Chapter Text
Being a villain was rough.
Not only did Shigaraki demand Midoriya’s notes every few days, but Midoriya also had to continuously train his body to keep in shape. He spent most of his time gathering intel on heroes. Villains too, occasionally, but mostly heroes. That combined with exercising and working out burned up most of his free time. The combined mental and physical stress was enough to overwhelm anyone.
But the hardest part of being a villain, at least for Midoriya, was the isolation. You can’t trust anyone when you’re a villain. He had no friends to hang out with. No one to even talk to.
And with his mother in the hospital after being seriously injured by a pro hero, there wasn’t really much he could do except… exist and abide by Shigaraki’s commands.
So, you can understand why Midoriya needed a break. A break from everything.
Opting out of wearing his villain costume, he just wore sweatpants and a sweatshirt. It was a little chilly out, being night and all. He put his earbuds in and turned his music up as loud as his ears could handle.
Then he climbed the stairs to the roof of the apartment complex the League had provided and took off over the rooftops. He wanted to go to a more secluded, quiet part of the city.
The sky was beautifully clear. It was a new moon, so the stars shone even brighter than they normally did. Once he got to a dimmer part of the city, the night sky was awesome.
Midoriya found a rather old, supposedly abandoned building. He laid down on his back and just looked up at the stars. The beautiful, awe-inspiring stars.
One of his favorite songs started playing (click “favorite songs” to listen to it).
“I found a love… for me,” the song played in his ears.
Hah, I wish, Midoriya thought to himself.
“I found a girl, beautiful and sweet. I never knew you were the someone waiting for me.”
Man, how Midoriya wished he had someone like that. Not necessarily a girlfriend, exactly, just a friend. Someone kind and considerate. Someone he could trust.
But no one like that existed in the villain business.
“I’m dancing in the dark, with you between my arms.”
Right, now was not the time to be thinking about all that. Now was the time to stargaze and let the music drown out all his problems.
Just for a moment, he was able to forget about it all. About being a villain, about his mother’s injury, about All Might and Bakugo. About his crushing loneliness.
He was able to enjoy himself, just lying there, staring up at the wonderful night sky, listening to music.
It was the best escape he could hope for…
…but something still felt missing.
Uraraka had had a rough day.
They’d had a math test at school, which left her feeling brain dead. Mr. Aizawa must’ve been in a bad mood because their hero training had been brutal. She came home to a note on the door saying “Sorry, sweetie. Your mom and I have to work late tonight. There should be some taco rice left over in the fridge. See you tomorrow!”
She flopped down on the couch, thinking about the argumentative research essay she had to write by tomorrow. She also thought she had some chemistry homework, something about moles and formula units.
At the moment, the only thing she wanted to do was rest. Get away from all her work. Procrastination was her middle name, and she was not ashamed. It would’ve been nice to have her parents to talk to, but lately quality family time had been scarce.
So she took the second best option: stargazing. She’d been tracking what moon phase it was, and with it being a new moon the stars were bound to be amazing. Not only that, but she also lived in a darker part of the city, so the stars were even clearer.
Uraraka took the stairs up to the roof of her apartment complex and brought some pillows and blankets with her. She laid down on the roof and got cozy. She technically wasn’t allowed to be doing that, but no one cared enough to tell her off.
The night sky was even more beautiful than she’d expected it to be. She spotted multiple constellations and was even able to see the milky way. She wondered if any of the tennis balls she’d thrown had ended up floating in the galaxy.
She drifted off into a daydream about where that ball from Mr. Aizawa’s physical exam could’ve possibly ended up.
There were only two things that could’ve made her stargazing any better. One was company, which was out of the picture. The other was food, and that taco rice was still waiting in the fridge.
She un-nestled herself from all the blankets and pillows. As she stood up, her gaze fell upon the old, supposedly-abandoned building across the street.
It was weird; it was almost like she could see someone else lying there on the roof, stargazing…
Midoriya was trying to remember the names of some constellations, but his brain provided squat. He knew the big dipper, and that was about it.
He was trying to find the little dipper, thinking it looked something like the big dipper, when he heard someone shout “hey!” over the sound of his music.
