Chapter Text
Ochako watched fondly as her close friend and travelling companion, Mina, spoke animatedly to a blonde-haired boy sitting next to them. He could tell was perplexed by her friend's antics judging by the slight arch of his brow but at the same time, he had a thoughtless grin on his face as he watched Mina's expressions, giving her all his attention.
Mina was an entertainer through and through. She used to be the stand-in for the lead chorus dancer of an opera in London but after staying at the company for two years in hopes of rising up the ranks and be promoted, the director made advances towards her. Knowing how determined she was to obtained a starring role, he made her an offer she could not refuse: yield to him or leave the theatre.
Ochako had met her that night after her own day's work at the factory, dressed as a boy because her job did not pay women. She found Mina crying at the foot of the stairs to the opera house, a broken wine bottle smattered with pinpricks of blood at the sharp tips still in her hand. Ochako had approached her quietly, sitting a few steps away and waiting for Mina's sobs to reside a little. When she had stopped crying, Ochako offered her a handkerchief and asked her if she wanted to join her at the pub.
It was safe to say that Mina had forgotten all about her troubles for one night, drinking and sharing winnings with Ochako from gambling with a local merchant by the name of Monoma Neito. By morning, when she was sober enough to remember her misfortune, she took comfort in the fact that she had found a friend in Ochako, who she only found out was a girl after they woke up in bed together the next morning. Her new life was harder and less predictable but they earned a decent income from Ochako's art and work in the factory and Mina herself had found her starring role as a street performer.
Until those tickets changed the course of their lives.
"Woo! Land of the free, here we come!" Ochako cheered as she threw her cards in the air.
Monoma, still dumbfounded that he had just lost the ticket of a lifetime, did not even move as the bartender and dealer, Shinsou, slipped them the ticket from his side of the table.
Ochako kissed her ticket and raised it high up in the air triumphantly. "Looks like you can't shake me off that easily, Mina." she pug an arm around her friend's neck as they held up their matching tickets. "I'm following you all the way to the New World!"
"America, Ochako!" Mina shrieked, "We're going to America!"
Shinsou scoffed and pointed out the window, "No, sweetheart. Titanic's going to America. In five minutes."
Mina and Ochako froze and looked at each other in panic. "Oh shit!" they cursed as they gathered their belongings and scrambled out of the pub. They were just two young women filled with so much love for life, running towards the large crowd that had formed around the harbour. Around the Ship of Dreams.
Ochako's thoughts were interrupted by a loud burst of laughter coming from Mina and she looked her way to find the blonde-haired boy making a ridiculous face, crossing his eyes with his tongue lolling out. Ochako snorted. If it were any other girl than the ever-friendly Mina, the blonde boy's odd flirting technique would probably only earn him a slap across the cheek.
Speak for yourself, Ochako. Came a snide little voice from inside her head. She frowned.
You saved a beautiful man from killing himself and you couldn't even ask for his name. What did that blonde girl call him again? Kamie? No. That was her name. Kaz? Kieran? No, it was longer than that…
Ochako groaned inwardly and pulled her leg towards her chest, laying her hands and head on her kneecap. She couldn't stop thinking about the previous night.
The man had caught her eye earlier in the day, hours before the incident on the stern deck. He was standing alone, leaning against the balcony of the "posh pricks section" as Mina called it. Ochako was sitting on a bench below, cross-legged and making a quick sketch of a passing lady's silhouette when he came into her line of sight.
The first thing she noticed were his eyes, deeply furrowed, deep in thought. The intensity of his eyes gave her the impression that flames were dancing within them, threatening to scorch anyone who dared to look his way. Ochako found it entrancing and her gaze travelled over to his strong jawline, down to his proud chest and ridiculously well-formed forearms which exposed thanks to the fact that he had rolled up the sleeves of his button-up shirt. Overall, he was an impressive speciman of a posh prick, to say the least.
She found herself picking up her pencil again, turning over her pad to a fresh new page, sketching the outline of his troubled face, making sure to add in all the hard lines and detailing the creases near his eyes. When he turned, showing her a glimpse of his side profile, she was reminded of a statue of Lucifer that Izuku once showed her when they were in Paris. A fearsome beauty. Forbidden. A temptation.
Ochako swallowed and in her excitement she dropped her pencil, the sound causing the unwitting Adonis to turn his head in her direction. Before he could see her face, she pulled her hat down to hide her eyes and continued to scribble on her pad in an attempt to cover the fact that she had been staring at and admiring him from afar for about five whole minutes. When she tentatively lifted her hat to look up again, he had disappeared and she felt disappointed that she had not managed to draw his body.
But that night she saw him again. It was his unforgettable wild mane of ash blond hair that triggered her memory as he barged past a crew member in his haste to get to the stern deck. He seemed more trouble than when she initially saw him that afternoon. Normally she would shrug it off but something about his eyes was off. It didn't hold the same fierce quality as it did before. His eyes were lost, almost crazy and frantically searching for something that did not exist, desperate for some kind of release. And from the way he was gritting his teeth, his heavy breathing, his trembling arms….Ochako knew he was in pain in an instant.
