Archive of Our Own

Life was hard for Ochako Uraraka. It had been approximately a month since war waged between heroes and villains, the fallout shaking the very core of society.

And Ochako wanted her friend back

Trust in heroes was lost, and the common folk began to defend themselves against criminals; and, in doing so, caused complete chaos for the rest of the city. Wrecked buildings, destroyed streets, crippled businesses — it was chaos. But to the students of UA, it felt like a fabrication.

The war caused heavy tolls on everyone mentally and physically, and Tartarus, the most secure prison in Japan, had dozens of high profile villains, including All For One break out. The school decided it wasn’t only best for the safety of the students but necessary so they could process the traumas they had just experienced from fighting the Paranormal Liberation Front, to forbid them from leaving the campus. To also help ease the families of the students, they further constructed dorms and temporary living areas for students' families to stay and regular citizens to provide safety.

So the only way the young heroes knew anything had changed was from first-hand experience and the media showing footage of the outside world, which was resembling an apocalyptic wasteland more and more every day. It frightened them certainly but it also emboldened them. Being the heroes these students were, they desired nothing more than to get off the campus and help. They just desired the ability to help. But UA would not allow it. From their perspective, they may not only be able to perform well, especially for students, but this was a completely new situation that many pros weren’t even well equipped to deal with.

But the desire to get out there burned into their hearts, even more so especially for the class of 1A.

Every student had been locked down to the campus, except for one. Their dear comrade, classmate, and friend.

Izuku Midoriya.

After the fallout against the PLF, it was revealed to class 1A that Deku’s quirk was actually named One For All, a quirk diametrically opposed to All For One, and it was passed along to him by All Might, and it was the key to taking down Shigaraki and All For One, which made the villains want it. With them able to track his quirk, Deku was no longer hidden from them, and in order to ensure the safety of his friends that he cared so deeply about, he left UA to team up with the top pros, capture all the Tartarus escapees, and take down All For One.

They may not be as passionate to get him to return if they didn’t see every couple nights on media channels, Deku, battling villains, and every time he appeared on the news, he looked worse and worse. His hair turned greasy and speckled with dirt, bandages permanently wrapped around his arms, bags formed under his eyes, the light in his eyes slowly faded. That once bright smile that lit up the classroom for every student disappeared. His costume was being ripped to shreds, his gloves looked more like claws, his iron soles looking less like boots and more like battered feet, his hood soon was marked with tears and rips, the friendly costume he based off All Might soon took on the appearance of a demon, which soon became his name.

The Demon of Musutafu city.

It hurt his classmates to see him this way, to be treated so harshly by the media. As a demon, something to fear.

‘Looking at him, you’d never guess he was a hero.’ A quote by a new anchor as they described the appearance of a new hero onthe scene, striking fear into the hearts of criminals and suggesting this being the newest style of heroes. Not friendly or kind but scary. He had analyzed it so poorly. This was not the new trend of a new society. This was the extreme personification of the crumbling society behind them. Deku had shouldered the burden of this society and he was being turned into a reflection of it.

They would describe him as some sort of protective monster over the city, as if he was this omnipotent being, but his classmates knew better. They knew the kind soul underneath, buried by expectations to fix all this himself. They were the only ones who saw the boy inside, just desperate to smile again, to see people feel safe, to be with his friends again without fear of a villain attacking them. They knew Izuku Midoriya was drowning in his own mission to bring things back to normal. After a couple weeks of tracking reports of the young man, the class was further mortified to realize that he seemed to be going days without sleep, or any sort of rest. Due to the time in between reports, the consistency of schedule they were developing, and a little bit of prying information out of All Might by Bakugou, they learned of his ruthless schedule. They also learned from All Might he was neglecting his health, as he refused first aid and food, asserting he was fine and telling All Might not to worry.

Class 1A knew he wasn’t, and this caused them a great deal of stress, none more so than his closest friend, Ochako Uraraka. Every time she saw him on the news, her heart hurt, seeing the boy running himself rampant, her closest friend, suffering in a displayed silence. Attempting to be a hero when this society was short on them.

‘No one should go through this. He’s going through hell on a daily basis, all to make things okay for a society that talks more of his negatives than his positives. He’s just a kid.’ Daily thoughts of him became the norm for her and Class 1A, struggling to see their friend go through so much.

