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.

53. Amusement Parks Hand Holding and Crêpes

Izuku giggled happily as he dreamed. He was little again, smiling brightly while playing on a seesaw. The person on the other end, hidden behind a shadow, giggled as she kicked off the ground and rose upward while Izuku sank to the ground. "I wonder, would it be okay if I asked Uraraka if I could hold her hand on our date?"

The girl at the other end of the seesaw waved at him as she reached the top. Her little pink bean-tipped fingers looked so soft.

Some of the grownups, their figures seeming to blend in with the shadows cast over the playground, chuckled as they watched him play. Some seemed to not care, looking off in the other direction. One, a woman, kept her hands on the seesaw seat carefully as Izuku pushed off the ground for his turn to go up into the air. "Kid, if you don't hold her hand today, she'll have every right to kick you in the pants."

The auburn-haired cutie at the other end nodded definitively.

A man, soft spoken and frail, chuckled from a park bench. "Bold."

There was a murmur of agreement from the other adults, though a bald man put some distance between himself and them.

The woman rolled her eyes. "How about we let the only one of us that had an actual relationship speak here." She flashed her left hand, the glint of gold reflecting in the light. "And has proof she knows what she's talking about."

The bald man raised a hand but was shot down. "Your advice can come later." Izuku giggled when the woman ruffled his hair. "Way way way later."

Izuku wasn't sure what the adults were talking about there. He was too distracted by how pretty the other girl's laughter was as they kept playing on the seesaw.

---

While Izuku was sound asleep, a smile on his face, the sunlight peeked through the suite's curtains, slowly brightened the room and caused one of the room's sleeping occupants to stir. The pillows that had been lined up down the middle of the bed were now scattered over or under the sheets. With the wall gone, both occupants were now wrapped up in each other's arms and Ochako had her face smooshed into Izuku's nape.

Groaning as the light hit her face, Ochako peeled her face off Izuku, eyes squinting at the light as she looked at the world through a soft haze. Disoriented from waking up in the unfamiliar room, Ochako wiped at her mouth with her gloved hands as she tried to roll over. Izuku's arms however made that a little difficult. The poor boy, even still asleep, was not ready to give up the soft squishiness he had been holding all night.

Ochako took a second to figure out where she was, and who was with her. She was in a honeymoon suite, waking up after an evening of passionate—

She was in the sleeping arms of her—

Ochako's mind started filling in the missing parts, painting a picture that got the young girl smiling, hungrily. With a deft flick, she discarded her gloves, and pushed herself up and swung a leg over Izuku's side, straddling him while the comforter pooled around her thighs. Licking her lips, Ochako let her fingers dance over Izuku's shirt, which had ridden up, giving her a tantalizing view of his stomach.

"Now why'd you go and do something silly like put your clothes back on, Deku?" she asked the snoozing young man under her. His face was like an innocent babe as he slept, unaware of the crouching predator above him. That adorable face was far from the gasping, mewling, and deliciously moaning one from last night. "But I guess that means I get to unwrap my honeymoon present again and wake you up."

Ochako's fingers started pulling at the bottom of Izuku's shirt, but paused, before she reached for her own top. "Bah, stupid thing. Why am I even wearing this?"

Her annoyance at her top did give her a moment to pause. It wasn't just her oversized shirt she was wearing, but the bralette too. Izuku had, for some reason, put his clothes back on after their honeymoon night, and apparently, had spent the time to put her clothes on too. Her gym shorts felt itchy and constraining. But how? She might have been exhausted afterwards, but she was pretty sure she'd have noticed if someone was dressing her. She also felt… strangely clean. Had Izuku wiped her down?

Inconsistencies started piling up, and Ochako's dreamy early morning haze started to clear up. Last night wasn't their honeymoon. Today was the morning of their first date. She and him were in their sleep clothes because it's what they had fallen asleep in last night. So, Ochako was straddling a boy she hadn't even kissed yet, while in the process of pulling off her own clothes, so she could give said boy a morning wake up call he'd never forget.

…

And suddenly, Ochako was wide awake.

Her eyes widened in horror and she yanked her hands away from her shirt like it had burned her. To her credit, she didn't scream in embarrassment, but her sudden jolting around had been enough to stir Izuku awake. As she watched his eyes start to flutter open, Ochako used her instincts to get herself out of the situation she was in. The thud she made as she threw herself off the side of the bed was enough to make sure Izuku didn't doze off and he sat up, rubbing his eyes as he looked around the room with a smile. "Hmmm that was a nice dream…" When he looked to his side, he titled his head, noticing he was alone. "...Uraraka?"

"Eep!"

Crawling to the side, Izuku looked over and found Ochako splayed out on the tan tiles. "Uraraka?"

"G-g-good morning Deku! Sleep well?"

"…Yeah… Why are you on the floor?"

"…"

"…"

"…Morning stretches."

There was a short pause before Izuku smiled brightly. "Oh, okay. Then is it alright if I get my shower first, then?"

Ochako nodded. "Yup. Totally fine." When she heard Izuku roll off the bed and start getting his stuff together for his morning shower, Ochako went back to rubbing her head, wincing and cursing at herself for landing head first onto the tile floor.

---

After taking his shower and getting changed for their date, Izuku had offered to go down to the hotel's cafe and see what the continental breakfast was like, offering to get them both a plate so they could eat before heading out. He then sheepishly added this way Ochako could have some privacy while she changed.

Ochako peaked over the fogged glass door from the other side of the shower. "That… would be great actually. I wanted to… put a little effort into what I'm going to wear and that would be loads easier if I'm not changing in here."

Izuku blushed. "Extra effort." He then looked down at his own clothes. A black t-shirt with a thin light green hoodie on top and left open, and the sleeves rolled up. He had on some jeans and his red shoes. Had he underdressed? He had tried to pick out something that looked nice and he didn't have anything All Might branded. Which meant a surprising amount of his clothes weren't an option. He also didn't pick any of his shirts that had writing across the front.

"Deku, you look great," Ochako quickly stepped in, practically reading his mind. "You look really… really good. So don't worry."

"Oh!" Izuku was now blushing after the compliment. "Then I'll… see you downstairs…" He gulped and added, "I can't wait to see you."

Closing the door behind him, Izuku could feel his heart racing as he made his way to the hotel's cafe. Ochako was apparently putting in effort for today, which Izuku assumed meant she was going to be wearing something she wouldn't normally wear and, oh, did that make his poor heart go all aflutter.

His blissful mood took a bit of a downturn however, when he made it downstairs and found All Might sitting at one of the tables, waving at him. "Young Midoriya! Good morning."

…Oh right… our chaperone…

"Good morning All Might." Izuku waved as he walked over to the table. He glanced around, noticing that while the other patrons and staff were whispering and sneaking, there wasn't a huge chaotic crowd. They were keeping a respectful distance.

"Informed the staff I was coming to pick you and Young Uraraka up. And I might've let them know that if I was able to enjoy a nice breakfast with you and not be too overwhelmed by people I'd be willing to sign some autographs on site. Let the guests know too and promised that they'd be first in line. If the morning was nice and calm."

Izuku blinked then nodded. "Ah. I suppose that would be enough."

All Might gave Izuku a once-over. "I have a comb if you want to do anything to your hair."

Izuku's hand went up and he racked his fingers through his green curls. "What's wrong with my hair?"

All Might held up his hands. "Nothing, nothing." Deciding not to poke the bear he moved on, "So, where's Young Uraraka?"

"She's getting ready. I was going to get our breakfast while she finished up."

"Well that's nice of you. Well, let's go see what they have. We'll stack up some plates for you two before we head out." All Might stood up and started walking over to the first buffet section. "I'm sure you're excited to get your day started."

Izuku pulled at his collar nervously before he took a breath and straightened himself up. "All Might," so that he was looking upwards towards his hero while trying to make sure he could keep eye contact. "I don't think it's appropriate or fair that you come with Uraraka and I on our date."

Truthfully this had been something on his mind for a while. Granted, it had been pushed back given the huge bombshells he had been hit with from Melissa. But afterwards, especially after All Might was only just able to have dinner last night, it had worked its way back into the forefront of Izuku's mind.

All Might paused as he browsed through the hotel's impressive selection of muffins to look down at Izuku. "Young Midoriya, as I told you before we came here. As your chaperone I—"

"You're giving a speech at the I-Expo reception aren't you? Probably going to mingle with the other heroes and scientists?"

All Might paused and nodded slowly. "I… was planning on doing some public shows."

"Some competitions with Star and Stripe too, right?" Izuku continued on. "Even if it's a short speech, talking to all those people and making sure you're in good shape to do those little events the expo wants you and Star and Stripe to do, how much time would you need?"

All Might blinked then scratched at his neck. Ahhh I think I see where this is going… Right, so Young Midoriya has the brain cell this morning. Uh oh.

"All Might, I'm sorry but I'm not going to have my date with Uraraka cut down to under an hour." Izuku raised a finger up to point out what he guessed might be All Mights counter. "And I don't think it'd be safe for your identity if you came as Mr. Yagi, after you told my mom and everyone around us that you came to chaperone us."

"…Ahem, well… for the sake of making sure things stay… appropriate."

"All Might." Izuku actually sounded a little offended. "Ignoring the fact that Uraraka would literally throw me into the sun if I tried anything, it took me over a year and a half to work up the courage to ask her out. I'm not doing anything to jeopardize today or my friendship with her. I'm not going to do anything inappropriate."

…How do I tell him only twenty percent of my worry is about him…

"And, if your next point is about safety," Izuku stretched out his arms, encompassing the whole island, "you let me walk around by myself when I go to and from school. Where at any moment, the League of Villains could leap out of a van and jump me. I-Island is the safest place on the planet, and it's here you want to be a helicopter parent?"

"Okay!" All Might held up his hands in surrender. "You've clearly given this some thought."

"I have," Izuku said with confidence. "I could also just tell my mom that you—"

"I give. I give." First Izuku laid on the logic and now he was pulling out the dirty tactics. Even if All Might put his foot down to win the battle here, he would get eviscerated once he was back in Japan. "You and Young Uraraka may go on your date, unsupervised."

Izuku felt like an All Might sized weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Though this time it was only metaphorical, even though he was well aware of just how heavy All Might actually was thanks to all the piggyback training. While Izuku celebrated, doing a little cheer and hop, he landed just in time to see someone new enter the cafe, and his world came to a screeching halt. There were no thoughts in his head now. Just, "Uraraka."

---

Ochako tugged nervously at her dress as she gave herself another look over in the suite's vanity mirror. She adjusted the yoke waist of the pink boho skirt, trying to make sure the large ribbon hung down just right and that the hem of the skirt draped just past her knees. She then pulled at the ruffles that ran across the top of her white off the shoulder shirt, making sure they weren't rolled up over her arms. She stepped back, and turned, trying to keep her reflection in sight. Looking for any obvious imperfections.

Ochako was nervous. She wanted to look good. Hell, she wanted to look god damned cute today. She had pulled her hair back into a ponytail, so she was missing her normal side bangs. She had even applied a little extra makeup. But there was an extra layer to her worry. The shirt and dress had been something she had picked up the day Izuku had asked her out. Her local thrift store had some cute selections, but everything had been a size or three too big. Fortunately she knew how to sew. An useful skill to have when mending clothes was so much cheaper than buying new ones. But even if she was confident in her skills, only having a few days to work, on top of just being super nervous, had her looking at every one of her stitches with an extremely critical eye.

