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Deku sighed and ran his fingers through his curly, green hair. His mind was filled to the very brim with thoughts and predictions and it just kept filling.
He had been trying to work up the nerve to ask out Ochaco for weeks now, he had even somehow roped Tenya into helping him be able to do it.
Right now, he and his engine friend were in his room at the UA student dorms and Tenya was pacing across the floor and lecturing him.
“Come on, Deku! Now is the opportune moment to ask her!” Tenya said firmly, stopping his pacing and pointing both of his arms at his friend. “If you don't ask her you're just going to put it off again!”
With a groan, Deku covered his face with his hands. A hot blush was rising into his cheeks. “I know, I know! But I just- I have the hardest time talking to people to begin with and what if she says ‘no’?”
Iida moved to sit down on the bed next to Deku and held his hands out in front him. “Izuku, you may have had trouble talking to people before you got to know them but, I'm your friend, Ochaco is your friend, everyone here is your friend.” Even though they were alone in Izuku's room, Tenya held out his arms to make a point. “She won't say no, she could never be as mean as to deny you one date.”
Slowly Deku lowered his hands from his face, he peeked over his fingertips and looked at Tenya. “Yeah- yeah you're right.” He mumbled. “Thanks, Tenya. You're um- you're my best friend.” A smile crept onto his face.
Pride shimmered through Tenya's red eyes and a grin broke out across his face. “Why, that's an honor I'm happy to hold! You hold the place of my best friend too, Izuku!”
Deku’s smile grew and he quickly swooped in to hug Tenya who quickly returned it.
It was a nice feeling, having friends, having friends who actually thought of you as a friend too… Deku thought about how he didn't have friends before he came to UA, how so much had changed in such a short amount of time. He was thankful for it all, thankful for All Might who gave this all to him.
It brought a tear to his eye and he pulled out of the hug to wipe it away. “Thank you.”
“Not a problem! Now let's go, I'm sure Ochaco is in the common area with everyone else. Now's the time when that weird, American cop show they all like to watch is on.”
***
Ochaco sighed and pulled a fallen M&M out of her bra and ate it. “I just don't know what to do Tsuu.”
She and her friend sat on the floor of her dorm bedroom with an bowl of M&Ms between them and Tsuu's phone on the bed playing some random music with a quiet but fast beat.
“Well you want to ask out Midoriya-chan but are too afraid to.” Tsuu said simply, she was picking M&Ms from the bowl, but only the green ones.
“I mean I don't know why I can't just work up the courage to ask him out,” Ochaco fell onto her back and sprawled out. “I mean I just feel so blushy and well- weightless around him. I'm worried that I can't be around him without messing up my school work.”
“You could tell him this.”
“N-No! I couldn't, it could mess up our friendship!” A dark blush was growing on her face.
“Uraraka-chan, he seems to like you too.” Tsuu threw one of her green M&Ms up in the air and captured it with her tongue. “I've heard him talk about you a few times, he speaks of you as way more than a friend.”
Ochaco sat back up and pulled her knees to her chest. “Are you sure?” She bit her lip. “I've just never felt this way about a boy before- Or anyone really... I see him, and I want to be like him. I want to be strong like him. But, I also want to be with him.” Her gaze traveled off somewhere. “I can't help it.”
“Ribbit.”
“Maybe I should ask him,” she muttered, nodding to herself. “I-I mean, it is the 21st century after all and I'm a strong, independent woman. I can do this!” A determined smile spread across Ochaco's face and she quickly stood.
Tsuu followed in suit. “I have faith in you.”
“Thanks, Tsuu.” Quickly, Ochaco grabbed a handful of M&Ms from the bowl and shoved them in her mouth. “Now let's go find, Deku!”
***
Izuku and Tenya went to the common area to find everyone, but Ochaco and Tsuu, smooshed together on the three couches or laying sprawled out on the floor. As Tenya had figured, they were tuned into the American comedy show, Brooklyn 99.
“Maybe she's in her room?” Izuku asked, nervously.
