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This was a terrible idea.

That was the prevailing thought bouncing around the mind of Ochako Uraraka the moment her vision returned to her. The cloud of pure white flour that filled the air around her marred and distorted the image of the once pristine-looking kitchen. A pool of white spread across the floor where she dropped one of the gallons of milk the class kept stocked in the communal kitchen after she ran into the open door of the fridge. Ochako had forgotten to close it. Her face left red from both the impact and embarrassment as she moved to grab an entire roll of paper towels to clean up the mess before it got anywhere else. So this is what she gets for trying and failing to clean up the splattered eggs and melted butter off the ceiling after she turned the mixer on because Bakugo and those stupid protein shake he has to make every morning on the machine's highest settings. He forgot to change the settings back to normal when he was done using the blender this morning and had to make it someone else's problem instead of, she didn't know, putting the appliance back how he found it. Was asking the jerk to be cordierite to the rest of the class so much? or at least pretend that he did?

Sorry, Ochako was having quite the day.

The less said about the pot of melted chocolate chips currently floating in mid-air, drizzling all over the top of Ochakos head, the better. Sato had just cleaned the whole kitchen three days ago, and she had managed to ruin all his hard work in less time than it takes to watch an episode of one of the animes Kirishima was dying to get them all to watch with him.

She just wanted to bake a stupid cake, was that so much to ask?

She put her fingertips together with a sigh, the now empty pot clanging to the tile floor, making Ochako almost cringe as she looked upon the aftermath of her attempt at baking.

Tsu was right.

Going to the store and buying a cake would have been easier than dealing with the mess in front of her, but of course, Ochako couldn't be talked out of something when she put her mind to doing it.

She'd be done by now if she had listened to her friend, and with Momo ready, willing, and more than able to pay for it herself, it should have been a no-brainer.

Why did she tell Sato she didn't need his help? That guy knew the kitchen like the back of his hand and had been more than willing to let her take all the credit for making the birthday cake. But Nooooooooooo, she just had to make it herself; it wouldn't be special if she didn't make the birthday cake herself, and what was the point if Izuku's birthday cake wasn't special?

When Ochako first heard that Deku's birthday was just a few days away, she had a rather unfortunate response.

It wasn't every day that one of Ochakos best friends made her feel frustrated, the boy was notorious for being the type of guy no one could dislike after all. But God as Ochako's witness, Izuku not telling their class when his birthday was and acting like it wasn't a big deal was just... It made her want to squeeze his freckled cheeks until he promised never to hide anything from her again.

The green-haired boy himself had almost fallen over out of shock at the image of the Mie Prefecture native... aggressively questioning why he had never told anyone about his birthday plans. Ochako was the first to admit that their class was immensely frustrating. Of course, the less said about Bakugos nonsense, the better, but the students of the U.A. "hell class" always made it a point to celebrate their birthdays together.

Did Izuku not want to celebrate with them?

"I'm sorry!" the freckled face said, trying in vain to shield his embarrassed face from view as he shied away from the attention." My birthday has never been that big of a deal anyway.

Not a big deal?! Who was he kidding?

Getting the rest of the class behind her plan had been easy. Tenya and Momo surprisingly jumped at the chance to plan a last-minute surprise party for Class 1A's resident Greenete. Even Bakugo, the annoying sour puss he was, had quickly agreed, muttering about how the "stupid nerd should be grateful for him doing his part in organizing the party."

Sato had baked dozens of cupcakes, using class 1-Bs dorm room ovens to make some of the best confections Ochako had ever seen. The whole of their sister class said they would be willing to keep Neito on a leash to stop him from showcasing his qualities when it came time for the now interclass surprise party.

Tsu was off the gather her younger siblings, partially because Eri wanted another playdate with her sister but also because her little brother had wanted to give Deku a birthday present after helping the young frog boy's school science project alongside Tsu.

Jiro was off putting together the "perfect" playlist for Deku's party, going so far as to imply more than a few songs would be perfect for someone, not saying any names, but for someone to confess his or her feelings towards someone who may or may not be the birthday boy.

Ochacko preferred to say nothing regarding the implication.

