Chapter Text
Jealousy.
Izuku Midoriya never imagined that he would get the first taste of jealousy in his twenties.
All his life, there was so much he lacked. He lacked a powerful quirk to become a hero. But he was never jealous of those who had it. He was a kind child. Rather than jealousy, it was unbound admiration. For All Might, for Kacchan, for the heroes who saved lives and smiled hopefully.
His childhood was devoid of friends. But he did not feel envy for those who had. He simply adored those bonds. That is why, despite Kacchan's countless firm rejections and attempts at bullying, he still kept following him.
It was only after he entered the UA High school that he was blessed with a quirk, precious friendships and...love.
It was funny and fortunate, to him, love and friendship came in the same package in the form of Ochako Uraraka and her brilliant presence in his life. He was closer to her than he was to anyone else. Her bright smiles, vivacity and warmth lit up his world like a spark of fireworks since the day he had tripped face first in front of the UA entrance. Three years at highschool brought them closer than he could have ever possibly imagined and after two more years of mutual pining, and extreme needling from their former classmates, they had confessed their love to each other at a class reunion and hit off since then.
Maintaining a relationship had been hectic. Despite their feelings for each other, they had went through a series of misunderstandings and arguments during their time together, but somehow, they always managed to solve their problems in the end.
Izuku Midoriya couldn't be happier. But of course, Heroes aren't allowed to be happy for too long.
It was a large scale villain attack and an office building was targeted. After several hours of relentless fighting, they were able to subdue the criminals. When he had been fighting on the front lines, Ochako had been tasked with the evacuation and rescue of trapped civilians.
After the ordeal had finally ended, he had frantically searched for his girlfriend, only to find her chatting amicably to a young civilian, probably he same age as them, who was being bandaged by the paramedic on the scene.
"Uravity!" He called out loudly and her gaze immediately flicked to him.
"Deku!" She exclaimed, almost running up to him. Her bright smile melted the tension that had accumulated in his shoulders and he wanted nothing more than to gather her in his arms and bury his nose in her hair. But he refrained himself. Their relationship was not exactly secret, but they both contained themselves to flaunting it in public.
"Ochako-chan! Is this Deku? Really, Deku?" The young man yelled, stars appearing in his eyes.
Izuku felt his eye twitch.
Ochako-chan?
Did this guy, really called her 'Ochako-chan'? How dare he? Wait. Who is he?
At his confused stare, Ochako answered his question with a smile.
"Deku! This is Takeda Yuu. My middle school classmate."
"Classmate? Just classmate? Come on! Don't be shy. We used to be such good friends back then!" He grinned and Ochako gave an awkward chuckle.
"Mr. Deku!" The man then turned his attention to him. "I'm a great fan of yours! Thank you for saving everyone!"
Despite himself, Deku gave a curt smile and thanked the guy for his good wishes before grabbing Uraraka's forearm and gently pulling her along.
...
Izuku had not even remembered that guy who talked to his girlfriend with even more familiarity than he did. But, of all things, he never expected them to run into him when on their incognito date.
"Ochako-chan!" The voice came from his back and Izuku whirled around and immediately groaned inwardly at the appearance of the guy. Their first date in two months was interrupted and by the last person he was expecting to see. He was almost near their table when he realised that Ochako had company.
"Oh! It's De-" He was cut off when Ochako shot out of her seat like a rocket and firmly smacked her palm over his mouth. Izuku winced. That must have hurt.
"Don't call him Deku here!" She hissed. "It'll be super problematic to us if people find out. Do you understand?"
He nodded, still in daze when Ochako pulled her hand back.
"Uh, I'm on a lunch break right now. Do you two mind if I join you?" He asked, grinning, not noticing the awkward shared glance between the two occupants of the table.
"Uh...sure?" Ochako mumbled hesitatingly.
Two minutes later he was sitting beside Ochako and was already babbling his order to the waiter who gave them a sorry glance, sort of aware of their predicament.
They chatted before the meal was to arrive and Izuku felt a tick mark appear oh his forehead at the display of familiarity between the two of them. Even though Ochako was a little reluctant, she still seemed to be enjoying his company. Izuku felt a little disgruntled at himself for behaving so pettily but he couldn't help it.
Calm down Izuku. They're just friends. Just friends. Just because you didn't have any friends in middle school does not mean she didn't have either, right? So tone it down a little.
"Oh, by the way, give me your phone number Ochako-chan!"
Izuku immediately felt an increase of intensity of his headache.
"We have to do a lot of catching up to do!"
Ochako giggled, "Gimme your phone." He dutifully handed over his phone and Ochako typed and saved her number in his device. They talked about this and that and Ochako still did her best to rope him into conversations and he felt his heart swell up with affection at her thoughtful gestures.
"Ah, excuse me. I need to powder my nose." She whispered to them and slid away from the seat, walked towards the restrooms.
"You know Midoriya-san," the man turned to him, a wry smile on his face, "back then when we were in middle school, everyone told Ochako-chan that she couldn't become a Hero." Izuku almost stood up at his words, his fists clenched tightly.
"Even I did. Our teacher did. Because hero schools were expensive and we were aware of her financial conditions and she really didn't have a super powerful quirk. She could just make things float. But it wasn't enough you know. But, she....she was adamant."
He...really wanted to punch something at the moment. The thoughts like what if Uraraka had listened to them? They would have never met? His Hero name wouldn't be Deku? She wouldn't have been the brightest light of his life?
And more importantly, what if the world had never known the existence of the incredible Gravity Hero: Uravity?
He felt livid at all those thoughts circulating in his head.
"But," the man continued, "that day when she was lifting up the mountain sized rubbles of the fallen buildings, and saving countless people, I realised how wrong we were. She got so strong even when all we did was hinder her path. I'm glad she became the Hero she wanted to be. Back then, I didn't, but now, I want to support her with everything I have."
Listening to the man lamenting over his wrongdoings to Uraraka made a smile curl over Izuku's lips. "Yes, you might have not stood by her in the past but the fact that you're here and willing to support her now would mean a lot to her. Thank you for your kind words, Takeda-kun."
If someone recognises their mistakes and strives to move forward in right direction then they deserve praise for their courage.
Maybe this guy wasn't as bad as he thought he was.
"Oh, by the way, Midoriya-san, does Ochako-chan have a boyfriend?"
A pindrop silence echoed between the two of them and Izuku smiled.
A smile that could have even made Bakugou ask if he had turned cynical. A sweet smile laden with so much poison that the one receiving the end of it would suffocate instantly.
"Of course she does." He continued smiling with his eyes closed and raised his index finger towards himself.
"He is right here."
...
When Ochako returned back, only Izuku was the one present on the table.
"Huh? Where did Yuu-kun go?" She asked, eyeing the empty seat as she slid back into her place.
"He had an urgent call. So he got his lunch packed and left."
"Ah, I see." That was all of the talk they had of him that day and Izuku didn't mind if they never meet the guy named Takeda Yuu again.
...
And to this day, Takeda Yuu shudders at that particular memory.
Number one Hero, Deku, was a green eyed monster in every sense of word. Both literally and figuratively.