Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“A spell was cast– here upon the cards, adrift–

    Sweeter than the blood beneath. 

    Boiling still for one more wish.”

Dying the second time sucked worse, Ochako decided.

Granted, it hurt just the same. Every ache in her muscles, every opening across her skin, blazing between the tears in this horrible dress and searing her every movement with pain. But there was no soft bed underneath her this time– no warmth, no comfort as she drifted in and out of consciousness. 

Even if the bed had been a coffin, at least she’d been cared for in her final moments.

She didn’t want to die alone. 

Ochako had known hurt in her short life– the ache of hunger, the physical anxiety of being kidnapped, sustaining cuts, blisters, and bruises as she explored the site of countless tortures. She’d nearly had the life drained straight out of her, but this was something different.

She felt the crack as soon as she landed on her ankle. Shock froze her body’s response for a split second, then exploded into pins and needles an instant later, as her knee followed and took the shock of all her body weight when her leg buckled beneath. She didn’t even have time to scream

She’d never broken a bone before. She knew kids who had. Most suffered infection, and the ones lucky enough to heal were left with lifelong injuries. Limps. Stiffness. She knew, and could tell as her heart pumped fresh blood into the new spaces there.

Her ankle was broken, and at the very least she’d cracked her knee. And now, she was in the bottom of some deep dark pit in the forest, beyond the hopes of the townspeople and beyond where Deku-kun and his friends would be able to find her this time.

She’d been corralled, like an animal. Like prey. Again.

Her muscles tensed as she remembered exactly why she’d fallen. She needed to move, needed to get out of here, and she knew that. Her saviors up the mountain hadn’t risked their safety or hers just for her to fall into a hole and die!

But it hurt. It hurt so much, and what was left of her stockings had begun to stick to her leg. It itched on top of everything else, as did the lace on her dress. The blisters on her feet screamed in agony. Even the bandages Momo had wrapped so delicately around her hands had come undone.

The hurt dropped behind her eyes and those burned, too.

I can’t cry. That would make it worse. Get up. But the spots in her vision were making her dizzy. Your heart is still beating, isn’t it? 

All sound around her faded into background noise as the ringing in her ears rushed her again. An amplified bump underscored the pain.

She was pretty sure it’d never beat like this before. As her head swam through the fog, her aim was to use the rhythm as a beacon, but her light wasn’t spinning like it should to beckon her ashore. It came slow, then fast, then slow, then so slow for a moment she was scared that it’d stopped altogether and her fog became a spray of tears.

Keep… conscious…

If she passed out again, it was over. 

The rolling growls overhead still hadn’t ceased.

Her first instinct was to rear back, press herself against something and defend best she could. But she only succeeded in misplacing one of her hands on what must’ve been a tree root, slipping off its damp surface and opening brand new cuts among the old ones as she fell on her opposite side, upon her cracked kneecap.

Her fingers scrabbled for anything– a hold, an exit, a weapon– but all she managed to find was something round, rough to the touch but small enough to fit in her hand. Ochako suddenly regretted not stashing her beloved firepoker on the way out the castle, but this would have to do.

With one massive swell of willpower, she flipped herself over and reared her hand back. Her fingers tightened around the rock as her eyes frantically searched above for her pursuer.

Her eyes zipped to the different patches of darkness, unable to determine where her adversary loomed. She’s known from her limited time in the forest, and her time observing her father and mother and others in the village when they hunted, that small tabbies wound their hackles and then pounced from on high. There were plenty of perches in this place, from what she could see in the light—

So why were the growls coming from below?

And why didn’t they sound like the growls of a bobcat? No, these were deeper, the growls of a–

Ochako’s hand went limp, the stone tumbling out of it. The pain settled into dull background noise as she drove herself against the packed dirt behind her, because existing pain was the least of her worries.

The mass of matted, wiry fur curled up into a sunbeam was anything but feline. It laid across the crevice from her– although that wasn’t saying much, because the tangle of vines and roots and hard-packed dirt minimized the space so that Ochako could only fumble behind an alcove just big enough for her tiny body and peek out through an opening. 

Even with its back to her, Ochako saw just how gargantuan this creature was. Something was strange about how it breathed… a half-grunt, half-snore. It looked like it was asleep, like most of the woodland creatures did this time of year. But Ochako knew better.

 Even beneath its scraggly fur, colored a strange shiny black and tipped at the end with crimson like each strand had been dipped in bloody inkwells– she could make out where its shoulders connected to the rest of its body. She could practically count its ribs. She knew no animal would ever hibernate with a body like this, besides the fact that this creature wasn’t supposed to hibernate at all.

Ochako had never seen a wolf in person before. They usually kept a wide berth from the village, hunting the things that the villagers could not. She’d never heard of anyone who’d run afoul of the valley’s unseen protectors.

But she also knew that one of those protectors would not hesitate to tear her to shreds if it felt threatened. 

Ochako shook down to her broken bones.

“What a curious thing you’ve stumbled upon, my dear.” 

The purr from above nearly made Ochako jump, but she wasn’t about to let it have that satisfaction over her. She did, however, shoot a glare up. Sure enough, the panther lazed across one of the roots, smug as its vapid gaze allowed. “Just what do you think it could be?”

Ochako’s face twisted. “Don’t–!”

“A- hem.” The jaguar cleared its throat and sounded to Ochako more like he was coughing up a hairball. Ochako tried to writhe away. Every stone that shifted beneath her sent new horrible sensations flaring through her. She couldn’t bring herself to look at her leg– instead she kept her steely gaze fixed forward, on the panther and the giant wolf mere feet away. “Well, well, I’d hate to disturb our friend here, curled up in the sunlight taking a catnap. He looks comfortable, don’t you think?

Ochako did not. She saw the way he twitched– whatever sleep he was getting was far from comfortable. The wolf released a deep exhale, strong enough to blow back the stones and wood chips that had fallen through the cracks in the ground above. 

She didn’t even realize just how much the roots had hidden this place– she was lucky she hadn’t accidentally fallen on the creature itself. Every opening was lofy enough to let in sunlight, angled at different points so that it would be bright no matter the hour. She imagined even the moon illuminated this place on the rare nights that a thick fog didn’t cover the entire mountainside as it so often did.

Ochako swallowed, a metallic taste filling her mouth, and she realized she must’ve bitten so hard she tore open another wound. This wasn’t a wolf’s den. And whether she’d fallen on it or not, it should’ve awakened the second it heard her make contact with the packed ground. Wolves’ senses were good like that. 

Just like so much in this valley, something was wrong. 

Another satisfied purr tutted throughout the space, and the cat leaned downwards, something sparkling in his eye that she couldn’t decipher. “So, that idiot Imasuji remembered after all.”

Ochako wanted to ask what he was even talking about, but then something struck her. Her breath caught in her chest and her heartbeat, once so reassuring, roared inside her head until there was no room for anything else.

