Ignited Spark

by 3PeopleInACoat

When Midoriya Izuku was four years old, his quirk finally manifested - not a combination of his parents' quirks, but an entirely different mutation of its own. With the ability to blast lightning out of his body, a horrible accident convinces Izuku to give up his dreams of becoming a hero. But with the help of two girls, Izuku finds the inspiration to fight and become a true hero!

6. A Trio is Formed

Izuku was tired.

He was tired, and it didn't take a genius to figure it out.

"You probably have to go," Ochako sighed quietly as she accepted that Izuku wasn't going to talk to her. She had hurried over here right at the bell, wanting to get to Izuku before he left to - wherever it was he went after school now, wanting at least one chance to walk home with him and ask what he was doing - but it had completely backfired in her face. She had tried to be blunt, but Izuku had just deflected her questions and didn't answer anything.

But she knew how to take a hint. She tried to get him to open up, and it was clear that he wasn't going to talk to oher about whatever the hell he was doing on his own.

So …

"I'll - I'll start heading home." She moved around him so that she could leave the now empty classroom, trying hard to keep the obvious sadness out of her voice and failing as she moved through the door, eyes downcast. "And yeah, we can - we can do homework later tonight. I'll - I'll see you later."

"Occhan, wait -"

Without looking back, Ochako slid the door to Izuku's classroom shut behind her, letting out another small sigh and not hearing his attempt to call her back as she began slowly walking down the hall. As she quietly moved towards the stairwell, she sniffled a bit and raised one hand to wipe at her face, reprimanding herself when she felt something wet there, and tried her hardest to straighten up and shake her head. She didn't want any of her usual bullies to hang around and pick up on her bad mood - she wasn't exactly violent, but if she was pushed hard enough she would probably punch someone in the face. Or say screw it and float them to the ceiling, and wait until she got home to release them to crash to the floor - but she really didn't feel like going over her weight limit and puking today, so she wanted to do her best to avoid that.

Honestly … she had no idea what was even going on with Izuku, or why he was suddenly pulling away from her. One moment he told her that he was going to be attending UA with her after years of her asking him, with Ochako practically bouncing around her apartment in happiness while her parents tried vainly to get her to chill out … and the next, Izuku would be leaving the apartment before she was even awake, getting home hours after her, and only hanging out with her at school during lunch time, trying to hide his yawns from her while she pretended not to be looking at him in worry.

But she knew that there had to be something going on now - his shoulders were always hunched, there were heavy shadows under his eyes, and he had a hard time concentrating, both during class (thanks to all the gossiping and mockery she heard in the hall, to her fury) and at home, where he almost fell asleep at supper time. Not to mention the days where he looked like he was in pain, moving stiffly and sitting down carefully, and waving off her concerns with bad jokes and stilted laughter.

And today, he had bandaids on his fingers and hands. Actual physical evidence that there was something he was doing, and he wasn't telling her.

That wasn't to mention that there was something changing in the apartment next door, either - Izuku had gone to his mom and asked for a completely new diet, one that had taken Ochako aback when she saw a new meal plan on the fridge. Now their dinners (let's be honest, Ochako and her parents were over for dinner every day, it was her dinner too) consisted of salads and rice, plenty of vegetables and meat to eat all around. Not so much katsudon anymore, and more meats and veggies she didn't even know the name of.

And he took seconds of everything now! She remembered the times she looked forward to dinner due to him not being able to finish because he'd give the rest to her, and now here he was taking third and fourth helpings of everything! Sure, her dad's heartbroken expression when he wasn't able to take his usual second helpings had been pretty funny the first time, but two weeks in, she couldn't find much humor in it when she was more confused than anything.

Because there was something he was hiding from her, Ochako nodded slowly to herself as she began moving down the stairs. It was obvious, even without their interaction right now that pretty much confirmed it by his reaction. She knew all of his tells when he lied - his wince when he told her that there was something he needed to do by himself, which must've meant that he caught when her obviously fake smile faltered; the way he stuttered and couldn't even think up a response at first when she cut to the chase and asked him what was wrong; his hurried insistence that it wasn't her fault when she asked him that (which, to be honest, was something she shamefully did think of at one point); the way he couldn't even look at her half the time, as though he were afraid of looking her in the eye and breaking; and the way he had deflected all her questions, repeating that he had to do stuff by himself and not finish his sentence before she left.

There was something he was hiding from her, from his mom, from her parents.

But that was the question, wasn't it?

Did she have a right to know?

Ochako frowned quietly to herself as she made her way down the stairs, heading for the main door to the school and opening it. Sure, they were best friends and knew everything about each other, he or she couldn't deny that. But … would it be right for her to just … poke her nose into this? She at least didn't think so, she thought as she slowly made her way outside to the warm spring air. Izuku had his right to privacy, just like she did hers. If there was something he was doing by himself, and he didn't want to tell her, she should probably respect that and leave him alone.

But …

… but the bruises under his eyes. The way he could barely stay awake now. The way his hands were wrapped up carefully, as though they were decorated in cuts. The way that he had been walking around a few times as though he were in pain, carefully trying to sit down so as not to hurt himself. The fact that they had spent every day together for the last ten years, and suddenly without him in the apartment, it felt ten times as lonely.

She was at war with herself - the part of her that didn't want to overstep any boundaries and poke her nose into his business, fighting against the part of her that was worried for him and terrified he was doing something stupid. She wanted to think that he was off by himself training or something - as painful as that felt to think, meaning that he wasn't training with her and didn't want to break the news to her - but there was a feeling that both the 'don't bother Deku' and the 'bother Deku' parts of her agreed on, was that she was feeling lonely and abandoned.

There was clearly something going on. But she didn't want to risk Izuku getting angry at her and fully pulling away.

Ochako let out a small sigh as she began walking down the school's stairs, beginning to slowly walk back to the apartment. By herself. Again.

She wished that this wasn't the kind of problem she had no answer for. There was a dumb, immature part ofh er that wished that this was the kind of situation that had someone behind it and causing Izuku's misery - someone like Katsuki, threatening Izuku to wake up and leave the apartment at four in the morning for some reason, hurting his hands for some sadistic pleasure, anything like that. That kind of thing, at the very least, she could directly confront and take care of it.

But this was so different, she shook her head as she slowly walked away, this wasn't a case where there was someone she could float to space and solve all her problems. This was -

"Young Midoriya!"

At the sound of a deep and kind of familiar voice behind her calling out, Ochako jumped a bit, registering that they called the name of - Midoriya?

Deku?

Someone was calling for Deku? Who did that voice belong to?

Furrowing her brow, she looked around, surprised to see Izuku standing at the bottom of the school stairs and looking down at someone. He almost said something, but she watched as he managed to stop himself, glancing around (and somehow not spotting her, how he did that was anyone's guess), and then hurried away, Ochako watching as he made his way towards -

- towards -

Ochako felt her eyes widen at the sight of a white pickup truck parked out front of her school, and standing in front of it, wearing a pair of sunglasses and a baggy t-shirt and track pants, was … was that guy! The - the tall, blonde, necromancer looking dude! She'd recognize his weird sharp triangle chin anywhere!

She let out a small gasp as she tried her best not to look inconspicuous, watching as Izuku stopped right in front of the guy. It - it really was that guy! The guy who brought Izuku his backpack after the sludge villain fight, who apparently chased them home afterwards to give it back to him, and who had been wearing too big clothes, like the kind he was wearing right now. The guy who had been wearing the same clothes as …

… as …

Ochako watched them carefully from her spot near the school, thankful that neither of them had noticed or looked her way as they chatted. Izuku clearly knew him, she surmised, since he was talking pretty happily to him, not as though he were a stranger. And the necromancer due seemed pretty cool with him as well, making a few friendly gestures with his hands and taking off his sunglasses, showing off his blue pupils and the black sclera that made up his eyes.

She watched as Izuku happily climbed into the truck, with the man climbing into the driver's seat, and then watched them pull away, making her slowly move from her hiding spot. She moved to the sidewalk, eyes never leaving the white truck as it drove off, feeling a headache start to form as she clenched her fists.

She really needed to be careful what she wished for. She wanted someone to be responsible for Izuku's tiredness?

She just found a pretty good contender.

---

Ochako, sweetie,

Sorry for us not being there to greet you after school, but your father and I got a call to come work at the site. The Midoriyas are also going to be out until late, but Inko left you a meal in her fridge, you can get in with your key. We won't be back until very late, so be sure to lock up the apartment after ten, leave a note for us if you're going to stay over on the Midoriya's couch, and we'll see you tomorrow.

Love,

Mama

Letting out a small sigh, Ochako put the sticky note back down on the counter and glanced at their fridge, feeling a small frown come to her face as she absently drummed her fingers on the counter.

So not only were her parents out at work, but Izuku and Inko were also out. So that meant that she had the night to herself. Normally she'd probably head next door with the family's laptop, watch some funny videos and laugh the night away until she had to come back and go to bed (her parents were relieved that Inko let them come over to use the internet - that would be one less bill they had to worry about, even though they always fought with Inko to help her pay her own), but for some reason, she didn't feel happy to have either apartment to herself.

She just … felt lonely.

No, scratch that, Ochako pouted, she knew the reason why she wasn't happy to be alone.

Izuku.

Shaking her head, Ochako turned around and began walking back down the hall and out the apartment, wanting to go next door to eat the dinner Inko had prepared for her a little earlier. Just like the last two weeks, Izuku hadn't walked home with her, but at least she knew the reason this time - it was probably because of whatever it was he and Inko were doing tonight. That, and it was probably due to yesterday, where they ate dinner in silence, and she left immediately afterwards to do her homework, thinking of their little scene in his classroom earlier that day. But still, she couldn't help but feel a little hurt that she had the entire night alone for once.

But there was one thing she couldn't get out of her head, not since yesterday.

The tall, blonde guy that had picked Izuku up from school yesterday. The same guy that had brought him his backpack after what had happened with the sludge villain. The guy who had been wearing an oversized white shirt and green pants, the exact same as …

… All Might.

She wasn't in denial, Ochako thought with a frown as she closed her apartment door behind her to head over to the Midoriyas. She knew what she was thinking was beyond silly. That somehow - in some way - this sketchy, skinny blonde guy and the goddamn Symbol of Peace were one and the same. But it had to be impossible, she shook her head as she used her spare key to unlock the MIdoriyas' door, completely and utterly impossible. There was no way that All Might, a huge, towering mass of muscle and big grins, was the withered, frail looking guy that brought Izuku his backpack, a guy that looked like he could've been sent flying by a strong gust of wind.

But … but the hair, even if they were in different styles. The eyes, the black sclera. The fact they were both giants - and if Ochako looked it up, she could probably figure out if they were the same height.

Ochako let out a tired groan as she walked into the MIdoriya household, closing the door behind her and moving down the hall into the kitchen. As impossible as she thought it was, she couldn't deny that … that evidence seemed to be suggesting that this weird bony guy was All Might.