She did not want to go downstairs and have Izuku see her and think she looked like Cinderella after her step-sisters got their hands on her.

"It's fine," Ochako muttered to herself. "No bad stitches. It's fine. You're fine. You're as cute as a fucking button." Ochako did another twirl around, checking for anything that she could have missed before she took a breath, and decided that if she actually took too much time, Izuku was going to come back up for her, and she did not want to make up excuses for becoming the embodiment of the 'girl that takes too long to get ready' stereotype.

So finally getting her act together, she slipped on some sandals, grabbed her small pink handbag, and left to join Izuku for breakfast.

Reaching the cafe, her mood was a little dampened when she saw that All Might was already there. Apparently he was completely ready to perform his chaperone duties.

…Hurray…

Though Ochako did find it strange that Izuku was hopping around looking happy. So something must be up. But she didn't have time to think about it, because when Izuku landed and he finally saw her, he came to a stop and just stared at her.

"Uraraka."

All Might noticed her too and smiled brightly. "My word, you look wonderful, Young Uraraka. Doesn't she, Young Midoriya?"

Ochako wasn't sure exactly what reaction she was going to get when Izuku saw her. She knew what she hoped would happen. But, a cobbled together top and skirt could easily be a huge turnoff for him. So she held her breath and waited for Izuku to say or do anything. After a few seconds of nothing, she started to get worried. Had her stitching been obvious? Had she ended up making something ugl—

Sniff.

Izuku sniffled, and his lips began to quiver. At the same time, huge tears began to well up and cascade down his cheeks. Izuku was bawling his eyes out, which was not a reaction Ochako had prepared for. "D-Deku?!"

She took a fretting step forward while All Might, who was equally perplexed, asked, "Young Midoriya? What's with the water works?"

Through sobs and hiccups, Izuku was able to work out his answer, "She's. So. Beautiful."

All Might covered his face in embarrassment while Ochako now had to deal with the fact that she had literally just brought her date to tears, but in a good way. Which made her flush to a shade of pink that rivaled even Mina.

"Ahem, well," All Might coughed into his hand. "Maybe you would like to dry those tears and tell Young Uraraka the good news?"

"Good news?" Ochako asked as she walked over and pulled some tissues out of her handbag to help dry up Izuku's face.

Izuku nodded while Ochako dabbed at his face. "Yeah, I talked with All Might."

"Talked with him?"

"I convinced him that it wasn't appropriate for him to chaperone us. So, we'll get to go on our date, by ourselves."

More than a few heads turned in surprise at the second sudden jubilant cheer to ring out in the cafe. They might have questioned it more if not for a third, sudden, surprise. Bursting through the doors to the cafe, a young blonde woman rushed in, head on a swivel and looking like she had a bone to pick with someone.

"Uncle Might! Where are you! You don't just get to say you've going to oversee Midoriya and Uraraka's date and rush off like that! If you think I'm letting you crash their date like it's the dark ages, you have another thing coming!" Melissa stopped her yelling when she saw Izuku and Ochako, looking at her and then bursting out laughing and then All Might, who looked absolutely dejected.

"Come on, you all are making it sound worse than it was."

---

With things settled, Izuku offered to go and fix Ochako a plate of waffles so that the two could have a nice breakfast together before heading out. Ochako said she'd browse some of the buffet lines for some fruit and drinks and meet him back at a table. As she walked off, All Might, after making sure Izuku was off on his own, followed after her. With Melissa close behind, ready to drag him away if need be.

"Gonna grab yourself something?" Ochako asked as she picked up a tray and plate.

"Well while I'm here."

"Which wont be for much longer," Melissa reassured. "I'll make sure he keeps his word."

"You make me sound so dishonest," All Might said with a good natured laugh. "But before I go… Young Uraraka, I'd like for us to have a quick talk."

All Might's change in tone, and the fact he was speaking a little softer meant he was trying to be serious and keep this private. So Ochako made sure to give him her full attention. "Okay. Is there something wrong?"

"No no, nothing like that. It's just… I know you've been looking forward to this, haven't you?"

Ochako nodded. "I mean, the past few days have felt long since he asked me out."

"I mean you've been waiting for this a little longer than that." Ochako blinked but didn't say anything. "I've made it a point not to stick my nose into the two of yours… budding romance. But it's been clear to me you've held some strong feelings for Young Midoriya. Even before they turned romantic." Ochako was rubbing her neck nervously. Not really able to argue against that. "And now that those feelings have turned romantic, combined with your more… direct way of dealing with things thanks to your time spent with Young Toga and Miruko…"

All Might shifted nervously. Clearly he wasn't super comfortable about whatever he was going to say, but as Ochako's teacher, and as the hero that had spent over a year training Ochako, and seeing her grow, he knew he had a responsibility to say this. "I just want to make sure you'll… be responsible today. Since I wont be there to keep an eye on you and Young Midoriya."

Ochako frowned. "Be responsible?"

All Might put a hand on Ochako's shoulder. "I'm just asking you to… show some restraint today. He might be more… confident, given the circumstances, but it's still Young Midoriya we're talking about here."

Ochako wasn't entirely sure she liked the implications here. Arching an eyebrow as she asked back, "All Might, just what are you implying?"

"I'm not implying anything, Young Uraraka. I'm just letting you know…" All Might glanced over to make sure Izuku was still out of earshot as he finished getting the pair their breakfast waffles. "You're not as subtle as you think you are."

"I'm… not?"

"In many ways of speaking."

Ochako's jaw dropped. "Wait? Many?"

All Might coughed into his hand. "That Young Midoriya hasn't heard some of your more colorful language is something of a miracle at this point."

Ochako just stood there before her palm met her face and she groaned, "Fuck me."

"So… best behavior and all that… No… hanky panky."

"All Might, it's an amusement park. What kind of mischief do you think I could…" This time it was All Might that arched an eyebrow at her, stopping her from finishing that sentence. Obviously he knew very well the kind of 'mischief' a pair of lovebirds could get into. And knew that she knew that as well. "…No hanky panky."

Ochako hated the sigh of relief All Might had as he thanked her. "You don't think I'd actually do anything like that? It's our first date for crying out loud. Plus that's… just a whole different thing altogether. I have responsibilities."

"I don't think you would. And I'm well aware of your dedication to your dream. But, you're young and you're in love. Those two things can make for a volatile combination. Especially when both parties' feelings have been held back for so long."

"Uncle Might, I think you've made your point," Melissa said, patting him on his back. "I think things will be fine."

"Right. Right." The awkward air around teacher and student lifted as All Might sighed. "Well I suppose there's nothing left to say."

"Aside from you promising not to tell Deku I swear."

"Eh?"

Ochako crossed her arms. "I want to make sure you're not going to do something like warn Deku that I'm secretly a handful or something."

"I'm pretty sure Young Midoriya knows that you're a hand… a firecracker already. So I don't think he'd be offended or upset learning you have a construction worker's mouth,"

"Deku's not going to hear my potty mouth, because I don't swear around him. As far as he's ever going to know, I don't swear."

All Might just shrugged. "I'm just saying. It might be better to just let him know you inherited your parents' blue collar tendencies."

Ochako glowered. "I'm sweet and innocent whenever Deku's around."

"Ehhhhh." All Might's hand tilted back and forth. "That's not entir—"

"Oi!"

Melissa snickered as she snatched a muffin from the basket.

"All I'm saying is that maybe honesty is the best policy now that you're taking a new step forward with Young Midoriya."

Boy was it interesting the twin looks All Might got from Ochako and Melissa, who were behind him so he couldn't see how bullshit they thought that line was.

Ochako finished filling her plate with fruit for her and Izuku to share for breakfast. "I'll tell you what. I'll tell Deku I swear, as soon as you tell him you got a huge crush on his mom."

Gobsmacked would be the appropriate word to describe All Might at that moment. "Thought so." Ochako took her plate and left the pair while she went to have a nice private breakfast with Izuku. Leaving All Might to try to sputter out a rejection of Ochako's accusation. But she was long gone from the buffet section by then.

Scratching his neck and muttering more denials All Might turned, only to freeze when he saw Melissa looking at him. "I… she was just joking. I don't… I do not have a crush on Inko."

"Uncle Might, you tell me everything about this woman you're on a first name basis with," All Might winced at that slip up, "right now."

---

"Hey, so what were you and All Might talking about back at the cafe?"

After the pair had finished their breakfast, they were now almost to the pavilion where the attractions and rides were being held. Most of the time between breakfast and now had been commenting on the island itself or pauses of nervous silence as they would sneak glances at one another. It was during one of these last silences that Izuku decided to try and break the ice.

"Eh?" Ochako scratched her chin. "Oh… nothing important. Just All Might being… All Might."

No chance in hell I'm telling him All Might was asking me not to—

"Oh no, he gave you the talk too, didn't he?"

Ochako's mouth moved but no words came out. She had to take a moment and just look at Izuku, pointing at him in shock.

"Yeah, he talked to me this morning when I convinced him to let us get to be alone."

"Pfft!" Ochako stifled a laugh. "Seriously, what is up with that?"

"It's like he thinks we don't know how to behave."

"I know. It's insulting. Like I have anything to worry about from you." Ochako nudged Izuku with her elbow. "My G-Rated date."

"Oi, I'm totally capable of being PG. Maybe even PG-13," Izuku said with mock offense.

"Nah. You're too much of a goodie goodie. Now me, I'm the dangerous one here."

"Maybe to a bowl of rice." Izuku ducked as Ochako swatted at him with her handbag.

"Hey! Don't get cheeky!" Ochako warned. "You know what'll happen if we throw down."

"…I'll toss you into the ocean?"

Ochako's cheeks puffed out. "Deku!"

"I'm just saying, you shouldn't underestimate me," Izuku said with all the coyness of a goblin.

"Riiight, like I got anything to be afraid of here." Ochako walked a few steps ahead of Izuku and turned to face him, making a funny face at him. "Your Mom did too good a job with you. I've got nothing to worry about."

Izuku raised an eyebrow, then surprised Ochako when he closed the gap and got surprisingly close to her. Leaning down, he asked, "Hey, how about we go find a secluded area in the park and just make out?" It was the nonchalant way Izuku said it that tripped Ochako up. "We can just spend the rest of the day kissing and maybe give each other hickies."

Ochako stared, wide eyed. But while her brain was frozen, her mouth started moving on its own. "Ye—" Ochako quickly shut that answer down as fast as she could, and responded to Izuku with a playful shove. "Deku! I don't need to hear that coming from you! It's weird!"

Izuku laughed as he backed off and returned to Ochako's side. "But that's what it seems like All Might was expecting."

"He's just making sure we have our heads on straight. It's no big deal."

Izuku shrugged. "I guess. Still weird he said the same thing to you though."

Ochako gave Izuku a small sly grin. "Girls aren't all sugar, spice and everything nice, Deku."

Izuku flushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "O-oh…. So when you started to say yes before. Was that part of that?"