“You led me here on purpose,” she whispered.

“What do you humans say? Two birds, one stone. We’ve been looking for the missing Yuuei brat for some time. That blood of yours, resistant to magic of all kinds… So useful, it was able to tear open the illusion magic casted here. Powerful as they all said it’d be. So powerful it’s taking all my unnumbered years not to savor that sweet flesh of yours myself!”

Something primal flashed in his eyes, and Ochako didn’t know what to make of it– wasn’t sure she wanted to. But something something in that threat–

Why was the panther’s voice so familiar?

“Of course, there is a certain decorum that must be upheld in matters of oath and business.” He licked his drooling maw, baring sharp teeth at her. “Since you were so kind as to help me already, let’s reward you with the privilege of a formal deal, eh? You are a businessman’s daughter, aren’t you?”

“How do you know that?” she spat. “Leave my father out of this!”

“Ah, still haven’t figured it out yet? As useful as you turned out to be, maybe you are as dim as they’d said.” 

Ochako liked to think she wasn’t a very unfriendly person, but she channeled every drop of loathing she had into her scowl. That stupid cat didn’t even have the decorum to look her in the eye. Instead, its gaze affixed to her leg, and discomfort from both the injury and the lust in that gaze caused her to bristle. “Break the Dire Wolf free.”

“ What ?” Ochako screeched.”What makes you think I’ll do that?” There was no way– she wasn’t about to free this creature– free it from what? Just so it could kill her? Like hell she’d do what this monster said! She’d rather die here, right now. What would it do to Deku-kun and the others? What would her parents think? 

“Break him free, and if he doesn’t kill you, I’ll give you the gift of a quick, noninvasive death myself. The way I see it, you don’t have a winning hand. So you have nothing to lose. Your life is forfeit anyway. So, are you finally going to be a good girl, Miss Uraraka?”

The icy mountain air pierced through the musty cavern and the sting upon her skin. But it did not chill her. Not with the way her blood boiled in her veins. “You…”

She didn’t have time to ponder what any of this meant, what picture the pieces were beginning to form, or the way the panther smirked. 

Because before she knew it, the panther was on top of her, pressing all its weight onto her broken leg.

Ochako screamed as the force of the pounce knocked her clean over. Her hands bled. So did the scrapes on her knees. And now, her leg was beginning to turn a purplish-brown as thick claws curled into her calves, opening wounds just deep enough for dark, fresh blood to flow through.

She buried her face in her arms, as the jaguar leaned in close to her. She could hear the amusement in his voice, and suddenly she felt so dizzy she wanted to puke.

“You do smell immaculate,” he informed her, as if she wanted to know. “They say the ones with determination in their bloodlines are always the most potent– I really do hope you prevail.” He lifted his head. “Oh, Kirishima, was it? I brought you a gift~! Courtesy of your friends! Up, up, now, wouldn’t want it to go to waste!”

The cat sounded more like a jackal when it laughed. It catapulted away. 

Panting, she choked down her cry, blinking the white spots away as she tried to remain conscious. The nausea was different from before. She’d been starved, beaten, nearly drained of all the life in her, and still nothing had physically hurt as much as this.

An eerie silence crawled into the parts of the den where her labored breathing did not.

Ochako froze, her muscles contracting so tightly that it hurt everywhere, but something in the atmosphere had shifted anew. Hot air blasted across her arm, so forceful that it blew her fallen bangs into her eyes completely.

She bolted.

A wild, ferocious baying followed her, but Ochako threw herself forward, using all she had left to pull herself deeper beneath the tree-roots into a crawlspace there. Something snapped shut behind her– jaws as wide and deadly as a bear trap, grazing her injured leg before she could pull it in fully. 

A long, wild snout shoved itself into the gaps between the roots, bearing teeth as long as her little finger. She had been right about its size. It  wasn’t twice as big as her, but triple , probably taller than her even on all fours. 

Worst about the creature, though, were its eyes. They were the pitch-black of nighttime darkness, without stars to light them. Not the eyes of wolves. Not the eyes of children.

Ochako’s back hit the wall– nowhere to go. She was trapped. 

She heaved, feeling as wild as the wolf. She searched for an escape, an overhang to climb, anything, as she shot a glance left. There, the wood curled up into an arch-like shape, just big enough for her to shimmy through–

The wolf ripped its face from the roots, lunging instead for the opening Ochako had set her sights on. She started. It had known. 

Something snapped, a twig maybe. Ochako held herself closer. The wolf’s forepaws tore through the opening.

And then, a sound that didn’t belong clanged loudly on the den’s opposite side.

Ochako’s head spun. She’d recognize the clang of metal-on-metal anywhere. But why? There shouldn’t be anything in a den like this that could make a sound like that. Yet it sounded again, chink, chink, chinks tumbling all around her. 

The wolf hadn’t attacked yet.

It released another blood-curdling grunt, the clanging metal responding in turn, choking out the noise. It only faltered a half-second– but she knew it shouldn’t have at all. 

Ochako peeked over her forearms. The wolf had half-dug into the dirt, easily within striking distance. But even as it snapped, its paws clambered against the ground, sliding along the dirt loosely. It was caught on something. Caught by… the neck.

Ochako’s mouth fell open. 

A large bracket had been mounted in the dirt toward the cervice’s outer corner, wrought links pulled taut and clacking against it. Her eyes jumped from the bracket, following its short length to where it connected firmly to what looked like a heavy collar– fastened unflinchingly beneath the wolf’s shaggy fur

A chain. That’s what the panther meant by freeing the wolf.

This wasn’t a den, Ochako realized with horror. This was a cell.

Flashes from the previous day danced before her eyes. “ You want to be a good girl for us now.” Her fingers tangled into her dress. “Your parents might find themselves in a similar situation.”

A small second passed, long enough for Ochako to wonder if she was finally losing it. Sometimes misfortune was just misfortune, wolves were just wolves, and a forest was just a forest. But she knew what to look for in this wolf’s eyes. 

It was just a moment. A flash, where the wolf pulled back and landed on all fours once again, something changing in those deep eyes of his. The sun shone and the endless darkness was replaced with a red as rich as wine.

Ochako exhaled, flabbergasted.

Intelligence. 

The darkness hazed his eyes again.

Ochako finally allowed her knees to give, and she slid to the ground beneath the tree-roots. 

It can’t be. She opened her hands, searching the lines on her palms for answers as teeth-gnashing rumbled above her. Of course that villain wouldn’t want her to free some random forest dweller. This had to be one of his allies.

Wait… no. That wasn’t right. Something about the way he spoke didn’t add up. Ochako wracked her brain to clear some space for rational thought. What had he said exactly? Missing… Yueii brat… He’d called them Yueii… missing?

Wasn’t someone missing? Wasn’t one of their friends missing?