But honestly, if he was All Might … it just raised more questions than ever.

If the skinny necromancer guy and All Might are the same person, then why was he picking up Izuku of all people after school? Was - was this the reason her best friend had been so absent recently? Being picked up by this guy to go do … whatever it is that he does? But if this guy was All Might, what on earth would he want with Izuku? And why was Izuku leaving so early in the morning?

God, and to think that she thought that this was going to be pretty simple from now on once Izuku had told her he intended to apply for UA, Ochako thought miserably as she took out the plate of food Inko had prepared for her from the fridge, unwrapping it and walking over to the microwave. She had thought that once they had affirmed that they were both attending UA, they would get together, talk a bit about a plan, and then start training together. That the next year would be fun, with her practicing her quirk and he his, and then working out. That's what she thought would happen.

But now … now Izuku was pulling away from her, leaving the apartment early in the morning before she was even awake, and doing things by himself. He was distant at lunch, and didn't even really talk much at dinner. It felt like …

… like she was losing her best friend.

No matter what, this tall, skinny necromancer dude was obviously involved, she thought as she pressed the button on the microwave, watching her foot heat up. She couldn't deny that. But as to how, she had no idea. She wasn't sure if he was really All Might, but if he was … what could he be doing with Izuku? Could the Symbol of Peace be taking him around the city and - and maybe showing him the ropes? Or doing vigilante stuff with -

"No," Ochako scoffed a bit out loud, shaking her head and getting that thought out of her head. No, no way that would be the case. If All Might was dragging some kid around doing hero work or making him do the work, the news would be on it like flies on a carcass. No way that was possible.

But … but still, Ochako felt conflicted. She knew Izuku was doing something, that this skinny dude was involved, but she had no idea if she should even ask. She remembered her thoughts from earlier, about how she didn't want to poke her nose into his business and give him a reason to get angry at her - but she was worried, she was tired, and she was feeling more than a little stressed about this situation than necessary.

She didn't want to do something to harm their friendship. But she didn't want to stand on the sidelines and watch as he got himself into trouble.

So what should she -?

RIIIIING

She was knocked out of her angsting thoughts by the sound of the phone ringing behind her. Yelping a bit as the relative silence of the apartment was shattered, Ochako looked around, eyes widening a bit - and then jumped again as the microwave finished heating up her dinner, dinging and making her yelp again.

Cursing, Ochako first opened the microwave to take out the hot plate, wincing and cringing as she put it down on the counter and waving her hands in the air, and then hurried over as the phone continued to ring. She should probably check who was calling - maybe it was Inko trying to call home for some reason, or if not, she could at least make sure she knew who gave them a call and let Inko know when she got back, and she could call them back.

Wrinkling her brow, Ochako bent over to check the name display on the phone - and then felt a smile grace her face for the first time that day, and instead of moving backwards, reached out and grabbed the phone, lifting it up and bringing it to her ear.

"Hello, Midoriya residence?"

"Huh? Who is this? A thief?! What have you done with Inko and Izuku, you animal?!"

"I've stuffed them inside a closet," Ochako giggled, leaning against the small desk the phone was kept on, "and now I'm searching your apartment, looking for that five thousand yen bill you have hidden somewhere. I'm gonna start with the work desk and go from there."

"I knew I should've never shown you that bill," Hisashi chuckled over the phone, and she heard the sound of him sitting down in a leather chair, "I should've known that you'd wait for the first opportunity you had to go snooping around for my money. No morals, Ochako, that's your problem."

"You shouldn't make it so easy to steal from you, then. And I have plenty of morals! If I didn't, I'd have gone through the secret stash of chocolate you keep in the fridge a long time ago - and it's been tempting."

"I have that stuff counted by the bar, Miss Uraraka, steal from it at your own peril."

"I fear no man!"

"Ha! How are you, Ochako?"

"I'm good," Ochako smiled a bit as she turned to lean against the wall - she'd known her neighbors long enough that Hisashi felt like an uncle to her, even if he'd scarcely been there over the years due to his work overseas. It was always nice to hear his voice, and whenever he did come home, he always treated her and Izuku to some ice cream, despite all of her protests and how he sometimes had to literally drag her out the door. "How are you, Hisashi?"

"I'm doing okay - work's been torture all week, this is usually the season we see a big increase in part purchases, and we've had a few resignations over the last few weeks that I've had to take care of. Never a day of rest for Yaoyorozu Corporations. Anyway, how are you, Ochako? School been exciting, or is it the same old, same old?"

"It's ... been okay," At that, though, she felt her smile slip off her face, reminded of all her problems in these last few weeks, but she quickly shook her head. "Uh - anyway, sorry Hisashi, were you calling to talk to Mama Inko? She's kind of out right now."

"Really?" Hisashi at least sounded surprised, Ochako hearing the sound of him leaning back in his seat. "That's weird, usually she's at home at this time - are she and Izuku out?"

"Yeah, she and ... and Deku are out doing something. I'm … I'm not sure what they're up to, though."

"Ah. Well, that's fine - I'll never complain about getting a chance to talk to you. I guess I'll have to call again sometime this weekend - I'm on my break now anyways."

Ochako winced in guilt at that - she knew how expensive international phone calls were, and having to make two in two days wasn't exactly something to brush off. Still though, she couldn't help but glance at the floor, still troubled by her own problems now that they were back on her mind, and feeling herself frown - and then Hisashi cleared his throat.

"Uh … Ochako? You still there?"

"O-oh!" She squeaked, straightening up from her spot on the wall and blushing, "Y-yeah, Hisashi, I'm here. Sorry, just - I just got lost in my head a little bit. Heh, heh."

"... Ochako, are you sure you're okay?" Hisashi asked, Ochako wincing at the 'concerned dad' voice he was using now, "You sound pretty off. Is something going on?"

"O-oh, uh … no, just …"

"You know anything you tell me stays between us, right? It's alright."

Ochako faltered at that, staring off into space as she thought … and then she sighed again, and leaned back against the wall. Maybe … maybe airing out some of her thoughts would help her find a solution, maybe.

"... Hisashi, can I ask you something dumb?"

"Well, as Inko always says, I am the expert on dumb," Hisashi joked, chuckling a bit, "so yeah, shoot, hon."

"Okay ..." She hesitated once more, before letting out another sigh and began to explain what had been bothering her for the last few weeks.

To his credit, Hisashi was an attentive listening, humming and 'uh-huh'-ing every so often as she explained Izuku's odd behavior, his distance and her worries that he was doing something stupid, making a concerned 'hm' when he heard that. She did decide to leave out the part about Izuku meeting the necromancer-looking dude - no need to get Hisashi so worried he'd fly all the way back from America to sock a complete stranger in the face, that was expensive. She'd tell Inko about him first and let her make the decision to tell Hisashi, or beat this guy's ass herself. But still, she managed to explain mostly everything to her neighbor.

"... and it's obvious that Deku's trying to hide how tired he is, he always makes these stupid jokes when I catch him falling asleep or looking exhausted," She explained, biting her lip in worry somewhat, "but when I decided to just ask yesterday, he deflected the question and wouldn't give me a straight answer. He - he never hides anything from me, so I'm just - I'm worried."

"Yeah, that is strange, Ochako," Hisashi agreed, sounding a bit more serious than usual over the line as they discussed his son, "and you're saying that he's not telling anyone? Not Inko, or your parents?"

"No … but Mama and Daddy did notice that he's been acting weird too, I heard them talking about it last night after dinner."

"Huh … and you're saying that … you're not sure if you should talk to him about it?"

"Yeah. I'm …" She paused again, and then sagged a bit from her spot on the wall, "... I'm not sure if it's my place to talk to him about it."

"Your place? What do you mean?"

"Like … like I shouldn't do it." She muttered, glancing back down to the floor. "It's not my business, and - and I'd only be bothering him if I tried to shove my way into it. I want to wait until he comes to me to explain, like - like a good friend would, but - but I'm really worried about what he could be doing, Hisashi. I'm - I'm not saying he might be doing something dangerous, but I know that he's doing something that's making him exhausted, and he won't tell me about it at all. I just … I don't know what to do, and I don't want to feel like I'm entitled to his secrets, but - but I feel like he's drifting away from me. I don't want to lose him, but - but I don't want to start a fight with him if he doesn't want to tell me anything. I don't know what to do."

There was a small silence in the apartment, with Ochako whipping her eyes somewhat and sniffling, taken aback slightly and unaware that she had even begun crying. For his part, Hisashi kept quiet for a moment, letting her have a chance to calm herself down while she was aware of the sound of him shifting in his seat over the line.

"I understand, Ochako," He said in a kind voice when he heard her take a few calming breaths, "that sounds … well, it sounds pretty hard, Izuku not coming to you with his problems. And yeah, I understand where you're coming from. I know that you don't want to risk making Izuku upset by poking your nose into his business."

"Yeah ..."

"... but isn't that the essence of a hero? Or however it was Izuku said it."

At first, Ochako continued to stare glumly at the floor, not really registering what Hisashi said - and then it clicked. She blinked, straightening up and looking around at the phone she held up to her ear in confusion.

"H-huh?"

"Yeah, it's - oh, what was it Izuku said that one time ... I know it was when we were watching TV ... Red Riot was saving someone trying to commit suicide - oh! Right! 'A hero's job is to meddle when you don't need to'."

"A hero's job -" Ochako wrinkled her brow, standing up from where she had been leaning heavily against the wall, "- wait are you - are you telling me that I should poke my nose into Deku's business?"

"Hm … y'know what? Yeah, I am. You have the official Hisashi Midoriya approval to kick in my son's door and demand answers."

"But - but wouldn't he -"

"'Won't he be angry at me'?" Hisashi guessed for her, chuckling when he heard Ochako make an embarrassed noise at being so easy to predict, "Ochako, I want you to say that out loud, and think about my son being seriously angry at you. Go on."

"'Won't he be' ..." Ochako started to repeat as instructed, and then faltered and wrinkled her brow. Now that she was saying it out loud - would Izuku actually be angry at her for this? Her? His best friend? Wouldn't he be -?

"... are you saying that I should just … ignore what my gut's saying and find out what he's been doing?"

"Yeah," Hisashi said simply, "you really should. Because you're worried about him, you think he's doing something stupid, and he's not telling anyone what it is, not just you. You know that if I was home while this was happening, I wouldn't be letting this fly. So I give you permission to act in my stead and discipline him as I would. Just be sure not to ground him for too long, he needs to keep his grades up, after all."

"... but won't he be … upset at me?"

"Maybe he will. I can't deny that you two have had fights before. But I know my son," He explained, "and I know that if you decide to cut it out with the bullshit and just demand an answer, he'll tell you. He cares about you, honey - a little too much, but that's friendship for you. You two have had each other's backs for years now, there's no way that he won't tell you if you just decide to stop playing games and ask him what's going on. You'll have to be really blunt and confident about it, but he'll break."

