Uraraka looked at the image her mom had sent her earlier that morning on her phone for what felt like the five millionth time that afternoon. Ever since her mom discovered Pinterest, she had picked up the habit of sending her motivational messages daily. It may be a little cheesy, but Uraraka secretly loved it. Most of the time, the messages came with wishes for her to have a good morning and an even greater day.

Uraraka had tried to keep most of her stress away from her parents. One of her main motivators for becoming a hero was so that they could finally live a life where they didn't have to stretch dollars and pinch pennies. The last thing she wanted was to add to her parents' worry.

She had called them the afternoon after accepting the internship with Mirko, and although they were proud of her, Uraraka could tell they were worried.

"Be careful, Ochako." Her dad had said, sounding much more serious than Uraraka could remember him sounding. She couldn't see her mom over the phone, but she could feel her worry just as well.

"I'll be okay, Dad." She had said in earnest, "I promise."

She was sure her words did little to assuage their fears, but unfortunately, there was not much else that could be said. Uraraka was going to become a Pro-Hero, which meant she would constantly have too many dangers, both big and small, and everything in between. It was a fact of the profession.

Her parents didn't like it but respected her choice and remained a beacon of support.

She appreciated them so much.

Especially on days like today. She had woken up late after her little late-night rendezvous with Bakugo in the showers. Uraraka's felt the familiar heat pool in between her legs, just remembering it. Despite a very, very , good night, her morning left a lot to be desired. Waking up late wouldn't have been that big of an issue, especially considering today was Saturday, and all she had was her work-study, but somehow her morning went from not-so-great to absolute shit in the manner of minutes.

Her mom had called her that morning as Uraraka was racing to get dressed so she didn't miss the train to her internship. She told her there had been a freak accident at one of the construction sites. It had been late at night, and her Dad had checked all the active sites to ensure everything was locked and secure. At the last site, one of the machines turned on and almost ran him over, forcing him to jump to the side and land against the rubble. He was bruised and scratched and had a broken clavicle, but he was otherwise fine, or so her mom had said.

"How does a machine just turn on?" Uraraka questioned, exasperated by her mom's calm demeanor. Some of her knew they didn't want to worry her but too little, too late.

"We aren't sure, my love. The officers are investigating." Her mom had said quietly. The hospital sounds in the background made this whole conversation much more real. Something in her mother's voice made Uraraka think there was a lot more to this "accident" than she was telling, but she didn't want to push her mother anymore at the moment.

"Can I speak to Dad?" She had asked somberly. Her mom put her dad on the phone, and Uraraka got to speak to him for a couple of minutes before hanging up with a promise to call again after she was done with Miruko.

Uraraka had raced out of the dorms. She was not in the mood to talk to anyone that morning. Unfortunately, if she was anything other than cheerful and peppy, people noticed immediately and would begin asking her what was wrong. Uraraka knew it came from a genuine place, but she felt on the brink of tears since hanging up the phone with her parents and refused to show up puffy-faced and red-eyed to her internship.

She tried to force herself to breathe once she had gotten to her train. Her dad was okay. She had talked to him, and he sounded fine. Tired and a little banged up but alive. Her mom was okay too. Uraraka repeated that like a mantra throughout her entire commute but the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach was hard to chase away.

Her morning at Mirko's began with small calls - a fight at a local bar between patrons and a stolen purse at the weekly farmer's market, etc. Ever since the end of their first week together, Uraraka had found a rhythm with Mirko, which involved her going out on her own for these types of calls. They would work together on bigger cases, but usually, Mirko could handle those quite easily with little help.

At the very least, her internship kept her busy.

Uraraka put her phone away with a sigh and canceled out gravity on herself to help propel her forward until she reached the small office of the #5 Pro-Hero in all of Japan.

"Glad to see you're back," Mirko smiled at her from where she sat, legs outstretched on her incredibly messy desk. Or well messy to anyone other than Mirko. Ask her where anything is, and she can find it in seconds. Uraraka would be impressed if it wasn't her who had to search through everything to find reports and other important documents.

Uraraka hopped off the window sill into the brightly lit office. Mirko wasn't alone. There was another Pro-Hero there with her. And not just any Pro-Hero. Uraraka marveled at arguably the most famous pair of wings in all of Japan. The #2 Hero, Hawks, turned and waved his hello to the young student.

"Uh, uhm, hello." Uraraka managed to say as she bowed politely. She tried incredibly hard to wrangle the blush that had appeared on her cheeks into submission. How embarrassing! Uraraka wasn't a Hawks fan girl or anything, but she just hadn't actually seen him this close in person, well, ever. She was very happy with Bakugo, but that didn't mean she couldn't objectively admit that the man was good-looking. Right?

