Izuku and Ochaco had been running in silence for about ten minutes, neither wanting to say anything due to their lack of breath from the workout. The sun hadn't yet peeked out from the backdrop of hills that the outskirts of Musutafu were abundant in. Although it was late summer, it was oddly brisk outside.
That didn't faze the two runners, as they were working up a sweat despite the chill.
A minute or two more passed before someone finally decided to speak up.
It was Ochaco, "heh… hey, Deku. How about we… heh… take a breather in that… heh… park up there," she panted, pointing to the location not too far ahead, "I'm not used to… heh… jogging at this elevation."
Izuku looked to where she had pointed. There was a small clearing ahead, adorned with a few swings, benches, and a large, dilapidated gazebo topped with a belvedere. Trees surrounded three sides of the park, a cul-de-sac of foliage. "Sure. I think I see a couple benches over there. It'd be a good place to rest."
They ran the rest of the way to the park, Ochaco practically falling onto a bench once they reached it. She hunched over, taking in huge gulps of air at a time. Izuku unzipped one of his pockets and pulled out the water bottle he had brought along, unscrewing the cap and taking a massive swig.
When he took a seat next to Ochaco, she tilted her head slightly, eyeing the bottle with a ravenous thirst. "Wwwaaaaaaatttteeeeeeeerrrrrrrrr," she moaned, slowly grabbing it from Izuku's hand.
Before he could protest, she put the container to her lips, threw her head back, and began decimating the liquid inside. She didn't seem to notice or care as thin streams of the drink seeped out of the corners of her mouth and dripped down her chin. Izuku watched her with raised eyebrows—she seldom lost her cool. This must have been one of those times.
She had downed about three quarters of the bottle's contents before realizing what she was doing. Her eyes went wide and she whipped her head back down. Some water came out of her mouth due to the suddenness of the motion, further adding to her embarrassment.
"Omygosh, I'm sorry, Deku!" she cried, "I was just so thirsty and I saw your bottle and I just HAD to—"
"It's fine!" he said quickly. She made a move to give him the bottle back, but he waved a hand at it. "No, you can have the rest. There's probably a drinking fountain around here."
She thrust the bottle into his hands. "No. It's yours. If anyone needs to find a fountain, I do."
"B-but, y-you drank out of this…"
Ochaco was puzzled. "I'm not sick or anything, if that's the problem."
That definitely wasn't the problem, but he didn't want to outright state it. She put her mouth on this! I can't believe she put her mouth on this! If I do that, it's like I'm… I'm…. Oh no, what do I do? "I-It's just that… y-y-you… I d-don't want to be weird about t-this…" He could feel the heat on his face, and since that was the case, he was sure she could see it. He silently begged that his raging blush would tell her what he didn't want to state in words.
Izuku had seen red Christmas lights turn on many times. The second Ochaco understood what he meant, her cheeks were two big ones.
"O-oh. I s-s-see."
What surprised Izuku the most is that she didn't move. He'd noticed on a few occasions that, whenever she got flustered around him, she'd run away. Well, Mina was the first to point it out (it had been a side conversation with Hagakure, and Izuku wasn't eavesdropping or anything—Mina was just loud).
Both teens sat there, unmoving, unflinching. Izuku still had the bottle in his hand, but its existence was on the fringes of his mind. His biggest focus was how to swallow without making it painfully obvious to Ochaco how dry his mouth was. She was still looking at him, and he felt obligated to do the same, as breaking eye contact would break the moment.
A small corner of his mind wondered why he didn't want the moment to break.
It did anyway when he felt the bench shift under the weight of another person. Ochaco looked past Izuku and presumably at whoever had just sat down, her arched eyebrow indicating a mix of confusion and curiosity. Izuku was equally curious, slowly turning around to peek at the newcomer.
It was a girl, and she looked to be about the same age as him. She was facing forward, a few loose strands of her long white hair blew in the light wind, and a sliver of morning sunlight illuminated her mismatched eyes.
