I learned to rely on Ochako a bit more, something that made her very happy. Even during the gaps when I couldn't see her, it made her happy to know I would lean on her when things got too heavy for me. And I'd just faced very dark times.

I had told her my frustrations when I couldn't help Eri the day I met her. She encouraged me while we waited for the day I'd be allowed to be part of Eri's rescue mission. The day Nighteye died. She had sat with me and ran her fingers through my hair again for who knows how long. It had become so easy to lean on her.

But today was going to be a happier day.

I'd known since I'd met Eri that Ochako would absolutely love her and after a lot of talks with Aizawa and Mirio, they agreed to take her to Ochako.

I'd gotten there earlier to make sure the transition went smoothly, Ochako was grinning from ear to ear and even made the effort to put on jeans, something she hadn't tried to do in months now.

"Are you sure she'll like me?" She asked nervously, her leg bouncing in place on her wheelchair.

"She will love you. And, you're doing me a big favor. After what all she went through, she blames herself for a lot of this. She hasn't smiled once since we got her out," I told her.

Ochako nodded, a determined look in her eyes. "Okay! I'll do my best!"

I chuckled. "There's no pressure, Ochako. But thank you. It really means a lot."

A knock on the door sounded and caused Ochako to yelp toward me, clinging onto my back. I rolled my eyes and helped her back into her chair. "Ochacko, you got this. You're the coolest person I know."

She took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm just nervous. I won't let you down, Izuku."

I smiled and the door opened.

Mirio was cheerful as always holding Eri's hand as they walked through the doorway. She had a white dress on and her horn was noticeably smaller. Mirio gave a wave with his free hand.

I wheeled a nervously smiling Ochako to the pair.

"Hey! Uraraka, right? I'm Mirio, I've heard so much about you!" He said cheerfully.

Ochako did her best to smile. "It's very nice to meet you."

I looked at Eri crouching down to her level. "Eri, this is my best friend, Uraraka."

It almost felt weird calling her by her family name again.

Eri looked at her curiously. "Why are you in a wheelchair?"

I was about to say something, but Ochako placed a hand over mine, silencing me.

"It's hard for me to walk so the wheelchair helps me get around without being too tired," she said.

Eri nodded, taking it in. "Oh. Okay. Do you ride around fast?"

Ochako's smile widened. "Yeah! Do you want to see?"

She nodded and Ochako turned to me. "Can you help me out, Izuku?"

I chucked before nodding. Her room wasn't that large, but we made the most of it darting around and spinning in circles. Soon enough, Eri wanted to join and Ochako had Eri climb in her lap and Mirio and I took turns rolling them around until we were both exhausted. Eri and Ochako's laughter was infectious while they were being rolled across the room. I was right in my assumption that Eri would be comfortable around her.

When we finally did stop, Ochako, while still smiling, looked a little pale and slightly green. I looked at her and she shook her head, not wanting to interrupt Eri and her fun.

"What else do you do, Uraraka?" She asked with a bright smile.

Ochako smiled at the young girl. "Well, I have some coloring sheets—"

Eri jumped up excitedly. "Oh, can I color with you? Pretty Please?"

"Of course! Let me go get my markers and pages," she said, wheeling off to her small cabinet. Somehow, Mirio and I also got dragged into coloring but we didn't complain. I could tell by his content look that he was happy and didn't mind. He'd taken to Eri the most out of all of us, acting like a big brother to the young girl. He seemed to share her happiness. And where he'd lost his quirk during the battle, Eri was probably a source of happiness for him. Something to keep him smiling.

"Uraraka," Eri asked while coloring.

"Yes, Eri?" She said.

"Why do you live in the hospital?"

We all froze. Tension filled the room but Ochako was the first to break out of her trance.

"That's because I'm sick right now and I have to stay at the hospital so they can take care of me if I need help."

I was impressed at how smooth Ochako was at answering all of Eri's questions. Such an innocent way of explaining things. I had no idea Ochako was so good with kids.

"Oh, okay," Eri said. "Do you get lonely here?"