He shot upwards, on his feet in less than a second.
Crap, I can’t get caught.
He was about to run, when he saw someone suspended in mid air over the street, flying over to him. No, not flying, slowly floating.
He recognized her immediately.
Ochako Uraraka. Quirk: Zero Gravity. UA student, Class 1-A.
“Well I found a woman…” the song was still playing in his ears.
Yeah, I know, he thought as he pulled out his earbuds and stuffed them into his pocket.
He’d had a couple run-ins with her before, in which she’d tried to get him to give up being a villain and turn himself over to the police. Each time, he’d turned her down and usually had to threaten her before he could escape.
But he had to admit, of all the people he’d encountered from UA, Uraraka was by far the kindest.
So he hesitated before running. That was when he realized Uraraka was looking very close to puking.
Oh, right, when she uses her quirk too much, or on herself, it makes her nauseous.
If she wasn’t able to release her quirk soon, any stomach contents would see the light of stars. She was still floating painfully slowly over to the rooftop Midoriya was on.
So, out of the still abundant kindness in his heart, Midoriya chose to help her.
He sat on the edge of the building and slid down until he found a foothold. He then grabbed the edge of the building with one hand and held out his other one to Uraraka. He was essentially hanging off the building to get as close to Uraraka as he could.
“You can release! I’ll catch you!” he shouted.
She spotted his outstretched hand, but hesitated, uncertainty plain on her face.
“C’mon, I won’t let you fall! You can trust me!” he said, which was a little ironic considering he was a villain.
She hesitated a second more, before raising her hands to release. The moment the tips of her fingers touched, she started plummeting to the ground. That was, until Midoriya caught her hand, stopping her fall.
“Got you,” he said.
He hoisted her up until she was able to grab the edge of the building and climb up onto the roof. Midoriya climbed up after her and was greeted by the sight of Uraraka lying on her back, breathing heavily.
“Are you alri-” he didn’t get to finish his question because Uraraka rolled over and threw up.
Ah, guess I didn’t catch her soon enough, he thought, cringing a little at the sight of her vomit.
“Okay, I’m good now,” she said after rolling back over onto her back.
Midoriya had already started running away.
“Wait! Don’t leave!” she shouted, getting onto her feet as quickly as possible.
He slowed down, but didn’t stop. He turned around to face her but continued walking backwards, away from her. “We’ve had this conversation before. I can’t leave the League and nothing you say will convince me otherwise.”
“Yeah, I know, I know,” she responded, “but that doesn’t mean I can’t try!”
This girl and her optimism.
“That’s exactly why I’m leaving,” he said, his voice cold as ice. He took a step up onto the edge of the roof, getting ready to jump to the building next to them. “Just go home and leave me alone.”
“Wait!” she yelled desperately, causing Midoriya to hesitate a second more. “What if I promise to keep my mouth shut about leaving the League!”
Midoriya turned around to face her again, confused. “What do you mean?”
“Well, it looked like you were just stargazing before, right? I was too when I saw you. If I don’t mention anything about you being a villain, can we… can we stargaze together?” she asked with uncertainty.
He blinked surprisedly. Why in the heck would she want to stargaze with someone like me?
Uraraka seemed to notice his confusion when she said, “when we’ve met before, you never hurt me. In fact, you seemed to genuinely care about me not getting hurt. So… I trust you.”
He looked away from her, not willing to admit that she was right.
“...and it’s been a rough day, so having someone to talk to would be better than stargazing alone,” she finished.
He frowned, still standing on the edge of the roof. “Of all the people you could stargaze with, are you sure you want to do it with me?”
“I literally just explained to you how I trust you! Yes, I’m sure!”
Midoriya sighed and took a step off the edge of the roof and walked over to her. “Fine, but the moment you start trying to convince me to abandon the League, I’m leaving,” he said, waving a finger at her warningly.
Her smile was so stinking bright. “Got it!”
They laid down on the roof, side by side, and just stared at the night sky. Midoriya felt awkwardly conscious of the girl lying next to him, and Uraraka was just happy he hadn’t left.
They laid there in silence for a moment.
“So how was your day?” Uraraka asked cheerfully, and Midoriya narrowed his eyes at her. “Hey! It’s not about you being a villain! I just wanna know how your day was!”