"Well, I'll leave you both to it." Hawks turned to Mirko with a polite bow before turning to head toward the window that Uraraka had just come through. Uraraka stepped to the side to give him space but was surprised when he stopped beside her.

"Take this, Uravity," He turned toward Uraraka and extended one of his hands toward her. Uraraka looked down to see he was holding a book. She looked up at him, confused but took it anyway, politely bowing her thanks. "I already gave the book to some of your classmates."

Uraraka looks at the book, reading the title aloud, "Meta Liberation War Book." She turns to Mirko, who also has a copy of it in her hands, before turning to Hawks and giving him a smile as he disappears through the open window.

"Still don't know what to make of him, but he's at least tough," Mirko says, getting up from her desk and walking around to lean in front of it. Uraraka puts the book in her backpack. The whole encounter was odd. Did Hawks really come all this way to give them a book?

"Uravity," Mirko said, and her serious tone made Uraraka stand up straighter.

Uraraka has been working for Mirko for about a month now, and it had been everything she thought it would be and absolutely nothing she expected. Mirko was tough but fair. Straight forward. Uraraka always knew where she stood. The problem was she apparently stood very, very far from being anywhere near Mirko's level.

Mirko was a doer. And boy, did she get shit done. Uraraka had spent most of her first week playing catch-up to the Rabbit Hero. Her ever-growing frustration must have been palpable because, at the end of her first week, Mirko asked Uraraka to go to the roof of the building where she kept her office. Once outside, Mirko walked up to the roof's edge and hopped onto the ledge. She said nothing, so Uraraka made the decision to join her.

"Why are you here?" She asked, strangely somber. Uraraka was used to hearing Mirko's boisterous voice. This was the first time she had ever heard her sound so calm.

"Why are you here, Uravity?" Mirko repeated her question, still not looking at the round-faced hero-in-training.

"To learn how to become a better…." Uraraka started to respond, but Mirko cut her off with her hand.

"No. Why are you here? Right here, in this second." She asked, pointing at the spot on the roof's ledge that Uraraka was standing on.

Uraraka was incredibly confused but tried to think about the question being asked.

"You asked me to come up to the roof, and then you came to stand here," Uraraka responded, but it sounded less like a statement and more like a question.

"And did I tell you to come stand next to me?"

For a split second, Uraraka thought she had severely messed up. Maybe she was supposed to wait by the door to the roof? She could feel herself spiral into self-doubt. She didn't know how to respond or what to say.

"Uravity?" She had questioned, but she hadn't sounded upset or angry, which gave Uraraka a small reprieve.

"No, you didn't tell me to." Uraraka managed to say.

"But you did it anyway," Mirko said, smiling at Uraraka. Uraraka was still confused and positive her face had given that away.

Uraraka nodded her response.

"Stop waiting for instructions." Mirko finally said, hopping off the ledge and walking toward the door. "You're smart, tough, and strong." She said it so casually, like it was such a given and not something Uraraka had been trying desperately for her peers to acknowledge in her. "Make your choices, stick to them, and stop waiting for people to tell you what to do."

Uraraka hadn't been sure if it counted as a heart-to-heart, but that was probably the closest she'd ever get to having one with her mentor. It took Uraraka a bit to understand her message, but it made a little more sense each day. A call would come in, and Uraraka would race out the window without telling Mirko what she was doing. She just went and handled it. The first time she did it and came back, she had expected a furious Mirko, but that wasn't the case. The Rabitt Hero was on her way out the window and told Uraraka to man the phone until a new call came in.

They eventually fell into a rhythm. Uraraka was definitely learning a lot from this internship, just not exactly what she thought she'd be learning. Or maybe it was exactly what she hoped to learn from Mirko.

"Uravity," Mirko said again, sounding grim and dragging Uraraka back to the present.

Uraraka went to stand in front of the Rabbit Hero, alert and ready for whatever Mirko said next.

"I received a call a couple of minutes before Hawks arrived." Mirko stood up to her full stature and gave Uraraka a look that made warning bells go off in her mind. Something happened. Uraraka's heart was pounding so loudly that hearing what Mirko said next was difficult, but she heard it nonetheless.

"Your mother has been in a car accident." Mirko said, staring at Uraraka with worry but continuing, "She was taken to the same hospital that your father was apparently admitted to last night." The last part came out as a question.

Uraraka felt light-headed—first her dad, now her mom. Something wasn't right. She felt like throwing up.

"A car is coming from your school to take you to them."

