A/N:

This fanfiction is canon-divergent AU and Mary-sue, overpowered, Uraraka Ochako-centric. The themes include suicide, bullying, eating disorder, blackmail, s*xual harrassment, gender issues, manipulation, violence - which may be triggering to read. It's very canon divergent.

It's finished, I'll update every week.

10

Of course, it all started much earlier than this. But it begins one day at school when Ochako is faking her period to skip PE class.

This is not unusual. Ochako doesn't feel like doing PE today just like how she doesn't feel like doing anything at all on any day ever—so she gets herself a pad from the nurse's room and proceeds to go to the bathroom for posterity. This is how Ochako finds Chi-chan crying in one of the stalls.

This is not unusual either. Finding a teenage girl crying in the toilet and Chi-chan crying in any location whatsoever are two events that occur daily all over the world. The first is because the whole affair of being a teenage girl is, on principle, very cryable. The second is because you can find girls like Chi-chan in every school literally anywhere ever.

And so, hearing sobbing in the girl's bathrooms is something that every girl in ninth grade has experienced. It's not really a big deal. But Ochako, who is always bored, decides to intervene for the hell of it.

She knocks on the door. "Hello?" she says gently. "Chi-chan, is that you?"

It must be Chi-chan, because she is the only girl not present in PE class other than Ochako. Chi-chan plays hooky more often than Ochako, which in itself is an impressive feat. However, while Ochako plays hooky due to her general lack of shit-giving, Chi-chan plays hooky because she hasn't been picked by anyone to be on the team for fifteen lessons in a row due to her general lack of friends.

Ochako doesn't judge. That is perfectly fine—to be friendless and unwanted. After all nobody is perfect. After all they were all born with their own gifts and talents, and lack thereof.

None of them can help being the way that they are.

That being said, Ochako finds people like Chi-chan mildly interesting. Their actions perplex her. If Ochako isn't picked by anyone to be on the team for fifteen lessons in a row, Ochako would kill herself and take the entire world with her. Yet Chi-chan perseveres. It's fairly perplexing.

"Are you okay, Chi-chan?" Ochako kindly asks her.

Beat. There is a wet hiccup before a soft, "Ochako-chan?"

"Yeah, it's me," Ochako says, leaning against the stall door. "Hey. Are you hurt, Chi-chan? Do you need anything?"

Ochako hears a sniffle, and then another hiccup. "I'm—I'm okay." More sniffles. "Sorry. This is, um, embarrassing."

"It's okay," says Ochako, even though it is pretty much embarrassing. "I'm here if you want to talk?"

An even longer pause now, long enough that Ochako finally gets bored again and considers just leaving to nick some juice from the cafeteria. But then the door slowly swings open, revealing a crying and sniffling and hiccuping Chi-chan.

Ochako never bullies Chi-chan, because Ochako is a good girl, and good girls don't bully other girls, they just stand by as the other girls are bullied. Maybe that's why Chi-chan decides to pitifully sob into Ochako's arms. After all, Ochako never says mean things about her; she merely listens to them being said. By other girls. Because Ochako is a good girl. And good girls listen to their friends indiscriminately, bullies and bullying victims alike.

Which is why Ochako is listening to Chi-chan right now. Her snot and tears are wetting Ochako's collars. It's gross. "There, there," Ochako says and rubs Chi-chan's trembling back in an approximation of a comforting gesture. "What's wrong, Chi-chan? What's wrong?"

She's sobbing so hard her whole body shakes with it. "I—I c-can't," she says. "My mom will kill me."

Uh-oh. Ochako looks down at Chi-chan's tummy. "Are you pregnant?"

"No," Chi-chan says. "It's just—" she breaks down again. This time it takes a while. Long enough that Ochako is starting to feel a little bored.

"Shh, shh," Ochako says as Chi-chan wets her shirt further, burying her head in the crook of Ochako's neck. Ochako pats Chi-chan's hair with one hand and checks her watch with the other—still another forty minutes till the end of PE. Damn. "Shh. It's okay. You can talk to me."

After five minutes of more tears and intelligible sobs, Chi-chan finally looks like she isn't going to die from an asthma attack. "I—you can't t-tell. Please. Don't tell anyone."

"Of course."