She just wanted to see him smile again, to hear his voice, to see him light up a room, to hear him mumble about a quirk or homework assignment. She just wanted him back. Seeing the boy so far away face unparalleled levels of danger and stress only fanned the flames in her heart that burned for him. Being away from him for so long only caused harder and harder tugs on the strings of her heart each day.

He needs someone to save him.

But after multiple begging sessions by Class 1A with the school going nowhere on the issue, the young heroes more or less resigned to their lives. They continued training, they studied, and also started helping out with the citizens now seeking sanctuary at UA, but they still thought about their friend often. They saw him on the news and felt bad, but knew they would have to face major consequences for sneaking out.

But for a certain girl, the balance between not wanting to get in trouble, and wanting to help her friend tipped slowly away from trouble and further towards her friend each day. The dam was close to breaking.

The news was the final crack.

It was any other normal night for the students, most of them sitting in the lounge, a few resigned for the night, some in the kitchen area. They chatted, had fun conversations, talked about homework, cracked jokes. All the while the news was playing in the background. They didn’t pay attention to it much, unless of course their friend showed up. None of them enjoyed seeing him on, but they felt compelled to watch if he was on due to worry for his safety.

Ochako sat on a couch next to Tsu and Mina, having some girl talk as all 6 women were there. Some boys sat on a second couch and pair of chairs a couple meters away, having their own conversations. Todoroki sat on a single chair opposite the boy's couch reading. Iida was making sure no one got into any trouble, acting as a hall monitor or an RA for UA, observing the whole scene in general while interacting with a little bit of everyone. A few boys were in the kitchen enjoying a late snack or helping Sato with a new dessert recipe he wanted to try.

Then, green electricity flickered onto the TV screen, all the girls stopping their conversation as they saw it. “Guys! Come over here. Midoriya’s on screen.” Jirou proclaimed as suddenly the rest of the boys in earshot dropped what they were doing and rushed to the TV.

They all grouped up and watched a familiar scene.

Rain pouring. Deku, standing against a big villain, who appeared to be destroying a building. Nearly the whole class watched as he darted at the villain, beginning their conflict. Due to the huge stature of the villain, him looking like he was two meters or taller, weighing at least 130 kilos, Deku first attempted to wrap up his legs and knock him over. He quickly strung some high tensile rope around the villain as he zoomed around him and pulled it tight, but the villain was far stronger than he looked, ripping the rope apart with his bare hands. His quirk must have been some sort of strength enhancer. Muscles soon poked out of his skin and wrapped themselves around his entire body. Deku then rocketed at the villain, this time going for an overhead kick, as he flew his iron soles downwards, the villain narrowly dodged the foot, getting hit with a couple pieces of debris.

Some of his classmates only watched initially, not wanting to see any more, turning around and heading back to their original activity. They had seen the scenario a hundred times before, it felt like it was a rerun. Deku challenges a big villain, they go back and forth whether or not they hit, then Deku takes them out. It was nothing new. This time however something else happened.

Preparing to end the fight, Deku jumped onto the side of a building to gain some force then jumped down towards the ground where he would land then launch himself at the villain to punch his lights out. This time however, when Deku landed on the street, he faltered, his footing must have been bad, especially in the rain. However he did not stop his launch, too late to eject from it, and ended up more slowly flying at the villain.

This surprised most of the class.

They’d never seen Deku lose his footing as of recently, even in the slippery rain. What happened? Was he losing grip in his iron soles? They were extremely worn and in dire need of repairs. But that couldn’t have been it. The class knew that his soles were designed specifically by Hatsume to not be able to lose traction.

What came next though stopped all thoughts of what caused their friend to lose their footing and turned their focus back to him. With Deku so much slower, the villain timed his attack and stepped into a monster punch straight to Deku’s face. The entirety of the viewers audibly gasped, having never seen Deku take a hit since leaving UA, and especially not one so brutal.

Deku went flying into a wall where he smacked into bricks, an audible cry of pain reaching into each of the class members' stomachs and leaving a bad feeling. The wall formed cracks from getting hit so hard, and he then face planted. The students who had left to resume their other activities came back to see what the commotion was and were in shock to see their friend laying on the ground.

Ochako’s heart crunched as she saw him fall to the ground. It was so painful seeing him get hurt, especially in an already terrible state. He didn’t deserve this.

He slowly got up, staggering to his feet as he turned to face the villain and they saw for the first time in forever what looked like damage inflicted to Deku besides fatigue and not taking care of yourself.