The slight breeze turned into a headwind, exposing more of the girl's features. There was something else, too, and Izuku almost recoiled when he saw it—it was in stark contrast to everything else. From what he could see, she had three almost-parallel scars on her neck, and their sickly red-green color was tremendously off-putting. The wind died down and her hair receded to its original position, blocking the scars from view. His face began to heat when he realized he was basically gawking at her.
Suddenly, his eyes burned blue-grey and purple when she turned to face him. The hair on the girl's left side was that same white color at its roots, but it gradually became a silky obsidian hue near her neckline, a fact Izuku barely even registered, his eyes never wavering from hers. Why wasn't she saying anything…?
The moment broke (moments had been doing that a lot lately) when the newcomer faced forward again without a word. Izuku mirrored her, scooting closer to the now-staring Ochaco. This girl's still an unknown, Izuku reasoned, can't be too careful. I've never seen her before; she could be a villain for all I know. Why's she sitting here anyway?
"Amazing view, isn't it?" the girl finally spoke, her voice smooth and measured. Izuku wasn't sure if she was talking about herself or something else. Then, she gestured to the beginnings of sunlight seeping over the hill that the UA building was on. The mountains were silhouettes beyond the school, its windows twinkling with the sun's refracted rays. "I come here quite often for it. This bench has the best view of the sunrise this time of year."
That explained why she was there at the time and on their bench. Izuku had bigger questions than that.
Apparently, so did Ochaco, who beat him to the punch, "Not to be rude, but… who are you?" she asked, bending over so she could look at the girl she was addressing without Izuku blocking her view. Izuku turned his head toward the girl in question too, awaiting her response with interest.
As the girl turned to face the duo, Izuku felt his body go rigid again, as if simply looking away from her would be a difficult task. She just looked so... unique.
"How impolite of me," she said, shaking her head slightly. "My name is Kiriuki Ochi." She stuck her hand out to Izuku. "And, you are...?"
Izuku stared at her outstretched hand for about five seconds before grabbing it. "Uh, I-I'm... I-I-Izuku Midoriya." he managed to say. He somehow managed to not be as awkward about the handshake, though.
"Hmm... Interesting."
Izuku thought that was a strange response, but didn't comment. Ochi's eyes moved over to Ochaco's, extending her hand to the brunette. "A friend of his, I assume?"
Ochaco took Ochi's hand, shaking it lightly. "Ochaco Uraraka. And, yes." she answered, far less entranced by Ochi than Izuku was.
"Glad to have made your acquaintance."
"Why so formal?" Izuku blurted out and then instantly regretting it. He didn't want to sound rude to the stranger. "Sorry. T-That came out wrong..."
Ochi didn't look at him, nor did she immediately answer, her gaze remaining on UA and the sunrise. She tilted her head to one side, the edge of her mouth curved up into a smirk.
"You didn't show up to your first day of class in your PJ's, did you?"
Izuku hadn't been expecting any particular response, but this was way out of left field. "Of c-course not, I wore my... Ohhhhh." It clicked, and the analyzing portion of his brain took control of his mouth. "You're showing a basic courtesy to strangers even though we're your age while simultaneously taking the safe route of not being too comfortable around us, choosing instead to gauge our own personalities before fully revealing yours!" He clapped his hands over his mouth, afraid his idiosyncratic rambling would weird her out.
She wasn't fazed at all. She even giggled a little. "So you are the over-analyzing type. I like that."
He felt something swoop in his chest, but his brain instantly went on the defensive. The way she phrased that….
Ochaco, who had been silent up to this point, heard it too. "You know us."
She laughed, and some of the tension in the air was swallowed up in the sound of it. "Of course I do! If the Emperor's son died, who wouldn't know?"
It wasn't a great comparison, but Izuku got the gist of it. "It's because we go to UA."