He sighed. “Tiring.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Uraraka replied. “We had a really long math test, and Mr. Aizawa made us do so much work during hero training! And then…” she hesitated, her smile fading, “yeah. Today’s just been hard.”
Midoriya didn’t respond, partially because he was incredibly awkward and partially because he was still trying to find the little dipper.
“Do you know how to do dimensional analysis?” she asked.
He quirked an eyebrow. “Dimensional analysis?”
“Yeah, dimensional analysis. I have some chemistry homework on it, I think, and-”
“You think?”
“Yeah, I think, and there’s like all these elements and I have to convert grams into moles and it’s all pretty confusing,” she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck in slight embarrassment. “But you’re smart! Do you get it?”
He looked over at her and saw her confusion and distress over the difficulty of her homework. “Well, I don’t know how much I’d be able to help-”
“Can you teach me!?” she asked excitedly, rolling over on her side, closer to him.
He edged away, a little uncomfortable. “Well, sure, I can try…”
Midoriya went on to explain the basics of dimensional analysis. He tried his best to teach her how moles worked and how they related to the average atomic mass of an element. He was as clear as possible, not wanting to confuse Uraraka any further. By the end, she was beginning to get it.
“Oh!” she exclaimed. “So to convert grams to moles, you just divide the number of grams by the element's atomic number!”
“Yes,” Midoriya said, relieved she finally understood.
“It makes so much more sense when you explain it,” she said, “in school we just read how to do things in textbooks, so I guess I’m more of an audio learner.”
“Yeah, guess so,” Midoriya responded. He just learned from youtube videos.
They sat there in silence for a moment more, before Uraraka thought of another random question.
“What is the nerdiest way to flip someone off?” she wondered out loud.
“What?” Midoriya asked confusedly.
“You know, like if you wanted to insult someone without them knowing in a nerdy way?” she elaborated.
“Are you only asking this because you think I’m a nerd?”
“Well, I mean, you did just explain to me how to do dimensional analysis with moles, and you aren’t the most social, so…” she trailed off, making it obvious she thought he was a nerd.
“Wow,” Midoriya half-sighed.
“So do you know a nerdy way to flip someone off or not?” she persisted curiously.
He laid there in thought for a moment, before responding with “formula units.”
Uraraka frowned confusedly. “Formula units?”
“The internationally accepted abbreviation of ‘formula units’ is F.U.” he explained.
Her eyes widened. “Wait, really?”
Midoriya nodded, a ghost of a smile on his lips.
She laughed, a sound that brought joy to Midoriya’s heart. “Oh my gosh, I so have to use that at some point!”
“Who could you possibly want to flip off?” he asked, trying to imagine Uraraka being mean to anyone at all.
“I dunno, no one specifically,” she responded. “But wouldn’t it be funny to just, ya know, walk up to someone who’s being a jerk and say ‘formula units,’ and walk away with them having no idea what you just did.”
Midoriya laughed, something he hadn’t done in months. And gosh darnit was his laugh cute. Uraraka had to stop thinking for a moment because his laugh was so heartwarming. But then she realized…
“Hey! Doesn’t that mean you flipped me off earlier!” she exclaimed.
Midoriya was still smiling. “Maybe…”
She swacked him on the arm playfully. “I thought you were nice before this!” she teased.
“You flipped me back! Remember?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t know what it meant!” she protested, and he laughed again.
“I was explaining a nerdy way to flip someone off, what did you expect!”
“Yeah, you’re officially a nerd.”
He groaned humorously, not willing to accept the title of “nerd,” despite clearly being one.
“Oh no,” Uraraka started, “I’m never going to be able to pay attention in Chemistry ever again.”
Midoriya smiled again. Man, this was the most he’d smiled in a long long time.
They resumed their silence, but this time it wasn’t an awkward silence. Midoriya had grown more comfortable with Uraraka lying next to him. He hadn’t realized how close they’d gotten.
This time, surprisingly, it was Midoriya who broke the silence.
“I can’t find the little dipper,” he said.
“It’s right there!” she said happily, pointing up at the sky.