Ochako straightened in alarm. "I never said that!"

"You said 'ye.'"

"I was going to say 'you're a jerk,' but decided not to since we're on a nice date!"

"…So hickies are a thing that could happen?"

Ochako covered her face. "Oh my god, please don't say hickies. You shouldn't know what those a…" Ochako's horrified rant trailed off when she heard Izuku start to chuckle at her side, before it devolved into a full on belly laugh. Lowering her hands and seeing Izuku just laughing at her flustered self, was surprisingly contagious, with Ochako soon joining him.

However, while the mood was comical, Ochako's competitiveness was not going to let Izuku have this win. So, as sultry as she could, Ochako plucked at the spaghetti strap that went over her shoulders. "Well, if you're feeling brave, my neck is totally defenseless."

Ochako smiled in triumph when she watched Izuku's eyes travel over her exposed shoulders and neck, before he whipped his head around, with a blush that made the tips of his ears turn pink, and little puffs of smoke wafted from his nose.

All Might was right. He may be more confident but he's still my Deku.

A short walk later and the two had reached the front gate to the amusement park pavilion, which was more a towering arch that ran from one side of the massive road to the other. Izuku and Ochako were taken aback just from the scale of the place. They had gotten a peek at the park when they arrived yesterday, looking down at it from I-Island airport arrival station, but they had still been far away. Being down at the same level, really put into perspective just how large this place was, and just how much there was to do.

Izuku might have had some idea, as he had spent time trying to plan everything out for today. But there was a huge difference between reading about the park's attractions and actually seeing them for yourself.

Ochako, who hadn't had any preparation for it, was just stunned. Not just from the sight of the place, but the sounds of all the rides and happy people walking around. And the smells from all the food and drink stands that lined the park's Main Street. Vendors and stores with foods from all around the world filled the air with an aroma of exotic spices and mouth watering sweetness.

Izuku turned, about to ask Ochako if she was ready to go, but paused as he looked at her. Her wide-eyed wonder was intoxicating. She wasn't doing anything other than taking the place in, and she was just beautiful doing it. Izuku's eyes then drifted lower, lingering on her hand. He vaguely recalled his dream the night before, the memory like a fair whisp in the wind. But while most was faded and gone, he did remember a question.

And an answer.

"Um… Uraraka?"

Izuku's voice, strangely timid but inquisitive, pulled Ochako's attention away from the giant amusement park, with all its awe and wonder, and directed it back to something that Ochako found equally awe inspiring and honestly just too damned cute. Izuku was shifting his balance from one foot to another while tapping his forefingers together like a little boy about to ask for a treat.

Oh, did that flip a switch in the poor young woman. Izuku, being cutely shy, was adorable and a sight Ochako wanted to see more of. But first things first, said pretty boy was asking for her attention. "Deku?"

Shyly, Izuku stopped tapping his fingers together and held out his hand, palm up, towards her. "Could I… hold your hand… as we walk around?"

Ochako had to almost physically restrain herself from snatching Izuku's hand out of the air and holding onto it for dear life. Instead, she gave him the gentlest smile she could and reached out her own hand, hovering it just over his. "Of course you can, Deku."

Ochako didn't take Izuku's hand, but waited for him to make the move.

Izuku, face flushed, closed the inch or so separating them and nearly cooed at how soft and cool Ochako's palm was. And when most of her fingers curled and she held his hand, her pads made the skin they touched tingle. It finally, truly dawned on Izuku that this was real, and that he was holding a girl's hand, Ochakos hand. His excitement bubbled over and he bounced in place like an excited little bunny. His exuberance was contagious as Ochako giggled, then, feeling bold, leaned over so that she brushed up against his side. "Ready to go?"

Joyfully, Izuku nodded and the two entered the park, ready to have some fun.

---

"I already told you, Young Uraraka was just making things up." All Might and Melissa had left the hotel, with him planning on returning to the Shields residence to rest up until the big night. With Melissa in his arms, he carried her towards the large amusement pavilion at her request, covering the distance in huge leaps and bounds.

Melissa side-eyed All Might. Her pokes and prods had produced nothing to really go off of, other than Inko was a good woman and Izuku's mother. "Do you have any pictures of her?"

All Might pulled his phone from his belt and scrolled through it quickly. Melissa noted he was going out of his way to make sure she couldn't see the screen. She wondered if perhaps he had pictures of himself in there while he was shrunken down. She really hoped that her uncle wasn't that dumb. "Ah, here we go. It's a photo of the family I was sent showing Young Eri settling in."

Melissa thought about asking who Eri was, but she had a feeling there was a story there, and she didn't really have the time. So she took the phone and looked it over. It was a selfie, with the phone held by Izuku. There was a little girl, Eri Melissa guessed, and then a woman. Short, round and obviously the person Izuku got most of his genetics from, Melissa was sure. There was a kindness in both their eyes that was unmistakable. "She's cute."

"Yes, Young Eri is an adorable child."

Melissa smirked up at All Might. "Wasn't talking about her."

The way All Might turned his head so he couldn't make eye contact with Melissa was telling. Her jaw dropped as the absolute schoolyard crushing she was seeing. Oh my god, this is gold.

Wanting to try and change the subject, All Might asked, "So… you'll keep an eye on them?"

"Smooth."

"Melissa."

Melissa rolled her eyes. "I got a few different booths I'm helping run today for school. I'll keep my eyes open for them, etcétera etcétera."

I'm going to let them do what they want of course, but maybe I'll have a little fun if they come to my attractions. For their benefit, of course.

"Thank you."

---

"So I know we just had breakfast but, hmmm," Ochako made a point to smell the air, thick with all the mixed aromas of the food, "I kinda want to start off today by browsing all the food stalls."

"There certainly are a lot of options… are those turkey legs wrapped in bacon?" Izuku turned to get a better look at one of the food stalls they passed.

Ochako giggled. "I can feel my arteries clogging just thinking about that."

While they kept walking down the park's Main Street, Izuku kept his head on a swivel, trying to see if he could find a particular food stall. As they got further in, the foods began to shift towards snacks and desserts and he finally laid eyes on the prize.

"You know, I haven't had one since I was a little girl," Ochako said offhandedly, following Izuku's line of sight, "So I'd totally be up for grabbing a crêpe later."

Initially excited that Ochako was onboard, Izuku then scratched his head. "Wait… How'd you…?"

"Toga might have given me some late night advice before we flew out over some of the things you might want to do. Apparently sharing a crêpe is a big deal for you."

Izuku flushed. "I mean… Don't you think it's romantic?"

Ochako gave Izuku's hand a squeeze. "Absolutely."

Ochako had to check to make sure she hadn't accidentally touched Izuku with all her fingers, the way he floated beside her after that. Then, his curiosity getting the better of him, Izuku asked, "What other advice did she give you?"

The smile on Ochako's lips and the faint blush on her cheeks made Izuku swoon. Ochako giggled before her eyes lit up. "Oh look, isn't that the same game the expo is going to have All Might play?"

Izuku looked over where Ochako was pointing, and it was as she said. A test of strength game, though Izuku could tell from the raid that the mallet was much more sensible. Standing around the game were several large men pushing and shoving each other as they riled themselves up as someone took their swing of the hammer.

Ochako smirked. "Want to give it a go?"

"Sure!"

Walking up to the game, Izuku could feel a few sets of eyes on him, sizing him up with scoffs. Izuku got flashbacks from over a year ago when he and Ochako had visited a gym. And all the muscle heads had been looking down on him then as well. The biggest of the group was up at the tower, hammer raised high above his head. Izuku noticed that the man's arms had what looked like train smoke stacks coming out of his shoulders, pumping out smoke and whistling, indicating he had some kind of locomotive Quirk. The man slammed the hammer down and sent the weight rocketing up the tower, only to peter out and stop about half way up, still well in the yellow.

"Gah! Damn it!"

The man running the attraction shook his head with fake sympathy. "Aw, too bad. Looks like you're still a ways off from the top."

"This is rigged!" The crowd of muscle men yelled.

"Gentlemen gentlemen, if you all want another go, I'm more than happy to take your money."

That got some groans and not a lot of takers. Apparently they had all had a go at the game. Izuku stepped up. "Are there any special rules? That man was using his Quirk right?"

There were a few chuckles from the crowd, but the attendant, seeing a new victim / contestant, immediately turned his attention towards Izuku. "Quirks are allowed, but you still have to swing the hammer yourself."

"So, no using your Psychokinesis to lift the hammer, Deku," Ochako spelled out.

"And what's the prize for winning?"

The attendant pointed to some tickets on the prize wall. "Hit the bell and you get fast passes for the attractions and rides here."

Ochako shoved Izuku up. "No lines Deku. Get us those tickets."

The men around the game laughed, claiming it'd take a real man to win, and if she wanted one, they'd be happy to take her out for a fun time.

Izuku's brow twitched, along with Ochako's. But instead of saying anything, he just walked up to the tower, paid the attendant the fee, and grabbed the hammer the other contestant had put down. Or at least tried to. While nowhere near as bad as the one that All Might and Star and Stripe were going to use, the thing still had to weigh a hundred pounds easily. The men all around were laughing, seeing the little man trying his hand at something none of them could do would at least provide some entertainment to soothe their own wounded pride.

Izuku huffed out a breath, gripped the giant mallet's long handle, and activated One for All and filled his body with five percent of its power. The men's laughter slowed when they saw the green lighting crackle and spark over Izuku's skin. They stopped all together when Izuku hefted the mallet over his head. Putting his arms and upper body into his swing, Izuku brought the hammer down and slammed it onto the tower's plate. The weight shot up and hit the bell loud enough that when it rang, more than a few heads turned from people walking by to see what had made the commotion. The men's jaws dropped while Ochako clapped and cheered Izuku on.

Smugly, Izuku walked over to the attendant and held up his hand. "I'll take those fast passes now."

The attendant looked at the game, like he was trying to figure something out, then back at Izuku. Grumbling, he walked over to the prize wall, and pulled off one ticket, handing it to Izuku. "Here you go. Your fast pass. Good for one person."

Izuku blinked. "Eh? Can't I use this for me and—"

"One person per ticket. And only one attempt per person."

…Wait, didn't he just say that he was willing to take that other guy's money?

Before Izuku could accuse the attendant of being a sore loser, Ochako walked up, dropped a few coins into the suddenly confused attendant's hand and marched over to the game.

"Wait miss, what are you—?"

Ochako grabbed the mallet, pressing her fingers into the handle tightly. She then surprised everyone, except Izuku, when she swung the thing high above her head with no effort what-so-ever. While even Izuku, with five percent of One for All, had to heft the thing, Ochako whipped the weightless, but not massless, hammer down and crushed the tower plate, rocketing the weight up and sounding like she damn near broke the bell with it. Dropping the hammer, and ignoring the gawking men, Ochako marched right up and held out her hand. "Ticket."

The attendant quickly fished out a second fast pass ticket and gave it to Ochako. Ochako snatched it, then turned to Izuku. "Here Deku." Handing him the ticket with the biggest, shit eating grin the boy had ever seen. "Look what I won for you."

Izuku quickly held out the ticket he had won. "I won this for you." Offering it to Ochako with a less smug, but still joyful smile.