Chi-chan takes a deep, shaking breath. "It's," she starts. Her eyes tear up again. "It's. Taka-kun. Taka-kun, he—"

Chi-chan tells her everything.

Ochako hums. "That's so terrible," Ochako says, after Chi-chan finally stops talking and is now just staring at the tiles of the bathroom floor vacantly. "I'm so sorry that happened to you. Is there anything I can do for you, Chi-chan?"

Chi-chan isn't crying anymore. Her eyes are red and look a little empty. "I don't know," she says. "I don't know."

Chi-chan doesn't come back to school after that, and Ochako forgets about her eventually.

Ochako forgets about the whole thing, in fact. She forgets all about it until the day the teacher gives out future aspirations pamphlets.

"You are graduating from middle school soon," Sensei says. "It's time for you to consider your career in the future, and your choice of high school will—"

Ochako isn't listening. Ochako doesn't particularly feel excited about high school.

She will probably enter some typical high school along with some typical students and live some typical high school life. She will maybe have a typical boyfriend. Or two. Maybe she will be typically pregnant. Maybe she will typically cheat on her typical exams. Or she will fail all of it, typically. Maybe she'll turn into a typical drug addict. Maybe she'll be pregnant and turn into a drug addict and fail all her exams, and she will do all of this typically as well. Who knows? Life is just so full of mysteries.

But one thing for sure is that she has decided to end the w—

"Whoa," some typical student says. "Taka-kun is picking UA."

Ochako blinks. And then looks up.

Taka-kun is not the class rep—his girlfriend, Akane-chan, is. Akane-chan is Ochako's friend the same way everybody thinks they're Ochako's friend except for Ochako herself. She's sitting next to her boyfriend, surrounded by the other students as they compare each of their aspiration forms, because this is the type of bonding activity you do when you are a typical middle school student.

"Aim high, am I right?" Taka-kun says, smiling that charming smile of his. "You'll never know before you try. Plus Ultra, eh?"

He says it light-heartedly, as if it's a joke. All faux humbleness. His grades are good, his Quirk is combative—pretty Hero-like. He's got that sports scholarship as well. There is a fifty-fifty chance Taka-kun will get in and they all know it.

"Where are you going, Akane-chan?" Ochako says with warm, genuine curiosity. The other kids make a spot for her when Ochako enters their circle. She drags an empty chair to sit down and leans forward, elbows carefully placed on Taka-kun's desk. " I can't decide for myself."

"I'm going to try for Shiketsu," Akane says. "I'm so excited."

"Another Hero school? Wow. Talk about a power couple."

"Akane will totally get in. Dunno about Taka-kun, though."

Taka-kun laughs. "Fuck you, Kenta."

"You'll be one of those Hero couples in the future with their own Twitter hashtags."

"Oh, shut up," says Akane, but they all know she likes the idea of it.

"Yay," Ochako says. She looks at Taka-kun, who is sitting next to her—holds her gaze—before looking at Akane. She smiles. "So you two will be in a long distance relationship then."

"Careful he doesn't cheat on you, Akane!" Laughter explodes in the circle. "Maybe Akane will cheat first."

"Screw all of you," Akane-chan says. She's laughing, but she gives Ochako a look—she doesn't like that Ochako brought that up. Ochako smiles in utter obliviousness, and returns to her desk when the teacher comes back to class.

The next period, Ochako looks up to find Taka-kun looking at her. She smiles at him. He smiles back.

Later that night Taka-kun asks her out.

This is not unusual. Just like how you can find girls like Chi-chan everywhere, you can find boys like Taka-kun everywhere. Boys like Taka-kun are like Seven-Elevens. You can find them within every fifty-meter radius and they are usually open for twenty-four hours.

Ochako doesn't judge. It's how they are. You can't help being what you are.

Taka-kun asked her out via chat. Loser move. Ochako replies: sure :) see u at 7 tomorrow? I know a spot.

Ochako knows a lot of spots.

There is a cheap cafe with great pastries at the edge of the city. She gets juice, he gets parfait, and they share a croissant—all on student discounts. He pays. She lets him. They talk. Taka-kun has a dog (labrador) and a sister (two years old and likes vanilla). He likes zombie B-movies, especially the cheesy ones from the last century, because he likes that they're a metaphor for capitalism. He puts his hand on her knee. She lets him.

