Chapter 3

The next morning Izuku woke up somewhat groggy. He wasn't sick, just tired since he didn't get the best night's sleep, but then again it wasn't every day that he got a girl's number. Sure he had the numbers for the rest of the women at work but that was due to the fact that he was an assistant manager and required access to them for wellbeing checks. That and he was part of the group chats the work had going so he had them either way.

No, this was different. Uraraka offered him her number without being prompted for any work related reasons. Granted it was to make sure he got home okay but he wouldn't mind chatting with the brunette girl some more. Thankfully he had remembered to text her the night before to let her know that he had made it home safely. He had been a little overexcited and couldn't get to sleep easily, hence why he was groggy.

Pulling himself out of bed, he got washed up and ready for work. As he passed through his kitchen, he stopped to boil some water for his morning coffee, otherwise known as the golden elixir (depending on what colour it ended up being). Whilst he was waiting, he began scrolling through his phone for anything of interest but gave up shortly after when it was the same old stories as any other day, just involving different people. Eventually, his water was boiled and he poured himself a coffee in his large travel mug. Once he secured the lid, he made his way to the door, popped on his jacket and slung his bag over his shoulder before making his way out of his apartment.

Ochaco woke up the same way she always did, well rested and with half of her hair seeming to do it's own comb over in the middle of the night. She flopped back on her pillow and thought about just laying in bed but soon discarded the idea, remembering that she now had a job she had to get up for.

She got out of bed after another minute and made her way to the bathroom to get ready for her day. She brushed her teeth and did her business before getting dressed. She then made her way to the kitchen where she greeted her parents. After chatting with her parents and having some breakfast, she got herself ready to leave and bid her parents a farewell before leaving their home.

She made her way to the bus stop and waited for the bus to arrive;

"At least another ten minutes" she thought to herself. She checked her phone whilst waiting and seen the message from Midoriya the night before;

Unknown Number: "Hi, it's me, Midoriya. Just letting you know that I am home safe and sound".

Me: "Hi Midoriya. Good, I'm glad you made it home safe :) I'm also home, just about to go to bed. Talk to you tomorrow.

It was a short and simple conversation. Perhaps he was already awake and she could message him this morning. He seemed like a friendly person and definitely intriguing. She decided to message him and see if he was awake;

Me: "Good Morning Midoriya. Did you sleep well? Sorry if I'm waking you up right now"

Hopefully she didn't wake him, she would have felt terrible for doing that to him. She was slightly surprised when she got a response about a minute later;

Midoriya: "Good Morning Uraraka. It wasn't the best sleep in the world but I've had worse. No you didn't wake me up, in fact I'm almost at work. I've already passed your stop so I probably won't see you until you get in to work."

He was already on his way and nearly in work? That was dedication and too early for Ochaco if you asked her. Her bus was a bit early as it pulled up to the stop. She got on and waited for it to get moving. As she did, she decided to text Midoriya once again;

Me: "You're nearly at work already? Wow, that is early. Oh well, I'll see you in work I guess :)"

It was no biggie, she could wait until she got to work to speak with him again.

It had been a couple of weeks since Ochaco had started working at the supermarket and she felt like she had already fit in quite well. She had quickly made friends with all the girls, especially Tsu who she just seemed to have clicked with from the get go. Tsu had been out the night before with the girls at Mina's and Torus as they had gotten their own place early in to their first year at university.

And she had gotten very friendly with Midoriya in those two weeks as well. He wasn't the only guy she had befriended in those two weeks. She had gotten to know a little bit about Iida in that time and only the smallest bits about Todoroki (though as she understood it, that was about as much as anyone other than Midoriya got), as well as Bakugou who was rough around the edges when trying to have even the simplest of conversations.

Then there were the excitable and flamboyant ones like Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero and Aoyama whom she got on with but didn't spend much time with. Then there were the guys in the stock room. She never really got to speak to them much since she was mostly out front at the checkouts but occasionally she would find herself in other parts of the store to learn something new.

Then there was Mineta. Yeah, the less said about him the better.

She had however spent just about everyday over the last couple of weeks chatting with Midoriya, either in work, on the bus or through text. She had gotten to know him relatively well in that time, how he lived with his mom and how he had known Bakugou as far back as he can remember (she wasn't quite sure how he put up with him all this time but he hadn't gone in to it too much).

Talking to Midoriya just felt natural, like he was just supposed to be there in her life. It was a very pleasant feeling. Unfortunately, she was on her way to work today and it was Midoriyas day off so she wouldn't be able to speak to him as much. She had messaged him in the morning on her way to work, expecting him to reply later as she was sure he would take the opportunity to stay in bed late this morning, however that was not Izuku Midoriya and he had replied relatively quickly to her text message.

