Green Tea Rescue

by ss3dj

When Midoriya Izuku was 4 his quirk finally manifested. The doctor named it psychokinesis, but his friend Bakugou Katsuki called it worthless. For the next 10 years, Izuku would grow up bullied and isolated. Then, when a new student named Uraraka Ochako transfers into his class the last year of jr high, everything changes. Rated M for eventual themes.

26. An Honest Talk

With a happy and completely unnecessary flip, Himiko plopped down into the soft, familiar couch in Midnight's office and sighed as she sunk into the cushions. After a busy day like she had had, her bed would have been preferable, but the couch was a good placeholder. Honestly, it wouldn't take long for her to drift off to sleep right where she was. Unfortunately, a light smack from Midnight's notepad as she walked by pulled Himiko back to reality. Groaning, Himiko opened her eyes and watched Midnight take her seat; Himiko didn't bother to sit up herself and stayed lying down, her legs and feet hanging off the armrest, "You sure you want to do this tonight? I'm sure you have to get ready for tomorrow. And after getting tossed around so much today," Himiko grinned, "I'm sure you must be tired."

"After the day you had, you really think I'm letting you sneak off?"

Himiko sighed. "I guess not. Had to ask at least."

"I appreciate that you didn't make me come looking for you. So," pulling out a pen and opening her very full notepad, Midnight leaned back, "Where would you like to start?"

"I guess we can get the boring bad stuff out of the way."

Midnight nodded, "You mean your altercation with Uraraka."

"Yeah…"

"Assaulting another student is serious, especially given your situation."

It wasn't an unfair statement, but Himiko wasn't about to just agree with it. "Well what would you do if someone walked up to you and called you a sexual predator?"

Midnight stopped taking notes and looked up at Himiko in alarm, "Wait, that's what started your fight!?"

"Yep. She flat out said she would protect Izuku from me."

Midnight knew she should still let Himiko know that, under her terms of being at U.A., this kind of action was not something they could tolerate, but she was finding it very difficult to get the words out. Himiko blinked at the pause before asking. "Weren't you waiting outside the locker room, though?"

"I couldn't make out everything."

Himiko smirked up at Midnight. "Not going to tell me I was wrong?"

Midnight was silent as she chewed on her lip and made a point not to look Himiko in the eye, "Is there a danger of this happening again?"

"Nope."

"Then that's fine."

"Pfft, you know I wasn't in the wrong."

"I am not saying that."

"But you sure are thinking it really hard."

"Moving on. I must say that Uraraka making such an accusation is...surprising. She's one of the more level-headed students in your class I thought."

Himiko shrugged, "Sure, when it doesn't come to Izuku."

"Oh?"

The smile on Himiko's face dropped, but not from anger, as it used to when dealing with the other girl. If Midnight had to guess, it was from concern. "Even before the USJ attack, she was pretty defensive of him. After...I think it's scared her. Like really scared. Mix that fear with some pretty serious anger, the fact she seems to just bottle everything up, and her drive to protect Izuku, and you have a pretty nasty combo. She wants to protect him and is starting to see threats everywhere."

Midnight frowned. This was a very concerning bit of news she was hearing. If Ochako really was feeling like this and holding it in, it might explain this sudden outburst and the uncharacteristic behavior Himiko had told her about.

"Perhaps", Midnight said, "I should bring her in for a session To see exactly what's going on with her."

Himiko groaned, "Please don't. I don't want her thinking I set her up."

"It sounds like she needs to talk about this, Toga. And if she's as stubborn as you are, and as driven as you seem to think, it would be better to deal with this now rather than let it build up again and burst."

Himiko shook her head. "We've talked. Hell, even Tsu is in on it now at this point. We're working on getting her to be more open. Besides, the shit between us is dealt with. It's done. We buried the hatchet and everything."

"Just like that? After all the times you and I have talked about your issues with her. It's all settled in one afternoon?"

"Pretty much, yeah. We talked and we understand each other better now. Lots of puzzle pieces fell into place and all that jazz."

"And the lie you always mentioned before?"

"Oh that? Turns out she's in love with Izuku, too."

Midnight paused, "Wait...that was the big lie?"

"Yep."

"You couldn't tell that someone was in love? You? Isn't reading people something you're supposed to be good at? And isn't love supposed to be your thing, too?"

Groaning, Himiko covered her face with her hands, "I know! It's humiliating. Honestly, I think I have a blind spot reading goody-goodies or something. First, Izuku surprised me, and then Ochako came in and kicked me when I was down."

"Putting a pin in that, you're okay with her having feelings for the same boy you do?"

"Yeah. I'm not gonna get mad because someones in love. Everyone should be free to love who they want."

"And what about Uraraka?"

"Now that she knows how I feel, it's helped us become friends. Real friends. Honestly, I think the best outcome that could have happened, happened today."

"It sounds like it...wait," Midnight fornwed, "Wait, she didn't know you had feelings for Izuku, either? "

Himiko chuckled, "Nope. She thought I was just teasing him, hence the harassment thing."

That made Midnight shake her head in disbelief, So I have one girl who should be able to tell this stuff who was blind to the obvious, another who is super protective of her crush, and the boy in the middle who is blind to everything. I love a good bit of high school drama, but this is going to kill me...and I can't talk about this to anyone except Nezu when I make my reports...fuck!

"So, am I in trouble?"

Himiko's question snapped Midnight out of her pout now that she realized she had the greatest thing to gossip about and no one to talk to, "What? Oh...yes, punishment…"

"You gonna spank me?"

"Given how...the confrontation started, and how it ended...I'll recommend that we leave the subject for now."

Himiko raised her arms into the air, cheering happily. Midnight kept going though, "However."

"Fuuuuuuuck."

"However, you can't just default to attacking people that upset you. If this happens again, regardless of the reason, the school will have to take measures. Understand?"

"...I'll try."

"Toga."

"Me trying is all I can promise you, lady. Want me to lie to your face? I'll try. It's what I said I would do when I got here, and it's what I plan to keep doing for as long as I stay here. Want me to go back to working out my violent tendencies? Then let me have another session with Ectoplasm. It's been a week since I got to stab anything. I miss seeing those clones pop and melt."

Midnight and Himiko stared at each other in silence. Himiko's default stance of how she dealt with problems had been and, Midnight was sure, would be a topic they would butt heads over again and again. This meeting tonight, however, was not for that. So after a few more seconds of cold silence, Midnight pivoted. "If this issue with Uraraka is now behind you, and the two of you are friends and can trust each other, then I'm happy for you."

The compassion in Midnight's voice momentarily threw Himiko for a loop before she snapped back and nodded, "Yeah that's...a whole thing I think I'd like to talk about."

The tone of Himiko's voice grabbed Midnight's attention immediately. It was a tone she had only heard twice before. Once, back at the start of class, just as their session for the night was ending, Himiko had stopped at her door and asked her if their time together was going to work. It was perhaps the most defining moment she had seen with Himiko up to that point. A moment of real introspective. A moment where her guard had been dropped, even if for a second. The next, just after the USJ when she had done something Midnight would have never expected. When she had washed away Izuku's blood that she had been covered in. explaining why it had seemed to revolt to her. Since then, while none of their sessions had been bad, they still were mostly filled with sharp tongues and less than ideal progress. Midnight knew this was an opening she could not let slip by, but she had to be careful. Push too hard and Himiko would clamp down.

