#i actually cut it off at her toes because im actually slightly ashamed to say the only reason for that is

[sylvainahyperfixation]

you see her looking at you from across the bar like this. what do you do

+ closeup on her face because i liked the way it turned out

[chelinka93]

Building a Nest - Hello, my Name is... - Part 1

Ugh, not happy with this one, its been ages since I’ve done a PoV swap so im... ehhhh... Hope I was able to do Ochaco at least some justice though.

Ochaco Uraraka liked to think she was made of sterner stuff.

Since she was little she had the dream of becoming a hero to help her parents, if she was a popular hero both them and her would could leave their financial troubles behind and they could live a good, easy life.

But before all that, she had to actually become a hero first.

And the best way to do that?

UA.

Since middle school she had kicked it in high gear; training every day to get in shape, both physically and quirk wise. If she wasn’t training, she was nose deep in her books because UA was no slouch when it came to academics either and she needed to be on her toes to excel.

So both mind and body being trained there was the third, and most daunting obstacle: money.

Her parents insisted that if she wanted to go to UA they could pay for it, but she saw that the bags under their eyes got a bit darker during her junior high years.

They were working hard so she could pursue her dream.

She wasn’t going to let them do all the work, this was her dream, she was going to help make a reality any way she could.

So she began to cut back.

She still ate of course, limiting her food intake would only make her weaker and worry her parents, something she really wanted to avoid if she could. She cut back in small ways: having the lights off for as long as she could and refusing to turn up the heat until she had to in order to save on the bills. Reusing old notebooks that were almost full already, (no point in wasting paper!) keeping careful track of her pens and pencils so she wouldn’t have to buy new ones when she lost them. Small things here and there. But the biggest she could do?

The shopping.

Her parents worked so hard, and often late. So Ochaco took it upon herself to do the shopping whenever she could. She did her best to learn what was a good deal and what wasn’t, trying her best to make sure she could save whenever she could.

It was a little hard but now looking back, she considered it all worth it.

She got into UA.

She could afford to go to UA.

She would have to move though, her home with her parents was just too far away to make the commute each day. Something that made both her and her parents sad to think about.

But…

She got into UA!

Departure aside, she was ecstatic and so were parents! They even threw her a ‘Going Away to UA’ party.

And it was a great party.

Even though there were some tears mixed in with the laughter.

So with much excitement, she jumped feet first into her life as UA student. The first day was a little out there; who just has a quirk assessment test with the threat of expulsion throw in there?! (her new home room teacher, apparently.) She did her best to get into it; she’d worked hard for this and wasn’t about to let a second go by and not be thankful for it.

She made friends too! There weren’t many girls in 1A, seven in total including herself, but they all bonded quickly and she was thrilled to be friends with them. She enjoyed hanging out with all of them but she found that she talked most to Mariska (though she said she was okay with Mari).

She found out that Mariska lived on her own like her, so it became a common topic between the two of them to talk about all the ups and downs of living alone and any tricks the other might have learned to make it easier. It was generally simple things like how often one should do laundry, was it a good idea to hide a spare key in case you got locked out, the sort of little things like that.

Then one day, they got into the topic of shopping and Ochaco launched into all the things she learned and when Mari asked where she learned these things, seemed to be impressed that Ochaco taught herself mostly.

“That’s amazing! I tried to learn myself actually but it didn’t work out that way.”

Ochaco furrowed her brow, confused. Does she just order her groceries online? pay someone do it? She asked but Mariska just snorted.

“No, I picked up a shopping teacher, a rather unwilling one at first though.”

“A… Shopping teacher?” Ochaco asked confused again. That was a thing?

Mariska grinned and launched into a tale about one day trying to do her shopping, minding her own business when suddenly a snarky, grumpy looking woman told her she was doing it wrong. And even after the shopping was done, they still met up again and decided (with Mariska’s instance) that it become a regular event.

