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airquietworks · 7 years ago

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Hearts vs. Heroics or: How Uravity Surpassed the World’s Greatest Hero (IzuOcha) (Part 7)

Previous parts: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6 Chapter 7: Into the Abyss

Somehow, confronting Deku to converse in an empty hallway felt more nerve-wracking than confronting him to battle in front of millions of viewers.

The boy in question remained slouched and loose leaning against the wall, keeping his focus down towards the floor. Ochako frowned at the image as she pushed herself backwards and held onto the wall opposite him, anchoring her weightless self. The air was still, the sudden quiet of the hallway somehow suffocating between them.

He looked so…defeated. Unsure of himself, like he had often been when she first met him. It was a far cry from the heroically imposing figure he was in the ring a few short hours ago.

She did not like it. Especially because it was her fault he looked that way.

With that thought, Ochako breathed deeply and knew what the first words between them would have to be:

“I’m sorry.”

Deku swung his head upward at the sudden apology, his eyes wide in surprise at the words.

But Ochako did not allow his reaction to give her pause. She looked directly into his green eyes, refusing to look away as she answered for her offence. He had to know she was sincere. She refused to show any trace of her rattling nerves and risk them mitigating her apology.

“I did not want to win like that,” Ochako stated solemnly. “I wanted to win by fighting you head-on. But what I said was completely out of line. I...I didn’t even realize what I was saying.”

The words started to tumble rapidly from her lips. Even as Deku’s face fell, his mouth moving into a disappointed frown, she plowed through her explanation. She had to get this out, whatever the consequences.

“And then you got distracted and I kept attacking anyways not even…I didn’t know,” Ochako murmured, her words starting to fail her as the explanation dragged on. “I didn’t mean to do it, but it’s still my fault. I wanted to fight you properly, not win with something so…so…underhanded.”

The gravity hero bowed her head, her eyes meeting the grey metal of the floor. She took another breath as she worked hard to keep her composure in front of him, despite how her heart clenched painfully in her chest.

“I hope you can forgive me.”

There was a moment of silence. It stretched ominously, a cold stone of dread sinking deeper into her gut with every second that passed. She felt herself start to drift upward in her weightlessness before reaching back awkwardly to push herself down against the wall.

All the while, she waited for his response, unwilling to glance up at him until she had it. She pushed down the urge to tremble. Her mind took its first steps into a dark, endless spiral of ‘what-if’ scenarios for how she would react if he responded as badly as he should. He had every right to be angry, after all, and she should be prepared.

“Uraraka…it’s alright.”

His voice was coldly docile, void of the anger and frustration she expected from him. Rather, there was only melancholy, his voice sombre in his acceptance.

She looked up to see his smile, small but still prominent on his face. It did not quite reach his eyes, but it was better than any reaction she could have hoped for.

“I was the one that lost my focus. That’s my fault, not yours. There’s nothing…” he paused, the word catching on his tongue. “Nothing wrong with what you did.”

Ochako wished she could feel relief at the statement, but the sad look in his eyes and the lack of conviction in his voice prevented that.

“But Deku, that was-“

“It’s not an unreasonable tactic,” he assured her. But his voice was dispirited, akin to the clinical heroic analysis he was known for. “There’s nothing wrong with throwing an opponent off with words, like Aizawa said. I know you did not mean it and it’s fine, Uraraka.”

“Deku…” Ochako murmured gently. He kept his eyes focused away from her as he spoke. Clearly, something was still really bothering him. She was not truly forgiven — not that she deserved to be.

“You….I…” Ochako stammered, trying to find the words. “What I did was wrong. That’s…that’s not the kind of hero I want to be. I know I can’t fix what I did, Deku.”

“Uraraka, really, there’s nothing wrong,” Deku stated firmly, exasperated. He smiled at her again, but it was apparent he was forcing it. “You didn’t mean to say it. It’s fine, really!”

His voice cracked, the words coming out in a squeak, rushing as if tears were about to leak from him. She moved a hand forward, instinctively wanting to reach out and comfort him. But she stopped herself, fearing such an action would only make things worse.

“I’ll find a way to make it up to you…if you’ll let me.” The words came through with difficulty as she felt her own throat get a little choked up. She fought back the water edging at her eyes, refusing to start blubbering through this.

“But…I understand if you don’t want anything to do with me.”

“No! Uraraka, gosh I…I…” Deku stated with more force, his eyes finally meeting hers again, his own hand outstretched towards her. He stopped, his throat bobbing as the two stared at one another. Confusion stood prominently on both their faces. Ochako wished desperately she could take the uncertainty away from him, somehow.

