Fifteen minutes of performances went by as Midoriya sat silently at the table. His hand never left Uraraka's. She didn't say a word, and he couldn't tell why.
He watched the dancers from where they sat, but he could barely see them with the crowd surrounding the dance floor. After every performance, he would glance at her to see if she was ready to join in and have some fun.
She wasn't even applauding.
What's going on with her? She was so excited to perform, but now...
Her usually sparkly brown eyes were now dull and bored as she stared at the sea of people. She didn't even seem to be paying attention to the dancing.
Midoriya needed to say something, especially since they had to prepare for their turn.
"Ochaco? Are you feeling any better?"
Nothing. Not even a head nod.
Once he placed his other hand down on her gloved hand, she looked his way. Her smile returned as if nothing from before had happened. Although, something about it seemed not quite right.
"You don't have to worry about me. I'm more worried about you."
Now Midoriya was even more confused.
Where was she going with this?
"Wha-What do you mean? I feel fine," Midoriya told her.
"Yeah, but are sure you want to go out there and end up making a fool of yourself. We might as well leave now and go do something else," Uraraka said as she slid her fingers up Midoriya's arm, "Something a little more... private."
As his heartbeat raced from her touch, he couldn't help but notice what she had just said. From the day they met, they were always encouraging and supporting each other.
But now, she was telling him just forget about it. She was stopping him from having a fun time at the dance.
Before he had a chance to respond, Ashido and Kaminari came walking up to them. They looked a bit worried as they approached them.
"Hey man. Aren't you guys getting ready?" Kaminari asked Midoriya, "Iida told us Uraraka wasn't feeling too good."
"Um... yeah," Midoriya said to him as he stood up from his seat, "Ochaco, do you want a drink? I'll be right back."
Her grip tightened around his hand, almost digging into his skin even with gloves on.
"Bu-But I need you to stay," She told him in a rather demanding tone.
Midoriya gave the two of his other classmates a concerning look, and Ashido jumped in between them.
"Don't you worry, Uraraka. I'll be right here until he comes back," Ashido told her then turned back to Midoriya, "Just get her a Ginger Ale, that always helps."
"Thanks Ashido. You've been a great help," He told her and gave Uraraka a warm smile. In the corner of his eye as he and Kaminari walked over to the food table, she looked pretty tense.
He just couldn't understand why Uraraka was acting this way. She was perfectly fine when they left the Dormitories and now...
"Kaminari, have you noticed anything strange about Ochaco tonight?" Midoriya asked him as he grabbed a can of Ginger Ale from a Winter themed cooler.
"What do you mean? She seems totally fine," Kaminari responded cluelessly.
"At first she's all about wanting to have fun and prepare for this performance, and now... she wants to leave a-an-and..."
Remembering what she had said just a minute ago made him all flustered and overheated.
"Dude, she's probably just under a lot of stress considering she's going to have to use her quirk while dancing in front of everyone."
"Bu-But, you know her. She wasn't anything like this during the Sports Festival. She was even telling me that I shouldn't do it either."
"Midoriya, just give her a few minutes to relax. I'm sure she'll be fine once she drinks some of that," Kaminari told him as he grabbed himself a can.
"Yeah, maybe..."
I mean... She was supporting me earlier, maybe I should do the same.
As Midoriya and Kaminari headed back over to the girls, they noticed something a bit off. Ashido looked like she had seen a ghost. Her pink skin was paler than usual, and she looked like she having trouble walking in her high heels.
"Ashido, what's wrong?" Midoriya asked her worriedly, away from Uraraka's earshot, "Did Ochaco say something or--"
"N-No," Ashido interrupted a little too quickly, "It's fine... I'm fine. I just need to find Kirishima. I'm sorry."
Even Kaminari looked a bit worried for his friend.
"I'll go with her. You take care of Uraraka," He told Midoriya as they headed over to the dance floor.
He watched them walk away, noticing Ashido's stumble and Kaminari catching her before she fell.
What did Ochaco say to her? It couldn't have possibly have been anything good.
A part of him didn't want to know, but he was too worried about his friend to not know. He sat back in his seat and gave Uraraka her drink.
"Here you go, this should help."
"You're such a gentleman," Uraraka complimented as she took the drink from his hand, "What would I do without you."