“Probably, that would be the next best place to check.” Tenya nodded.
Deku looked towards the elevator doors then sighed, could he really do this?
“Maybe we should j-”
“Izuku, I'm not letting you hesitate again and postpone your love life.” Tenya clapped his smaller friend on the shoulders and steered him towards the elevator. “It's not what a best friend would do.”
“Ah-ha wait! Come on!” Izuku struggled, but he was no match for Tenya, and he would never pull out One For All for a situation like this. He knew that Tenya was right.
“You'll thank me later!” Just when he was about to press the up button for the elevator, the doors opened to Ochaco and Tsuu.
An immediate blush began to fire in both Deku's and Ochaco's cheeks.
“What a conscience,” Tsuu said, hoping out of the elevator. “Uraraka-chan was just looking for you, Midoriya-chan.”
“S-She was?” Izuku could feel the horrible heat in his face and not to mention his powerful heartbeat that he could feel pulsating all throughout his body.
“An even bigger conscience is that Izuku was looking for Ochaco as well,” Tenya commented. “Tsuu, how about we let them discuss privately while we join the others in watching the American television programming?”
“Ribbit. That sounds like a good idea.”
With a shared nod, the two left, leaving both Izuku and Ochaco alone together.
Ochaco nervously stepped out of the elevator doors so they wouldn't shut on her. She was feeling that weightless feeling she always felt when she was around Deku. Now was the time! “So uh- y-you had something you wanted to say to me?” Oh she hoped she didn't have chocolate on her face from earlier-
“Uh- ladies first, I insist.” Izuku laughed nervously.
While biting her lip, Ochaco said, “well um, since we both have something to say and don't want to say it, why don't we say it at the same time?”
“That seems like the best option here, I-I mean it's not something I don't want to say just something I'm just er- let's just say it on the count of three.” Deku could feel the immense heat burning in his face like a fire.
Ochaco sighed and gave a quick nod. “Sounds good, yeah.”
“One,” it came out a little halfheartedly from each of them.
“Two.”
There was a large pause before either of them spat out “three”.
“I-I like you!” Ochaco quickly said a little too loudly for her comfort.
While at the same time Izuku sputtered out, “wi-will you go out with me?!”
Both of the stood there, in awe and very red in the face.
A whistle came from down the hallway in the common room making the both of them jump. All of their classmates were staring at them from the common area.
They had forgotten exactly where they were at-
“Izuku! Damn you were the first of us to get a real cutie! Congrats!” Laughed Denki who was hanging off of the back of the middle couch.
Mina and Toru were hugging each other tightly, squealing.
“Girl!” Mina said happily, “finally! We've been waiting forever for you two to get together!”
“You're our favorite ship!” Toru said.
While the rest of their classmates continued to say similar things, both Izuku and Ochaco proceeded to turn darker and darker red in embarrassment.
Finally Ochaco slapped the elevator button behind her, the doors opened and she rushed in pulling Deku in with her. She frantically smashed the button to close the doors and when they finally did she sighed. Her mind was all frazzled.
“So- you um, like me?” Deku asked quietly, the blush on his face was dying out some, but it was still dark enough red to make his freckles stand stark on his face.
“Oh uh..” Ochaco directed her gaze to the elevator buttons and pressed the one to go up. “I do..” She whispered at the buttons. She felt like her heart was going to jump out of her throat, she had finally done it but she didn't feel any better. If anything she felt more flustered.
Izuku felt a grin grip at his face and he couldn't stop it. “I like you too.” The confidence returned to his voice, he took a small step towards Ochaco.
Slowly the girl turned around and stared up at Deku. “You do?” She paused for a second before smiling. “Really?”
A small laugh escaped him and Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah, I do. A lot..”
The air in the elevator had completely changed from blushing nervousness to excited static.
“Heh, well,” Ochaco twiddled her fingers about her shirt. “you wanted me to go out with you right? Well, I'd really like that.”
“Really? That's great! Whew, I just- wow I feel so much better now.”
“So do I!” Ochaco agreed with a nod. “I thought I was going to puke earlier from nervousness!”
