Title: first step is the hardest
A/N: For the Gravity Between Us Vol 2! These two are so awkward with each other, I just want to shove them in a closet to sort it all out.
Summary: This was the way it always went: Izuku got injured and he found trainee healer Ochaco to tend to his wounds. She didn't mind it, this relationship, this way of staying close to him without having to take any risks. But…maybe it's time she took a leap forward.
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Someone knocked on the door. Ochaco jerked her head up at the sound, tearing her attention away from the book in her hand. It sat heavily on her lap, her finger still marking the paragraph she'd been reading. Around her, her office was as messy as ever. Her notes lay scattered across the floor, magical tools abandoned and forgotten in odd corners, and there were at least three different mugs of coffee perched on various pieces of furniture.
Another knock reminded her of just why she'd looked up. "C-coming!" she yelped as she sprang off her chair, her thick tome falling to her feet with a loud thud. She winced.
Through the wooden door, rand a familiar, muffled voice: "Are you okay?"
Izuku.
Ochaco tried and failed to tamp down her blush. It was just Izuku's voice. It was an ordinary question. She hadn't even seen him yet. Yet, for the life of her, she couldn't help but react to it.
This crush was starting to get out of control.
"Yeah!" she shouted, praying he couldn't hear the blush in her tone. Stumbling to the door, she pressed her cheek against the cool, firm surface, hoping it'd get rid of the red. Her heart beat like a drum. She breathed in. She breathed out.
And then, as calm as she was going to get, she opened the door with a wide smile. "I'm fine! But if you're here…did you get injured again?"
A sheepish Izuku filled her sight. As usual, he still had some of his armour on. He must have rushed here straight from practice. It'd actually be stranger if he hadn't; almost all of his training bouts ended in injuries. He got injured so often that her office was considered the third most likely place to find Izuku, right after the stables and the training grounds.
"Well…" Izuku rubbed his neck, embarrassed. He held up his right arm. His white sleeve was rolled up, revealing a series of cuts and bruises encircling his skin. "Just a little bit."
Ochaco paled. Izuku always surprised her, in the best and worst of ways, and she didn't think she'd ever get used to his training injuries. She reached for him, trying to tamp down on that little spike of nerves she got whenever Izuku was injured. How was he always so calm when he was hurt? "Oh my god."
"It looks worse than it feels," Izuku added, smiling nervously. Despite his words, she could make out a thin sheen of sweat on his brow, the slight wince as he lowered his arm, the way his jaw tightened as he breathed. The only good thing was that the cuts weren't bleeding anymore, though red stained his shirt and smeared his skin.
Ochaco gritted her teeth. Pull yourself together! She had been training as an apprentice mage for a year, had been treating Izuku for months. This wasn't the time to panic. "That's an understatement!"
She stepped aside, ushering him in. Quickly, she cleared a spot for him to sit. Izuku knew the drill by now and promptly plopped down on the chair. As he unbuttoned his shirt, he apologized. "Sorry about this."
"It's not your fault you got hurt…" Ochaco trailed off before eyeing him suspiciously. This wouldn't be the first time he'd overworked himself. "It's not, right?"
He didn't look her in the eye. His voice was guilt-ridden. "I…I'm not sure."
She covered her face with a hand. There was a reason the head mage had stopped taking care of Izuku's training injuries. There was a reason it had all been relegated to her. The man always came in once a week looking like he'd lost a fight. And that was a good week. "You're not sure."
"I…well…" Izuku scratched his cheek as he struggled to find the words. "I kinda got a new blessing, and I was trying to use it."
Her head snapped up. "Another new blessing?"
"Yeah…" He averted his gaze as he shrugged. "It just came to me."
Ochaco doubted that. The god's blessings were usually limited to one per person. Few people unlocked theirs after childhood, fewer still that had multiple blessings. Yet Izuku had not just one, but three, and all gained after he'd joined the knights just last year. Even the great hero, the Almighty Sir Toshinori, only had one blessing.
He was hiding something. This was more than just being a late bloomer. Even if he hadn't been a terrible liar, she'd have known that. Something in her ached at the thought—did he not trust her? Did he think she couldn't handle it? Her lips parted to ask, but she forced the questions back down.
She didn't want to pry. And there was something more important to deal with right now. Ochaco grabbed a jar of ink and her paintbrush. After dragging a stool closer to his seat, she sat down across from him. "You're overworking yourself."
"Not really." He carefully pulled off his shirt, revealing a toned chest. Scattered across his skin were the remnants of other long-healed injuries. "I'm just starting as a knight and everyone else is miles ahead. I have to catch up."
Ochaco stared at the murky black ink. The hardest part of taking care of him was sitting across from all of that and trying not to react. Forcing her hand to move, she dipped the brush in the ink and shifted her focus back to him. And his very, very attractive muscles. "You're…you're still overworking yourself. You need to rest sometimes."
Good. Her voice didn't come out weird. Her hand remained steady as she started to paint runes on his skin. Good. Good.
Izuku breathed in sharply. "I rest," he replied, sounding oddly squeaky and strangled. His body stiffened.
Ochaco peeked up. Red dusted his cheeks—that was new. He had never reacted like that before. She'd have to ask him later about it. Hopefully, it didn't have anything to do with her brush; at her skill level, she needed to draw these runes in order to heal. "You don't," she replied as she returned to her work.
"I do," he protested.
"Not enough," she disagreed firmly. She met his eyes with a hard glare. "Don't lie."
"That's…sorry. I'll do better." Izuku coughed, clearing his throat. It still sounded unnaturally high. "Um…how's your training?"
Ochaco chuckled as she sat back, setting aside the paint. "Well," she drawled with a teasing smirk. "I'm really good at healing now."
"Wh—" Izuku froze as he understood the implication of her words. He flushed, the red spreading all the way to his neck. "Sorry."
She giggled. Part of her wanted to tease him more. Ochaco rested her palms on his chest and closed her eyes. "Maybe I should specialize in it. There're too many spells to learn otherwise. I can't memorize all the runes."
Power welled up within her and flowed out of her fingertips, jumping to each of the runes like lightning rods. It left her with an oddly gentle, bubbly feeling. If only her attack magic worked just as well.
"I know you can do it," Izuku reassured, and she almost opened her eyes at the sudden praise. "I've seen how hard you work."
I've watched you too. The words remained locked in her chest. Part of her was afraid of ruining the careful balance they'd achieved. Another part of her was just afraid of rejection. She'd spent so long looking at him, she didn't know where else to turn.
But if she stayed like this, nothing would change. Ochaco pulled away and clasped her hands in her lap. Steeling herself, she asked, "This Saturday, you're off, right?"
"Saturday?" Izuku bit his lip as he pulled on and buttoned his shirt. After mulling it over, he nodded. "Yeah, there's no training."
"Do you have any plans?" She swallowed nervously. This was it. This was the question she'd been wanting to ask for months.
"Not exactly…" He crossed his arms, thinking about it. "I mean, I could train—"
"No. Training." Ochaco ground her teeth, shooting him a glare. Exhaling softly, she fiddled with her fingers. "There was this field I told you about, remember? The one with the herbs? I was…thinking of going there and—and do you want to come with?"
Izuku stared at her blankly. When his silence became almost unbearable and she was just about to poke him, he sat up straighter and nodded. "S-sure. You wanted to collect those herbs for a while, right?"
"Y-yeah." That wasn't quite what she meant, and she felt both disappointed and elated. "So you'll come?"
He gave her a thumbs up. "Definitely!"
It wasn't what she had intended, but it was still a date of sorts. Ochaco smiled brightly. It was a step forward, and she'd take it.