pulled away, she kept her head downward as she stepped into her wheelchair. A nurse came in offering to wheel her to her room but I couldn't help but notice something small at the corner of her chin.

Was she crying?

I wanted to stay longer, but I didn't really have many options with my internship still going on. But I couldn't leave her upset like that. I put her through a lot ending up here and now I was leaving her alone again. There had to be something I could do to cheer her up.

Ochako and her nurse were already down the hallway, barely visible. I rushed through the door, not caring who could hear me.

"Miss you already!" I shouted, earning a glare from the receptionist in the corner. I gave an apologetic smile and my phone buzzed a few seconds later as Ochako disappeared from sight.

Miss you more.

I smiled at my phone. Just wait a little longer, Ochako. Then you'll be better and we can work on being heroes together and you won't ever have to be left behind ever again.

"Midoriya?" Iida said from behind me, Shouto was shortly behind.

I turned around quickly. Did they hear me yelling? Something about their twisted smiles told me they did exactly that.

"Let's talk."