She kept messaging him right up until she had to step in to work, wishing him a good day off work and he had done the same, except wishing her a good day of work. She had put her phone away and walked in to work with a smile on her face, something that didn't go unnoticed by Tsu as she had greeted Ochaco on her way in;

"Good Morning Ochaco" said Tsu.

"Morning Tsu" replied Ochaco.

"Did you sleep well?" asked Tsu.

"Hmmm…I didn't sleep bad or good really" replied Ochaco.

"Really? I was just wondering why you looked so happy this morning?" asked Tsu, her normally stoic face giving off the barest hint of a teasing smile.

"Do I?" asked Ochaco. She hadn't really noticed that she was beaming from ear to ear since she had walked in.

"Oui, you do indeed. Is it because the lovely young lady maybe has a crush on somebody?" asked Aoyama, also teasing the poor brunette.

Ochaco's face was on fire, she had become a stammering mess trying to deny it;

"W-W-What? No no no, I don't know what you guys are talking about! I d-don't have a crush on anyone" replied Ochaco. It kind of hurt to say that but she didn't know why.

"We're only teasing you Ochaco" said Tsu.

'Maybe we were but I think we're on to something here!' thought Yuga.

"Anyway, I'd best get ready to start my shift, gotta go!" blurted Ochaco before she rushed off to the locker room to get ready for her shift.

'She's definitely in denial. I'll pry it out of her later' thought Tsu.

Ochaco had been moved off of the checkout for this week as she had managed to grasp it quickly enough and only needed some help with the coupons and vouchers and sometimes the odd quirks that the checkout system would throw at her.

This week, she was to work at the bakery with Kirishima which was right next to the butchers section with Bakugou nearby. She made her way up to the bakery and greeted Kirishima;

"Hey Kirishima" Ochaco greeted the red haired boy.

"Hey Uraraka. You ready to get started in the manliest counter in U.A?" replied an over enthusiastic Kirishima.

"Can it Shitty Hair!" shouted Bakugou from his station. Ochaco ignored him.

"Yeah, I'm ready" replied Ochaco to Kirishima with a look of determination.

"Great, first we gotta go through some health and safety protocols before you can actually start on this counter, then I'll show you how we do things here" explained Kirishima.

Firstly he handed her a hairnet from a new box he had opened just at the end of the previous week and had her wash her hands thoroughly, fingernails and all, right up to her elbows. Once he was done with the health and safety aspects, he started explaining the process for their bread making;

"Its really simple to be honest. I think that's why Mr Yagi thought I'd be good here" explained Kirishima with a slightly shy smile.

"First, we're gonna make sure our mixing bowl is clean. If it's not, rinse it in warm water in that sink over there, not the one you washed your hands in. That one is only for washing your hands. Once its clean, give it a quick wipe with some paper towel, throw your towel in the trash and put the mixing bowl back in the mixer" explained Kirishima.

Uraraka listened with rapt attention to everything that Kirishima was explaining from correct processes to mixing ratios to how to ignore Bakugou when he went off on a tirade.

"Ok so that just about covers everything for the bakery. The last thing is our signature loaf of bread, the cinnamon loaf. It's really just the special loaf but with added cinnamon. We only make a handful of them as most people who buy them tend to buy them more as a treat rather than for everyday bread use" explained Kirishima.

"Cinnamon bread sounds delicious" said Ochaco as she tried to not drool at the thought of the bread.

"It is" replied Kirishima with a big grin on his face. "Ok, so we'll go over proper cleaning procedures and then after that, you're done with baking. Normally after we're done, we'll usually check in with Midoriya or Iida or whoever is in charge at that point to see if anything else needs done. Otherwise, we just go around and see if anybody needs help or if there's anything else that needs tidying or is out of place, etc" explained Kirishima.

Ochaco replied and nodded long with him as he started to explain the clean-up process. Once they were done and the bakery section was tidied, they then went and checked with Iida if there was anything else that needed to be done. They would return later for the trolley to clean that as well but only once it was either empty or near closing time, whichever came first.

Ochaco had found herself back at the checkout for the last two hours of her shift as there was nothing else for her to do at that time. It had been a bit of a slower day than normal but was still relatively busy. She chatted with Tsu and Aoyama (thankfully not about a particular green haired boy) during this time about what they were studying at university.

