Izuku was so, so tired.

Izuku saw angry faces and disgusted faces and frightened faces until they all blurred together and his head ached. He turned to go.

This was a mistake. They all knew he was selfish and weak and he never should have come back and-

He felt a gentle pressure on his hand through his worn glove. He looked up into Ochaco's kind eyes, and she smiled at him.

"Hey. It's okay."

Despite her soothing words, he knew it wasn't.

The mob's words sank into his skin and muddled his head like poison. Each exclamation was a reminder of his failures.

"Some heroes you are!"

"Give us a freakin' break!"

"All we want is a safe place to sleep at night!"

He had to go. Even being here was a risk, he was so stupid-

"Dek- Izuku Midoriya has a special power in him!"

Hearing his full name from her lips abruptly pulled him from his anxious thoughts.

When did Ochaco get on the roof?!

She was looming over the crowd, megaphone in hand. She almost looked otherworldly, gazing down at them.

Izuku stared, transfixed.

What was she doing?

"You don't get it!" Ochaco's voice shook with emotion as she responded to a naysayer. "He left school in the first place because he didn't want to make trouble for anyone! We were the ones who brought him back here!"

"Uraraka…" Her name slipped out between his lips. Raw emotion coursed through him, and it was painful after being so numb.

Something niggled at the back of his mind, brought forward by the jolt in feelings. He felt like he was missing something… something important.

"That power of his… yeah, it's really special! It's a power that exists to beat All for One!"

Rain dripped from his matted hair into his eyes, but he couldn't stop looking at her. She was magnificent and breath-taking, her eyes bright and her wet hair floating around her.

"That's why… they're after him! That's why he had to leave this place! He left…" Ochaco paused, taking a breath. "…and went through who knows what out there."

Her gaze fixed on Izuku again. His confused gaze met her empathetic, determined one.

"Take a good look at him! More than anyone, he wishes he could fix everything. You're looking at a guy who could be attacked at any second but continues to move forward anyway."

Her voice took on a desperate edge as she looked imploringly at the crowd. "So really look at him! Please!" She hunched in on herself, shouting passionately, "Special powers are one thing! But there's no such thing as a special person!"

Kacchan started speaking to him in a low, even tone, but Izuku couldn't hear him over the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears.

Ochaco was putting herself on the line… for him. She was… defending him.

Had anyone ever really defended him before?

"No! Heroes are the only ones coated in that filth! So give him a moment's rest to wash away the grime!" She was responding to the same loud naysayer, her cheeks and nose red from the chilly wind.

"Midoriya. Right now, Uraraka… is fighting." Iida's distant words washed over Izuku, whose eyes were beginning to blur from his withheld tears.

She wiped her nose and blinked back tears of her own, and Izuku felt his heart throb in a familiar way.

"Uraraka!" This time, her name came out wobbly as his lip trembled.

He hadn't felt this way in such a long time. So… hopeful, and relieved, and understood. In fact, he had only felt this powerful mix of emotions once before…

"…he's still got plenty to learn himself! He's just a regular high school kid!"

…when All Might told him he could become a hero…

Izuku gasped for air, his eyes still locked on her earnest face, as he grasped what he didn't, no, couldn't understand before.

"This place…"

Somehow, there was a gradual yet monumental shift in their relationship. It all swam before him, from the gentle elbow touch and a cheerful "It's bad luck to fall on your first day!" to her towering over everyone as she changed minds and hearts for his sake.

"is his…"

When did they become so important to each other? When had her presence in his life become simple, inarguable fact?

When had she taken the place of All Might as his hero?

"…hero academy! Let him stay here!"

She was his beacon of hope, steady and warm and unwavering.

Izuku collapsed to his knees and sobbed.