There was a chill in the air.
Ochaco felt Izuku's eyes pass over her. She stood at the sink, washing dishes, but even the warmth from the soapy water couldn't suppress the shiver that swept across her spine.
"I'm going out."
"You don't have to tell me," she bit back. It took everything she had to not leap at him, begging him to stay - desperate for just another moment; instead, she just nodded curtly and looked straight ahead. Across the room, she heard the door close softly, and shortly after, she bent over the sink as tears sprang to her eyes. Breathe in, breathe out. She took deep, soothing breaths, before shaking her head and continuing with her chore.
After wringing out her dish rag and drying her shaky hands on her blouse, she quietly made her way to the living room and plopped down onto the sofa, curling up into herself. Izuku's seat was empty again - she wasn't even sure when the last time was that he had just spent time relaxing with her. She wrapped her arms around herself in a pathetic hug and turned on the TV. News featuring Japan's number one flashed across the screen. Images of his fake stalwart, hardened smile made her nauseous, so she quickly channel-hopped to a mindless game show.
Time passed slowly and quickly all at once. Before she realized it, the clock read midnight, and Deku still wasn't home. Not like that was unusual lately. Switching the TV off, she shuddered in the darkness and padded her way to their bedroom. Ochaco quickly changed for bed, her movements on autopilot, and sat gingerly on her side of the bed. She yanked the window open to allow some warm summer air to wash through the apartment, and her gaze got caught on the night sky. Leaning on her elbow, she stared searchingly at the stars.
'Things were easier when we were kids,' she mused. 'When we thought the sky was the limit and that our only issues moving forward would be villains.' She sighed, waving away a mosquito that buzzed by her face. Sure, her and Izuku's parents were well taken care of. Yeah, technically their dreams had come to fruition - rescuing and inspiring citizens daily, but the younger her couldn't have begun to envision all of the problems that would arise with adulthood.
She and Izuku had been close since their initial meeting six years ago. When they finally became a couple, it felt like everything in the world was right and good. They were meant to be. Things between them were new but exciting, and after moving in together after graduation, the world was at their fingertips. Then, tragedy struck - one year ago, All Might suddenly passed away. Almost immediately, Izuku had startlingly pulled away from everyone and thrown himself into hero work, ignoring her pleas to open up and to take time for rest and mourning. Eventually, she stopped pleading as she began to not recognize her life partner. Her Izuku was emotional, passionate, and kind to a fault, but now, he was cold and silent with dull eyes. Sure, he plastered on a smile for the cameras and fans, but the hollow mimicry had more of a bite to it, now.
She wiped at the tears streaming down her face, trying to muffle her sobs with her clenched fist. Nowadays, they were both just going through the motions. Eat, work, sleep, repeat. Instinctively, she smiled wryly - even in their dismal state, she was still trying to mimic her hero.
She slid under the unmade covers (because what was even the point anymore?) and tried to ignore the goosebumps crawling up and down her arms and legs from the cool sheets. She fell asleep to the lonely sound of her breathing.
Beep, beep, beep.
Rolling over in bed, her clock's bright, digital light blinded her as its recurrent buzzing forced her into her morning routine. Briefly, she considered throwing it against the wall in her small bout of frustration, but she knew her problems were more than just an inanimate object consuming what had been their intimate morning ritual.
Before All Might's illness, Izuku had woken her up every morning. The man arose with the sun naturally, something Ochaco had always been in amused bewilderment about. He would pepper her face with kisses, gently greeting her. It was her favorite part of the day, and sometimes, she would even pretend to sleep longer just to squeeze more loving caresses out of him.
After his passing, Izuku wouldn't even touch her. She found herself more than once in bed with his side devoid of warmth and the sun high in the sky. Despite not wanting to admit it, she knew she had to buy an alarm clock to keep from being continuously late to work.
The thought of him touching her, of giving her a hug or a sweet forehead kiss, made her heart ache. Her once-strong love for him was slowly decaying, like an old building just left to rot.
'I wish my Izuku was here...' The thought sprang up involuntarily, and just as quickly, she bit the inside of her cheek, trying and failing to focus on the physical pain. Chomping harder, tears welled up, and the familiar taste of iron only reminded her of how far she and Izuku had come.
God, she missed Deku. She just wanted to scream at him until he showed some goddamned emotion for once, but their connection was already so fragile... she was scared to push any further - too afraid of not knowing what would break next.
Morning light flooded the room as the front door to their small apartment squeaked open, and she quickly wiped at her eyes and stilled her shuddering body, even though part of her knew that he wouldn't even look her way. As Izuku slowly clomped in, she could picture him mechanically peeling off his hero suit on the way to the bed.
His side of the mattress sank with his weight as he let his boots fall with a clunk. He sighed before shifting under the covers. She stared, wide-eyed, at the clock. Day or night, this was always one of the most agonizing parts of her life now. She would wait until she could hear his breath even out before letting out a sigh of relief. It only took about ten minutes today. ' He must be really tired .'
Slowly, she turned to face him for their only remaining ritual. "I love you," she mouthed to his back, but she wasn't even sure if that was true anymore. She rolled back over, a deep sadness welling up within her, and she scooched to the edge of the bed. Curling in on herself with her arms around her knees, she allowed herself a moment to just exist in the same space as Izuku. Then, she took a deep breath and moved on with her day, just as she always did.