Hard.

"Whenever you're ready."

Himiko didn't move, or say anything for a few minutes. She just stared up at the ceiling, eyes darting here or there. Midnight could tell she was thinking, but she let Himiko collect her thoughts. Then without a sound, Himiko swung her legs off the armrest and sat up, "It might be easier to start at the beginning."

"Of course. Whatever you want to do."

"...So...the capture-the-flag thing you had us do…"

"You mean when you transformed into Midoriya? I assume when the two of you vanished into your base, something happened that let you get a sample of his blood."

Himiko wrung her hands together and glanced around. "Yeah...So the plan was to ease him into what my Quirk was, but that plan fell apart pretty much right off the bat."

"Oh?"

"I started slow. Told Izuku I had a plan to help us win, but I needed him to trust me. And you know what he does? Instantly he says he trusts me. Just bam, 'I trust you Toga.' So now I'm all freaked out because I was just told I was trusted and I sorta just...blurt everything out. I literally say I can transform into people by drinking their blood. Word for word."

Midnight hissed. "I'm sure that...took some explaining."

"None what-so-ever."

"Huh?"

Himiko starts to chuckle, a deep red blush spreading over her cheeks. "Immediately, and I mean immediately, he's in my space saying how incredible my Quirk is,and asking questions about how it works. So all of a sudden my world," Himiko mimicked an explosion with her hands, "is blown up. Now I'm on the back foot and all flustered and shit."

Midnight smiled happily. "It must have been nice, though. To open up to someone. Having that trust reciprocated like that. It was also very brave of you to open yourself up. It's a good first step."

Midnight wasn't lying. Himiko had kept her Quirk a secret for many reasons. While Himiko would never say it out loud, Midnight was sure the fear of rejection played a role in that. This was a great step, and proof that the work U.A. was putting into Himiko was starting to pay off.

We can build on this. One step at a time we can get Toga to open up and-

"Then I told Izuku I love to drink blood."

Midnight almost dropped her notepad while the notes she was taking had an extra line marked across the page as Midnight jolted up, "You what!?"

"Yeah, it all kinda came tumbling out at that point. I told him everything."

"Everything? How much is everything?"

Himiko blinked before hissing, "Okay, maybe not everything. I mentioned that it's something I need and I did spell out that I love that aspect of my Quirk...in detail."

"And Midoriya was...okay with it?" Midnight knew some Quirks could be unnerving. That didn't excuse the horrible treatment Himiko's parents put her through, but it was human nature to be wary sometimes. Midnight got her answer when Himiko started to laugh, joyfully and with a blush that looked completely in place on a young woman in love.

"Not only was he okay with it, do you want to know what he said next? He figured out that the stuff I've been drinking all the time wasn't juice, and when I told him I wasn't a fan of the artificial blood, he said I could have his whenever I wanted," Himiko squealed as she fell back onto the couch, wrapping her arms around herself and kicking into the air. "God, the things I was ready to do to him right there. I bet they'd even make you blush."

Rubbing her brow, Midnight was now trying to keep up with the rollercoaster that was their conversation. Ignoring the idea that anything could make her blush, or that Himiko was now at the point of possibly dragging the poor boy off, Midnight was focusing on what this all could mean in the long term. The artificial blood was there to help keep Himiko calm...or at least calmer. It was also her only option to have any blood. In many ways, the blood U.A. supplies helped Himiko, but it also kept her in check. Now she had someone, the very person she had been longing for, who was offering her his blood as an alternative. What was clearly meant as a sign of trust and friendship could end up eroading one of the ways the school was able to keep Himiko in check. She could hear some of the other teachers' concerns now; after going so long not being able to drink what she wanted, was there a threat that they'd lose a hold on the girl, or worse, could Himiko lose control of herself and accidentally end up hurting Midoriya. What if she wanted more than he was willing or able to give? What if she just couldn't stop herself?

Midnight however knew better. She had seen Himiko wash Izuku's blood off herself after they were attacked. She had been so desperate to get it off, Midnight was shocked she hadn't started to wash herself raw. Then of course there was today, "So, after all that, Midoriya let you drink his blood so you could transform. I bet you must have gotten your fill after waiting so long."

Himiko blushed at the memory of the taste, licking her lips and salivating before she shook her head, "Nah. Just enough to hold the transformation for a while. The Sports Festival was important to him, and I didn't want him being dizzy from blood loss or anything. Besides, it's not like I'm not going to get other chances now."

Midnight nodded, it was just like she thought. Twice, Himiko was in a position to have her fill and twice she had demonstrated she could keep herself in control. She wasn't just focused on her own desires now, she was thinking of others and the consequences her actions could have on others. This change in her behavior was almost enough to make Midnight cheer. It was working. Nezu's plan was starting to show real progress.

"Toga, I'm proud of you. To open up like this took courage." Midnight didn't mention the control part. Himiko might not take too kindly to the idea that U.A. was instilling any kind of control into her.

"Yeah. Talking to Izuku was pretty nerve wracking. But it made telling the rest of the class a lot easier."

Telling the…

Midnight dropped her notebook as she froze on the spot. Himiko took one look at her shocked face and broke into another fit of laughter, "Oh my god, your face, ha ha ha, I can't, ha ha ha!"

Realizing that she was now the source of Himiko's laughter, Midnight coughed loudly into her hand to get Himiko's attention. However, she wasn't doing a good job hiding how interested she was to hear this. Her face and the fact she was leaning forward were dead giveaways. "Toga. Are you saying you told your classmates…"

"That I drink blood? Yep. I pretty much told them the same thing I told Izuku. Just not in the same detail." While Himiko said this with a wave of her hand, looking like it wasn't a big deal, Midnight clearly thought differently.

"Toga," The pride and awe in Midnight's voice, even as the hero did her best to keep herself composed, was not lost on Himiko, "This is incredible. The progress you've made in a single day."

Not used to hearing this kind of strong praise, Himiko looked away bashfully and muttered, "It's not that big a deal. My friends and, with a few exceptions, my classmates aren't idiots. Once they saw what I could do, of course they were going to get curious. Plus, they knew Izuku was with me before the match, so they could put two and two together. They were already asking him questions, and while he was doing an admiral job holding them back, I figured I'd take his advice and went ahead and told them."

"And what advice did Midoriya give you?"

"To trust them...okay that grin is creepy!"

Midnight looked away and did her best not to look so pleased, but it was very hard. To get to this point, Midnight had assumed it would be another month or so at the least. Himiko hadn't just taken a few steps forward today; she had taken leaps and bounds.

"Look," Himiko began sharply, indicating that her patience with the night was starting to wear thin, "Can I please get to the part I wanted to talk to you about without you preening around like a mom after her daughter won a trophy for a sport or something?"

Midnight frowned. "I am too young to be a mother."

Rolling her eyes, Himiko didn't even bother to hide her disbelief. "Riiiiiight."

While Midnight had some choice words for that, she knew she still needed to capitalize on her time with Himiko and the window with her being so open. "So you said there was something else."

That sobered Himiko up. Nodding Himiko leaned forward, "So after everything is done...Ochako and I are talking...and she kinda drops a bomb on me."

"Huh?"