Mariska told the story with fondness (and more then a slight bit of exasperation in a lot of parts) and Ochaco was both curious about Mariska’s shopping friend, who’s name was Varis apparently, and slightly wary. Mariska didn’t sugar coat Varis’ language and the image Ochaco got of this woman was more then a little scary.

As she thought about Mariska’s possibly (probably) terrifying teacher, she didn’t notice the smirk that had bloomed on Mariska’s face.

“You should come with me next time!”

“Huh?”

“Come with next time I go shopping! I’ll introduce you and you can learn from her too!”

“Well, I don’t want to intrude, this seems like a personal thing. And from what you’ve told me of her, Varis might not like have more people around.”

At this, the smirk grew wider and Ochaco was not ashamed to admit she was kinda worried.

“True, but she owes me! She’ll grumble and probably try to intimate you but she’ll get over it.”

Ochaco hesitated slightly. The fact that Mariska easily admitted that this Varis would openly try to intimidate her did nothing but confirm further her second hand impression that this woman was scary.

She shook her self mentally, what was she thinking? She had gotten this far hadn’t she? Shed made it to UA and was in class 1A! the forerunner in terms of future heroes! She was made of sterner stuff then this! she had a chance to not only spend more time with her new friend but also the opportunity to learn how to shop even more effectively and save more money for her parents.

When she put it that way, it sounded pretty fun actually!

“Well, if its okay with you, I’d love to!”

Mariska beamed, clearly happy that she had agreed to come and faced with that bright smile, Ochaco found herself smiling again too as they both gathered their things and headed out to the train station.

‘Yeah! I’m sure I’m jumping to conclusions about this Varis lady, I’m sure she’s perfectly nice!’

“So you are you gonna let her know I’m coming?”

“I could, but just thinking of the scowl on her face when we show up together is far too good to pass up.”

‘…At least I hope she’s nice.’

 ‘Nice’ it turns out, was not the word to describe Varis in the slightest.

She’d met Mariska at the station near the store she told Ochaco about. and for awhile, the two of them chatted happily about this and that as that as they made their way to the store where Ochaco would get to meet this Varis Mari had talked about.

…the one who didn’t even know she was tagging along.

She did her best to contain her nerves as they made their way inside but her nerves quickly came to a front when she actually caught sight of Varis.

Mariska called her name and a woman near the rice turned, a slight expression of amusement on her face as Mariska made her way toward her with Ochaco in tow.

That expression quickly turned into annoyance when she caught sight of Ochaco.

‘Mari forgot to mention how tall she is.’ Ochaco thought faintly as she tried not squirm as the woman examined her almost like a bug under a microscope. She felt Mari’s arm wrap around her shoulders as she introduced her to her mentor of sorts. Said mentor continuing to unabashedly size her up and Ochaco couldn’t help but stare back.

Tall, gray hair cut in a pixie cut, and she had her sleeves rolled up to her elbows so Ochaco could see toned arms as well.

‘she looks she beat us both up and not even break a sweat.’

Her apparent panic got even worse when Varis casually threw out that she had expect worse for the death threat.

‘A DEATH THREAT?!’ Ochaco began to seriously consider her routes of escape for Mari and her but Mari didn’t even seem phased, even jokingly correcting her on her wording!

She was just thinking she should try to edge toward that particularly heave bag of rice to try to use it as a weapon, when the next words from Mari stopped her.

“She did say those things yes, but she was only worried about me. and when she didn’t get the reaction she wanted, she pouted and stole my newspaper in a tantrum.”

‘…What…?’

Varis seemed to notice Ochaco’s turn of emotions and quickly the menacing aura she felt was gone and this woman, who she had been rather terrified of a minute ago, was now openly pouting.

Ochaco was confused to say the least but wasn’t given time to really think about it when said pouting woman spoke again, this time to her:

“So kid, whatcha know about properly shopping?”