"I ..."

"Ochako, I know you care about him. You wouldn't be so conflicted right now if you didn't. So I'm saying to stop beating around the bush, drag my son to some wall and pin him up against it, and demand to know what he's been doing and punch him if he tries to escape."

Ochako stared blankly at nothing for a moment, slowly blinking and nodding her head as Hisashi's advice echoed around in her mind - and then she let out a small, shuddered sigh as she finished nodding her head and looked up.

"... I think I understand what you're saying, Hisashi."

"Oh, good."

"I'm going to beat Deku's ass."

"... okay, on the other hand, maybe you don't need to go that far -"

Ochako giggled a bit despite herself, and Hisashi faltered and grumbled when he realized he'd been had by his neighbor's kid. Secretly though, he was relieved that he heard her noticeably lighten up.

"I ... thank you, Hisashi. Seriously. I ... I think I know what I have to do now," She smiled a bit as she moved to lean against the desk again, hearing Hisashi chuckle over the line as he leaned back in his chair.

"You're welcome, sweetheart. Now then, I should probably let you go and eat dinner, my break is almost over and it looks like my meeting with some floor supervisors is coming up soon, so I should gather up my notes. Say hi to Inko and Izuku for me when you see them, okay? After you're done beating Izuku's ass, of course."

Ochako giggled a bit and nodded. "I will. Bye, Hisashi."

"Bye, Ochako."

Smiling a bit, Ochako put the phone back down, disconnecting the call with a small sigh as she straightened up. She took a moment to run her hands through her hair, and then nodded sharply, feeling determination start to finally fill her as she turned around.

She had changed her mind, she thought with a frown as she marched over to grab her plate of food from the counter, intending to eat it at once, wash her plate, and immediately return to her apartment so she could go straight to sleep, even though it was only five in the evening.

She wasn't going to be staying up late tonight watching stupid videos. She was going to get up early tomorrow.

Very, very early.

---

… this idea was a lot better when she was actually awake. Now she hated everything.

Three in the goddamn morning. That was how early Ochako woke up. She had gone to bed at five o'clock, tossed and turned for about an hour, finally went to sleep at six o'clock, slept for nine hours straight, and she still felt like she'd only gotten an hour's sleep. She blinked bearlingly at the ceiling as the echo of her phone's stupid alarm rung in her ears, having abruptly woken her up a whole lot earlier than she would've liked, and forcing her to wake up fully to turn it off in case it woke up her parents and forced them to investigate.

Luckily for her, she could hear her father continuing to snore loudly through the walls, and if he was asleep, her mom one hundred percent was as well.

Despite every part of her pleading to go back to sleep, Ochako let out a grunt as she used her feet to kick the covers off her, slowly moving to sit up and smack her lips, disgruntled. The need to find out what Izuku was doing at four in the goddamn morning overrode her need for more sleep. So she hazily got to her feet, swaying a bit before getting her focus back, and walked, still half-asleep, to the bathroom so she could wash her face and get the awful taste out of her mouth, and then get dressed to follow Izuku when he left in about an hour.

Once she had thrown a handful of water into her face to properly jolt herself awake, and quickly brushed her teeth, she quietly snuck back into her room, sighing as she reached into her closet to find her old tracksuit and running shoes. She didn't know what Izuku was up to, but whatever it was, she needed to follow him quickly, so she needed something light and easy to move around in. And since it was like … four in the morning, she didn't think a skirt and tights would keep her very warm. Thankfully, it didn't take long for her to find her sweat suit - a black, white and red top and dark track pants that she could wear, along with a white t-shirt and her pink running shoes.

One quiet and quick trip out to the kitchen later, wincing as she took two cereal bars for her breakfast (she felt a bit guilty for taking them, but she knew she wasn't going to be in the mood for a proper breakfast later), Ochako slipped on her running shoes and sat down next to the front door, sighing as she slowly opened up her first cereal bar to eat, careful not to make any noise. She had checked her phone and saw that it was still 3:50, meaning that Izuku still had ten minutes until he left - and she would be listening, and once he left, she'd been following.

Hopefully she wouldn't fall asleep at her spot at the door - because not only would she miss her chance to follow him, it would be awkward to explain to her parents why they would find their daughter passed out against the door the first thing in the morning.

Still though, at least these last ten minutes gave her a little time to think about ... how exactly she was going to go about confronting him.

The thing was, she knew that she would follow Izuku and find out what he was doing - the problem was that she really didn't know how exactly she was going to talk to him about it. Would she … no, she definitely had to talk to him about it, she couldn't just check out what he was doing and move on with her day. But what would she say to him? What if she was angry? No, no way, she shook her head. She was worried for him, not angry at him. She wanted to make sure that she didn't get angry at him - although if he was doing something dangerous, she'd give him a good smack on the head.

She tried to ignore her doubts - even though Hisashi talked her into doing something about it, she still was worried about how Izuku might react to her following him and trying to shove herself into his business. But how would she go about it, to make sure he doesn't get angry at her? Would she talk to him alone? Tell her parents what was happening? Tell Inko? Would she -?

"Ochako?"

The brown-haired girl let out a squeak in terror at the low and tired voice coming from the end of the hall near the kitchen, and quickly snapped her head up as the light turned on, making her wince a bit at the brightness. Standing in the hall was her mom, rubbing one of her closed eyes and yawning widely as she observed the odd position she found her daughter in.

Curse Ochako and her stupid 'careful what she wished for' bullshit! First looking for a guy to punch two days ago, and now her mom finding her like this! What was her fucking luck?!

"M-Mama," Ochako gulped nervously, trying to act casual even as she sat on the doormat beside the shoe rack. "You, uh - why are you awake? Y-you should still be in bed -"

"So should you," Miwa noted in a tired voice, raising an eyebrow when her daughter noticeably winced, "so why are you sitting against the door?"

"I - uh -" Ochako froze up, not really sure what she could tell her mother to appease her as Miwa wrapped her robe a bit tighter around her and walked forwards, frowning down at the position she found her daughter in. There was another grunt around the corner, and Ochako sank her shoulders when her dad poked his head from where their bedroom was, yawning as well and wrinkling his brow, his hair almost as messy as his daughter's.

"Why's Chipmunk makin' so much noise?" He managed to grumble out, looking confusedly down at his daughter as she shrank up, moving forward as Miwa also gave her a concerned look, "It's - *yawn* - it's four in tha mornin', why aren't we all asleep?"

"Daddy, I - uh -" Ochako faltered again, glancing between her parents as they observed her on the floor, trying hard to come up with a believable excuse so that they would just go back to bed - and then she sighed and slumped her shoulders, turning her gaze glumly to the floor.

"... I was gonna wait for Deku to leave today, and then follow him to wherever he's been going."

Taiyo and Miwa blinked at that, looking at each other with a bit of surprise while their daughter continued to study her feet. For a moment they were quiet, until, with a small sigh, Taiyo moved forward and nudged his daughter with his foot, prompting her to scoot over and give him a spot on the floor next to her, grunting as he lowered himself to sit down. Miwa likewise imitated her husband and sat on Ochako's other side, the three of them getting comfy and letting Ochako eat the cereal bar she had opened, while Taiyo let out another yawn and gave his daughter an amused look.

"Finally ran outta patience, huh?" He chuckled a bit, shaking his head while his daughter blushed in embarrassment. "Well, Chipmunk, don't feel too bad about it - I was abou' one day away from doin' the exact same thing you are. Had what I was gonna do planned out and everythin'."

"... really?'

"Really. I was gonna wait until he left, then jump in my truck, pull up beside him, and ask him, 'oi, wan' a lift?'. I'd get to watch him flail and go bright red and everythin." Taiyo shook his head with an affectionate smile as he leaned against the door. "After tha', I'd take 'em to the usual park and sit 'em down, and ask if everythin' is okay. I take it you're doin' the same thing?"

"Kinda?" Ochako shook her head while Miwa smoothed out her messy hair, not even trying to fight off her mom's soft hands patting down her messy brown locks, "I was … I was gonna follow him wherever he goes and just - you know - wing it."

"Hm," Miwa shook her head in amusement, leaning forward and kissing the side of her daughter's head, "'wing it'. Right."

"I was!"

"Of course, sweetie. Just be sure not to punch him too hard, okay? You know how easily that boy bruises."

"I wasn't … I don't wanna punch him," Ochako muttered, going a bit red again as she wrapped her arms around her legs. "I'm just … I'm really worried. I just wanna see what he's been doing and why he's so tired all the time, and … and I just need to know what's going on."

"We understand where you're coming from, dear," Miwa smiled, leaning forward to kiss her cheek while Ochako grumbled in embarrassment, "and of course we're worried about him, too. You two weren't the only ones that were about to put your foot down - I was going to arrange a sleepover and go to bed on the couch in his apartment, and when he tried to leave I was going to stop him and tell him to tell me what was going on. I had the crocodile tears planned and everything."

"Woof," Taiyo chuckled while Ochako reluctantly giggled, "and I thought my plan was harsh. You know that boy hates seeing you cry, Miwa."

"That was the point, darling," Miwa giggled as well, "that boy won't dare let me cry for too long, that's my advantage."

"Heh," Ochako shook her head, smiling, "like you're his mom."

"Of course he's your mom's kid," Taiyo gave her a good-natured smile, wrapping his arm around his daughter and bringing her in for a side hug, "he's as good as, anyway. Same for me, that boy's pretty much mah kid at this point. We're as concerned for 'im as you are."

"... I know," Ochako muttered, her smile falling, "and ... and I just wanna make sure he's okay, and that he's not ... he's not doing something stupid. I know that this is - this is probably a big invasion of privacy, and - and that he might get angry at me for this -"

"Sweetie," Miwa shook her head, "he'd never get mad at you for this. He'll understand, I know it."

Ochako still looked unsure about that, about to open her mouth to ask if there was something they were all overlooking -

- and then the three of them became aware of the sound of a door opening quietly next door.

At once, the three Urarakas snapped their gazes behind them as they heard the door quietly close again, and Ochako felt her heart begin to slam in her chest at the sound of feet walking past their door to the elevator. Before any more doubt could fill her heart or she could second guess anything else, however, her parents got back to their feet, smiling softly to each other, and grabbed her by the arms to drag her up to her feet.

Ochako let out a yelp at the sudden violence as Miwa kissed her cheek again and Taiyo ruffled her hair, and then her mom softly opened the door and let her husband push her out into the early morning.

"Just remember," Taiyo winked at her, "he bruises easily."

With that, the Urarakas closed the door on their daughter. Letting out small sighs, they leaned up against the door, chuckling a bit between each other as they closed their eyes - and then Miwa pouted, and pointed her hand directly in Taiyo's face, making the man stutter.

"What was that about 'he's as good as our kid'?" She narrowed her eyes, aware of Taiyo rolling his own eyes, "I told you a hundred times, Taiyo, do not make Ochako see Izuku as a brother figure or family of any kind."

