Ochako was sitting at the table, idly eating her food. The whole class was together at a local restaurant, the mission to save the hostages was over, and it had been a couple of days since. They hadn't had to go on a mission of such a scale in more than a year and they had been exhausted. They'd taken a couple of days to rest, and then Momo had invited them all to a restaurant to relax as best they could after the mission.
Ochako appreciated it, they all did, both she and Bakugo were being abnormally quiet. Something Tsuyu had quickly picked up on, she had an eye for such things. She also assumed that whatever it was that plagued both Ochako and Bakugo's minds, was likely connected. Something they had seen during the mission was weighing heavily on their minds and neither was keen on talking about it. She decided to have a talk with them after they left the restaurant.
"Hey, Ochako, you there?" asked Mina, head tilted to one side, her curiosity written plainly on her face.
"Huh?" said Ochako, looking up blankly at Mina.
Mina adopted an exasperated expression, "This is the third time you've missed something entirely since we got here. What is going on? Actually, both you AND Bakugo have been acting pretty quiet." Said Mina, a sudden suspicious look coming over her as she looked between Ochako and Bakugo.
"Nothings going on, I just don't feel like talking is all." Said Ochako evasively, going back to picking at her food. The food she hadn't really touched all the time they had been here.
Bakugo for his part just grunted and took a long drink from his glass filled with a weak beer.
Mina narrowed her eyes, her mind clearly trying to put two and two together. Then in a sudden burst of realization, she made a show of adopting a well exaggerated surprised expression,
"You didn't confess your undying love to Bakugo on the battlefield did you!?" She exclaimed, in mock surprise.
Ochako started so much that she nearly toppled several glasses from the table. Bakugo for his part, who had been midway bringing his glass to his face, actually detonated the glass, which sent shards of glass everywhere.
No one moved for a few seconds, they simply stared at the two in utter shock at the extreme reactions they had given.
"Don't tell me you ACTUALLY DID confess in the middle of the battlefield," Said Mina incredulously.
"WHA? NO!" Exclaimed Ochako, looking at Mina with utter shock.
"Damn it..." muttered Bakugo, starting to pick up the pieces of the glass he had utterly destroyed.
"Allow me," said a man dressed in business casual, walking up to the table from the backrooms of the restaurant.
He waved his hands and the individual pieces of glass from all over the area zipped through the area and coalesced in his palm. The pieces started to reform the glass, and when it was whole he deposited the glass on the table.
"Now, would someone like to explain why one of my glasses was just shattered into a thousand shards?" Said the man, looking down at the group with apparent annoyance.
"My fault, got surprised and blew up the glass. Sorry, it won't happen again." Said Bakugo, looking up at the man.
The man considered Bakugo's response, he looked Bakugo up and down, taking in his beer-soaked clothes before he nodded. "Yes, I'm sure it won't," he said, before turning and heading back into the depths of the restaurant.
There was an awkward silence, as the group shifted uncomfortably in their seats as Bakugo, grumbling, used his napkin to try and absorb as much of the beer as he could from his clothes.
"I think it would be best if we continue our discussion back at the apartments." Said Momo.
The group started to nod and began to file out of the restaurant as Momo stayed behind to settle the bill.
"You okay? Ribbit." Tsuyu asked Ochako quietly as they formed up on the sidewalk.
"I..." Ochako paused, seeming to wrestle with the response.
"No. I'm not; but let's talk about this later, okay?" she asked.
"All right. I'll go home with you," she said.
Ochako opened her mouth to object, but gave in when Tsu gave her a look.
A minute or two later Momo came out, her neutral expression not giving away anything about any sort of reprimands she might have received.
The group started their way down the side of the road, Bakugo silently fuming over having exploded his drink, while the rest of the group started talking again.
Ochako's mind had started to drift when she caught Kirishima suddenly saying,
"Oh yeah! You'll never guess who I met at the triage tents while I was resting!" He exclaimed, a grin splitting his face.
Mina frowned, as she tried to guess. "Nezu?" she fished.
"Nah, that bartender you met at that private bar, Izuku Midoriya." He said.
All the girls in the group either almost tripped, or paused mid-stride to stare at Kirishima. Ochako's head spun around so fast, one would think she'd broken her neck, and actually did trip. Bakugo had frozen mid-stride to stare at Kirishima as if he had grown an extra head.