She giggled again, as if her little analogies were a game and someone was finally playing with her. "Not only that. You're in the hero course! Normally, the Sports Festival is what gets you guys noticed, but it doesn't hold a candle to all the other stuff! The USJ! I-Island! Hosu! Kamino!" Her voice's volume increasing with each incident. "You're everywhere! I swear, your class is probably more famous than Gang Orca!"
Izuku wasn't going to try to unpack all of that. "W-Wow. You, um, certainly know your stuff, but we're a long way away from being pros." He looked down at his forever damaged right hand. "If I'm being honest, I think I'd have rather had a more normal academic experience."
Ochi gasped. "But... but..."
"I agree," Ochaco cut in. "There's a lot we didn't get to learn because of some of the incidents. Both the USJ and summer training camp turned out poorly."
Izuku flinched at the mention of the summer training camp. He was still working through what he and Ochaco had discussed last night as well as his own regrets. If only he'd been faster….
Whether Ochi noticed Izuku's reaction or not, she decided not to push the subject further. Well, not that part of the subject at least.
"You were great at the I-Expo, Izuku," Ochi said. "You were, too, Ochaco, though there was less coverage on you. Most of the interviews went to that cute blonde girl that was always with Izuku."
Ochaco's eyebrow twitched.
"Thanks, Ochi," Izuku replied, "though the Expo was a whole other mess…."
"Betcha learned a few things you couldn't get in the classroom, though." Ah, there was the previous argument.
Izuku, once more, declined to entertain the topic. "You seem to know a bit about what happened," he started. Then, deciding to go out on a limb, he added, "were you… at the Expo too?"
Ochi tilted her head, and more of her silky hair spilled over her shoulder, "No, I wasn't there. I just heard a little about what happened, much like I've heard about all of your class's other incide—"
The buzz of Ochi's phone interrupted her comment. She quickly pulled it out. "Oh, I'm sorry you two," she said, eyes on her screen, "I almost forgot I need to call someone right now."
Izuku waved his hands, "It's no trouble, really. You go ahead. It was nice to meet you, Ochi."
Ochi smiled, "Likewise, Izuku. Maybe I'll see you here again?"
A girl asking him that, especially an attractive one, never failed to make Izuku trip over his words, "O-oh, yes, of course! I-I, um, I jog most mornings… so, uh, I should be here if you are! Um... see you, uh, sometime, then?"
Ochi laughed at Izuku's antics as she stood. "See you sometime, Izuku."
As she left, Izuku vaguely wondered if he was always this shaky when talking with girls.
xxxxx
Ochaco had been sitting fairly close to Izuku on the park bench, but for the last five minutes, she'd never felt farther away. The first time they go out as friends and have a moment, some other girl comes along and steals him away…
No. It wasn't like that. They were just friends.
Ochi was just a friend.
So was Melissa.
…
The more names Ochaco listed in her head, the less convinced she was that how she really felt was nothing at all.
"She was... odd," Izuku started, breaking Ochaco out of her reverie. She was surprised he didn't say Ochi was gorgeous or something—he spent eighty percent of the time she was there staring at her. "Like, she's friendly and all, but... something doesn't add up."
He swiveled around to face Ochaco but didn't continue, as if he were waiting for her to guess whatever it was he was thinking. To the gravity girl, something wasdefinitely off with Ochi, though she assumed it was because she wanted something to be off with her (was she really that petty?). If Izuku had noticed something strange, it wasn't anything she picked up on.
Izuku took her silence as an invitation to finish his thought. "Ochi... she knew about the I-Island incident. Like, a lot for someone who wasn't there. From what I know, that disaster wasn't in the news at all. The island's security system has a pretty tight grip on what comes in and goes out, including various forms of media."
Ochaco nodded, slowly catching on. "Yeah, she did say she wasn't there, huh? How else would she know about it?"
