The summer sun and heat were brutal as they made their way across the U.A. campus via a small brick-lined path bordering the interior side of the outside walls. The path was out of the way, meaning they wouldn't need to worry about running into any students, let alone a class during this time of day. They might run into a teacher or other staff member but they knew how to recognize the two of them when they were being incognito. Students on the other hand might panic at seeing two apparent strangers wandering the grounds along the inner wall. It wouldn't have been the first time a first-year reported a "stranger" on the grounds, only for it to be the actual groundskeeper who didn't interact with students much.
The cicadas wailed endlessly and by the time they made it halfway to the back gate, Ochako was already starting to sweat. As they walked they saw someone just off the path, sitting next to a pond. As they got closer, Ochako recognized her and she smiled.
"Hey Tsu!" she called.
Tsuyu twisted around, smiled, stood up, and turned around to reveal a large frog in her left hand. To her mild surprise, the frog had scaly skin, and wisps of black smoke were seeping from its mouth.
"Afternoon, ribbit," Tsu said.
"Watcha up to?" Ochako asked, eyeing the frog curiously.
"I discovered this pond had a small population of frogs, so I've been visiting and observing them. This one has a quirk, so I've been studying it to see if it might be useful to replicate." Tsu said, petting the frog.
"What about you two though? Out for a walk?" Tsu continued, looking between the two of them.
"We were on our way to town. We were planning on leaving through the back gate." Izuku said.
"Probably for the best, I thought I saw one of those vultures hanging around the front gate. Of course, that was this morning, so I doubt they are still there," Tsu sighed.
"I wonder if I'll ever be able to go out as I used to..." Ochako mumbled, more to herself than the others.
"I'm sure it will all blow over eventually. All Might had his fair share to deal with as well," Tsu said, trying to be comforting
"Yeah... I can't imagine what it would have been like for him, but my circumstances are a bit more unique. Not to mention that I'm a woman," Ochako said with an exasperated sigh.
Tsu didn't have anything to say in response. She couldn't relate, having been forced out of heroics from her injuries early on in the war. Momo and Mina had been better able to understand and offer advice, being very popular themselves, but even then Ochako's popularity had quickly risen to heights few could match. Perhaps the only people who could truly relate with her on a more personal level were Mirko and Stars and Stripes.
"Well, don't let me keep you from trying to enjoy yourselves," Tsu said putting a smile back on her face.
"See you later Tsu," Ochako said, giving Tsu an awkward hug around the frog still in her hand.
"Have fun, ribbit," Tsu said, going back to the pond.
Ochako and Izuku continued toward the back gate.
The rest of the walk was uneventful but peaceful. Ochako closed her eyes as they walked, savoring it and letting the warm summer air fill her. All too soon, however, they arrived at the gates and Ochako felt the tension she'd managed to ignore during the walk, come back to the surface.
"You want to take a second?" Izuku asked.
Ochako took a deep breath and then strode toward the gates and put in her access code. The gates slid partway into their housing silently, save for the hum of the machinery inside. Before she changed her mind, she strode out, Izuku walking behind her.
Ochako walked to the sidewalk and just kept walking. Izuku came up beside her and took her hand in his.
"There's nobody here, try and relax and enjoy yourself. you'll exhaust yourself if you are this tense." Izuku said encouragingly, smiling at her.
It was only then that Ochako realized that she had tensed herself all over. She took a deep breath and forced her muscles to relax. Then she moved closer to Izuku and leaned just slightly into his side. She drew comfort from his sheer presence and as they continued to walk, she found the mental and physical tension drain out of her.
She reached up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, before relaxing back into his side.
"Thanks," she said.
"I'm here if you need me," Izuku said, squeezing her hand.
As they walked deeper into town, the occasional passerby and light traffic steadily gave way to larger crowds and heavier traffic.
Before long it was a throng of people, with the noise to match. Ochako couldn't help but keep her guard up, long years of finely honed instincts and expectations of being ambushed were unlikely to leave her entirely. Despite that though, she managed to relax enough to chat with Izuku idly as they wound their way past the business that made up this part of town.
As they started to enter the major commercial zone on this side of the city, Ochako saw various people handing out flyers, business cards, matchboxes, or small containers of tissues, each one featuring a logo or name. Several tried to hoist their advertisements onto them, but they managed to avoid having to take any. As they broke through this bottleneck and emerged onto the street lined with shops and restaurants Ochako had a moment where she could see down a few nearby side streets. figures in hoddies milled about, while just as many casual businessmen ducked down them for a quick shortcut.
A part of her wanted to go down them herself, looking for trouble, if only because she knew she could handle it. She took a deep breath and shifted her focus, there were too many people for that sort of thing to go smoothly and there were likely people keeping watch for that sort of thing anyway.
As they meandered down the street, they let themselves wander into several shops. They didn't buy anything, it was enough to just browse. They were leaving a bakery, pastries in hand when a man approached them. They tried to avoid him, but he smoothly cut them off and held out a pair of flyers, an easy smile on his face.
