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Ochako sat under the blossoming sakura tree, her feet tucked under her legs. In front of her was a pink, white, red, and lavender checkered blanket and a plastic basket that sat on one of the corners to keep the blanket from blowing away in the gentle spring breeze. She kept her hands folded tightly in her lap atop her pale yellow and pink polka-dotted summer dress.
She’d unpacked the contents from her basket in her eagerness. The spread was beautiful in front of her, and her cheeks flushed with heat that was definitely not from the sun beaming down on her.
Ochako was on a date, and it was her first date, so she was incredibly nervous.
Well, she wasn’t quite on the date yet. She set up the food and blanket before her date got there, and she may have gotten there almost a half hour before their designated meeting time.
She was excited but she was definitely regretting a lot of her decisions right then as well. If she could have been just a tiny bit more patient, she wouldn’t be so tense.
All she could do now was wait. A few of her classmates passed by the set up in the grass on their walks around the high school’s campus. It was after school, so it was to be expected. Only a few were curious enough to ask her about why she was sitting alone, surrounded by a picnic.
“Oh, Uraraka, are you waiting for someone?” Kirishima asked her when he stopped jogging to talk to her.
Ochako nodded. “Yeah, I am.” Her voice caught in her throat even saying this simple sentence.
“Really? Who?” he inquired.
Ochako brushed a hand through her hair, the strands tucking behind her ear in the process. “Um. Ashido…” she trailed off when a sour taste settled on her tongue, the bitterness of anxiety bothering her conversation with him.
Kirishima’s eyes widened. “Ooh, I think she’s getting ready right now. I asked if she wanted to come with me and she said she was going to be going somewhere.” Kirishima grinned. “Good luck.” He winked for added effect.
“Shut up,” she grumbled. “I’ll be fine.”
“I’m sure you will be! I’ll see you later then.” He waved and jogged away.
Ochako buried her head in her hands once Kirishima was out of sight. Her stomach turned again. If Ashido was getting ready right now...Ochako wondered what kind of thing she’d wear. Ashido didn’t seem like the kind of person to get dressed up for something like this, but maybe it’d be something a little nicer than her typical wear? Either way, Ochako was excited and was sure that no matter what it was it would make her stomach flutter and her cheeks glow red, even more than they were right now.
Ochako touched the clip she’d put in her hair; it shifted when she’d run her hand through her hair. She unclipped it and repositioned it, pulling her phone out to check if it looked okay in the camera.
Then she heard footsteps that diverged from the sidewalk and shuffled through the grass toward where Ochako sat. Was she here? Ochako was too nervous to look up.
“Hey! Did you make all of this?” the bubbly and excitable voice Ochako had been waiting for asked.
Now she had to look up.
“Oh, yeah, I did,” Ochako confirmed, and her eyes scanned the outfit her date was wearing. It was about how Ochako expected. It wasn’t the typical t-shirt and shorts Ashido generally wore, but instead a pair of rolled-cuff black shorts, a soft blue and purple tank top, and silver sandals. Her toes were painted in a stripe pattern of the same blue and purple. She’d braided a small portion of her wildly curly hair and a teal star clip adorned the end.
Ochako didn’t intend to stare, but she most definitely did. She averted her eyes once Ashido stepped foot on the picnic blanket
Ashido lowered herself to the ground where Ochako was sitting and sat with her legs tucked under herself. “It all looks so good, I didn’t know you could cook like this!” Ashido leaned forward to pluck a riceball from one of the containers. She popped it in her mouth and chewed a couple times, her eyes lighting up. “It is good!”
Ochako pulled her knees up to her chest. Good thing she decided to wear shorts under her dress. “Thanks. I’ve been cooking since I was younger, since my parents didn’t have a lot of time to cook for us I generally did it before they came home. I’m glad you like it.” Ochako’s stomach was still doing somersaults. This wasn’t that big of a deal, right? It was only a compliment. She should just accept it and move on. Though she was stuck on the expression Ashido made when she took that bite of Ochako’s cooking.
“Hey, you should make me lunch sometime, and then I can make you some dessert or something! I’m not very good at baking but I think I’m pretty good at candy making, what kind do you like?” Ashido asked, picking another piece of food from the boxes splayed in front of them. Ochako snapped out of her daze and also took chopsticks in her hand to begin eating.
“I like chocolate; any kind, really. And strawberry flavored candy.” Ochako said before trying her creations for herself. It wasn’t really anything special, just basic bento box foods. But it still tasted good and she was hungry.
Ashido nodded and smiled at her. “Good choices!” She flashed a thumbs-up at Ochako. “So...this is probably really dumb to ask but why did you agree to go out with me? I didn’t think you were interested at all.” Ashido laughed, but it had a twinge of uncertainty to it. Ochako was surprised.
“Oh, um,” Ochako stumbled over her words. Did she want to say the truth? That she had basically always had interest in Ashido but knew everyone else thought she had interest in very different people and thus wanted to keep it a secret forever? “I mean, why did you ask me?” Maybe hearing Ashido’s reasoning would help her along.