She saw his expression change into one she had seen many times before—the was going into full Deku ramble mode. She honestly thought it was kind of funny so she didn't stop him. "Hmm... I'm not sure. I suppose she could've heard it from someone who was there. Though, if that were the case, that someone must've also known who we were and thought it was important enough to mention to Ochi, since she knew we were involved. Taken as a whole, that seems unlikely. I guess all this is under the assumption that she actually lives here. Maybe she's from I-Island but just wasn't at the Expo? No, she said she comes here for the sunrise often… but we don't know if she were telling the truth or not. Why would she lie about that, anyway? Maybe she doesn't want us to know she's from the island? Why would that be? I've never seen her before today either, so maybe she just transferred here from somewhere else..." his ramblings became a soft murmur, and Ochaco didn't try to make out what he was saying. She knew he'd reach some sort of conclusion on his own. He always did.
She pulled out her phone to check the time, but could hardly see the screen due to how bright it was outside. She looked up and saw that the sun had risen completely above the hill, continuing its journey upwards. She didn't think they had been in the park for that long.
She positioned her hand in above her phone's screen to shield it from the sun's light. It was 7:00.
"Ahh! It's late!" she shouted, startling Izuku from his personal analytic adventure. "How have we been here for so long?!"
"It's not like we've got anything going o—" Izuku's words were cut short by Ochaco grabbing his arm and yanking him to his feet. She was already running by the time Izuku got his bearings.
It wasn't long before he caught up with her. "What's going on?"
She kept her eyes on Heights Alliance in the distance. "Don't you remember? We're doing that exchange program thing with some students who are interested in the hero course!" she huffed.
That vaguely rang a bell. Mr. Aizawa had mentioned something like that several months ago, but the students UA was sending were all mutants, so he hadn't really paid attention. Something about mutant quirk research at the I-Island Heteromorphic Quirk Academy. Wasn't that supposed to be in the fall…?
"Wait, exchange program? Like, there are students coming here from I-Island? They're interested in the hero course?" This was all news to Izuku.
Ochaco smiled. "I know, right? It's so cool! School starts back up soon, so I think they'll be in class when we are. I wonder if Mr. Aizawa will let us sit in during their lectures or watch them during combat training!"
Izuku's thoughts immediately went to Melissa. However, the likelihood of her being one of the students was so low that he didn't dwell on it for more than a second. She was working to become a different kind of hero. Fulfilling her own dream. Though, if any of the students coming in knew her, that gave their class some common ground, however minimal it was.
Well, I guess the whole incident over there could give us some common ground, too, but disasters aren't a great place to start.
Then, something hit him. Not literally, but it was a big enough mental block to halt his pace.
"Hold on, Uraraka, wait." he said, waving her over.
She wanted to protest more that they were going to be late. She had no idea when the plane left or where it left from. Still, Izuku was making that face he makes whenever he came to a realization about something, so she walked back to where he had stopped.
"What is it?"
"When does the flight for the exchange students come in?"
Seriously? THAT'S what this is about? "I don't know. I think they're using the same jet we are, so they're either already here, or don't get here until sometime this afternoon. Now come on, let's go."
He hesitated a little before starting to jog again. The scowl he wore told Ochaco that what he was asking wasn't just about flight times. She got closer to him.
"You're still working on something up there, Deku," she said, reaching up and poking the side of his head (which proved to be more difficult while running than she thought), "what's wrong?"
He kept his eyes forward, the dorm building getting closer with their every step. "What if Ochi is one of them?"
His claim wasn't… outlandish; Ochi knew about them, about I-Island, praised UA's hero course, and the start of the exchange program happened to be the same day they'd first run into Ochi in all their time here. Maybe he was on to something.
"Or," Izuku continued, his voice lowering, "what if she's not?"
xxxxx
As the duo reached the path leading up to the dorm's entrance, Ochaco's mind was whirring to piece together what Izuku meant. They reached the front doors before she could think of anything.
