AN:

Hello everyone. It's been a while. Same as usual, struggling with motivation and juggling IRL stuff. Only IRL stuff is work and streaming instead of schoolwork. I definitely have free time to dedicate to writing, it's just that I tend to use that small amount of time catching up on shows I missed or playing games I don't play on stream.

I'm still banging my head against the wall trying to churn out one of the 2 story ideas I have, but in the mean time I'm trying to write 2-3 one-shots a week, so even if updates on my main stories are few and far between I still have a backlog of one-shots to upload every week so my profile don't go dormant.

For this one-shot, I literally had no plan, prompt or any sense of direction going into it. I was just feeling an intense boredom and overwhelming urge to write at the same time so I turned on Spotify and sort of brute forced my way through this. It's not amazing, but it's something to get me back in the groove.

Hope you all enjoy!

Izuku stood in front of the mirror for one final look over his outfit. He struggled with his tie for a minute or two before giving up with a frustrated huff. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. No matter what he tried he couldn't get his unruly mop under control. Not for the first time Izuku contemplated getting it cut before shaking his head. He would never. Ochako would kill him if he tried.

A smile grew on his face when he thought of his girlfriend. How he ever managed to find someone that felt the same way about him never ceased to stun him, especially someone as beautiful as Uravity.

Izuku pulled out his mobile and sent his girlfriend a text to meet him by the elevators on the ground floor before making one last effort to flatten his hair. One painfully unsuccessful attempt later he left his room to head downstairs.

He was greeted by Kirishima and Aoyama on the way down who walked with him to the elevator and made small talk. Izuku half-heartedly joined in but he mostly zoned out of the conversation to focus on his thoughts. No matter how much he tried, his head was a mess of disconnected thoughts and anxiety. Even the thought of Ochako did little do subside the monster in his mind.

He couldn't help it. Izuku had very little experience with public speaking over his years at UA. With all the various villain attacks throughout his first year and then the war in his second, there wasn't much time for the general education that UA provided alongside hero classes. Not to mention that whenever a major event such as the Sports Festival came around, the top student in his year level was usually a back-and-forth tug-of-war between Todoroki and Bakugo and they were the ones tasked with representing their year level.

This year however, in these final days and hours before Class 3-A and 3-B graduated and left UA to officially become heroes, Izuku had been chosen to represent his year level. Tasked with delivering a speech to not only his fellow classmates and teachers, but to all the students and parents of UA as well as a large number of heroes, it was safe to say Izuku was feeling the familiar weight of overwhelming expectations on his shoulders.

Izuku snapped out of his thoughts when Aoyama gave a light tug on his arm. Faced with two concerned friends, Izuku quickly put up a smile on his face and laughed it off, blaming a lack of sleep and tiredness. Saved by the ding of the elevator, he quickly hurried in. Aoyama and Kirishima – who were waiting there for Koda and Ashido respectively – merely gave him a smile and a short good luck before the doors closed.

It had been a year since Izuku had run away from UA to find a fight the League and All for One on his own, and even now he could tell his classmates didn't trust him like they used to. One of the hardest parts of returning to the school had been facing all his friends. The clearly displayed betrayal and hurt had almost been to much for Izuku to bear.

Worst of all had been Ochako, who – apart from a brief few minutes where she had cried on his shoulder and nearly squeezed the life out of him as she held onto him – ignored him for nearly a month. It was only after Izuku got fed up with his best friend treating him like a ghost and confronted her outside her room one stormy night that they finally made up.

That was also when, through all the tears and pain, they confessed how they felt for each other. One night of intense passion followed by a walk of shame back to his bedroom the next morning, the relationship that they had both secretly longed for finally began.

The elevator slowed before coming to a stop. With a shrill ding the doors opened and Izuku stepped out. It didn't take long for him to spot his girlfriend by the front door, rocking back-and-forth on her feet as she wrung her hands nervously.

Watching her for a moment, Izuku hoped that this feeling that nestled into his heart never went away with age. Every time he laid eyes on her felt like the first time and once again he sent out a silent prayer to whatever god blessed him with this incredible gift.