She looked again at the glimmering chain. Silver. Bakugo had mentioned silver. He had attacked her for going near it. They’d mentioned sunlight, too. Momo had– 

These were things that hurt them.

Something clicked into place.

“You’re the one they’re looking for,” she said breathlessly. 

The fiendish snaps halted, as the wolf sank down into the breaking momentum. Its eyes flashed again, switching briefly from that hellish black into bright crimson. As if realizing this, the wolf shut them tight, face screwing into a grimace as if it had smelled something awful. Despite its clear mental conflict, though, its body still quivered and yanked at the chain.

“Ki–” She stumbled on the name, testing syllables in her head, trying to get this right. She couldn’t remember. “You’re one of them!”

It took everything she had not to cry out, but she couldn’t hope to know what would startle the wolf. Okay, so that could be taken the wrong way. What else?

There had to be something she could use to prove it.

“There are o-others like you!” she tried, her resolution pittering out into squeaks. “Your leader! His name was–” Come on… “Toshinori! You’re one of Toshinori’s!”

Ochako swallowed thickly. She didn’t know when she’d closed her eyes, winding her hands around the rough bark so tightly that her nails cracked anew. But the huffs once close enough to fan across her entire small body weren’t brushing against her anymore. Opening one hesitant eye, Ochako faced the wolf once again.

She couldn’t decide which pair of eyes were staring at her. Every time she blinked– which was quickly, to keep the ever-present tears at bay– they seemed to shift again.

But then, it did something that surprised her even more than when it’d first gone for her.

It lowered its muzzle into striking position, and spoke.

“...How do you know that?”  

Ochako nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn’t expected him to answer– she hadn’t expected the low, gravelly voice, either, more menacing than even the salacious panther that’d lured her to this place. She grit her teeth, answering the best way she knew how. “Momo-chan, a-a-and Iida-kun, and B-Bakugo-kun–”

The last name sent the wolf barrelling at her once again, and once again she was amazed that the chain held fast. The strength of this wolf had to be immense. Or was the silver’s effect just that strong? She didn’t know, but despite the pain it– he– must’ve felt as the collar nearly throttled him, he closed the distance between them enough that she had to press herself against the wall to evade his reach.

“Where did you hear those names?”

She inhaled, grimacing and turning away as best as she could while still holding her ground. “I-I met them?”

Ochako shook under his narrowed gaze as they once again blew into a trancelike black, because even with the wide array of the Damned she’d only just learned existed, she’d never seen this before.

“I-I– can’t– smell it–”

Growing uneasy, Ochako shifted her weight to her uninjured foot. If he was like them, then that meant– 

“Not them– only–virgin. Only blood. Only– you.”

She yelped as he snapped again, and she threw her hands over her head. Her vision went dark for a moment, but she didn’t think her eyes had closed– damn it all, what was she supposed to do? It was her blood , her heart, everything that made her human! Everything that made her–

Chink. 

The scraping sound, barely detectable over the feral grunts, called out to her like some sort of siren. Chink. Chink. She realized as the beast tried to scrabble over the tree roots that it was the chain clanging against the bolt in the floor. A grim realization stirred in her.

He’s hungry.

It didn’t make any sense. Why did the panther want her to break him free so badly? If he was with Deku and the others, then wasn’t it better for him if the wolf stayed captured? If he could eat, he could regain his strength. Was she just misconstruing the whole thing? 

But…

She’d been trapped in that castle– two days had nearly broken her. Who knew how long he’d been down here? By himself? With no one to know to look for him? No one who was able to? How could someone who was friends with such good creatures be evil? 

Maybe he was like she was.

Damned.

A delirious kind of chuckle fell from her lips, even through the tears that framed it. She was beyond questioning whether she was going nuts. Maybe if this was all a hallucination from blood loss, it would be easier. But life had ever been easy for her, had it? 

And she had never taken the easy way out, either.

The panther’s words echoed in her mind again. It had wanted her to free him. There was a reason. She knew that, but still…

  The wolf’s dark eyes narrowed at her pathetic laugh. Ochako, still numb, felt distant tremors quake across her small body. Even so, she reached up, running one hand along her sleeve as she used the other to once again pull herself up.

She would be afraid no longer. She didn’t know why, but as hurt as she felt, the thought that those evil men could do something like this to another poor soul broke her heart where small pieces were still intact. But they still beat. 

No more.

She would not be the fool any more.

Ochako stumbled, sniveling with each movement she forced her abused body to make. Her laugh may have been pathetic. But she didn’t feel half as pathetic as she had when this began. No. Something was different now. She didn’t know why, exactly, but–

Faces and names flashed in her mind’s eye. Human faces. Woodland creatures.

That’s why.

Planting her good foot into the soil, Ochako stood to what full height she could while hunched over the moistened wood. Relaxing her muscles against every signal telling her not to, looked the wolf dead in its gruesome eyes.

Maybe it was what the panther wanted, but the panther hadn’t counted on her having a plan.

She smiled.

“Hi,” she rasped, internally wincing at the condition of her voice. But she continued patting along her dress, still not feeling anything lodged in the seams. Same with the bodice, and the folds of her skirt. Where…? “I’m Ochako Uraraka. I come from the village at the edge of the valley. And no matter what that Cheshire villain says, I’m not here for him.” 

She exhaled shakily, surveying the floor. In the sunlight, she could just barely make out the brown woodchips that had fallen from the great tree above. And in that brown, one tiny speck of maroon that was much more solid that the blood droplets she’d already splayed across the detritus.

“In fact…”

She let go of the tree, almost immediately falling, but she held fast. It was within the wolf’s reach. She’d have to time this perfectly– one misstep, and she was done for. Despite it all, though, determination swelled within her. She might not have been able to save the girls who went before, but she damn well would save as many of Deku-kun’s clan as she could.

Ochako locked eyes with the wolf, sidling towards her mark. Her eyes flicked to the side, judging the distance and the time it would take to clear it. The others hadn’t attacked her because of it, but would it help the wolf? This wasn’t the same. Even she knew that. 

She smiled anyway. “I’m going to help you.”    

She lunged. So did he

The chain extended but it wouldn’t be enough to keep him at bay this time. Ochako nearly lost her balance at the ferocity behind his attack, but even as she collapsed onto the stone, she didn’t allow herself to waver. She was never the most strategic person– never had to be– but she did have a lot of nerve. 

She couldn’t tell the wolf that this would all be okay. All she could do was try.

So, she leaned within reach of a maw nearly half her size, that could break her like she’d break a twig beneath her fall boots back at home as she raked her hand into the clump of wood and scooped up the pomegranate seed, throwing it with all her might.

Everything seemed to fade out into the background as she watched it soar through the air, so tiny compared to the wolf. His eyes widened. Her heartbeat throbbed in her ears, a wave of pain so intense Ochako imagined she might pass out for real this time. He’d seen what she’d done– her gambit was over. She’d thrown it too early, it was going to slip right under him.

