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U. A. Academy is one of the best schools for those seeking knighthood. All the best knights went there; even the famed King of Yuei, the Holy Knight All Might, attended the academy. Many heroes have graced its hallowed halls and it was Izuku Midoriya's wish that he too could one day be counted among the academy’s illustrious alumni. That is why on a cool day before winter became spring, Izuku stood on a boat that carried prospective U. A. students across a lake and to the school’s shores for an entrance exam. Strapped to his hip was the sword his mentor had given him. It was the key to Izuku’s future. As the boat docked and students disembarked, Izuku took his first steps towards becoming a knight.
Or rather, his first stumble. He immediately tripped walking down the ramp only to presumably land face-first onto the ground.
“Are you okay?” Izuku, also known by some as Deku, opened his eyes to see he was floating in the air. He squirmed, trying to stand upright on his own but his feet wouldn’t touch the ground. Next to him, a girl with brown hair and rosy cheeks giggled at his attempts. “I used my magic to stop you, I’m sorry I didn’t ask first. But I figured you wouldn’t mind me catching you.”
Even when she released him from her spell and his feet reconnected with the earth Izuku, felt like he was floating as she smiled warmly at him. She was heartbreakingly cute and clearly kind.
So when the entrance exam introduced a giant terrifying golem that towered over her, Deku couldn’t just sit by. He took his sword, given to him by the King of Yuei, himself, and used the magic it imbued him with to slice the monster to pieces.
If you asked him about it. Izuku would probably comment on how stupid he had been for rushing in without thinking and breaking most of his bones in the process. Maybe he would explain the feat he pulled off by saying that it was just automatic. He couldn’t have stopped himself from helping even if he tried.
But if you asked her, Ochaco Uraraka would say how that was the day she met her hero and the day that the bar to becoming a Holy Knight was set impossibly high.
~*~
Shoto Todoroki lived in isolation ever since he was a child. His father made sure of that. Any time someone wiggled their way past his walls, Shoto was burned. Sometimes by people whose only interest in him was due to his father or by people who only wanted the security of being close to someone with magic as powerful as his. Sometimes he was literally burned.
But Deku?
Izuku was different. Shoto hated it.
He was everything Shoto wasn’t, a child from a loving home with a father figure that supported him emotionally. While Shoto was the son of the grand duke and destined for greatness in his own right, it was clear Izuku was bound to become a Holy Knight with the power and strength he possessed.
Every time Shoto saw Izuku, smiling with his friends and trying his best, an intense emotion, a burning, grew in the pits of Shoto’s stomach. He wasn’t sure what to call this feeling. Jealousy? Hatred? The only way he could think to get rid of the burning was to beat Izuku. He would show the world and his father that Shoto was a knight not because of his father but by his own power.
That’s what he wanted to do but somewhere along the line; he must have lost sight of his goal.
“It’s yours! Your magic, not his!”
With those words alone, the fire burning inside him flared into an inferno. Allowing him to win his match in the tournament against Izuku.
Maybe it was after battling a crazed swordsman together in a back alley or saving his brother from a fan obsessed with the grand duke. But all the time he spent with Deku by his side, helped Shoto realize that this fire was a burning desire called love.
~*~
Ochaco noticed first but she was good at weeding out potential rivals. It was difficult for her though. How was she supposed to pretend like things were normal when she knew she and Shoto both had a crush on Izuku?
For Shoto, it took a bit longer to understand what was happening or how he felt about it. Every time he wanted to spend time with Izuku, suddenly Ochaco was there. It made sense at first as they were in the same class trying to become knights. It started to feel a bit much when she would even be beside Izuku outside of the academy.
They never vocalized anything when they declared war on each other but that was mostly for plausible deniability. You can’t disagree if you never talk in the first place. Some of their friends didn’t quite understand their rivalry.
“Why are you two fighting over Deku?”
It wasn’t easy to explain. It wasn’t like they hated each other. Shoto admired how hardworking and bright Ochaco was. Despite being in the Knight course she had a skill for supportive magic like no other. She was able to enchant all kinds of objects, and even people.
Ochaco counted Shoto among the coolest people she knew. Not every girl in the land could say they were friends with the handsome and powerful son of the grand duke.
The two of them fought side by side blades in hand. They cared for each other. They loved each other. But they also loved Deku and he could only be with one of them.
~*~
Ochaco covered her mouth and forced the bile rising in the back of her throat down. She had already thrown up once and all it had done was slow her down more. She grabbed her shield and lifted her bladed staff. Taking a shaky fighting stance she released a hundred stones and boulders from her floating spell. With her staff, she cut through and blasted the rocks, and with her shield, she blocked any of the falling or ricocheting debris. The rocks fell in waves the ones highest in the sky were harder to deal with as they had built up speed. The exercise aimed to break them before they hit the ground.
Using one of the boulders she cut in half as a springboard she jumped up into the air and made herself float. She sliced through the rocks and used her blasts to propel her higher and higher and higher and...