Her parents had always told her to mind her own business when she was young. It wasn't out of cruelty but more a lesson in circumstance. She had enough to deal with herself, they told her. People will always be in trouble but she needed to make sure she would never risk her own equally precious life for someone else. But in all her life, from dealing with Izuku being ostracized from society, to picking Mina back up after she struggled to fulfill her dreams, she could never ignore a person in need of help. And this man, with his fancy suit and perfectly arranged hair, currently needed it more than anyone.
So she followed after him. And saved him.
He was beautiful from afar, that she already knew, but nothing had ever made her heart race as quickly as when those scarlet eyes bore into her own. Was it gratitude? Or perhaps curiosity? Maybe even…
"Ochako! Are you listening to me?" Mina's voice dragged her from her reverie. She blinked twice and raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Huh? What was that?"
Mina sighed dramatically, "I've no idea what he's trying to say." she said, gesturing to the blond boy she had been talking to, "Is he agreeing to treat me to a beer or is he threatening to kill me?"
Ochako peered over Mina's shoulder only to be greeted by a cheeky wink from the boy himself. She looked back at Mina's face, "I think murder is definitely on his brain."
Mina pulled pinched Ochako's cheeks with both hands, "I don't really appreciate your tone, lassie. Ever since you rescued that poor little rich boy, you've been a changed woman--"
"Blame it on the candies, they were heavenly." Ochako said, rubbing her face as she pouted, "I'm fairly certain I know how Mr Aizawa feels every time he comes back from the opium den now."
Mina made a face, as she inspected a stray sweet sitting on Ochako's lap "I don't understand your obsession with those things. It's far too sweet for my liking."
"That's why they're called sweets, Mina."
"Whatever happened to the pleasures of a nice, freshly baked loaf of bread, eh? Doesn't make your hands stick together neither--"
"No, you absolute bint, if they're sticking your hands together, you're not eating it right!"
Mina gave her a withering look, "Okay, not important. Look, I just want to know what really happened between you and that rich-"
"Miss Uraraka." came a voice from behind both of them.
"Gah!" they both yelled in unison. Ochako's eyes widened as she saw who it was. It was him.
Ochako collected herself from her shock and clear her throat, "Hello again."
"I would like a word with you." he did not even appear the slightest bit uncomfortable as the people around him started to stare at him and his expensive-looking clothes.
"Yes?" Ochako prompted.
His lip tightened as he leaned forward and almost muttered, "In private." His voice was all business but Ochako could not seem to wipe the memory of his panicked expression of the previous night. Stop it, Ochako. He's talking to you.
"Oh. Of course." she stood up, sweets spilling from her lap and onto the floor. Some even bounced off the poor gentleman's polished black shoes. Mina snorted and Ochako whipped her head to face her. Pick those up for me, she mouthed, before giving the man her undivided attention once more. "After you, I suppose?" she gestured towards the door. The man wasted no time and power-walked past her. Gee, this'll be fun. She thought drily.
Mina shook her head in disappointment as she watched them leave the room. She gathered the sweets onto her own lap and dangled one teasingly in front of the blond boy. "Want some?" she asked with a wink. She was met with the most enthusiastic nod.
-----------------------------------------------
"…And then he had the balls to tell me to fuck off and die. Pardon my language, my dear Toga, but that is exactly what he told me! On the very first day we met, can you believe that?"
I myself would like to personally arrange your death.
"Yes, Miss Utsushimi." Toga replied, frustrated. She had been watching the heiress brush and re-brush her hair in front of her vanity since the crack of dawn, rambling to no end about her hot-headed fiancé, Katsuki Bakugou. Toga was bored to say the least. And when she was bored, it was only natural that her hands should start itching to strike something-- or someone.
She wondered whether or not anyone would notice if one spoiled rich girl were to disappear. They would never find the culprit if she pushed the body into the ocean. It would be the perfect crime. How tempting.
"No man had ever spoken to me like that before. I was floored! Simply floored!"
Speaking of flaws…
"I shouldn't be too surprised that the ring didn't impress him enough to fall in love with me. To be quite frank, I can't imagine him falling in love with anything except sports. I'm trying so hard to love him but he's making it so difficult! I know, I know. I shouldn't avoid him... ugh, but I absolutely lose my mind when I'm with him!"
Her words suddenly struck a chord with Toga, who replied with renewed interest. "That's what love is like, Miss. It brings out the worst in us, drives us to the point of insanity, you could say…" Izuku, she thought longingly to herself before turning her attention back to Camie. "Perhaps you have already fallen in love with him without even realising it?"
