It's been almost a month since Uraraka and her classmates had left UA High's summer camp and she was starting to feel a little stir crazy. In her younger years, she paid no mind to being cooped up in the house with her parents on a hot summer day, but now their proximity was sweltering. She missed her friends a lot and found herself texting them all the time to tell them how much she looked forward to seeing them in the next few days.
She was leaving in the morning to stay with Yaoyorozu in the city until the school year started. It would be month of her being able to spend time with friends, train, and relax. Most importantly, she'd have a little independance.
Her parents aren't overbearing per say, but they do dote on her often. She couldn't blame them for it, it was just who they were. They knew she was putting a tremendous amount of pressure on herself, so they tried to be endearing to compensate. However, Uraraka found it more of a bother as she matured.
"Ochaco?" Uraraka's mother called from down the hall. "Have you finished packing yet?" The woman appeared, her appearance was a stark resemblance to her daughter. When she entered the living space, she found Uraraka floating upside down over the couch with headphones in and playing a game on her phone. The girl's brown hair spilled off the top of her head and her face looked determined as she attempted another try at her game.
Her mother rolled her eyes, "Ochaco!" She called a little louder.
Uraraka was broken from her concentration and she looked at her mother from her upside down state. Pulling the earphones from her ears, she finally replied. "What's up, mom?"
"Have you finished packing?" The older woman crossed her arms with a quirked eyebrow.
Uraraka groaned, "Almost. I'm just waiting for my last load of laundry to dry so I can pack it." She went to tuck her earphone back in her ear.
"Not so fast," Uraraka's mother cut in once again, "I could really use some help in the kitchen if you're not busy."
Uraraka blinked at her mother for a moment before gracefully flipping herself over and landing on the couch. She tucked her phone and headphones in the pockets of her shorts before following the older woman down the hall.
When they entered the kitchen, Uraraka immediately set to helping her mother prepare the fish and rice for dinner. Cooking with her mother was a staple in her family and one that she enjoyed. They worked in silence but enjoyed each other's company.
When the front door of the house opened, they were just finishing the meal preparation. Uraraka's father entered the kitchen to greet them, his face and pants a little dusty. He looked tired as he went to give his daughter a sideways hug. "Hello, my sweet Ochaco. How was your day?"
Uraraka smiled up at her father as she was hugged. "It was good. I'm nearly finished packing for tomorrow."
He father squeezed her tighter, "I'm so sad you're going to leave us. We miss having you around, you know?"
She reached her arm around her father's waist and hugged him back, "I'm going to miss you too."
Her mother cut in a few moments later, commanding her husband to go wash up for dinner. While he was gone, mother and daughter set the table and waited on the final member of the family to join them.
A knock on their door surprised them both and Uraraka's mother rose to answer it.
"Hello, Mrs. Uraraka." A man's voice floated down the hallway.
Uraraka peered around the corner to observe who was at the door, "Mr. Aizawa?" She asked when she saw the two men at the door dressed in suits. "And All-Might?" She walked around the corner and came up beside her mother, "What are you doing here?"
All-Might smiled at her softly, his severely downsized form was a shock for her to see in person. After they had left summer camp, the Villain Alliance had reared it's ugly head once again. Unfortunately for All-Might, his entire battle with All-for-One had been televised and his true form was publicized. Two days later, the top hero had announced his retirement and commitment to being a teacher at UA High. He noticed Uraraka's shock at his new appearance, "We're here to talk about your studies at UA."
"May we come in?" Aizawa asked curtly, obviously uncomfortable in his suit.
Uraraka's mother was as surprised as her daughter, "O-of course, please come sit. We just finished preparing dinner. Have you eaten?" She chauffeured them through the door and down the hall.
"We have not," All-Might's nose perked up at the smell inside the tiny home.
"What's going on?" Uraraka's father appeared at that moment, observing the two men in his house.
"Mr. Uraraka," Aizawa bowed, "We are two of your daughter's teachers at UA High. We are doing our annual home visit. We hope we are not intruding."
Uraraka's father broke out a toothy grin, "Of course you aren't! If you have the time, we would be happy if you would stay for dinner." He gestured to the table set for three. "Ochaco, would you please go get some plates for our guests?"
Uraraka nodded slowly before retreating to the kitchen to retrieve plates and wares for her teachers. When she returned a few moments later, everyone was already seated and talking
"So is our Ochaco doing well in her studies at UA?" Her father placed a napkin on his lap.
Aizawa nodded at her father, "She is an excellent student. She excels in every part of her studies. Her greatest improvements have been in her combat training."
"That's wonderful," Uraraka's father smiled softly, "It is always a pleasure to hear of Ochaco's success."
All-Might now cut in, "We actually are here to talk to you about more than Uraraka's studies, sir."
Uraraka settled in at the table and helped her mother begin serving the food.