"Good lord, Miwa, I've told ya a hundred times," Taiyo chuckled as he locked the door behind Ochako, and followed his wife back into the kitchen, "yer very impatient. Ya just gotta wait, they'll figure out they're in love sooner or later."

"Taiyo, Inko and I have been waiting for ten years now," Miwa whined a little bit, moving to go open her purse and rummage around for her phone, "I ran out of patience at the seven year mark. I'm ready for at least a little development."

Taiyo chuckled as he grabbed the brita filter from the fridge, taking a glass from the counter to pour himself some water. He glanced behind him at his wife as she spotted her purse with an 'aha', bending down to grab it - and Taiyo found his gaze wandering down. It was probably due to how early it was, but Taiyo felt himself smirk as he leaned against the counter, glass in his hand as he suddenly felt quite thirsty.

"So, we're both awake now."

"Yes, we are," Miwa agreed absently, still looking for her phone inside her purse.

"Four in the mornin', no chance of us gettin' back to bed at this point."

"You'd be right about that."

"And our chipmunk's out and about. Probably won' be back for a few hours at least, knowin' how serious this conversation'll be."

"Mm-hm."

"So ... in tha' case -"

"Only if you give me a massage first."

While Miwa tried not to smirk too much when she heard her husband groan and slump against the counter, Ochako felt herself freeze up slightly as she stood outside in the early morning air, shivering slightly - but the sound of feet shuffling away from her drew her attention. She knew Izuku was leaving - and now that she was out here and doing it, she could feel her doubts and fears start to die down. She needed to follow him to figure out what the hell was going on. So with a deep breath and pausing to slap her cheeks, Ochako squared her shoulders, and began moving down the breezeway after her best friend.

The plan was quite simple - keep her distance and follow her best friend to wherever it was he was going, and then confront him when they were there. She didn't have to worry too much about him noticing her follow him - the boy was observant when it came to tiny details about heroes, but when she wanted to sneak around, he suddenly developed the awareness of a brick wall. It was a very easy plan, simple enough -

- which became a slight problem when they reached the bottom floor of the apartment, moving to the edge of the parking lot, and Izuku, unaware of Ochako watching him while hiding behind a car, took a deep breath and took off on a jog.

Ochako let out a sputter when she realized that he was moving a lot quicker than she expected, and then let out her own small groan as she smacked her cheeks again and, feeling determination course through her, took off after him in her own jog, careful not to let her footsteps sound too loud as she chased after her best friend.

And ... holy shit, it was times like these that she forgot how out of shape she was. Twenty minutes of chasing Izuku in the early morning left Ochako tired beyond all imagining, taking several shaky and gasping breaths as she stumbled after him. It was a good thing that Izuku seemed to be in his own little world, enjoying an early morning jog, or else he would've heard Ochako's loud haggard breathing and groaning behind him as the two of them ran as light began to slowly emerge in the sky. Ochako tried her hardest to keep up with his pace, even briefly pausing to use her quirk on her clothes and shoes - in the mindset that decreasing the pull of her clothes would help her run without gravity being a thing to affect her.

Which ... really didn't help in the long run, Ochako grunted as she tripped over herself chasing him.

And then … an unknown time later, she lost him.

Ochako let out a tired whine as she stumbled to a stop in some neighborhood, quickly looking left and right while panting raggedly and gasping for air. Where did he -?! One minute she was looking down at the ground and trying not to trip on her own two feet, and the next he upped and vanished into thin air! Where the fuck did he go?!

Letting out a tired groan, she tried to calm down the hammering of her heart as she looked around for where her best friend ran off to, grumbling as the sky continued to light up, indicating that - god, had she really been chasing Izuku for an hour?! She left at four, when it was still pitch black, and now - now the sun was starting to rise in the distance, showering the neighborhood with -

- wait.

Where exactly is she?

Ochako couldn't help but gulp a bit as she looked around, going slightly pale. She … had no idea where she was, or how she even got here. And - and she didn't have her phone, or wallet, or - or anything! Fucking son of her ass! Oh, shittin' fuck! Shit in her asshole! Fuckin' fuck fuck!

Letting out a small whimper, Ochako quickly shook her head and tried to get in control of herself, straightening up and trying to will her fear down as she pressed her fingers together, releasing her clothes from her quirk. She just needed to calm down, she reminded herself as she walked out onto the road, walking down the sidewalk past the cars that were already on the road and heading for work.

She needed to keep calm and look for a landmark. That was what her dad always told her in case she got lost, look for a landmark to figure out where you are and backtrack from there. Clearing her throat a bit, Ochako strolled down the road, trying not to gulp too much at the large body of water on her left - something that she usually didn't walk past. No, she needed to stay calm and look for something that might give her an indication as to where the hell she was.

She continued on like that for about ten minutes, shaking a bit as she continued moving down the road looking for anything, anything that might give her some indication where she was and how to get home …

... and then she came upon a sign, reading it and blinking a bit in confusion.

"'Dagobah Municipal Beach Park'?" She read out loud, looking up from the sign to the large heaps of garbage that towered over her, wrinkling her brow.

That does ... not look like a municipal beach anymore. It looked more like a trash yard that got gathered up and dumped onto the beach, more like.

Still though, she could see a single truck parked in the lot, so maybe someone was there and could give her instructions on how to get back in the general direction of her apartment. And if they were sketchy, Ochako squared her shoulders, she could handle them easily with her quirk.

Letting out a small sigh, she strolled down the empty parking lot towards the truck, looking around for anyone to call out to and talk to. As she neared the truck, however, she felt herself falter in her step somewhat, staring at the white pickup truck in confusion. There was … something familiar about it, making her blink and look at the vehicle obviously meant to move things around. Did that mean that there was someone here clearing up some of this garbage?

Before she could recognize it, however, she suddenly heard shuffling, and the sound of someone grunting as they moved up to the parking lot from the beach.

Gulping a bit and hoping that she looked somewhat presentable (which would've been tough seeing as she was currently covered in a layer of sweat from running for an hour), Ochako was about to call out a greeting, trying her best to smile -

- and then she froze in her tracks.

... Izuku?

Indeed, his face was currently hidden by a printer he was carrying on his shoulder, but there could be no mistake that it was her best friend, carefully walking up the steps of the beach and grunting as he held the large printer up in the air. She watched blankly as he made his way towards the truck, unaware of her presence, and threw it in, the large printer landing with a crash that made her jump a bit in surprise. She watched as he let out a satisfied and relieved sigh, wiping his brow with his sleeve, and turned back to look at the rising sun.

It was the look on his face, however, that took her aback the most. He looked content, he looked happy, he looked … he looked a lot more alive than he had in the last two weeks.

And … it was because of …

"Deku?"

The moment her nickname for him left her lips, Ochako winced - she hadn't meant to say that out loud, but the utter confusion of watching him carrying a printer into this truck - the weird guy's truck, she finally realized with her eyes widening - took her entirely aback. Still though, it was too late for her to hide, or let Izuku pretend that he was hearing things, because the moment she softly called his name, Izuku froze up.

She watched the warm, happy look he had on his face watching the sunrise immediately wipe away, replaced by nothing but fear and surprise. Slowly, he turned his head, and stiffened up even more as Ochako took a tentative and unsure step towards him.

Oh, god, she thought while her stomach felt like it was filling with lead, he looked so afraid of her right now.

"Deku, what are you doing?" She asked in a quiet voice, finally finding her courage to walk over and stand beside him. Up close, she saw him begin to sweat even more, a sure sign that his sweat glands, as usual, were overworking as he shrunk up.

"I - uh - O-Occhan. What -" He fumbled through his words, evidently trying to get over his surprise (and maybe fear) of seeing her here and refocus, "- it, uh - h-hi. What are - uh, what are you doing here?"

"I …" She hesitated again, glancing off to the side briefly and finding herself lost for words - but then she thought of all the times he had ditched her over the last two weeks, how tired he'd been, how pain-filled his steps were sometimes, and his deflection of her inquiries, and …

… and she realized she had enough of these games. And she wasn't going to play them anymore.

"... I followed you here from home."

"W-what?!" Izuku balked, taking a step back as Ochako slowly nodded and steeled her heart, and turned back to him, eyes becoming determined as she balled her fists. "You - you followed me all this way? O-Occhan, why -?"

"Deku, what are you doing?" She decided to cut to business, ignoring how her heart hurt when he noticeably winced at the question. "Why are you - are you cleaning the beach? Is that what you've been doing?"

"I - uh -"

"Deku, what is going on?" She continued to press, seeing how much he was sweating and furrowing her brows as she gave him the Danger Pout, knowing that he'd be unable to withstand its adorable effects for long as he turned away from her, shielding his eyes as though she were the sun. "I - I hate that I have to pressure you into telling me something, but at this point, I don't think I have much of a choice."

"O-Occhan -"

"And - and I know that I'm not entitled to know," She shook her head, feeling guilt briefly break through her defenses before she managed to shove it down, "but Deku, you can't pretend that you haven't been running yourself into the ground, and - and it's because of this?" She gestured around at the large mountains of garbage, biting her lip, "Deku, why are you cleaning this place up?"

"I - I uh - O-Och-"

"Look, you can just -"

"Sorry for the - ergh - worry for the wait!"

At the sound of an unfamiliar voice coming up from the beach, Ochako blinked a bit while Izuku went stiff as a statute, and equally as pale, and looked around -

- and then she felt her eyes widen, and her mouth thin.

"I - okay, holy crap, hold on -" The orange-haired girl grunted as she carefully walked up the stairs, lifting the printer about the same size as Izuku's up to her face so that she couldn't properly see what was going on. As she carefully made her way to the truck, Izuku continued to comically pale, looking like all of the blood in his face was draining away, and quickly snapped his gaze to the ground as Ochako slowly turned her gaze from the struggling girl to her best friend, feeling the life drain out of her eyes and her mouth somehow thin even more into a comically straight line.

"And - there!" The new girl grunted as she threw the printer into the truck alongside Izuku's, taking a moment to wipe her forehead as she grinned down at it. "Whew, that was a lot heavier than I thought it was going to be. So Midoriya, what I'm thinking is that instead of dumping the rest into the truck, we move the large one together first, so we can make some room for the rest so there's actually room, and then we caaaaaan …"

The reason she trailed off, of course, was due to her finally looking around at the green-haired boy - and seeing Ochako standing right beside him, glaring a hole into his head while he raised his fingers to nervously tap together. The smile the orange-haired girl had been wearing completely slipped off her face, looking completely taken aback by the appearance of Ochako.

Izuku, meanwhile, continued to positively shrink at the cold stare Ochako was giving him while the orange-haired girl went equally pale.

"... uh ... h-hi!" She tried to squeak, finally drawing Ochako's attention back to her and making her frown a bit - oh god, she was gorgeous, Ochako couldn't help but think, and she looked so much more fit than she was - wait, where was this coming from? And why was her stomach feeling so full of lead right now? "I, uh ... I didn't see you there!"