"Aren't you hungry, Ochako-chan?" says Taka-kun, voice full of concern, his thumb rubbing circles on her skin. "I feel like you've only been watching me eat."

"I love watching you eat," Ochako replies. She pushes her glass towards him. "Why don't you have the rest of my juice? You liked it, right?"

"I'm so full—that parfait did a number on me," Taka-kun laughs. "You said we'd share but I ended up eating a lot of it."

"I knew you like dark chocolate," Ochako says, and watches him blush. "That's why I ordered it."

"How'd you know that?"

She knows that because one time she accompanied Akane to buy some for his birthday. Ochako smiles. "I have my secrets," she sing-songs. "Why don't we go for a walk, then? Stretch our legs out."

"Oh, sure—"

"You said you were full," Ochako points out. "Do you need to use the bathroom first? I'll watch your things."

He does. Once he's gone, Ochako takes his phone from the table. She gets in easily; Akane always boasts that they use each other's birthdates as their passwords. Ochako checks his picture folder. She scrolls, scrolls. And then she checks his chat. She scrolls, scrolls.

After Taka-kun comes back from the toilet, she finishes her juice. "Let's go," she says. "I know a spot."

Said spot is an empty playground near the forests. It's a long walk—the nearest neighborhood from the playground is fifteen minutes away—they talk and hold hands all the while. The playground is not exactly abandoned, but people don't use it anymore ever since a kid fell from one of the swings and impaled his neck in a freak accident. Ochako sits down on the very swings where the kid had bled to death. "Come on," she says, patting the swing next to her.

"This place is a little creepy," comments Taka-kun. He smiles a lot, easygoing in their conversations—good-natured. He doesn't just talk about himself, he also asks Ochako questions, and seems like he is genuinely curious about her life. He's funny. Good looking too. The tallest in class. Top spot in PE. All-around picture perfect poster boy. "You're not scared, Ochako?"

"I like creepy places," Ochako says.

"Oh yeah?" he says, with a boyish smile. Taka-kun sits on the other swing, leaning a little closer to her now, invading her space. "You do, huh?"

Ochako smiles. "Mmhm. You know, Taka-kun, you make me want to go to UA too," she says. "My grades are nowhere near as good as you though. Or Akane-chan's."

Something flashes across his face—he isn't comfortable that Ochako brings his girlfriend up. He covers it up nicely. "I can tutor you," he offers. He puts his hand on her knee again. "Just hit me up. It'll be fun. Who knows, maybe we'll wind up in UA together. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Ochako smiles. "Mmhm," she says again. "Taka-kun. What kind of Hero do you wanna be?"

"Oh. Mm. Tactical responder. My Quirk is good for close encounters."

"So cool," Ochako says. "Why, though?"

"Why? Well, for melee attacks, it's—"

"No," Ochako shakes her head. "Why do you want to be a Hero?"

He pauses. "Wow, deep talk, huh?" Taka-kun chuckles, sheepish and endearing. He has a dimple when he smiles. Ochako knows his desk is always chock full of presents every Valentine's Day. "Well, I mean, come on. Who doesn't? Everybody wants to be like All Might."

"Uhuh," Ochako says, putting her hand above his. Her thumb rubs circles over his skin. She puts her pinky down gently. "Who doesn't."

"And I guess," Taka-kun rubs the back of his neck, still with that endearingly shy demeanor. "I … want to save people too. I've always liked to help people, you know?"

Ochako nods understandingly. "Just like how you helped Chi-chan," she says.

The night is hot—no wind. There is little light in the area now that the sun has set. In the woods, crickets chirp, and above, moths buzz around the flickering street lamps. There are some stars visible in the sky now that they're far from the city. It's quite pretty.

His hand leaves hers as if burnt. "What?"

She doesn't mind. She puts her hands on the chains, swaying on the swings. "Yeah, you gave her a lot of favors, didn't you? Told her you're going to share her pics with other boys, oh wow, " she smiles at him. "Such heroic behavior."

He doesn't smile back. But Taka-kun isn't stupid. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really?" Ochako says. She opens her phone. "But the photos I took of your phone—"

She is almost disappointed when he makes a play for her phone. She tuts. "My, Taka-kun," she says. "You could've hurt me, you know."