Kaminari and Kirishima dragged Bakugo off to some swap meet to buy a limited edition All Might action figure, one of the few Deku didn't already own. Momo, Mina, and Toru had organized a massive food run, using Tenya and Shoji to haul the frankly disgusting amount of snacks and food from every supermarket and restaurant within a ten-mile radiance—more than enough food to kill a horse, let alone dozens of growing heroes in training.

So it would have been easy for them to stop by the charming bakery Momo recommended and pick up the 19-layered dark chocolate cake that Ochako had daydreamed about ever since the vice president mentioned it the day before.

But here she was now, covered in flour and with chocolate running down her face and egg yolk filling her nostrils. For a moment, Ochako thought she could hear God laughing at her.

"What's going on?" a voice broke through the haze of the anti-gravity users' thoughts like a punch to the gut. The soft voice, which typically was enough to calm whatever nerves Ochako had been feeling, scared her enough for her feet to leave the floor as she let out a rather unheroic "eep" from her lips.

She turned to see the green-haired boy she had been thinking about, looking bewildered at the scene before him as if he was trying to figure out if a baking-themed supervillain had attacked them while he was out training.

"Do you need any help there?" He asked; the moment his brain caught up to the situation had been instantaneous before shy little Izuku when into full hero mode once he saw someone in need." You look like you're having a problem down there."

The universe hated Ochako.

"Oh d-deku!?" she stammered, trying hard to hide that she had been clearly baking a birthday cake for the unsuspected birthday boy and not doing very well."What are you doing here!?"

No, seriously, why was he here? Sero, Ojiro, and Mineta were supposed to keep Deku occupied all morning to keep him away from the dorms. If Mineta screwed this up, doing something perverted...

"Mineta had an...acicident?" Deku said, going on to explain that Mineta, being Mineta, mind you, had attempted to flirt with an upperclassman and had failed in a somewhat spectacular fashion. A quick trip to the infirmary later, Izuku had been ordered by Recovery Girl to take the future grape-colored superhero back to the dorms to heal up the face-numbing slap he had been givin'."But I'm here now, so I'm here to help with whatever you need."

Some part of Ochako, who still really wanted to see Izukus' face when they all jumped out at him to scream "Surprise!" wanted to lie and tell him everything was fine. But a part of her knew she couldn't lie to save her life. But even if she could, she couldn't lie to Deku. She might literally die if she did that.

"Thanks, Deku." she said shyly, looking as bashful as much as she was thankful for the assistance from her friend."I would appreciate the help. This whole baking was a lot harder than I thought."

"Seto does make it look easy." The boy said, whipping up egg yolk from the corner of the countertop with a rag," But I'm sure you'll get the hang of it with enough practice."

Ochako smiled; the very thought of Izuku's warm green eyes and genuine smile was enough to make her feel warm and fuzzy inside. That's what she loved the most about her friend. Izuku might have been the most genuine person Ochako had ever met.

While some tried to hide who they were with a tough front, Izuku seemed honest about who he was and what he was about. Not precisely the textbook definition of confidence, but one Ochako was more than willing to ascribe to the greenest boy in her class.

"I don't know what good deed I did to get you in my life, but I'm glad I did it." She said with a smile, her heart feeling like it was about to beat out of her chest. What was she thinking? Was she about to break her rule? Was this happening? Was she...

"Then why did you throw me away?"

Ochako stopped what she was doing, freezing on the spot like a dear caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. She couldn't breathe, her words dying in her mouth as she numbly took the sight of Deku staring at her with hatred in his eyes.

It made her sick to even think about it.

"What..."

"If you loved me so much, " Izuku said, his eyes dark and tired, his voice dripping lower until it made Ochako feel like she was about to slip further into the cold dark void. A void that gripped tight around her limbs and pulled her down, like her quirk had suddenly turned against her body. She felt like a metronome, invisible forces pulling her back and forth as her vision became cloudy and dark. "Why did you leave me to rot?"

She wasn't in the heights alliance dorm anymore, the dirty kitchen morphing and shifting into a dark jail cell. Thick iron bars mocking her widening eyes like a childhood bully picking and prodding to get a reaction out of her.

"I didn't," she tried to speak, her voice cracking as she gripped the bars tightly in her thin hands. The dark and grime of the dark iron seemed to shrink in her still flour-soaked fingers as she pulled with every ounce of strength in her body. "I'm gonna help you!"