"Yeah," Ochako curtly nodded, before returning her gaze to Izuku and making him pretty much shrivel up, "hi."

"Ah ... um …"

Ochako could tell that the orange-haired girl was completely caught off guard - and honestly, she got it, she sighed. She looked back around at the new girl, not too sure what to make of her glancing between Ochako and Izuku with a weird look on her face, as though she wasn't sure about them, and decided to backtrack a bit.

"S-sorry for - I'm sorry for interrupting, uh … whatever this is," She at least tried to give her an apologetic look while Izuku continued to look smaller and smaller by the minute, Ochako soon flickering her gaze to the ground, "I was just - I was following Deku from home, and - and I just wanted to know what you - what he was doing here. I'm not sure why he's dumping printers in the back of this truck, and -"

"'Deku'?"

Ochako faltered when she heard that small mutter of Izuku's nickname, and both she and Izuku looked up at the other girl - and Ochako couldn't help but wrinkle her brow.

For a single moment, the orange-haired girl stared in shock at her, as though taken completely aback by what she just said - and then her face hardened. Ochako felt a bit confused when a look of aggression and disgust overcame the stranger's face, looking at her like she was utter scum - but at that moment, she felt her confusion fade away, and replaced by annoyance. It was still early in the morning, hours before she was usually up, and getting glared at by a complete stranger didn't exactly help her with her mood.

"What?"

"So I guess you're one of them, huh?" The girl crossed her arms, continuing to level a glare at Ochako. The brown-haired girl was taken briefly aback by the heat of the glare she was being given, but she felt her own resolve kick in, and returned the glare tit-for-tat, turning away from Izuku at last to face this stranger. They were both unaware of Izuku looking absolutely panicked and looking in between both girls as though he had been caught between two mountain lions, trying desperately to form his words but feeling unable to.

"I don't know what 'one of them' means," Ochako spat back, clenching her fists as the other girl scoffed, "and I don't know what you and Deku are doing here, but he's been acting really weird for the last two weeks, and I'm tired of him pretending he's fine. I'm asking for answers."

The girl narrowed her eyes even more, and uncrossed her arms.

"Midoriya," She said to Izuku while keeping her eyes locked on Ochako's, one heated glare meeting a cold one, "you remember what I said last night? About what happened whenever one of these pricks came after you? Well, I'm about to show you what happens to them from now on."

"Uh - wai- I - uh -"

"Prick, huh?" Ochako scoffed as well.

"Yeah," The girl's eyes were filled with such obvious dislike that it made Ochako clench her jaw, seeing the muscular girl clenching her own fists, "prick. You. I got a lot of nicknames for people like you, but I'm settling on calling you a prick. We'll escalate from there depending on how this conversation goes."

While Izuku sputtered, terrified at the misunderstanding manifesting right in front of him, it became clear that Ochako and this girl were beginning to square up - it was very early, and Ochako was feeling her own subdued anger over the last two weeks overcloud her rationality. She knew that there were a few things that she was missing here, but she was awake a lot earlier than she wanted, she was frustrated, and the way this girl was glaring at her made Ochako slap away any options to resolve this peacefully and settled on 'fight'.

Izuku could only watch in horror as the two girls slowly approached each other, clearly looking for a fight as they cracked their knuckles, angry eyes never leaving each other.

"Alright," The orange-haired girl glared down at her - she was about Izuku's height, so Ochako's forehead only came up to her mouth, but that just meant that if this turned ugly, Ochako could easily heatbutt her, "before this gets started, let's get one thing out of the way, shall we?"

"Shoot." Ochako crossed her arms as they stood right in front of each other, while Izuku slowly raised his hands to grasp two handfuls of his hair, comically horrified at what was about to happen as he desperately tried to correct the misunderstanding.

"You're never going to call him 'Deku' again."

"That right?" Ochako scoffed, not backing down as they got into each other's faces. "And why's that?"

"You really gonna play dumb?" The girl growled as she raised a hand to poke her in the chest. "I know what that nickname means. What you people call him. You really think you can just call him that in front of me and not get punched in the mouth? You think you can bully him in front of me and not get the shit kicked out of you?"

... wait a minute.

At that last sentence, Ochako finally blinked, feeling some of her anger and the willingness to float this girl into the sun finally falter.

"Huh?"

"What the hell do you mean, 'huh'?" The girl was looking angrier and angrier by the moment while Izuku looked like he was slowly dying inside. "I know what you bullies call him - that stupid 'can't do anything' bullshit. Firstly, that's pretty fucking unclever - it's literally preschool taunting, get some new material. Secondly, he's got an actual name - but you're gonna stick with Midoriya. If you ever call him that nickname again, I'm gonna throw you so hard into the ocean you'll have to be swimming for hours - assuming the sharks don't get you first."

"Wait," Ochako said weakly, feeling the wind start to be taken out of her sails as she raised a weak hand, taking a step back, "I'm very lost."

"What?" The girl wrinkled her brow in anger, while Izuku shook in terror. "What could you be lost about? You called him by that stupid nickname, and he told me all about it last night. Come out here to bully him a few hours early, huh? And on your day off, too, no less. I thought you guys were assholes when Midoriya told me about you, but you gotta be really desperate if you can't even wait for Monday to -"

"Kendou!" Izuku finally gasped out, getting his scrambled thoughts from Ochako's sudden appearance, Itsuka's interruption, and the two girl's sudden willingness to throw down with each other organized so that he could actually speak, and ran forward to the two girls, raising his hands and looking frantic. "This isn't a bully! This is Occhan!"

For a few moments, the three of them were quiet in the parking lot, Ochako turning her gaze from the girl in front of her to Izuku as her mind promptly crashed, mouth dropping open like a goldfish over the fact that this apparent stranger knew her by her nickname. The girl's look of intense anger slowly slipped off her face as well - and then she turned to look at Izuku as well, her eyes widening slightly.

"Huh?" She squeaked in confusion.

"This - this is Occhan," Izuku managed to get out, blushing bright red as he gestured to his best friend beside him, Ochako looking just as lost as the girl she was about to fight with as the two girls dumbly looked at him, "she - she calls me Deku, yeah, but - but the meaning for her is different. It's - it's a childhood thing, she - she means 'you can do it', she took it from the saying 'dekiru'. I call her 'Occhan' because that's - that's her name, and she - she calls me 'Deku' so I - I can associate that name with something good. T-that's it."

There was another silence as the two girls turned their mutual stupefied gaze from the green-haired boy back to each other, crashing and needing to reboot, and the orange-haired girl's eyes widening even more as her jaw dropped.

"Oh, my god," The girl muttered, a flicker of red coming to her cheeks as she took a step back as well, getting out of Ochako's face, "you're - oh, god, I - oh, shit, you're Occhan."

"Y-yeah," Ochako dumbly nodded, still not entirely sure what was going on anymore, "who ... are you?"

"I'm - oh, shit, this is embarrassing," The girl groaned, raising a hand to her eyes and turning away, hunching over slightly while Izuku went red, "I thought you - you were one of those bullies - but - I -"

She managed to stop herself before she went off on a mutter spree of her own, and finally backed up so that she could lower herself into an apologetic bow to Ochako.

"I - I am so sorry about - about threatening to throw you to the sharks. I thought you - you were one of the bullies Midoriya was telling me about."

"... who are you ...?"

"O-oh!" She gasped, quickly straightening up and throwing her ponytail behind her shoulder. "I'm - I'm Kendou. Itsuka Kendou. I've been training with Midoriya for the last two weeks."

There was a third and final silence in the parking lot - and Izuku and Itsuka immediately realized their mistake in her fluster when Ochako blinked.

"Training?" She said quietly, making Izuku stiffen up again and Itsuka raise her hand to her mouth when she let out a small yelp. "You're … you're training here?"

Slowly, she turned her gaze from Itsuka back to Izuku, seeing him begin to shake as his best friend's face began to calm down - but it wasn't a nice look that she was currently sporting. Instead it looked weirdly shaken, and she continued to blink rapidly.

"That's what you've been doing?" She asked him. "Training? With ... with Kendou here?"

"I - uh -" Izuku stuttered again for a moment, looking panicked and glancing around as though somehow hoping for an escape to this - but then a flash of guilt crossed his face. She watched as he slowly lowered his arms to his sides, his shoulders slumping, and then he muttered, "- yeah."

"That's ... that's the big mystery?" Ochako continued to ask in a quiet voice. "You've been training for the last two weeks? Here?"

"... yes."

"... you've been training ... without me?"

At that quiet question, Izuku winced, and finally looked back up - only to tear up at the look of hurt on Ochako's face.

"I thought ..." She started to say, and then faltered, glancing back to the ground while Itsuka looked between the two of them, quickly closing her mouth and widening her eyes as she realized what was about to happen. "... I thought that you were ... you were doing something weird, or dangerous, and ... and wouldn't tell me about it. And I thought - I - I thought after you told me you wanted to go to UA too, we were - we were gonna work together."

"Occhan ..." Izuku continued to tear up, raising one hand to her as she took a step back.

"I just ..." She took a shuddering breath, turning away for a moment - and then she sharply shook her head, frowning at herself as she grimaced.

"... no, I ... I shouldn't have thought that. Honestly, I - I'm dumb," She let out a weak and obviously fake laugh, "I should've realized that - that you were doing training. It - it make so much sense. No crap you're so tired, you've - you've been training. That makes so much sense."

"Occhan …"

"It's just - I - no, I'm - training together was just me assuming that was going to happen. That's - that would be selfish of me. Of course you - you would want to do independent training. I was just - I was just used to you coming with me to train my quirk, I thought it - it would be the other way around too. But no, I - I shouldn't have thought that."

"I - Occhan, please wait -"

"It's okay, Deku," She shook her head, turning around so she could hide her tears, "I - I shouldn't have just thought we were training together. This is my fault. I get it, I - I do. It makes sense. You don't want to train with me, I understand."

"Wait, hold on -" Itsuka protested as Izuku continued to tear up, almost moving forward to take her shoulder as she began walking away, sniffling and making Izuku clench his fists, internally screaming at himself for how stupid he'd been for the last two weeks.

"No, no, it's - it's okay, I - I'm not trying to guilt you or anything, Deku, I should've realized. I - I'm sorry for interrupting you two, and - and for following you, Deku, I shouldn't have done that. I'll just - I'll go home."

"Occhan, wait -!"

"Deku, seriously, it's -"

"I am here with donuts!"

At the sound of a very deep, happy and joyful voice coming from behind her, Ochako felt her step falter. It wasn't due to a third voice coming out of nowhere that stopped her - it was because the voice was very, very familiar.

