Ochako gazed into the night sky, blanketed in stars and the Milky Way stretching across it. A meteor shower broke up the stillness and the lapping of the waves against the shore added a beautiful ambiance.
At this moment, she felt free from everything. At this moment she could forget everything.
And yet...
Something was wrong.
The sound of the waves grew steadily louder, but she couldn't look away from the starry sky. Only now it wasn't so comforting as the stars seemed to be looking back at her.
A sense of forbidding formed within her and she finally tore her eyes away from the sky and looked around her. She realized she was deep in the water, water that did not reflect the light of the stars. It was black and churning angrily. She got to her feet and looked around for the shore as the water lapped at her almost in anger.
The water grew angrier, becoming thick, clawing at her. Like hands, it seemed to grab hold of her and try and drag her under. She thrashed desperately but couldn't stop it, only barely managing to keep her head and shoulders above the water. She looked to stary sky for aid, for anything that might save her.
Yet the stars were gone, replaced by a million tiny eyes staring at her, unblinking, accusatory. She screamed in terror, the eyes content to watch as the water slowly dragged her millimeter by millimeter downward. She thrashed desperately, some of the black water getting into her mouth and tasting of ash and burning.
Now the entire water was starting to burn her, a sea of burning blackness, eager to drag her under.
She looked up once more and suddenly saw a figure standing above her, tall, imposing, and dark, silhouetted against the sea of eyes. He stood atop the water staring down at her, two red unblinking eyes blazing down at her, the only thing of his body that was visible.
"HELP ME!" She screamed out, trying to reach a hand out to him.
The figure said nothing and just continued to look down at her.
Then slowly, he raised one boot above her head. Then slowly, agonizingly slowly he moved it toward her face. She tried to stop him, desperately trying to stop his boot but it was unstoppable.
"NO!" She screamed tears running down her face as the water burned hotter scalding her and torturing her.
"DON'T DO THIS IZUKU!" She screamed.
"You are unworthy..." he whispered, his voice echoing across the water, creating a chorus that repeated the words endlessly.
He just pressed down on her face obscuring one eye as he pushed her under the water, drowning her in the scalding black water under a sea of eyes in the sky gazing down unfeelingly.
As the water overtook her, she looked down and saw that it was no longer the water pulling her down, but the skeletal visage and body of Stain, his mad eyes smiling in delight, a rictus grin on his face.
"Death, to the false hero." He whispered and then pulled her into the void of the darkness that lay at the bottom of the burning ocean. All of it overseen by the sea of stars that lay in the sky above.
Ochako awoke, eyes flying open and seeing nothing but darkness. For a moment, she thought the nightmare had come with her, she and her chest heaved, desperate for air, as if she had just been saved from drowning
She felt a weight atop her, and she thrashed about, throwing the covers off of her bed and she sat bolt upright, shivering and gasping. Over time she started to make sense of her surroundings and her sense of reality started to return.
She sat, panting, and could feel the sweat on her, her shivering was starting to subside, and her mouth was dry. Her eyes started to water from dry eyes and she blinked several times. She instinctually reached across to the other side of the bed, intending to grab hold of Izuku for comfort, but her hands met nothing. She turned to see an empty bed and remembered that Izuku was working late and her anxiety rose considerably. She grabbed the pillow that Izuku used and clutched it to her.
As she sat there, shaking and feeling clammy all over, the lingering smell of Izuku on the pillow slowly started to calm her. Her breathing relaxed, the shaking started to slow and the clammy feeling slowly started to fade. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and rubbed her face. She checked the clock and saw that it was three in the morning. She sat on the edge of the bed for a few minutes, before standing and taking slow deep breaths.
When she finally felt strong enough, she walked into the living room, taking Izuku's pillow with her, and clutching it to her chest. Just holding it made her feel better, like a stuffed animal, or an old childhood blanket. Her mind briefly flashed to the home she grew up in, now empty and forlorn, her old stuffed red panda from when she was a baby, likely still on her bed. She wished she had it with her now.
She went to the door leading to the balcony but hesitated, she could still see the sky filled with eyes in her mind. She suddenly felt nauseous and stepped away from the door. Instead, she went to the sofa grabbed the blanket from its back, and wrapped herself in it.
Even then, wrapped snuggly in the blanket, Izukus pillow in her hands, she still felt like she was being watched. A feeling that had become all too familiar to her as of late. She simply lay on the couch, propped up against the armrest, trying not to think about anything. At some point, though she heard the telltale noise of a key turning the front door lock, she sat up and stared toward the door leading to the hallway, and she could hear the front door open and then close a moment later.
She immediately felt herself relax and after some quiet noise from the entrance, the door to the living room opened and Izuku walked in, freezing in surprise as he caught sight of Ochako sitting on the sofa.