“You what, Deku?” Ochako asked simply. She clenched her hands at her sides, bracing for the worst.

Deku put his hand back to his side. He took a breath and his hand started to shake a bit. She noticed a heavy blush started to stain his cheeks and he darted his eyes away. His voice was quiet as he spoke, forcing Ochako to strain her ears to hear.

“I…I understand if not but...did you really mwant what you said?”

The hidden meaning hidden beneath his shaky uncertainty hit Ochako like a bolt of lightning. Her heart started racing as the pressure of his statement swept over her, freezing her in place as she tried to formulate a response.

Deku was not so worried about losing the fight. He was worried about her feelings.

It had not even occurred to her he could see the confession itself as anything less than genuine. In her mind, dealing with the confession itself had become secondary to making up for the act of confessing in the midst of combat.

Ochako bit her lip and clenched her fists. There was no more delaying to be done about it. There was just her, Deku and her love for him hanging between them.

She realized she could try to end it here. Run away from those feelings again and deny them, move on and chase the easygoing normalcy of friendship they had before. Deku would probably buy into it, or at the very least, accept it, if he was not too upset with her. It might be difficult to go back to the way things were, but it would at least be a clear picture to go after.

There was no certainty if she continued to act on her feelings for him. She did not even know if he felt the same way. Pursuing her love was a leap into the dark abyss of the unknown, and her skin felt clammy as the terror of the prospect loomed over her.

Ochako took a deep breath to steady herself on the precarious edge she stood on.

She did not want to keep her heart chained up anymore. Whatever might come, she knew now her love did not have to be a stumbling block to doing heroic deeds. If her love did not prevent her from headbutting Deku in the face, what could it possibly stop her from doing?

Trying to keep her feelings sealed away had caused her so much grief and anxiety. It seemed like more trouble than it was worth.

She had to take the plunge.

With all the courage she could muster, Ochako squeezed her eyes shut and nodded with enthusiasm, her hands clenched balled into fists at her sides. She kept her eyelids shut, not daring to look and see his immediate reaction.

“I…I don’t understand why…” His words were uneasy, keeping Ochako glued awkwardly to the edge. She slowly opened her eyes to see him, staring at her, suddenly a step closer, his lip quivering in fear.

“But…but I talked about it with…someone and I…I owe you a response!’ Deku shouted with sudden force, his voice stuttering, his hands shaky at his sides. The skin on his face was completely engulfed in a tide of red.

Ochako held her breath, daring to hope.

“I...I…I love you, Ochako Uraraka!”

There was no fanfare to his words, spoken a little more loudly than strictly necessary. There was no romantic atmosphere to be found in the empty, grey hallway. The only light shining down on them came dully from the fixtures overhead. This was not the romantic confession movies were made about.

Nevertheless, she could not stop the rise in her cheekbones, forced upward by the surging force of her smile. She felt lighter than air, her fears fading into the background, as if vanquished by a radiant light. The overwhelming sense of joy roaring within her pushed everything else to the side.

Unable to resist, Ochako pushed herself off the wall and glomped him, pushing him back a couple of steps with the weightlessness of her body. He stumbled back awkwardly, back banging against the wall as she buried her face into his shoulder, but he managed to catch and hold onto her securely.

“You have no idea how happy I am to hear that,” Ochako whispered into his shoulder. She pushed off a little from his chest to look at his face, chuckling a bit at his shocked, slack-jawed expression.

It seemed like there was light at the bottom of the unknown abyss.

She gave him the most dazzling smile she could muster as she uttered her response with all the happiness inside of her.

“I love you, Deku!”

It felt wonderful to be able to say those words, the weight of her fears gone in a flash. Her heart felt free, no longer struggling to rattle in her self-imposed chains. There was only the vibrant, chaotic swell of happiness, which she chose to relish in. This was a precious moment, one she might never experience again.

She watched his mouth open and close like a fish as he struggled to respond. She laughed again at how overwhelming it all was. In truth, she felt just as lost as he was in the moment – but decided to dive right into the unknown rather than let her love keep causing her to stumble.

“Uraraka…” Deku finally managed to squeak words out after losing his voice to the romantic onslaught. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course, Deku,” she replied brightly, her voice filled with her natural bubbliness. It had been too long since that had been easy to summon.

“Why is it that you…you…love me? I just…I just don’t…” Deku murmured, his voice pensive. “I don’t understand why you’d feel that way.”

She raised her eyebrows at him, searching his face. There was doubt there, no smile on his face to match hers, his face still very flushed. There was the shy boy she had met during her first day of school.