The two exchanged tickets and hand in hand, walked off to find more games to play.

---

"Oh look! Kart racing!" Ochako pointed out a winding track that had karts darting and weaving around, some crashing into walls and more often, drivers crashing into each other.

Izuku gulped at the violence. "Is this racing or bumper cars?"

Ochako looked around before finding the kart racing entrance with a description of the race. "The karts are designed by the students of I-Island Academy, built with state of the art crash safety mechanisms. Drivers are encouraged to whip around the track as fast as they can, and should feel free to crash into anything or anyone without fear. It's just like your favorite name brand redacted kart game, just without the throwing projectiles." Ochako nodded and grabbed Izuku's wrist. "Yeah, let's do this."

"Wha!" Izuku was dragged inside, glancing back towards the track just in time to see a kart flip on its top and grind upside down the road, only to be righted when another kart slammed into it and flipped it back into its wheels. "Ummmm, wait. Really? This kinda looks intense… and you'd need to know how to drive."

"Pfft," Ochako blew a raspberry. "You don't think this is more intense than Hosu City do you?"

Izuku scratched his head. "I mean, that's not exactly a fair comparison."

"And I know how to drive. Daddy let me drive the work trucks on job sites when I was younger." Ochako left out that this was done when her mother was not around. Ochako then grinned. "Why? You afraid, Deku?"

Ochako knew she was stepping on a landmine, well, more like jumping on it with both feet, but she didn't care, because she knew what she was doing. Izuku's demeanor changed. His eyebrows lowered and his eyes got that little crazed sheen whenever he decided to do something reckless. Which when not in a life threatening situation, was kinda really hot, Ochako thought.

"I just didn't want to spoil the date by beating you in a game from the get go."

Aaaand the reckless hotness had passed. Now Ochako wanted to wipe that look off of Izuku's face.

After scanning their tickets and walking through the short fast pass line, Izuku and Ochako were getting led around by the kart racing attendants as they got the next batch of racers into their karts. Izuku, now getting a closer look, could see what the 'state of the art crash safety mechanisms' bragged about in the info signs were all about.

The tops of the karts weren't just made of roll bars, but also a clear dome. Transparent aluminum the student attendants called it. Strong, light and able to take any hit the drivers could throw at it. The seats too, looked more like they belonged on a fighter jet than a street kart. Overall, there was enough safety equipment installed to protect a driver even if they drove off the edge of the Grand Canyon. At least according to the attendant.

"So!" The attendant asked. "What karts would the happy couple like to drive?"

Izuku flushed. "H-how do you know we're a couple?!" While he was happy to be on his date, Izuku didn't want to think he was going overboard with public displays of affection and end up embarrass—

"Deku, we're still holding hands," Ochako said with an eye roll.

"Oh…"

There was a cute, but awkward silence from Izuku. During which he didn't let Ochako go.

The attendant coughed, realizing this happy couple must also be fairly new to the whole dating thing. "So, auto or manual?"

Izuku tilted his head, looking a little shocked and confused. "Wait, these karts have autopilot? Doesn't that make the racing unfair?"

"...Oh my god," Ochako facepalmed hard, "automatic or manual transmission, Deku."

"…What's that?"

Ochako turned to the attendant. "Give him an automatic please." Ochako loved Izuku very much. Buuut at this exact moment, she thought it best to get him into a kart as fast as possible before she died on the spot.

The attendant quickly got Izuku situated into a kart, strapped in and settled. He let him know a safety member would be by shortly to make sure he knew how to operate the kart. Then the attendant looked at Ochako.

"Stick," Ochako answered without being asked.

---

Soon after everyone was in their seat, and a quick health and safety speech was given, which was basically "don't get out of the kart on the track, as it's the safest place you can be," they were walked through the track itself, with a little display popping up in the karts screen, that was part of the overly fancy seats.

At least I won't get lost.

The track was relatively simple. It started out with a small left turn that went into a long straightaway, perfect for drivers with lead feet to really get going. The straight would then curve into a slightly brutal left that would require drivers to slow down, unless they were crazy enough to try and slide around. There was a second, shorter straight followed by another left turn that was quickly followed by a right, making something close to a S-bend. This came to the last straight of the track, before the last turn of the lap was another left, close to a one hundred and eighty degree turn before the racers would be back at the finish line. Easy.

Izuku really wished the safety instructor would stop saying 'easy'. As someone that had never driven before, easy was relative. Izuku looked up a few cars ahead of him, where he could see the top of Ochako's hair. He had gotten a look at her when she was led to her starting position. They had made eye contact, and Izuku knew then and there, that if she lapped him, she was going to ram him off the road.

Uraraka is going to kill me. She's going to turn me into roadkill. Maybe I should have invited Toga instead. At least the worst she'd ever do to me is stab me. And even then, she'd do it all kinky like… I'm a dead man. I don't want to die before getting a chance to kis—

"Racers! On your marks!" The sound system kicked on, alerting Izuku that he better get ready. One foot pressed firmly on the break, the other hovering over the gas pedal, Izuku got ready to switch and slam his foot down. In this race, he had one single trump card. When Ochako was in her own kart, Izuku had asked one of the safety members a single question.

Were they allowed to use their Quirks in the race?

The man had flashed him a thumbs up.

So while Quirk use hadn't been discussed at all by the other attendants, it wasn't against the rules. So, It's not cheating.

…

Izuku swore there was someone in the back of his head warning him that Ochako would kick his ass if he did this. But his counter was simple. Ochako would not accept a win if Izuku didn't do everything he could to win. So really, this was all for Ochako's peace of mind.

…

Just for a second, Izuku swore he could hear someone laughing, while a woman bashed her head against a wall.

"Get set!"

Izuku held his breath.

"GO!"

The light turned green and Izuku reached out with his Psychokinesis and picked all the karts around him off the track by an inch or two. With only seven other racers, it wasn't like Izuku had to lift up a lot of weight, but there was no way he was keeping everyone up in the air the whole time. Not if he didn't want to crash. So he slammed his foot onto the gas and rocketed off. When he passed Ochako's kart, he briefly got a look at her.

…Ooooh I might have over done it.

It's fortunate Izuku can't read lips, or he might have died from shock at the very choice four letter words Ochako was hurling at him. But once he was out ahead of everyone, he let his Quirk go, and the other drivers fell back to the road.

---

"— ND THEN I'LL TURN IT SIDEWAYS!" Ochako roared as she watched Izuku disappear around the first corner and her kart fell back to the road. Fortunately those safety features meant she barely felt a jolt from the impact. Not that she would have noticed anyway. No, Ochako was too focused on a single thing; catching up and turning Izuku into an asphalt stain.

Keeping a foot on the clutch pedal, Ochako slammed her other foot down on the gas, revving the engine so that the RPM's were going mad. Foot off the clutch, the kart rocketed off, wheels screaming and rubber smoking, with Ochako seething as she reworked the pedals and yanked the gear lever from first to second, working the kart as fast as she could to catch up with Izuku and also beat the other racers around the first turn.

She was vaguely aware of the announcers laughing and shouting at the 'brilliant move' the green driver had just pulled. While they never tell people they can use their Quirks, as there are very few that could help in a kart race, they never tell people they can't use them.

"Dead, dead dead dead dead dead dead!"

---

Izuku was halfway down the long straight when he made the mistake of looking behind him. Just in time to see Ochako screaming around the turn and gunning it after him. She was quickly joined by the other racers. "Uh oh."

Izuku gulped and kept his foot pressed down hard. Even with the turn coming up, breaking was the last thing on his mind right now. A rookie mistake. Going as fast as he was, even when Izuku turned the wheel to make the left hand bend, his car understeers hard. It kept going straight instead of turning, and it slammed into the sidewall and made Izuku come to a deadstop.

The cars he had left behind gunned past him. He swore he briefly saw Ochako wave at him, which must mean she wasn't as mad as she could have been. So Izuku, desperate not to be left behind, got his kart going again. Fortunately, Izuku wasn't the only driver to make a mess of the sharp turn and he was able to get back into the thick of things.

---

Ochako hissed as she grabbed her steering wheel with both hands and jerked to the side, slamming into a kart that had hit her while she had been distracted. Caught up in the raw emotional tsunami of the race, Ochako, when passing Izuku, had taken the opportunity to flash a hand gesture that she immediately hoped he hadn't seen. Her worry was cut off when a driver rammed into her, either by accident or on purpose, Ochako wasn't sure. Though her response was completely justified either way. "OH NO YOU DON'T!"

Yes, ramming the kart into the wall at high speed was completely, totally, justifiable. Unfortunately, the act ended up slowing Ochako's kart down, and more karts started pulling up besides her, all with the same idea of trying to ram the other drivers. It made turning the corner into the S bend a chaotic mess. Some karts spun out. Some over-corrected and went face first into a wall, only to get t-boned by a driver behind them. Ochako, realizing she was about to get swallowed up in the chaos, slammed her feet into the clutch and brake-pedal while swerving the wheel to avoid drivers that went around her, only to then slam into each other.

This gave Ochako an opening to quickly put her foot back on the gas as she came around the right bend of the S curve. The sudden speed made the backend of her kart swing out, oversteering and slingshotting around the corner, the front wheels screaming as they gripped and clawed at the road. With all the karts now crashed, Ochako was entering the final straight as the only running racer. By the time the other drivers got their karts going, they would be fighting for second place.

"HA HA HA! THIS IS IN THE BAG—!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Ochako saw a flash of green.

---

"AHHHHHH I DON'T LIKE THIS!"

Izuku, foot hard down on the gas pedal, screamed as he desperately turned his steering wheel this way and that as he tried to avoid the carnage that was the S bend. He had been able to catch up due to everyone just deciding to try and 'kill' each other. But, due to not realizing he probably should be riding his break just a little, Izuku was just about out of control as he weaved between the crashed karts. One particularly hard turn on his wheel damn near flipped Izuku over, but when he sent himself up onto two wheels, he used his Quirk to keep the kart from flipping over completely. So he ended up rounding the right bend closer to a high speed motorcycle than a kart. So he was able to keep pretty much all of his speed.

Now on the straight, Izuku let his kart fall back onto four wheels and blinked in surprise as he started to pull up alongside Ochako's kart. The straight was the longest of the three, giving karts plenty of time to reach their top speed. Up alongside Ochako, Izuku kept his foot pressing the gas pedal into the floor. He looked over at her, the same time she looked over at him.

Uh oh, I know that look. Yup, that's her in 'I'm gonna win mode.'

He watched Ochako turn her head back around, thinking she was going back to focusing on the race. Then before he looked away, she looked back at him, with a questioning look.

Why… is she looking at me like that?

On a whim, Izuku looked up ahead. The long straight wasn't so long anymore. The two karts were quickly barreling down the track and reaching the last turn of the race, the tight left that would then take them to the finish line. To make that turn, they would need to break. Izuku's eyes widened as recognition hit him. Whoever broke first, would end up behind the other. So in order to win, either he or Ochako had to break last. This race was now a game of chicken.