"Excuse me for my forwardness, but you two don't look particularly happy. Maybe you're dissatisfied with how things are in the country. Either way, I think it would do you both good to attend our workshop later today. I assure you, it will be worth your while and by the time it's over, you'll feel better about things." he said, his eyes flicking between them.
Ochako couldn't help but feel a bit put off by the man, he wasn't the first one to try this, but he was the best so far. Then there was the fact that he was correct, Ochako wasn't particularly happy. Content, satisfied maybe, but she found it hard to be happy out in public like this, even with Izuku by her side. His observational skills were good, she had to admit.
"If we have time maybe, we are on a bit of a schedule," Izuku replied, giving the man an equally casual smile.
The man's eyes locked onto Izuku. "Then please, take a flyer, it has directions to where the workshop will be held." The man said, smiling broadly nad holding out the flyer.
Izuku took the flyer. "Thank you," he said.
"No no, thank you for taking the time to hear me out." Said the man, giving Izuku a small bow before he merged back into the crowd.
As the two of them continued down the street, Ochako glanced at the flyer out of curiosity.
YOURSELF AND WEAKNESS IN AN INCREASINGLY POWERFUL WORLD.
The words were emblazoned across the front, with the time and address of the workshop printed below it.
"I'm surprised you accepted a flyer," Ochako said.
"The way he picked us out of the crowd and talked to us, I could tell he was the type not to take no for an answer and be able to give a reasonable argument for why we should at least take a flyer. Better to take one and be done with it." Izuku said with a shrug, looking over the flyer himself before tucking it away into a back pocket.
Ochako checked the time and saw it they had been walking and meandering for a few hours now.
"I'm getting hungry for something more substantial than baked goods. Want to stop somewhere and get something to eat?" She asked.
"Sure, any place in mind?" Izuku asked.
"Not really," Ochako said with a shrug.
"Well, I don't think any of the places around here will be good for dinner," Izuku said scanning the area.
"There should be more food places ahead, proper restaurants," Ochako said.
"Great, let's get going then," Izuku said, taking hold of her hand as they made their way down the street.
It took a few minutes, but eventually, proper restaurants began to crop up and they stopped to take a look around at the restaurants.
"Gyudon?" Izuku suggested.
"Hmmmm..." Ochako hummed, mulling it over.
"Not feelin' it, what about Teishoku?" she countered, gesturing to a restaurant that didn't seem too crowded.
"Sounds good."
The two of them made their way to the small restaurant and were about to enter when Izuku's phone started to ring. Izuku checked the caller and sighed.
"It's David isn't it?" Ochako guessed with a slight smile.
"Yeah..." Izuku said, clearly torn between answering and letting it go to voicemail.
"Go ahead and answer, knowing David he's probably dying to tell you something amazing he discovered. I'll grab us a place near the entrance," Ochako said.
Izuku gave a short chuckle. "You're probably right, thanks," Izuku said, answering the phone while she walked in and grabbed a small two-person booth near the entrance. After explaining that she was waiting for Izuku to a server that approached she relaxed in her seat to wait.
At least until she heard her name being said nearby.
She looked over to a nearby booth where she saw a small party of four young women, younger than Ochako, maybe in their earlier to mid-twenties, chatting. Now that she was paying attention she could make out their conversation easily enough due to seat proximity. The group didn't seem to be aware of her though.
"She's amazing, it's a shame she doesn't make any public appearances." Said a brown-haired girl.
Another girl, one who probably had some foreign blood in her owing to her dirty blonde hair, snorted. "I hear the reason she doesn't make any appearances is because she's unstable; the government doesn't want people to know," she said conspiratorially.
"What?" replied the brown-haired girl, taken aback.
"You didn't hear?" Asked a third girl with black hair.
"Hear what?"
"She almost killed a fan. Sent him to the hospital." The black-haired girl said.
"No way, she's one of the angels, there's no way she would have done such a thing!" The brown-haired girl exclaimed, shocked.
"No it's real, it was all over LINE. Photos and everything of an ambulance carting the guy away." Said another black-haired girl with glasses.
"But... why?" the brown-haired girl asked, looking dumbfounded.
"Because he annoyed her. I'm telling you, it's because she's unstable. There are even rumors going around that another one of the angels was locked up in an institution. Remember all those documents that got spread around after the attack on the city? The government managed to delete a lot of them, but some people are saying one of the documents mentioned one of the angels being sent to an institution." The dirty-blonde said.
"They don't want to hurt their image any more than they have already, so they're letting her stay free. She should be locked up though, she's way too dangerous." said the glasses girl.
"I heard that they moved her to U.A. so that they could keep a closer eye on her. She hasn't been seen in public since the attack after all." continued the dirty blonde.
"With all the students?" Asked the brown-haired girl.
"It's because Eraser-Head is there I bet, he could shut her down if she got out of hand. Not to mention all the other heroes." The girl with glasses said.
"Before the attack, I heard some people say that she invited a lot of guys to where she lived." The dirty blonde said excitedly.
"I heard it was a lot of girls." Said the black-haired girl.
"She probably invited both, she isn't normal." Said the girl with glasses.
"You think she had orgies?" the dirty blonde said in a hushed voice before something seemed to occur to her.