"Help me?" the voice was tired and broken, like pieces of broken glass scraping against a brick wall. The Deku she remembered, the one who showed her how to be a real hero, was replaced with a broken shell of a man. "You ruined my life."

He crashed against the iron bars so abruptly that Ochako was forced to retreat out of shock and fear. He was pale and thin, with dark bags that hung over his eyes and blood dripping from a busted lip and a broken nose. But his eyes captivated Ochacko as if the life radiating from the boys' eyes had been sucked away.

"I didn't mean..."

"You know what you did." His hoarse voice rasped out, his dead green eyes making Ochakos skin crawl as he spat his venomous words at her.

She deserved this. She thought as she took a step back. This was her fault.

Ochako felt her back against the stone wall of the cell block, the shadows growing closer and closer as they threatened to overwhelm her. But all she could do was look on as the eyes stared at her with more hatred than she thought was possible.

"If I knew how this would have turned out." He rasped again, turning away as he returned to the shadows, like a ghost drifting back into the void. "I wouldn't have bothered to save you during the entrance exam."

Uraraka stared unblinkingly at her alarm clock, counting down the seconds until the alarm would go off, signaling the start of her day. Ochako had always been the type of person who needed to hit the snooze button, often more than once, before she was awake enough to go about her daily routine. But nights like this were always the exception when the last thing she wanted was to close her eyes and be alone with her thoughts.

Nights where she couldn't stop thinking about Izuku, where nights where sleep was equal parts impossible and painful for her to go through.

The sound of the alarm, one of those new pop groups that Mina had tried to get her to go see live, blazed to life, the big red seven AM of her alarm almost mocking her as it did its job. It was funny to think about how her numbness now had a soundtrack to accompany it. As Ochakos sleep-deprived mind deciphered lyrics of true love and always being there for one another, there was only one thing Ochako could think about.

How much she fucking hated herself.

It wasn't a new feeling; in fact, it was one she had been quite intimate with these past few years, the nagging feeling in the back of her head that told her she deserved every bad thing that happened to her and that whatever good thing that popped into her life was an affront to the cruel universe that refused to punish her properly for her actions.

She wasn't always like this. She wasn't even like this most of the time. But she could pretend to be happy. She could even trick herself into feeling like she was fine most days. She could post a meme to a group chat and be the friend her friends needed her to be. She could be the picture-perfect daughter, ensuring her parents could retire early and live the rest of their lives in comfort. She could corral and teach whatever intern she was assigned from her agency and do her duties as a hero as good, if not better, than anyone she's ever met.

But it was all an act.

In truth, she was a horrible person, just waiting for the time to arrive for whatever karma was around to finally get to her.

She flipped the T.V. on. Some newscaster she couldn't remember the name of reporting a breakthrough in a cold case from back home that had stumped investigators for months, resulting in an immediate arrest. She wasn't paying much attention to it, though. Ochako had rare enough days off, so she'd be damned if she spent her first day off in two weeks thinking about work, especially after the weekend from hell she had just finished.

She had been explicitly called onto the case, chosen by name by the commission to oversee the search and rescue mission after a terrible rock slide had cut off a small mountain community an hour outside of Seoul.

No casualties were reported then, but with dozens of hikers reported missing in the area and with entire miles of highway covered in dirt and stone, it was a race against time. In addition to the fact that only a handful of South Korean heroes had the necessary skillset and a quirk strong enough to help with the search and clean up, international cooperation was essential to rectify the situation.

Her specialties were search and rescue, after all, and She had quickly become one of the best of her generation these past few years. Still, she'd be lying if she said being the representative of the Ryukyu agency while staying overseas in Seoul wasn't a lot on her plate. But Ochako knew this was an opportunity she couldn't pass up. It wasn't every day a heroine with less than three years on the job could network all over Asia after all.

The HPSC, while the region's largest and most influential hero union and organization, had lost much of its influence and reputation on the world's stage in the past few years, something they hoped an up-and-comer like Ochako could help with.

Three days may not sound bad, but spending every waking hour of those three days going through the motions of being a good representative for not just Ryukyu and her agency but for her country as a whole felt that much longer. The commission was very strict about that sort of thing, especially when during the few times they let one of their heroes cross into the borders of other heroes on the international hero circuit.