“Me too!” Izuku grinned. This wasn't the best scenario that he had pictured in his mind, no this was better, this was real. “So- about that date. Are you free tomorrow after class? We get out two hours early since it's the end of the semester.”
The elevator doors opened onto the girls’ floor and Ochaco casted a quick glance out into the hallway before turning her attention back to Deku. “Yeah, that's good for me. Is there anything you wanted to do?”
“Oh well,” Izuku shrugged, “I've never really been on a date before so.. I just thought that we could ride the train into town and do whatever we felt like doing.”
“I’d like that. Don't tell Tenya I said this but having a schedule is too boring sometimes. It's much more fun to roll with the punches!” She made a fist and punched the air above her, a grin on her face.
“Ha, don't worry, your secret's safe with me.” He zipped his lips with his fingers and threw away the imaginary key.
They stood there for a while in silence, neither of them really wanting to leave the others company. Though when the elevator doors began to close, Izuku sprung into action and moved to stand infront of them so they wouldn't shut.
“Ah, thank you, Deku! Well.. I should probably get going,” Ochaco slowly walked out of the elevator and Deku moved off of the doors. “So what time are we going to head to the train station tomorrow?”
“Why not three? That'll give us two hours after class to get ready.” As Deku said this, the elevator doors began to close. He moved to the middle to see Ochaco the most before they did.
“That sounds good to me!” Ochaco gave a thumbs up and smiled at Deku. “See you tomorrow!” And when the elevator doors shut she felt herself grinning so hard that she thought her face would break.
***
Throughout all of his classes the next day, Izuku's mind was filled with ideas for the date. Should he dress up? Should he bring flowers? No.. they never said that this was going to be a fancy date, plus he didn't want to seem cliché that wouldn't be good. He would probably just wear casual clothes, yeah that would be good.
All during the day Ochaco was acting as a klutz, she kept bumping into desks and people, and being less careful with her anti-gravity quirk. Twice she accidentally made her desk float in Professor Mic's class (not that he seemed to have minded but it was still upsetting to her). She just couldn't think focus on anything! Her head was in the clouds, and she didn't really want to come down. Thinking about her date with Deku was all she could do. She wondered were they would go, but oh what would she wear?
***
When the school day was finally over, Deku practically pulled a Tenya and sprinted to the dorms. He had two hours to get ready, but a lot could happen in two hours. He first hopped in the shower and made sure to wash himself with the really nice smelling body wash that his mother made him pack.
Then he dried off with a red towel and wrapped it around his waist, his damp curls clinged to his face. He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and dozed off in thought for a second before snapping back into reality and getting back into work. Deku grabbed the stick of deodorant off the bathroom counter and put some on. He felt nervous, but in a good way.
Next Deku walked to his closet, he held onto his towel so it wouldn't slip. He opened up the doors and cringed at all of his casual clothes. 95% of them were All Might related and the rest just had simple designs on them. Oh he really needed to ask Tenya to help him buy appropriate clothes sometime.. Slowly his fingers passed over the coat hangers before he chose a shirt, that of course had to deal with All Might. It was a white t-shirt with the words “ PLUS ULTRA” written across the chest in big red lettering. He didn't think this one was too bad, it was far better than the one of All Might posing as Rosie the Riveter.
Izuku draped the shirt across his arm and then pulled a pair of black jeans from the shelf in his closet. Then he moved to his dresser and got some underwear and socks.
After he was all dressed, Izuku studied himself in the mirror. He didn't think he looked too bad, yeah he probably could've looked a little better, but if there was any time to look better it would be on the second date. He glanced over to the All Might clock on his desk and saw that he had about 15 minutes before he had to pick Ocahco up at her room, so he decided that he should go to Tenya's to borrow some cologne.
***
Ochaco really didn't expect all of her friends to be so helpful for her first date, after all of her female classmates found out that her date was taking place after class they all came over to her room with clothes and makeup for her to borrow. She couldn't possibly ask for better friends. She was happy when they all left though, she wasn't one for getting ready with an audience.