But Deku had gained a lot more confidence as the years went on. She was not sure why he was reacting this way.

“I just..” Deku continued, seeing the question in her eyes. “I never really considered anyone would feel that way about me. Girls would look away from me in middle school and I just figured…since I’m kind of a…”

“A dork?” Ochako supplied, her voice mirthful, trying to impress it was not something she saw as a negative.

Deku cracked a smile at that, which Ochako was grateful for. “Yeah, that. I had kind of written off the idea of someone falling for me. Maybe after I went pro, and by that point, I’m not even sure how I’d manage the time. It honestly was not something I thought I could plan for.”

Ochako sighed at him, keeping her hands pressed against his chest. It always baffled her how he could not see the greatness within himself. Such was the downside of his drive to continuously improve.

“You’re the kindest, sweetest guy I’ve ever met, Deku,” she spoke earnestly. It was not the first time she had told him this – and as it always did, it made his face flush even more. “You’re an easy guy to get along with. Being with you just makes me happy.”

“Uraraka…” Deku whispered softly, voice reverent in response to her honeyed words.

“You always pick me up when I’m down. And the drive you have to be a hero is just incredible. You’re one of my biggest inspirations, Deku.”

She was getting a little flushed herself at this point as Deku’s eyes grew wide as saucers, tears welling up at the edges of them.

“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” Ochako stated warmly, wrapping her arms around him best as she could and putting her head into his chest. He went rigid at first, his heartbeat racing, but he slowly loosened up and wrapped an arm around to her back. “You’ve…you’re just amazing, Deku. I really tried to contain it, but…I couldn’t help but fall in love with you.”

It was so liberating to let it all out to him. After so long trying to disguise her feelings from him, her heart felt so much lighter within the confines of her chest.

She watched in good spirits as Deku started to bawl, suddenly squeezing her to him. She let out a squeak, but sunk deeper into his embrace, her skin getting tingly from the hold.

“You’re…you’re the incredible one,” Deku murmured into the top of her head, tears streaming down to tickle her hairs there. “Gosh, Uraraka, I…I…”

He could not summon the words from amidst his blubbering and settled on squeezing her tighter to him. They stayed like that for a little while, just holding one another. Ochako sighed as Deku’s heartbeat started to slow down. It soothing when it was peaceful and steady. She could see herself falling asleep to this.

As Deku’s tears started to fade into sniffles, he spoke again, whispering just above her ear.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today If it wasn’t for you, Uraraka.” His voice sent pleasant shivers down her spine. Her skin pimpled at his gentle, intimate voice, and she found herself captivated by it. “Your determination, how you wear a smile no matter how bad things are…you make me want to be a hero like you. You’re amazing, Uraraka.”

“Deku…” she whispered in response, keeping her face buried in his chest to try to hide her flushing face. His unmitigated praise of her never failed to put her at a loss for words. It was a wind beneath her sails, but still made her want to cover herself for embarrassment.

But as their racing hearts started to slow, a nagging issue still buzzed in the back of her mind. However, the warmth of the moment acted as a shot of courage, allowing her to utter the question with greater ease.

“Hey, Deku?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you really not mad about our fight?”

He pushed her off of his chest to hold her at arm’s length, looking down into her eyes. The nerves were gone from his gaze, replaced by conviction and accompanied by a reassuring smile.

“I’m not mad about the fight, Uraraka. I get it was an accident, and I was the one that lost my focus. It’s okay.”

His honeyed words were lovely, but did little to satiate the buzzing in her mind.

“But what about your future! You lost so much because I did something so silly and-“

“Uraraka, it’s going to be alright,” he cut her off firmly, gently stroking her back in a calming gesture. She looked up at him with wide eyes, wishing she could just lose herself in his embrace instead of worrying about their fight.

“One of us had to lose out. There was no helping it,” Deku explained. “I am disappointed in myself for losing like that, but I’m not going to let myself get hung up on it. Like Aizawa said, there are many roads to becoming a hero, and he’s right. I’ll just work that much harder to convince the pros I’m more than what I showed in the ring.”

“Deku…” she whispered, beaming up at him. There was the indomitable fire she had fallen for. Once again, he found a way to surprise her with his determination.

A part of her wished the moment between could have lasted forever. For those precious minutes, the rest of the worries of her world faded into oblivion. She was overwhelmed, but she did not mind it in the slightest. It was heavenly.

But for a hero, duty would always come first.

“Would Ochako Uraraka please report to the waiting area?”