Izuku looked back over at Ochako, caught her eye, and kept his foot on the gas with a smirk. Ochako, now realizing the game, kept her foot on the gas too. The two ate up the track, quickly reaching the point when someone was going to have to make a move. Closer and closer, the two kept swerving their heads from the road to each other, neither of them willing to blink, even as their karts shot past the signs warning drivers of the impending turn. They just kept going full steam ahead.

Closer and closer. Until the last possible moment—

---

"To be fair, you kinda crashed into me."

"What?!"

"I mean, it was a left turn, I was on your right. So when you hit me—"

"DEKU!" Ochako whirled, an amazing accomplishment since she was back to holding his hand. "Because you didn't break in time—"

"Neither did you."

"Haven't you ever heard of ladies first?"

"…Wait, are you saying I should have breaked first to let you win?"

"…" Ochako's eyes twitched. "Don't… don't you try and use logic on me right now!"

The two's game of chicken had ended in neither of them winning the race. They breaked at the same time and tried to take the turn at the same time, ending up with neither having space to make the turn without crashing into each other and ending up against the wall. So the drivers behind them ended up finishing.

"I'm just saying, last time I thought about going easy on you, you threw me into the ocean. That leaves an impression on a guy. Lets him know exactly what his girl wants."

Ochako puffed up, and poked Izuku in the chest. "Two things, stop trying to make it seem like you're magnanimous in this. Just because something is allowed, doesn't mean you should do it."

Izuku smirked. "You're just jealous I figured out Quirks were okay to use."

"…That's besides the point."

"Is it though?"

"DEKU!"

Izuku held up his free hand. "Okay, okay. What's thing number two?"

"'His girl?'" Ochako repeated with a raised eyebrow.

Izuku opened his mouth to say something, then closed it as he repeated the last few lines of dialogue that had come out of his mouth. He promptly blue-screened, and Ochako ended up carrying him like a balloon for a little while, as he rebooted and she looked for the next attraction for the two of them to play.

---

"Step right up, step right up! Hit the target and win a prize!" A chipper and familiar voice rang out, grabbing Izuku and Ochako's attention. "How about the happy couple? Young man, wouldn't you like to win a prize for your lovely date?"

"Melissa?" Izuku yelped in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"The students here run a number of the attractions. For some, it's a chance to show off our inventions and gadgets. And for others, it's good extra credit. I worked on a few of the games here, so I'm helping run them too," Melissa answered with a smile.

Ochako cocked an eyebrow. "So you're not spying on us for All Might?"

Melissa turned to address Izuku, completely ignoring Ochako. "So Midoriya, would you like a chance to win Uraraka a prize?"

"Oi!"

"What kind of prizes?" Izuku asked.

"Deku."

"If she really intended to spy on us for All Might, she wouldn't have called us over," Izuku reasoned. "I'm sure he asked but I get the feeling no matter what, he'll get a 'everything was perfect' response. Right?"

Melissa nodded sagely. "Yup. As long as neither of you get caught with your pants down in the tunnel of love."

Izuku turned crimson and sputtered out a handful of denials and reassurances that something like that would never happen. Ochako meanwhile looked at Melissa slyly. "As long as we're not caught, huh?"

Melissa gave Ochako a sly wink, "Sooo," before motioning towards a huge wall of prizes. "Anything catch your eye?"

Ochako looked over the wall of carnival prizes, lots of fluffy and brightly colored prizes that you wouldn't want to buy if you were in a store—

"…What is that?" Ochako pointed, suddenly very interested in one of the prizes.

Melissa followed Ochako's finger and her smirk grew wide. "Oh, you mean Cuddles?" Melissa walked up to the wall, and poked the apparent prize that had caught Ochako's eye. "You want this bundle of soft fluff?"

Ochako turned and started shaking Izuku back to his senses. "Deku! Deku I want that!"

Izuku, shaken back to reality, looked to see what Ochako wanted him to win for her, and had to do a double take. "That's… a really big teddy bear."

Melissa adjusted her glasses. "This is Cuddles. He's over six feet of soft patent pending fluff, made by the toy makers of I-Island to always be huggable and super durable, warm during those cold nights, or cool during the summer. He can also never get dirty or stained. The perfect teddy bear. He's the grand prize for this event."

Ochako was practically bouncing now, latching onto Izuku with her eyes sparkling like a child. Izuku really didn't have any choice now, he was definitely winning that bear. Only problem was, "What exactly do I have to do?"

With an exaggerated hand wave and bow, Melissa motioned for the two to follow her. "Right this way, and I'll take you to the water gun range."

---

Izuku and Ochako weren't exactly sure what they expected when they followed Melissa, but after a few minutes in an elevator that took them all the way up to the high wall that surrounded the whole island, both were starting to wonder just what they had walked into. At the very least, being up on the wall gave the pair an incredible view of the island, and Izuku the bright idea to take a selfie with Ochako, making sure the island was in the background, then one with the ocean. Melissa flashed Izuku a thumbs up, approving of the slick move.

"Midoriya, Uraraka. Welcome to the firing range."

The area was indeed set up for something, decorated so that it matched the games and attractions down below. There was a spot in the middle that looked like it was the center of attention, with multiple points drilled into the mighty wall for anchoring… something.

"Boys!" Melissa clapped. "We got a shooter. Get him ready."

Several other students emerged from some of the attraction tents and made an excited beeline for Izuku, taking him away from Ochako and Melissa and towards the spot in the center of everything.

"Whoa whoa whoa! What even am I supposed to be shooting all the way up here?" Izuku asked in a little panic.

Melissa threw her tumb out towards the crystal blue water of the ocean. "The target is out there."

Ochako had a hand over her eyes, shading them as she squinted and peered out over the ocean. "Where's the target?"

Melissa let her fellow classmates finish getting Izuku set up while she walked over to Ochako and pulled out a tablet. With a few button presses she pulled up a live feed of the target while pointing. "It's about ten nautical miles out that way."

"Wait huh?" Ochako's head whipped around to try and see what the hell Melissa was talking about.

"I'm sorry what? How far am I— Ah!" Izuku was just as shocked, but he had trouble expressing this as a student plunked a visored helmet over his head, and suddenly multiple screens from multiple live cameras filled his vision. At the same time someone was putting his feet into slots in the ground.

Melissa showed Ochako the tablet and Ochako's eyes nearly popped out. "… Is that a battleship?!"

"Technically it's an ancient decommissioned aircraft carrier. The USS John F. Kennedy. The United States had it stored away after they scrapped and gutted it. It was always destined for target practice, but the military gifted it to us so we could be the ones to destroy it."

Ochako noted that the hull of the ship was dotted with holes, which was weird. Maybe from the scrapping? "How big is that thing?"

"Oh, about three hundred and thirty meters long."

Ochako looked at the screen blankly then back out towards the ocean, trying to find the ridiculous thing, but Melissa shook her head. "Don't bother. You wouldn't be able to see it even if we gave you binoculars. It's twice the distance away needed to be below the earth's horizon."

"Wait, then how am I supposed to shoot it?" Izuku asked as the students finally got the helmet fitted properly and got his feet strapped down to the ground, which was concerning and confusing for him and Ochako. "What water gun is going to reach that?"

How am I going to win Uraraka that giant teddy bear?!

"You can, with this!" one of the three carrying in the water gun called out.

Okay what sci-fi abomination is that? Ochako thought to herself.

The 'water gun' was the size of a couch, had multiple large fire hoses coming out the back that ran into the wall and once they carried it over to Izuku, they deployed a tripod with the legs going into anchor points.

"…"

"…" Izuku cleared his throat. "Do I even want to—"

"So I'm sure you're wondering how this baby will hit that aircraft carrier?" Melissa said, putting on a salesman shtick that made Ochako groan.

"I mean," Izuku grunted as the back end of the 'water gun' was pressed into his chest and straps were slung over his shoulders, making him now part of the contraption. "I'm guessing it's like one of those water saw things? The water's sped up by either pressure or there's a turbine in this."

One of the students laughed. "Water pressure, turbines? What do you think I-Island is? A third world country?"

Ochako frowned. "…Keep laughing at my date and I'll throw you into the carrier."

"Ahem." Before the students could crap themselves, Melissa continued, "It's kinda like that, though just a tad more complicated. Yes, this water gun does consume great amounts of seawater, fed in from the ocean through these hoses. But it isn't just sped up and squirted out. As it's getting spun up, the water is superheated into the fourth state, before being fired."

"What's the fourth state?" Izuku wasn't sure he liked the sound of that.

"Well there's four states of matter. Solids, liquids and gasses are the three well known ones. But there's also plasma, the fourth state."

"…So you just gave Deku a plasma cannon?"

"Well it's still technically a water gun, we're just firing the water when it's not a liquid," Melissa explained with a smile.

"Yeah… I dunno. Deku are you sure you want to… Oh no." Ochako was about to let Izuku know he didn't have to go through with the game. But apparently Izuku was a boy, and being given a super big plasma cannon was apparently very appealing since he had the biggest grin on his face. "Boys and toys."

Ochako was then told to get into the safety tent with the rest of the students after they had finished getting Izuku set up. Melissa stayed behind to run a last safety check and to explain how the system and game worked, explaining that the cannon was linked up to all the different video feeds which were being fed into his helmet and that all he had to do was line up the shot and pull the trigger. The system would correct for all the different external factors. Like the earth's rotation and curve.

"Just line up the shot…" While Izuku was excited to fire something so cool, the information overload from all the different camera feeds, plus not really understanding the HUD, made knowing if he was lined up correctly tricky. But he supposed that's where the challenge came from. "Is there a spot I should be targeting to win Uraraka that bear?"

"You see the command deck? The bridge?"

"Umm, yeah?" Even with all the cameras giving Izuku a view of the ship, it wasn't like it was super zoomed in. It still looked like it was far off. But then Melissa fiddled with one of the screens with her tablet and gave Izuku a quick close up shot so Izuku could see what she was pointing to. "Wait… is there someone inside?"

"That's one of our crash test dummies, Buster. Hit him and you win the grand prize." Melissa explained before putting everything back to normal.

"…So you don't think that Uraraka will get mad at me if I miss, do you?"

Melissa laughed. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just don't think about you only being allowed one shot."

"…"

While Izuku took a moment to get over that dread, he missed Melissa making sure everything was bolted down and secure, and while her hands were on the cannon, muttered something under her breath, then giving Izuku a pat on the shoulder, wished him good luck, and went to join everyone else.

Ochako, from the safety of the tent, looked at Melissa questioningly. "Sooo, this is safe, right?"

"Oh sure, even if the cannon explodes and sends burning plasma everywhere, this tent is built to keep us nice and safe," one of the students answered before Melissa could say anything.

Melissa groaned as Ochako looked at the student blankly. "I was talking about Deku."

The three all shared looks then shrugged. "We can guarantee he won't feel anything if something goes wrong."

"Cause he'll be instantly vaporized."

"He'll be fine!" Melissa hurried to cut them off and reassure Ochako. "Everything is tested and run through hundreds of inspections before it's allowed to be used by the public. It'll be fine."

Izuku, for his part, wasn't worried about the cannon blowing up in his face. He was more freaking out as he tried to get the radicals lined up for what he hoped would be a bullseye. But on top of the HUD being a confusing mess, seriously you'd think with video games as examples, they'd know how to make something not so confusing, Izuku was finding out that he had another problem. Even the tiniest adjustments he made seemed to throw off the shot by meters. He swore he barely moved anything and suddenly he was targeting the bow of the ship. It might have been basic geometry, but it was still annoying.