Aoyama was doing a modelling course as he felt that it was the best use of his talents to show off his sparkling demeanour. Tsu on the other hand had a similar situation to Ochaco. Her parents worked away from home a lot so instead of going to university, she chose to work and look after her little brother and sister until her parents would return home. She still lived with her parents as well as her pay just wasn't quite enough in order for her to live by herself, especially if she had to travel to her parents house then to a place of her own. The travel expenses alone would be too great.

It was near the end of her shift when Tsu asked about her weekend plans;

"Hey Ochaco, do you have any plans this weekend?" asked Tsu.

"I don't think so, why?" replied Ochaco.

"Mina wants to have a girls night out on Friday night since we're all off on Saturday. Do you want to come?" asked Tsu.

"Oh. Yeah sure. Sounds like fun" replied Ochaco enthusiastically.

"Great, I'll text you the details later as Mina can't usually decide where she wants to go" replied Tsu.

Once her shift had finished, she got herself changed and left with Tsu on her way to the bus stop. Tsu turned down a different street as she was heading for the train station and bid farewell to Ochaco, promising to text her when she made it home. Whilst Ochaco was waiting for the bus, she popped some earbuds in and started listening to some music and noticed there was a text on her phone. Her phone was on silent most of the day so she hadn't really checked it.

She looked at the message and seen that it was from Midoriya;

Midoriya: "Hey Uraraka. How did your day in the bakery go?"

A smile made its way on to her face;

Me: "Hi Midoriya. It was really fun, Kirishima taught me about all the health and safety needed for the bakery and we made lots of different types of bread. Bakugou was a bit of a buzz kill but when has he not been :p" she replied.

Midoriya: "Yeah, that's Kaachan for you. I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm back in tomorrow morning. Are you working tomorrow? I don't have the shift schedule at home" he replied.

Me: "Yeah, I am" she replied.

Midoriya: "Great. Are you doing much this evening?" he asked.

And that is how they went on for the next while as Ochaco rode the bus home, every so often replying to messages from the girls about plans for the weekend or in the works' group chat. Eventually she arrived at her stop and had to stop texting so she could concentrate on the walk home. Her cheeks were a bit rosier than normal, maybe it had something to do with a certain green haired boy, or maybe it had something to do with the things Mina was saying in the girls chat...yeah, that was totally what it was…

The weekend had finally come and Ochaco had finally finished her shift. She was on a late shift today instead of a day shift like she normally would be. This meant that she was there until the shop closed and had spent a fair portion of her time with the backshift crew of Mirio, Tamaki and Nejire whilst Aizawa was in charge.

She had gotten on well with Nejire who was at the checkout with Ochaco. Mirio and Tamaki were mostly dealing with restocking shelves and keeping the place tidy but would come over and chat with them every so often. Iida was also still in as was Shoji and Koda to fill out the number of staff still needed.

Once the store had closed, they'd all gotten changed in to their regular clothes, except Ochaco who got changed in to clothes for going out in with the girls. They all went outside as Aizawa locked the doors for the day. Ochaco checked her phone as they all parted ways to see two messages, one from Tsu and one from Midoriya.

She checked the one from Tsu first;

Tsu: "We're meeting at the train station at 8.15 then we're heading for drinks."

Me: "Ok, I'll be there in 10" she replied.

She started walking and checked the message from Midoriya;

Midoriya: "Hey, how was your shift?" he asked.

Me: "It was fine. A bit of a drag. Nejire was found to be around. Tamaki seems a bit shy though" she replied.

Midoriya: "Yeah, that's just the way he is. I hear you're going out with the rest of the girls tonight?" he asked.

Me: "Yep, sure am. I'm excited, I've never been out drinking with friends before, I've only ever had a drink or two under my parents supervision. I hope they don't get me drunk" she replied.

Midoriya: "I'm sure you'll be fine. There's a likelihood you'll see me later this evening too if the night goes like it normally does with Mina in charge" he replied.

Ochaco was confused. What did he mean by that?

Me: "What do you mean I'll likely see you tonight?" she asked.

Midoriya: "It's a bit of a story. Ask Mina, I'm sure she'll explain...maybe. Anyway, I'll leave you to enjoy your night" he replied

She'll definitely need to ask about that.

Me: "Ok I will. Thanks Midoriya :)" she replied with a smiley face.

She continued walking to the train station until she spotted a group of girls chatting away. As she approached, she called out to them:

"Hey!"

"Hi Ochaco" said Tsu as she turned around to greet her friend.

