Chapter Text
Ochako sighs through her nose as she reaches down to grab her bookbag, slipping her agenda and pencil case inside before zipping it up. As soon as Aizawa had dismissed the class for summer break, the majority of her classmates had bolted for the door, eager to get off campus and start their vacations. And Ochako is excited, she can’t wait to get home and see her parents, but she's going to miss U.A too. They had been told to pack up all of their belongings and either take them home or place them in storage units, since as second-years they wouldn’t be staying in the same dorms next year. Her room had felt very bare these past few days, a reminder that things are about to change.
A good change though, she reminds herself. I have two months to get better.
Just a few days ago, they had gotten the preliminary results of their hero rankings. Nothing would be finalized until grades were submitted, but Ochako would be lying if she said she wasn’t disappointed with her results. She’s ranked 10th overall in the class, her cram study sessions with Momo and Tsuyu helping bring her academic standing up, but still woefully behind in quirk rankings.
After that startling realization, she took a closer look at the ranks. Momo held steady in first place, which was unsurprising due to her genius level intelligence, but the top six spots were all held by her male classmates. Iida, Bakugo, Midoriya, Todoroki, Shouji, and Satou. She was proud of them, of course. They’d all been through hell their first year and worked hard to get those rankings. But she also can’t help but feel a little jaded. They didn’t have nearly as many costume issues or malfunctions. They received more internship opportunities from heroes out in the field. They didn’t have special meetings with Midnight about how to project a certain image and protect their reputations. Not that any of those things are the boys’ faults, but it rankles. Ochako is tired of the unconscious sexism, and she isn’t even out of school yet!
Which led to her coming up with a plan. She knows most of her classmates took on internships over the summer to help them gain more experience, but Ochako is going to focus on something else: quirk and combat skill development. Because of how specialized her quirk is, she decided to specialize her own training. Sparring with teachers and classmates is good for overall skills and reflex training, but Ochako wants to be the best . So she’s going to use her resources and train like hell over summer vacation. And what better way to do that than help her parents with any summer jobs, and bug her uncles to give her more martial arts lessons? She also has some plans in place to fix her costume issues, but those might have to be put on the backburner until the school year starts up again.
Lost in thought, Ochako startles when Mina latches onto her arm. “Earth to space cadet!” Mina laughs, slightly shaking Ochako’s arm.
Ochako laughs too, “Sorry! What did you say?”
Mina shakes her head in mock disapproval, her kinky curls bouncing around her horns. “I said, let’s get out of here! We’re officially free for the summer!”
Ochako glances around, seeing that they’re two of the last people in the room, including Iida and Momo, who are straightening up the room and cleaning the board.
“Momo, want to walk back with us?” Ochako says, catching the taller girl’s attention. She finishes wiping off the board and smiles at them, nodding.
“I think we’re done here anyway, right Iida?”
Iida surveys the classroom like a military general inspecting a barracks, and after a few moments he nods stiffly. “It appears our job is done here, Yaoyorozu. Thank you for being a great class representative alongside myself.” He bows to Momo, who is quick to reassure him that that's unnecessary and to congratulate him on his own abilities. Mina and Ochako stifle their giggles and call goodbyes to Iida as they walk out the door, Momo coming up on Mina’s other side. The pink-haired girl immediately loops her other arm through Momo’s.
“I’m going to miss girls’ nights,” Ochako sighs as they walk down the emptying hall, heading for their dorm building.
“We could have one last girls’ night!” Mina suggests. “Tonight, before everyone leaves!”
“I like that idea,” Momo agrees.
“I still have to finish packing though,” Ochako groans.
“I’ll help you, we’ll get it done fast!” Mina reassures. “I’ll text the groupchat right now.”
“I think Tsu mentioned she was going to swing by 7-11 for some snacks before her train ride tomorrow,” Ochako mentions as Mina unwinds herself from between her and Momo. She bounces ahead as she texts rapidly, and Momo reaches over to link arms with Ochako as they follow behind.
“Any plans for summer, Ochako?” Momo questions, tilting her head to look down at her. Ochako had shot up a couple inches the past few months, now reaching 5’3”, but her primary doctor back home had mentioned she could expect rapid growth during times she wasn’t using her quirk as rigorously. Ochako is hoping she continues to grow over the summer, even with her new training schedule.
