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When Izuku had been invited by Iida to meet his new boyfriend, he hadn’t expected to find Ururaka there when he arrived at the café they arranged to meet at. Confused, he walked up to her with a wave.
“Hey there, Uraraka-san!” he said with a big smile and a friendly wave, as she looked over at him.
“Deku-kun!” Uraraka had a surprised expression on her face when she saw him. Izuku’s eyebrows creased slightly in confusion, but then they jumped up when he heard what she said next.
“You’re dating Iida-kun?”
“I-“ Izuku was about to say something, but then his words caught off as he was registering what Uraraka had just said. “W-what! N-no! I was invited here by him!”
“Oh!” Uraraka’s back straightened, before her face flushed in embarrassment. “That makes sense, I guess. Sorry about that.”
Izuku took a seat besides her, the table having four seats, conveniently - two for Uraraka and him, and two for Iida and his mysterious partner. “Where’s Iida-kun?” Deku noticed the absence of his friend, which was odd, considering how punctual he normally was.
“Oh, he’s left to go get our drinks. I think you can still see him inside.”
Izuku looked through the windows, and saw Iida at the very back of a rather large line, piling up, occasionally stopping to check at his phone, probably checking the time. He looked up, and gave a curt wave towards Izuku through the window, which Izuku gladly returned.
“When Iida-kun invited me, I didn’t think you’d be here, Uraraka-san,” he turned his head to look at the girl, who was idly twiddling with her fingers, looking at the sidewalk.
“Mhm!” she turned her head to look at Izuku, with a smile on her face. “I wonder why he didn’t mention we’d be coming to each other.”
Izuku rubbed his chin, looking down at the table. He frowned slightly. It was weird, indeed, but it was probably not out of any malicious intent to trip either of them up. After all - it was Iida they were talking about, and he didn’t seem like the type to do something like that.
“I guess I’ll ask him about it once he comes back,” Izuku smiled slightly, before he started tapping his feet nervously.
The two sat in an awkward silence - both of them clearly nervous, both of them wanting to make a good impression to Iida’s boyfriend. When he had mentioned it towards Izuku a few days before, he had been slightly surprised that Iida, as serious as he was about becoming a hero, could have gotten into a serious relationship with someone (although he didn’t say that to his face, as he was worried it could have come across as rude, but he had thought it, and Izuku couldn’t deny that).
“Who do you think-“ Uraraka was about to ask a question, and she didn’t have to finish it for Izuku to know what it was. Her voice trailed off, not finishing it, but Izuku answered it all the same.
“I didn’t really think about that, too be honest,” Izuku laughed nervously, his hand scratching the back his head. “Whoever it is, though, I think they’ll make Iida-kun happy.”
“Yeah,” Uraraka paused, and Izuku felt as if she was going to say something else. However, nothing else came, so they sat together in silence again. He felt as if there was something very, very awkward coming up between them all of a sudden, and he wasn’t sure what it was about. Izuku turned to look at Uraraka and caught her staring at him.
They looked each other in the eyes.
Then, their eyes moved away, as to not stare for so long. Izuku’s hands rubbed the back of his neck as he looked to the side, at the floor, feeling his face flush slightly.
The silence was broken by the appearance of another familiar face. Along the corner of the street came Todoroki Shouto, and Izuku looked both puzzled but happy to see another of his classmates. Perhaps Iida had invited him as well? Izuku waved at him, and he gave a curt nod before taking the seat in front of Uraraka.
“O-oh! Todoroki-kun, I believe that seat is taken, already,” Izuku cut him off, and he stopped as he had just pulled it out entirely.
“Is Tenya sitting in this seat?” Todoroki asked.
Izuku paused, feeling there was something wrong with that question but he wasn’t quite sure what was the matter. Before he could think more of it, Iida arrived with a tray of four cups, held tightly in his hands to make sure that nothing fell out of his grasp.
“Ah! Hello there, Midoriya-san! I see you have joined us! Sorry for taking so long, but some people,” he said, almost a hint of shade in his voice, “cannot seem to decide between mocha or something a little bit more extravagant!”