Kirishima's grin faded slightly, as he looked at everyone who had reacted confused at the extreme reaction, as did everyone else who didn't react. Then the whole group jumped as Mina actually yelled,
"FUCK! I REMEMBER NOW!" Yelled Mina, nearly slapping herself as a memory all but crashed into her.
The whole group now stared at Mina, shocked beyond belief to hear her use such language. It wasn't that she didn't use such language, but it was rare, especially when she yelled it out loud like this. Which not only was surprising by itself but caused several passersby to give them strange looks.
"I already met Izuku, years ago, back before the war. It was at the tail end of the Three Day War for Liberation, when we were doing search and rescue following Gigantomachia's first appearance. My group found him, kneeling in the street, so delirious from blood loss and a head injury that he nearly killed me by shooting toward us thinking we were enemy agents coming to finish him off, or so I assume. He passed out in my arms, then the medic on hand performed some preliminary aid, then we carried him back on a stretcher after ascertaining there were no other survivors in the area. I actually thought he died mid-way to the tents, it was hard to tell with the flashlights but he was so pale from blood loss and his green hair was nearly black with dried blood. We dropped him off at the tents, and that was the last I saw of him." She said, looking thunderstruck at her realization.
"Izuku Midoriya was one who was leading Gochō Ahmya's squad in the raid. I flew him and his squad to the top of one of the buildings. He impressed me with his tactical abilities and was also the one who saved my life after being nearly killed by a squad of Zeus's mercenary Corp." Added Tokoyami.
"So he's part of the QSU and a bartender?" Asked Kaminari.
"The way he explained it, he used to be a part of the QSU but at some point. When it was revealed that Gochō Ahmya's family had been taken captive, apparently she asked him to go in her stead. He told me that it was a one-off thing, and when the mission was over he'd be back at the bar he works at." explained Kirishima.
"Woah, that's pretty wild. Small world huh?" Said Kaminari.
The knowledge that Izuku's being a member of the QSU had just been temporary put some of Ochako's private fears to rest, but now she was curious as to what would cause Izuku to leave the QSU when Ahmya clearly hadn't. Ochako remembered running into Ahmya in front of the bar, and now belatedly realized the obvious. Still, though, Ahmya clearly hadn't left the QSU, so what would have caused Izuku to leave? She was still nervous about the whole thing, but at the very least the most prevalent and absurd fear she had about him had been laid to rest with the knowledge he was no longer part of the shadowy organization.
Ochako found it easier to focus on the conversation the group was having as they went forward. She actually managed to talk some before she and Tsu split from the group to head to her apartment complex. When they entered the apartment, they took a few minutes to get situated, before Tsu finally broke the silence.
"So, what happened during the mission?" Asked Tsu, holding a mug of tea.
Ochako sank into her armchair and stared into her tea as she thought about how best to answer.
"It was during the last bit of the mission when it was reported that the captives we had were fakes. I was busy putting down a villain that had warped in when the flare signaling the location of the real captives was sent up. Bakugo went to respond since I was busy. After I put down the villain, I went after him. I ran into the QSU squad that had the captives under guard but Bakugo wasn't present. They directed me to a small clearing a little way in but told me to keep my distance until their squad leader and the hero had concluded their business. When I found Bakugo he was face to face with Izuku in... his QSU armor. I was by a tree, and then Bakugo started screaming and beating him... I... haven't seen Bakugo that angry in a long time. They knew each other and had known each other for years. Eventually, Bakugo calmed down and they talked for a while more but I couldn't hear what was being said. Izuku said he'd get Bakugo a business card for the bar, then Bakugo just left. Then Izuku left to meet up with the rest of his squad." she said, taking a draft of the tea when she was done.
Tsuyu didn't say anything, just let the silence drag on until Ochako started talking again.
"I... I was scared. The only thing I could think of was what the Safety Commission did before they got shut down. Raising children to be spies, assassins, and heroes, or turning heroes into assassins. Killing those who they deemed to be a threat to the heroics. When I learned of the QSU, I always guessed they were the same, despite what we were told. So I couldn't help but start thinking of Izuku like that. I knew that the QSU wasn't the same as the Safety Commission, and after meeting Ahmya I knew it had always been a bit of a ridiculous assumption, but... I just couldn't help but think of Izuku like that. And..." she trailed off, biting her lip. She had started to get a bit hot at this point, feeling both embarrassed and ashamed of having demonized a group she had known nothing about.