"First, she points out that it looks like I'm not the biggest fan of the artificial blood you guys give me, but she then follows that up with also offering to let me have some of her blood if it will help. Like, what the fuck is gong on here, Midnight? This isn't normal, right? This kind of kindness and understanding is fucking weird. This is after I said some fucking horrible shit to her, too. I blamed her for Izuku getting so hurt, called her a coward for leaving him, and still at the end of the day she does this? I go my whole fucking life surrounded by people that looked at me like I was a monster, and now? Now suddenly I not only have classmates that aren't freaked and friends that have seen me fucking rip people apart and still want to hang out, but I also have two people- one, the most beautiful, naive hunk of sex walking on two legs, and a girl I swear is a fucking amazon-in-training-that are willing to let me drink their blood. What the fuck am I supposed to do with all this?"

Himiko breathed heavily after her verbal explosion, while Midnight sat and absorbed it. She knew her next words had to be picked carefully, so she tried to think as fast as she could while also processing everything that Himiko just unloaded. This was a pivotal moment for everything. Midnight hadn't been lying that Himiko had made leaps and bounds with her progress today. She was happy for her, ecstatic even, but what was becoming clear is that all this progress came with its own drawbacks. Himiko lived her life either being hurt by those that were supposed to care for her because of who she was, or forced to hide who she was to have people care for her. It had molded her to expect the worst-to live for herself and to take what she needed by any means. Suddenly finding herself in a situation where she was surrounded by people that were so accepting, Himiko had no way to process this. She was so used to pain and so used to fighting to be herself, even at the detriment of others. Unconditional kindness just didn't factor into anything. Midnight saw this while she was fighting Ochako. Her reasoning to try and keep Ochako down, from what she overheard, was because the world was not a kind place and she alone was the only one able to face it. And yet, Ochako beat her, throwing that point of view sideways, and now this? It was probably a small miracle she had been able to keep this explosion of confusion in for as long as she did after the Sports Festival.

What can I tell her she won't reject on the spot? She's confused about everything and isn't sure how to accept it, but she wants to. She just needs to know how...

"Be yourself."

Himiko's head snapped up. Her face blank as she looked at Midnight, "Huh?"

"I think you should keep doing what you're doing. Be who you are and don't do anything different. So far, doing that has gotten you exactly what you want. Hasn't it?"

"...There's still a lot about me they don't know. A lot of stuff they would probably find pretty fucked up. Let's not pretend I'm just some juvenile delinquent here. There might be a few things I...regret doing, but there are a whole lot more I don't."

Toga isn't wrong. Midnight thought. She is on a path that could lead her to a great future, and is walking it better than I think any of us could have hoped. That doesn't change the fact that she started from a pool of blood and gore. By every definition, Toga is a villain...but...

"You being here,is you serving your time; making amends for your past actions, justified or not, isn't what's up for debate. Coming here, you agreed to train to be a hero, and that is what you're doing. If, along the way, you create bonds, I think you should let it happen."

Himiko sat silently, with Midnight watching her closely. Looking for any sign that her words had struck home. Finally Himiko spoke, "So just go with the flow and don't question it?"

"Pretty much. Do what makes living your life easier. After all, isn't that what you want? What you always wanted?"

A smile spread over Himiko's face, "Yeah, I can do that. You know, you're not half-bad with the advice for a stripper hero."

And the window was closed as snarky Himiko returned. "I'm not a stripper hero."

"Stripper teacher then."

"Toga…"

"You literally rip off parts of your costume to use your Quirk."

"Moving on! I think we made a lot of progress tonight. So unless there was anything else you wanted to talk about, you're free to go."

Himiko scratched her head, "Well, I don't really want to talk about the fact that I'm dealing with being a role model now and that I taught a four-year-old how to flip people off. So I'll just go on ahead and duck on out."

As Midnight sputtered, Himiko was off of the couch and out of the room in a flash. Laughing as a recovered Midnight called after her. "WAIT A SECOND! WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

---

Izuku gulped nervously as he sat on the couch as Eri stood beside him with a paper towel tube in her hand. Watching him carefully.

"Er...Eri. Maybe you'd like to sit down?"

Eri shook her head, "Nope! I must be ever vi...vengi...vigil…"

"Vigilant?" Ochako asked. She had just arrived and had paused to watch the strange display.

"Yes that! I must make sure Izuku behaves and doesn't act like a bad boy!"

Izuku groaned and leaned back into the couch. "Come on, Eri. I was only joking."

"No! I must make sure! No being naughty, Izuku!"

Scratching her head, Ochako looked over at Inko, who was getting breakfast ready. "Um, what did I miss?"

"I was reminding Izuku that even if he can walk around better now, he still isn't allowed to use his Quirk until he's back in school. And my dear, sweet, stubborn son decided to say 'that what Recovery Girl didn't know, wouldn't hurt her,'" Ochako blinked and then glowered over at Izuku, who sunk into the couch, "So Eri decided to make sure he behaved."

"And the cardboard roll?"

"I'm allowed to bop Izuku if anything ever glows green," Eri said with a scary (for Izuku, at least) amount of joy.

Izuku looked over at Ochako pitifully. "Mom's calling her the Bopping Queen. Help?"

Ochako blinked, and then raised an eyebrow. Walking over to Eri, Ochako held out her hand, "Eri, sweety., let me see that."

Eri pouted, but handed over the cardboard tube. Ochako patted her on the head while saying thanks. Then, with a swift flick of her wrist, smacked Izuku across the chest and jabbed him in the side. "Hey! Hey! Why!?"

"Are you really going to sit there and say you don't deserve this?"

"Um...what's that American expression?"

"You plead the fifth?"

"Yes! That!"

Wack!

"This isn't America, Deku."

Eri giggled as Ochako gave Izuku a few more wacks, making sure to avoid his head, before she handed Eri back the tube. "Here you go. Thank you."

Izuku rubbed his chest, nursing the most grievous injuries he had ever gotten, and looking absolutely pitiful as he did. Ochako rolled her eyes and handed Eri back her cardboard tube, "Oh don't you try with the pity now Deku."

"I'm recovering. You should be nicer to me."

"Riiiiiight. Yeah that's gonna happen."

Desperate to change the subject, and trying to avoid any more retribution for his actions, Izuku jumped on the first thing that popped into his head, "So you were a little late this morning. Everything okay?"

Ochako stiffened and looked away. Izuku swore her face had turned a very bright red. "O-oh that? Um I had to...take care of...something…"

Izuku hummed at that, and with Ochako not facing him, he couldn't see how nervous she was getting. "Oh, okay. Were you able to finish at least?"

"Yep!" Ochako squeaked out.

"That's good. But hey, next time give me a call or something. You know I wouldn't mind giving you a hand."

Izuku assumed the strange chirping sound from Ochako meant she knew she could count on him. Though he did think it strange the way she swayed a bit and her legs, which he definitely wasn't making a habit of noticing, were a little wobbly.

Maybe she's still a little tired from yesterday.

As he was about to offer her a seat next to him on the couch, Izuku noticed that Ochako's head whipped around and was looking in another direction. Blinking, Izuku glanced over to where she had been looking and saw his mom looking at Ochako, with a look that he was very familiar with. It was the look she gave him when she knew he had done something.

Huh, wonder why Mom's looking like that, and why it has Ochako so freaked?