I’m so sorry, Ochako apologized again, to her parents and the people who had protected her, pulling her damaged knees to her chest and covering her head with her arms. Her last consolation was that she’d gone out fighting.    

But then, something miraculous happened. The wolf’s nose twitched.

As if he was overpowered by the seed’s strong pull, he darted to his left and snapped it up in the very same bite that was probably about to kill her. He swallowed.

Ochako could barely see past her forearms still shielding her face. Everything hung in space for a moment, and it was like the breath had been sucked right out of her lungs. The chain around his collar had pulled to its limits again as he caught himself, trotting away in an arc to another part of the cell. 

Somehow, her fingers, still hovering in midair like an afterimage of what she’d just done, slowly clawed into the velvety fabric above her heart again. Her breaths returned so heavy that she saw double, but she dared not let a rasp escape for fear shattering the illusion. All that streamed through her mind were apologies. Her parents. The wolf. Deku-kun– that seed hadn’t been hers to give, but after everything they’d done to help her, surely they’d understand her using it.

That stuttering heartbeat stopped altogether when hacking coughs pierced through her shock.

“Blegh,” the wolf wheezed, and Ochako looked at him, trembling. His voice was still scratchy, sure, but– “Did ya have to shove down my throat? Ya coulda just tossed it to me on the ground or something.”

That voice… sounded so much… lighter. More boyish, less… menacing. 

She collapsed fully, not bothering to pick herself up again. Those eyes, once blacker than the darkest night she’d ever witnessed, were now the shade she’d thought she’d imagined. Red, like the wine of the merchants and elders of the village. Like the blood pooling beneath her. They still seemed tired, but that only made them identical to the others, to Deku-kun and Bakugo-kun. To her parents. “Po–P-P-Pom–” 

Her mouth was so dry, she couldn’t form words.

“Pomegranate seed,” the wolf murmured, a gasp lifting his words as something in the realization of it spread some kind of wonder into the cramped, dimly-lit space. Ochako felt it too. The wolf definitely could still kill her– however, it dipped beneath the chain, turning to face her. “I can smell it. I smell it!”

Hopefully ‘it’ didn’t involve her blood, Ochako thought with exhaustion.

“The seed! The magic! I smell the forest– and you!” Ochako stiffened as the wolf whipped toward her so fast the collar yanked him back again. “I can smell past your blood now! I smell them! You really were with Bakugo and the others!”

Though still weary, her expression softened, and her smile turned genuine. This wolf wasn’t a killer. The sparkle in his eye was too kind. “Y-Yeah. I– well, it’s–” It still hurt to talk. “I was kidnapped, and they saved me.”

“...Kidnapped?”

He paused, one paw curled in the air. They stared at each other for a few moments, and for the first time Ochako felt like he was really, truly seeing her. She wasn’t normally one to feel self-conscious, but she couldn’t deny the state she was in, either. Shredded dress. Shredded skin. Purple-blue leg. Limp hair, tired eyes…

The wolf backed away again, ears drooping. His eyes fixed to her foot, but there wasn’t bloodlust in it this time.

Silence followed. The wolf sat on its haunches– still at a height even taller than her, even sitting. It took a moment to survey her again, and there was no mistaking the worry growing in his eyes. “Those bastards. You’re from the outer village, huh?”

She nodded, immediately wincing with the pulsing in her head.

“You said your name was Uraraka? How did you survive in the forest this long?”

“One step at a time?” she joked. The wolf’s expression remained tense. She didn’t know if he was hanging off her humor, but the sincerity in his eyes forced a more honest elaboration. “It was your friends. Momo, Tokoyami-kun, Iida-kun. Bakugo-kun. Deku-kun.”

“Midoriya’s not-name name,” he said in wonder. “The only one who calls him that is–”

“So I’m told,” Ochako said with a grunt. Ow . She reached out to a nearby tree-root, fingers curling around it. She tightened her muscles but couldn’t manage much more than that.

The wolf released a sound that fell somewhere between a whimper and a choke. “They’re still…”  Now, he was the one shaking. “They’re all okay? They– they’re not gone?”

“They’re up the mountain,” she said. “In the castle.”

His ears moved, and for a moment the wolf seemed far away. Ochako meanwhile used her arms for leverage, draping her upper body against the tree-root. Noticing this, the wolf sat up again, hesitantly pawing toward her. “You asked me before, but yeah, I’m Eijiro. Kirishima. I– I’m with those guys. Thank you for helping me get back to myself.”

She hummed, trying to keep her voice light. “Well, I wouldn’t go that far. I’m really just relieved that worked.”

“Yeah, but when I saw the seed I thought you mighta been with the bad guys… and gotten to the others. But you coulda kept it for yourself and attacked me, you know?”

Her eyes blew wide. “The seed would work on me?”

“It woulda stopped the bleeding, at least.”

Ochako frowned. Well, that was good to know. But it was out of her hands anyway– the seed rightfully belonged to Deku-kun and his friends, so it wasn’t like she regretted the decision.

She did regret not being able to kick the jungle cat under its tail, though. 

Something else he said caught her attention. Bad guys . That confirmed it. “I didn’t do much. After all, you’re still…”

The wolf– Kirishima– started, looking down at the collar around his neck. Somehow, Ochako thought, the tiredness in his eyes grew. “Yeah– kinda annoying. Normally I have a spell I learned that could break outta this thing easy, but– I’m guessing you heard. Silver is dangerous to us. Stupid thing kept me from using it, and the sun is so damn bright I can’t hardly concentrate on anything but sitting here…” Something rumbled in his chest. “H-How long?”

“Eh?”

“What day is it?”

“Um.” Ochako made a face. In all honesty, it’d felt like weeks. But if she counted her hours right… “All Saints’ Day.”

His eyes sharpened. “It’s been way longer than twenty-four hours.”

Her face fell. “Yeah… Yaomomo-chan told me that you guys fought the Terror last Hallow’s Eve.”

“You were supposed to be the next sacrifice.”

“...Yeah.”

Kirishima cursed, springing to his paws and circling the chain’s bolt. “A year.” He crouched down, sticking a fang in one of the links. “A whole damn year.” His words came out slightly garbled and Ochako had to swim a marathon through her head just to understand. “I didn’t even notice– stupid–” He bit and pulled at the bolt. “I kept thinking this was gonna happen– youch!”

He flinched away, and Ochako did, too. The silver was glinting in the sunlight. Had it burned him? “Knew what would happen?”

“...That they’d probably send another girl up the mountain. I thought– I thought I still had time. I didn’t realize it’s been a year already. Those guys probably explained, but being all immortal warps the way you think of time. Lord Aizawa asked me to run after Lord Torino because Lord Torino took the book but Lord Aizawa figured out what we needed to do and–”

Ochako had no idea who these lords were, or anything about some book, and the way Kirishima kept muttering angrily to himself didn’t really help her to parse out much about the situation in general. But she could put together enough to know one thing.