His mask was cracked. The villain hit hard enough to crack his mask. Worry coursed through his classmates as for once they actually feared a villain may be able to take him down. Lucky for them though, Deku seemed to wake up. Before he looked tired and sluggish even with his speed. As if he hadn’t rested for a while, something they knew for a fact he was doing .

Deku suddenly shot at the villain faster than bc before, he unleashed an onslaught of punches and kicks, dancing around the villain, dodging all his attacks. And suddenly in what was less than a few moments, the villain dropped to the ground in pain, going unconscious from the hits. Deku then quickly tied him up and whisked off into the night, surely to find more criminals to face down.

After he left, Iida grabbed the remote and shut the television off, practically reading everyone's minds as for the first time in a while most felt unable to see Deku in another engagement. “I think that’s more than enough for tonight.” Iida said as he moved in front of the TV to get all their attention.

“We should turn in. I can’t force you and I don’t know about how you all feel but after seeing that I don’t feel like doing anything else but sleeping.” Iida added on. A few nodded and stood up while others stayed seated, still processing what had happened.

Ochako was the first to speak after Iida’s recommendation. “It’s not fair.” The students who had stood to turn in froze for a moment as they heard her words.

“I know right? I mean he’s out there practically 24/7, destroying himself to try and make things better, and no one is intervening! The pros are just watching him slowly kill himself and they’re doing nothing.” Kaminari added on to hers. He crossed his arms in annoyance as he complained about the circumstances of their broccoli hair friend.

Nods all around as they all agreed with the two on the situation. “We should be out there, if not helping we should at least be able to bring him back. He should be able to relax and feel safe just like any of us.” Ochako continued, getting carried away with the agreement and suggesting something they all knew wasn’t allowed.

Before anyone else could react, Iida quickly stepped in again. “Uraraka, I feel I must remind you we have been forbidden to step off the grounds of UA, we must respect the rules no matter how much we disagree with them!” He said while furiously chopping at her.

“I knowwwwwww.” Ochako pouted while sinking into the couch. “But he needs help, just look at him tonight, he actually got hurt tonight. We’ve seen no indication things are getting better so Deku is only going to continue this mission and only get worse. What if something worse happens? What if he gets seriously hurt, or… or….” She trailed off, a lump forming in her throat, not wanting to even say the words in her head, fearing saying it may somehow make it more likely. Her head clouded for a moment with thoughts of losing her best friends rushing in. She started to spiral quickly before a timely intervention from a friend.

A hand was placed on her shoulder and she followed it up to see Iida looking down at her. “I don’t like this any more than you do. But we cannot intervene. We must respect the rules of UA.” Ochako glumly nodded along as conversation died from there, the students cleaned up the lounge and everyone resigned themselves to a bed, her included.

But as she climbed in bed, she wrestled for half an hour with thoughts of losing her best friend, desperately trying to shove them out. But to no success, this continued until she shot up from her bed and decided to distract herself.

‘I’ll go get my suit from the dryer and put it in my locker. We have hero training early tomorrow morning. I should make sure I’m prepared.’

She lifted herself up from her bed and exited her dorm, moseying her way to the laundry room on her floor. She went to the far corner of the laundry room and saw her assigned dryer had finished its job. Initially being lazy and deciding to get it in the morning, now on the way back after needing a distraction from her thoughts, she opened the dryer and grabbed a laundry basket, and began dragging clothes out of the dryer and into her basket. She saw the last article of clothing, her costume, she dragged it out and held it up, glad to see the dirt and mud from today’s training had fully washed away. Then suddenly something fell out of her costume and onto the floor, she set her costume in her basket and looked down at the suspicious item in question.

It was the All Might keychain she had received at the Christmas gift exchange. She picked it up and quickly examined it for any damages, an obvious gift from a boy she longed for. She stood still for a moment, staring at the gift she had kept on her person at almost all times, then down to her costume in the basket.

‘Who saves the heroes when they’re in danger?’

Ochako grabbed her basket and made a dash to her room, dropping off her clothes and picking up her hero suit, then making a dash to the locker room for her gear. She quickly suited up, tucking away her keychain, and dashed out of the locker room and into the open. She scanned around quickly for a certain tree, and found her opening.

When they were first forbidden from leaving UA to help, Ochako began to study the camera system of UA to find an opening to sneak out, and she did. A blind spot in the system, with an easy marker of a tree curved nearly like a C. She dashed to it and quickly touched five fingers to herself, and jumped. She then floated over the UA barrier wall, and released once before making herself float once more just before impact and landing. From there, she grabbed her phone out of her pocket and checked the data that Class 1A had collected on Deku.