She turned, face still tearful and snot starting to come out of her nose, to see a tall, buff man strolling up the stairs from the beach with a large box of donuts in his hand, beaming happily as he imitated the other two and looked around at the garbage still on the beach - unaware of the three teenagers whipping around to look at him, Izuku and Itsuka feeling the color drain from their faces once again as they realized how complicated this was about to be, and Ochako felt her tears immediately stop flowing.

"Surprised?" All Might laughed a bit at his little tomfoolery, beginning to look around at his two apprentices. "I thought since you two had been doing so well, and since we pretty much dodged a bullet last night, I picked something up for you two to eat since you probably didn't have much time this morning to eat a proper breakfast. So why don't we wash our hands in the bathroom sink, take a break, and we ... can ... get ... to ..."

The reason he faltered, of course, was because his gaze finally went to the two teenagers - and then snapped to the third unexpected one staring at him, Ochako feeling her eyes widen and her jaw drop. At once, All Might froze up, his smile not leaving his face but very noticeably stiffening up with the rest of him.

"Oh," All Might managed to say through his now gritted teeth, "shit."

Her hurt feelings of Izuku training without her and with a complete stranger completely faded away as she stared up at the pro hero before her, seeing him freezing completely up and stifling glancing at Izuku and Itsuka as though Ochako was holding a bomb - but it wasn't his sudden appearance that made Ochako stand as still as a statue. No, nothing like that.

It was … it was the confirmation of what she'd been suspecting for weeks now.

"Er ... say, I know you!" All Might tried to salvage this as much as he could, despite how stiff and awkward the tall hero was. "You're - you're the young miss that Young Midoriya - er, I mean, this young man here, was with a few weeks ago. What're - uh - what are you both doing out here this early? With this - with this other young lady? You should know that during the weekend, students like you should sleep in a bit later so -"

"You're training Deku," Ochako said out loud, finally connecting the dots while the three of them cringed at the same time, "you're the - you're the one telling them to clean this beach."

"I - uh -"

"You're the skinny dude," Ochako continued to have her slow burn meltdown, aware of All Might going even more stiff, mildly shaking a bit in terror of how much this tiny child knew, "the guy who - who brought Deku his backpack. You were wearing the same clothes as him that day, and - and they were too big on you. You're the guy who picked him up from school two days ago."

"Wait, you saw that?!" Izuku squeaked, while Itsuka turned a glare to the both of them for being apparently even bigger idiots than she previously thought.

"You're the skinny dude," Ochako slowly raised her hands to her hair, grabbing two fistfuls as her world was rocked, and Itsuka raised both of her hands to hold over her face, letting out a quiet groan as she slumped over, "you - the skinny dude is All Might."

"Uh, miss, I - please, I assure you -" All Might chuckled nervously, evidently losing his cool the longer this went on and desperately trying to figure out how to get out of this with his dignity intact. "- I am All Might, yes, but - er - the man you saw - he was a - a personal trainer that works with my agency. Yes, you must be - be mistaking me for Yagi."

There was a short pause in the parking lot, in which Ochako slowly closed her mouth and lowered her hands from her hair, and Izuku and Itsuka prayed that she somehow bought that weak excuse from the pro hero -

- and then Ochako, without a trace of emotion in her voice, bluntly said, "Your height and eye color are exactly the same as his."

All Might winced.

"Your hair color, length and texture are nearly identical, too."

Izuku let out a quiet groan.

"Your voices are also really similar."

Itsuka slapped a hand to her forehead.

"You two literally drive the same truck."

All three of them slumped their shoulders.

"You're the freaky skinny guy, or I'm eating my foot."

Ochako watched without any amusement as the three of them slowly shrank, Izuku glancing at the ground in guilt, Itsuka turning her 'you've got to be kidding me' expression to the sky, and All Might hunching his shoulders, looking quite silly holding the small box of donuts in both of his oversized hands - and then he sighed, and suddenly disappeared behind a puff of smoke.

"Well this is embarrassing," He grunted, emerging from the smoke in his weakened form, and Ochako felt herself take a step backwards in shock at his sudden appearance. It was one thing to guess the truth, but seeing the tall, invincible hero suddenly become a weakened, thin and frail man took her aback. As he coughed up some blood, she felt a sudden wave of guilt pass through her, and quickly approached the man as he raised a hand to cover his mouth.

"I'm sorry -" She quietly apologized, patting his shoulder the best she could to comfort him - despite this being his weakened form, he was still quite tall, and she had to reach up - but to her surprise, the pro hero chuckled and patted her shoulder in turn with his free hand, having put down the box of donuts so he could grab a handkerchief from his pocket.

"No need to be sorry, young miss," He smiled as he lowered his hand from his mouth, using the cloth in his other hand to wipe at his mouth, "in fact, I'm a bit impressed. Usually to reveal this form to someone, I have to give them an actual demonstration. I think you're actually the first one who genuinely figured it out rather than having to make me show you. That's a feat not even Young Midoriya or Young Kendou here had a chance to accomplish - those were cases of accidents or reveals on my part."

"I don't know ..."

"Believe me, young miss, it is quite alright," All Might insisted, letting out a small sigh as he glanced around at his pupils, "well ... I suppose that you would like to know what exactly is going on here, miss …?"

"U-uh, Ochako Uraraka, sir." She took a step back to give a quick bow, and then looked back up in obvious guilt and awkwardness. "And - and it's okay, I told Deku and - and Kendou here that I'm going to leave, I'm just poking my nose into your business. You really don't have to -"

"Nonsense," All Might waved his hand freely in the air, shrugging his shoulders when Itsuka and Izuku gave him a surprised look, "I suppose the cat's out of the bag now, so it'll be much easier to just sit you down and explain what exactly we're doing here."

Thankfully, it didn't take too long for All Might to decide to just bring her up to speed on what they were doing at the beach - rather than make up a story on the spot, he instead gave her the same story that he told Izuku when the green-haired boy began training with Itsuka. Explaining that Itsuka was his successor took Ochako aback just as much as it had Izuku, although thankfully she had recovered a lot quicker than he had so All Might could continue to explain why Izuku was here as well. It was a relief that the moment All Might explained that he was helping Izuku train his quirk, the sad look that lingered on Ochako's face since All Might had interrupted them in the parking lot had shattered completely, looking up at Izuku in realization and understanding as the boy continued to study the ground, obviously guilty about this technically being his fault.

As they sat down in the junkyard, Ochako sitting on an abandoned car while they surrounded her and ate the donuts (All Might passed on helping them eat through them, pointing out some dietary restrictions he had to abide by), Ochako slowly nodded as All Might finished his explanation, telling her about how they had to get permission to continue from both Inko and Itsuka's parents, and soon they lapsed into silence.

Finally, Ochako let out a small sigh, raising a hand to her mouth to brush away some crumbs, and turned her gaze to Izuku, who continued to study the sand beneath his shoes.

"So … that's why you couldn't tell me?" She asked, "Because you were training with … with All Might's successor?"

"... yeah," He muttered, putting his hands in his pockets as he pouted at the ground, "but I … I should've told you something. I'm - I'm sorry."

"Well … I'm not gonna lie, this isn't exactly what I expected," She was unable to stop herself from giggling a bit, "I knew you were doing something, I just - I never thought that it would be - something like this."

As Izuku slowly nodded, Ochako felt a wave of guilt over her first interaction with All Might's successor from earlier, and she let out a sigh as she hopped up off the truck, turning to Itsuka as the orange-haired girl watched her carefully, but she blinked when Ochako sank into a bow.

"I'm sorry, Kendou, about … you know, earlier," She apologized, glancing up at the orange-haired girl before her, "threatening to fight you and all that. I was just ... I know that I can't really excuse my behavior, but I was taking out some of my frustration on you, and ... and that wasn't cool of me."

"Hey, it's alright," Itsuka shrugged, giving her a weak smile as she waved her hand in the air, "honestly, I don't exactly have any moral superiority here since I was five seconds from punching you too. I should've made sure I had all the facts before I - you know - got ready to fight you. I'm sorry, Uraraka, I'm normally not so confrontational."

"Really?" Ochako blinked, looking up at her while Itsuka gave her an awkward smile. "You seemed like you square up with … you know, bullies, every day."

"I've had my moments," Itsuka chuckled, but then grimaced, "it's just … Midoriya told me the story behind the 'Deku' nickname, and when I heard you calling him that, I just …"

"Oh," Ochako gasped out, waving her hands in understanding, "oh, no, I get it, Kendou. Seriously."

"Yeah, but I shouldn't have ..."

"No, no, seriously, if anyone here's at fault, it's me." She shook her head, making Itsuka furrow her brow and All Might raise his eyebrow at their small argument about who exactly was at fault here. "I shouldn't have been so gung ho when I got here."

"I shouldn't have been so gung ho."

Both girls glanced at each other, feeling like they were going in circles while Izuku and All Might watched them - and then Itsuka giggled and sheepishly scratched the back of her head

"... how about we're both sorry about almost fighting, and call it even?"

"Yeah," Ochako laughed, "we can do that."

Izuku let out a small sigh of relief as the two girls shook hand, sharing a giggle - he had been afraid that they had a very bad first impression of each other and that would be how most of their interactions would go from now on, but he was thankful that they seemed to clear the bad air between them relatively easily. At least they weren't going to be tearing each other's heads off.

Although he couldn't quite bask in the relative peace, seeing as Itsuka turned to him and gave him a small glare.

"You know," She raised an eyebrow, "I hate to be all 'I told you so', but you really should've been a little more honest with her."

"Erk."

"Yeah, Deku," Ochako couldn't help but laugh a bit, shaking her head at him as Itsuka crossed her arms with her own smirk, "you could've at least told me something."

"Oh, don't even get me started with this guy," Itsuka shook her head as well and turned her smirk to Ochako, seeing the brown-haired girl leaning back against the abandoned car, "I only just found out that he didn't tell you anything about what we were doing last night. In fact, last night was the first time I learned you even existed."

"Is that right?" Ochako raised her own eyebrow, looking back at Izuku with an unamused gaze while he shrunk again, and All Might did his best not to chuckle too loudly.

"That's right. Actually, while we're on this topic, there was something I wanted to confirm with you," Itsuka joined Ochako in leaning against the abandoned car, both girls looking interestingly at each other while Izuku paled, realizing his mistake in getting these two introduced to each other, "just to make sure that Midoriya wasn't underselling something he told me last night. Do you mind if I run something by you?"

"Oh no, go ahead." Ochako gave her a thumbs up.

"Cool. So we were talking about his social life last night, and he says that the entire school, with the exception of you, bullies him," Itsuka quickly brought her up to speed, seeing Ochako narrow her eyes somewhat, "and he told me that they don't hit him, they just call him names and the such. Is that true? The hitting part, I mean. I hate that they make fun of him, but I want to know if he was underselling the part about them beating him up."

"Hitting him?" Ochako repeated, glancing at Izuku while he gulped nervously, and then let out a small sigh. "Well ... it's not all the time, but ..."

"I knew it!" Itsuka stomped her foot at once, whirling around and throwing a glare at Izuku while he squeaked. "Midoriya!"