Ochako let out a miserable sigh and disengaged herself from Deku. She reluctantly pushed off of him, the two letting their hands brush against each other's arms as Ochako floated over to the other side of the hall.

“I should probably get going.” Ochako did nothing to hide her reluctance but tried to mitigate it with a genuine smile.

“Yeah, you’re going to be in tough,” Deku nodded a little awkwardly. But he kept his eyes steady and gave her a fiery stare. “But I know you can do it, Uraraka.”

The two exchanged determined grins and Ochako pumped a fist in the air, letting out a cry of enthusiasm. “Right!”

Deku chuckled a bit but extended a fist out to her. Ochako eagerly punched into it, initiating their trademark handshake. But their hands lingered together at the end, fingers gently intertwining. She was not sure who started it, but she suddenly found herself reluctant to let go.

She looked up at him for a suggestion, but there was none to be found. His eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes betraying his nervousness, the smile running away from his face.

They had confessed to each other…but what could they do now? What did that mean for them? How should they even bid farewell to one another?

Mercifully, Deku managed to take the next courageous step forward, even if he could only manage it with a deep blush on his face.

“Hey…when this over…do you want to…maybe…go out for something?” Deku stammered, his hand suddenly letting go of hers, flying back to scratch at his neck.

“For something? Like…like what?” Ochako felt her own cheeks get a little warmer as she realized what he was getting at. She gulped as she thought about it. The act of sorting out confessions had been a mountain to climb. She had been unable to see what lay beyond it…and now that she could, it sent a whole fresh round of nervousness through her.

“Like…out to eat something. Somewhere…nice?” The way he pushed through the question made her laugh, but there was a nervous edge to her own voice. He tried to laugh with her, but it did not seem genuine. He was just as terrified as she was.

“Are you…are you asking me out on a date, Deku?”

“NO!” Deku exclaimed reflexively at the question, before his brow furrowed as he realized how that sounded. “I mean…yes! Or at least…if you want me to be?” Deku’s voice cracked as he tried to explain himself, suddenly unleashing a storm of rambling at her. “I mean I guess that was my intention but I understand if you don’t want it to be that way I just thought since you said you loved me and I love you it made sense but I get it if-“

Somehow, his rambling made the burden of her own nerves lighten, as she let out a genuine peal of laughter at his strange habit. He really was bad at this – just as bad as she was, in many respects. But if they were going to be terrible at this whole being-in-love thing, at least they could be terrible together.

“I’d love to, Deku,” she managed to say earnestly, even if she was pretty sure her face was going to combust any second.

“Great!” Deku exclaimed, his voice pitching up an octave, the sweat visible on his face. “We’ll…we’ll work it out after, I guess. But you should get going.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Ochako nodded enthusiastically, buoyed by the prospect of going out on a date with Deku. It was terrifying, but exhilarating at the same time.

She looked down at her splinted left leg and frowned, knowing she’d have to get some help taking it off in the waiting area. Resolved to head there while still floating, Ochako prepared to push off and head straight for it.

But as she glanced back towards Deku, his wide green eyes and gentle smile making her heart skip a beat, she got an idea.

A wild, crazy, incredible, awful idea.

Her face was burning, but she let her mind hold hard to the impulse that had befallen her. After all, it was what people in love did…right? Somehow, despite how incredibly frightening the idea was, she wanted to try it.

Besides, she had already climbed over the looming mountain of confessing. How bad could it be to take the next step?

Her thumping heart was spurring her forward. If there was one thing she had learned, is that she could trust it a little more. Her idea was probably the next step in her own personal pursuit of happiness. And that was a road she had decided she would keep walking down.

“Hey, Deku. There’s…there’s something I’d like to try with you. If that’s okay?”

“Uh…sure, Uraraka.” His uncertain voice told her he had no idea what she was getting at. “What was it you-“

Ochako pushed off from the wall and floated fast towards him. She was in his arms before he knew what was happening. As Deku caught her and tried to recover, she pressed her lips to his.

There was no magic in the moment. No choirs of angels singing or overwhelming bliss from the connection of their lips. It was the awkward fumbling of two teenagers who had absolutely no idea what they were doing.

Deku was still as his statue, his eyes practically bulging out of his sockets in shock at the gesture. Ochako pressed her mouth hard into his, but only managed to get the upper half of his lip given how imprecise her headlong rush into him was. She tried to readjust herself, but the lack of reciprocal energy from him made her abandon the attempt.

As she pulled away from her frozen friend, she touched a hand to her lips, feeling the moisture there. She looked up to see his mouth open wide, slack-jawed. His eyes were out of focus, unaware of the world around him.