Camie didn't even need to think about it before scrunching her nose up at the thought, "No. Do you know how much he sweats? My personal hygiene is in critical danger every time I go near the man. The husband of my dreams would rid himself of such pungent body odour as soon as a bead of sweat adorns his brow!" Toga suppressed the urge to tear her hair out. Conceited little tramp, she hasn't an inkling of what love really is. Nor does she have the emotional capacity for it.
"But," Camie stopped brushing her hair for a moment, her tone pensive. "I can tell he feels the same way I do." Camie set down her brush and looked down at her fingers. "I see the frustration in his eyes whenever his mother reprimands him publicly. Or whenever I come to visit him."
Camie began to play with her hands, a nervous habit. "I try to give him some space, I really do. I know he doesn't want me anywhere near his own. Everyone else views him as some beast to marvel at. To laugh at, even. They find his brashness and profanity amusing, they don't want to know why he really lashes out at them. Although I'm the last person to be saying that. I don't even want to try to get to know him. We're trapped." she said the last part so quietly that Toga almost missed it.
"Whatever do you mean, Miss?"
Camie pursed her lips and blinked slowly and evenly, clearly deep in thought. Toga thought she had fallen asleep but as soon as she made a move to check, Camie's head snapped up in an instant, defiance exuding from her expression. "I want to swear like that. I want to be able to say what I want and not have to face consequences! Mother can scold me for being unladylike when I'm simply imitating commoners' speech and tell me to speak quietly but when he swears, all you hear is 'that's just the way he is' or 'typical Katsuki'. Well, you know what? They can all go fuck themselves!"
Toga blinked rapidly a few times. She's crazy in the head. Entitled little bitch.
"Beg your pardon, Miss Utsushimi," she began, "But you yourself were the one who decided Mr Bakugou would be the right match for you when you were-"
"I picked him?" Camie laughed bitterly, "Yes, I suppose I did. He should be so grateful that I picked him from my large pool of three potential suitors."
"I'm sorry, Miss." Toga was not sorry at all. I want to bash her head in with that brush of hers.
"No, don't be." Camie sighed, staring at her own reflection from the three different mirror angles of the vanity. "They were all from the most well-respected families in Europe. Shouto Todoroki from Paris, Inasa Yaorashi from Geneva and, of course, Katsuki Bakugou from London. The very best that old money can offer. Inasa was so chivalrous, so bold! But he talked far too much for my liking. I cannot have a husband who will try to outshine me each time we go to a social. Then there was Shouto…oh he was so handsome! But he never said more than five words to me. He paid more attention to his little servant boy than to me-- I couldn't have that!"
Unbeknowst to Camie, Toga's eyes had narrowed considerably at the mention of Shouto Todoroki. Her bloodlust was stoked but Camie simply continued, completely unaware.
"I knew Katsuki was a model student but he was still average in comparison. His looks are… subpar at best when he's not scowling, but his family name will die out without the help of my family's money, and don't even get me started on that hellish temperament of his!" she shook her head and tutted.
"And yet…" Camie rose from her seat and started pacing the length of the room, "That is what makes him perfect for my purposes. If Father is so obsessed with old money in all its glory and perfection, I'll just show him how perfect the offspring of old money can really be. Take that, Father!" she leered at her reflection in the mirror, "You reap what you sow!"
Toga could not understand how this girl's mood could shift as easily as the wind. Just a few minutes ago she was moaning about her fiancé and now she was starting to glow with excitement. One of these days, I'll gut her like a fish.
A light knock interrupted her thoughts, followed by a familiar rasping voice. "Miss Utsushimi? Lady Bakugou wonders if you will be present to have lunch with her."
Camie's face brightened almost instantaneously, "Of course! Tell my darling mother-in-law that I will be ready in a mere second!"
"Miss, if it only takes that long, wouldn't it be better for you to just come out and tell her that yourself?"
Camie yanked the door open dramatically, revealing her expressionless tutor and joint attendant. She smiled at him playfully, "I don't pay you to give me cheek, Dabi."
Dabi smirked, "Looks like you're out already. I'm impressed."
"I'm not the one being paid to impress, Dabi." Camie stuck out her tongue childishly and Toga once again suppressed the urge to throw up or slap her. "So, impress me by escorting me to Lady Bakugou within five secon- hey!"
Dabi had already walked ten paces down the corridor, "Can only do that if you can keep up with me, Princess." he teased, looking back at her over his shoulder.
Camie was indignant but had a satisfied grin on her face as she followed after him. "Toga dear, please lock the door behind you, thank y-- Dabi, your salary is so close to being cut!"
Toga looked at them disappear around the corner disparagingly. She had no desire to cosy up to her mistress and win her favour. Not anymore. Maintaining the role of a good little attendant was only a means to an end. As soon as they arrive in America, Camie Utsushimi will be short of an attendant because Toga had a new target to follow. She licked her lips greedily.
We will be together again, my beloved Izuku. And this time, nobody will get in the way of our love.