"In the nick of time, that's when you appeared. Girl I was lost till you found me here. My hair was long but my head was low. And now I'm here, 'cause you made it so."
-Ocho Rios
"The highest I can handle without feeling any pain is 12%. I think I might be able to push that to 15% without the pain being too debilitating" Fishing in his bag, Izuku procured a fresh notebook before quickly scribbling down his thoughts onto the lined paper.
Feeling satisfied with his notes, the greenette inhaled deeply, searching for the well of power within himself.
Meanwhile, his actions caught the attention of his classmates, eager to talk about anything other than the monotonous work their homeroom teacher had assigned before leaving.
An energetic voice, courtesy of a pink-skinned girl was the first to point the discussion toward their green-eyed classmate, her usually excited expression replaced by one of apprehension as she gazed upon the aspiring hero.
"Is…Is he alright? It's been under three weeks and he's already back in class like nothing happened." Her voice matched the concerned look in her eyes as she watched her classmate inhale and exhale deeply.
A seemingly disinterested voice responded from beside her, coal-black eyes pouring over her classmate as her once bored expression began to morph into the concerned one her fellow classmate wore.
"Midoriya is strong, he's probably working through it the best way he knows how, by staying busy." Although her words were meant to answer a question,
Kyouka Jirou couldn't help but feel anxious.
"Full Cowling - 15%" The voice of the boy they'd just been speaking of cut through the air as his quirk flared to life.
The emerald sparks of lightning crackled through the air, One for All shrouding the greenette in power.
Power he wasn't prepared to bear.
Almost immediately after activating his quirk, Izuku hunched over his desk, face marred with pain.
1-A fell silent as they watched their classmate struggle to move a muscle, bolts of green lightning flying haphazardly as their owner held back a scream building in his throat.
"15% is too much! I need to drop the percentage incrementally until I can just barely handle it!" The greenette focused on the stream of power encompassing his body, ready to lessen it in small increments in hopes of alleviating the pain he felt within the very core of his being.
Until he saw her.
Her face suffused with concern as her chocolate brown eyes met his.
Watching the brunette pour over his trembling form with worry instilled within Izuku the will to maintain the downright torturous level of his quirk.
"I…I can handle 15%. If my hypothesis is correct then it'll only be bad for a week or so then I'll adapt." Bearing his teeth, Izuku stood on tremulous legs before taking an equally shaky step.
Breaking the silence imposed upon the room, Kyouka shot up from her seat, positioning herself under the larger boy so as to prevent his fall.
Shooting her coal-black eyes upward, she was able to get a better view of the pained expression permeating the green-haired teen's face, her slight unease at his seemingly random use of his quirk snowballing into outright distress as she tracked a trickle of blood flow from his nose to his lips, staining them red.
"I know I said you like to keep busy, but is there an exact reason you're using your quirk in the middle of class?" Her question seemingly fell on deaf ears as the greenette took a shaky step forward, his legs threatening to collapse from the strain levied upon them.
The pain-fueled steps continued as the greenette slowly trudged toward the classroom door.
Locking eyes with a concerned Ochako.
As though stopped by an invisible force, Izuku stopped, his emerald eyes seemingly drowning in Ochako's chocolate and vice versa.
They remained locked like this for what seemed like hours, losing themselves in each other and their memories,
"D-Deku,"
"Please don't call me that"
Another painful step sent the duo out the door, not before Kyouka sent the brunette an apologetic look.
"Where to green?" Kyouka hoped it was somewhere close as supporting someone about 50 lbs heavier than her was taking its toll on her already lithe frame.
The greenette in question raised a shaky arm toward the Heights Alliance building, a slight dusting of pink appearing on his freckled peppered face.
"T-The school day is basically over and with my new regiment I need to lay down for a while" Upon mentioning what Kyouka assumed to be a new form of training, the rocker girl allowed herself a decent look at her classmate.
His quirk was still roaring wildly although the shorter teen could tell that Izuku had been trying his hardest to reign in his bioelectricity, causing the once wild, uncontrollable bolts to hug closer to the greenettes larger frame.
"Now that you mention it, you never answered my question. Why are you using your quirk right now, and at such a high percentage too?"
The greenette furrowed his brow at the question, the newly contained bolts of energy lashing out slightly as if mirroring his frustration.
"It's a way to train my body to handle my quirk better. Kinda like how Goku was constantly in Super Saiyan until it was as efficient as his base form." As though responding to his words, Izuku's green locks began to rise, vaguely mimicking the shape of Goku's Super Saiyan hairstyle before returning to their normal state.
The giggle that erupted from the lavender-haired girl nearly caused Izuku to trip.
"I-It doesn't n-normally do that!" His scarred arm shakily waved in front of his person, punctuating his sentence as the shorter teen's laughter filled the hallways.
A pale, delicate hand lowered his lightning-shrouded arm, her wispy touch warming his pain-wracked body earning a slight shudder.