Ururaka leaned forward as Iida set down the tray on the table. “Was it really tha bad, Iida-kun?”
“Not quite as bad as I make it out to be, but still,” Iida huffed. “One shouldn’t take more than five minutes for one order! It is unpunctual, and holds up the line for everybody else.”
Then, he slid towards Todoroki, and before Izuku could actually register what was happening, he pecked the other boy on the cheek. “I am glad you could make it, Shouto.”
“I-“
“You’re-”
“-can’t believe-“
“-dating, and-“
“-didn’t notice-“
“-I didn’t even-“
With much fluster, both Izuku and Uraraka started to speak rapidly at once, both saying that they how couldn’t they realize, and also apologizing to Todoroki for stopping him from sitting, and so on, and so forth. At the end, the two of them were both more embarrassed than the couple in front of them, as it had ended up with them receiving quite a few stares from the other customers sitting on the veranda.
“So, when did you two start dating?” Uraraka asked, after both her and Izuku had both calmed down a bit with their barrage of apologies.
“Well,” Iida’s looked down at his cup, taking a small break to take a sip, before putting it back down. “It started after Hosu.”
“Oh,” Izuku put down his drink before he could even put it towards his lips. It had been in Hosu where Iida, Todoroki, and him had fought of the Hero Killer Stain. Had there been some sort of connection formed between the two that had completely flown over his head? He supposed that must’ve been the case.
“After our internships, me and Tenya started talking with each other more often and eventually, we-“
“-Got into a relationship!” Iida cut off Todorki before he could finish what he was saying, as if slightly embarrassed by whatever his partner was going to say. It was rather evident from the red strike that had developed across Iida’s cheeks. Whatever Todoroki was about to say, it was the cause for some kind of shame on Iida’s part, that he didn’t necessarily want to divulge.
Uraraka snorted, nearly spilling her drink on the table. Izuku looked at her, and with a small smile.
“So why did you keep it such a secret?” Izuku asked, unsure if he was actually broaching a topic they wanted to discuss.
“We wanted to give it to both of you first, as you two are together, so it would be a fun bonding experience between two partners!” Iida explained, and Izuku caught a word he definitely wasn’t expecting to hear. Uraraka must’ve heard it as well, as she stopped laughing and slowly looked up. “Consider it a ‘double date’, as I believe it’s called.”
A pause hung in the air, and Izuku felt himself melt with embarrassment, as his cheeks and nose and his entire face, really, felt so hot. Uraraka was a similar shade of crimson as they looked at Iida with confusion and awkwardness.
Iida must have caught it, as his smile lowered into a confused look. “Did I, say something wrong? You two are quite red. Are you, sick?”
Todoroki leaned in to Iida, bumping into his shoulder. “I don’t think they’re together.”
“I-“ Iida looked at Todoroki, then towards Izuku, then towards Uraraka. Finally, his own face actually lit up, possibly from his own embarrassment.
“I apologize for making such baseless assumptions about your relationship status! If I had known I wouldn’t have done this as I had, and I apologize for making it such an embarrassing spectacle for the both of you!” pushing his hands onto the table, and putting enough force into it so that the coffee in their cups trembled,
“It’s fine, really-” Izuku tried to comfort Iida, but then he looked at Uraraka. She was still looking down, her face still flushed red. Her hands held tightly onto her cup, and he saw that the coffee inside was still trembling, despite the fact that none of the others were.
“Are you-” Izuku paused for a second, unsure if he should continue his question, but decided to do it anyway, “-fine, Uraraka-san?”
Uraraka pushed her head up, a nervous yet wide smile on her face. “I’m fine!” she said, yet her cup was still trembling. Izuku’s eyebrows frowned slightly in worry, yet he didn’t say anything more.
“We thought you two were together,” Todoroki paused to take a drink from not coffee, but instead a simple glass of water. Izuku wondered if he didn’t like warm liquids near his face, but he didn’t want to think more of it. He shifted slightly uncomfortably in his seat, as Todoroki continued. “Based on the fact that you two seemed so, well.” Again he paused, but this time as if he was searching for words.
“Friendly?” Iida finished the sentence, his voice clearly unsure. “Whatever the case, I must apologize again for such a baseless assumption.”