"Fuck y—fuck, it hurts, fuck, oh god—"

Not everyone understands their Quirks completely, but Ochako does.

Ochako's understanding is as follows: gravity is in love with matter. So in love, that it holds matter together. Keeps matter from falling apart. And Ochako's Quirk—well, her Quirk kills the gravity of everything that she touches.

Matter can be a lot of things. A pebble, a house, a person, a planet—they're all matter. What people often forget is that matter is made out of matter. Skin is matter. Hair is matter. An eyeball is matter.

When the threads that keep those matter together start to strain and splinter apart, what do you think happens?

Taka-kun can't even scream.

"—stop it," he whimpers. "Stop it —"

"Not until you say sorry," Ochako says without meaning it.

"—I'm sorry, fuck fuck fuck I'm so sorry—"

"Say please," Ochako says, just for the hell of it.

"—fuck you god please please—"

Ochako lets him go only because it got boring. He gasps, falling to the ground, shaking.

"I didn't even want to hurt you," Ochako says, and it's true. Ochako doesn't derive pleasure from hurting things, the same way she doesn't derive pleasure from anything at all. She just does things for the sake of doing things, most of the time. "I thought we could just have a conversation—oh, come on, now."

He tries to attack her again, even though his Quirk is useless while she still has a hold on him. He stops when Ochako's Quirk pulls the edges of him like a rubber band. "Like I said. I didn't even want to hurt you. I just wanted to talk to you, Taka-kun."

"Why're you—doing this, fuck, god, I'll delete the pictures, I s-swear, I'll—"

The pictures? He really doesn't get it. "I just want to know more about you, Taka-kun. I thought it's super interesting. How you're hurting people. And yet. You want to be a Hero," Ochako says. "I just thought. It's really … what's the word? Oh. Inspiring."

"—I never even sent them, I'll delete them, I'll delete—"

Ochako lets him go again. "You're not listening to me," Ochako says flatly. "I told you. I just want to have a good, honest conversation."

Now that his blood is flowing normally and the air pressure in his body has returned to a baseline amount, his head clears enough for him to start saying stupid shit. "You bitch," he says. "You won't get away with this. I'll, I'll report you, you crazy bitch. You used your Quirk. On me. You just watch, you're going to juvie, I'll report you—"

"Oh, yes?" Ochako says. "To who?"

"The school. The police—"

"I'll kill all of them."

Beat. "What?"

"I'll kill all the teachers. I'll kill all the police," says Ochako calmly. "And all the Heroes. I'll kill your parents and your baby sister and your dog. Who's left then? All Might? I'll kill him too."

Taka-kun looks at her like he's finally looking at her for the first time. As if he finally really, really sees her. He is looking at her like she's insane.

"You … can't," Taka-kun says, almost childishly. His brain can't comprehend the absurdity of Ochako's words. "You can't kill All Might—"

The absence of gravity locks him in place, and he is helpless when Ochako moves forward to hold the sides of his head, gentle as vice. "Are you sure?" Ochako says, and her Quirk flares.

Spacetime stretches and weaves and molds. Its curvature follows the touch of gravity, nulled by the fingertips of Ochako's hands. "What if I can kill All Might?" Ochako asks him calmly. "Yes. I think that's what I'm going to do if you report me. I'll try to kill All Might, and we'll see if I can actually do it. Maybe I can. Maybe I can't. Would you take that chance, Taka-kun?"

He seems confused, and terrorized. Being under the influence of Ochako's Quirk has that effect on people. "Why're you doing this…" he says. His tears can't fall from his eyes—there is neither direction for them to fall into, nor weight for them to fall with. The epidermis of his skin starts to splinter apart with no force to hold it together. "I think I'm going to die."

He is going to die if she keeps this up. Ochako releases her hold on him. On the ground, Taka-kun jerks randomly, an involuntary reaction as the body experiences becoming proper matter again. And then he bends over to throw up all over the swings.

She waits until he finishes vomiting out the croissant and parfait. She kneels so she can look him in the eye. "Taka-kun?" she calls him sweetly. "Are you done?"

He looks back at her, eyes all glazed and fucked up. "I. Yeah."