She gagged and doubled over. She tried to right herself but her head was spinning. That’s when one of the rocks hit her from behind. She tried to push it back up or slow it down but there was little she could do. Her struggles only increased the speed as her magic weakened.
She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth readying herself for impact or to be freed. Instead, she felt herself be dragged away and cradled in someone’s arms.
“Shoto?” She panted. Shoto had blasted himself forward with his ice magic and was now using an ice slide to gently carry the two of them back down away from the mess that was Ochaco’s training.
“You could have gotten yourself killed,” Shoto scolded once they were safely on the ground. Ochaco pulled away from him. She was about to respond but the vomit could no longer be held back and she threw up.
He sighed as she puked and helped her hold back her hair. When she started to dry heave, he sat her down and gave her some of his ice to suck on.
“I know why you are doing this but you can’t push yourself like this. This isn’t…” he looked at her. While she wasn’t at her highest at the moment, his eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the way her chocolate brown hair was pressed to her skin with sweat and the tan tunic she was wearing to train in was hanging off her a bit lose showing the slightest hint of cleavage. “This isn’t what he would have wanted.”
“I know that.” She sighed and glared at the ground. Ever since the big battle against the Dark Knight Order she had been a mess. So many people had died or were injured. While she and many others escaped with their lives it was hard to call it a victory. Worse yet since then, Izuku had run off only leaving a letter explaining that he was going to leave to protect everyone else. It all made her realize how weak she really was. She had to get better. Train harder. She wanted, no. She needed to be able to protect those she cared about.
“ I just…” she began but she couldn’t figure out exactly what she wanted.
“You want to be with him. You want him to rely on you more and be someone he can rely on.”
“Yes! Exactly!”
“I get it. I do, too. But we...we can’t help anyone if we push ourselves to exhaustion. We make better knights alive than dead, I think.”
“You, maybe. You are so strong Shoto and so powerful. You can stand by Izuku’s side and he does rely on you but for me? I will make a good knight one day but I don’t think I can be a holy knight like you two.”
“You are joking right?” Shoto asked and gestured to the mess of crushed rocks and sliced boulders before them. “I didn’t create this. You did. All on your own. Do not tell me you doubt yourself after everything you have done to get this far.” Shoto placed a hand on top of Ochaco’s.
“You’re a powerful force to be reckoned with, Ochaco.” Being as physically close as she was, she was able to see how tired Shoto looked. His skin was paler than usual and dark rings were forming under his eyes. Before she realized she was reaching out to touch his cheek.
For a moment neither of them could breathe. She retracted her hand and moved away from him. What am I doing? She shook her head to try and clear it. It was the stress of everything that was making her heartbeat quicker. Just like it had been the anger of seeing him with Izuku. They were rivals whom both wanted to be with Izuku and not each other. Right?
Shoto watched as Ochaco started panicking. It was cute. She was always cute. Was it smart for her to start shaking her head the way she was? No, but it wasn’t any less cute. He just wished Izuku was here. Izuku could comfort Ochaco in ways Shoto just couldn’t. If Izuku was here this whole situation wouldn't be happening in the first place. For good or for bad.
“I want to become someone who saves people and not just for Izuku’s sake but for mine, my family, and my people. I think the best way to do that might be to stay and adhere to his wishes.”
“But what if he gets hurt? What if he needs us now?” She looked over at Shoto who looked just as confused and hurt as she felt. She sighed. Either way, they would need to be able to beat the leader of the Dark Knight Order, Shigaraki, or any of its top members if they wished to fight alongside Izuku again.
“I want—no. I’m going to support Deku no matter what and however, I can.”
“I want to do that, too. I also want to support you, Ochaco.”
“Me? Why me? This all must be so hard on you as well. With everything that has brought to light about your family, you need support.” She felt a blush creeping onto her cheeks but she continued. “That’s it! I’ll support you, too. We can support each other and Deku.”
Shoto stared at her in amazement and for a moment Ochaco worried she had said the wrong thing.
“Are you sure you want to support me as well when you are already supporting Izuku?”
“Yes of course you are both very important to me. I love you two.”
Shoto smiled at her words and Ochaco began feeling flustered again.
“Then I, too, will support both of you.” Shoto took Ochaco’s hand, kneeled down on one knee, and kissed it gently. “I promise to stick by your side and make you happy. The both of you.”
Ochaco stood there. Speechless. Maybe it was because she had vomited everything she had eaten in the last 24 hours in less than two hours or the fact that she had been sweating enough to fill a tub. Or maybe one of the rocks had hit her in the head just a little too hard but she could not at all understand how she had gotten here.
Had Shoto just confessed to her? Had she accidentally confessed first? What about Izuku? But he said both. She had also said both. So was she now with both of them? Was that how this worked?
“Now we should get going. You have worked too hard and should rest a bit more and eat,” Shoto said as he stood and walked back towards the main dorms.
“Wait, Shoto! What did you mean by that? What was all that? Shoto? Shoto!”