As she laid her eyes on him, she felt a brief rush of joy before the nightmare forced its way into her mind and the memory of Izuku slowly pushing her beneath the waves crashed into her. She reflexively tensed and drew the blanket closer around her and her heart rate quickened.
She couldn't see Izuku's face clearly in the dark but she saw his silhouette shift and he placed his bag on the floor by the door.
"You had another nightmare," he said softly.
She didn't trust herself to speak so instead nodded and he started toward her. Her body tried to move back into the sofa and she had to remind herself that Izuku would never hurt her. She took a deep steadying breath, letting some of the tension leak out.
Izuku sat down beside her, and he was now close enough that she could see his face. Concern was written upon it, but his eyes were watching her carefully, taking everything he saw into account. That unintended knack of his to look like he was looking into her was at times, unnerving, and this was one of those times.
She slid her eyes away from his, unable to bear looking at him as she felt some level of guilt from having reacted the way she did when she saw him.
Izuku stopped looking at her and instead got himself comfortable on the sofa, preferring to just sit in silence with her.
Ochako wasn't sure how long they sat there, but eventually, she shuffled sideways into his side and rested her head on his shoulder. She snaked a hand from underneath the blanket and took hold of his.
His hand was warm, and she allowed herself to relax into him.
She wasn't sure when it happened, but eventually, she drifted back to sleep, because the next thing she noticed was her opening her eyes.
She yawned and sat upright, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Then her still sleepy brain registered the sound and smell of eggs being made. She blinked several times and yawned again, stretching her arms over her head and getting to her feet.
She padded over to the edge of the kitchen counter looked over and saw Izuku making eggs. Next to her, the rice cooker was on, and beside it was a bowl of natto with two bananas and tea. Izuku hadn't noticed her yet, and she watched him work for a few moments before Izuku noticed her and smiled.
"Morning," he said brightly.
"Morning, what time is it?" she asked
"About eight," he said, going back to the eggs.
Ochako felt a stab of guilt at that.
"I'm sorry, I should have taken care of breakfast. You were at the lab until three in the morning." she apologized.
"It's fine, I could tell you had a rough night," he said, taking the eggs off the burner and grabbing two plates.
"What time did you get to sleep?" she asked sheepishly.
"Uhh... around four maybe? three forty-five?" he said, as he brought the eggs and plates over to the rice cooker and other food.
"Here let me do that, go sit down," she said, inserting herself between him and the food.
Izuku frowned and opened his mouth to protest but Ochako cut him off.
"SIT," she said, shooting him a glare.
Izuku just sighed but smiled as he went and took a seat at the dining table. Ochako could hear the TV turn on while she made the plates. When she was done she carried the plates over and set one down in front of Izuku and another where she would sit before fetching the tea.
She sat down at the table next to Izuku and glanced at the TV that Izuku had set for the weather. They watched the reports for the day and the next week as they ate, but when the weather report ended Izuku looked at her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.
"I would, but I kinda don't remember the nightmare anymore," Ochako lied with a laugh.
Izuku didn't say anything, just continued to eat his food but Ochako could see he was still troubled by it.
"I know it bothers you, and I know it hurts knowing you can't help, but this isn't something that can just be fixed." She said softly.
Izuku stopped eating.
"Izuku, the best thing you can do is just be here." She said. She smiled, took his hand, and leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek.
She saw a half smile form on his face and she couldn't help but giggle a little as he went a bit red. Even after two years, he was still remarkably easy to embarrass. It was adorable, and it also made teasing him at times all the better.
"Anyways, what caused you to stay at the lab so late?" Ochako asked.
"David needed help with his latest support tech. His latest project is trying to make something like the QUEESS that can empower someone's quirk without relying on something like OFA, AFO, or Trigger. He thought he was on the cusp of a breakthrough so he asked me to stay behind and help out." Izuku said.
"... and did he have a breakthrough?" she asked.
"No, it turned out to be a dead end. The main problem lies in getting the system to interface with a person's body and by extension their quirk factor without using another quirk as an intermediary. Trigger works by forcing the quirk to express itself more strongly, but as you know it has some serious side effects outside of being very addictive. It only worked in the QUEESS because it was being used on the near-inert cells of AFO and OFA, so its side effects didn't matter. David hopes to create something that will encourage someone's quirk factor to express itself naturally. The problem I see, however, is that this might not be possible with his approach. This sort of thing might only be possible with something like hormone therapy but for quirks. Still, if anyone can figure out a technological way of accomplishing it, he can." Izuku said.
Ochako didn't say anything, instead opting to eat. She knew of David's work, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. Her own experience with frankly experimental quirk-enhancing technology had been bad, to say the least. The experiments of the QUEESS had done permanent genetic damage to her body, not unlike what radiation could do and no one was sure what this might mean for her in the future. The list of problems that accompanied it was very, very long. Then there was the fact that she had a host of surgical-like scars running all along her back and spine. The mere memory of it all made her feel queasy.