They knew he was usually in a routine with his work, patrolling certain areas on specific days. She saw that on today, a Wednesday, he was usually patrolling the southwest side of Musutafu, the clear opposite end of the city from UA, she sighed and plugged headphones she borrowed from Jirou, and switched to an app that played the news, she would listen and try and find out where he was from that and track him down. She then ran into the forest surrounding UA, off to find her friend.

A couple hours later, on a rooftop of an apartment building, stood the Demon of Musutafu city. He didn’t quite like the name as it wasn’t exactly something that made people smile but he could not deny his uniform currently being more representative of a demon. He was roughed up, that he couldn’t deny.

Izuku was taking a quick five minute break before resuming his patrol. He listened to heavy metal music through earbuds on full blast to keep himself as alert as possible. He leaned against the edge of the roof, not daring to sit down, knowing if he did sleep would almost certainly envelop him. He had his hood and mask off so the ice cold rain could hit him awake. He had to stay awake somehow, he certainly didn’t want to go on these day long patrols, but what other choice did he have. There were still at least 6 other Tartarus escapees out and about, he had no idea the location of Shigaraki or AFO, and crime was at its peak in years. He had no option but to keep going, to keep fighting. To keep pushing. Otherwise what he wanted would never come to fruition.

He stared down at his phone, admiring a selfie of him, Uraraka, and Iida. He smiled on the inside remembering the fun times the trio had together. Whether it be during class or training he could always count on them for some fun. He then zoomed in on Uraraka’s face, taking in each detail of her beautiful smile and her chocolate brown eyes. Memories flooded him of all their interactions, from the beginning, to most recent when he saw her before the war broke out.

He remembered everything she’s done for him, a long list, and a smile forced its way onto his face. She had done so much for him. And he had done so little to help her. He had to at least do this for her. AFO wants him, there’s no chance he can endanger her or any of his classmates. He had to do this alone. Maybe then, once this was all finally over, just maybe, he could stand by her, a good friend, who had helped her out when she needed it for once. Maybe he could no longer be the useless Deku who wasn’t good enough to stop Shigaraki from hurting all his friends. Maybe he could hope to compare to the awesome Froppy, the incredible Ingenium, or the amazing Uravity.

It had been so long since he talked to her. Since he talked to anyone in Class 1A. He so badly wanted to see them again, to smile with them again, to laugh with them again. In order to do that he had to take down AFO. In order to smile again with his friends, in order to prove he could be worth something to them. He had to succeed.

He squeezed his chest as he felt his heart burn while looking over her again and again in the photo. He knew of this feeling, not how to deal with it but he knew of it. It was no surprise he developed this. She was amazing in every way. Easily on her way to becoming a great hero if not one of the greatest. She was sweeter than chocolate and showed a desire to help that few could rival. Not to mention she was beautiful. Like looking at a dream. He had a habit of falling for people out of his league. Happened in grade school, middle school, now high school. Of course those two girls were nowhere near as amazing as Ochako, and yet all the same he was rejected by both of them, so what chance did he have with her? He wished he had a chance with her. But why would Ochako Uraraka ever settle for plain old Deku, the idea of his feelings for her would probably be an embarrassment and annoyance to her, knowing only far better prospects were worth her time. He resolved to let his feelings suffer in silence, never to come out. He didn’t want to burden Uraraka with the feelings of someone as pathetic as him.

So all he could do was focus on getting back to smiling with her, maybe he could be content with that. Being a friend who she smiled with. A friend that wanted to hug her and kiss her and tell her how amazing she was constantly. A friend that wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms and just forget everything else exists. Yeah he could totally be content with that.

Cursing himself as he saw he went over his break by two minutes. He knew better. He barely deserved breaks as is. Deku quickly shoved his phone into his backpack and put on his gloves, hood, and mask. They were soaked from the rain and that’s how he liked it, it was hard to sleep when you’re semi uncomfortable, even if he was very tired. He felt the damage of the mask, cracked on the left side almost the whole way down, a consequence of falling asleep on the job, a mistake he would not make again. That punch hurt, he could feel his left eye swollen shut from it. He had to be careful tonight, he was already tired and uncomfortable and a loss of an eye wasn’t helping.