Once out of the shower and dry, she looked through all of the outfits that that girls had brought. It took a good portion of time of trying on the outfits and studying herself in the mirror, but Ochaco finally chose the dress Momo had lent her. It was a pastel pink, spring dress with small slightly darker pink polka dots all over it, it went to just above her knees and she was just in love with it.
Ochaco gave a quick spin in the dress and laughed at how the pink fabric funnelled about her legs. In the mirror she looked at the large makeup bag that Mina brought over, and she felt a little bad for not using any of it. But she just really wasn't the makeup type of girl.
She went over to her closet and pulled a pair of white sandals from the back and slipped them on. They had a slight heel to them, and made her nearly an inch taller.
Ochaco then headed over to the bathroom to put a pink hair barrette in the side of her bangs, and to put her favorite full moon earrings in. She nodded proudly at herself in the bathroom mirror. She was done.
There was a knock at the door and Ochaco's eyes darted to the clock on the wall, she couldn't believe it was already 3. Time had flown by, she was happy she had gotten ready just in time.
“Coming!” She called out, she stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Then she headed over to the main door and opened it, she was not surprised to see Deku. “Hey!”
“Hey,” Deku sighed with a smile. The moment he saw Ochaco, he felt completely under-dressed. “You look really nice.”
“And you look really er- comfy.” Ochaco smiled back.
“Yeah, sorry I'm late. Iida was lecturing me about my clothes, so you know. I had a thought overload two minutes in.”
“Oh I feel you! Hold on-,” she raced back into her room and grabbed a mint green clutch from off her desk before joining Deku in the hallway. “One time he was getting on me for my pjs not matching.”
Izuku laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, but he's great though. I don't know a better hearted guy than him. You ready to go?”
“Yep! All set.”
The two then proceeded to walk down the hallway to the elevator where they shared happy glances and shy smiles. But when the elevator doors opened, they were treated with whistles and applause from the rest of their classmates.
Though Izuku had never experienced a walk of shame before, he could only imagine that this is how it felt. His face was lit up like a Christmas tree and he felt fidgety. But, he wasn't ashamed of being out with Ochaco like this, and he knew that their classmates were just doing this for fun.
He lifted up his face and smiled at them all then grabbed Ochaco's hand. It felt so soft compared to his coarse one.
A pink tinge spread across Ochaco's face, she hadn't felt more embarrassed in her whole life, but she had never felt more happy either. She squeezed Deku's hand and it was almost as though she siphoned some of his strength. She caught sight of all the girls giving her big, encouraging smiles and she felt even better. A grin split across her face and she took the lead on their leave to the doors.
***
On the train ride to Tokyo, Izuku and Ochaco discussed small things; like their first meeting, grades, and the rumor of Professor Aizawa and Professor Mic's love affair.
When the train had brought them to the midst of Tokyo, Izuku and Ochaco left the compartment hand and hand.
They were swarmed by the masses of people traveling here and there doing their own things and Ochaco's heart swelled. She loved cities, the buzz, the rush, and especially all of the people. “So, what do you want to do?” She looked up at Deku with a smile.
“Uh,” Deku looked around, it was hard for him to see anything with all of the people about. Being in the midst of so many people made his skin crawl, it just made him feel so small. “Well how about we get out of the station before we decide on what we do? I'm feeling a bit claustrophobic here.”
“Oh sure!” Ochaco nodded, she looked around for a second then moved to quickly steer them out of the see of people. She stopped on the sidewalk outside the station. There was still people here, but far less than in the station.
Deku gave a soft sigh of relief, “thanks.” He muttered.
Ochaco squeezed Izuku's hand, “not a problem.”
Deku smiled at the squeeze and returned it. “You know, I heard from Kirishima that there is an arcade around here.”
“An arcade? I love arcades! I'm the best at skee-ball!” Ochaco gave a grin. “I'm the master of the balls and I can conquer anyone who says otherwise.”