"Y'know," Her gaze was fixed ahead as her free hand traced each individual scar on the larger teen's arm. "I thought you only liked hero comics, never knew you liked manga too."
The greenettes gaze softened as he turned his head down slightly to get a better look at the smaller teen's face, fighting back pain.
"I l-like a lot of things. Most of them don't really come up though so I don't talk about them much." A small frown settled upon Kyoukas face as she came to a realization.
She didn't like that.
Although she specialized in hearing, her eyes were in no way slacking, catching the slight frown that briefly settled on the greenettes features before being replaced with a strained smile, as though he was trying to hide his brief indignation. With renewed vigor, Kyouka made her second realization that day.
She would make sure that look never befell his face again.
"Well, we've got quite a long walk ahead of us green. How about getting to know each other a little better?"
"I fucked up."
Those three words had been repeating in her head for what felt like years as she berated herself internally.
"I really fucked up."
Chocked sobs fought their way from her throat as the brunette grabbed a fistful of her hair and tugged on it, a mix of sadness and anger assaulting her very being.
She wasn't angry at the boy she'd done it with for managing to coax her into making such an idiotic mistake.
She wasn't angry at Izuku for not returning her calls, for not allowing her to explain herself.
She wasn't even mad at the friends who had voiced their disappointment in her actions, who'd deemed her conduct unbecoming of a hero.
No.
Above all else, Ochako Uraraka was angry at herself.
"It was my mistake. I put myself in this position and deserve everything that happens because of it." Her tears began to flow off the desk, cascading onto the floor and streaming into the grooves on the tiled floor.
A loud bang reverberated throughout the empty classroom as threw her skull onto her desk, a choked sob managing to claw its way from her throat.
"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! STUPID!" Each chant of the word was punctuated with a self-inflicted punch to her temple, the last one being especially hard.
She fought back her sobs as best she could, a few escaping as she slammed her fists into the sides of her head, voice shifting from frustrated growls to anguished, choked sobs as she continually assaulted herself both physically and mentally.
Rearing her closed fist back, Ochako prepared to strike herself once again.
Before a strong grip held her arm back.
Slowly, Ochako raised her head from the desk, puffed eyes squinting in an attempt to make out the person who'd interrupted her self-deprecation.
It was Tsuyu.
The brunette's gaze shifted to the right, barely registering the pink-skinned girl who stood slightly behind the green-haired frog girl.
"Green hair, just like..." She let the thought taper off as fresh tears welled in her eyes, kissing her round cheeks.
"Please stop, Urara" She recognized the voice as Mina Ashido's, a look of concern painting the pink-skinned girl's features.
"Stop what?" Her voice barely reached a whisper as she forcefully tore her arm free.
"Stop this. You're hurting yourself." A slight scoff escaped her lips as she turned her head to better view the alien-esque girl.
"It's not like I don't deserve it."
"Because you don't."
Tsuyu had finally broken her silence, her words instilling a sense of shock and confusion into the brunette, the aforementioned feelings melding with her prior dejection and anger.
Before she could open her mouth and speak her rebuttal, the frog girl spoke once more.
"What you did to Izu was wrong, there's no denying that, but that doesn't mean you deserve to cry alone in a classroom while beating yourself up, in more ways than one."
Her words earned a nod from Mina, the horned girl picking up from where her classmate left off.
"Tsu is right. A part of me wants you to stay exactly where you are for hurting Midori…but an even bigger part of me can't stand to see someone as bright as you wallow in this depression." A brief spot of anger flashed across the pinkettes face, before being hastily replaced with a look of genuine concern.
It was that look of concern that reminded her of him.
And it was that look of concern that caused her to break down even further.
"I…I was so stupid. I ruined everything for no reason! I should just…I should just die." The brunette's voice tapered off toward the end as Ochako attempted to retreat into herself, hugging herself and squeezing her eyes tightly.
Until two sets of arms wrapped around her trembling form.
Almost immediately, her eyes snapped open, shock and confusion decorating her face as she struggled to speak.
"Don't say that Urara. As dumb as it was you made a mistake, one that you're deeply regretful for." As the pinkette spoke, her embrace around the brunette tightened as she fought back her own tears.
"Mina is right. I know Izu's too upset right now to talk to you, but I think you and him should talk even if it's only for closure." The frog girl ran her hands along the brunette's back allowing the girl's tears to stain her uniform.
The three remained like this for a while, allowing their classmate to expel her emotions onto their uniforms for as long as she needed.
Eventually, the sobs slowed down to a halt before Ochako pulled away from the embrace of her two classmates, her eyes even redder than they were moments ago.
The brunette opened her mouth to speak but no words came out, her mind fervently pouring over what she should say next.
"I…I don't know if he'll forgive me, I don't even know if I'll forgive myself, but I want to try and explain myself at the very least. Give him the peace of mind to move on"
"And at the very most? It might be bad timing but what do you want Urara? What would make you the happiest?"
The brunette didn't need to mull over her words, already knowing her answer to the pinkettes question.
"The thing that'd make me the happiest…would be getting back together with Deku."