The common room was a mess, albeit an organized one (if that even makes sense), several pieces of luggage that varied in size, shape, and style hoarded together close to where the two entered. At the closest three tables sat most of Class 1A, and in front of the tables, with his back to Izuku and Ochaco, stood Mr. Aizawa.
The Erasure hero turned lazily to greet the arrivals. "Midoriya, Uraraka. It's about time, we were just finishing up."
Izuku half-bowed in apology while taking his shoes off, "Sorry, sir. It's been an... interesting morning." The two morning joggers joined the rest of their class, standing by one of the tables. Izuku saw Mina lean over to the chair on her right that seated Hagakure.
"Told ya they were out together," she whispered loud enough for Izuku to hear. He decided to ignore it.
"We had sent Kaminari to go looking for you, Midoriya," Mr. Aizawa said, turning his head to look down the boys' side hallway. "But, now that you're here, someone yell up the stairs at Kaminari to come down."
"I'll do it," Jiro offered immediately, disappearing around the corner as she made her way down the hall. After about five seconds, Izuku swore he could hear her breathe in...
"HEY, SPARK PLUG! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" She shouted, and Izuku could hear the smile on her face. No wonder she volunteered. Kaminari's faint squeak of "What'd I do?" elicited some snorts and chuckles from the rest of the class.
Mr. Aizawa sighed, "Not what I meant, but whatever works."
Jiro rejoined the class, followed by a jostled-looking Kaminari. He relaxed a bit once he saw the two he was looking for standing on the other side of the group.
"What were you guys doing?" Kaminari questioned. "This place might be big, but I was looking for over ten minutes!"
Izuku was about to say they were just out jogging, but Mina was faster. "Red faces and short of breath? I'll give you three guesses, but you'll only need one." Mina punctuated her statement with a not-so-subtle kissy face.
The class, used to Mina's jabs at Izuku and Ochaco, snickered nonetheless. Ochaco was blushing furiously and Izuku was trying to splutter out a retort. "T-T-That's n-not—"
Mina loved this. "That's not all. I heard that Midoriya snuck out of his room late last night. I bet they were at it then, too!"
Izuku's eyes went wide. How did she know about that? In his peripheries, he saw Ochaco tense suddenly. Had Mina known Ochaco was up late? Had she listened in? No, she couldn't have known. She must've heard it from… from…. His eyes shifted to Mina's right.
Hagakure. Of course Mina would have her best friend and fellow romance enthusiast in her employ. Not to mention the invisible girl was a master of espionage and stealth. Izuku groaned. Ashido's going to be even more of a menace now that we all live together.
The pink-skinned girl noticed Izuku's reaction and ran with it, "So you were doing something last night? Hmmm, how naughty."
Kaminari whistled.
"Spicy," added Hagakure.
"Quiet," Mr. Aizawa grumbled. "I'm not here to joke around, so stop wasting my time."
Mina pouted. This was far from over. She leaned over to Hagakure again. "Like I was joking around. The truth is painted on their faces clear as da—"
"Ashido." Mr. Aizawa's tone was dangerous. Mina got the hint and faced forward, still wearing her pout.
He continued, "Now, since Midoriya and Uraraka weren't here before, I'll review the important stuff. Heteromorphism isn't very well understood, but a recent breakthrough by the island's lead Quirk Geneticist has allowed for the development of new tools and procedures to expand into uncertain territory. What's needed now," he paused, scanning the room, "are test subjects."
"Are you sure they're not gonna dissect us?" Mineta whined.
"As far as Quirks are concerned, dissection would yield little."
Mineta squirmed. Mr. Aizawa ignored him. "This research trip was originally scheduled for sometime in October, but things changed, obviously."
"Um, sir?" Izuku started hesitantly, "is it really a good idea to do this thing now? I mean, right after… you know… what happened yesterday?"