“Arcade it is then!” Izuku laughed. “I think he said it was this way,” he pointed down the left end of the sidewalk. “Let's go.”
Ochaco gave a nod and Deku led the way down the sidewalk.
Deku had a pretty good idea of where the arcade was, but he kept second guessing himself and making last minute turns making them nearly run into a handful of people. Still, even with pissing a few guys off, he couldn't be happier. He was on a date with Ocahco and it felt like nothing could go wrong.
When they finally arrived to the arcade, Ochaco released Deku's hand and quickly ran in. Deku ran in behind her, a large smile on his face.
The arcade smelled like popcorn and soda and it was full of the sounds of game buzzers and music and people laughing. When Deku caught up to Ochaco she was already up at a counter purchasing tokens. He quickly raced to her side. “Hey- I got this, don't worry.” He smiled. And removed his wallet from his back pocket.
Ochaco who already had her clutch open to pay for the tokens, hesitated. “Are you sure? You don't have too, I can pay.”
“N-No, I'll pay.”
“That'll be 4000 yen,” the worker said from behind the counter.
Deku nodded and pulled that much from his wallet and handed it to him.
The worker put it in a register and gave Deku a large paper cup filled with dingy metal coins.
“Thank you,” Deku said to the worker. He handed the cup to Ochaco and moved out of the line so that the people who queued behind them could be attended to. “So you wanna see if you're really the master of the balls?” He grinned, gently elbowing her.
“Oh yeah, you're gonna regret challenging me.” Ocahco smirked, she linked her arm through Deku's and they went off in search of the skee-ball machines.
Truth be told, Deku got his ass handed to him by Ochaco. He didn't know if she really was the master of balls or if he was just that bad at skee-ball. Either way, he still had fun and they had racked up nearly 400 tickets (over half of which were won by Ochaco).
With a few tokens left, the couple wandered about wondering which last few games they should use them on. That was until Deku caught sight of a claw machine with a limited edition, discontinued All Might plush from 1997. His heart skipped a beat as he nearly dragged Ochaco over to the machine.
“Oh my God, I've only seen pictures of it online!” He whispered, pressing his nose up to the glass.
“An All Might plushie?” Ochaco asked unsurely.
“Not just any All Might plushie!” He turned to Ochaco with the most serious face. “It's the a limited edition plushie that came out in 1997 and was discontinued because the company that made it went bankrupt! There was only an odd 700 made! I don't know what it's doing here.”
“Well, we do have some tokens left.” Ochaco shook the cup and the tokens jingled inside. “Why don't we try and win it?”
Deku thought he couldn't of fallen any harder for Ochaco, but he was dead wrong. “Yes!” He said excitedly, grabbing two of the tokens from the cup and quickly inserting them into the machine.
A small timer appeared on the machine in blinking red numbers and Izuku hurriedly moved the joystick.
“Go, Deku!” Ochaco shouted. “Get your plushie!”
Deku moved the joystick rather jerkily, the claw rattled inside the machine. He moved it precisely over the All Might plush and slammed the button to stop the machine. The claw stopped abruptly and shook softly from side to side as it ascended down to the plush. With its claws open they fell lopsidedly around the plush then tightened. Slowly the claw rose and in its grasp was the plushie, but when it reached the top of the machine the claw lost hold and dropped the plushie back down.
“Nooo!” Deku cried, placing his face to the glass.
“Don’t worry, Deku.” Ochaco placed her hand on his back and gave it a few pats. “We'll get him, just you wait. How about you let me have a try?”
With a soft nod Izuku moved away from the machine but he kept his face stuck to the glass.
Ochaco cracked her knuckles and removed two tokens from the cup and inserted into the machine. That left them with only one token left. The timer appeared again and she took full advantage of it. She moved the claw over the All Might plushie and moved around all sides of the machine to make sure she had positioned the claw just right. Then when she was finally sure of herself she pressed the button to lower the claw.
The claw slowly lowered down and grasped onto the plush. Then it tightened around it and rose back into the air. When it reached the top of the machine and the claw shook, Deku gave a gasp but the plush did not fall. It moved over the depository and dropped the plushie.
