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Honestly, despite the game being simple enough, Ochako wasn’t sure how she’d managed to get roped into a midnight game of chicken. Maybe it was her competitive nature or the fact that blowing off some steam sounded like fun, but now that she was supposed to climb onto Todoroki’s shoulders in the pool, she was seriously rethinking her life’s decisions.
It had been Mina’s idea to start a game night once a week. They didn’t have a lot of downtime together, but she had decided that they needed to fix that. Sure, they had classes, training, and worked together, but they rarely ever just had fun. Most people were either too exhausted or too busy to go out for a night, so she came up with the idea of having a game night. Whoever was free that night was free to join in if they wanted. It sometimes involved more people on one night than others and it varied who played, but it was fun.
After the third week, Ochako noticed that Todoroki stayed on the outskirts of the games whenever they played. He seemed interested and asked questions, sometimes he joined in if Sero or Kaminari bugged him enough, but for the most part, he appeared content to simply watching everyone play. Maybe he was exhausted. On top of interning under his father, he often worked out and trained on his own or with Bakugou, Deku, Iida, or Momo. He did look ready to fall asleep in whatever chair he curled up in by the end of the night.
The fourth week into their ritual, instead of the usual board game night in the dorms, Mina and Kaminari came up with the bright idea to go to the school’s pool instead. It was warm outside even after the sun went down, and they even managed to swing permission for them to use the pool for two hours. Of course, like before, it was under the guise of training, but this time, they’d actually have some fun. Iida might not approve, but…
They were here now, goofing around, and Ochako let herself get swayed by Mina’s excitement, so when one of her best friends exclaimed, “Let’s play chicken!” she agreed.
She hadn’t really been thinking about how that would involve her climbing on someone’s shoulders, just that she would need a partner. Her eyes scanned the group, but they inevitably fell on Todoroki, who sat on the edge of the pool with his legs in the water. He’d come, but he hadn’t done or said much since they got here. Again, she couldn’t help but think he looked curious but like he was also holding back.
Determined to get him involved, Ochako made her way toward him by bouncing in the water until finally she was floating in front of you. “You should join us!”
Todoroki smiled softly but shook his head. “I don’t know how to play chicken.”
“It’s easy,” Ochako insisted. “It’s just two teams of two, one person on their partner’s shoulders, fighting to knock the person on top in the water. You could go for the top person or try to knock the bottom person down.”
“Hm, so it’s strategic. The bottom person could choose to remain defensive or go on the offense and risk losing balance.”
Ochako gave him a thumbs up. “Exactly! And it’s silly.”
Todoroki considered their classmates as if assessing opponents. Sero and Kaminari were currently both trying to convince Mina to be their partner – a good choice since she had the best balance and the most muscle out of all the girls – while Deku was blushing and sputtering through Tooru’s enthusiastic insistence that they should be a team – also a good choice since it was hard to tell where her hands and feet were.
“Okay, I’ll play,” Todoroki decided.
“Awesome!”
“So do we go first since we’re the only decided team?” Todoroki asked.
Ochako blinked, the smile frozen on her face. “Eh?”
“I’m your partner, right?” Todoroki slid fully into the pool. Water brushed against her chest as he waded to stand beside her. “I know you can cancel my gravity, but I think it’d be better if you were on top.”
It was an innocent (and correct) statement, but Ochako still blushed. “Right, me, on top. Works for me!” Her voice was a little too high-pitched for her taste, but he either didn’t notice or didn’t care since he just nodded. All she’d planned on doing was trying to convince him to join in on the fun, not be her partner, but saying no would be rude and she did need a partner, so…
Time to buckle up.
In the end, Midoriya and Tooru went up first against Mina and Bakugou, who had stormed out of the bathroom and yelled her name across the pool. Both Kaminari and Sero were pouting since the other girls in their class had paired up already, which left them either as partners or out of the game entirely. It was a hard fought battle, one that was nearly ruined by Bakugou and Deku fighting each other, but in the end, Mina was stronger than Tooru and came out the winner.
Next up was Momo and Iida, an honestly comical pair. They were strong and incredibly balanced, which made it difficult for Mina, but Bakugou was more agile in the water than Iida. Once Bakugou hooked an ankle around the back of Iida’s leg and pulled, Momo went down in the water with a yelp, leaving them victorious once more.
Still, when Momo waded over toward her and Todoroki, she was smiling despite her hair being a mess. “I’ve never played a game like that before. It’s fun!” She held her hands together and nodded to them. “Good luck! Bakugou and Mina are a much better team than I anticipated.”
“We’ll be fine,” Todoroki said like it was nothing.
Momo beamed. “Yes! I feel like you and Uraraka make an excellent team.”
Did they? Ochako knew that Todoroki was strong, but she wasn’t sure what she had to offer. She supposed she was pretty strong too, but she wasn’t on Mina’s level of physicality. She’d been working out and stretching more to help with her agility in the air, but she still had a long way to go. Meanwhile, Todoroki was probably on par with Bakugou when it came to strength. Maybe Bakugou was more agile, but she felt like Todoroki was more balanced. It was hard to say.
A loud splash and subsequent cheering pulled Ochako out of her thoughts, and she looked ahead to find Kaminari and Sero sputtering in the water. Apparently, their match-up had not gone well either.