"Yes, but that's why I have friends that come see me like Izu—Midoriya."

I smiled that she also seemed to find it odd to call me by my family name.

"Can I come visit you again?" She asked.

Ochako beamed. "Of course you can."

"Midoriya," Eri asked, turning to me. "Can she come to the…the…school thingy?"

"School thingy?" I asked, confused.

"I think she means the school festival," Mirio said. "I got Aizawa's permission to take Eri."

Ochako frowned. "I'll have to ask and make sure my doctors sign off on it. But…I would really like to go."

Eri raised her arms and cheered. "Yay! We can go see all the cool stuff and play and—,"

We all laughed at the young girl's excitement. It had been everything to see her so happy and acting like an actual kid. She'd been through so much.

Soon, they had to leave and I offered to walk them out. Eri had been reluctant to leave Ochako, but parted with a hug that I know made Ochako's day. Eri wasn't the only one I wanted to smile.

We met up with Aizawa who hung out just outside her room in case he was needed.

"How was your visit?" He asked her.

Eri launched into a detail of everything that had happened and how Ochako was now her best friend and wanted to come back tomorrow to see her too. We'd gotten a good laugh at her eagerness and even Aizawa had a small smile on his face.

"We'll try to let you go as often as you can. But you still have to keep practicing working on your quirk too. You have to work hard like Midoriya and Mirio," Aizawa said.

She nodded. "I'll do my best!"

We were about to walk back to UA when I saw Kacchan walking toward the hospital entrance.

Why was he here?

I could tell Aizawa's eyes were on him too.

Surely he wasn't going to see Ochako, right?

Right?!

"Let's head back now," Aizawa said. Basically telling me to drop it.

A few hours later my phone buzzed with a message from Ochako.

You'll never believe who went to visit me today after you left.

I looked at that text for a long time. My mind raced trying to put together all the pieces of why he would go visit her.

Surely it wasn't something bad, right? She would tell me if he was mean to her, or maybe not even mention it to me at all.

But why else would he go all the up to the hospital to see her?

None of it made any sense.

Kacchan only puts effort into things that benefit him and she could not have been someone that he was very happy with after the sports festival.

Why did he want to see her? Alone?

And why does it bother me so much?

It was the day of the school festival and my mind was still reeling about Kacchan and Ochako. She made it sound like it was no big deal but I know Kacchan and that is a big deal.

Ochako had gotten permission to be out as long as she stayed mostly away from the crowds and didn't over exert herself. I was mostly in charge of pushing her in her wheelchair around. Mirio and I talked while Eri sat on his shoulders, excitedly going to the different events. When something was particularly crowded, I would wait with Ochako talking about anything and everything.

Her smile had me momentarily forgetting about my internal turmoil and I remembered that she really hasn't gotten out since the sports festival, always stuck inside the hospital. Today needed to be a great day for her and I would make sure that happened.

Eri and Mirio went to get food and told us they would join back later. We found some of the classmates from 1–A joined and they, especially the girls, loved talking to Ochako. She was kind of an unofficial classmate at this point and it always made her so happy when one of them went to see her.

But all coherent thoughts seemed to go out the window when Kacchan walked by.

"Bakugo!" She called out, causing nearly everyone in the class to look at her.

The stranger part was that he didn't' yell at her, didn't grunt or groan or anything. He stopped and looked in her direction.

"Good to see you, again!" She said with a wave.

He raised his hand slightly before walking off causing my jaw to drop.

What. Just. Happened?

She called out to him like they were old pals then kept talking with the girls like nothing happened.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Did I miss something?" Kirishima asked. "What was that?"

I looked down at my lap. "I have no idea."

Eri and Mirio joined us, much to the excitement of everyone. They all loved Eri and Ochako almost as much as I did. It was a pleasant distraction from the confusing scene that happened moments ago.

"Oh, hey, we need to go setup soon," Mina said.

I turned to Ochako who waved me off with a smile. "I'll be fine!"

Mirio nodded. "She can stick with us. Right, Eri?"

