BIRTHDAY QUICK FIC 2024: December 27-Ochako Uraraka (My Hero Academia)

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Summary: The day before graduation, Ochako feels Deku’s presence in her daily life about to slip away. But maybe she can reach her hand out and live the life she truly wants. (Izuku/Ochako)

Content Warnings/Themes: No sex, post-canon (pre-final epilogue)

Ochako’s throat tightened up as she watched Izuku turn away and prepare to exit the room. They were graduating from UA tomorrow, and this was probably going to be the last time she saw him alone before then. She was sure that she would stay in touch with all of her classmates after graduation, him included. Class A had been through too much to disappear from each other’s lives completely. They’d played central roles in the end of the war and the final defeat of Shigaraki and All for One, and times like that created a bond that time and distance could not sever.

Still, it was going to be different after tomorrow. She was used to seeing her friends from Class A every day, and that wasn’t going to be possible anymore. They’d stay in touch, but their lives as pro heroes would keep them busy. They would join different hero agencies and choose different aspects of the hero life to dedicate their careers to, and those paths would lead to her seeing some of them far less often than others. Ochako would always carry fond memories of this time in her life, but she would never see any of her classmates as often in the future.

It was sad to think about not seeing Tsuyu, Mina, Ida or the others as often as she had for the last few years. But thinking about Izuku no longer being a part of her daily life made Ochako’s heart leap into her throat. Her friends meant so much to her, but her feelings for Deku ran deeper than just friendship, and had for years. She’d tried to work up the courage to confess her feelings for him so many times over the last two years, but she’d never been able to get it out. There had always been an excuse; always a reason why the time wasn’t right.

And now, time was running out. Izuku had remained in their class through graduation, and no one deserved to be recognized as a hero more than him after all he’d done and the sacrifices he’d made. But the ember of One for All had burned out for good as of about two months previous, meaning he was quirkless once again. He wasn’t sure what career path he was going to take yet, but it wouldn’t be the same one that she walked. If Ochako let him walk out of this room now without finally telling him how she felt about him, there was no telling when she would next have a chance to get him alone and find the perfect words to express what he meant to her. She might never get another chance like this.

Izuku’s hand reached for the classroom doorknob, but Ochako pictured Himiko in her mind’s eye. Himiko had done her best to live her life the way she wanted, and she’d given up that life to save Ochako’s. She couldn’t waste any more of the life she’d been given by bottling up her feelings and not reaching out for the kind of life she wanted to live, and the people she wanted to share it with. Before Deku’s hand could turn the knob and open the door, Ochako took several quick steps toward him and grabbed his left hand with both of hers.

“Uraraka?” he said, turning his head back to look at her in surprise. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “But I couldn’t let you leave yet. I decided that I can’t waste any more of my life not reaching for what I want.” She took a deep breath. “I owe Himiko that much.”

Izuku gave her a sympathetic look. He knew how much Himiko’s death had affected her. It was him who understood better than anyone, because he’d dealt with similar feelings of regret and even guilt toward Tomura. His understanding had helped her begin to come to terms with Himiko’s death. She could still remember the dam bursting when he spoke to her at the mountainside, and how much gratitude she’d felt for him. Had the rest of their classmates not shown up soon after him to offer their own support, that might have been the moment where she confessed her feelings. But between their arrival, and then the realization that Deku’s time with One for All was limited, the moment passed. Two whole years had passed since then, and Ochako had still not found the right moment. Now, she’d created her one, and she wasn’t going to waste it.

“Do you need to talk to me about her?” Izuku offered gently as he turned away from the door and faced her fully. Ochako shook her head.

“No,” she said. “Not right now. But I need to do what she would have wanted me to do. I need to be honest, and live my life without fear.” She took a deep breath. She could feel the fear trying to make her throat clam up again, but she wasn’t going to let it win this time. “You remember when you said that I was your hero?”

“I remember,” he said. He looked away, and a little blush came to his cheeks. Ochako smiled, feeling her courage grow in direct response to his embarrassment. She was definitely going to be blushing, too, if she wasn’t already. But nothing would stop her now.

“You don’t know how much that meant to me,” Ochako said. She still held his left hand, but she grabbed his right as well, holding both of his hands and interlacing their fingers. His blush deepened, but he didn’t try to pull his hands back. “You inspired me for so long, Deku. I admire you so much, and my life has been so much better because I’ve had you in it for the last three years.”

“So has mine,” Deku said, stammering slightly and tripping over his words, but doing his best to vocalize his feelings regardless. “You mean so much to me, O-Ochako. I hope we’ll always be close, and you’re a wonderful f-friend.”

For half a second, Ochako felt her heart break when Izuku called her his friend. She nearly lost her courage there, fearing that he knew what she was attempting to say and was trying to reject her as gently as she could before she made things awkward between them. But the way his tongue tripped over the word and his eyes darted away from her gave her life. Her heart longed to believe that his reaction meant he was struggling through the same feelings, doubts, and fears that she had been for the last couple of years, and she chose to listen to her heart and bare her soul.

“I hope we’ll always be close, too, Deku,” she whispered. She squeezed his hands tighter. “But I don’t want to be just your friend. I don’t want to only talk to you every so often to catch up, and see you only when we can make time to meet up. I want you to be in my life every day. I—wherever my life takes me, I want you to be there with me for it.” Deku’s eyes were as wide as saucers, and his lips were parted as he stared at her. Ochako held his gaze and shared the truth that she should have shared with him years ago. But better late than never. “I love you.”

Izuku closed his eyes, and icy fear again gripped her heart. But then his eyes opened, he blinked back tears, and flashed the most wonderful smile she’d ever seen.

“I love you, too, Ochako,” he said, still smiling brilliantly at her. “I have for years, but I didn’t, I mean, I don’t--I didn’t know how to tell you, or if you would want me to tell you, and there was so much to think about, and—”

His rambling was adorable, but Ochako had heard enough of it for now. After waiting far too long, she’d finally admitted her feelings to the boy she loved, and he’d returned her confession. There was only one thing left for Ochako to do, and that was let go of Deku’s hands, throw her arms around his shoulders, and share her first kiss with him.

She couldn’t imagine a better first kiss. Izuku’s lips moved slowly against hers, his arms circled her body loosely, and his hands sat on her upper back as if he wasn’t quite sure what he should be doing.

It didn’t matter that he wasn’t quite sure how he should kiss her or touch her. In fact, that was even better. Neither of them had any clue what they were doing, but that just meant they would be able to learn it all together. Now that she’d finally stepped forward and reached out to live the life she wanted, she no longer needed to worry about parting with Deku or looking back with bittersweet regret on what they used to have. She would miss all the time she’d spent with the rest of Class A for the last three years, but her hero, the man she loved, was going to become an even larger part of her everyday life from now on.