She poured herself a cup of coffee, the cheapo instant blend her parents used whenever it was on sale and when they could buy it in bulk. It had a terrible aftertaste, and Momo still didn't think it fit the legal definition of coffee, but it always reminded Ochako of home and back when she didn't feel like she did now.

And after the weekend she had, that's exactly what she needed.

Working 60 hours in three days may sound like a lot of work, but that was only because it was, especially when it involved moving and redirecting rocks the size of buses. She was there when search and rescue needed an extra body to crawl through the mud and dirt to drag anyone she could find to safety. She skipped meals to ensure there was enough food for the victims caught in the middle of the crosshairs.

Overall, it was a miserable experience, but she was glad she could play a part in it, especially the dawn of the third day when a pathway for construction equipment had been cleared to the small mountain community.

By the time Ochako had left the scene for the first time since her arrival, she wanted to take a six-hour shower and sleep until next Christmas.

But of course, nothing in her life could be that simple, as the nightmare she suffered through erased not only her desire to sleep but also awoken memories she had tried desperately to try and move on from. She had spent years trying and, more often than not, failing to not think about Deku. Which was difficult considering her profession; being the best hero she could be had the unfortunate outcome of constantly thinking about the boy she had betrayed.

The thought of What Deku would do if he was in a situation she was in had saved her life on more than one occasion. Whether it was battling a criminal or a natural disaster, the boys' memory was enough to get her through the most challenging days of her life. A fact that would often throw Ochako into yet another fit of dark depression the more she thought about it.

Even now, after all these years, she was nothing more than a parasite, leeching off the boy's memory for her own benefit.

She rarely thought about him now, her mind blocking him from her daily thoughts almost like a defense mechanism. But every once in a while, something reminded her of him, and every so often, she felt the need to crawl into her bed and wait for the feelings to pass.

An over-energetic fan of hers asking for an autograph? The smile she got in response whenever she saved a grateful child from an accident? The rare times when she just craved the taste of Katsudon out of the blue.

Sometimes it was unavoidable, but that was just life sometimes. She didn't do anything illegal all those years ago, so this was the only punishment she would face for what she did.

The feeling of thousands of invisible insects crawling all over her skin whenever she caught a glimpse of a specific shade of green or the sleepless nights when she couldn't get his voice out of her head. None of it was enough for what she did, but it was all she would get.

"I dont know about this guys..." Ochako said, shuffling her feet where she stood as all her classmates' collective eyes, except one, stared at her with unsure and unsteady eyes." How can we be..."

"We're not saying we believe it." Jiro said as she fiddled with her earphone jacks, a habit she always did when she felt uncomfortable." But what if it's true? Can we be so sure about anything after everything we've been through so far?"

Her words felt like a slap to Ochakos face; how could they believe what they were saying? Deku? A villain? None of it made any sense.

She looked at the faces of the assembled students; most of them seemed too lost in their own thoughts to pay much attention to anything at the moment. Did they really think...

"They're investigating," Tenya said, his hands crossed over his chest as he stared at his feet, the ordinarily stiff and direct class president looking like he'd rather be anywhere but here. "I'm sure everything will be solved soon. But Aizawa wants us all to be careful around him until the investigation ends."

"So what, we ignore him until this whole thing blows over?" Kirishima said from his spot on Ochakos bed," We just pretend he doesn't exist? That doesn't sound very manly to me."

Ochako didn't know why most of her class had appeared outside her bedroom door that night; in retrospect, she should have closed the door on them when Tenya asked to speak with her. Instead, she had a bad feeling about this whole thing, but she let her friends in against the wishes of the voice on her shoulder telling her not to.

"We don't ignore him." Momo said, using every ounce of her "big sis energy" to try and calm the rest of their class. Momo was the smarted person Ochako had ever met, who thought of everything and anything regarding any and all possible outcomes. If she was taking this seriously...

"then what do you want us to do?!" Kaminari answered somewhat less calmly than he intended. It was clear that Kaminari was scared out of his wits regarding a possible mole in U.A., considering how often he had Deku over at his house with the other guys to play video games. If the League had been gathering evidence about Kaminari's parents...

"We treat him like we always do." Tenya answered, his tone more in control now than it was a moment ago." We just do it more carefully now."