"I - I don't -"

"It isn't all the time," Ochako was quick to jump to Izuku's defense, although she narrowed her eyes again, "but there have been a few instances where Bakugou or one of his cronies hit him to try and provoke him, or someone throws something at him. I tend to be the one to get in their faces for that, though."

"Bakugou?"

"Kacchan," Izuku muttered in a low voice, making Itsuka narrow her own eyes again.

"Ah. 'Kacchan'. Got it."

"You know about him?" Ochako asked, not sounding very pleased about where this conversation was going.

"I know the general story about him. I know enough about him that I hate his fucking guts."

"Oh, same!" The brown-haired girl nodded, getting fired up and balling her fists as Itsuka gave her an approving grin. "He's such a tool!"

"God, don't tell me he bullies you too?"

"Sometimes. Mostly because I get in his face and tell him to buzz off."

While the girls laughed and began to talk shit about Katsuki, Izuku thought that now was a safe time to finally look up at them, trying to gauge whether or not his best friend was going to throw him into space, or if his new friend was going to throw him to the sharks - and then he blinked when he got a good look at the two girls leaning against the abandoned car together.

Ochako ... honestly, he knew that due to her always sticking up for him and hanging out with him, she didn't have many friends outside of him. Okay, scratch that, he knew that, despite what Ochako always said, being friends with him really dragged down her social life. There were a bunch of girls that always shit-talked her, insulting her hair and the absence of makeup on her face, usually making insults that she couldn't afford anything to make her pretty, and it always made him sad and angry to hear it. So seeing her chatting happily with Itsuka, both girls laughing together and mocking Katsuki - it did bring a small smile to his face, although guilt still coursed through him for his lying to Ochako earlier.

All Might himself seemed to enjoy the sight of them chatting as well, chuckling and walking over to stand with Izuku and watch them.

"It seems they're getting along," He hit Izuku's shoulder lightly with the back of his hand, the boy chuckling a bit and glancing back at the two girls.

"Y-yeah," He nodded, still feeling a bit guilty for multiple reasons as he glanced up at the pro hero. "All Might, I really am sorry I - I wasn't careful enough with your secret, this is -"

"No, Young Midoriya, it's alright. I really meant what I said earlier - it seems that Young Uraraka here is far more clever than we gave her credit for," All Might shook his head, giving the brown-haired girl a fond smile, "there aren't many people in the world that could the pieces together when it comes to my true form and my weakened form, and she is one of the very few to put the dots together with what little clues she had. I must say, I'm pretty impressed."

"Er - yeah. She's - Occhan is amazing."

"Alright then," All Might clapped his hands together, getting Itsuka and Ochako's attention back on him as he walked forward and gave the brown-haired girl a serious look, "I hate to interrupt you both, but there are just a few things I need to get out of the way. I hope that I don't have to emphasize how important it is that you keep what happens here - my true form, and what exactly Young Kendou and Young Midoriya have been doing here - strictly to yourself."

"O-oh!" Ochako gasped, quickly nodding. "Of course, s-sir. I won't tell anyone."

"No need with the 'sir' stuff," Itsuka chuckled, giving her a small nudge as she gave her mentor a teasing look, "All Might isn't a 'sir'. 'No need to be so formal around me', I believe he said."

While the girls giggled together and All Might grumbled something about 'no respect', Izuku laughed stiffly, and glanced at his best friend again.

Sure, she was looking a lot happier than she did when she first arrived here, but Izuku still felt guilt coursing through him. Not to mention what she had said earlier about them training together. The way her hurt voice had stabbed him in the heart, and refused to stop ringing in his ears … Izuku let out a sigh as he straightened up, and took a second to shake himself out of his stupor.

"Uh ... Kendou, All Might," He muttered, going a bit red as all three of them turned to look at him in curiosity, "I'm sorry to interrupt, and I'm sorry if this seems rude, but can I ... can I talk to Occhan for a second? Alone?"

Both of them crinkled their brows a bit at this request, but Itsuka glanced back at Ochako to see her reaction. The brown-haired girl had blinked in surprise, but then she seemed to realize what he was asking, and stood up from the car, shuffling on her feet. Itsuka then picked up on what Izuku was subtly asking for - a chance to explain himself to his best friend.

Nodding quickly, Itsuka stood up and quickly took All Might by his scrawny arm, pulling him away while the pro hero sputtered a bit as he was dragged away from the two of them, but he seemed to catch on quickly and followed her back into the trash heap, giving the two best friends some much needed privacy.

Now that they were alone, Izuku let out a small sigh, and looked back around at Ochako. The smile had faded from her face, and she was quiet, slowly moving away from the abandoned car she had been leaning against, and for a moment, they were both silent as they looked each other in the eye. As Izuku wrung his hands together, he sighed and glanced back down at the ground.

"I …" He faltered for a brief moment, and then took a shuddered breath and quietly muttered, "... I'm sorry, Occhan."

"Huh?" She looked up at him, surprised. "S-sorry?"

"Yeah. For worrying you," He explained, "and - and for keeping this from you. I knew that you were worried, but - but I never really considered how much this must've been hurting you. I've been a terrible friend to you, and - and I didn't do anything to assure you even when I knew that you were being hurt by me. I'm - I'm so sorry."

"N-no, Deku, it's okay!" Ochako tried to assure him, raising her hands to palate him as she took a step forward, "I - okay, I'll admit I was a little hurt and angry about you keeping a secret, from me, but - but that was just me being stupid. And now that I know what you're really doing here, it's fine! I completely understand why you were keeping this a secret. You don't have to -"

"I lied to you," He interrupted her quietly, making Ochako falter at the look of misery on his face, "I ... I tell you everything, but I hid this from you. I know I had my reasons, but ... but I hurt you."

"Deku, that's ..."

"I'm so sorry," He teared up, "I ... I hate that I hurt you, and ... I'm so sorry."

He continued to stare down at the sandy ground, not even sure what to say to his friend now that she knew what an idiot he was - and then he felt her hands gently take him by his biceps. He glanced up to see her giving him a kind smile, and before he knew it, she took another step forward and wrapped him up in a tight hug, putting her face down on his shoulder and squeezing her arms around him gently, putting her face down on his shoulder.

Izuku hesitated for only another moment, and then he sniffled and wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her back and putting his head down on the top of hers - and unknowingly making Itsuka balk at the pair of them in the background, wondering how the hell he was suddenly touching a girl and not exploding into a blushing mess like when she touched him.

While they embraced each other, Ochako nuzzled into his shoulder.

"Deku, I swear that it's okay now."

"It's not, though," He shook his head, blinking tears out of his eyes.

"Well, you can say that it's not fine however many times you want, and I'll keep telling you that it's okay." She insisted, giving him another small squeeze, "Yeah, I was hurt by you keeping a secret from me, but that secret was that you were training with All Might's freaking successor. That's way more important than making sure you don't hurt my feelings. I shouldn't have just … if I really wanted to know what was going on, I shouldn't have snuck around and followed you here, I should've given you time to come to me with an answer. This is way more important than you making sure I feel -"

"No," He shook his head, "I - I shouldn't have made you worry so much in the first place. This is my fault, Occhan, you don't have to -"

"Deku," She was unable to stop herself from giggling, nuzzling into his shoulder again, "we keep going around in circles."

"... yeah," He chuckled half-heartedly despite himself, "yeah, I know."

"So in that case," She lifted her head back from where she had rested it on his shoulder, looking up at him with a smile as he took a step back, continuing to keep their arms around each other, "how about we're both sorry for keeping stuff from each other?"

"Okay … although my stuff is way bigger than your stuff -"

"Enough, Deku," She gave him an unamused look, making him throw his hands up into the air in surrender and giving her a chance to giggle and step back from their hug. At least it seemed that he had calmed down, what with Izuku giving her a shaky but still happy smile as they stepped back from each other, letting Izuku wipe some of his tears away with the handkerchief from Ochako's pocket (she forgot her wallet and phone, but she always carried something on hand for Izuku's crying).

Once he was calmed down, though, Izuku felt his smile slip from his face, and he gave Ochako another guilty look.

"So ... you were expecting us to train together?" He asked in a quiet voice, and Ochako blinked in surprise at the small reminder of what she confessed before - and then she let out a weak chuckle, glancing away and raising a hand to rub against the side of her head.

"Kinda," She admitted sheepishly, going red, "I just kinda ... you know, I just assumed we would be working together for the entrance exam, but - but I didn't expect you'd have another training partner. But it's okay!" She gave him a thumbs up, glancing around at the garbage, "Now that I've got a good look at this place, it's really good that you're training here - there's a lot of places here for you to practice your quirk. I'll be okay training on my own, you don't have to worry about me."

"But ..." He trailed off, glancing uncertainly away from her as he clearly tried to figure out what to say here. Ochako tried to think of a way to assure him that she really was okay with him training here with someone else, and that she'll be okay training on her own - and then he blinked.

She couldn't help but blink in confusion in turn as Izuku straightened up, an idea clearly suddenly coming to him. He glanced at her, and then over to where All Might and Itsuka were waiting for them to finish up their conversation. And then back to her, and back to them. And then back to her, and back to them. During this time, she watched the gears in his head turning, looking somewhat conflicted and concerned, and then sure, and then determined as he nodded to himself, narrowing his eyes somewhat.

"Uh ... Deku?" Ochako asked, feeling confused by the look on his face, "What's -"

She didn't get time to finish her question, however, because then Izuku moved his hand down, not even thinking about it, and grabbed her hand in his, and began to pull her along with him. Ochako sputtered a bit and nearly tripped as she was dragged over to the other two waiting for them, but for some reason, his hand holding hers put an end to whatever thoughts she was having at the moment, feeling suddenly tongue-tied as he marched the two of them over to All Might, the pro hero looking a bit taken aback by the sudden seriousness on the green-haired boy's face.

"Hey, um ..." Izuku said as he finally approached them, looking a bit intimidated for a moment but shaking his head, letting go of Ochako's hand while her face burned behind him, which made Itsuka glance between them with a smirk, "... I'm sorry for this, beforehand, but - but we were talking, and I was - I was wondering something."

"Er ... alright, Young Midoriya," All Might raised his eyebrow, while Itsuka glanced between the two of them a bit knowingly, "what is it?"

"I know that this isn't my place to ask this, but ..." Izuku hesitated, and took a moment to glance behind him at Ochako. She managed to fight down the weird blush that came to her face for some reason, and looked back at him in confusion and concern. That, however, seemed to steel his resolve, so he took a deep breath, and looked back at All Might and Itsuka with a determined look on his face.

"... I'd like Occhan to train here with us."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... sorry?" All Might blankly said.

"... huh?" Itsuka's eyes widened.