Mina threw her hands in the air and cheered, still propped on Bakugou’s shoulders, while Bakugou, still holding onto her legs, looked in their direction with a smirk and said, “You’re up, Icy Hot!”
Todoroki remained completely unperturbed as he swam in front of her. “You ready?”
“Uh, I guess so!” Ochako replied with a nervous laugh.
Again, he didn’t seem bothered. Instead, he took a deep breath and ducked under the water. After only a moment of hesitation, Ochako awkwardly clambered on top of him, hooking her legs around his neck. She jumped a little when she felt him grab onto her calves and then, like she was using her quirk on herself, he stood up with ease. Wobbling a bit as he lifted her out of the water, she grabbed his head, the only thing she could think to do, and took a moment to steady herself once he was standing upright.
“Wow, you’re tall,” Ochako blurted out, not knowing what else to say. Only her feet touched the water.
“I’m not as tall as my older brother,” Todoroki informed her. He swept his hair out of his face, brushing against her hand by accident. “You good?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” Ochako let go of his head and clenched her hands into fists, a wave of determination sweeping over her. “Let’s do this!”
When Todoroki pushed his way through the water to the middle of the pool, Mina winked at them. “Love you, girl, but you’re about to go down.”
“Prepare to get dunked!” Bakugou proclaimed.
Neither Todoroki nor Ochako rose to their taunts. He squeezed her legs, and she nodded. Any other time, that might’ve made her squeak, but now that she was in fight mode, she ignored it. She’d grown a lot since her first year at UA. No more blushing while a fight was happening. Sure, Bakugou and Mina were the undisputed champs right now, but that wouldn’t stop them. This was all about strength and balance. No quirks were allowed, so it was down to them.
Sato held up a hand. “Ready, set, go!”
The moment the game started, it was fucking on .
Ochako was slightly caught off guard by Todoroki’s speed, considering he was carrying her and standing in water up to his chest, but she easily balanced herself as she clashed with Mina. The two girls locked hands and pushed against each other. Mina had a smart strategy: instead of simply pushing back, she also moved side-to-side, forcing Ochako off balance and making her legs awkwardly push against Todoroki’s head and neck. It had to be a little painful.
Meanwhile, as expected, Bakugou proved to be just as offensive as he was defensive in a game of chicken. Taking advantage of Mina’s incredible balance and strength, he only held onto her with one hand while he moved to knock Todoroki off his feet and sink them both. It forced Todoroki to do the same in order to counter him, which left Ochako more vulnerable to Mina twisting her sideways. At one point, she felt Todoroki’s feet slip to the left, and she almost went down, but then she overcorrected them by leaning right and twisted Mina’s wrist.
“Not bad!” Mina teased. “No one else lasted this long!”
“That’s because they weren’t creative!” Ochako countered. She was shorter than all the other girls save for Tsu, but because Todoroki and Bakugou were fighting so closely together, she didn’t have to be.
Using her right leg that wasn’t being held by Todoroki, she kicked the water as hard as she could, splashing Bakugou in the face. It was only a second when he closed his eyes and spit the water out, but Todoroki seized advantage of that tiny moment of distraction, pulling one foot out from under him and knocking into his chest with his shoulder. When he started to fall backward, Ochako pushed against Mina with all her might, putting Bakugou off balance, and the two of them went crashing into the water.
“Good job!” Deku exclaimed from outside the pool. “You beat them!”
“Woohoo!” Ochako cheered, throwing up her arms and kicking out her legs.
She proved to be a little too enthusiastic in her win, pushing Todoroki off balance, and she fell backwards into the water while laughing. He fell under too, his feet slipping on the slick pool floor. For a moment, she stayed like that, floating under the water peacefully. She could hear the muffled cheers and laughter from above, but she didn’t move to go up just yet. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel Todoroki around her, one of his hands touching her thigh and another her side as he turned around.
All the nerves in her body lit up. She wanted to open her eyes and see him. It was probably a rather beautiful picture as he floated underwater with her, but unfortunately, the chlorine would not be as forgiving. Instead, she moved her feet underneath her to touch the ground and pushed herself above the water. Todoroki did as well, breathing out while she continued to laugh.
Laying a hand on his arm, Ochako calmed down and said, “Sorry ‘bout that. I got a little excited.”
“It’s fine.” He’d let go of her thigh, but she couldn’t help but notice that his hand was still on her side. It was kind of nice, especially since they were so close, but her cheeks did start to burn pink. He must’ve realized why she was blushing since his eyes glanced down and then he pulled away from her. “Ready for round two?”
Ochako looked behind them, her eyes widening when she saw Jirou sitting on Shoji’s shoulders. “We might need more luck this time around.”
Todoroki considered their opponents. “It wouldn’t be much of a win if it wasn’t hard to earn.”
“I don’t know,” Ochako said with a laugh. “I don’t mind easy wins sometimes.”
He shrugged. “I guess the most important part of this game is that we have fun.”
Ochako flashed him a grin. “Oh, I mean, I really like to win too.”
A fire lit up in Todoroki’s eyes. Sure, they were at a pretty severe disadvantage with Shoji, but that wasn’t going to stop them from at least trying to win. This time, when Todoroki ducked under the water, she didn’t hesitate to climb onto his shoulders. The second time wasn’t nearly so awkward, and they’d figured out a good balance between them. It was nice having someone as stable to hold her up when she was so used to floating on her own.