“That’s no fair!” Ashido exclaimed before shoving more food in her mouth. She stretched her legs out and leaned back on her hands, now dangerously close to brushing her shoulder against Ochako’s. “I asked you first.” She pouted, her face so close to Ochako’s all she’d have to do is tilt her head forward and their noses would touch.
Ashido sighed and continued, “Okay, fine. So it first started when Yaomomo asked if I liked anyone when I was hanging out with her and Jirou, and at the time I couldn’t think of anyone because y’know I’m friends with so many people so I just kind of never thought about a particular person. Then when Jirou came back to our table she asked about you and it just kind of made sense? I don’t know if that makes any sense at all but it was kind of a eureka moment and then I just had to ask you out even though I thought you didn’t like me.” Ashido rambled on, barely taking a breath in between her sentences. “I’m not even sure what led me to this point, but all I know is I want to go on a lot of dates with you.” She threw more food in her mouth to avoid talking any further.
“Oh.” Ochako couldn’t think of anything else to say. Her cheeks that naturally were a slight pink now burned bright red and she pressed her fingers to them, lifting her thumbs away from her face. “I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
“You think it’s weird, don’t you!” Ashido jumped up. “Agh! Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No, it’s okay! I just wasn’t expecting it. I was really excited when you asked, I don’t think I ever would have been able to do it myself without you asking first.” Ochako was standing now too, though her summer dress stuck up at weird and awkward angles and she frantically smoothed the wrinkled fabric.
Ashido almost looked like she wanted to cry, but surged forward and wrapped her arms around Ochako’s back, pulling her close. “I’m so glad to hear that,” she whispered, so only Ochako could hear it.
“I’m glad you’re glad. And...um, I think your braid is really cute.” Ochako lifted a hand and separated the small bit of braided hair from the rest of the curly mess. Her fingers were tempted to brush further into the pink forest that smelled just faintly of sugary-sweet strawberry shampoo, but she flinched away.
Ashido must have noticed her abrupt movements, since she pulled her head away from where it had rested against Ochako’s shoulder. “Oh, that was Yaomomo’s idea. If you like it though I could wear it more…” She was looking directly at Ochako now, her eyebrows raised a bit. “Are you okay?”
Ochako nodded. “Yeah I’m just fine! Not used to this…”
“I get it.” Ashido laughed. “Do you want to take a walk?”
Ochako looked at the food that was spread on the blanket still. Ashido had eaten most of it, but Ochako was nearly full too. “Yeah, let me drop this all off in the fridge first.”
“I’ll wait!” Ashido grinned even as she stepped away from Ochako.
Ochako smiled back and started walking toward the dorm building. When she was out of sight from Ashido she squealed and jumped excitedly in place. It must have looked stupid and childish but it was the only way she could think to release the built up excitement that hadn’t been released yet. One person in particular that she really didn't want to see at this moment spotted her, Deku.
He tilted his head to the side and laughed. “What are you all excited about?” He stopped walking to address her. “It seems like some big news, right?”
“Did...did Kirishima-kun say anything to you?” she asked, her knees trembling.
Deku hesitated. “He might have. But that doesn't matter. You can still tell me directly, right?” His expression was impatient. He definitely knew, but he was being difficult.
“Fine, though apparently you already know.” She crossed her arms. “I'm on a date with Ashido-san, are you jealous, Deku-kun?”
Deku sputtered, “Oh my god, no! Uh, have fun, okay? And tell me how it goes.”
Ochako nodded. “Sure.”
He left as fast as he'd appeared. Of course he needed to butt into her business. Ochako had done it to him a few times too, so maybe it was fair, but that didn’t mean she appreciated it.
Ochako put the remainder of their meal in the dorm kitchen's fridge and stuck a note on it that read “Ashido's ❤” though once she wrote it, she realized how obvious it was that Ashido was not the one who made the note.
“Dammit, oh well,” she grunted and closed the fridge. If Kirishima and Deku already knew, then the rest of the entire school was bound to know within the next couple days. They couldn’t keep that sort of thing a secret to save their lives.
Nobody else saw her as she walked back to the blossoming tree that Ashido was waiting for her under.
“I hope I didn't make you wait too long, Deku-kun wanted to talk to me,” Ochako apologized.
Ashido shook her head. “It's no big! Let's go then?” She held her hand out for Ochako to take it. Though, every muscle in Ochako's body hesitated and tensed up.
“Um, are you sure? I don't want to, like, accidentally float you away.” She poked her index fingers together.
“It's fine, Ura, as long as you're happy with it.”
Ochako had never heard her name shortened like that before. It was unexpected but the addition of it was adorable, and Ochako quickly accepted it as a name to respond to.
The hand outstretched was tempting her. How nice it would be to have that, if the rest of this date continued to go well and Ashido stuck to her desire of going out with Ochako a lot. Eventually, Ochako nodded. “Okay.”
Ashido's hand slotted in hers, and Ochako carefully lifted the tip of her thumb away from Ashido's hand to be safe.
“Good?” Ashido asked and smiled at her.
“Yeah, it's good.”