"I-I also broke my alarm clock," Ochako stammered out in a hurry.

Inko gave a soft hmm before going back to her cooking. "Ah, of course."

It suddenly clicked for Izuku, OH! Mom must have known Ochako broke something. That's what got her all nervous!

Seeing a chance to tease Ochako some, Izuku smirked, "Aw, were you having a good dream that it interru-OW!"

Ochako whirled around, grabbed the roll out of Eri's hand and proceeded to wail on him. Soon, Ochako calmed down and handed Eri back her now-dented cardboard. "Sorry."

Izuku waved her off with a pained grin, while Eri just giggled.

"So you gonna go shopping for a new clock or maybe just ask Yaoyorozu to make you one?"

Ochako frowned. "I'll have to think about that."

Izuku knew that Ochako hated spending money, but her pride was going to fight her asking Momo to make her something. Izuku almost said he could buy her one, but decided he didn't want to get wacked again. Ochako must have read Izuku's mind because she finally turned to look at him fully. Waiting for him to speak up. Izuku just smiled and didn't say anything. When Izuku didn't say what she knew he was thinking, Ochako relaxed and asked, "So how are you doing?"

"Before or after the assault?"

Ochako snickered along with Izuku for a bit before he finally answered. "I'm good. Sore, but good. No headaches, and before you ask, I'm not going to ignore what Recovery Girl asked me to do. I went years without using my Quirk. I can make it a couple of days."

Izuku's answer was enough for Ochako as she sighed, "At least you're taking this seriously."

"Of course."

Ochako rolled her eyes dramatically, making Izuku pout a little. Oh come on. I'm not that bad!

"Say...Mrs. Midoriya how long till breakfast is ready?"

Inko glanced over, "Oh I'm just about half way done. Another ten minutes or so at least."

Izuku tilted his head to the side as he watched Ochako. He was about to ask if maybe she was hungry too, but he noticed a strange look to her face. Like she was trying to decide something. Before he could ask what she was thinking she turned to look at him, apparently having made up her mind, "Hey Deku...do you think we could talk? Maybe in your room?"

---

With a sigh, Izuku let himself plop onto the bottom bunk bed that belonged to Eri, sinking into the bright pink fluffy blanket with a sigh. While he could move around, he hadn't been lying when he had said he was sore. While he could move around, he preferred to stay put if he could, but if Ochako wanted to talk, he could put up with his sore muscles for a bit. Though as Ochako closed the door behind them, Izuku couldn't help but think there was something very very important that he was forgetting.

Oh well, must be my imagination.

"So what did you want to talk about, Uraraka?"

Ochako walked over to Izuku's desk and leaned against it so she was facing him. Glancing at Izuku, Ochako let her gaze fall to her hands and she wrung them together, "It's just...I need you to bear with me on this. This is something that's got my feelings all twisted up, and I want to do this while I still have the courage from talking myself up on the way here…"

Wow this must be pretty important than if it has Ochako like this.

Izuku tried to think of the last time he had seen Ochako like this, but he couldn't think of any. You know it's funny, but getting me alone like this and talking about her feelings and working up the courage, this is kind of like when a girl confesses to a boy in romance mangas...WAIT WHAT AM I THINKING!? There's no way that this is...a confession. Right!? There's no way she got me alone to confess and maybe even k-k-k-kis-!

"De-Deku? You just went all red. Are you okay?"

While Ochako was alarmed at Izuku's sudden change of color, Izuku was forcing himself to calm down and chiding himself as well. What is wrong with me? Get your mind out of the gutter Izuku. This is Uraraka; she has more important things to do than wanting to confess to you! And even if she was interested in...in that kind of stuff, there are so many better guys out there for her to pick from. Like actual handsome guys. Yeah, you are so far down the ladder it's an insult to Uraraka to even think she'd want to be...more than friends.

Getting himself under control and his head back on straight, Izuku ignored the strange twist in his chest and smiled up at Ochako, waving her off, "I'm fine Uraraka. Just a...muscle cramp. SO! You wanted to talk."

Ochako eyed him closely before nodding, not wanting to lose her courage. She had told Tsuyu and Himiko she was going to have this talk and now that she was here, she knew she couldn't back out now.

Might as well rip this bandaid off.

"It's about Bakugou-"

"You're in love with Kacchan!?"

The words left Izuku's mouth before he had a chance to stop them. His previous dirty thoughts got mixed up with his surprise at hearing Ochako bring up Katsuki, a topic she always seemed to avoid like the plague. With both thoughts now mixed up, the reaction just happened, and out popped the idea.

Silence crushed the mood as Ochako's mouth kept moving but no sound came out before with a snap, her jaw closed so hard even Izuku could hear her teeth click together. Eye bulging and face now sickly pale, Ochako leapt off the desk. "WHAT!? NO!"

"Oh thank god," Izuku sighed in relief, clutching his heart. He knew there was no way Ochako could love him, but if he found out she was actually in love with Katsuki, that might be enough to kill him.

"Why would you even say something like that!? Me, in love with...hurk, oh, I'm going to be sick. Like actually sick. In love with...AHHHH, it's in my head now! No, get out, out, out!"

Watching Ochako freak out so much got Izuku to start laughing. Clutching his sides, he fell back onto the bed, laughing while Ochako did everything she could to yeet the horrifying image that Iuzku had put into her head, "Deku, what is the matter with you!?"

"Ha ha ha, I'm sorry, but oh man, your face was so funny!"

"I'm trying to be serious here!"

"I know, ha ha ha!"

Ochako's cheeks puffed as she glowered at Izuku, "What even made you think I'd ever," Ochako dry heaved, "love Bakugou?"

Wiping away tears, Izuku sat back up, "Well...you were talking about feelings and courage then just dropped Kacchan's name. I guess I got...confused."

"Deku, I don't actually have to say that I'm not in love with him, right?"

"I know. I know. You have way more important things to worry about than... silly things like love."

Izuku was still recovering, so he didn't notice the conflicted look that crossed Ochako's face as she watched him.

Silly?

Before Ochako could really think too much on that, Izuku was back to sitting normally and Ochako refocused on the task at hand, "So as I was saying before you jumped on the crazy train-" Izuku snickered- "I wanted to talk to you about Bakugou, and honestly, I'm really scared about having this talk, Deku."

The mood shift in the room was almost a physical force. Izuku gulped, "Why would you be scared, Uraraka?"

Ochako looked away, running her hands over her arms nervously, "Because I'm afraid this might lead to us having a fight."

That got Izuku's attention right away. Them, fight? The idea was insane. They had had a few arguments before, but those never lasted more than a few seconds, and it was always over something silly. This time, it looked like Ochako was ready for something different. And somehow this had to do with Katsuki.

"Uraraka...please don't ever feel afraid to talk to me."

A few different emotions flashed across Ochako's face. They were all mixed together, so Izuku wasn't exactly sure what they all were, but if he had to guess, the two that stood out the most were relief and worry. "Thank you, Deku."

"So what did you want to talk about," Izuku asked, encouraging Ochako to finally talk.

Ochako took a breath, steadying herself and then finally opened up, "It's about Bakugou...and you."

"Oh, okay. What about us?"