Deku climbed on the edge of the rooftop and activated his quirk once more, zooming across buildings, on the hunt for criminals. The patrol went on for about 15 more minutes until he heard glass shatter. He slid to a halt on the roof he was on and quickly scanned the street below then saw three men running from the broken window of a jewelry store two duffel bags overflowing with valuables and a man without a duffel bag holding a few necklaces, he activated his quirk once again and zipped ahead of the building above them as they continued their run, he then jumped down in front of them, grinding them to a halt.

“Oh shit!” Yelled one of the guys as they saw Deku appear out of nowhere. One of the men looked scared, another confused as if he had seen Deku before, and one looking angered.

Before anything else could happen, Deku rushed the middle one, going for a quick jab looking to end this quickly, but before he could the man vanished in front of him in the blink of an eye. His danger sense then suddenly alerted him to a presence directly behind him, he ducked as he saw a fist go over his head and grabbed onto the man's arm. ‘Some sort of short range teleportation quirk?’

He then threw the man over his shoulder and sent him skidding across the street, but not before his danger sense picked up again. He jumped this time out of the way as he felt something fast moving toward him. Then in an instant pain shot through his arm as he felt like he had just been stabbed in his forearm. He fell to the ground unable to completely cope with the pain.

He couldn’t react quickly enough from danger sense. That never happens. He looked down to his forearm to see what hit him and his blood ran cold. Sticking out of his arm was a quirk erasing bullet.

“Man I knew we should’ve gotten the permanent bullet, I just recognized that guy! He’s the Demon of Musutafu city!” One of the men shouted at the other man holding the gun. How did Deku not notice the gun? He's slipping.

“Relax! Five minute bullets were all we could afford within reason, and it’s all we need to beat the hell out of this so-called demon!”

Deku thanked All Might for it only being temporary. He grabbed the bullet and picked it out of his arm and dropped it to the floor. He only had to last five minutes. Easy enough. Just then as he turned to face them, incredible fatigue hit him. Like all the pain of the day came hitting him in an instant. It was then he realized how much he was relying on his quirk to keep him going and steady.

The third man had rejoined his partners as they all charged at Deku simultaneously. This wasn’t going to be good.

The first man swung wildly at Deku. Using the move he had learned from staring probably too long at someone he holds dear to his art, Deku pivoted the swing and gave a mean left hook to the man, sending him to the ground out cold. He then jumped out of the way of the second man's hit. Deku then grabbed onto him and shoved him into the third as he did his best to keep it a one versus one.

He could do this.

He had this.

Then out of nowhere, he was sucker punched from his right. Izuku fell to the ground as his head throbbed from the hit. He looked over to see it was the man he sent to the ground who hit him from nowhere. Deku was sure he knocked him out. He was certainly strong enough to do so. He could lift All Might without the use of a quirk, how could he not knock him out? The fatigue. He must be too weak to punch hard enough. He soon realized the serious disadvantage he was at not being able to knock them out without way more work than anticipated.

Before he could get up he was kicked in the back by one of the three men, and they suddenly all started beating him. As blows landed, Dekus vision started fading, he was passing out from pain and exhaustion.

‘This can’t be how it ends.’ Deku tried to move but between the blows and his exhaustion all he could do was cover his head and body as much as possible.

He was going to be killed.

Deku couldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t. All that training. That time. Spent on him. Wasted. He had to defeat AFO. He had to. How else would he earn the ability to be friends with his amazing classmates again. But Deku couldn’t fight as his vision blurred further.

“Gunhead Martial Arts!” someone screamed.

His eyes shot open as he heard the voice, a familiar one. He then heard blows being exchanged, and a girl grunting. He mustered the strength to push himself into a sitting position and looked up to see her.

Uraraka.

She had quickly disposed of the three men, lying in a pile around her.

She then turned to him and worry flooded her face. She ran over to him and bent her knees, offering a hand. “Deku are you okay?” She asked, the worry in her voice clamping on his heart. Deku was in shock.

She was here.

Why was she here?

She was actually worried about him. The realization made his heart soar while at the same time feeling like it was further knotted. They’re still worrying over him. She still is. He hasn’t fulfilled his duty yet. Deku mentally cursed himself, he was too pathetic to take on three criminals by himself and had to once again be saved by the most beautiful and capable girl in the world. He was such a damsel in distress.

“Why?” Was all Deku could get out, still stunned she was here at all.

“We’re worried about you Deku. We’ve been watching you on the news the past month, you look like you’re getting worse. We weren’t supposed to leave the grounds, but when I saw you get hit by that villain earlier tonight, I just… I couldn’t…” her voice started shaking and she started struggling to get out the words.