Uraraka nodded, before looking at Izuku again. “It’s fine! Don’t worry about a thing.”
However, despite her assurances, Uraraka was still looking rather nervous. “Me and Deku-kun are just-“ she paused, “-friends. That’s all. Right?”
“O-oh, yeah.” Izuku stuttered slightly, wondering what caused him to be so nervous right now. His hands darted to the back of his to scratch it, and he looked down at the floor to the side. He had been doing that a lot more than he thought he would during this meeting. “We’re just friends.”
For some reason, those words felt wrong. He wasn’t sure why.
It seemed like Iida and Todoroki knew, however, because they seemed to give each other a knowing glance. “Well,” Todoroki started speaking, casually picking up his drink, and swirling it around casually in his right hand. “We had the thought you two would make a good couple anyways.”
“Shouto!” Iida balked, glancing between his boyfriend and his two best friends. Leaning in to Todoroki, he whispered something that Izuku couldn’t quite hear. Not that he cared much anyways.
Instead, he was blushing like mad, more than he had before. He felt like sinking into his chair, and Uraraka evidently had, as a glance to the seat next to him showed that she was very much trying to hide her red face. In fact, it seemed like everyone but Todoroki was blushing - although Iida probably for other reasons than Izuku and Uraraka.
As Iida and Todoroki continued to discuss something in hushed tones, Izuku felt rather uncomfortable with the entire thing. He had come here to hang out with his friends - and now it had become an incredibly awkward encounter. He wasn’t sure why his heart was beating as fast as it was.
“Deku-kun,” Uraraka called his name quietly, and he looked at her. “I want to. Talk. Maybe somewhere a bit. Private?” She had that same nervous smile on her face as before, and Deku felt his heart skip a beat, and then beat faster than it had before.
“Oh,” he simply replied. “Sure.”
Izuku stood up, excusing himself for just a moment, and Uraraka did the same. She grabbed him by the wrist, careful not to touch him with the tips of her fingers, and pulled him around the corner, perhaps a bit forcefully. He heard Todoroki and Iida stop whispering, as he was pulled away.
Eventually, they got around the corner, and Uraraka let go of his wrist, moving her hands down to fumble aimlessly at her skirt. She looked down. “I was. Thinking about what Todoroki-kun said.”
Oh.
“Oh.”
“Yes.”
Uraraka raised her head up, and their eyes met again. This time, though, it was different. Izuku noticed that Ochako’s eyes sparkled so beautifully.
“I. Was uncertain wether or not you’d like me or not, Deku-kun. But-“ she held her breath in. Izuku felt himself trembling. “-Would you- Would you want to be-“
“-Yes.” She didn’t even have to finish her sentence before he could respond, and her eyes lit up like fireworks.
They stood there for a long time, though it was most likely only a few seconds. Izuku motioned to grab her hand, and they touched, oh so softly, careful with the fingertips yet still it felt so natural, interlocking again with the other hand.
She leaned upwards, and they connected again, but in a different way this time. Much like fireworks, Izuku felt a spark in his heart as he kissed Ochako, and it felt so, so right. It felt like it could go on forever, and Izuku would still be living even when he could no longer feel the air around him.
Eventually, they disconnected, breathless. It felt like a haze that Izuku hadn’t realised he wanted to be in until he was there, and he never wanted to get out of it.
Ochako’s face was red, and one of her hands let go of his to brush her hair to the side to get it out of her face. She smiled softly, her face calm, as if a weight had been lifted off of her and Izuku felt it as well.
“Perhaps, we should-“ she looked towards the side, towards the corner. “-join Iida-kun and Todoroki-kun again. What do you think-”
"-Izuku?" she hesitated, before saying his real name, not the nickname she had taken and used to inspire such hope in him, not his surname, either, but his first name. That word alone made it all the more sweeter.
“Right. Let's do that, Ochako.” Izuku said, using her first name as well. She smiled when she heard it.
So, they started walking back towards their seats, this time being dragged, but instead walking side-by-side with Ochako, their hands intertwined, with the feeling as if something wrong, something that neither of them had quite been able to place, had finally been put right.