Mr. Aizawa's tired, dead-looking eyes considered Izuku. "The island's call for participants extends to far more than Yokohama or Musutafu. Besides, the date change occurred over a month ago; it's only coincidence that it lined up with current events. This isn't a school thing. That being said," his eyes went from dead to piercing in an instant as he scanned the room again, "you're still students, and while there, you represent UA. I expect each of you," his gaze lingered on Izuku (I'm not even going!), "to be on your absolute best behavior especially after yesterday. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," the class chanted.
"Hm," he grunted, straightening out some papers on the table in front of him. "As those of you who are going are aware, your flight leaves in a little under two hours. It takes about 15 minutes by bullet train to get to the Shizuoka airport, so get your stuff and take it to the entrance of UA. There's a shuttle waiting there."
The mutants of Class 1A filed over to where their luggage was, the owner of each piece grabbing it and heading out the door.
Iida was the last one, turning to face the students that remained behind and bowing, "I leave the remainder of Class 1A in your hands, Vice Rep Yaoyorozu. I am confident you will take due care to represent our class well to the exchange students." And with that, he was off.
Once the door closed, Izuku turned his attention back to the remaining students. A familiar pink color caught his eye. Mina hadn't left.
As he looked around, he noticed Jiro was still here, too. Before he could ask why, Mr. Aizawa grabbed the stack of papers off the table and cleared his throat. "Now, for those of you staying, there will be four students coming here from I-Island. These are hero hopefuls; they are not in any kind of hero course on the island. I expect they'll get here around 2pm or so, depending on weather and whatnot. Yaoyorozu, could you pass these out?" He held the stack out to her.
She took them and started handing them out to the remaining students. There were two extras, which she gave back to Mr. Aizawa. He looked at them and raised an eyebrow.
"Two? Who else isn't here?"
"Aoyama is with his parents for the next three weeks. Something about his grandmother's funeral back in France." Yaoyorozu explained.
Izuku looked around the room to see who else was missing. Yaoyorozu, Kaminari, Jiro, Kirishima, Mina, Todoroki, and Ochaco were the only ones he could see. Then, it hit him.
He leaned over to Ochaco. "Hey, where's Kacchan?"
She shrugged and made an "I dunno" sound. Mr. Aizawa heard him and answered, "Bakugo has decided to not participate in the exchange program training. He's either in his room or elsewhere."
That confused Izuku slightly. Wait, participate? I thought they were just living here... He looked down at the paper Yaoyorozu had given him. Oh... what?
Mr. Aizawa folded the two extra papers and put them in his pocket. "Ok, listen up. What Yaoyorozu just handed you is the schedule of the exchange program starting tomorrow. Outlined are the times for lectures and combat training, as well as some suggested lecture topics and combat tips. On the back, there are some logistics as to where the students will be staying and what time principal Nezu will be coming around to gauge their and your performances."
From what Izuku could tell, this was news to everyone but Yaoyorozu.
Mina raised her hand and waved it around, "wait, so we're teaching them? I thought you were going to do that."
Kaminari agreed. "Yeah, aren't these things, like, official school programs?"
"Wouldn't it be a better idea to have the real teachers do this?" Jiro added. "I don't think I can teach."
Mr. Aizawa was rubbing his temples. "Quiet, all of you, and let me explain." The uncertain chatter gradually died down. "This program is new, and your class was picked to be its beta testers."
"But why?" Mina moaned, "I can't teach. Plus, we've missed so much lecture material…"
"Precisely the point, Ashido," Mr. Aizawa replied. "This class has been through quite a bit since Spring and there have been a lot of lectures we haven't gotten to and topics we haven't discussed because of it, not to mention your summer training camp that was cut short. Most of the UA staff, myself included, believe that teaching something yourself is one of the best ways to learn it. As you've seen on the sheet, there's a section for suggested lecture topics; most of them are ones we didn't get to in class. It's up to you what you teach and how you teach it, but this is a good learning experience, both for you and the exchange students. Don't treat this lightly."