‘I’m doing this to her.’ Deku thought as he saw her with such a sad look on her face. That’s not what he wanted. He had to get away from her. Her being here near him was putting her at risk to get hurt by All For One. It was hurting her. And that hurt him. He had to move. Deku forced himself to move, battling against every bone in his body to just stay down.

“I’m fine. You shouldn't've come. I’m okay.” Deku wheezed out as he coughed a bit from getting kicked in the chest so much.

“Yeah I could tell you were fine by the way you were letting those guys beat you up. Deku, if I wasn’t here, who knows what would’ve happened. You could’ve… you could’ve died.” She said, struggling the last bit out. There was a moment of silence before she resumed. “Come back to UA, your friends miss you, your classmates miss you, even Bakugou misses you. And you clearly need the rest. You’re killing yourself out here.” She had to be lying. There was no way any of them would want to see him. He had failed to take down Shigaraki when they fought. Everyone else did everything they could to take down the villains but in the end Deku wasn’t good enough to finish it. They must hate him. All of this was his fault.

This was bad. He had to get away from her. He missed her so much. He just wanted to hug her. To go back with her. To see his friends again. To apologize to them all. He just wanted to feel like he could smile without burden again.

But he couldn’t. Not with AFO planning his next move.

“I’m sorry. I can’t go back. I have to stop AFO.” Deku said while turning around, ready to walk away.

“Deku, you’re coming back to UA whether you want to or not. You made your decision a month ago, now I'm making mine. You're getting a full night's rest and a bath. God, you look and smell like death.” She said as she eyed him up and down, waving her nose as she realized his stench.

He hated hearing that from her. It was true but it still stung. Not knowing what to do. Deku took off. He had to get away from her. He had to.

“Wait, Deku!” Ochako shouted as he heard heels start to click behind him, indicating a chase.

He quickly made his way onto the sidewalk and then darted down a nearby alley, knocking over trash cans and junk to slow her down. He knew he couldn’t outrun her without his quirk in this state. He was too tired. So he had to be away for long enough for his quirk to come back. He dashed for a ladder connecting him to a rooftop. He began his quick climb and only halfway through did he realize his mistake. He looked back to see Ochako make herself float and jump at him. He couldn’t let her touch him. It was all over if she did. He doubled his speed on the ladder and flung himself over the top, Ochako missing his foot by a hair.

He then began to run across the roof, doing everything he could to get away. He heard her quickly behind him. He was running out of options.

“Deku please! Let’s talk about this!” Ochako shouted as the chase continued.

He wanted to talk about it so bad. He just wanted to stop and talk to her forever. To apologize for all the trouble he’s caused her and his classmates. To gaze into her eyes and get lost. But he couldn’t have that. He didn’t deserve it. Not after his failures, and not at least until he remedied them.

Caught daydreaming about her, Deku tripped on a cord stumbling forward and over a ledge. He started a free fall to the ground. He still felt no quirk within him. He braced for impact, closing his eyes. But before he could hit the ground Ochako got her fingers onto him and they both floated, she grabbed his hand and held tight as she then released them.

They laid there on the ground for a second before she quickly got up, pulling him up like he was weightless. A moment of silence was shared between them as she lifted his hood off him and lowered his mask, a bit more sadness entering her as she saw his black eye. He averted his eyes, daring not to look into hers. He couldn’t stand to see her this way. To see how badly he was worrying her. He had to get better. He still wasn’t good enough for any of them.

“Deku, please! You have to listen! Look at yourself. You’re dying! You nearly died today! What would…. would Class 1A do without you?” She asked, hesitation in her question as if reconsidering her words.

“It’ll be okay. I’m calling it for tonight. I’ll get plenty of rest and then I’ll continue. I’m going to be fine.” Deku pleaded with her.

“No, you won’t! How can you not see that?! I’m taking you back to UA right now!” She proclaimed.

Without many options, Deku looked down at their hands, he wanted to be like this forever, holding her hands, even through his gloves they felt so soft. He didn’t deserve this. He had to get away. He jerked his hands loose and stepped back, getting into a fighting pose. He put his hood back on and reattached his mask.

“I can’t go back Uraraka, not yet. I need to take down AFO first. I’m not good enough. I need to get stronger so I can be worthy of seeing you all again. Don’t make me do this.” Deku said as he did his best to not cry. She was the last person he ever wanted to fight. But what choice did he have?