“Yeah… I have no idea where you’re pointing,” he admitted.
“Oh, right, yeah,” she laughed, “if you look at the tip of the big dipper, not the handle, the bowl part, and make a straight line outwards it’ll hit the tip of the handle of the little dipper.”
Midoriya tried doing this, and sure enough, he was able to find the little dipper.
“Oh, there it is,” he said.
“Have you been looking for it this whole time?” Uraraka asked teasingly.
“No…” he lied blatantly.
She laughed again. “Well, now you can die in peace knowing that you’ve finally found the little dipper.”
“Hah, yeah, thanks,” Midoriya said, just accepting the teasing. “You know a lot about the stars, don’t you?”
Uraraka nodded gladly. “It boggles my mind thinking about how space goes on for infinity. The stars are just so pretty, ya know? And it’s so cool how when you connect them they make different shapes that resemble people and animals. I love to see all the different constellations. Oh, like that one!”
She pointed at the sky again.
“Uh…” Midoriya said, looking aimlessly at the stars.
“Oh yeah, sorry,” she said, a little embarrassed. “Those three stars that are really close to each other and kinda brighter than the other ones. That’s Orion’s belt! If you look closely you can kinda see the rest of his body.”
She went on and on, pointing out all of her favorite constellations. She told him the names of all the different stars and what they meant. Midoriya didn’t open his mouth once and just let her speak. He could tell that she was very passionate about stargazing.
“And see those stars that kinda form a triangle?” she pointed over his shoulder (he was laying on his side at this point), so he had to roll back a bit to look behind him. “That’s Aquila! It’s supposed to be like an eagle.”
“Yeah, I see it,” Midoriya responded. “Can’t really see the eagle part, though.” He rolled back over to face her, but she had still been leaning forward to point out the stars behind him.
Their faces ended up inches apart.
They were close enough to feel each other’s breath, and for a split second their eyes locked.
A blush quickly rose in both of their faces as they rolled away from each other and Uraraka stuttered, “aah, u-uhm, sorry…”
Midoriya realized three two things at that moment. One, he realized how much the stars had changed position in the sky. A lot of time had passed. Two, he remembered he was a villain. He couldn’t afford to be having fun with someone he cared about. Three, Uraraka was very attractive.
“I should get going,” he said. The coldness in his voice had returned.
I can’t let my emotions get a hold of me like this. I need to leave.
“What? No,” Uraraka protested. “Why can’t you stay, even just for a little longer?”
But Midoriya was already on his feet. “Sorry, but I can’t keep talking to you like this. This isn’t where I belong.”
“Why!? Because you’re a villain?” she asked, frowning. She was on her feet now too.
“Yes,” Midoriya replied, walking to the edge of the roof. But then he hesitated, “and… you spending time with a villain like me puts you at risk.”
He turned around to look at her, and his face was full of concern for her wellbeing, but also an overpowering loneliness.
Uraraka couldn’t help but feel bad for him. Oh how badly she wanted to save him from the people using him. The League only viewed him as a tool.
“Puts me at risk? How?” she asked, if only to keep him there a tad longer.
Midoriya was standing on the edge of the rooftop now. “If the League finds out I have connections to you, you’ll be targeted. They want to control me and that includes controlling the people I care about.”
Uraraka felt a slight flutter in her chest at how he’d openly admitted he cared for her.
“I understand,” she responded sadly. She’d been in this position before, where Midoriya insisted on leaving and she couldn’t do anything to stop him. Nothing she said could change his mind, the stubborn dupe.
Before running away, Midoriya hesitated again. “Thank you,” he said softly.
Uraraka frowned confusedly. “For what?”
“For reminding me what it feels like to be happy. I’d forgotten.”
Her eyes widened, and by the time the elevated feeling in her chest dissipated, Midoriya was gone.
She sighed sadly, but smiled. At least she’d been able to help him, even if it wasn’t in the ways she had hoped.
So Uraraka looked up at the infinitely vast sky. The world was so tiny compared to space. Because of that, she was sure that she would meet Midoriya again at some point. The strange workings of the universe always seemed to pull them together, no matter what their circumstances were.
As for Midoriya…
Maybe I’m not supposed to be a villain.