"Everything!" Ochako sucked in another breath as she fought to keep herself steady. She was not going to yell, "It's everything, Deku. Why are you still wasting your time with him? After all the horrible stuff he's done to you? After all of it, you shouldn't want anything to do with him, and yet even now you're wrapped around his finger."

Izuku frowned. "That's a huge exaggeration."

"No. No it isn't, Deku. It's at the point where he'll say jump, and you'll ask how high."

"Last time I checked, when Kacchan told me to jump. I didn't." When Ochako tried to continue on, Izuku interjected, "I also said I was going to handle this with him. And I did, so this is kinda a mute point, don't you think?"

"You asked me to leave it alone because you were going to use the Sports Festival to move on. I agreed to that. Against my better judgement, I let you do what you felt you needed to do."

"And I've moved on."

"No. You. Haven't." Ochako pointed at Izuku as she spoke. "Because if you had moved on, you wouldn't have looked so happy when he called you his rival."

"Why wouldn't I be happy about that? That was Kacchan literally acknowledging I was better than him. If there was ever going to be a moment that I could point to and say, 'that's when I got out of his shadow,' that was it."

"Deku, he's playing you. He doesn't care how you feel about it. He's manipulating you because all he wants is to use you to make himself better."

Izuku blinked, "Um, but that's kinda what rivals do."

"We're rivals!" Ochako exclaimed, "We've trained together for over a year. We worked together to get better, but when there was a competition, like our sparring matches or the Sports Festival, we competed against each other."

"That's not a fair comparison at all."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You're my best friend, Uraraka. Kacchan isn't my friend."

Actually hearing Izuku say those last four words took a lot of weight off Ochako's shoulders. Not all of it, but a lot. When Ochako didn't immediately try to say something else, Izuku kept talking. "Yes we're rivals, Uraraka. You want to get stronger, and you'll do everything you can to do it, even if that means beating me. It's the same with me; I know if i'm not giving you my all, I'll get crushed. At the same time, though, we're helping each other. If I fall, I know you'll be there to pick me up. And if you fall, I'll be there for you… You know that, right?"

"Of course I do."

"But that's not the same with Kacchan. He's here just to get strong, and if he thinks becoming rivals will help him do that, that's what he will do. He's not interested in how it affects me. I get that. I also know I'd be insane not to do the exact same thing he's doing."

"Deku-"

"Look at the hero charts, Uraraka. We're doing the exact same thing the pros do. They may not make grandiose declarations, but they are rivals. They have to be if they want to stay at the top. Me and Kacchan have the same thing. If I ignored that, I'd be hurting myself."

Ochako clearly wasn't sold. "If we were talking about anyone else from our class, I'd agree with you. But we're not. We're talking about Bakugou. A horrible monster that doesn't belong in our class. He's a vicious disgusting person that belongs more with the League of Villains than at U.A."

"Uraraka!" For the first time during their talk, Izuku raised his voice, and felt himself get angry, "That's too far, and you know it."

"Seriously!? Why are you defending him? He hasn't done a thing to deserve you standing up for him. He's still the same nasty bully he was back in junior high."

Izuku shook his head, "Thats where you're wrong, Uraraka. He has changed."

"When? Tell me one time in the past couple of weeks that Bakugou has shown any kind of change. Any kind of remorse for the way he's treated you? Can you even do that?" Ochako felt sure she had Izuku cornered. Making him actually try and pick out a moment would be the slap of reality he needed.

"Kacchan was worried I was trying to kill myself."

Ochako's confidence vanished, and she was left feeling like she was falling. "Wh-what?"

"Do you remember when he asked to talk with me alone a couple of days ago? You all left, but ended up listening in. I'm guessing you didn't hear the start of our talk."

"I...we...we kinda went back and forth over if it was proper to eavesdrop for a bit…"

"Until you decided to do it anyway?" Izuku wasn't accusing Ochako, or their friends, of anything. There was no anger or malice in his voice. He was simply stating a fact. "I'm guessing you all started just about when I brought up the jumping part."

Again Ochako nodded, confirming what Izuku suspected, "Then you didn't hear what brought on the talk. Kacchan was… well he didn't think I was at U.A. for the right reasons. He put some things together and thought that I was trying to get myself killed."

"What kind of things?" Ochako wasn't even sure she had actually said that. The thoughts screaming in her head were louder than her own voice. Worries and fears that there might be signs she had missed that somehow Katsuki had picked up on.

Izuku shrugged, trying not to make it seem there was much to the idea, "I mean silly things like the sludge villain, and the zero pointer...and the whole things with the League of Villains."

When Izuku noticed Ochako now really staring at him, he raised up his hands, "But like I told Kacchan, he's way off-base with that."

"Bakugou, who told you to jump off a building...actually said he was worried about you?"

"Eh, he didn't say he was worried. More like he was annoyed about it. Said I was being stupid and could risk putting other people in danger if they tried to save me. That kind of thing. Though...when I threw back what he had said to me before, he looked...off. I think he might regret what he said. He hasn't said that, but there was something about the way he looked when he saw I still remembered it."

Rubbing her brow, Ochako tried to put everything Izuku had just told her together in her head, but she just couldn't do it. Putting aside the horrific idea that her best friend might be purposely trying to hurt himself, which she didn't believe for a second, the idea that Katsuki was concerned for Izuku just wasn't something she could accept, at least, not the way Izuku was puting it. No, there was no way Katsuki was actually concerned about Izuku. There had to be something in it for him to say all this. Maybe he was worried that him being a bully might get him in trouble and was trying to cover his bases. The idea got stuck in Ochako's head and started to get her blood boiling, though she tried to push it aside for the moment. She was not going to let herself get angry. She was not going to risk snapping at Izuku.

"Deku even if, and it's a huge if, Bakugou was trying to look out for you, it doesn't change anything. Being less of a bad person doesn't make him a good person. Someone like him can never become a good hero, so becoming his rival is pointless. Let him stew in his own shi- his own mess."

"I don't think you have to be a good person to be a good hero," Izuku mumbled to himself as he thought back to Shouto and his father Endeavor.

"Huh?" Ochako frowned, not hearing what Izuku said clearly. It almost sound like he said that-

"Oh nevermind! Just thinking out loud," Izuku waved his hands about. This talk was already heavy enough. He didn't want to risk bringing it to a whole new level. Plus, with the way things were going, Ochako probably wouldn't take kindly to the idea either. "Uraraka...I agree that Kacchan isn't...great, but he is changing. I mean think about it, back in junior high he hung out with some people, but you wouldn't really call them his friends, right?"

Not really seeing the point, Ochako agreed. "You mean his lackeys?"

"Yeah, but now he hangs out with Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari, too. He's more open now that he has people he respects."

Ochako thought back to all the times Katsuki blasted one of those three during their training hours. "That's respect?"

"For Kacchan, sure. Being around them is..sanding down his rough edges, I think."

Ochako's quick reply came out much harsher than she meant, but this was the heart of her problems she was getting at and the heart of her fear, "And how much sanding down before you try to be friends with him again?"

"Uraraka...I've moved past that. Whatever me and Kacchan had before...everything...that's gone. Trying to get it back isn't going to work. I've accepted that."

"Really?" The disbelief in Ochako's voice was enough that Izuku felt like he had been smacked.

Izuku wasn't sure how to respond to that. With just a single word, Ochako made it clear she didn't believe him. What's more, she didn't look angry, like she would if she caught him in a lie. She looked sad.