"How do you mean?" Her father replied, a confused note in his tone.
The top hero thanked Uraraka as she loaded a fish on his plate and offered him some rice, "As I'm sure you are all aware, the Villain Alliance movement has been gaining momentum."
"And it is in UA's best interest to insure the safety of our students," Aizawa added and held her father's gaze. "In an attempt to not only protect our students from any other harm, we believe we have come up with the best case scenario solution for this."
Uraraka's mother glanced at her husband warily as he carefully replied, "What are you proposing?"
All-Might bowed his head respectfully, "We would like to begin boarding students, beginning this year."
"Boarding students?" Uraraka's father was surprised at their guests. "Would this cost us money?"
Uraraka resisted the urge to slap her own forehead in shame. Of course he father was more concerned about the cost for the parents.
"No sir," All-Might sat up in his seat once again, "As a gesture of good faith, UA will be footing the cost of the students' board. We understand completely that there are many concerned parents and we would be honored if you would trust us with your child for another year."
Uraraka's father looked over at his wife, gauging her response to their proposition. He nodded slowly at her before turning his attention back to the two men at his table, "We have no doubts about the sincerity of your offer and we harbor no bad feelings toward your school. We understand that you are doing what you feel you must, although we may disagree with it. That being said, we cannot infringe on what Ochaco thinks is best. It is her future, so the decision is ultimately hers."
The entire table now looked at the young brunette. Her eyes were wide at her father's recognition. "I don't know what to say…"
Her mother touched her shoulder gently and smiled. "What would you like to do, Ochaco?"
She took a moment to look into her mother's eyes. She could easily tell that her mother hoped that she would turn down the offer in hopes of finding a safer and more reliable career track. However, Uraraka simply couldn't give up on her goals so easily. She's worked so hard to get here, so letting it go was completely out of the question. "I would like to go." She broke from her mother's eyes and settled her own on her two teachers.
All-Might grinned and Aizawa nodded approvingly before he spoke, "We are exceptionally lucky to have you join us for another year, Uraraka." He turned back to her parents, "We will guarantee that we will protect your daughter and give her the highest standard of academic and hero education."
Uraraka's father nodded, accepting his daughter's decision without argument, "I'm glad to hear it. Now, shall we eat?"
…
Uraraka hugged her mother tightly as the train pulled in to the station. "I love you guys." She leaned over to her father to do the same.
Her father squeezed her tightly, smiling softly at her. "Now you know the conditions, right?"
"Of course I do," She smiled up at him as she was released, "I promise to come visit you again before the school year starts."
Her father grabbed her in another tight hug as the train came to a halt before them. "Have a wonderful time with your friends and work hard, Ochaco."
"I will," She pulled herself away. "I'd better go or I'm going to miss the train." She pulled the handle on her suitcase.
"Travel safe!" Her mother called after her as she boarded the train car, waving frantically at her daughter.
She settled into a window seat to wave back, mouthing a promise to them that she loved them. When the train began to depart, she couldn't help but feel guilty for leaving them. She knew it was going to be undoubtedly difficult on them to work all day and come home to a house without their daughter each day. So as she watched the station disappear behind her, she promised herself that she would work even harder on their behalf. They were already making sacrifices to support her dreams, but this seemed almost too much to ask of them.
As she left her hometown behind, she had some time to kill. She busied herself with texting her friends and listening to music. Her mind raced with all the training she'd be able to get done in the city and how much stronger she felt like she needed to get in order to pass the provisional license exam. Everything was beginning to happen so fast.
The one hour bullet train ride was over and done in the blink of an eye. She exited the train and was immediately greeted by the calls of a certain black-haired beauty. "Uraraka! Over here!"
She whipped her head to the left to see Yaoyorozu waving with Ashido. The two girls grinned as the brunette approached them, squeezing her from both sides once she'd reached them. "We're so happy to see you!" Ashido squealed and drew back. "We've all missed you so much!"
Uraraka smiled happily at the pair of girls, "I've missed all of you too! I would have come into the city to visit, but my parents kept me super busy!"
"Well we're glad you're with us now," Yaoyorozu beamed. "Let's get out of here, huh?"
Uraraka nodded cheerfully, grateful to see two classmates and friends after so long, "Thank you so much for letting me stay with you, Yaoyorozu. You will certainly have to let me make it up to you."
Yaoyorozu waved the offer away, "Please! Don't worry about it. My parents work all day long, so I always have the house to myself. It gets so boring around there, so I'm glad to have you."
Uraraka smiled sweetly as they began exiting the station, "How is everyone doing?"
"So good," Ashido replied, "We've all been training super hard!"
Uraraka felt like a stone had been dropped in her gut, "Oh man, I'm going to have a lot of catching up to do."
"You haven't been training?" Yaoyorozu was surprised by Uraraka's comment.