The brunette shakes her head. “Probably just work, my parents’ company gets more business in the summer months.”
Momo hums in acknowledgment. “They own a construction company, correct?”
“Yep! They have to travel for some projects but most of the time they stick close to home. I’m so excited to see them, it feels like it’s been forever.”
“Is it far from here?”
“Mhm,” Ochako nods. “Almost a three hour train ride.”
“Which is why a girls’ night is happening!” Mina cuts in, bouncing back to the two of them as they step outside the main school building. “We need to relax and pamper ourselves and gossip before we’re all so far away from each other!”
“You’re lucky you live so close,” Ochako comments. “You and Kyouka and Tooru.”
Mina nods. “True, it’s nice I don’t have to worry about shipping my stuff back home. You’ve got movers coming tomorrow right Momo?”
She nods, swiping her student ID to let them in their dorm building. Sero and Koda are in the kitchen, cleaning out the fridge except for breakfast food for tomorrow. Tokoyami is sweeping the dining area, Dark Shadow holding a dustpan, and gives them a nod.
“They’ll be here in the morning. Did Tsu say she would pick up snacks?”
“Oh, yeah! She said she’d pick up the usual snacks and we can just venmo her.”
“No need,” Momo shakes her head. “Snacks are on me. I’ll text the groupchat.”
Mina and Ochako both smother Momo in a hug before they get to the stairs. “ Thanks Mom!”
All three burst into giggles and then head for their respective floors, Mina and Ochako on the fourth, with Momo on the fifth.
“Meet in my room when you’re done packing!” Momo heads up to her floor while Mina and Ochako head down the hall to Ochako’s room. Their hallway is usually pretty loud because of Bakugo and Kirishima, alongside Kaminari and Sero, and sometimes Mina herself, who all hang out here. But now it’s unusually quiet. Ochako raises an eyebrow at Mina, who shrugs.
“Bakugo and Kirishima said they were heading to the gym for one last workout before going home tomorrow.”
Ochako rolls her eyes. “Typical.”
Once inside Ochako’s room, they get to work. She had already packed away her trinkets, desk supplies, books, and pictures into one suitcase. All that’s left is her clothing and bedsheets. Mina opens up her closet and begins taking down clothes and folding them. Ochako flips open her other suitcase and begins emptying her dresser. It takes the two of them about half an hour to pack up all Ochako’s clothes. She leaves one outfit out on her desk for the next day, as well as her small bag of toiletries.
“Thanks Mina!” Ochako hugs her friend.
“Of course, babe, anytime! Now let’s get changed and go to Momo’s room.” She darts out to change into lounge clothes, Ochako doing the same. She pulls out some yoga pants and a faded tee with an old rock band logo on it. She clips her hair back and puts on her slippers so she can go upstairs. Before she does though, she checks the groupchat, which has almost twenty new notifications.
(3:40 PM)
alienqueen30: one last girls night tonight?? momo and ochako already said yes
itsnotaphase81: i’m down
xoxogossipgirl: oooh yes!! do we need to get snacks?
leapfrog_legend: i’m walking to 7-11 now
leapfrog_legend: should i get the usual?
alienqueen30: yep!! we’ll just venmo u
(3:45 PM)
miss_worldwide23: snacks are on me tonight
miss_worldwide23: tsu go wild!! just let me know how much and i’ll cover it
leapfrog_legend: i’m gonna get the good chocolate too then
itsnotaphase81: it's so nice to have a sugar mommy
alienqueen30: thanks mom!!
xoxogossipgirl: thanks mom!!!
interplanet_janet: yes thank u mom :)))
leapfrog_legend: i’ll be back in 20
alienqueen30: no rush, ochako and i just finished packing
itsnotaphase81: still working on my room
xoxogossipgirl: i’ll be done in like 10 mins
alienqueen30: ochako, detour to kyouka’s!!