He watched her open the can and take a big gulp from it like it was nothing. She crushed it in the palm of her hand, causing him to gulp.
"Ochaco?"
"Hmm?"
Despite what Kaminari said, he couldn't shake this feeling that something was off about her.
Something.
"Do you want to dance? I mean, away from the crowd."
That brought her smile back, but it wasn't as genuine as before like when they saw each other in the Dormitories.
"I thought you'd never ask," She responded as she pointed her head down to the floor, "Can you help me put my shoes back on though. They're pretty annoying to get back on."
"Su-Sure," Midoriya stuttered as he knelt down before he could second guess himself.
He gently held her foot as he strapped on her shoes, one at a time. A slight blemish streaked across his face and didn't even make eye contact with her. Once he put on her left shoe, he spotted another change to her outfit. Earlier while they were dancing, he noticed that they were black.
But now they were silver.
He knew that it shouldn't mean anything. But if it wasn't, why would Uraraka be keeping this a secret? Especially with the way she's been acting and feeling tonight.
Is she faking not feeling well? Why? Why can't she just tell me the truth? Is it something I said or did?
As he looked up at her, her entire demeanor seemed to change.
More intimidating and less genuine. A sharp chill ran down his spine, and it wasn't going away.
Midoriya had a sense of familiarity, but denied it because... there was just no way. But, he at least had to know what she said to Ashido to make her so distraught. He stood up off the floor and gracefully held out his hand for her to take.
"Come on, let's dance."
There was absolutely no hesitation, and she took it eagerly. Midoriya walked her away from the dance floor with less people around while everyone applauded the end of another performance.
He barely took the lead when placing his hands gently on her waist, and then Uraraka wrapped her arms around his neck. She looked like she was trying to hold back, he just didn't understand why. Warning flags kept popping up in his head, but kept slowly swaying to the music that was being played for the next performance of the night.
"This is so sweet. It did take you awhile to ask me though, but I forgive you," Uraraka said as she pulled him in closer.
A bead of sweat ran down his forehead as she took control of their movements.
"But... we did dance together. Don't you remember?" Midoriya asked her as her grip tightened around his neck. Her grip was starting to tighten, and he couldn't get out of it. Not without hurting her or causing a scene.
Her eyes reacted to what he said for a split second, but didn't look away for one moment. But he saw it.
"Of course I remember. There's just a lot going on tonight, that's all," Uraraka told him with confidence in her voice, "Don't worry so much. We're going to nail this performance and blow everyone away. You and me. No one else."
Midoriya noticed they were getting further away from everyone else as they danced. She was intentionally pulling him away from the crowd of people.
A crowd of people full of students with powerful quirks and pro heroes. Something wasn't right.
"Ochaco, what did you say to Ashido back there? I know that you never hurt anyone, especially her. After everything she's done for us and this performance," Midoriya said with no hesitation in his voice. He tightened his grip so she couldn't get away. "I may not know a lot of things about parties and hanging out with everyone like this, but I know that you never intentionally hurt anyone. So please, just tell me the truth."
She kept playing with his collar and unbuttoned it to show off more of his neck. He tried to stop himself from blushing, and kept his focus on her response.
Say something, Ochaco. Please.
Before he had a chance to react, she suddenly embraced him in a tight hug. Her warm breath was hitting against his ear, sending chills all over his body.
"You're such a good friend to everyone, aren't you Izuku? All I did was tell her to stay away from you..."
She leaned closer to his ear, only an inch away from his face.
"Because you're all mine. My Izuku."
His body was now completely frozen in fear. That tone in her voice was all too familiar, even if it was Uraraka's. This person he was dancing with wasn't his date.
A sharp pain ran up his neck, and he tried to push her away. The pain only got worse as he moved, but he had to get her off. Her grip was stronger than he thought and had to use One for All to get out of it. As Midoriya stumbled back a few steps, he placed his hand on his neck. His blood was dripping down and onto his collar.
Did she just bite me?! There's no... There's no way...
But deep down, he knew it was true.
"You-You're... Himiko Toga!"
Two chapters in one day?! Here you go! Midoriya and Toga are about to cause a scene. How is this going to go down?? Is the performance ruined?? And what about the real Ochaco??
More coming soon!