“You’re gonna fight me Deku?” Ochako asked, her voice filled with heartbreak. It hurt so bad to see her friend come to this. To fight her instead of just taking a break. She could only imagine what he was thinking as he stood there, on the edge of death, ready to fight again. Did he really not believe he deserved a break? That he wasn’t enough? She just wanted to hug him and reassure him. To tell him he was wrong. He seems like he has some idea that he's wronged his class and this is some sort of atonement. She just wanted to make him see what she saw. Each word was like a dagger in Deku’s heart and it took everything in him to hold back tears but he had no choice. He had to fight her. So that he could protect her. So that he could redeem himself and become enough.

“I’m out of options.” Deku replied, Ochako got into her own stance and waited. She was not going to fight him if she didn’t have to.

‘Please, forgive me Uraraka.”

Deku swung first, hoping to finish this quickly, he wanted so badly not to hurt her. But he had to get out of here. He had to get away from her before he broke down and let her take him home. If he did, he would never be enough. He would always know that he failed his friends when they needed him most, and they would too.

Ochako pivoted, grabbed him by the neck and wrist, then with all her weight slammed him down into the ground. She then pinned him and sat on his stomach. He truly didn’t realize how weak he was until she took him down in literally one move. He could barely even budge under her body weight which wasn’t exactly a heavy load.

He then realized how close she was as she leaned down and got in his face, and how she was literally on top of him. He thanked All Might once again that he had a hood and mask on to hide his completely red face.

“Deku! I just took you down in less than a second! You’ve never lost that quickly in a fight! How many times do I have to explain it?! You’re killing yourself! It’s only a matter of time before a villain gets the better of you! You have to rest!” Ochako practically shouted at him.

Deku stayed silent, doing his best not to give in.

“Deku, you may have special powers but that doesn’t make you this special person. You don’t have to do everything on your own. We’re all heroes, we can shoulder the burden together. I know you want to make things better, I can see that you want to so badly, you’re trying so hard, but the way you’re doing it is only going to get yourself killed! You have this idea that you’ve hurt us somehow. Or this idea that you’re not good enough. Why?!” Ochako practically begged, trying to understand what was driving her friend to torture himself so.

Deku was struggling as he heard her kind words, he was feeling more and more urged to go back, but he still hadn’t taken down AFO, they weren’t safe. He wasn’t enough.

“I failed to stop Shigaraki! If I hadn’t failed none of this would’ve happened! You guys did so much that day, and I failed you. My efforts weren’t enough. I wasn’t enough. ” Deku relented, dragging his eyes away from her as shame fumed in him. It hurt to have to bear his sins in front of her, facing his failures.

“Deku. Just because you couldn’t stop him doesn’t mean you’re not good enough. You didn’t fail us. You did your best and that’s all we can ask from you. And that day your best wasn’t good enough. That’s ok. That doesn’t mean you have to never sleep and not take care of yourself. That you have to go it alone on this mission to stop them. You have to let us help you. You’ve done more than enough.” Ochako held back tears as she heard his beliefs. She couldn’t believe he thought that of himself. He was so amazing but he viewed himself as if he was below dirt. The boy who had saved her and helped her countless times was in need of saving now. She wasn’t going to let him slip away from her.

At that moment, Deku was on the edge, he could feel himself about to give in. He was so tired, he was so uncomfortable, he was moments from passing out if he didn’t stand up soon. He wanted a break so bad. He could see his friends, he could apologize, he could talk to her more. Before he could give in finally and say okay, green sparks appeared.

“I haven’t done enough.” He said quickly.

Deku shoved Ochako off him. He then jumped to his feet and turned away from the girl ready to run. He cringed as heard behind him Ochako cry in pain as she got smacked into a wall from his shove. He cursed himself as tears now flooded his eyes, he hurt her. How could he do that to her? She was his best friend and just wanted him to come back and he hurt her. He was pathetic. He was unworthy of her, unworthy of his friends, unworthy of having feelings for her.

“Forgive me Uraraka! I’m not good enough to stand beside you all yet!” He shouted as he jumped onto a rooftop, and proceeded to collapse. He was at his limit, his quirk deactivated and his face smushed against the ground as he panted for breath. At least Ochako would think he was gone. She could go back to UA and be with people deserving of her time. He appreciated her kind words, but he shoved them away. He had a mission. He may be pathetic but he could still try.