As he made his way over to her, Ochako turned and saw him, the nerves and stress leaving her face to be replaced by a blinding smile. She met him halfway, wrapping her arms around him and burrowing her face into his chest. Izuku hugged her back and they stayed like that for a moment, basking in warmth of their mutual affection before Ochako lifted her head up to plant a featherlight kiss on his lips, grinning as Izuku groaned when she pulled away.

"That's all your getting for now. The rest comes later."

Ochako untangled herself from him and stood back. She grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the couches. They sat together in silence for a few minutes, watching as the rest of the class slowly trickled into the common room.

Ochako sighed. "I can't believe this is it. After everything we've been through we've all become one great big family. It'll feel weird not waking up listening to the boys running through the halls, or the girls knocking on my door to go for some early morning training."

She turned to face Izuku and looked into his eyes. He knows that look. The look that's promises pain if he doesn't tell her the truth. "What about you, Izuku? How do you feel?"

Izuku look down at his feet. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Ochako's hand as he contemplated his answer.

"To be honest, I hadn't really thought much about it." He shrugged, looking up at Ochako as she patiently waited for him to continue.

"I've been so distracted trying to write this speech for the past week, I didn't think about what it means now that we are leaving this place for good. Not until this morning anyway."

Izuku felt the corner of his eyes itch as unspilt tears threatened to form, but he stoically ignored the feeling and took a deep breath before continuing.

"I didn't even spend anytime with you all this week. I locked myself in my room to finish this damned speech while everyone else got to enjoy their final days together!"

Ochako wrapped her arm around his shoulders and gently pulled him towards her. This time, with his head leant into the crook of her neck, he did shed a few tears.

"We all noticed you were spending a lot of time in your room. We tried to get you to come down but…" she trailed off before smiling and shaking her head. "Well, you know how you are when you have your mind set to something. That's one of the things I love about you; you're hero in all things. You always go Plus Ultra."

She shifted on the couch to sit a little closer to Izuku and rested her head on top of his. "We'll see everyone again. We're a family. It won't be to hard to get 1-A back together for parties or a night out. Yaomomo and Tsu have already made me promise to message them at least once a day!"

She sat up suddenly. Izuku looked up and stared as Ochako looked him directly in the eyes. Conveying all the affection, passion and love she holds for him in her heart in that look, she declares "Besides, you'll always have me by your side. There'll always be Deku and Uravity."

Izuku could only stare at her, stunned into silence. The sheer depth of feeling he had for her in this moment threatened to overwhelm him. Desperate for a way to show her just how much she means to him and lost for words, Izuku does the only thing that comes to his mind in the moment.

Ochako squeaked in surprise as Izuku took her in his arms and mashed his lips against hers. No time for gentleness, Izuku needed to show her, needed her to feel the same love and passion that currently burnt him up inside.

They collapsed back onto the couch. A drawn-out wolf whistle momentarily pauses Izuku, but in a rare feeling of confidence and ego he found that – for once – he wasn't embarrassed. He raised a hand and flipped the bird in the general direction of his classmates. Ignoring the bark of laughter, he continued pouring his heart and soul into the woman that made him happy.

After a minute had passed, he finally pulled back and opened his eyes. He blushed a little when he looked at Ochako. Her eyes were lidded and dark with desire, her cheeks were pink and she panted as she got her breath back.

A smug smile adorned her face as they sat back up. "So, did that make you feel better?"

He laughed and smiled. "Yes. It did"

Ochako stood up and stretched her limbs out. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up to his feet and brushed his suit off. "Good. I knew you would be stressing out and overthinking things with this speech and graduating, so I wanted to try and help you the same way I know you would help me." She grabbed his tie and tugged on it, undoing it before doing it up again properly.

"You've inspired so many people along the way over the past 3 years, especially me. So don't worry about this speech. Whatever you've written, I'm sure you'll be amazing."

Izuku smiled and hugged her again. Turning around, he noticed that most of the class had already left to make their way towards to the assembly hall. He grabbed Ochako's hand and they walked to the front door before stopping right in front of it.

The doors slid open as they looked towards each other. "This is it. No turning back now." Izuku said. "But we'll do it together."

"Together." Ochako affirmed with a nod.

With those final words being said, they said goodbye to their childhood and took the first step of the rest of their lives.