interplanet_janet: roger that captain
itsnotaphase81: wh
alienqueen30: we’re gonna help you finish!! then we can all go up to momo’s
xoxogossipgirl: u just wanna be nosy and find kyouka’s poetry
alienqueen30: I DO NOT!! TOORU
itsnotaphase81: on second thought i’m locking my door u can’t come in
interplanet_janet: LMAOOOOO
alienqueen30: kyouka noooo i won’t snoop i promise!!! :((
itsnotaphase81: nope. not letting u in
alienqueen30: ,,,,,i’ll melt your doorknob
interplanet_janet: i’ll come in through your window
itsnotaphase81: u both are terrifying pls don’t ever do either of those things
alienqueen30: LET US IN
miss_worldwide23: mina don’t damage school property
alienqueen30: ……fine
miss_worldwide23: kyouka let them in so they can help you
alienqueen30: HA
itsnotaphase81: BETRAYAL
itsnotaphase81: MOMO HOW COULD YOU
miss_worldwide23: you’ll survive
xoxogossipgirl: just hurry up before tsu gets back!!
interplanet_janet: bossy
xoxogossipgirl: shut up
interplanet_janet: do u wanna fight??
alienqueen30: NO FIGHTING OCHAKO GET UR ASS DOWN HERE
interplanet_janet: DON’T YELL AT ME GODDAMNIT
xoxogossipgirl: such a dirty mouth
interplanet_janet: i hate u
xoxogossipgirl: no u don’t
interplanet_janet: you’re right i don’t
Ochako smiles and shoves her phone in the waistband of her yoga pants, leaving her room and heading down to Kyouka’s. She knocks twice before opening the door.
Mina and Kyouka are sorting clothes, a catchy pop punk song playing from Kyouka’s mini speaker. She joins them, helping sort clothes and trinkets while the three chat about summer plans. It takes them another half hour to finish sorting Kyouka’s room, so everyone else is already in Momo’s room by the time they get up there.
“We made the executive decision to order pizza while waiting for you all,” Tooru informs them as she pulls a fluffy headband up over her forehead to push her hair back. “It’ll be here in twenty.”
Mina squeals and tackles Momo back onto her bed. “You didn’t have to do that!”
Momo laughs and hugs her back. “It was a little selfish of me, honestly…I’ve just been craving pizza and wanted an excuse to get some.”
Kyouka high-fives Ochako. “Use us as an excuse anytime. I’ll never say no to pizza.”
“We could start the movie while we wait,” Tsu suggests pragmatically. “After pizza we can do nails and face masks.”
“Good idea,” Ochako nods. “So, what movie should we watch?”
After a few minutes of arguing they settle on the 2082 remake of Pride and Prejudice . They quickly lose track of time, and about thirty minutes into the movie there’s a knock on Momo’s door. Tooru pauses it while Ochako jumps up to open the door. Koda is standing on the other side, looking somewhat nervous, and holding four pizza boxes with a small stack of paper plates resting on top.
“Oh, the pizza!” Momo exclaims.
Ochako beams up at Koda. “Thank you Koda! We forgot about the delivery. No one else got to them did they?”
Koda hands over the boxes and shakes his head before tentatively signing something. Ochako watches his hands carefully before her face brightens. “That’s perfect! Thanks again Koda, you’re a lifesaver.” He blushes and gives them all a wave before walking down the hall. Ochako closes the door with her heel before setting the boxes down on Momo’s tea table.
The others swarm the pizza boxes, each grabbing a plate and a few slices before returning to their spots.
“I didn’t know you understood sign language, Ochako.” Momo comments, eyeing her curiously. “What did Koda say?” Ochako looks up from her bite of pizza, setting down her slice and swallowing before she answers.
“I’m still learning but I have a pretty good grasp of most of it. Koda was just saying he brought plates for us too.”
“When did you learn sign language?” Kyouka asks.
Ochako hums. “I dunno, middle school maybe? My parents work in construction and most of the time you have to wear earplugs on site so they started using sign language to help communicate.” The girls nod along as she speaks, and she decides to be a little more honest than usual, because she trusts them. “And then there’s my quirk…”
“What does sign language have to do with your quirk?” Tsu takes the bait and asks the question.