Ochako jumped up and ran to the center of the alleyway they were in and shouted desperately “Deku! Please! Come back!” All he could do was cry and listen as she begged for him to come back. He wanted to so badly. To just run up to her and comfort her. To forget about everything else and hold her tight. But he couldn’t.

Realizing the direness of the situation Ochako took her last stand. “Deku, please I know you want this to end so badly, so please just end it, come back. Please.” She said, tears forming in her eyes. If she didn’t get him back now she would have to go back to UA and most likely get suspended. It was already 2 in the morning and she felt tired, and most likely wouldn’t find him the rest of the night. It had to be here.

“I know you don’t think this Deku, I can see it clearly, but you just have to realize it Deku. You’re enough. I promise you, you’re enough. You’re so amazing and strong. You’ve helped me out so much and it hurts so much to see you think this way about yourself. You’re not a worthless Deku who Bakugou bullied. You never were. You’re the Deku who is enough! You’re the Deku who’s done more than enough! You deserve to rest!” Ochako cried, tears streaming down her face as she fought what felt like a losing battle.

Her words destroyed him. He didn’t know it but it was the words he’d needed to hear for so long. Of being enough, of being adequate, of being worth it.

Ochako fell to her knees as she cried further, still not getting a sign of him returning. It wasn’t working. She had to try something new. She felt it in herself as she knew the only destination Deku’s current road led. She had to save him now or else she would lose him forever.

“Well if you can’t think about yourself, then please think about me!” Ochako shouted, ready to put everything down so she could have her friend back. If she had to let everything out in to the open to get him back, then she didn’t have any other choice.

Her words took him off guard.

What does she mean?

“Deku, I need you. Please! I can’t lose you! I still have to tell you something! Something I’ve had to get off my chest! I thought I could push it down, but it only made it so much harder!” Ochaco cried as she never felt more desperate.

What did she mean? What did she have to tell him?

“Deku, I need you because I love you! Please! I love you Izuku Midoriya! I love you so much it hurts! I can’t bear to watch you hurt yourself any more than you already have! My heart can’t take it!” Ochako begged as she let everything out. She grabbed at her heart, feeling it twist and ache in pain as she felt him fading from her.

She loved him? Never in a million years would he think that a possibility.

She loved him. And he was hurting her. Deku couldn’t believe how selfish he was being as everything clicked. Her kind words finally reached him as her love tore down the final walls surrounding his heart. The guards he’s put up melted away.

She loved him.

And he loved her too.

He didn’t care anymore. He didn’t care about the villains, he didn’t care about AFO. All that mattered was the girl he loved was crying. And he isn’t right there to comfort her. Deku forced himself to stand. He willed against his body screaming for a break. It would get it. He just needs the tiniest bit more. He activated his quirk and jumped off the roof, tumbling into the ground in front of her. She looked up from the ground to see him lying in a pile.

“Deku!” Ochako jumped to her feet and ran to him, she scooped his head and laid him on her lap.

“I’m so sorry… I did such horrible things. Forgive me, Uraraka.” He weakly squeaked out as he looked up into her chocolate eyes.

“I do! I forgive you!” She said as tears of joy now streamed down her face. She pulled him in tight to a hug and refused to let go. She had succeeded.

She got her friend back.

“Thank you so much Uraraka, you’re so kind, I’ve never felt so blessed than when you just talked to me.” He smiled as she continued worrying over him. She was so cute.

She smiled as she released him from her hug and looked down at him. “I was just being honest. You’re enough.” She said as she removed his hood and mask so she could see his face. She saw tears fall from him, only encouraging her to cry more. He looked like he was in so much pain. But she was going to help him. Now that he finally let her.

“Hey, U-Uraraka?” Deku asked weakly, on the verge of passing out.

“Yes Deku?” She looked at him, worry taking over again as she assumed the worst. She couldn’t be blamed however as he looked on the verge of death.

“There’s something I need to tell you too.”

“What is it?” She gazed at him with her huge beautiful brown eyes. He slowly raised his hand to touch her cheek and smiled big and wide for the first time in a month, feeling the weights that held his smile back now weightless.

“I love you too O-Ochako Uraraka.” He said quietly before passing out. His hand fell and his eyes closed.

Quickly checking his pulse in a panic, she confirmed he wasn’t dead and hugged him once again. She stayed there for a minute, savoring it. Finally, she separated from him and gazed down at the sleeping boy in front of her. She kissed his forehead, then made him float, picking him up bridal style as a huge smile overtook her.

She got her friend back?

Well yes, but she also got something more.