Uraraka didn't hear the last part of Mirko's sentence. She was already halfway out the window and propelling herself toward the hospital. She had to stop twice on her way because she was so wrapped up in her head to think straight and had no idea where she was headed.

She had stopped at a random building and propelled herself toward the alley to see what street she was currently on. The sun had long since set, and she should probably have let her school know, but Uraraka couldn't find it in her to care. She needed to get to the hospital.

Looking back, Uraraka should have noticed how uncharacteristically quiet it had been when she landed on the ground. It was Saturday night in a city. The sounds of cars and people should have been all around her. But nothing.

It was so quiet she could hear herself breathing.

Still, she pushed this aside and began walking toward the alley exit. She shouldn't be too far from the hospital; she just needed to confirm the street she had been flying over.

"Ooo-chaa-koo-chaan!"

Uraraka's blood ran cold at the sound of her name.

It couldn't be her.

Uraraka assumed a fighting stance and got on high alert, but it was too late. She felt the kick to her back, sending her flying into the trash cans across the alley. When she tried to get up, her surroundings seemed to distort. Everything blurred together, images, sounds…another kick to her side sent her flying into the wall. It was the same quirk from the amusement park.

She had to think and think fast.

"Knock it off! I want to play with her." Toga's high-pitched voice confirmed Uraraka's fears. It was her.

Whoever the owner of this new quirk was must have listened because the clear images and sounds of the city nightlife assaulted Urarakas senses in an instant. Uraraka got up coughing, still trying to catch her bearings after being kicked twice and barreling into hard objects.

"Ochako!" Toga squeaked in excitement. Uraraka tried to look behind her to who she presumed was the owner of the quirk. He was tall and lanky, with bright blue hair. His eyes were dark, almost black, and they looked bored. He was young. Couldn't be older than Uraraka by much.

"Ignore him, Chako-chan!" Toga waved him off, "He's new and no fun!" She pouted.

Uraraka took in her surroundings. She had to get away fast. She was confident she could stand her own against Toga, but this new guy's quirk would be difficult to overcome. It would be hard to float or fight if she had no sense of what way was up and couldn't hear Toga coming. Not to mention, she wasn't sure if this new guy was a fighter or not. And Uraraka had no idea if she'd be able to take both of them on if he was.

"Did you miss me?" She asked so earnestly that it gave Uraraka an idea. She might not be able to fight her way out, at least not right now, but she may be able to stall for time.

"Actually, yes, I have a lot to tell you," Uraraka said, trying to inch her way away from the wall and toward open space.

Toga jumped up in glee, but Uraraka could see the blue-haired boy straighten up and pay attention as she tried to move.

"Oh, Ochako! Are you in love?!" She was much too close to Uraraka for comfort, her knife resting against Uraraka's cheek. Toga sniffed Uraraka and began salivating, "Oh, you are! You are! I can smell it!"

"Izuku?! I love him too!" Toga bounced up and down but didn't back away. Uraraka stepped back and tried to play it off in case Mr. Blue Hair got suspicious. Even he seemed to tolerate Toga barely, so Uraraka adding some space between her and the overly ecstatic girl could be considered normal and non-threatening.

"No, not Deku." Uraraka tried to keep her tone conversational, taking another tiny step back. If she could get in a good position, she might be fast enough to cancel out her gravity and propel herself away before he could activate his quirk. He had to have a range where she would no longer be in danger of it. Toga was fast, but if Uraraka could get toward the main road, she doubted they would follow. Uraraka was putting money on the fact that the League of Villains had been incredibly quiet, and though unsettling, she doubted this was how they wanted to come back into the limelight.

"What?!" Toga exclaimed, once more invading Uraraka's personal space. For the first time, Uraraka was thankful for it because it provided the perfect excuse to continue her incredibly slow trek away from the wall and into the middle of the alley.

"Toga." The blue-haired boy warned, but Toga turned and gave him an angry look, "Shut up! We are having girl time! Go away!"

He didn't go away, but he did shut up. Mr. Blue Hair turned to look at Uraraka, letting her know that even though Toga seemed to be lowering her guard, he wasn't.

Shit. Uraraka refused to let her fear take over. She had to remain alert.

"I'm with Bakugo," Uraraka said, attempting to sound chipper.

"Bakugo?" Toga rested her chin between her index finger and thumb as she presumably thought back through the long list of students she had terrorized alongside the rest of the League of Villains. "Is it that loud one that Shigaraki tried to get to join us?" She questioned, and Uraraka nodded.

Remembering the night that the League of Villains kidnapped Bakugo brought a newfound rage inside Uraraka. She hadn't discussed it with Bakugo, but she knew it had affected him deeply.