"What do you mean Uraraka? I mean it."

"Even though a couple of weeks ago you said you'd forgive him and go back to being friends?"

Izuku blinked. His clear confusion made Ochako sigh and prepared herself, here we go…

"I... followed after you when you went after Bakugou after our first class with All Might. I heard you two talk… and heard what you said when Bakugou left."

It didn't long at all to immediately know what Ochako was talking about. He had already suspected she had known about it, but since she never brought it up, he assumed the issue had passed.

"Deku, after he said those horrible things to you. When you had gone out to check on him, it made me so...so angry. Then...then you said you'd forgive him and be friends again." Ochako's face had been twisted, her anger at the memory obvious, but as she kept talking, the anger disappeared and was replaced with worry, "When I heard you say that, when I think about it, it scares me Deku."

"Scares you?"

Ochako nodded, "Yeah. Deku, when I think about what could happen if you did...I just don't want you to get hurt. All Bakugou does is hurt you, and now I don't want him to trick you into something just so he can make himself better while he leaves you behind and betrays you. You can't trust him, Deku. He doesn't see the world like you do, and he doesn't share your values. You're trying to rationalize him in a way you can understand, but I don't think you can."

Silence fell over the two. Izuku looked down at his hand, pulling on his fingers as he took that all in. it took him a few tries before he found his voice, "How long have you felt like this? I know you've never been a fan of Kacchan's...but this, this is more than that."

"Honestly...do you remember when we had our first talk about him? When you said you wanted to try and be like him...in some ways. His drive and that kind of stuff."

Izuku covered his face with his hands. That something like this had been hanging over Ochako's head for so long, and the fact that he had missed it was inexcusable. Gosh. What kind of horrible friend am I if I never realized Uraraka was feeling like this.

Guessing what Izuku was thinking, Ochako quickly added, "It's not like I've felt this bad since back then. It's just these past couple of weeks, really. And I have been going out of my way to not let you know. You had said you wanted to deal with this yourself, and I wanted you to deal with it. And you did, but now Bakugou is pulling you back down and...and I don't think you'll be able to deal with it."

Frowning, Izuku looked back up at Ochako. "You don't think I can handle this?"

"No. At least, not like you did the first time. I think you have a blind spot when it comes to Bakugou, and now that he's changed the game, it's already gotten to you."

"That's a little unfair, don't you think?"

Ochako hand's flew up in exasperation, "Deku, you just spent this whole conversation defending him! Just because he's surrounded by people he can't push around or intimidate like he could before, doesn't mean he's learning to respect people. Just because you want him to be remorseful over what he's put you through, doesn't mean he actually is. You say you've moved on from what you had, that you don't see yourself having that friendship back you had as little kids, but that doesn't mean you don't want something from him. This rivalry thing is just perfect for Bakugou to take advantage of you, and when he gets what he wants, he won't care what happens to you!"

Ochako after going off, paused to catch her breath while Izuku looked at her wide eyed, "Wow. Sounds like you really wanted to get that off your chest."

Ochako nodded.

"And you think because I want to view Kacchan in a good light, I'm not seeing what he's capable of."

Ochako nodded again.

"It also sounds like you really, really don't like Kacchan. Do you?"

Ochako nodded. Much much harder that time, maybe I won't actually say how much I fucking hate him.

"Don't you think that how you view Kacchan might be coloring your viewpoint, too?"

...Damn it, Deku, don't use logic at a time like this!

Izuku watched Ochako's brow wrinkle at that idea and nodded, "Yeah. Thought so. So what happens now?"

Ochako sighed dramatically, "Well I had hoped that you would agree with everything I said and just ignore Bakugou until the end of time"

Or he fucking dies...WOW! Where did that come from? It's not like I actually want him to die…

"And I bet you're not going to see things my way, and I'm not going to be able to convince you I can handle Kacchan, am I?"

"Yeah...no."

"Still, even if we aren't going to agree on this, it means a lot that you are so worried about me. Even if I hate that I'm making you worry…"

Ochako shrugged. "Well it's not like me worrying about you is anything new."

"Ow. You taking lessons from Toga on how to twist the knife?"

Both snickered at that. "Look, Deku. I'm sorry, but I can't see Bakugou like you do, and I can't support this rivalry. Not when I know it's only going to hurt you."

"I understand, but you have to understand that I can't just ignore Kacchan, and that means I have to acknowledge it and work with it."

"I understand you're too stubborn and nice for your own good."

Izuku laughed. "You're probably right."

Ochako laughed along with Izuku. On one hand, she was glad she was able to open up about her feelings on this issue with Izuku, even if the issue itself hadn't been resolved. Truthfully, it was probably going to take a few more conversations before she would be able to get through to him. On the other hand, it meant she was going to have to keep a close eye on him. Of course, that wasn't something new, all things considered.

Of course, I could just get rid of Bakugou and solve it in one master stroke. Just throw him into the sun... Would anyone believe that he one day just up and left?

---

"So," Ochako began, "Unless you have anything you want to talk about privately, we should go see if breakfast is ready...What?"

At the mention of more private talks, Izuku's face soured before he looked away.

"Deku?"

"Um, there might be something I need to talk to you about. Though Mom and I were going to wait a little while to tell you."

That was a little alarming. Something that both Izuku and his mom were going to have to tell her. When had this happened? Had something happened to them? Did this have to do with Eri? Were they in trouble? As questions raced through Ochako's head, Izuku spoke up. Seeing that Ochako had a lot of questions, "It's not something you need to worry about now but...later on you might not...be able to come over for a while."

"Did I do someth-"

"NO!" Izuku cut that question off as fast as he could, "No, Uraraka, this isn't something you did. It's...honestly it might be easier if I just play you the message."

While Izuku pulled out his phone, Ochako was relieved that she hadn't screwed something up. With his phone in hand, Izuku pulled up his voice mails. "I got a call late last night. I slept through it, but he left a message."

"He?"

"My father."

...Fuck.

With a heavy sigh, Izuku tapped onto the most recent message and put it on speaker, "Izuku. This is your father. I assume since you haven't picked up you must be resting from your win at the Sports Festival. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you tonight. Seeing you do all those things and showing such talent with your meta ability. You're more than I thought you were, my boy. You've finally shown a talent I can be proud of."

Ochako was left speechless, not only by how disturbingly similar this man sounded to Izuku, but the words that he was saying just didn't fit a phone call that was supposed to be congratulating his son on winning one of the most prestigious events in the country.

Is this supposed to be a compliment? That can't be a compliment! He's basically saying that he hadn't been proud of Deku before…

Then Ochako remembered something Izuku had told her when talking about his father. He had said 'there was nothing special to screw up.' Remembering that, and now listening to the man himself, Ochako's blood started to boil.

"But beyond that. My bosses were also very impressed with you. Mr. Yotsubashi himself even called to congratulate me. He even floated the idea out of inviting everyone to dinner at one of the company satellite locations. Possibly even in Deika City."

That's...only one prefecture over… Ochako felt her stomach drop. To have dinner with the boss, that would mean that Hisashi would have to be in the area.