Still, Izuku kept his calm and focused. He really wanted to win that teddy bear for Ochako. Maybe he was taking this a little too seriously but, in his mind, this was going to be the first gift of many he planned on spoiling Ochako with. He wanted to get her all sorts of things. Chocolates, and flowers. Take her to the mall and let her buy any clothes she could want. Jewelry too, though he didn't know anything about that kind of stuff, but he was a quick study. He supposed, he just wanted to make sure he made her happy, and this was as close to a first step as it got.

So taking a deep breath, he lined up his shot, and pulled the trigger.

---

A delivery robot rolled up the water gun attraction back down off the wall. Ochako gave the giant teddy one last hug before she put it into the delivery box the robot was carrying on its trailer.

Melissa typed in the delivery instructions. "Make sure this gets delivered to Uraraka's room. Also have the shipping requirements prepped for it to be sent back to her home when they are ready to leave."

"Yes ma'am."

With the robot rolling away, Ochako turned and gave Izuku a big hug, thanking him for the prize, and making Izuku blush with a goofy smile.

---

The pair made their way around the park, going on roller coasters and tower drops, thrilling rides that all offered the most embarrassing pictures that the two just had to have. One in particular, the tower drop, was taken just as the cart was released. The look on Ochako's face had sent Izuku into hysterics.

The pair then found an attraction that simulated skydiving. The attraction was a huge padded vertical wind tunnel that let people fly and float around. Given their last go at flying, back at the sports festival, they were excited to give the attraction a go.

Izuku's attempts to soar through the air were, at the best of times, clumsy. And at the worst, disastrous. If he wasn't flipping end over end in the wind tunnel, he was crashing into the padded walls. He did end up using his Quirk eventually to finally keep himself stable for a little while.

Ochako however was the exact opposite. In a display that left Izuku mesmerized, Ochako drifted around the tunnel like a ballerina, gracefully twirling in the wind. Her pink skirt pinched between her fingers, she spun and danced like a flower petal caught in the breeze. Ochako took to the air with a grace and elegance that captivated him.

It wasn't until the end, when Ochako landed back on the ground and Izuku erupted in cheers and applause, that she realized Izuku had been watching her, completely enraptured by her.

When the two left the ride, hand in hand, Ochako cozied up right next to him, humming happily to herself.

The pair returned to the park's Main Street, and filled their lunch table with Yakisoba, Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki and some American corn dogs. Any sly comments Ochako might have had at the less than healthy lunch were quickly forgotten after she munched on her first mouthful of yakisoba. After that, being healthy was the furthest thing from her mind. She was about to reach for a bamboo skewer to pluck one of the other takoyaki balls from the little cardboard basket, but stopped when Izuku beat her to it. Taking her skewer, he stabbed one of the balls and held it up for her.

"…Say ahhh?" Izuku seemed to be immediately regretting his move. Ochako could see he was working out an apology as fast as he could. So before Izuku could change his mind about feeding her a snack, Ochako, with one hand holding on her bangs back, leaned forward and chomped the treat off the skewer. Leaning back up, she had one hand covering her mouth as she chewed. When she was done, she smiled brightly at the blushing boy. Taking some chopsticks, she plucked a cut up piece of okonomiyaki and held it up for Izuku with her other hand cupped underneath to keep the food from dropping.

"Your turn Deku."

Izuku, initially stunned, leaned forward and stuttered out, "T-thank you," before eating it. While he was still leaning forward and chewing, Ochako's free hand, not needing to catch anything, moved up and her fingers danced on the underside of Izuku's chin and jawline, delicately scratching him like he was a cat. The flirtation was short lived as soon both overheated at the forwardness they had just displayed and they needed a moment to collect themselves.

---

After their lunch, Izuku had volunteered to take their trash while Ochako went to find somewhere to freshen up. Even with her utensils, she had ended up with sticky fingers and mouth.

"Well, look on the bright side, I bet your lips taste like Takoyaki."

There then followed about a minute of awkward silence between the two blushing teens before Ochako had rushed off, leaving Izuku alone to wonder if there was something he could stick his head into to just end it all right then and there. Maybe an animatronic could work.

"'I bet your lips taste like takoyaki', what was I thinking?!" Izuku grumbled to himself.

You were thinking you wanted to kiss her.

The teasing voice of Himiko snickered. Izuku ignored the voice as he tossed the trash away.

You know I'm right.

Izuku, doing his best impression of avoiding eye contact with the imaginary voice in his head, looked for anything that he could use as a distraction. How fortunate he was then, when he noticed a few small stalls selling little I-Island souvenirs and gifts, that something in particular caught his eye. It made him think of Ochako the evening before. So, after making sure she hadn't come back yet, Izuku snuck off.

While Izuku did his thing, Ochako was busy making sure the rest of her lunch was off of her hands and face. Dabbing her face and hands with a paper towel, she checked herself in the mirror, making sure she was still presentable. While she did, she ran a finger over her lips, recalling what Izuku had said.

Izuku must be thinking pretty hard about kissing you if he went and said what he said back there.

Ochako nodded, agreeing with the Himiko inside her subconscious. The idea that Izuku was paying any attention to her lips was… an exciting thought. Hell, everything about today was exciting. And she wasn't just talking about the amusement park. Izuku was exciting her just on his own. It was all the little things he was doing. Putting aside the bold slip-ups, which were doing all sorts of things to her heart, it was the soft touches, the way he'd rub little circles with his thumb when they held hands. How he would take little steps to stay as close as he could when they walked around. The soft way he spoke to her, how he looked at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention.

God, it was those looks that made Ochako's face heat up. This single day, put so much into a different light. Izuku was being so open about everything. Not with words, but at this point, Ochako didn't need words to know.

God, how did I miss it? Deku… isn't great at keeping secrets and he's been sitting on his feelings since Hosu City? Either I'm blind, or he suddenly got the skills to keep stuff from me.

Ochako almost laughed, the idea Izuku was capable of hiding anything from her was just funny. But regardless of how these feelings were all unknown, Ochako loved that it was out in the open. Loved being the key word there.

Ha ha ha, poor boy starting to come apart at the seams. All those feelings for you, slipping out in those little bold moves he doesn't mean to do. Pretty soon, I bet he'll come completely undone. And it won't be some small move when that happens.

Ochako tried not to get giddy at that, but she was failing pretty badly. Her subconscious Himiko was rolling her eye at her.

Oh gosh, when that happens, do you think that's when he'll tell me how he feels?

Ochako might not need words to know at this point, but the idea of Izuku just coming out and saying he was in lo—

Or he'll just kiss you, that special voice said, the smirk visible, even as a voice in her head.

Ochako froze, and thought long and hard about that. Then, in a rush, jammed her hand into her handbag and fished out some mint gum. She spent the next few minutes chewing, checking her breath, and chewing again until she was sure it wasn't going to be her breath that knocked Izuku's socks off.

After Ochako was done, she returned and started looking for Izuku, not immediately finding him where she had left him. "That's odd? Where'd that boy run off too?"

Looking around, she scanned some of the food carts, wondering if maybe he had gone off to get some crêpes. Though she thought they had agreed to wait until the end of the day for that treat.

"Uraraka?" Came from behind.

"Oh!" Ochako turned. "Where were you De…ku?" Her voice trailed off as she saw Izuku walking up to her, looking a little sheepish and his hands behind his back. "What'cha got behind your back, Deku?"

"Um, sooo," Izuku began, a little nervous but still determined. "H-here."

Pulling what he had kept behind his back, he handed it to Ochako who took it with a curious smile. "Oh it… gloves?" Ochako looked over the gloves, quickly determining that they were, well, weird. Extremely thin and stretchy around the wrist, they would also only cover her pinky and ring finger. Not exactly good for cold weather. Looking at the little cardboard label they were strapped to, Ochako read off, "Digital artist gloves… Thank you Deku, but… I don't draw."

I also don't own a tablet…. Or one of those fancy pens either. So why would…

"O-oh, I know. These aren't for that," Izuku quickly explained, "I just… well… When we were getting ready to… um, sleep… together," Izuku paused as a puff of smoke escaped from his nose, "in the same bed," more smoke. Ochako gave him a second to keep going, "J-just sleep… um… anyway. I noticed your, um… oven mitts."

It wasn't exactly that Izuku hadn't known about them. Ochako had mentioned to him a couple of times when they were training that she had to sleep with them to keep herself from floating in her sleep. She hadn't mentioned just how old the gloves were, though seeing them, Izuku could hazard a guess. "I saw you had to take them off a few times when you kept getting texts. Which seemed to be… kinda annoying you."

Ochako nodded, following along with Izuku. Though she didn't mention to Izuku that most of her annoyance was because she had texted Himiko to brag about her current sleeping arrangements, even sending a picture of the two of them in the same bed, when Izuku hadn't been paying attention. So the constant back and forth had been a self-inflicted injury.

"So when I saw the gloves at the stand over there… I thought they would be perfect for you. See," Izuku reached out and took Ochako's hand, and with his other, covered her pinky and ring finger, "your Quirk won't activate unless all five fingers touch something and, you'll be able to use your hands without having to take off the gloves." Izuku, who had been focused on Ochako's hands as he explained things, paused, "Oh… unless…" and started backpedaling. "Did I overstep? Oh, I overstepped, didn't I?" He knew how touchy Ochako got with things that cost money. Suddenly getting her something 'better' than she had, that could be like charity couldn't it?

Before he could fully apologize though, and because he hadn't been looking at Ochako's face to see it go from confused to touched, he wasn't ready when she stepped up, took her hands out form his and wrapped her arms around him, giving him the tightest, warmest hug she could. "Thank you, Deku."

O-Oh… I guess I did good.

---

With her gift carefully tucked away into her handbag, Ochako and Izuku continued on their way through the park. The teacup's ride almost turned into a disaster when Ochako accidently floated their cup as they both worked the wheel in the center to spin the ride. With its gravity removed, this led to it spinning much, much faster than it was supposed to. The pair ended up having to get dragged to a park bench for a few minutes until the world stopped spinning for them. Though fortunately no lunches were lost. Unfortunately, a lot of kids seeing their cup spin so fast, led to the next batch of riders making a mad dash for it. So that was more work for the attendants to have to deal with.

After that, they both tried their hands at Veggie Samurai, a real life version of the popular phone app game. Though the sword was a LARPing prop and the vegetables were made of foam. Still, it was a lot of fun to swing the swords around to try and hit the flying targets, with Ochako and Izuku next to each other, competing to see who could win. Though when Izuku started catching the vegetables with his Quirk and holding them in place so he could rack up more points, Ochako turned her blade against him. Stabbing him in the back. Then wacking him on the head.

And the chin.

And the shin.

And the butt.

Et tu, Ochako?

---

"If that's a haunted house, I'm leaving," Ochako warned as she and Izuku made their way though the fast line up towards a suspiciously old fashioned looking mansion.