Eri nodded. "Yay, Uraraka!"

She would be fine with Mirio and Eri but something about that also left me feeling odd.

I left with the others for the stage area trying to make sense of what was going on with me. It just didn't make any sense. Why was I so bothered about Kacchan? Was I upset that he was finally pleasant to someone that wasn't me? Surely not. Was I mad that he was pleasant to her?

Why would that be a bad thing?

It was time to start and I could hear the crowd behind the curtain. We all got into our places and I took my spot next to Iida on the stage. The curtains were reeled in and I looked along the crowd for my best friend.

The music started and Jiro began to sing. I wasn't the best at dancing, but I did work hard to not disappoint the class. Though who could really focus on me when Jiro was singing?

When we got to the chorus, I finally found Ochako and the others. She sat on Mirio's shoulder with Eri on the other side. Both girls were waving and smiling broadly, and all I could do was smile.

A weightless feeling surrounded me long after the song ended and I rejoined the trio. The girls still perched on Mirio's shoulder.

"That was awesome, Izuku!" Ochako shouted.

Eri also cheered. "Yeah! So cool!"

I chucked. "Glad you liked it."

Mirio gave a sheepish smile. "Can you help me get them down? I don't have any hands left to steady them."

I nodded, wondering how hard it must have been to coordinate getting them both up on his shoulder. But I was grateful, neither of them would have been able to see the performance easily if he hadn't.

I reached for Eri, who happily accepted the contact, placing her down on her feet. I went to do the same for Ochako when Mirio stopped me.

"I got her," he said. His hands grabbed her waist and sat her on her wheelchair next to him.

"Geez, Uraraka. You're really—"

I cut him off, shaking my head vigorously. Her weight and lack thereof was something she did not like others discussing. His voice trailed off and seemed to catch my message without her noticing.

"—cute. Yeah, really cute," he said sheepishly, causing her to blush and stammer out a quiet thanks.

I frowned.

I didn't like this. Not at all.

"Well, I'm going to take Eri to get some ice cream before heading back. I'll see you guys later! It was nice seeing you again, Uraraka," he called out, waving. Eri said her goodbyes too but I just kept staring at Ochako's flushed cheeks and soft smile at the pair.

I really, really didn't like this.

She turned to me once more. "Do you want to do anything else, Izuku?"

I shook away my negative thoughts.

"I, um—wherever you want to go," I said.

She looked up at the sky before turning back to me. "Can we look at the stars for a bit? I want to enjoy my time being outside before I have to be all coupled up again."

Guilt racked through me. Here I was feeling upset over stupid reasons when she was trying to enjoy her time away from the hosptial. I really needed to get myself together and make sure she was enjoying her time.

"Sure, I can show you a place."

I wheeled her up through the grass and up a hill and helped her down to sit on the grass next to me.

"UA is even cooler than I thought," she said, looking up at the sky.

We leaned back against a tree and she put her head on my shoulder.

The thoughts just wouldn't go away. Even with her and the stars and everything that should be peaceful. All I could think about was Kacchan and Mirio.

I sighed. Even if she smacked me for it, I needed to talk to her.

"Is everything okay, Izuku?" She asked.

Of course she would notice. She always does.

My cheeks reddened at the thought of what I wanted to ask. I decided to go about it in a different way.

"I'm just thinking about…stuff. So, what did Kacchan say when he went to visit you?" I asked.

"Oh, he just said that he would work harder to be a hero. It really upset him when the league thought he would join them—he said it kind of proved what I said at the sports festival, so he was trying really hard to change that."

"Wow," I said. "That's…really impressive."

She nodded. "I didn't know how you felt about him so I didn't want to say much but I believe he truly means it so I wanted to support that."

"Yeah, I mean—he's always been the kind of person who means what they say. But that's still just so incredible that he would do that. I hope you don't think I'm mad or upset or anything about it. It's just…weird, knowing him. I suppose…in a way, you're kind of his hero."

Her face flushed again and she waved her hands. "No way, I just said what I felt was the truth, you know? If he changes that's on him, not me."

