No one slept. Not for days. Izuku could still feel the searing pain he endured that day when he finally faced off against All For One, within Tomura Shigaraki. Yes, they won. Yes, he defeated them. Yes, the fighting stopped.
But going back to normal would be impossible, to say the least. Everyone from Class 1-A witnessed death, destruction, true chaos that they barely contained in the end. The world had lost many great heroes, and even a few honored UA students. The messes were cleaned up. The funerals were held. The days were memorialized in a monument standing at ground zero where the villains surrendered, in the earth just before the gates of UA High School.
In that week, there wasn't much conversation to be had. Sure, many of their classmates were thankful to be alive and in the grim atmosphere, they tried to cheer up the others and share stories of how each of them played a part in "saving the world".
Ever since that day, when she subdued her enemy Himiko Toga, Ochako could not stop thinking of what she needed to do now. And yet, she simply watched Izuku from across the dorm living space, while their classmates laughed and talked, he sat in silence. It was time. No more hiding. No more stuffing it down. She needed to speak to him.
He occasionally nodded and gave a smile whenever the gang would mention him, though they were respectful and gave him space they felt he deserved.
Ochako held her breath without realizing it as she stood up from her chair and slowly walked straight to him.
"Deku?" She asked. Her bare arms hid behind her back, behind her black tanktop. They had their own scars from the battle almost like Izuku's. And this conversation, being their first one since the war, was meant to be about something else.
Izuku turned his head up and gave her a brief smile. "Hey, Uraraka."
"Could I speak to you in private?" She squeaked out. The pink in her cheeks were already growing in size across her face. Her chestnut eyes refused to meet his own and instead were staring off to her left.
Izuku looked away as if to think. He lowered his head then looked up at her again. He gave her a nod and stood up. Ochako's heart skipped a beat.
Every thing about this was too difficult for her. But it was as important as any hero work she had ever done. Possibly, possibly even moreso. She refused to listen to the millions of excuses in her head she used again and again to avoid this as she led him away from the crowd into the hallway upstairs, in front of the dorm rooms.
"I-I never got the chance to talk to you after...y'know." Her accent peaking through her nervous speech.
"Y-Yeah..." Izuku's eyes slipped down as he placed his palm on the back of his head. Even with his loose t-shirt on, Ochako could make out the shape of his chest through it as he accidentally flexed the muscles in his arm. She gulped.
"How are you feeling?" She asked.
Now Izuku knew that he could trust Ochako. The Vestiges of One For All counseled him to never make the mistakes they did, including All Might: put trust in others. Never believe you have to do it alone. And he did know that now. So it was pointless to lie. Ochako Uraraka was his best friend.
"Empty." He sighed, dropping his arm.
Ochako remained silent, listening to anything he might have to say, even if it took a minute or two. "I wanted to save him." His voice broke. "I wanted to save all of them!" He began to lean forward, Ochako instantly reached out, moving her body before her mind could start yelling at her again. She grabbed him and hugged him tightly.
"Th-There was no other way..." He sniffled into her shoulder.
"I know." She replied softly. Reluctantly, she pulled him away to look into his emerald eyes this time. "Izuku Midoriya, you are the world's greatest hero."
His first reaction was to deny it, but she wouldn't let him. "I believe that you are. You did what no one else would've or could have done. And the ones you saved will return the favor. The world will be so much better now and it's all because of your kind heart."
She sighed, realizing what she was also about to say was way cheesy in her head. "A-And I think you stole mine."
Izuku looked back up at her eyes. "H-Huh?"
"No matter how much I fight it, Toga was right... The more I've gotten to know who you are, I wanted to be just like you but I know now that I can't. But I can't stay away from you..." She blushed. "The thing is... I really like you, Izuku."
Now her brain was screaming. Sweat fell from her scalp and she could barely breathe at all.
"This is what the Vestiges have been preparing me for..." He thought. Yet his own face was not as calm as his one coherent thought. "I-I..."
"Tell her the truth, you idiot!"
"I really like you too!" He blurted out.
Ochako couldn't believe it. She needed to know for sure. "D-Do you really mean that?"
"I think so!" He bleated. "Everyone's been telling me not to put all the work on my shoulders and to trust in my peers and, and... Y-You're really smart, and fun, and cool, and sweet, and super pretty that I can barely look at you without feeling like-"
Now Ochako heard enough. She quickly put her hands over his, which were up near his face as he muttered. She had on a big, genuine smile. "You and I both want to be heroes and save people. But we need an opportunity to save each other. I want to save you."
Izuku formed a rather wiggly smile, but it was just as genuine despite his nervous nature. "I want to save you, Uraraka."
"Ochako." She corrected him. "From now on, you can call me 'Ochako'."
"Ochako." Izuku said aloud. It actually felt nice to say. And honestly less of a mouthful than Uraraka, not that her last name was a mouthful to begin with. "S-So..." He silenced his thoughts.
"I know it will take time to heal, but would you like to go the mall with me again?" Ochako asked him. She remembered her hands were still clasping his. He never broke away so maybe he liked it too. "I owe you for last time..."
Ignoring the memory of the infamous "last time", Izuku smiled. This one less wobbly. "Yes. I would, Ur-... Ochako."
Now letting her body loose to try one more thing, she smiled as her forehead dipped and leaned gently against his. The angle was a bit awkward, but she still kinda liked the gesture. Izuku blushed heavily, but he smiled back and closed his eyes. It was just their foreheads, but he never wanted to break away. He felt at peace. Finally.
Pulling away just one of her hands, Ochako guided him along down the hall. "Do you want to tell the others?" She asked.
"Iida would probably scold us." Izuku sighed with a smile.
"Is that what you're afraid of?" Ochako smirked.
He chuckled and walked along by her side down the stairs, hands comfortably clasping with their fingers laced together. "We might as well tell them. But I have a feeling it's going to get a lot more awkward now."
"Yeah... But only if we let it." She assured him.