"... what?" Ochako blinked, and then she quickly shook her head, eyes widening as well as she waved her hands in the air. "O-oh, no, Deku, you don't -"

"All Might," He continued on, everyone seeing him start to sweat nervously as he tried to be as assertive as possible, and surprisingly not backing down, "Occhan is - she's also applying for UA next year, along with me and Kendou. I know that this would get really complicated with a third person training here, but she could also use some help getting ready for the entrance exam, the same as me."

"Er - Young Midoriya -"

"And she'll be able to keep the secret of what we're doing here, the same as me. She's super trustworthy, and can probably stay quiet even better than I can."

"That's … no offense, Midoriya, but that's not saying much," Itsuka pointed out weakly.

"And I - I know that I'm making - I'm making an unreasonable demand," He admitted, blushing a bit while Ochako weakly pulled on his shoulder, trying to get him to stop, "and it's not my place to ask you to accommodate us even more than you already have, but - but I know that Occhan can keep up with us, even if she's two weeks behind. She's been training her quirk since we were kids, and this would be a great place for her to work on it in a safe environment, the same as me. It'll especially be good with you and Kendou here to spot her, since you both have strength-enhancement quirks."

"Deku …" Ochako whined a bit, blushing bright red in embarrassment as Izuku went up to bat for her.

"She's a hard worker, she won't get in the way, and - and I just -" Izuku hesitated again, for a moment looking awkward and doubtful, before he shook himself out of it and quickly bent forward in a bow, "- please let her train here with us. Please."

Once Izuku was done talking, there was a small silence in the junkyard, with All Might feeling a headache begin and Itsuka glanced between Izuku and Ochako - and then the pro hero let out a small sigh as he raised one hand to massage his forehead.

"Would you both excuse Young Kendou and myself for a moment?"

Izuku looked hopeful at that, and quickly nodded, and with that, the Symbol of Peace and Itsuka turned around so that they could go someplace private to talk. While Ochako immediately began whispering her protests to Izuku while the green-haired boy quietly argued back, All Might led Itsuka around the mountain of garbage for some privacy (both for them and the now arguing best friends). At last, they found a good enough spot, and All Might sighed as he looked around and gave her a weak smile.

"This has gotten very complicated very quickly, hasn't it, Young Kendou?"

"Uh ... yeah, kinda," She shuffled on one foot awkwardly, glancing up at her mentor with an unsure look on her face, "so, uh ... what are you thinking, All Might? Should, uh - should we let Uraraka join us?"

"You're asking me that question?" All Might chuckled, unable to hide a smile as he put his hands in his pockets. "I was actually about to ask you that."

"... huh?"

"Young Kendou," All Might raised a hand to scratch his chin, grimacing slightly, "while I do have my own opinions on whether or not Young Uraraka should join us - Young Midoriya does have a point that this place, depending on her quirk, could be a good area for her to experiment with her quirk. And I think it would be pretty hypocritical of me to take on one student to train alongside you to practice his quirk, and deny another that same opportunity. Of course, this will probably impact us in a few significant ways, but I can't deny that from what I've seen of her, both here and a few weeks ago when I met her, Uraraka is a fiery young woman, and she could fulfill a similar role as Young Midoriya in encouraging you. But ultimately, the decision to include her here will be up to you."

"R-really? Are you sure?"

"Yes. You and I both know our true purpose for training you here," He leaned against an abandoned fridge, looking more serious than she was used to as he stared down at her, "to train you in order to use One for All. On the one hand, Young Uraraka's presence here may ... complicate things in the long run, if we have her work the Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan as well. We'll have to figure out how to equally split the responsibilities of cleaning the beach between the three of you, and we also risk a third person potentially learning of One for All. On the other hand ..."

It was here, though, that All Might faltered, and glanced away. Itsuka blinked up in surprise at the sudden look of nostalgia and hurt on his face as he obviously thought of something, and was about to ask him what was the matter when he spoke again, but this time in a much quieter, more subdued voice.

"... on the other hand, my master also had those she trusted the secret of One for All to," He muttered, looking out across the ocean as he smiled gently, "and I myself had Nighteye and a friend on the police force that knows my secret. So it's ... not entirely out of the question that, in time, you can entrust the secret to Young Midoriya and Young Uraraka."

"I ..."

"But Young Kendou, as I said, the decision to include her in clearing this beach is ultimately up to you," He returned his gaze to her, smiling softly at her, "so I'll leave it in your very capable hands."

Itsuka faltered at that compliment, staring up at the pro hero as he waited for her answer - or at least was giving her time to think it over - and then she let out a small giggle as she reached up to lightly punch the pro hero's shoulder.

"Oh, c'mon, coach, you're gonna make me blush if you compliment me like that." She laughed.

"And you're gonna break my shoulder if you hit me too hard!" All Might chuckled, taking a moment to pat her head as well, and together, the two of them moved back around the mountain of garbage to meet with their two other guests.

It was kind of amusing, Itsuka smirked, to see Izuku and Ochako engaged in what looked like a very heated whisper argument, complete with Ochako throwing her hands in the air in frustration while Izuku made wild gestures with his hands, but thankfully (or not, it looked somewhat entertaining), both of them immediately snapped to attention when they noticed Itsuka and All Might returning, blushing a bit while Itsuka giggled.

"Are we interrupting something?"

"N-no," Ochako gulped, shooting Izuku a small put as she started to move away and back to the stairs leading to the parking lot. "A-anyway, I've taken up enough of your time, so I should -"

"Hold on a second, Uraraka, there was something I wanted something to ask you."

The brown-haired girl faltered in her step, and looked back up at Itsuka as she smiled at her, putting her hands in her pockets.

"What exactly is your quirk? Midoriya mentioned that this junkyard would be a good place for you to train, so I'm kinda curious."

"H-huh? Oh, I - my quirk is zero gravity," She explained quickly, blushing a bit as she reached out for a piece of scrap metal in the pile to properly demonstrate. They watched as she brushed all five of her fingers against the piece of metal, and raised their eyebrows when it began to float into the sky.

"Whoa … so you can float anything?"

"Not everything," Ochako explained, pressing her fingers together to release the piece of metal to fall back to the ground with a thud, "I can only float up to three tons at the moment, and once I release my quirk on a heavier object, I can get nauseous." Ochako then grimaced, glancing to the side and reluctantly admitting, "With that said, if I train my quirk, I could probably expand my weight limit to how much I can lift."

"Yeah ... yeah, I can see where you're coming from, Midoriya," Itsuka nodded at him, crossing her arms, "this place would be perfect for that kind of training."

"And again, like I was telling Deku -" She was sure to shoot him a glare while he crossed his arms and pouted at her in turn, "- you guys don't need to accommodate me, I can just find another spot and train by myself and -"

"Yeah, no," Itsuka shook her head, interrupting her as she smirked at the brown-haired girl, "I'm totally fine with you training here, Uraraka. In fact, I want you to train here with us."

"I -" Ochako sputtered, shocked that they were apparently teaming up on her and looking left and right while Izuku flashed Itsuka a grateful smile. Once Itsuka gave him a thumbs up, Ochako groaned and slumped her shoulders, "- you guys don't need to -"

"We aren't pitying you," Itsuka made clear as she raised a finger to interrupt her, managing to shut Ochako right up, "and we're not throwing Midoriya a bone, or accommodating either of you. All Might says that at the end of the day, since we're technically here to train me, it's up to me if you should train here or not, and I'm more than fine with adding you to our little team - making it a proper trio," She did grimace a bit at that, "but just to let you know before you make any decisions, it's gonna be tough."

"Er ... tough?" Ochako wrinkled her brow. "Tough how?"

Itsuka winced, and reached into her backpack for a copy of the Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan - after her grandpa found it, she made a habit of taking the full plan with her everywhere so no one stumbled upon it and got a heart attack. Handing it over to Ochako, Itsuka, Izuku and All Might let Ochako flip the training plan open to read, watching her face as it wrinkled in confusion, and then realization, and then paling in horror.

"Oh. Oh, wow," She muttered, gulping, "no wonder you've been so tired, Deku."

"Yeaaaah," Izuku slowly nodded, sheepishly scratching his hair, "that's ... yeah."

"Again, it's up to you," Itsuka tried hard not to look too hopeful, glancing between Izuku and All Might with a smirk, "but I'd love to have you here to train with us. On one hand, it means that it won't be such a sausage party around here anymore, and on the other, it gives me plenty of opportunities to learn more embarrassing stories about Midoriya."

Izuku sputtered at that, but Ochako giggled a bit, closing the exercise plan and glancing off to the side for a moment, obviously thinking it over. After about a minute of them waiting for an answer, she let out another sigh and felt a smile appear on her face as she closed her eyes.

"... you guys aren't gonna let me say no to this, are you?"

"I might," Itsuka shrugged, "but Midoriya probably won't."

"I won't," Izuku shook his head, making Itsuka and Ochako roll their eyes, "I ... I'm serious, Occhan, I want you to be here and train with me. This place would be perfect for you, and ... and maybe if you're here, we can inspire each other. Like you've always inspired me."

Ochako slowly nodded at that while subtly blushing, still obviously thinking things over - and then she let out a laugh, and opened her eyes, straightening up to give her final answer.

"I guess ... if I have no choice ..." She glanced between the three of them, seeing them start to beam (and yes, that even included All Might), and knew that she couldn't possibly say no now, "... then I guess I'll be training here with you guys from now on."

"Great!" Itsuka moved forward at once, wrapping her arm around Ochako's shoulder, and without further ado began to pull her away, much to Ochako's surprise, "In that case, we can get started right now. We've got a few printers to move up to the truck, and three heads are definitely better than one when it comes to moving the biggest one."

"... this sounds less like you want me to train here, and more like you want my help moving stuff."

"Nonsense, nonsense. C'mon, Midoriya, all three of us can move the printer right now. And then once lunch rolls around, we can bully All Might into going and buy us WcDonald's while you tell me all the embarrassing stories about Midoriya's childhood - Mrs. Midoriya had plenty of good stories, but I bet you have all the juicy ones."

"Sounds pretty good to me!" Ochako laughed, wrapping her own arm around Itsuka's shoulder as the two girls laughed together.

As the two girls strolled away, bonding over how much they'll be teasing Izuku from now on, the green-haired boy let out a small sigh at how fast they seemed to become friends, but nonetheless felt happy that they were all going to be working together from now on, beaming in happiness as he quickly began jogging after them. Following the trio from behind, All Might let out an exasperated sigh as he pulled his phone back out of his pocket.

"I suppose I should call my office back," He shook his head, buffing back up to his true form, "and give them the heads up to print off a third copy of those documents for your parents to sign so that we have permission to work here. Once I have confirmation that they'll get three copies of those documents ready to sign, I'll drive you and Young Uraraka back home at the end of the day, and talk to her parents like I did with your mother and Young Kendou's. Hopefully it goes a lot better with them than it did last night."

"..."

"... Young Midoriya, this is supposed to be the part where you assure me that her parents won't kill me."

"I ... honestly can't promise you that, All Might."

"... oh, boy."