"What's that even mean?" Sero asked from his position next to a quiet shoto; the half-and-half-hero had yet to say anything since he walked into the room." So are you telling us to treat him like a threat?"

"They're saying to not be alone with him," Tsu said, her ordinarily stoic voice tinged with something that Ochako couldn't register. Was it contempt? But for who?" They say he's too dangerous to be alone until we sort this out."

"Azoiwa sensei has mentioned that, yes." Tenya nodded, the room's atmosphere shifting with each word said." Several staff members will be watching him from now on, and it would do us all good if we agreed not to get involved while they search for evidence."

"You're saying you believe this?" Mina asked the idea of the League of Villains knowing about her family life, making her pink skin crawl. But Deku wouldn't do what they said he was doing, right?

"Im just saying we need to take this seriously." Tenya answered, looking far stiffer than usual as if a strong enough wind could blow him over at any second." What kind of heroes would we be if we didn't take these allegations seriously?"

Ochako poured the contents of her coffee cup into the kitchen sink, no longer in the mood for coffee, as she threw herself back onto her hotel room bed. The cold and clammy feeling twisted into the pit of her stomach as she wrapped the comforter around her to fight back the chill.

Her body felt numb as she wrapped her arms around herself to fight the encroaching chill. So hard and tight that, for a moment, she pretended that someone else was holding her, whispering that everything would be okay and they would get past this lapse in judgment together. Then, not for the first time, she thought of green eyes again, but the thought seemed to make the pain in her stomach grow, like someone twisting a knife in deeper.

Thankfully for her, the beeping of her phone broke her out of her suffering, like a lifeline thrown to her as she drifted off in the middle of the sea.

Her cheap little flip phone, the one she had since high school, was cracked and chipped. Its battery was on life support and barely held a charge these days. She could afford to buy a new one; she had bought her parents the latest models last Christmas, and it had barely made a dent in her Christmas bonus.

But it still worked well enough for her, meaning she saw no reason to spend money when she didn't have to.

*47 new messages*

A bit more than usual, but Ochako hadn't been checking her phone for three days, the mountain range she was working at having a notoriously lousy reception, especially for devices that had long ago become obsolete.

A few pictures from her parents enjoying their Hawaii vacation was saved and hearted, Ochako feeling content knowing that at least someone was enjoying themselves. She ignored the messages from Mina and Toru; Ochako needed to be more in the mood to handle their overly optimistic messages this early in the morning.

Those two were the textbook definitions of an afternoon to early evening conversation.

She saw Bakugos name and instantly deleted the messages without reading them. She told him the last time she saw him that she didn't want to hear whatever he wanted to say to her. She felt terrible but tired of trying to be reasonable after so long. But, of course, it wasn't her fault that Katsuki only took a hint if someone was just as direct as he was.

She scrolled down more, seeing a group message from her boss, the dragon heroine Ryukyu, regarding an emergency meeting that needed to be held "As soon as possible" regarding a commission business. Unfortunately, the meeting had been postponed due to Ochako's trip. Still, it could only be held off for a bit longer, and she would need to come to the office Tuesday morning despite it being her day off.

Ochako was annoyed, but her boss never did this, which only meant it was serious, or at the very least, the commission thought so.

Froppy: Call me as soon as you can. Important

She eyed the message from Tsu, the pit in her stomach growing more cavernous as worry for her friend enveloped her. Then, finally, she returned to her texts from Mina and Toru, seeing their messages read" Call Tsu" in big, bold letters.

Had something happened?

She dialed her friend's phone number, a part of her worried that her friend wouldn't pick up so early in the morning. She'd wake her best friend up early on a Monday morning all because she couldn't answer her messages. Some friend she was.

But she was surprised to hear her friend's stoic voice after only a single ring, almost as if the rainy day heroine had been waiting for Ochako's call.

"Ochako?" her friend spoke, the same tone she used all those years ago when the truth of their shared mistake came to light. She couldn't see the frog girl's face, but she saw her big tear-filled green eyes; she could feel the tremors in her friend's voice and hear the stress in her voice." Sorry about all the messages; Tenya wanted to be the one to call you, but..."