“You need to get out of here,” she said, only to find another voice echoing the exact sentiment. She looked up to see Krishima eyeing her anxiously, gaze bouncing from her own to her leg. 

“You know, you’re pretty crazy for a human,” he chuckled, and Ochako huffed hard enough to blow her falling hair from her eyes. “Most of your kind wouldn’t even think about saying that to a monster that just tried to eat them five seconds ago. You got a death wish?”

“If I did I wouldn’t have made it this far,” she mumbled. “Besides, you aren’t trying to eat me now. And–” 

She looked down sadly to her leg behind her, feeling the pain pulsating in not just her ankle, but her knee too. There was no way she’d be able to climb up out of here. If she was going to waste away anyway, it was better to repay what she could, right? She didn’t just sit around waiting to die inside the castle, why would she do that now?

“I can carry you,” Kirishima said swiftly, and she looked up. Bashfully, he shifted his weight from paw to paw. “Well, obviously, I would, if you wanted me to, if I wasn’t– well– ah, sorry. That was probably stupid. You probably wouldn’t want to come anywhere near me and I wouldn’t blame you.”

Ochako didn’t answer. Instead, she squinted. Her height, yeah, and despite having been down here he still looked huge, even if he was a bit on the lean side–

“Yo? Mountain girl? Uraraka? You still with me? You’re not going into shock, right?” 

She glanced to the side. The large rock she’d grabbed earlier– she’d intended to use it as a weapon, and maybe she still could…

Kirishima kept babbling as Ochako blindly grabbed, striking true after patting down her tiny alcove. Once again bracing both arms against the gnarl-root, she dragged her good leg beneath her and her hand tightened so hard she was surprised she didn’t crush the rock in her fist and the bark bit into her hand’s sensitive palms and her knee threatened to buckle as she used every muscle in her upper body to pull herself up and–

Her body collapsed beneath her as light rushed across her vision, her grip on the tree-root going slack.

Kirishima darted forward, catching her with a snout as big as a support beam.

Her arms splayed across his long nose, the other falling into fur somewhere around the back of his head. Ochako tried to catch herself but cried out when her foot landed against stone. Kirishima pushed himself against her stomach, letting all of her weight settle onto him as he carefully lowered her to the floor. “Whoa– hey– sorry, man! Uh, your ladyship? What’re you– doing…? Whoa!”

Ochako slipped away, landing hard. She could hear Kirishima pacing the floor, but combined with the chain’s scraping, it sounded at once distant and deafening. She wasn’t sure how long it took for the pulsating aches to fade away but she was sure she lost sight of the room completely. Even when she did manage to lift her head again it felt as if porridge had filled the places where her brain should be. “Ngh…”

“Uraraka?”

Her blurry vision cleared, and two big red eyes came into focus, only a few inches away. They took up most of her view, but the white glint beneath drew her gaze to what it’d been searching for.

She tried to hoist herself back up.

Kirishima tucked back in, letting Ochako lean against him for support. Vaguely she realized that she was supposed to be afraid, this was dangerous, but Kirishima wasn’t all that scary and the spots in her vision were scarier, anyway. She felt his whole throat rumble as he rasped. “Uh…”

“Silver,” she murmured. “Malleable.” She’d never been around many valuables in her life– but she knew material. 

Ochako struck the stone against the bolt.

Kirishima jumped, clearly not expecting the fury she unleashed. Over and over she drove the stone against the bolt until a dent appeared, then another, then another.  It was so strange that something so– so– innocuous could hold creatures as big as Kirishima. Even she, a relatively tiny girl, could break a chain of pure fashioned silver with decent effort. There didn’t appear to be any lock even if there was a key, and now up close she could see just how many irregularities the bonds had, like they’d been casted in a hurry.

It made her angry.

All this time, all it would’ve taken was just one person, even someone as small and inconsequential as her. But would anyone have let Kirishima go, even if he was in his right mind? How would anyone have known that he needed a special magic cure? Even she hadn’t known. It had been her pure stupid luck!

She felt the give crumble away, and she lost her balance again. 

She didn’t hit the floor. Matted, hardened fur slipped under her again, but it was so much kinder than the floor. Something cold landed across her stinging knuckles, mimicking the dank groundwater dribbling onto the tree-roots. Her vision was blurry. When had she started crying?

“Silver is so weak,” she choked out. “Why do people like it so much?”

Kirishima snorted. “I think we’re gonna get along just fine, you and me.”

She didn’t really have it in her to process that statement, but faintly she felt happy. It had never crossed her mind that Kirishima would just leave her, but it certainly occurred to her that he could. But that little nod sent relief into her veins. He wasn’t gonna leave her.

“I don’t have a way to get you home,” he bit out, seeming a bit disgruntled. “But if I bring you back to the others then Yaomomo should have a way to cure you.”

“How’re we gonna get there?”

Kirishima bopped up, standing so that Ochako’s hands slid down to his back. He was as big as a pony. But as he stretched out, she saw him bare his fangs in what she would imagine to be a wicked grin. She was sure that the sharpness was supposed to be horrifying, but she thought they fit him. “I said I could carry you, didn’t I?”

She looked up skeptically. The opening seemed too high up for any of that. 

“Just climb on,” he said, gentler, sensing her hesitation. “I can’t just leave you here– especially with that cat prowling around somewhere. He took off– his scent’s faint– but I’m sure he’ll be back.”

A deep shiver tore through her body. She’d take her chances with the dire wolf any day.

Ochako delicately slid onto him, still unsure just how strong he was despite his reassurances. But he didn’t so much as whimper even as she rested her full weight against him. She didn’t want to pull his fur out, so she reached up her arms to loop them around his neck. She wasn’t sure just how effective those seeds were since she hadn’t gotten very close to the others, but she figured they must’ve been magic given that she was probably bleeding all over Kirishima now.

But as she rested her head against the nape of his neck, Ochako noticed something else. All the fur beneath the silver band had thinned away, and now the leathery skin beneath was showing through. Something stiff and bumpy brushed against her forearms there, and she jerked her head back.

She allowed the white noise a moment to subside, squinting through the spots in her vision. There, she found that, along the silver band locked around him, colorless puckered skin ringed above his shoulders as if the ring had seared straight through.

“Kirishima-kun,” she mumbled sadly.

It was like he didn’t even know why she said it. “Wow, been a long time since someone called me that,” he said with a hint of a chuckle. “Makes me homesick.”

She couldn’t think about being homesick. But at least… maybe, for one of them, that was the end of that feeling.

“All right,” he said, and she could feel his voice in his chest. Ochako dug her face into his fur, still unsure of what he was planning. “I’m not as fast as Iida and Midoriya, but I can make it back to the castle. Don’t you worry. And by the way– thank you. I don’t think I can ever repay you.”