"Hello Uraraka" greeted Momo. Mina was still talking very animatedly to Hagakure and Jirou before she finally noticed Ochaco;

"Oh hey Uraraka. Glad you could come out tonight, we're gonna have lots of fun" said Mina as she began leading the girls away.

"Thanks. Where are we going?" she asked as they all started walking.

"We're heading for food first then we're going to do...what was it again Yaomomo?" said Hagakure.

"A pub crawl. At least, that's what the British call it" replied Momo.

"What's a pub crawl?" asked Tsu.

"It's where we go to a bar, have a drink, then go to another bar, have another drink and so on" replied Jirou.

"Do people really do that?" Ochaco asked.

"All the time apparently" replied Jirou.

They six of them continued on to their first destination, a teppanyaki (hibachi) restaurant. They stayed there for a while and had some food and ordered a couple of drinks. Once they were ready, they began their "pub crawl".

They had made their way through six different bars so far and they were all fairly tipsy. If not for the food they had, they'd all be drunk already. They started on the seventh bar when the drinks began to hit harder.

"So...I know we've been gossiping everywhere we've been," said Mina in a slower tone as she was letting her mind catch up slight before she continued, "but now it's time for the juicy stuff".

"What do you mean?" asked Hagakure.

"I mean...men. Specifically, our men...I mean...the ones we work with" she said. It seemed like the drink was really starting to get to her. The other girls weren't fairing much better.

Momo for all the elegance she had had started to hold on to Jirou as they had made their way from the last bar. Jirou was at least able to walk but not always in a straight line. Tsu swayed from time to time but seemed otherwise be the least affected, although she had gone quieter. Hagakure slurred a little bit but not greatly and Ochaco had hit the giggles whenever she found the slightest thing funny.

"What about them?" asked Tsu.

"Who's the hottest?" Mina asked bluntly.

"I can't believe you seriously just asked that Ashido...it's clearly Todoroki" said Momo surprisingly.

"Oh really. What makes you say that Yaomomo?" asked Jirou with a smirk, knowing full well that her friend had feelings for the heterochromatic boy.

"I mean...he-he's very handsome. Wouldn't you agree?" replied Momo with a blush on her cheeks, though whether that was embarrassment or alcohol was up for debate.

"You do have a point. He is rather attractive" stated Tsu.

"What about you Tsu. Is there anyone at work you'd like get to know" asked Momo as she fluttered her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

"Probably Tokoyami if I'm honest. I kinda like the mystique he has going on" replied Tsu.

"I can see that" Mina said, "what about Midori?" she then asked. She could ship her two green haired friends;

"I mean...meh. Don't get me wrong, Midoriya is a nice person and he does have a certain attractiveness to him, but…" Tsu trailed off.

"But what?" asked Hagakure.

"I think...I think he'd just do whatever he thought I wanted in order to keep me happy, ya know. Like...it's hard to explain. He wouldn't be...selfish, if that makes sense" Tsu explained.

"I'm confused" said Jirou.

"I think I get it. If you both had to make a decision and had differing opinions, instead of trying to explain why you should follow his decision or why his might be a better idea, he would just blindly accept yours?" asked Momo.

"Yeah, kinda like that." replied Tsu.

"What about you Ochaco? Seen any guys you like?" asked Mina with a smirk.

"Wha-what? No no, nobody at all!" she replied, though the thought of a certain green haired boy was jumping to the forefront of her mind.

"Really? No green haired assistant managers?" Mina replied in a very suggestive tone.

"Wh-wh-what would make you think that?" Ochaco replied, her blush now full on.

"You have gotten rather close and you've only known him for about two weeks" replied Momo as she stared at her wine glass, the classy lady that she was.

"Well he's just easy to get along with" replied Ochaco with no embarrassment. It was true, he was easy to get along with.

"True. He was very welcoming when we all started. He just radiates niceness" said Jirou.

"Does that you mean you like him Kyoka?" asked Mina, once again with a suggestive tone.

"As a friend, yes. As someone I'd like to get to know better, I'm afraid not. "replied Jirou.

"Ah, so it's Kaminari then" said Momo as she winked at Jirou.

"You shut your filthy mouth" said Jirou as she exaggeratedly pointed at Momo as her face was on fire.

Ochaco laughed along with the rest of the girls at that one. They finished their drinks at this bar and were ready to head out when Mina decided to speak up;

"Ugh, I don't know girls, what *hic*. I'm thinking we go to the last stop?" asked Mina as a random hiccup interrupted her.

"Good idea. I don't think I can go much longer" said Momo.