"What's wrong, Tsu?" Ochako spoke, her voice barely above a whisper as she waited for her friend to talk. Had something happened? Was someone hurt?" What's going on?"

"Bakugo was in the hospital."Tsu said, her stoic voice wavering for a slight moment before returning to normal." Something happened to him early Saturday morning, and well..."

"Is he okay?" Ochako asked; her feelings toward her ex were complicated, to say the least. "He's not hurt, is he?"

It wasn't that she hated him. After all, whatever sins could be laid at his feet could be applied equally to Ochako's own. But whatever romantic feelings she may or may not have had towards the explosive user were dead and gone. It was just a fling she had been convinced by friends to go along with, and one she really didn't want a repeat performance with, despite his reluctance to let it go and move on. But she certainly didn't want him to get injured.

She could feel regret slowly grow at the thought of the messages from him she had just deleted. If she had known...

"He's fine. Just had a bit of a stress attack..." Tsu said, sounding like the cold-blooded woman had a lot on her mind, like Tsu was working herself up to something she didn't want to discuss."This isn't about him, though. Before he got released from the hospital, he called all of us together to tell us something..."

Tsu was a lot of things to many people, but she wasn't someone who often got tongue-tied in stressful situations. The fact that her best friend seemed so scared to say what was on her mind was equally confusing as it was scary for Ochako to witness.

"What happened?"

"Izuku." Tsu croaked, a fresh sob escaping her throat as she broke into another round of tears." He's back..."

"Izuku Midoriya!" All Might shouted, his voice like a roar of a lion as he gripped the neck of his arch nemesis" Say it!"

Ochako felt her heart break again as she felt the emotion and grief in the man's voice. Yet, even now, All Might believed in Midoriyas' innocence, which seemed to shake the foundations of Ochakos' worldview.

Had no one told him? Had he yet to see the evidence they had seen?

Ochako knew... she knew what she did was the right thing. So she had no choice but to push her feelings aside and do what needed to be done to stop the villain's plans.

Izuku... had been a villain and needed to be stopped...

right?

She numbly walked closer to the electronic display. The only electronic store in the abandoned and bombed-out city street had been gutted by looters and destroyed from the weeks of constant fighting. But one tv screen, cracked and overturned, remained plugged in, the emergency broadcast blaring to life just a moment before.

The war was over, and the heroes had won. The paranormal liberation army was in retreat, and Ochako should have felt a wave of relief fill her body at the thought.

But for some reason, she felt like she was staring into the abyss, just waiting for something to happen within the dark void and feeling like something was preparing to drag her down into the darkness.

She couldn't see the reactions of her classmates. The rest of 2A were scattered throughout the city as they helped bring justice to those who deserved it. But she knew they were all watching what she was watching.

How could they not?

The whole world must have been watching, and despite the chaos around her, nothing else seemed to matter to Ochako at that moment.

Not the bloody gash on Ochakos thigh or the cuts littering her face. She felt like she was standing on top of a cliff, taking step after step until she was overlooking the edge, confusion slowly transforming into desperation.

For a brief moment, the world seemed to stop what it was doing as Ochako slowly walked closer to the cracked screen of the television monitor.

"Ochako?" she heard a familiar voice speak her name, but the hero student paid her little mind.

She watched as the king of evil spoke, laughing at the chaos and destruction he had caused, reviling in what would become his legacy for countless generations.

The man who almost overthrew the world and nearly destroyed hero society.

But the man smiled as he slowly died, joyfully mocking the man who had made his empire crumble. He did not speak of revenge against the symbol of peace or those who fought alongside him, nor did he threaten or curse his own failures. Because even now, even when the man was at death's door, he had one last act of violence to enact.

"You all did such a wonderful job..." His voice was soft and hagged as All Might gripped his vast hands to the man's throat, but it was like knives to Ochakos ears as she tried to steady herself on the crumbling wall of the alleyway.

Ochako knew in her heart the monster on screen wasn't speaking to her, but she certainly felt that he was.

It felt harder to breathe. Ochako slowly felt like her limbs were growing heavier and heavier with each passing moment. She blew air from her nose, the sound of a wounded animal trying desperately to keep a predator away from her, overcoming the numbness of her hearing.