"Eww. Izuku is much better Ochako. Dump him." She said, sounding disgusted. Uraraka balled her fists in anger.

"Toga." Mr. Blue Hair landed suddenly next to the girls.

"What?" She spat at their newest member.

"We were given a mission." His patience seemed to be running thin, and he kept looking at Uraraka as if daring her to move even an inch.

Toga rolled her eyes but turned to smile at Uraraka.

Uraraka didn't like it but didn't have time to do much else. Mr. Blue Hair must have triggered his quirk because everything around her became distorted and blurred together once more. She felt a poke on her wrist, and she didn't have to see to know what was happening.

Toga was taking her blood.

Uraraka tried to fight it, but it was hard to understand where anything was caught up in this quirk.

They were already down the alley when she was finally released from his quirk. Toga was waving the vial of Uraraka's blood and smiling at her. A warp hole opened behind them,"Say hi to your parents from me, yea?!" Toga said as Mr. Blue Hair stepped into the hole, "And, girl to girl, you should definitely dump the loud one."

Uraraka could only stare as they disappeared through it.

Just like that, she was left in the dark alley. It took her a minute to make sense of Toga's last words. Did…did she?! Did the League of Villains…?

Angry, alone, and scared, Uraraka approached the main road and confirmed what she had known. She was blocks away from the hospital. She tried to float the remaining way, but it was proving to be difficult. The adrenaline in her system was starting to wane, and the hits she endured from Toga were making themselves known. She was finding it difficult to breathe.

After trying and failing to float her way for a block and a half, she decided to walk the rest of the way. When she turned the corner, she saw the hospital building and a part of her felt relief. Just a little farther, she could see her parents and make sure they were okay.

She stepped into the waiting room and walked toward the nurses' desk when a voice she was one hundred percent not expecting stopped her in her tracks, "Young Uraraka!"

Uraraka turned to see All-Might and Mr. Aizawa standing beside her, worried and concern etched onto their faces. She knew she needed to be strong. She knew that the last thing she should do was cry but seeing her professors, Heroes she looked up to, she couldn't help it.

Uraraka was guided into an empty room where Mr. Aizawa explained that her parents were both fine and recovering, and she could see them as soon as she told them what had happened to her. She vaguely remembers telling them about Toga, the new League of Villains member, and the vial of blood they took, but it all felt like an out-of-body experience. Uravity was at the helm of her voice, but Ochako was very much terrified in the confines of her mind.

Mr. Aizawa nodded at her, urgently getting up and dialing a number on his phone as he stepped to the side to relay what she had told them.

Uraraka didn't care about that at the moment. She just wanted to see her mom and dad. She turned to look at All-Might, whose presence was no less calming despite his current physical appearance. A nurse came to treat her wounds and clean her up a bit, and both teachers stepped outside as they did.

Uraraka wasn't sure how, but Mr. Aizawa handed her her bag that she was pretty sure she had left at Mirko's earlier. It carried her change of clothes. Uraraka quickly changed before stepping out into the hallway. Mr. Aizawa was no longer there, but All-Might was waiting for her.

"Young Uraraka, I will walk you to your parents."

Uraraka nodded and followed him on shaky legs. They walked in relative silence until they reached the floor her parents were at.

"Your parents are in room 734." He nodded in the direction of the room, "I'll wait here until you're ready." He said softly, "Please take your time."

Uraraka nodded again and started walking toward where her parents were. She needed to shake all this fear and sadness before stepping inside because she didn't want to worry her parents; all they should be focused on should be on recovering from their injuries.

After taking a couple of steps, Uraraka turned toward All-Might. He had sat on the bench directly across the elevator but looked up when he felt her staring at him. There were not many things on her mind besides seeing her parents and making sure, with her own two eyes, that they were okay, but now in the safety of the hospital, one other thing came to mind.

"How can I help you, Young Uraraka?" He asked, standing up again.

"Uhm," She started timidly, "I don't know how much of this can be shared, but could you, uhm, could you let…." Uraraka knew she shouldn't feel shy about her next request, especially because All-Might seemed to have a special kind of relationship with him, but she couldn't help the feeling.

"I will let Young Bakugo know where you are and that you are safe." He smiled warmly at her, and she nodded, bowing slightly to show her gratitude, before walking toward her parent's room.

She turned to look at All-Might for one final boost of strength, and he nodded to her as if to say, "You can do it!"

Uraraka took one final deep and fortifying breath (despite how badly it hurt her ribs to breathe deeply at the moment) and knocked on her parents' hospital door before stepping inside.