"I probably could continue but I also don't want a horrible hangover tomorrow" said Tsu.

"I second that" said Jirou.

"Yeah, it is starting to get late" said Hagakure.

"Ok. So where are we going for this last stop?" asked Ochaco.

The rest of the girls looked at each other. They had forgotten that Ochaco hadn't been out with them before. Hagakure was about to speak up before Mina put a hand over her mouth;

"Shhh! I think it would be more fun if Chaco seen for herself" said Mina with a big smile on her face.

"Chaco?" was the first thing Ochaco took from that.

"I'm trying it out" said Mina.

"Ok but this better not be like a...strip club or anything dodgy" said Ochaco.

"Hahaha OMG no that's not what it is but we should totally do that instead!" Mina cried.

"Erm...no thanks" said Jirou blushing up a storm.

"I'll pass" said Tsu.

"Sorry but last stop Ashido" replied Momo.

"Awww ok. C'mon ladies, last stop" said Mina as they all started getting up and grabbing their bags and jackets.

They made their way towards whatever this last stop was. Ochaco wanted to enquire with Tsu about it but Ashido dragged her at the head of the group and she knew the pink haired girl wasn't going to talk. She did note that her bus passed through this area and that if they continued in this direction they'd eventually get back to their work. They hadn't quite done a circle from the train station but most of one.

Eventually they arrived to...an apartment block? This "last stop" seemed to be a strange place. She had assumed it was their last stop for drinking but apparently it wasn't. Was it some sort of drug den? No, these girls were nice, there was no way they would lead her to something like this, was there?

They ascended the stairs then walked on a particular landing until they stood in front of a particular door and Ashido knocked on it. It was after 11pm in the evening, who would still be up at this time that they could knock on their door. A few seconds later, the door swung open slowly and the group of ladies were met with a short woman with green hair;

"Ashido? How nice to see you again. I take you ladies have been out tonight?" said the woman.

"Inko! Yes! We have. Could we come in?" cried Ashido as she asked Inko if they could come in.

"Of course. I told you before you can come here to stay safe on a night out. Oh, I don't believe we've met. I'm Inko, pleased to meet you" said Inko as she introduced herself to Ochaco.

"O-Oh I'm Ochaco Uraraka. It's a pleasure to meet you Inko" replied Uraraka as she bowed. The woman looked familiar but she couldn't figure out why.

"Thank you. Please do come in. It's nice to see you again Hagakure, Jirou, Yaoyorozu, Tsu" said the older woman as the other four ladies greeted Inko and made their way in to the home.

Once they made their way to the living room, Ochaco sat down on the couch and took in the sights of the home. It was a lovely home, clearly it had been furnished through love. Everything had character to it.

"So did you ladies have a good time tonight?" asked Inko as she followed them all in to the living room.

"We did Mrs M" replied Jirou.

"Good. I take it you're all heading home then?" Inko then asked them.

"Yeah, I'm just trying to get a hold of Sero. He drives and I'm hoping he's still awake" replied Mina as she tapped a message in to her phone.

"My old man said he'd give us a lift if we're stuck" replied Jirou.

"I know but, you're going the opposite direction from us. It would be rather inconvenient" replied Momo.

"Besides, Sero only lives five minutes from me and Mina and Momo's only a short drive from there" explained Hagakure.

"Ok, suit yourselves" said Jirou.

"What about you Tsu?" asked Inko.

"I just need dropped off at the train station. I'm only two stops away and literally live across from the station itself" she explained.

"I can drop you off on the way" said Jirou.

"I'd like that, thanks Jirou" replied Tsu.

"Anytime" replied the purple haired woman.

"What about you Ochaco?" asked Momo.

"Oh, I'll need to get the bus. It's like a twenty minute bus ride then another fifteen minute walk." explained Ochaco.

"Alone? That's simply out of the question" replied Inko before she continued, "I'll have my son walk you home".

"Oh, that's alright In-" Ochaco had started but Inko was already poking her head around the corner;

"Izuku, could you come here please?" Inko shouted down the hallway.

Izuku? As in, Midoriya? Ochaco was confused. Why would he be here? Unless…

She looked around the room again and seen pictures of a green haired boy and a green haired woman. The woman was undoubtedly Inko and the boy in all the pictures was...no way. She was brought out of her stupor when she heard his voice;

"Hey everyone" said Izuku as he entered the room.

"Midori!" exclaimed Mina as she got up and gave Izuku a big hug. Izuku went stiff as a board.

Uraraka had no idea what to do as she stared at Izuku being crushed in Minas hug.

has crashed.