"Great. Like I said, I just wanted to talk to you. And this time, you have to answer me honestly. Let's have a little heart to heart, Taka-kun. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. So talk to me, Taka-kun! Think of it, as, like, your interview practice for when you're a su-per famous Pro-Hero one day. Why do you want to be a Hero?"

He just sobs, so her Quirk pulls at the edges of him again, just a nudge. He moans in pain, and she lets him go. "Why are you going to UA, Taka-kun?"

"I," his tears do fall this time, now that gravity can reach him. "I. Because. It's—cool," he sobs. "I want to be a Hero because. It's cool."

Ochako looks at him blankly. "Why is it cool?"

"Because—" his voice breaks. His breath smells like bile and chocolate. "Fuck my head what did you do to me oh god because. Because. It's cool. To save people."

"But you like hurting people," Ochako says. She saw what was inside his phone—Chi-chan isn't the only one. Ochako smiles. "That's so funny, Taka-kun."

"Please don't tell anyone," Taka-kun says. "Please. Please. I'll delete them. All of it. I'll delete them, just please—I won't do it again, I won't, so—"

He is on his knees, sobbing. Now that she's got her answer, she's bored again. Ochako stands up, leaving him babbling on the ground. She walks to the station and takes the train home.

It's a long ride returning from the end of the city, but the train is not so crowded on a weekday. She looks out the window and watches as city lights blur together. She puts a hand on the glass, pinky raised, and feels how neurons and protons squirm and shake, begging to be released from gravity's love.

You can't kill All Might.

That's not true. Ochako knows she can kill just about anything.

But.

But.

If there is anyone on earth who has even the slightest chance of killing her … it would be All Might, wouldn't it? If anyone can kill Ochako, it would be the ultimate Hero. And didn't they say All Might is teaching UA this year?

Ochako gazes out the window and smiles at the gaping black of the world.

The next day at school, Taka-kun is late.

So late that Ochako almost thinks he isn't going to come at all. But he does, eventually. He barges in the middle of homeroom, looking like he didn't sleep a wink; hair unkempt, shirt rumpled, eyes crazy. "Finally here to join us, Shirozaki?" Sensei says. "Take a seat. Togeike—well, Togeike is still absent, I see. Now, for the rest of you, has everyone handed in their future aspiration forms yet?"

"Oh, I haven't," Ochako stands up from her seat, her form in hand. "Here you go, sensei."

"Uraraka-kun. You've decided, then, which high school you want to go to?" the teacher takes the form from her. "Huh. I see you've decided on—"

"UA," Uraraka says, to the ooooh of the other students. "I'll be going to UA, sensei."

The teacher's eyebrows rise. He nods to Taka-kun. "Looks like you've got a rival here, Shirozaki-kun. Heavy competition coming from the entire country aside, UA usually only picks one kid per school, so you two both better watch out for each other, eh?"

The teacher says it genially, as a harmless, friendly joke. Ochako smiles. "Of course, sensei." She glances back at Taka-kun, who is pale as a sheet. "You'll watch out for me, won't you, Taka-kun?"

Taka-kun doesn't come back to school after that. And Ochako is going to UA.

Maybe.

Maybe she'll pass the entrance test. Maybe not. But one thing for sure is that she has decided to end the world.

First of all, it's not out of animosity.

Uraraka Ochako doesn't remember the last time she felt anything even close to hate. Mostly it's out of boredom, and some of it, she has to admit, is out of curiosity.

You know that funny little urge you get when you stare at a fire alarm plastered on the wall, wondering what would happen if you reach out your hand and push?

That kind of curiosity. Childlike and innocent and harmless in intent—but perhaps, not so much in execution. But to be fair, calling it curiosity isn't quite right. What would happen next is pretty much obvious. The alarm blares, the sprinkler turns on, and you will receive the scolding of your life on top of several thousand yen fine for intentional misuse.

Ochako knows what would happen if she nullifies gravity from Earth.

It's very simple—rocket science sort of simple, in fact. What would happen is—are you ready? Okay, here we go, what would happen is: everyone would die.

There. Everyone. Including her, her family, her mom's pet fish and her dad's collection of moss balls. Everything will be obliterated. Just like that.

Ochako felt it the first time she touched the ground with her Quirk.