"And... it hurt, knowing that Izuku had never mentioned it. I know it's his business, and from what Kirishima said it sounds like he left that behind him, but... It still hurt." She put her cup down, put her face in her hands, and groaned, steadily going red.
"Gods... I've really fallen for him. I barely know him, and I'm already infatuated with him." She said, laughing into her hands. It had been true when she told Tsu all those weeks ago that she had no intention of getting into any sort of relationship, then she'd gone and gotten infatuated with Izuku anyways. She was mature enough to realize what had happened to her, and she couldn't help but laugh at the irony.
"I just... what am I supposed to do come next week?" she asked no one in particular.
Tsu couldn't help but smile at Ochako's predicament. It was both refreshing and cute seeing Ochako freak out like this. This was a relatively new experience for Ochako, and a part of Tsu had feared Ochako would die before she ever experienced it.
"Well, you can always talk to him about it beforehand." Said Tsu mildly.
Ochako blinked a few times, then started laughing, then Tsu started laughing as well.
"Yeah... Yeah, I guess. I'm not a schoolgirl anymore." said Ochako, smiling.
Tsu was about to say something when she hesitated. A thought had just entered her mind, an idea she made a note to explore.
"Feeling better now?" asked Tsu, putting her mostly empty teacup down.
"Yeah... Thanks, Tsu." Ochako said, getting up as well.
They embraced, then Tsu left the apartment complex.
Bakugo lay atop his bed, just staring at the ceiling. He'd neglected really thinking about Izuku for the past few days by keeping himself as busy as possible. He'd volunteered to help out wherever he could, and if he didn't have anything to do then he'd train at the U.A. training field. Exhausting himself as much as physically possible, so that he wouldn't have to think about the raid or Izuku when going to sleep.
But he hadn't had a choice this time, it was either ditch the dinner or continue as he had been. It hadn't really been a choice and now he was lying on his bed just thinking.
He'd silently agonized over his relationship with Izuku for a while. Back before the war started up, he'd been focused on improving himself at school. Trying to make himself into someone All Might would have been proud of, someone that wouldn't get mistaken for a villain. It wasn't until the war started that he realized just how dark the world of heroics was.
Between the H.A. having their own private assassination division, the tragic story behind Shigiraki's early life, and the abuse Endeavour had put upon his family which ultimately led to Touya becoming Dabi; it just put into perspective how a dark road he might have taken had things turned out differently.
Then the war started, and it felt like the whole world had gone mad. The death, chaos, and destruction wrought upon the country and its people by the League had driven many good people to their deaths, retirement, or just quitting after it had ended. Bakugo would be lying if he said he hadn't had similar thoughts at one point. He was sure everyone in 1A had such thoughts at one point as well.
When things had stabilized, when he'd had time to sit down and think, Izuku had been one of the first people to come to mind. He had wondered if he was still alive, he'd agonized over the abuse he'd brought upon him, and finally, he'd tried to find him.
He'd gone to Izuku's home, unlocked it with the key his mother had, and found it empty, dusty, and forlorn. He'd doubted Izuku had stepped foot in it after his mother died. As his relationship with Izuku, the apartment was dead, and only echoes of what once remained. He'd never found any trace of Izuku after that, and Bakugo had started going over casualty reports from the war. Trying to ascertain if Izuku had died or not, he'd eventually found a report that listed the description of someone that MIGHT have been Izuku. It wasn't of course, but he'd immediately assumed the worst, and he'd spiraled.
That was when Kirishima and Mina had come into his apartment, to find almost him blackout drunk, and completely incoherent. He'd never told them the real reason behind what had driven him to drink so much, but Izuku had just been the tipping point. To never have the chance to apologize, to never have a chance at forgiveness... It would have been an appropriate punishment for him. He'd eventually figured out it had just been a coincidence, and then he'd resigned himself to never having that chance. It's not like he would have deserved it anyways.
But he had come face to face with Izuku, and to his continuing surprise, Izuku had been willing to start over. Now for the first time, he could ever really remember, he felt... at peace? He wasn't really sure what to make of it all. Could they really just start over as Izuku proposed? He wasn't sure, but he'd be damned if he messed it up a second time.
His musings were cut off however when he heard a knock at his door. He sighed, rubbed his face then got up to go answer the door.