"Now there are no plans set yet. I am still a responsible part of the Detnerat Company, and I need to complete my work here in the states. So don't bother calling me at this time; I don't need the distraction. However, once my work is done, I think it's time I came and saw how you are doing for myself. Your mother's...updates have clearly not been as thorough as I'd like. Now I'm sure you're as excited as I am to have a chance to eat with such an important man, but until that time comes, I want you to focus on your school work and continue to improve your power. Once my work is done, I'll be home to teach you how to act in front of him… and to make sure your mother behaves. We don't need her acting all emotional. Until then, keep showing the world what my son can do."

With a click the voice mail came to a close and Ochako was left fuming. Putting his phone away, Izuku sighed, "So Mom and I got to deal with that this morning."

"WHAT EVEN WAS THAT!?"

Izuku yelped as Ochako exploded, "That was...that was the most horrible thing I've ever heard. That was your father!?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"Oh my god"

"Yup."

"And he's coming here?"

"By the sound of it, though Mom thinks it's still going to be awhile. I wanted to hold off on telling you about this. Didn't want to ruin your day just after the Sports Festival with this."

Ochako crossed her arms, a deep frown on her face, "You don't want me around when he shows up here?"

Izuku rubbed his hands together, "I'd rather you not have to deal with him at all."

A part of Ochako could appreciate what Izuku was trying to do. His father was such a complete piece of shit that Izuku just felt it would be better for her to be as far away as possible. On the other hand though, she wanted to be there so that when that scumbag opened his mouth, she could punch him in it. While that fantasy played out, a chilling thought pulled her out of it, "What about Eri?"

Izuku's face hardened, "Mom and I talked about that. We are not letting him chase Eri out of this house. It's not going to happen. Mom told me she's ready for anything he says."

"And if he does try to kick her out?"

Izuku's hardened face darkened. His fists clenched and his knuckles turned white. Ochako could see Izuku's muscles tense to the point his body was starting to shake. "He won't."

Ochako shuddered at the tone in Izuku's voice. It was disturbing to hear that much anger coming from him. Desperate to lighten the mood, Ochako tried to think of something, anything, that would get Izuku out of the state, "Well I guess you could always sic Toga on him."

There was a pause before Izuku broke into a laughing fit, "Oh please, don't say that! I might actually think about it."

Ochako sighed, happy that Izuku was back to smiling.

"Nah, as much fun as that would be, I don't think I could do that. I'd have to tell her about my father, and I'd rather not have a lot of people know about him."

…...Oooooooooooooohhh fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Ochako started to sweat, and she found herself rubbing the back of her head, visibly nervous, "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh….."

Izuku blinked at Ochako's sudden shift, "Uraraka?"

"He he he….um sooooo, here's the thing...she knows….along with the whole class."

"Knows….what?"

Ochako winced at the completely clueless look on Izuku's face, "About your father."

"..."

"Deku?"

Reaching over, Izuku pulled one of the pink pillows off the bed, covered his face with it, and screamed. He screamed long enough that Ochako was starting to get worried he was going to need air soon. Finally, after the muffled screams petered out, Izuku pulled the pillow down low enough so that he could peek out over it and looked right at Ochako, who gulped at the look, "Why?"

Why? Why is Deku asking me why...OH!

Hands waving about in a blur, Ochako quickly deflected the blame, "I didn't say anything, Deku! I swear!"

"But the only person that knew was...Kacchan."

"It wasn't him either," Ochako cursed herself for immediately dispelling that idea, knowing she might have missed a chance to get Katsuki blamed for something, "Yeah, it was...you actually."

"I...HUH!?"

"Yeah so here's the thing. When you were fighting Todoroki, we all could see you and him were talking...a lot."

Izuku's stomach dropped.

"But the TV's didn't have mics on you and the crowd was too loud, so no one could hear what you were saying. Not even Jirou….that is, until Kaminari tricked Yaoyorozu into making a microphone for Jirou to use so we could...hear what you were saying to each other."

Izuku deflated into the bed while Ochako quickly tried to save him. "We didn't hear everything! We only got a bit of the middle...when you were telling Todoroki about your father. I pulled the mic away before we could hear anything else, but by then…"

"The damage was done."

Ochako nodded, "Yeah. When Toga started asking about that, along with everyone else. Bakugou kinda just let everyone know your father is a fu...a really big jerk. Sorry Deku. I don't think anyone is going to try and bother you with it. They felt bad when they realized you had been talking about something so personal."

Izuku supposed that was the best he could ask for all things considered. Still there was one other thing he had to be sure about, "So it was only that little bit?"

"Well, that and you calling him pathetic, which was a huge shock to everyone. If it wasn't clear you were trying to help him, you might have ruined your Disney G-rating."

While Izuku was happy that Shouto's family issues were still private, as he was sure that was what the other boy would want, Izuku couldn't help but groan at that nickname again. "Please, no more. I swear I need to do something to get rid of that."

"The way you fought and getting all beat up could help... but you're just so squeaky-clean I doubt it will last."

"Nooooo," Izuku groaned in despair.

Ochako laughed, "Oh, deal with it."

"How do you know I'm all squeaky-clean? You don't know what I could be hiding?"

Ochako raised an eyebrow, sending a shiver up Izuku's spine. That was the 'calling your bluff' look that usually meant he was about to lose an argument. "Oh really? Maybe I should have a look around and see if you are hiding anything. Maybe you have another magazine you only keep for the articles. Let's check your desk."

Izuku crossed his arms and scoffed, "Look all you want. You won't find anything" After all, there wasn't anything there he had to worry about. Plus, the new copy of the Wild, Wild Pussycats magazine he picked up after Ochako confiscated the old one was hidden somewhere else. His desk was perfectly...Izuku's confidence ground to a halt as he suddenly remembered what was in his desk. Or more importantly, on his desk and in plain sight as Ochako started to turn around to look. It was the thing he couldn't remember when they had come into his room, that had been very very important.

His Hero Analysis notebook was sitting on his desk, open. Opened to the last entry he had started working on after he had woken up: Ochako's entry.

"Deku, this is-"

"AH! WAIT!"

Tumbling out of the bed, Izuku landed on the floor in a heap. Tangled up in pink blankets, it took Izuku several excruciating seconds to get himself upright, but by then the damage was done. When he looked up, Ochako was turned fully around and holding his notebook, eyes scanning over everything before she glanced up and smirked. He couldn't see the smirk past the green notebook, but her eyes told him she was smirking, "Team idea's and duo super moves ,huh? Look's like you've been having idea's"

Oh no, Izuku's heart sank. That was the worst page he could have left open. The worst page for Ochako to have found. He felt embarrassed and a little horrified. What if she thinks I'm creepy for coming up with all of that!?

While Izuku had an internal crisis, Ochako was elated. Finally, she had a chance to talk to him about everything he had written down about her since she had snuck a peak a few weeks ago. Even after her quick scan after finding the book open on his desk, she had noticed some new additions that had made her super excited. First however, she needed to make sure Izuku hadn't hurt himself falling to the ground, "You okay down there?"

"...No…"

Ochako frowned a little at that, "Why?"

Izuku covered his head with the blanket, "You're reading what I wrote about you."

"You...Deku you know I've known that you've been writing about me for like a year. right?" Ochako wasn't sure where this was coming from. She could understand maybe Izuku was a little embarrassed, as some of the stuff was a little personal, but it had to do with the two of them. There wasn't anything in the book that was bad or warranted this kind of reaction.