"Oh, please. Do you think anyone else would have the balls to call him out like that? It most certainly wasn't me," I said, causing us both to laugh. "Either way, it's a good thing. I'm happy he listened to you."

She smiled. "Izuku, you dodged my question. Don't think I wouldn't notice. What's bothering you?" She asked.

Busted.

I scratched the back of my neck. The only thing that the two events had in common was that Miro and Kacchan were being nice to Ochako. Which shouldn't be upsetting.

Was it because she was giving them attention?

That just made me look like a jerk. That's no good reason to feel bad. She loves getting to talk with other people and rarely gets to go out with her condition.

My mind came to only one conclusion: I was jealous and an idiot. A no-good, jealous idiot.

But I couldn't tell her that.

"Were you not having a good time?" She asked, biting her bottom lip.

For a moment I was lost to the world, my eyes captivated on her face. Specifically the way it drew my eyes to her lips. Did she do that a lot?

I suddenly remembered her question. "Oh, yeah! Of course I did," I said quickly.

She leaned away and didn't say anything. But I recognized the look on her face. She may know me like the back of her hand now, but I know her just as well.

"It was fun because you were there, Ochako," I told her.

She finally looked at me, her frown starting to dissipate. "You mean it?"

I smiled. "Of course, I'm always happiest when I'm with you."

Then, I saw the look. The one with her parted lips and slightly widened eyes. The look that captivated me. That plagued my thoughts and dreams.

I thought of when Mirio called her cute but that just didn't cut it.

She was beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful.

"Izuku…"

"Mm?"

"I've been thinking…I've been at the hospital for a few months now and I'll probably be there a while and…I'd like to stop holding back on living my life," she said. "I want to live and experience things, even if I'm still sick."

I nodded. "Yeah, absolutely. What are you thinking about?"

She flinched, causing me to be confused. She pulled her knees to her chest and looked down at the grass.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" I said. Whatever was making her nervous, I wanted to help.

"Well…okay. I'll tell you but you can't laugh at me, all right?" She asked.

"Laugh at you? Why would I do that?" I countered.

"I've never kissed anyone."

Wait.

What?

I felt faint like I was going to pass out. Why was she talking about kissing? Kissing? That's what she was talking about wanting to experience?

Then, it stung.

Did she have someone in mind?

It was wrong to think like that. It was wrong to even feel like this. I needed to get a hold of myself.

"I haven't done that either. Kissed anyone, that is. So I can't really say anything about it," I said.

"You haven't?"

I snapped my head to hers. "How is that surprising? Up until a few months ago you were my only friend!"

"Well…aren't you curious about it?" She asked.

I scratched the back of my neck. I didn't want to talk about the only times I'd thought about it were when she looked at me a certain way.

"I guess so but I would kind of need a willing partner for that," I chuckled, not knowing what else to say.

"I know this may be stupid…but I just think about it a lot right now. People make it out to be some kind of magical rite-of-passage," she said. "I keep wondering if it's really everything that people make it out to be."

"So are you wanting to just plant one on somebody?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

She stuck her tongue out and bonked my arm. "Not just anybody, dummy. I was thinking if I did have my first kiss with someone, I would want it to be with someone important to me. Someone I trust and wouldn't regret kissing."

I gulped. My fears creeping up my throat. "It sounds like you…have someone in mind?"

I hoped that someone didn't have blonde hair.

It was rude and selfish as her best friend to want to keep her all to myself.

But she was special to me. She was the most precious person in the entire world. The one who was kind to me when nobody else was and wanted to be my friend. The one that has supported me through everything.

I wanted to be the one to kiss her.

I wanted to run away. I wanted to get far away from here and cry my eyes out. I wanted her to be happy but I also wanted her to choose me.

I took a deep breath. I couldn't think like this. After all she's been through, she deserved better than that. And whoever it was that she wanted to kiss, I would make sure she got it.

No matter how much it hurts me.

She turned her head toward me."You trust me, right?"