The sun had now left its high perch in the sky, slowly making its way back towards the western horizon. Both knew that soon, their day of fun and excitement would be ending. Enough time for just a couple more attractions.

There was one last ride Ochako wanted to go on, from the suggestion she had gotten from Melissa, so the two had picked something between where they had been and that last ride that had seemed interesting.

The old house had stood out on the park's map, so they decided to check it out. Now, standing at the mansion's 'front door' one could say they were already past the point of no return.

There was even a sign saying just that.

"You're not scared, are you?" Izuku teased.

"Deku, this is an island filled to the brim with people like Hatsume. You wanna find out what they can do when they want to actually scare someone?"

"…" Izuku cleared his throat. "I mean… I suppose it's not too late turn around and—"

"Oh, but it is!"

"Eh?"

"Huh?"

Both Izuku and Ochako had a second to register the voice before the floor underneath them opened up, and they were dropped into the dark abyss, screaming as they fell. The yells finally silenced as the ground snapped closed.

---

When Izuku and Ocahko were ejected out from the chute they had fallen into and slid down, they landed on a floor that had way too much give and bounce. They tumbled end over end until they lay in a less than prestigious pile of limbs, though any initial confusion over the strange room they were now in was put on the back burner as they collected their thoughts.

"That was Melissa's voice on the speaker, wasn't it?" Izuku asked.

"It was," Ochako confirmed.

"She's also the one that opened that trap door too."

"Probably."

"Let's just say it was, it will make us planning our revenge easier."

"Sounds good to me."

"…"

"…"

"Uraraka, you okay?" Izuku asked, deciding that he should probably make sure his date was fine after the fall and landing they just went through.

"Yup, just laying here trying not to think about how we just got tricked with saturday cartoon logic."

"…"

"…"

"It's kinda funny though, isn't it?" Izuku said at last.

Ochako groaned, hating that she agreed. When the two rolled upwards and sat up, they both took a second to press their hands into the ground, feeling how it gave and sprung back. Izuku hummed as he worked to get his feet under him. "It feels like… have you ever been in one of those bouncy castles, Uraraka?"

Standing up finally, Izuku extended a hand for Ochako to grab. "You know what… Yeah, this feels exactly like that."

When both were on their feet, an intercom crackled to life. "Welcome boy, girls and hero students of debatable patience." Ochako glared. "You two have dared to trespass into I-Island's House of Near Infinite Annoyances."

"…I'm sorry, what?" Izuku did not like the sound of that one bit.

"Will you make it past the House's many tricks and traps?"

"Is she really trying to intimidate us with a fun house? Please." Ochako was none too impressed. She was of course ignoring that she had just fallen down a trapdoor.

"Or will you fail, like you did in the sports festival because of a little ice?"

"…"

Izuku took a few large side-steps away from Ochako, who was starting to shake. "Okay… so there's playing the role of instigator, and then there's poking the bear when you're safe and I'm in the cage with the bear."

"Goood luck," came Melissa's sing song reply.

"Deku!" Ochako snapped. "We are getting out of here right now!"

"Y-yes!"

"Also," she turned and directed those fiery eyes of hers at him, "who are you calling a bear?"

"…I plead the fifth?"

"Grrrr."

---

Making their way out of the bouncy room, Izuku and Ochako found themselves against their first real obstacle. The room was broken down into a long, winding path that made its way upwards. Izuku looked around, trying to guess at what the game was. "So we just follow the path, through that tunnel, then up the stairs and over… a really rickety looking bridge." Izuku wasn't sure how something so shoddy looking could pass a safety inspection. "Okay, we should make sure to take it slow and ah—"

After Melissa's goading, Ochako was in full on Miruko mode, so she immediately pressed on, grabbing ahold of Izuku's hand and dragging him along. "Come on Deku. We're not going to get tripped up—"

Ochako gasped as the floor was suddenly pulled out from under her, sending her ankles over elbows up into the air, before she crashed right back down. Fortunately her fall was broken when she landed on a sprawled out Izuku.

Her head still spinning, Ochako righted herself and sat up. Well, not exactly sitting. It took her a moment, but when Ochako finally did get her bearings, she realized she was straddling something. Looking down she saw that the 'something' was actually 'someone.' Izuku was looking up at her with wide eyes and a face just a few shades away from being an apple.

The poor boy was trying really hard not to think about the position he found himself in. Ochako's skirt was pooled around him, so her bare legs were pressing on his hips, and other places, well, those were pressed together too. The weight and sudden friction was agonizingly pleasant.

"U-Uraraka… You a-alright?"

Good work brain. Focus on her well-being. Not the fact that part of us is under her skirrrrr-!

Ochako took some weight off her knees and shifted so she was sitting. "Y-yeah. I'm alright. Okay… so maybe the fun house isn't a joke, huh…"

Izuku screwed his eyes shut, convinced that Ochako must not realize what she was doing to him. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it.

"H-hey Deku." There was a curious coyness mixed into Ochako's voice as she stuttered. "How's the view from down there?"

Izuku's eyes snapped open, and he looked up at Ochako. The way she was sitting, one hand on his chest, the other up towards her mouth as she nibbled at a fingernail nervously. Her head turned just enough to seem like she was looking away bashfully, but the upward twitch of her lips and the twinkle in her eye made it clear, she knew what she was doing.

Oh my gosh, Uraraka's flirting… I'm going to die.

---

Righting themselves, the two spent the next few minutes getting thrown into each other's arms as the floor dipped, spun, twisted or suddenly jolted under their feet. Though any initial aggravation at Melissa's challenge had long since been forgotten by the two, as they were more focused at the multiple sudden moments of intimacy they were stumbling into. Arms wrapped around each other one moment, chests pressed against each other the next.

At one point, when a floor panel spun, Ochako was sent backwards into Izuku. She had been able to grab onto some railing, but she was still bent over trying to keep herself from falling. The collision, though, had sent her butt into Izuku, and to keep from getting knocked off his feet, he instinctively wrapped his arms around Ochako's waist. The scene, which might have lasted just a tad longer than was necessary since neither seemed too eager to separate, would have been enough to get a nose bleed from Himiko.

The stairs to get up to the exit seemed simple enough. That was until they found out that certain steps would trigger a sudden jet of air to blow up from the step. Izuku, who had taken the lead, heard the sudden cry from Ochako and turned, initially thinking she might have fallen, but then seeing billowing pink fabric where Ochako's face should have been, and her sudden cry of "Don't look," made him spin right back around. At the top of the stairs, Izuku made sure to let Ochako know he hadn't seen anything.

The final challenge to get out of the room was a short hallway that opened to the exit door. The only issue was that the hallway was a slow, spinning drum. They just had to make it six feet without falling over and they were home free. And since the barrel's rotation was slow, it would be easy to walk through and out the other side.

That is until it suddenly changed directions and the two stumbled to the floor one last time, into the doorway. This time though, it was Ochako that was on her back, and Izuku bracing himself over her. And with Izuku's hands on either side of her head, and his face so very close to hers, Ochako's face flushed, her breathing got heavy, and she swore that the room was suddenly getting way too hot.

"Y-you alright?"

Ochako nodded as she suddenly didn't trust herself to speak, because Izuku was just so damn close, his face just a foot or so away from hers.

Were… were his eyes always so green? And those freckles… Oh get a hold of yourself, don't go all mushy like Deku was earlier. You're stronger than that. Deku is the one that… Is …is he leaning in?!

Oh, Izuku's face was definitely getting closer. Suddenly, Ochako was extremely happy she had taken the time to chew on that mint gum. And without really giving the sudden turn of events much thought, Ochako puckered her lips and closed her eyes. Not realizing that Izuku had just bent his elbows a tad so that he could push himself off her. When she didn't feel Izuku's lips on hers, Ochako cracked open one eye to peek around and saw Izuku bending down to help her up. She was fortunate that Izuku didn't see how disappointed and embarrassed she was. Because she really wanted that kiss.

---

In the control room for the funhouse, where Melissa could monitor and control everything with a touch of a button, the blonde whistled as she looked at the monitor. "Wow, she wants it bad. Midoriya, you better hurry up or she's going to combust."

Still, thanks to her precise deployment of the different traps, she was making sure Izuku and Ochako got to spend some very close and personal time together.

---

The next room proved just as cumbersome as the first. It was a narrow path that forced the pair to climb over or shimmy under foam obstacles. But the climbing wasn't the real 'dangerous' part. It was that from the walls, foam blocks or budgens would come out and slam into them, knocking them off the narrow path and down into the ball pit below. Ochako, after taking enough falls that she had sworn Izuku to secrecy and thinking she finally had a straight shot to the finish, made the classic mistake of letting her guard down. So she didn't see the battering ram pendulum come swinging her way.

Izuku peaked over the edge of the path to see how Ochako was doing and said, "You know, I could have warned you about that if you had let me go first."

"HA HA HA HA HA HA! Bullseye! HA HA HA HA… What? Huh? Why's that switch red… My elbow's on the… WHOOPS!"

"MELISSA!" Ochako roared as she dragged herself out of the pit. By the time she made it back and met with Izuku who had avoided the trap that had gotten her, she pointed at him and made sure he knew. Not a word of what happened here better ever leave his mouth.

---

Izuku rubbed his chin. "Well, this is certainly an interesting room."

"Deku…" Wam! "Stop…" BAM! "Complimenting…" POW! "Our…" BOP! "Captures!" Ochako growled as she walked face first into another wall.

The final room was really living up to the funhouse's name. It was a mirror maze, decked out with neon lights that, while colorful, still didn't illuminate the halls as one would expect. The poor lighting and mirror layout alone made making your way through the maze tricky enough, but this maze had a truly diabolical twist. By whatever technological witchcraft I-Island Academy employed, the mirrors in the maze didn't always show a person's reflection. So what looked like a straight path, ended with someone slamming into a very durable wall.

"Maybe you should have tried to have your internship with Gunhead. He could have taught you patience."

Ochako whirled around. "Don't get sassy with me."

"Well unlike you, I'm being careful. As a result, I haven't hit a sing—" WAM!

The maze was filled with laughter as Ochako held her sides while Izuku rubbed his nose. The two then carefully kept working their way forward. But it was near impossible to tell if they were making any progress. Everything looked exactly the same, and the mirrors themselves could switch from reflective and non-reflective, so it was easy to get turned around.

"Okay, we're lost," Ocahko finally admitted.

"No, we're going to make it. We just need to figure out the game's trick." Izuku rubbed his chin. At this point, his own pride as a hero-in-training wasn't going to let him admit defeat.

"Deku, come on."

"Shh."

Ochako blanched and whipped her head around. "Deku, did you just shush me?"

"Shhh."

Ochako's hands went to her hip as she leaned forward, a frown on her lips and a twitch to her eyes. "Deku!"

"Shh! Deku thinking."

The twitch was now a throbbing over her eyebrow. "Does Deku want to find out what it feels like to get kicked?"

Izuku stopped rubbing his chin and staring at the perplexing panels of playhouse glass so he could turn to look at Ochako, and realized that the odds of him leaving the maze alive were quickly diminishing. "Deku would rather not."

"Then don't shush me! Also stop talking in third person." Ochako wrinkled her nose. "It's weird."

"…"

"…"

"Deku will consider this."