“Um…sorry about that Deku if that was…too soon,” Ochako scrambled to explain herself at his complete non-reaction. Was it that bad? “I just thought…well…I wanted to try it. And I thought it might be good luck for the fight, you know?”

She looked up imploringly at him, bringing her hands together nervously in front of her, hoping she had not shot their relationship in the foot just as they were taking their first baby-steps into romance.

“I…I got kissed by…by a girl…” Deku’s words came out in a disbelieving whisper, so light and airy that Ochako could barely hear them.

“What was that…?” Ochako blurted out, leaning in a little closer to try to confirm what Deku was saying. The gesture made Deku bump his head back against the wall in panic.

“That was…that was…FINE!” Deku shouted suddenly, with a little too much force In his voice. “Good, it was good, Uraraka! I didn’t mind at all!” He stuttered, laughing nervously, trying to recover from his earlier mental shutdown.

“Deku..?”

“Good, good luck, makes sense!” Deku continued to ramble, his mind barreling down train tracks to nowhere. “Yes, a kiss can be good luck! I don’t mind!”

She touched a finger to his lip to interrupt him. He stopped, his cheeks inflamed as he held on for her word.

“We’ll call a mulligan on that one,” Ochako suggested, flashing him a nervous grin. “Maybe that was a little much for now?”

Deku gulped but nodded slowly in reply, responding with his own nervous smile. “Yeah, maybe…”

“Next time we kiss, we’ll make it better!”

“Yeah, you’re right!”

The two smiled enthusiastically at each other, nodding in unison, energized by their friendly agreement. But the haphazard words and the promise contained within them, quickly removed the grins from their faces as it sunk in.

“Um…I mean, only if you want to! I mean, eventually, I think it’d be a good idea,” Ochako said quickly, speaking energetically with her hands.

Deku could not even manage that much, burying his tomato-red face deep into his hands. He poked his eyes above them and nodded in reply, not daring to blurt out anything else and risk making things worse.

Ochako groaned miserably, squeezing her eyes shut and wishing desperately this awkwardness between them could vanish. Navigating the descent into the unknowns of love was going to be a pain.

But as she opened her eyes again to see Deku, frazzled beyond belief, lips tugged slightly upward in a nervous smile, a blush still staining his cute freckled cheeks, she realized it might not be so bad. After all, she would be navigating the lovely abyss by his side.

And together, she knew the two of them could conquer anything.

“Hey, Deku, can I try one more thing? I promise it won’t be as drastic.” In watching his nervousness, she managed to steel herself and took a small hop over to him.

“Uhh…sure I guess,” Deku mumbled, scratching his chin and bracing himself for the worst. His eyes suddenly focused intently on her, as if she was sizing her up as a combatant. She laughed at his serious face as he tensed up, bracing herself.

Without another word, she leaned up and pecked him lightly on his left cheek, right above a dense cluster of freckles.

“A little more to our pace, right?” Ochako suggested cheerily, finding some delight at his dumbfounded expression. “Thanks, Deku. For everything.”

“…Don’t…don’t mention it,” Deku stammered, blinking rapidly and touching his hand to his cheek.

“Alright, I better head off for real this time.” She fully disengaged from him and started to drift down the hallway, ready to face the challenge ahead.

“Good luck! I’ll be rooting for you!” Deku called out from behind her, his voice rising into a heartier tone as he recovered from his stunned state.

Ochako turned around briefly to see him waving at her, beaming brighter than the sun despite his still-red cheeks. It was a beautiful image, one she wanted to commit to memory.

Her heart was ablaze in the darkness of an unknown future. But she knew she had to believe in her ability to figure it out. It is what would make her happy, in the end.

She pressed herself forward, pushing off of the ground towards her next horizon. Gravity had no hold over her. And with that, she knew she would get over any obstacle, no matter what it took.

Her name was Uravity, after all. A hero who never gives up.

Author’s Note: Thank you to Kingdom Lightz for editing this. Well, that is (almost) a rap. The story has reached its original planned endpoint, but I do plan to deliver an epilogue. Thank you all so much for the support you have given to this. ^_^ It has really helped inspire me a great deal and I am endlessly appreciative of it all. There WILL be an epilogue to this story, but I am not entirely sure when it will come out. I have some other projects I will be devoting my focus too before I get around to the epilogue, but stay tuned. Please leave a reblog and/or like if you enjoyed! =)

#izuocha #my hero academia #uraraka ochako #midoriya izuku #shipping #fanfiction #Hearts vs Heroics #boko no hero academia #confessions #OTP #THESE CHILDREN

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