“You don’t havta,” she rasped.

“Nah, I do– and I’m gonna start by keeping you alive. Hang on!”

A cry ripped from Ochako’s throat as, like a spring catapulting from where it’d fallen on the ground, Kirishima’s muscles rippled and with one great bound they shot into the air.

If Ochako had been holding just a tiny bit less, she would’ve been left in the dust. For somebody who’d been chained up in an underground pit for a year, Kirishima sure didn’t move like it. Ochako couldn’t bear to watch. Surely he wasn’t trying to bound the root vertically! They’d never make it!

But just when she’d declared Kirishima a lost cause, another great heave of his back legs sent them into the air… landing one of the hanging tree-roots just like the jungle cat had done earlier.

“Wolves can climb?” she said through clenched teeth.

“This one can!”

“Eep!”

He’d barely given himself time to recover before they were up another, and another, not clearing a tremendous amount of space but instead aiming for ones Kirishima seemed sure would hold them both. It was relieving that he was watching his step, at the very least, but she wasn’t sure she liked having a front row seat.

Finally, with one more leap, a dark blur shot past and opened into gray, blinding light. Ochako squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep her head from spinning out. Kirishima, though, landed in a prance, lifting his head to the sky and howling.

The sound pierced her ears, and even sent a nearby flock of crows bu-cawing into the sky. But she couldn’t help but giggle alongside him.

He greeted the simplest of days like an old friend, whooping just to be able to run through it again. It was so nice, his excitement was almost infectious. Ochako hadn’t been so excited about freedom since she was a young girl, when she believed she had such a thing.

She frowned at the thought, but before she could get lost in it, something cold splattered along her face, sending goosebumps beneath her shredded stockings.

Water!

She reached down into the stream Kirishima had bounded across. The shallow brook was nearly white with how fast the water moved. It looked pristine in her hand, and she quickly scooped it up into her mouth. The chill felt so good on her throat.

Kirishima huffed, and she peered over, seeing that his whole face was soaked. He’d dipped his head in up to his ears. Still, he wore a lopsided grin. “I was starting to feel pretty gnarly.” 

She could really go for a bath herself, but honestly, that wasn’t really practical in any sense. Maybe after she made it to safety… Yeah…

She let her arms fall around Kirishima-kun again, resting more heavily against him. After what happened the last time she’d passed out from pain, she was hesitant to do so again– so she used what strength she had left to focus on keeping her eyes open. It was hard because every flick of the light worsened her headache, and the way her leg hung limply against her new friend’s body sent burning flares tearing up the length of it. But none of that was Kirishima’s fault. So, she set her jaw, determined to deal with it. She hadn’t been the one stuck in that pit for a whole year.

Kirishima chatted amiably as they went, paying seemingly no mind to her lack of response. She hummed every now and again to show that she hadn’t fallen off or anything, because based on how swiftly he moved, he’d be clear a mile before he noticed. Not that that was a bad thing! He just acted as erratic as the other members of the coven, and while it was endearing, she’d really rather not have it leave her stranded in the middle of a hostile forest.

He was on his fourth or fifth story, one about this time where Kaminari had accidentally plucked some of Iida’s tailfeathers, and nearly ended up dinner, and how embarrassed the owl had been afterwards– Deku had had to fish him out of Iida’s gullet– when he suddenly stopped short, nearly launching her over his shoulder. Ochako grasped onto his fur, apologizing profusely at the thus-far uncharacteristically small yelp her actions elicited.

Kirishima shushed her. “Do you hear that?”

Immediately, she tensed. She raised her head, casting an apprehensive glance around the small clearing. Here, the hill was beginning to steepen once more, the trees thinning so that the amber rays of evening streamed through to light the dead leaves making up the forest floor almost eerily. Ochako swallowed. This time of day had always been stressful. Warning calls to return to the village echoed through her mind, including the ones she’d heard two nights ago, just before her abduction.

People who went out at this time of day didn’t come back.

The stillness sent a heavy feeling into her throat, but she steeled herself, not wanting to shake and end up hurting her companion. She did feel a little safer with Kirishima carrying her– but these woods had hurt her too much to feel at ease by any measure.

She didn’t hear what he heard. She chalked it up to whatever superhuman powers the Damned had. But now that they were the only animate things stirring in the forest, as not even the wind had decided to accompany them, she couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched.

Something low pounded against her torso in bone-rattling baritones. It took Ochako far longer than she was comfortable with to realize Kirishima was growling.

There! She whipped to the left. A black splotch had darted through the treetops. Or had it? All that she could see were glowing crimson leaves. No, behind them! No– just a few sad-looking boulders. Ochako’s fingers curled into Kirishima’s chest fur.

“Show yourself.”

Ochako jumped. Kirishima had been so friendly after she’d given him Deku’s pomegranate seed that she’d almost forgotten how scary he’d sounded when she first fell into the pit. It seemed like a fever dream, like it didn’t quite fit him. She couldn’t help thinking that even now.

A moment passed. Ochako was about to pack it in and deem herself beyond saving after all, when something popped out of a tree burrow just ahead, small and downy.

“Tokoyami-kun?” she gasped, simultaneously with Kirishima.

Todoroki bolted into the air, hanging with the treetops, looking down with eyes narrowed. For a moment, the intense gaze startled her, but then she realized he flew a good fifteen feet— just out of Kirishima-kun’s reach.

Something told her to stay quiet. She could sense the wariness hidden just beneath Tokoyami’s facade. It was as if he was testing the water somehow.

“What is it that our victory revels in?” he bit out.

Beneath her, Kirishima’s muscles eased. His fangs were no longer bared as a threat. Insead, he was grinning. “A mad banquet of darkness, naturally.”

Tokoyami’s eyes blew wide. “I simply cannot believe it.”

“Yeah.” Kirishima’s grin looked a little more forced in that moment, as he averted his gaze. “I almost can’t, either.”

Tokoyami dove down, spreading his wings just before hitting Kirishima, instead holding his claws out and landing onto Kirishima’s muzzle. Ochako hadn’t yet gotten a handle on him, but she’d dare say he looked the closest to crying a crow could get. He perched, stately and composed, gazing into Kirishima’s eyes like that was a whole conversation in itself.

Then, Tokoyami looked up, locking eyes with her. “I’d call you an apparition, but this would be far too inappropriate a moment to spoil with such a thought. We all would have saved you regardless, but somehow you manage to indebt us further, Miss Uraraka.”

“It isn’t on purpose,” she chuckled, wincing at the hoarseness in her voice.

Kirishima, though, had a glisten in his eye. “She really is on you guys’s side,” he rasped, and his relief was so palpable that it didn’t even sting Ochako to realize he couldn’t fully believe her until he saw them. In a way, she understood. If she wasn’t halfway in shock and halfway dying, she’d be just as hesitant.