Ochako brushes some imaginary crumbs off her yoga pants before responding. “Because my quirk nullifies my own gravity, it can affect my semicircular ear canals. They help regulate your sense of balance. But the more I use my quirk on myself, the more it affects the canals, and that can lead to eventual hearing loss.”
Mina and Tooru both gasp and Ochako glances up to see her friends’ concerned expressions.
“So I started learning just in case. I haven’t trained enough yet to do any lasting damage, but there's a high probability I’ll need hearing aids eventually. I’m supposed to get some prototypes this summer so I can start training harder.”
“Oh my god, Ochako!” Mina tackles her in a hug, and Ochako almost drops her plate. Luckily, Tooru is close by to grab it. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Ochako shrugs. “It’s a natural consequence of me becoming a hero. My quirk has a lot of drawbacks, which is why I have to perfect my technique as soon as I can.”
“Those are your summer plans aren’t they?” Momo asks, putting two and two together. “To adjust to the prototypes and then master your quirk. You can do that with your parents, I’m sure construction provides a lot of opportunities for strength and endurance training for your quirk in particular.”
Ochako nods, smiling slightly. “Guilty as charged.”
“That’s pretty badass,” Kyouka suddenly speaks up. They all look at her, Ochako raising an eyebrow. “No, I’m serious. You and Momo both have quirks that can do serious damage to your bodies and yet you’re both on track to becoming heroes. That’s really awesome.”
“She’s right,” Tsu says bluntly, ignoring Momo’s and Ochako’s blushing faces. “That’s impressive. I’m sure you’ll come back after summer much stronger.”
“That’s the goal.” Ochako nods. “I’m just…I’m just tired of always being overpowered, or making myself sick just to reach the same basic standards as any of the guys. I’m tired of being seen as the girl Bakugo beat at the sports festival, or Deku’s sidekick. I’m tired of the uniform malfunctions, or trying to figure out what image I have to present to the media so I can get more internships. I want to get in on skill, strength, my capabilities as a hero. I want to help my parents and other people! I want to be the best!”
She’s a little more passionate toward the end of her speech than she was originally intending, but her friends are all looking back at her with understanding, empathy, and even determination.
“Hear, hear,” Tsu nods approvingly at her.
“Ochako, you make some excellent points.” Momo nods as well. “I…I know my preliminary final ranking was first, but that’s largely due to my intelligence. I know there are many areas I could improve in when it comes to things like combat. And when you think about it, there are only six of us girls out of the twenty students in our class. I’m tired of all the sexism and fatphobia present in the media in general, not to mention heroism.” She makes eye contact with each of them. “We all have so much potential, and it’s time we harnessed it and became the best versions of ourselves.”
“Hell yeah!” Mina shouts. “I’m so with you. We’re just as capable as any of our male classmates.”
“So what do we do about it?” Tooru asks, her voice sounding perplexed. “We’re all about to go home for the summer.”
“We train during summer.” Ochako says. “I know it’s not as fun, but when I come back I want to be better, faster, stronger. I don’t want to be tenth. I want to be in the top five—that’s my goal for next year. And in order to do that I know I have to master my quirk, increase my endurance and strength, and practice more close combat.”
“You sound like you have a plan,” Tsu comments. Ochako grins devilishly.
“I do.”
“Spill!” Kyouka says, a fire in her eyes. And so she does. Momo digs out paper and pens and then the six of them spend the next hour talking about what they want to improve on, what resources they have available, new costume ideas that would be more practical, and tentative workout routines. Momo is very helpful when it comes to references, and Mina insists they also make tentative plans to meet up on their days off.
“We could spar, or play volleyball, or even just hang out at the beach. It would be good teamwork practice!” She smiles cheekily and they share a laugh. By the time they’ve each filled out several pages of ideas and lists for the summer, Ochako is practically bouncing in her spot, even more fired up than she was when she originally made her summer plans.
“Next year,” she starts, motioning them all close. Her friends all lean in, watching her. “We’re going to be smarter. We’re going to be stronger. We’re going to be better. And those top six spots are going to be filled by every girl in class 2-A.”
They all cheer and shout in agreement, hugging each other. The rest of the night is full of face masks, nail painting, snacks, and laughter, but each and every girl feels a new sense of determination for what’s ahead.