"You!"

---

"Thank you for visiting I-Island's House of Near Infinite Annoyances. We hope you enjoyed your time and we look forward to tormen… I mean, seeing you again."

After an undisclosed amount of time, Izuku and Ochako had finally emerged from the mirror maze and the funhouse, their pride shattered and souls crushed, both agreeing that no one will ever hear about the troubles they went through.

"Bakugou can never hear about this," Ochako declared.

"No kidding," Izuku agreed wholeheartedly.

"Also Toga," Ochako added.

"Yeah, no. Definitely not her," Izuku said with a nod.

"Can you imagine what they would say?"

Izuku pondered and then cleared his throat. "You darn nerd! How the heck do you let yourself get lost in a bunch of kiddie games! I would have just blown it all up! Grrr, roar, something something, die!"

"Pfft!" Ochako almost did a spit take as she started laughing. While she fought to get control of herself, Izuku looked around and smiled.

"Hey, Uraraka?" Izuku asked. "Want to get something to make you feel better?"

Ochako blinked and looked where Izuku was looking. It was a line of desert stalls. One of which was selling crêpes. She immediately grabbed Izuku's hands and nodded. "Yup. A crêpe sounds wonderful."

Together, they approached the stall and placed their orders, both going for the delectable looking strawberry and hazelnut option.

They got to watch as the stall cook ladled the batter onto two hot griddles, and spread it out into a large thin circle. Almost immediately, the cook had the crêpe flipped over and then folded into a half-circle when the batter had turned golden brown. Then right down the middle, he lined it with handfuls of sliced strawberries, then, taking a large jar, he dipped a wooden spoon into it, covering it with the chocolate hazelnut spread. With the spoon dripping, he drizzled the strawberries and crêpe. Quickly after that was done, he folded the crêpes up and got both into their little paper holders. The final touch was a light spray of whipped cream on the tops, and then he handed them to the happy and almost drooling couple.

Crêpes in hand, Izuku and Ochaco found a nearby bench to sit down and enjoy them. As they took their first bites, they both let out happy little moans. The crêpes were warm, soft, and perfectly flavored, even if the whipped cream made them a little messy to eat. Ochako giggled when she saw the little dollop of cream on Izuku's nose.

It was a small thing, a simple little desire, but as Ochako watched Izuku, and saw the way his eyes lit up as he ate with her, she found a special kind of joy sharing this moment with him.

---

After the two had finished their delightful snack, hand in hand, they hurried towards the last ride they were going to get to go on. The Ferris Wheel was absolutely enormous, easily not just one of the largest attractions in the amusement park, but also the whole of I-Island.

While the ride was called a Ferris Wheel, there were a few changes that the tech savvy people of the island had made to the centuries old wonder. Instead of a wheel, its ride was now an enormous ring of metal, and the carts, now replaced with fully enclosed pods that floated around the ring. Izuku guessed magnets, but really, he didn't want to think about all the science involved to make the ride work. It hurt his head.

Regardless, the ride would give anyone riding it one of the best views of the island, and some precious privacy. At least according to what Melissa had told Ochako.

As their pod slid into place, the attendant opened the door to usher them in. Izuku stepped up to the lip of the platform, but instead of getting in, turned to hold out his hand for Ochako. Remembering the short video that had played for them while in the line, warning that the pod might wobble a bit when passengers got on, Izuku wanted to give Ochako something to hold onto as she got inside.

Ochako blushed but took the offered hand all the same. Her grip tightened as she stepped into the Ferris Wheel's levitating pod, and it did wobble, nothing crazy like the insanity of the funhouse, but she was happy for the assistance.

Izuku, once he was sure Ochako was comfortable in her seat, stepped into the pod, only just noticing the sly wink the attendant gave him before she closed the door. Izuku had a moment of uncertainty as he glanced between the pods' seats. It had two cushioned benches, on each side of the pod. So he could either sit on the one opposite of Ochako, which would give them both space to move and look around once the ride got started and they were up in the air. Or…

Ochako fidgeted nervously when Izuku moved over towards her and took a seat on the bench right beside her. Her heart thumped in her chest when Izuku slid his hand over and found hers. Even if she was nervous, she was still cheering Izuku on. The pod was spacious, but he had chosen to sit, intimately close, next to her. Their shoulders rubbed against each other and when the pod started to move, Ochako leaned into him, the contact sending little bolts up their bodies.

The slow ascent upwards gave them plenty of time to enjoy the view. A full ride was close to a whole twenty minutes, so they had all the time they could want to take in the view. Ochako surprised Izuku, and herself if she was honest, by leaning onto his shoulder. "Hey."

"Hey," Izuku smiled down at her.

"So, did everything go according to plan?" Ochako asked with just a pinch of teasing. "I know you wrote a lot of stuff down in that notebook of yours."

Izuku chuckled softly. "Would you believe a lot of it was spontaneous?"

"Really?"

"Yup."

"…Is spontaneous good?" Ochako was a little worried that maybe she had caused Izuku some trouble. If he had planned anything in particular and she hadn't let him do it…

A firm hand squeeze from Izuku dispelled any of her worries. "With you, it totally is."

Ochako hummed. "Smooth."

"Really? I'm just telling you the truth. Today has been… absolutely perfect."

Ochako hummed again, "I feel the same way."

Perfect… Izuku wanted to give Ochako a truly perfect time. He had made a lot of plans. For the date, and then for later. The reception too. But if he had come to learn anything, maybe the best things come from following your heart.

---

The ride had been going for a little while now. And as the two continued to rise up high into the sky, Izuku took a breath, then reached over with his free hand so that now he was holding Ochako's hand with both of his, and turning so he could face her. "So I'm… going a little off script but… I don't think I can wait much longer to tell you this."

Ochako giggled as her eyes kept looking out over the park, now glowing under the setting sun's orange light. Then she blinked. Off script… tell me… Suddenly alarm bells and sirens started going off in her head as she turned back to give Izuku her full attention. Her simple question of if Izuku had enjoyed their date together seems to have set off something. The way he was looking at her, the way he was holding her. The fact they were inside this Ferris Wheel pod, high above the island at sunset, giving them a romantic backdrop. It all led to one conclusion and Ochako had to physically stop herself from hyperventilating. "Tell me?"

Oh my god.

Oh my god.

"So you know how I was planning things out? Well I kinda thought I'd… that we'd be having this talk after the reception and ball. Kinda a Hollywood ending to the night… but now…" Izuku trailed off, licking his lips nervously. "I'd like to tell you now… If that's alright?"

Oh, how Ochako nodded so very, very fast.

"Uraraka… when you came into my life… you changed it, you changed me. I mean…" Izuku struggled to find the words. Because while he had tried to plan so much of this date, the one part he hadn't, the part he had been so afraid of, his confession, he'd never planned any of it. So right now, he really was winging it. So without a plan or any idea of what to say, he just followed his heart. "If it wasn't for you, I don't think I'd be where I am now… who I am now."

Ochako wanted to deny that. She knew Izuku's heart, so she knew damned well that even if she hadn't been there, he'd be exactly where he was now. But Izuku kept going, "I also know I haven't exactly been the best or easiest person to be friends with. I've caused you a lot of trouble. But you've stayed by my side. Though all of it. So I'm sorry if I'm not able to be the perfect friend and person you deserve."

"Deku," Ochako said with a soft smile, "no one's perfect. All we can ever do is our best for ourselves and for each other. Maybe we'll trip and fall, but we're there to pick each other up. And Deku, the day I met you, was the start of the greatest days of my life. You've made every day special."

Izuku's heart was thundering in his chest. It was beating so hard he thought for sure it was going to start making his whole body shake. He was also pretty sure he was crying, or at least on the verge of tears. So many emotions were bubbling up from within, it felt like any moment they could all sweep him away.

"I think… I've known how I've felt for you for a while now. Knew that…you were more than just my best friend. I just never knew exactly the right word, the right way to describe it without feeling terrified. Then in Hosu City… when I saw you in the alley… and afterwards at the hospital… I finally knew what it was. I had the words to describe exactly how I felt for you. Though that just made me even more afraid."

"Are you still afraid?" Ochako asked softly.

"I am… I'm all twisted and shaking right now. But… It doesn't feel bad. It's like the morning we took our entrance exam, or the first day going to U.A. Scary, but also… exciting." Ochako hadn't said anything, but she could feel Izuku's shaking as he held her hand with his.

"Those were both great days for us, Deku. Days I'm sure we'll remember for the rest of our lives."

"Like this one, I hope?" Izuku asked nervously.

"Without a doubt," Ochako agreed. "We've had so much fun today. It's been like a dream I don't ever want to wake up from. And it's only going to get better from here with the reception and—"

"I love you."

The words burst from Izuku's lips without him meaning to say them. At least not in a way that would interrupt Ochako, but, all those emotions, all those feelings he'd had inside his heart just couldn't be held back anymore. They had to escape, they had to get out. They had to be known. And now they were.

"I love you so much it hurts. Because… because I know just how incredible you really are. How kind and gentle and amazing and—"

Ochako had frozen when Izuku had said it. She froze just from the shock. But she didn't stay frozen. Not with the burning emotions her heart was pumping through her whole being. Izuku had just confessed. Or, he had spent the whole day confessing to her, with his actions, his looks, every part of him had let her know how he felt. It was just, now, he had said the words.

It was out in the open, for all the world to know. The dam had burst, the genie was out of his bottle. It was all out and now nothing was going to make things go back to the way they were. And Ochako couldn't be happier. Or more ecstatic. Or any more out of control. She was going to say it back to Izuku. To tell him she loved him too.

But that's not what she ended up doing.

Instead, all that waiting, all that putting it off, all her emotions that she had held back, exploded out. Driving her forward. Ochako pulled her hands out of Izuku's and quickly threw her arms around his neck. Pulling herself forward, she pressed her lips against his in a fiery kiss.

Pressing him back against the seat of the pod, Ochako poured out her soul into that kiss. That fire in her heart burned bright, and only got hotter when Izuku wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. In that moment, with the setting sun turning the ocean a cascading mirror of orange and purple, nothing else existed but this. No responsibilities, no duty. Just this single happy moment between two people that had waited far too long to finally let themselves be happy.

Authors Notes:
Show of hands, who here thought I was gonna do a bait and switch?
*Raises hand*
Yeah funny thing, I had two ideas on how I wanted to do the confession. One which would be the more classic take and one that would be a bit more comedic. The comedic one would have had the confession happen during the villain's attack later that night. Izuku would be ranting and during that, the 'I love you,' part would have slipped out. Then during the fight, they'd kiss and end up be talking about how this is kinda their normal. So kind of a play on the Pirates of the Caribbean wedding scene. Ultimately I went with the more classic confession scene. Mostly because there will be plenty of time to have the two come to terms with the idea that, as heroes, their relationship and such, is going to be extremely not normal. Also, I kinda just wanted to write a simple date with a happy ending. I'm a sucker for fluff, sue me.
Sorry that this chapter took a while to come out. Work was a little busy and getting the chapter started, after (checks calendar) years of build-up was a little intimidating. I hope everyone liked it.
Huge thank you to my beta reader WereTech
As always comments, reviews and critiques are always welcome!