“What has transpired?”

“A lot, man.”

Tokoyami pushed back into the air, but there was no denying that his flight had become a muted sort of excited, rather than the muted sort of lethal it’d been moments before. “We have much to discuss, my dear friend. But that can hold. I’m sure our other companions will wish to know as well– I’ll fly to them. I do not think they’ll fully believe me until they see the light of truth for themselves.”

“I almost can’t either,” he chuckled. But there was no mistaking the fondness in his voice. Ochako’s heart swelled. “Thanks, Tokoyami. Make sure to break the news, gently okay? I… really missed you. All you guys.”

Tokoyami nodded curtly, and zipped westward, towards what she guessed to be the Terror’s castle.

“I’m glad, Kirishima-kun,” she said faintly. 

“Heh… I was kinda scared they forgot about me!”

What a weird thought. “Forgot? About their friend?”

“You’d be surprised,” he murmured, eyes on the spot where Tokoyami had disappeared between the trees. A lot of monsters like us would just as easily leave somebody who got captured to fend for themselves, no matter how bad it looks. I’ve been hanging ‘round these guys for a couple centuries by now and it’s still hard to believe that they’re so… manly! Like, what man is supposed to be? Does that make sense?”

Ochako tried not to let her head spin at the word ‘centuries.’ “Well, that doesn’t sound like any monsters I’ve ever heard about.”

“Yeah… I guess not, huh?”

Ochako tilted her head, not expecting the contemplative tone Kirishima had taken. Had she said something offensive? She definitely hadn’t been trying to.

Before she could ask about it, however, Kirishima started moving again. She tightened her grip, doing her best not to let her injured foot graze the forest floor. It was hard keeping it bent though, with her knee cracked, too. The excitement in Kirishima’s wound-up shoulders though told her that she shouldn’t ask him to slow– and besides, the quicker they returned to Deku-kun, Momo, and the others, the quicker she could lay down.

Kirishima had paused every now and then to sniff the air, presumably to track a familiar scent. As they drew closer, these pauses stopped altogether. His steps became faster, until they’d broken into a run, and Ochako noticed that the ground below had become smoother– still littered with forest debris and slightly muddy, but clearly a corridor through the trees that a wagon could fit through.

Ochako had only realized this when something in the wind caught her attention. She looked up, and couldn’t help but smile warmly to herself.

“Guys!” Kirishima cried, and she could hear the sniffle in his voice. Somehow, he managed to sprint even faster, Ochako nearly flying off his back in the effort.

A string of shouts finally reached her ears, too.

There, standing just beyond the fountain in the middle of the approach, several woodland creatures were staring down the lane at them. Each had eyes as wide as the overhead full moon, none of them stepping forward. They all seemed to be in different states of shock or disbelief. It was a funny kind of expression to see on animals like that, but the earnestness prevented Ochako from laughing, instead making her heart ache.

That didn’t deter Kirishima. He bounded straight for them, not slowing even a little.

Ochako tried her hardest not to wince as his paws landed around Momo and Iida, sending the latter down to the stone with a choked warble. A splay of feathers rained down as he pressed the two of them to his chest. “Iida! Yaomomo! Man, I was starting to think I’d never hear your lectures again! Yeah! Jiro, Todoroki!”

He released them, turning instead to Jiro. He lifted his paws into the air, dancing around her, as Ochako held on for dear life. He did the same to Todoroki, then looked beside him. Deku was flying erratically, his big eyes shiny and wet. Kirishima snatched him from the air and nuzzled the little bat against his snout. “Midoriya! Still emotional as ever!”

The dam broke and the poor little guy sank to the ground under the force of his own tears. Ochako didn’t know bats could cry, let alone produce ten times their body weight like that.

It was Kaminari, though, that finally managed to speak. He darted between Momo’s legs and launched himself at Kirishima. “Kiriiiiii!”

“Kamiiii!”

Kirishima caught him in his paws, cuddling like he had with Deku before. He didn’t freeze up like the other had, though, instead wiggling to return the embrace as best he could. He, too, had tears in his eyes. “Oh my gods I thought those jerks had captured you and that you were super dead and we wouldn't ever see you again and like it’s been so awful without you man Bakugo’s been even more of a bastard and we’ve all been worrying out of our minds–”

Iida, finally managing to regain his composure, straightened his miniature bifocals and darted around Kirishima. “I say! Halt for just a moment! What is the meaning of this? Where have you been? And why on earth are you here Miss Uraraka-kun? We sent you back down the mountain!”

Kirishima stilled beneath her, swinging his head around. “Ah, crap! I’m so sorry, Uraraka!”

Her nausea had returned full force. “Uh, ah, s’fine?”

He ducked his head, laying down so that she could slide off without putting too much weight on her leg. She had to remain on the ground, supporting herself with her hands, but now that she wasn’t getting rattled around it gave the injuries time to settle. A fast, hard wave of pain pulsed through her whole being.

Understandably, though, the others flocked to Kirishima. They all chattered at once, surrounding him, as he turned to acknowledge each one. He started crying as well. Ochako felt the burn in her eyes too, watching off to the side. Eventually, though, Iida launched into the air. Despite his haughtiness even he couldn’t hide the mist in his gaze. “We can stage an inquiry later,” he said. “For now, are you two injured? What’s that you're wearing?”

Kirishima made a face. “Long story.”

“Dude,” Kaminari said, his voice dropping into a whisper, “is that… silver?”

“Yeah…”

A stunned hush fell over them, as if they were beckoning him to continue, and Kirishima, for a moment, looked as if he’d comply. However, in that moment, he froze too. Ochako peered from behind her falling hair to see his nose twitching. He whipped around to face the castle’s entrance.

There, sitting just beside Tokoyami, who hovered in the towers’ shadow, was the ash-blond fox.

Ochako didn’t know when Bakugo had emerged, but he clearly was just as confused as the rest. In fact, his eyes had narrowed into almost-manic slits, and not in the angry way she had seen when he’d attacked her. Instead, he seemed utterly speechless. 

Something in the silence shifted, and Kirishima glanced to the others. Then, he rocketed towards Bakugo, sweeping him up into a tumble as he playfully wrestled with the fox. “Bakugo!”

“Kirishima? What?”

Ochako blinked. That was the first time she was aware of that Bakugo had referred to someone by their name. She was so surprised that she thought she imagined it, especially after Bakugo growed and darted from underneath Kirishima. “Shitty fur! Where the fuck were you?”

Kirishima smiled. “I got into a fight, man!”

A shadow crossed Bakugo’s face. Ochako was certain she nearly saw a blood vessel pop. “Yeah? Well you’re about to get into another one!”