"What about you though?" Izuku asked.
Ochako shook her head briefly, dispelling the gloomy thoughts, and let out a huff of irritation.
"Same as usual. The H.A. can't seem to decide anything collectively, so all the different departments are trying to do their own thing and keep this stable. The system just isn't working as it did before the war. Were you paying attention to the latest U.N. summit?" she asked.
Izuku shook his head.
"Well basically the U.N. decided to broaden the scope of the Quirk Committee. It's now the Quirk and Heroics Committee. It is now aimed at curbing the power of the H.A. and introducing global supervision of all their branches although they didn't phrase it as such. The war brought to light the near-unlimited power the H.A. has enjoyed for the past fifty years and the lack of oversight. Which of course, resulted in the Security Commission running the entire organization from the shadows, and eventually, heroic society as a whole." Ochako said, her irritation obvious.
"So now the entire Japanese branch of the H.A. is in turmoil trying to figure things out. I imagine the other branches are the same across the globe." she finished.
There was a lull in the conversation as they finished their breakfast.
Ochako stood up, grabbed the plates and cups, and took them to the sink to wash them.
"You go ahead and sleep, I'll wash up." She said.
"No, I can help," Izuku said, standing and yawning.
Something in Ochako snapped as she saw him yawning and she slammed a plastic cup onto the countertop, glaring daggers at him.
"This is starting to get ridiculous! You work to or past midnight almost every day, getting anywhere from six to four hours of sleep, and make breakfast for both of us, before going back to the lab! You're going to crash if you keep this up! I know your research means a lot to you, but please, take care of yourself. I want you to come home earlier so you can sleep more, but if that's too much for you, at least try to get some extra sleep during the weekends." She said with an exasperated sigh.
To her satisfaction, Izuku seemed to be thoroughly chastised and couldn't meet her gaze.
"I... I'll try..." he said eventually.
Ochako sighed again but smiled.
"Good enough I guess, now get to bed. We got those blinds and black-out curtains for every window, for more than one reason. I'll join you once I'm done here, then, maybe we can go out in the afternoon." she said, going back to the dishes.
Izuku smiled sheepishly, turned around, and went to the bedroom rubbing the back of his neck.
Ochako rubbed her face in agitation. Sometimes it felt like Izuku would keel over if he didn't have someone to keep an eye on him. He was so single-mindedly driven that he would sacrifice his health by sheer accident. As she worked, she couldn't help but start laughing to herself. She wondered if this is how her parents felt looking after her when she was a child and obsessed with heroes. Before wondering what Izuku as a child must have been like, if she had been alive, she would have loved to ask Izuku's mother about it.
She wrapped up the washing, dried, and put the dishes back in their places, cleaned out the rice cooker and the rest of the cooking implements then headed back to the bedroom. She paused in the doorway and took a moment to look at Izuku who was fast asleep on the bed. She shook her head, a smile working its way onto her face. Then she crawled into bed with Izuku, cuddling into him, wholly content with the situation.
When she next awoke, it was to the stirring of Izuku. She blinked blearily and yawned, fidgeting and stretching as she did. She sat up slowly and looked around, Izuku was clambering out of the bed. She glanced at the clock and saw it was one in the afternoon, she yawned again and started getting out of bed as well.
"You still want to go out?" Izuku asked through another yawn as he started rummaging through his wardrobe.
"Yeah, it's been a while since we've gone out, and as much as I prefer being inside all day, I should go outside every once in a while. Besides, I want to eat out." She said, grabbing some non-descript clothes and her ball cap.
They changed into some casual clothes, and while Izuku donned his ball cap and sunglasses, she went into the bathroom and applied some quick makeup. When her perpetual blush was well obscured, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail, put on her hat, and fed her ponytail through the back.
She joined Izuku in the living room grabbed her gloves from the hallway table and put them on. She looked herself over, making sure she wasn't forgetting anything before grabbing her wallet, phone, and keys and stuffing them into her pockets.
"Ready?" Izuku asked.
She nodded but as Izuku made his way to the front door she lagged, looking at the door warily.
"Maybe... Maybe we should leave through the back..." Ochako said hesitantly.
Izuku turned to look at her, "I know you're nervous, but Nezu assured us it wouldn't happen again. That's why we moved to the top floor, and he set up the extra security cameras here at the teacher apartments, and elsewhere across the campus. We should be fine to leave through the front, but if you're still nervous we can exit through the back gate and hit the stores on that side of town." Izuku said.
Ochako chewed her bottom lip for a few seconds before nodding. Now with her approval, Izuku opened the front door and held it for her. Ochako took a deep breath and then left the safety of her apartment.