 Ochaco’s head was swimming with new information. While she thought she was a decent shopper Varis had simply listened quietly as she talked about what she knew and was silent for a moment after she finished talking before saying:

“Not bad, for a beginner.”

Nothing more after that, she just spun her cart around and began walking toward the next isle expecting Mari and her to follow.

After that it was a lesson in each isle; Varis explaining certain tricks and explaining ‘traps’ (anything she considered to be a waste of money, usually always something with a sales sticker next to it) that many a shopper fell for. She was curt when Mari or Ochaco asked her anything but didn’t belittle them for it.

“What if I like this brand better?”

“Then cough up the yen to get the biggest tin of it so it last longer.”

Ochaco learned a lot. Which she was kind of thrilled about it, anything to help save money for her parents.

She also learned a bit about Varis too.

While rather curt and blunt with Mari and her, Mari seemed to enjoy the barbed exchange. Often even teasing Varis when she got vehement over certain things.

Like protecting her choice of snacks from Mari.

“I don’t care what you think, brat, I like em and Im gonna get em!”

“I can’t believe you still stomach that crap!”

“I like what I like, stubborn brattling!”

“Stubborn American!” Mari puffed up, and seemed to about ready to go into a rant before Varis leaned over to flick her on the forehead.

“Id rather you not throw one of your Spanish tantrums, especially in front of your friend.” Varis said before leveling a pointed look in Ochaco’s direction.

Realizing that she was being put on the spot, Ochaco tried to think of something.

“O-oh! Weren’t you saying earlier something about a big order for cupcakes coming in at work, Mari? How’s that coming along?”

Looking briefly at Varis, as if attempting to glare holes in the woman, Mari conceded this change of topic and started talking animatedly about a ridiculous number of cupcakes ordered for an equally ridiculous reason.

Relived that the distraction had worked, Ochaco went along with it, listening and chatting with Mari about the idiocies of people with far to much money and time on their hands willing to throw a party for a quarterversiry (whatever that was).

When she looked up briefly, she could have sworn Varis winked at her.

 After that, things were quiet until Mari had to run ahead and grab something she forgot. Leaving Ochaco alone with Varis.

Before she could even think of what to say, (should she say something? or would she prefer silence?) Varis beat her to it.

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“Earlier, little bird gets in such a snit every time I try to buy any sort of processed baked good, especially snack cakes. It was nice to avoid it this time.”

“Your welcome!” To her horror, her voice squeaked, but Varis didn’t seem to notice as she turned toward her.

“Try to keep your footing with her, hmm? She’s a bit of a whirlwind, try not to let her sweep you away too easily.”

“Uh, I’ll do my best!” She replied, not real sure what say.

“Good on ya kid.”

For a split second, Ochaco thought she saw an actual smile on Varis’ face.

But as soon as it appeared, it vanished just as quickly as Varis began to move forward to meet a grinning Mari, returning triumphantly with item in hand.

No, nice wasn’t the word Ochaco would use to describe Varis.

She tried to smother a giggle as Varis lightly bopped Mari on the head for something.

‘She’s grumpy for sure’ she thinks

‘but…’

‘also a good person’

This was suppose to be short, but apparently Ochaco had a lot to say.

So here we go! its the start of a new Arc, per say. This one I’m going to focus primary on introducing more of the MHA cast. Mostly from Varis’ point of view, but I may switch it up to another PoV if I’m feeling bold. and as always, thanks to @bnha-love-imagines (who’s a v good bean, the sweetest bean) for letting me use her BB Mari, who’s a little shit this time.

And because I love this part, have a preview of the next chapter:

‘This is it, I am in hell. It must be the reason for this.’

One child is already enough, the second one is alright because shes not an ass like the first... but she thought she made her dislike of more tag alongs clear!

...Apparently not because two is now three.

“You seem to be thinking awful hard about something.”

“What I’m thinking is whether or not i should pin you down and smother you with that bag of peanuts!”