"Ooh, I bet you she's into hardcore BDSM, probably dominated all those people, turned them into her toys." She said conspiratorially.
"She's already violent, so it wouldn't surprise me." the black-haired girl agreed with a shrug.
"A complete degenerate," the girl with glasses said with a sniff.
"I even heard some of the people she invited were married. Probably used her fame to get them to come." the dirty blonde said.
"I heard she has an actual boyfriend. I've even seen some pictures, he's a real cutie." The brown-haired girl interjected, growing increasingly uncomfortable with the topic.
"Oh yeah, him, I bet he's just her pet though. No one would willingly hook up with a psycho like her. Unless they are just as crazy." The dirty blonde said waving her hand dismissively.
"Sure would be nice if the government would do something useful for a change. Bring her under control or yeah, lock her up." the black-haired girl said, stabbing the ice in her drink.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me, I got fired from another job."
"Again?!" the brown-haired girl suddenly said, eager to change the topic.
"Yeah, said "Your performance isn't meeting our high standards" and fired me. Only to have some guy with fewer qualifications, who's also younger, take my place solely because they had a quirk that made them way more efficient." The black-haired girl said spitefully.
"That makes what, the second job this has happened for that same reason?" The girl with glasses said.
"Yeah. I just can't compete, all I can do is turn things the color green." The black-haired girl said, picking out an ice cube and turning green before throwing it into the glass with a huff.
"Bastards, I can't believe the government allowed this to happen. I haven't been able to find any stable work for the past year, probably for reasons that sound like they might be similar. I've even been forced to move back into my parent's house." The dirty-blonde said, miserably.
"Like Aki said, we just can't compete. None of us have particularly useful quirks. I have the most practical quirk between the four of us, and even then it's not particularly useful." Said the girl with glasses, morosely.
As the girls meandered off into other topics, Ochako broke free from the trance she had been in and stood up. She walked out of the restaurant and past Izuku who did a double take.
"Uhhh look David I gotta go, I'll talk to you about it more tomorrow," Izuku said hurriedly before hanging up and jogging after Ochako.
Ochako walked through the crowd without really seeing them, and straight down a side street without noticing. She kept walking, oblivious to her surroundings until finally she came to a dead end, some distance away from the crowded streets.
"Ochako!" Izuku said and came next to her looking at her worriedly.
"What happened?" he asked.
She didn't reply, but she did start to shake all over.
His concern rising with every passing moment, Izuku moved in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Ochako talk to me, what's-" he was cut off when she rushed into him and hugged him very tightly.
Not knowing what else to do, he just hugged her back. After a few moments, she finally spoke.
"I... I don't know if I can keep doing this..." she said quietly.
"What are you talking about?" Izuku asked.
"This... heroics... I don't... I hate this..." she said weakly.
"We can't find any privacy in our lives anymore... Being spied on, people always watching for us... I can't even go out into the city without being in disguise... Then there was the break-in... I almost killed a man... I almost killed an unarmed civilian... Then there's you... What if someone figures out your past? Our lives have turned into a paranoid nightmare ever since it got out I was an angel. It's a miracle no one's figured out that an angel betrayed us either... Not to mention the discontent of the general populace... I don't... I don't want to live a life like this..." She said all the anxieties and fears that she'd managed to ignore for the entire day, and the nightmare from last night, bubbling to the surface.
There was a pause while Izuku processed and tried to work out something to say, during which Ochako managed to get her shaking under control, but tears replaced them.
"I... I wish I could say that it would all be okay... But I don't know what to do either. Nezu is helping us the best he can, and even if the public doesn't understand you, you have your friends, and you'll always have me. If it all becomes too much, then don't be afraid to ask us for help." He said, rubbing her back.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, Izuku doing his best to comfort her.
"I... I've been thinking..." Ochako started to say hesitantly.
"It's... It's been on my mind for a while, but... I've been thinking that maybe... maybe it's time I quit being a hero." She said quietly.
There was a long pause. It had first occurred to her after the end of the war but had started giving it serious thought after Zeus's campaign last year. A part of her longed to be the hero she always dreamt of, but another part of her just wanted to leave it all behind and turn her back on the thing that had ruined her life.
"If... if you think that would be for the best, then maybe you should consider it," Izuku said softly.
Ochako looked up at him, and the sight of her tear-stained face tore at him.
"Really? You'd be okay with that?" she asked.
"What I want is for you to be happy. Seeing you constantly afraid, and miserable... hurts. I can't make that kind of choice for you, but whatever choice you do make, I'll always be here to help you through it. Just make sure that whatever you choose, you are sure about it." He said, staring into her eyes.
She went back to burying herself into his chest, "I love you..."
"I love you too," he whispered.
He held her for what felt like an age, but eventually, she gently pushed herself away from his embrace. She sniffled, dried her eyes, wiped her nose, and then took one of his hands in hers.
"Thanks. Let's go home and grab some pizza on the way back," she said, trying to smile but failing, so she just gave up.
"Sounds like a plan." He said, bending down a little to kiss her before turning and guiding her back towards the streets.