Thumb down, and then her pointer, middle, and ring finger. Her pinky is hovering just a tad over the asphalt. And Ochako could feel it: the stitches of mass and resonance. The push and pull of the tides. Time and space, knitted in a bow, just for her. Just for her. Wrapped around Ochako's finger is the single thread holding the entire planet together, a mass that she can undo with just a touch of her pinky finger.

Ultimately, she decides that she will end the world because she simply has to end the world.

This is not a matter of want. Ochako can't remember the last time she really wanted anything. What this is, is a matter of utility. Ochako simply has to do it because Ochako understands innately—like how a butterfly understands that it has to fly—that this is something she simply does. It's what she was made for, because it's what she can do.

But—hold on. Consequences, right? Cause and effect are very simple, as simple as people running down the halls to evacuate the building as the alarm blares on and on to a non-existent fire.

She knows what would happen: utter annihilation, which is a consequence concrete enough that it should deter her from doing … huh. There is a word for it. A term that describes "an act that derives from the norm of society that could possibly exterminate a large number if not the entirety of said society". A word like ... misdemeanor? Crime is close, but not exactly it…

Ah. Genocide. Yes, genocide.

Anyway. Back to consequences and morals and—conscience. Yes. The thing that should stop her from misusing fire alarms for her own entertainment and stops her from being the harbinger of the apocalypse, for her own entertainment or otherwise. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Ochako wouldn't know conscience if it's on its knees begging her for its life. Because, you see, Uraraka Ochako is what people in the business would call an "absolute nutcase".

This isn't her parents' fault, by the way.

Or maybe it is. Arguably, it could be. What's that thing people say—nature versus nurture, something like that? Ochako was nurtured very well. Nice life. Loving parents. Not rich, but loving. And nothing ever really happened to Ochako growing up. Ochako grows up in the ideal way that kids her age should grow up in their current socio-economic climate. She goes to school, she gets her Quirk, she socializes, she doesn't do drugs, no boys, and she gets home every night by curfew. She has never even been bullied. It's all as normal as it gets.

Life, so far as Ochako is concerned, is smooth-sailing. Far too smooth—zero bumps on the road, not even a single pebble standing in her way. So smooth that it doesn't feel like she is sailing at all. So smooth and unobstructed that it barely feels like she's riding anything at all.

So. Nature. Maybe it's always been in her, that innate coldness. But Ochako is nice enough, warm enough. She isn't cold—she just … lacks something. This lackness doesn't stop her from being a good girl. Ochako is a good girl. A good girl with a smooth-sailing life—that's her. It's all pretty boring. Boring enough that she's considering not dying as one.

So above all, Ochako decides to end the world because really, she has nothing else to look forward to in her boring smooth-sailing life.

Does that make sense? No?

Well, that doesn't matter. Because Ochako has always been going to end the world. It's just a matter of when.

And regarding curiosity, well—okay, while Ochako knows very well that she is capable of obliterating every form of life that inhabits the humble little sphere in the Milky Way called Earth—she doesn't really know, does she? Not before she actually does it? If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

The end of the world, Ochako thinks, can be more than just a thought experiment. It can be a physics problem.

Newton's theorem on the gravitational attraction between two spherical objects. F = G(M1*M2/R2).

(Ten.)

Say M1 is the mass of Earth. M2 is a 1-kg sphere. R is the radius of the earth—approximately 6,400,000 meters. G is the gravitational universal constant—6.6743 × 10-11 m^3 kg^-1s^-2. And F is, of course, the attraction between the two spheres, the acceleration due to gravity—the one and only 9.8 m/s^2.

(Nine.)

From this equation, we know that the Earth has a mass of 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms.

(Eight.)

Physics problem. If the force of gravity is taken out of the equation. What would happen to Earth's mass? And what would happen, say, to the Earth's masses?

(Seven.)

Ochako has never been one for theory. She has always preferred practical lessons.

(Six.)

But sometimes, when Ochako is feeling especially bored, she would close her eyes and count to zero.

(Five.)

And she would imagine it.

(Four.)

Play it all out in her head. A thought experiment. A theoretical equation. She would picture all of it—the unraveling. The snap of the thread.

(Three.)

The push. The weightlessness of it all.

(Two.)

Ochako would close her eyes, and—

(One.)

"Boom," she would whisper to herself.