Her heart hitched, pumping faster and faster until it felt like her chest was about to cave in on itself. She bit her tongue, swallowing a sob as she watched the monster in front of her mocking her for what she did.

What she did...

She was trembling now, her body shivering under the warm spring sun like it was in the heart of winter. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, her instincts screaming at her to run and hide and to block out the words she was being forced to hear.

This couldn't be happening.

They told Ochako this wasn't possible! They had shown her the evidence! They said they were one hundred percent sure about it! She wouldn't have done this otherwise!

WHY WOULD THEY LIE TO HER?!

"Ochako!" she heard the voice of her former sempai and former member of U.A.'s big three speak out to her."Calm down. Everything is going to be okay."

The bombed-out ruins of the city block were empty save for the U.A. second-year student and the recently graduated and debuted Nejire Chan and their latest capture, but none of that seemed to matter to Ochako at the moment.

She felt the voice of All for One slither into her ear, like a snake burying itself into the nest of its prey, each word like a needle jammed into her eardrums. Ochako could say nothing as she listened to the man's laughter and the look of hatred pass over the face of All Might.

It was true...It was all true...

She had done all this for nothing...She had...oh god...

Ochako dropped to her knees, Nejire rushing to ensure the gravity user didn't fall onto her face as her knees gave out. But despite the blue-haired young woman's best efforts, Ochako could not take her eyes from what she saw or heard like a small animal caught in the headlights of its oncoming death.

She cried and struggled in the arms that held her. Shrieking like some wounded animal trying to escape the bear trap that tore through her limbs and muscles, the taste of her tears mixing with the copper of the blood of her busted lip, melding together into a cocktail of pain and grief.

She didn't deserve to live.

"Ochako!"Nejire shouted, her grip barely holding the younger woman in place as more and more surrounding heroes and police flocked to their location. Some moved to help the struggling woman, while most moved to take the captured and defeated villain away.

But through the pain and haze of confusion, all she could see now was the smiling face of the villain she had defeated but a moment ago. Her moment of victory over Toga Himiko now forever tainted by the truth of her actions a year prior.

"I always knew I loved Deku more than you!" Toga shouted, her manic laughter still audible even through the broken bones and punctured lungs. Her eyes were bright red as she stared into Ochakos soul, almost daring her to say something. "Because I would never betray him!"

She spoke in an almost sing-song rhythm, taunting Ochako through blood and broken teeth, not bothering to struggle as she was taken away.

Ochako stopped moving, every muscle in her body going limp as she fell into the waiting arms of Nejire. She sobbed and cried, beating her hands into the ground until they were broken and raw, begging anyone listening for this to make what was happening make sense to her.

"You call yourself a hero!?" Toga said as she was hoisted into the padded police car, her crazed smile never leaving her face. She looked almost happy despite everything, looking almost vindicated by the outcome of Ochako's victory."You never deserved him!"

As the scene repeatedly played on a loop, the dying villains mocking laughter, making her feel like she was being skinned alive. Was this what winning felt like? Like a dagger through her heart?

But as Ochakos cries died out, her eyes red and puffy as her cheeks became stained from her tears, the only thing Ochako could think about was Izuku.

And how she didn't deserve to call herself a hero.

Ochako dropped her phone and stumbled backward, hitting the wall as she tried to escape the memory. She could hear Tsu call out to her, but Ochako paid her friend little mind as she squeezed her eyes shut, but the images seemed burned into her mind. The ghost of Deku she had held onto for this long whispered into her ear before Ochacko fell to her knees.

"You know what you did..."

"It's just a dream," Ochako whispered to herself, shaking back and forth as she raised her hands to her head. "It's just a dream..."

She calmed herself, the mantra she had used these five years to beat back the nightmares working as she slowly regained control of her breathing and her sobs slowly disappeared.

"You weren't worth the hassle," He rasped once more, his raspy voice overshadowing Tsu's now panicked and confused voice on the phone. "I shouldn't have bothered saving you."

She ignored the voice and stood back up, picking her discarded phone into her hand as she tried to regain control of her emotions. Her face was puffy and red, but her voice regained much of its usual strength before she took a deep breath and spoke again.

"Tell me everything we know so far."

Hey, look, it's an update. That's it. That's the author's note.

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Next: Bakugo tries to do the right thing, gets angry and then does something he's going to regret