"I don't want you to think I'm creepy because of how much I wrote about you."

Ochako would have laughed at the idea if it wasn't obvious Izuku was actually worried about that. Shaking her head, Ochako walked over and helped him up, "Deku, there's no way I would ever think that. All these team ideas are super cool. I'm touched that you'd see us as a team like this. I really like all these ideas and things."

Izuku's head popped out of the blankets as he looked up at Ochako, "Wait really?"

"Of course! Deku, I've read everything you wrote about me. Knowing that you respect me like this, and want to keep being with me...It means the world to me." Reaching down, Ochako offered Izuku her hand, which he took with a huge smile. "I want to keep being with you, too, you know." Izuku was relieved that he had been worried over nothing.

I guess if she read everything and was fine then I could have shown her it way sooner and avoided all this hassle...Wait? Hold on…

When Izuku's happy face turned inquizitive, and he looked right at Ochako, she gulped. "Uraraka, what did you mean when you said you'd read everything I wrote?"

Ochako blinked before her head snapped around and she looked up at the ceiling and a load of gibberish fell out of her mouth, "Oh you know, I'm just a fast reader, you silly Deku, I only just...you think breakfast is done? I should go chec- ACK!"

When Ochako started for the door, Izuku threw the blanket over her and pulled her back. Tripping her so she landed on top of him. Quickly Izuku rolled on top and used the blanket to hold Ochako down while he leaned over her. It wasn't often that he got to catch Ochako being bad, and he was going to relish this, "Ur. .ka, What did you do?"

"Er..I plead the fifth?"

A glint appeared in Izuku's eyes that sent a shiver up Ochako's spin, "Uraraka," Izuku said sweetly as his fingers brushed along her sides, "Don't you remember what you told me when I tried that?"

Ochako shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. Izuku grinned. "This isn't America."

Oh crap!

Digging his fingers into her sides, Izuku began his attack and started tickling Ochako without mercy. Ochako wiggled and writhed, laughing uncontrollably as she learned that turnabout is fair play. Between laughs, she begged Izuku for mercy, but he had none for her. "Confess! Confess!"

With the blanket over her, she wasn't able to get her hands free to float Izuku away, and since she was laughing so hard, she couldn't find the strength to push him off. She was trapped and both knew it, "I read it!"

"When!? How!?"

Between laughs, Ochako was able to get out that she had read the notebook back when she had slept over after it had fallen onto the floor. When Izuku asked how it had fallen, Ochako tried to resist, but Izuku's tickle assault won out, and Ochako confessed she had knocked it off his desk so that it landed open. With everything out in the open, Izuku finally let up and let Ochako breath. After a bit, Ochako was finally able to sit up next to Izuku who was looking just a tad too smug for her liking. Of course she wasn't exactly in a position to complain, "Sorry, Deku."

Izuku shrugged as a warm smile came to his face, "I guess it was a little unfair that I was showing off all the other entries I had while keeping yours a secret even from you."

Ochako nodded as she reached over and picked up the book from the ground, "There are some...personal things in here I can see you not wanting others to know."

"Yeah…"

"I do like how you make me sound so cool, though. That's pretty neat." Ochako said as she flipped through her pages, stopping with a smirk as she pointed to a line at the end, "Though this makes me sound like a monster."

Leaning over, Izuku started to chuckle at the line she was pointing to that he had updated that morning. Adding several underlines to really drive home the point, 'Do not evermake angry.'

"I mean, do you want to watch your matches with Toga and Todoroki?"

Ochako snorted, "Okay, that's not fair at all."

"You ripped out her teeth and beat her with them."

"Oh, you hush! You make it sound like I'm the only one that went a little crazy in their match. What about you mister, 'I'm gonna scream out Delaware Smash while blood is spraying out of my nose at Bakugou.'"

Izuku shrugged, "Okay, but you know about my issues with Kacchan. I don't know what was going on between you and Toga."

Thank god for that, Ochako thought before throwing out, "Private girl stuff."

"Private girl stuff is scary."

Ochako laughed at that, with Izuku soon joining her. When they were done, Izuku glanced over at his notebook, "So you really don't mind that I was thinking up team names and super moves."

"I thought they were awesome Deku." Flipping the pages, Ochako pointed at a super move, "I like this one a lot, Arizona Asteroid Smash sounds so cool. You got your All Might fan boying mixed with my love of space. I also like that you can use Meteor with it too if you want to go with a big area of effect. So cool!"

While Izuku blushed, Ochako paused and then let her finger move from the super moves to the team names. Tracing down the list until her finger stopped at a name, "I also really like the team names you came up with. This one though...I think is my favorite."

Izuku leaned over and blinked in surprise, "You like that one? Really?"

Ochako noted the excitement in Izuku's voice, "Yeah, I think it's really clever."

"It was actually the first idea that popped into my head, but I didn't know if it was a serious enough name for a team name."

Smiling, Ochako gave Izuku a wink, "Well it looks like you hit the nail on the head the first time."

While Izuku got a little flustered at the high praise Ochako was giving him which got another laugh from Ochako. Neither he nor Ochako were ready for the door to the room to swing open and Eri to walk in.

"Breakfast is…" Eri trailed off as she looked at the two sitting on the floor, wrapped up in her pink blanket, "...ready. Were you two playing?"

Izuku smiled, "Just a little, Eri. We'll be right out."

Eri nodded and turned around calling out to Inko as she left, "Mrs. Midoriya! Izuku and Ochako were playing house like mommies and daddies like you told me about. Does that mean I have to eat outside while you talk to them now?"

Izuku head tilted to the side. "Like...huh? What's Eri talking ab-"

Ochako bolted out of the covers and scrambled after Eri. "WAIT! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT! Mrs. Midoriya, please I wasn't having- I wasn't playing house with Deku!"

With Ochako, by the sound of it, pleading with his mother, Izuku got up and put his notebook back on his desk and the cover back onto Eri's bed, totally oblivious as to why Ochako was so panicked.

Probably just more private girl stuff.

Still he wasn't too bothered. Even if all the talking they had done hadn't been about the most fun subjects, and even if they hadn't come to an agreement on Katsuki, at least it had ended on a positive note. Seeing that Ochako had liked the idea left with a warmth he found himself cherishing. Her words, too; hearing her say she wanted to keep being with him had sent his heart racing, and brought a redness to his cheeks that was still there when he finally went to go have breakfast with everyone.

Notes:

Hello everyone! I hope you all had plenty of turkey or ham this Thanksgiving. It's the holidays, which means it's time to pack on those extra pounds before we all head to the gym in January.

Kinda a slow chapter today, but after all the action from the last few chapters, I don't think some dialog is a bad thing. I mean some of these talks were a long time coming. And it's not like there isn't going to be some action in the near future. This is the Stain arc now. So you know things are gonna get messy here soon. Still I hope you all don't mind the shorter chapter and enjoyed it. I got a lot of stuff planned out for this arc so I hope you're all ready for a wild ride. I promise you, things are going to heat up for our dear Izuku.

I'd like to send out a huge thank you to everyone that has left a comment or review. You guys really help keep me going. So if you liked the new chapter, or even if you didn't please feel free to leave a comment or critique!

As always, I'd like to give a huge thank you to Tmalasia for beta reading!