Izuku gave an excited scream that caused Ochaco to jump back, and he dived to the floor to collect the doll, when he stood back up he had tears in his eyes. “Ochaco I think I love you you're the most amazing girl there is!” He was holding the plush tightly to his chest.
Ochaco's cheeks darkened and she felt pride bubble in her chest. A smile spread across her face, “it was nothing really. I just grew up around an arcade so I figured out all the tricks.” She rubbed her arm and placed the last token behind the joystick of the machine. She had never been praised so much before from someone who wasn't her parents. “And besides, I owed at least that to you since you did buy all the tokens.”
“Still, you're amazing.” Deku took ahold of Ochaco's hand. “You're one of the nicest people I've met, plus you're determined and funny and like the God of arcade games..”
Ochaco felt her face heat up, “th-thank you.”
“You're welcome,” Deku smiled. “Now I really owe you though. How about we leave here and I buy us some ice cream?”
“Only if I get to buy the food on our next date.”
“Deal.”
***
Before the pair left the arcade though, they of course turned in their tickets. Izuku let Ochaco choose all of the prizes since she had won the majority of the tickets and because she already won him his All Might plush.
The prizes she picked out were a large Kirby plushie, an black and white bracket, and a pink, neko eared headband. She held the plush under her arm as she put on the bracelet.
“Hey, Deku, would you bend down for a second?” Ochaco asked.
“Sure?” He agreed, then bent down to eye level with her.
Quickly Ochaco put the pink, neko headband on Deku and grinned triumphantly. “There. You look even nicer now.”
Izuku's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He would've taken off the headband if Ochaco wasn't the one who put it on him. He gave her a nervous smile and rubbed the back of his neck. “Th-Thanks.. How about we get going then?”
“Oh yeah, that sounds good.” Ochaco grabbed Deku's hand and swung it gently between them.
They left the arcade and Izuku soom forgot about the neko ears that he was wearing, he and Ochaco were immersed in conversation about their fellow classmates.
“And then Momo actually sang that one Pitbull song Timber! She had perfect English too, I can't help but mess up with the possessives and the differences between common nouns and proper nouns.”
“Wow, I knew that she was good in English, but I didn't know that good. I'm not the best at it either, I'm just good enough to read up on American superheroes. There's this one called the Niotic Neyhan and she can multiply or divide the mass of water! So she stops forest fires and prevents major flooding from hurricanes!”
“Wow, she sounds awesome! Deku, you know about the coolest superheros, too bad we don't hear about ones like her here in Japan.”
“Well she isn't worldly known probably because her name isn't that catchy or fun to say.”
“You're probably right. But, hey! Here's an ice cream place!” Ochaco pointed up ahead at a small shop with a circular sign hanging in front that said Sydney’s Scoops. “You still up for ice cream?”
“Ochaco, there will never be a time when I'm not up for ice cream.”
They laughed then walked into the small shop. It was cool inside and it made a shiver go up Izuku's spine. He urged Ochaco to go ahead of him and order first.
She ordered a vanilla-chocolate swirl and when it was his turn, Izuku ordered a double scoop of mint chocolate chip and strawberry ice cream with walnuts. He paid the cashier what was owed and handed Ochaco her ice cream when it was ready. Then he received his.
They left the shop and headed back to the train station, eating their ice cream as they did so. Since Ochaco had so much to hold, Izuku held onto her clutch for her, she wouldn't give up holding her Kirby plushie though.
“You know,” Izuku said, taking a small bite of the top of his ice cream. “I don't know what I was so nervous about when I was going to ask you out.”
“Neither to I,” Ochaco said, she took a few licks of her ice cream. “I mean.. with all the fun we had today I really wish I would've told you how I felt sooner.”
“Me too.”
They chatted on about that and this as they ate their ice cream and soon it was gone and they were back at the train station. Ochaco insisted on buying the tickets, and Deku let her.
On the ride back to UA they sat hand in hand, with the both of them holding their own plushie in the other hand.