“Bakugo-kun, please refrain from blowing Kirishima-kun up until after we treat his present injuries!” Iida shrieked, flying after them as Kirishima ran across the stone. Todoroki shook his head, following after them, as Jiro picked up a sobbing Kaminari in her mouth and followed them toward the castle entrance. 

Ochako wished she could celebrate along with them, but the second she tried to shift herself the blinding light exploded across her vision. Her arms began to shake from the weight of holding herself up. She wasn’t sure if she could drag herself into the castle like this.

A telltale burn at her eyes sent dread mixing with her hurt. This was bad.

Just then, something soft brushed across her fingers. She blinked away the wetness, allowing her vision to clear. Deku had waddled to her, reaching one claw out toward her with his leathery wing folded beneath. He wore the same concerned expression as he had when he’d rescued her in the dungeon.

She leaned back in surprise, grimacing at the fresh stabbing in her forehead. “Ngh…”

“Oh, Uraraka-san, your leg,” Momo gasped. She’d wandered back too, exchanging glances with Deku. There was an urgency in her voice. “That looks broken. My goodness, you keep getting swept up into one ordeal after another.”

She shrugged sheepishly. 

“Here,” Momo said, lifting up her paw and overturning it so Ochako could see the pad. Momo straightened and closed her eyes. Ochako, curious, leaned in to watch what she was doing. Her paws began to glow. 

After a moment, something began emerging from the skin there– sliding right out, as if her body had just ejected it, a small, glowing lump of rock settling into her paw. 

She panted, offering it to Ochako. She pinched it between her fingers. “What’s this?”

“It’s a Vitality Charm,” she explained. “I imbued it with some of my life force so that you may get the boost you need to move– there’s healing potions for humans down in Toshinori-sama’s study. I can help you brew it–”

Ochako held her hands up. “No way, that’s too much! Kirishima-kun’s hurt much worse than I am…”

“Isn’t he the one who carried you here?” she asked good-naturedly, and Ochako didn’t really have a comeback. “We’ll take care of him, but I’m certain he would want to see you taken care of, too. Besides, it’s the least we can do– you’ve returned a dear friend to us.”

Despite it all, Ochako felt heat rising to her cheeks. “It was more of an accident than anything… Really, I was just glad to help.”

At that, Deku popped into the air. 

A series of chirps and squeaks tumbled in rapid succession from somewhere on his face– his fur was so puffy Ochako couldn’t see his mouth. She couldn’t get a handle on what he was saying, but Momo hummed. “But Midoriya-san, you don’t know how to brew it.”

More chirps.

“Yes, I know you know how to read. You can read very well.”

Clicks.

“I’m afraid it isn’t that simple.”

Gentle tutters.

“Ah, The Recovery Field-Guide to Beginners’ Balms and Potions? Yes, I do believe that’s down there… it could do, but you’ll have to be careful to substitute the binding component with something self-sustaining.”

One long, decisive screech. 

“Very well.” She looked back to Ochako, who was just utterly lost. “Midoriya-san is going to brew the potion for you.”

“Deku-kun…?”

Momo glanced at the bat, wary, but he squawked. “Are you sure?” she said lowly. “I don’t want you to get upset by her calling you that.”

Ochako gulped. She’d totally forgotten! “I’m so sorry!”

He tittered rapidly, looking between her and Momo. After a moment, Momo glanced up. “Ah, I see– ‘Deku’ means ‘you can do it.’” 

Warmth filled her. He’d really taken it to heart… 

“It sure does,” she said with a decisive nod.

She glanced up. His eyes were narrowed in determination– the same kind that he’d had when he was trying to lead her out of the castle, like he wanted her to follow him. She didn’t know how a tiny bat was supposed to make what amounted to enchanted broth, but then again Momo had just created a magic rock from her foot and these animals were talking to her so really, who knew what Deku was capable of. 

Momo nodded at the charm. “Squeeze that whenever it’s too painful to take a step. It’s not very potent, but it should last you until you make it downstairs. You can drop it into the potion and use the last of its power to boost it.”

“But wait!” Ochako waved it. “Isn’t it uh– um– your life?”

She chuckled. “No– my heart may not be beating, but my soul is still here with you. Some magic, like anything worthwhile, requires a piece of you. It takes time for a soul to recover when you give pieces of it away, but something small like this won’t affect me very long. I’ve expanded my soul for precisely these instances.” Funnily enough, she seemed a bit satisfied. “That’s not something I could’ve achieved in one lifetime.”

“I see.” Ochako took another look at the stone. It was really pretty, she noticed, now that she could see the dim red glow that made it seem almost ruby-like. Gently, she squeezed it.

All throughout her past night and day, pangs of fear had sent jolts into Ochako’s heart that spiraled it into overdrive, giving her the power to move forward. This was sort of the same– except, the stirring in her chest was not of fear, but somehow a blissful excitement. The feeling was so intoxicating she somehow forgot the stinging in her leg, and she managed to grasp onto the fountain’s edge, pulling herself up. She didn’t dare put any weight on her foot, but maybe she’d be able to hobble down wherever Deku led her.

“Also… Midoriya-san says thank you. And he really, really means it.” Momo smiled. “We all do.”

Ochako waved her off, ducking her gaze to twirl a part of her hair and hiding a blush. “No big deal.”

Deku, though, screeched in protest. He whirled around to face Momo, having one more conversation that Ochako only heard one side of, before Momo nodded, walking back to the others with shining eyes. They’d stopped at the castle’s entrance. Kirishima sat patiently, along with the others, watching as Momo drew near.

Deku, still flying behind Ochako, bopped in the air a bit, sending one final call across the courtyard. Momo sat straight. “By decree of the lord of this estate, you are hereby granted permission to enter.”

Kirishima’s grin widened, if it was possible. Slowly, he followed them in, Ochako watching in wonder.

They all entered, leaving the door cracked slightly behind them. Deku turned to her, then, his eyes determined. She giggled at his seriousness, still a little woozy from the energy burst the stone had given her. She started after him, around the side of the castle’s eastern wing. 

However, he stopped after a moment, letting her get a few paces before she noticed that he wasn’t beside her. She raised an eyebrow, seeing how he’d frozen in place. “Deku-kun?”

He shot into the sky.

“Deku-kun!?”

He stayed up there for a moment, so far up she couldn’t even make out what his big eyes were saying. But he looked back at the castle, head swiveling furiously, like he was scanning the rooftops for something.

Ochako frowned. After a moment, when he didn’t seem to see whatever he’d been looking for, her companion swooped back down, clicking a bit as he hovered eye-level with her. “Is something wrong?”

It took Deku a heartbeat too long to answer, but before she could question it, he met her eyes again. He gestured forward, beckoning her to follow.

She did. But she couldn’t help but cast a look over her shoulder, wondering what the fluffy little lord of the estate had seen to make him so darn jumpy.

She casted one more hesitant at the castle’s rooftop before following her friend. She didn’t miss the way he kept looking over his wing.