The brunette waved her hands at them, "No, I have but it's only been quirk extension training. There aren't a lot of a good sparring partners back home. I'm able to lift a lot more and I can hold myself up for a while now, but what I really need is combat training."
Ashido pumped a fist excitedly, "Is that right? Just wait until you see the set up that Yaoyorozu has at home. You'll make up for it in no time!"
Out on the street now, Yaoyorozu guided them to a sleek black car and opened the door for her two friends. Uraraka went to go place her things in the trunk, but was surprised when the gentleman driving politely offered to do it for her. "T-thank you," She stuttered, shocked at the chauffeur's professionalism. Is this how Yaoyorozu lived?
The back seat of the car was roomy and posh. Fine leather seats and elaborate embellishments were a sincere shock to Uraraka. How is she supposed to behave around such luxury? She tucked her hands under her thighs and her mouth was tight lipped.
"Relax Uraraka," Yaoyorozu smiled at the brunette, "This is going to be fun, right?"
Uraraka didn't move her hands, but she did smile, "That's right."
Ashido tapped her chin for a moment and glanced between the two other girls, "So you guys are also planning to board at UA, huh?"
Uraraka blinked as the question hung in the air for a moment. She'd nearly forgotten about it. "Yeah, of course. The commute for me every day wasn't easy, so this it makes a lot of sense for me to stay at the school."
Yaoyorozu sighed, "Yeah I am too. It's going to be so much easier to not be under my parents' microscope all the time."
Ashido giggled at their replies, "It's going to be so much fun! Like having roommates, you know? We can also have sleepovers whenever we want!"
Uraraka felt uplifted by Ashido's enthusiasm. She hadn't really considered the brighter side of staying at the school. It would be perfect for her to progress and get even stronger, plus she could hang out with her friends all the time. "I think you're right. It's going to be blast!"
The girls all began making elaborate plans for the school year and they wondered what the dorm would be like. Where was UA even going to put them? It was a little over a month before the school year was going to begin, so what were they planning to do with such little time?
The car ride was full of their idle chatter until Uraraka's phone chimed with a text.
Did you make it into the city ok?
Uraraka smiled to herself and she felt happy to see Midoriya's name pop up. She quickly typed out a reply.
Yeah of course! I'm with Yaoyorozu and Ashido right now. I'm just glad to see people from school again!
When she clicked send, she noticed Ashido peeking over her shoulder. She quickly locked her phone, but it was already too late.
"So how is Midoriya?" Ashido teased lightly but it went right over the brunette's head.
"You'd probably know better than I do. I haven't seen him in a month." Uraraka replied, suddenly missing her green-haired friend immensely.
Both Ashido and Yaoyorozu shrugged before Yaoyorozu spoke up, "Actually, we don't really see him that much. He's always busy training by himself."
Uraraka seemed surprised, "Oh, I didn't know that." She couldn't hide the twinge of disappointment in her inflection.
Ashido poked her on the shoulder happily, "But now that you're in town, I bet we'll see him all the time."
"Huh?" Uraraka asked dumbly as the car came to a halt.
Before Ashido could continue, Yaoyorozu opened the door to the car, "We're here!"
Uraraka finally allowed her eyes to focus on what was outside the car's windows. A massive and beautiful house was before her eyes. A garden with numerous water features circled around the house and eventually disappeared behind tall hedges. When she exited the car, she was intimidated by the sheer size of the estate. "Wow, Yaoyorozu. Your house is beautiful!"
It seemed almost like a fairy tail as they went through the front door. A grand staircase was centered in the room with elaborate railings and covered in a plush carpet. The ceilings were high and vaulted, making the entire room feel like a royal castle.
"Thank you," Yaoyorozu replied, "Shall I show you to your room?"
"Yes please!" Uraraka allowed Yaoyorozu's easy demeanor to brush off her unease.
The girls made their way up the stairs while the house's help handled Uraraka's luggage. Uraraka felt absolutely blessed to have such amazing classmates and friends that would invite her to stay with them in the city. After today, the hard work would really begin.
Author's Note:
Gahhh... Sorry about the lateness again, guys. My dad paid me a surprise visit today, so I had to entertain him all day and it made ate into my writing time majorly. I didn't even take the time to edit this chapter because I felt so bad that I hadn't gotten an update to you. It's just been one of those weekends...
Despite that, I managed to pump out this filler chapter. I know I said that I'd write this chapter as their last day of camp, but I was dying to move on from that. So, I did and I'm glad for it. This is a filler chapter to sort of set the stage for the rest of the fic, so I don't know if you guys are going to be super hyped about this update. Nonetheless, I had to do it. Tomorrow will be far more entertaining.
Thanks for reading, guys! I'll have an update out sometime tomorrow.
~NumberSixteen