Chapter Text
The sun was starting to set when Uraraka Ochako sat down on the balcony of her small, one bedroom apartment. She set down her tea and pulled out her laptop along with her work notes. The brunette sighed as the designs for her latest project for JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) hit a stalling point.
Being an aerospace engineer for the space program in Japan was difficult.
As was being one of 4 women in her entire department. Of 20.
Ochako sighed as she rubbed circles into the corners of her forehead. She had been working on this design for months now and every test run ended in failure. Time was of the essence and the pressure from her peers and supervisors was overwhelming.
She wanted to scream.
Instead, Ochako looked out over the balcony and felt a sense of ease. The young woman smiled. For as frugal as she was, not wanting to spend more than her budget allowed, Ochako was blessed with an amazing view.
Her apartment oversaw the river that ran through the area. There was beautiful greenery, an exercise trail that cut by the river, and lots of open areas for picnics and areas for fishing. During the summer, Ochako loved to sit out and enjoy the breeze of the river either with her friends, or by herself.
On days like today, she enjoyed sitting on her balcony and watched the river flow quietly.
Lots of different people passed by daily.
Those people included young couples walking their dogs, families finding a comfortable spot under the trees for a picnic, an elder couple walking hand in hand, runners getting in their exercise. Ochako always smiled as she watched people go idly on with their lives.
The last she saw was a middle-aged couple video chatting with a loved one on the phone, turning the phone to the river view. Ochako sighed in reminisce. It reminded her of her parents and how excited they were to visit her in the city for the first time.
Not wanting to get lost in her own nostalgia, Ochako dove back into her work and put the river and its people as background noise.
.
Ochako groaned as she sank into the seat of her chair. Rubbing her hands over her face, she felt the headache start again.
Today was a certified failure.
Her design for one of the newer spacecrafts had been a complete failure and the scrutiny frustrated her to no end. The other aerospace engineer (her male counterpart), had also failed, but he was met with “You’re so close!” and “You’ll get it next time, champ!”
While she was met with eye rolls and “this is why women shouldn’t be in stem,” to “did we ever expect anything more?”
The misogyny, sexism and fragile egos were almost enough to make Ochako lose her cool every so often. But her losing her temper also meant another typical reaction and most likely losing her job.
She had worked too damn hard to let insecure men from reaching her dream.
But it still didn’t mean the taste of failure didn’t burn going down the throat.
Looking over her balcony and at the river, she sighed again. The sun was starting to set, and the weather was beginning to cool. There were a few stragglers on the walking path, with the occasional jogger. There was a young man taking candid photos of a couple.
Ochako sighed as the girl put out her left hand, her partner giving her a kiss to the cheek as the photographer snapped a photo. She smiled ruefully, admiring their love from up top.
Part of chasing her dreams meant leaving behind some of the more intimate parts of life. It wasn’t that Ochako was opposed to being in a relationship. But seeing the commitment and dedication that people gave to one another had her worried.
Because if she were to dedicate her time to a relationship, what would happen to her dreams? Her goals? Her aspirations?
Realistically, she knew that relationships and careers were possible.
She saw it every time she was with her friends as both Tsuyu and Toru were in committed relationships while also pursuing their goals.
Stubbornly, Ochako worried that her feelings would only interfere in her work. Not that there was anyone to distract her to begin with. Regardless, she knew the best decision was to leave the romance aside, much to Mina’s chagrin.
“FUCKING NERD! KEEP UP!”
A loud, crude voice broke through her thoughts as her eyes peeled away from the couple taking photos. The same couple made disgruntled faces as a man with blond, spikey hair began running through the pathway.
“Ah, Kaachan! I’m coming!”
Another voice, gentler and calmer, joined as another man came running behind him.
“IF YOU DON’T HURRY, I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
The blond-haired man spoke angrily, his voice piercing through the serenity of the river. It was like nails on a chalkboard, Ochako thought. She flinched as he continued to shout angrily.
“I’m coming! I’m going to take a break!”
The other man chuckled as he slowed his pace, stepping off the running trail and drinking the water in his hand. Ochako raised a brow, staring at him. His demeanor was exact opposite of the man yelling obscenities.
The chestnut hair girl paled as she saw the blond explode. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he grumpily walked towards the other man. In contrast to the blond, his companion had dark, green hair and seemed to be just a few inches shorter.
“Fuckin’ Deku! How the fuck are you supposed to finish this stupid ass marathon if you can’t even finish the damn trail!?”
“Well, I did sprain my ankle you know? Taking it slow, Kaachan. Taking it slow.” He laughed again, drinking more water.
It seemed like a reasonable excuse to her, Ochako thought to herself.
“If you hadn’t gone on your fucking own to play some kind of hero, you wouldn’t have ended up like that, fucking dumbass!”
Ochako scowled, not appreciating the deprecating tone the blond man was using. She wanted to believe that under all his obnoxious howling, there was some sort of concern for his… friend? If that’s what they were. But his brazen attitude made it difficult for Ochako to believe.
“Hey! At least that little girl was okay!”
Ochako couldn’t help but blush slightly looking at the man with the dark, green haired that was messy enough the brunette considered it adorable. She felt his laughter vibrate deep within her. His grin was carefree and boyish. And his eyes were bright, the vibrance of his emerald-colored eyes shining with the sun.
She shook her head instantly, falling into her chair.
What was she thinking? Ochako had to push those thoughts away. Besides, it was strange to ogle after a stranger. Especially from her position.
The two men continued to banter and soon enough, their voices disappeared and Ochako deemed it safe to poke her head back up.
She sighed, going back to her computer. She had more important things to focus on than some silly boy with unruly, green hair.
.
It was a Tuesday evening the next time she saw him.
Ochako wasn’t looking for him. She had even forgotten about him.
But she heard his voice, and the chestnut-haired woman couldn’t help but recognize the lightheartedness in his tone. Looking away from her laptop, she poked her head over her balcony and saw him on the phone.
He was alone today.
Ochako saw the headphones laying over his head and ears as he rolled his shoulders then moved to stretching his legs. She would be too embarrassed to admit the blush on her cheeks as his shorts rode up and the musculature of his legs came into her view.
She did not think someone of his statue could have a built like that.
But then she felt like a pervert and creep watching and ogling him from afar, so she dipped her back into her chair and tried to focus on the computer screen in front of her.
His voice disappeared and Ochako felt like she could breathe a bit easier. She wasn’t really sure what it was about that man, but the few times she had seen him, it made her stomach churn like she was still some type of schoolgirl.
Feeling frustrated, the engineer poured her entire focus into the math in front of her and her latest design. There was some success last week, but the head of her department wanted her to double down on her math and change the design of her rocket.
Unlike her colleagues, her department head, Shota Aizawa, had put his faith and support in her. A stoic man of a sorts who excelled in intimidation, Aizawa didn’t tolerate the misogyny and sexism in their field. For a man who didn’t show emotion, he was quite passionate about equal treatment. He didn’t care about where the work came from; just as long as it was finished.
They had met enough that Ochako could say confidently that he believed in her 100%. And even though he didn’t outright say it, she knew that Aizawa had a soft spot for her. She didn’t know if it was because Ochako took time out of her very busy day to show his adopted daughter around the engineering lab, but since then, she had noticed Aizawa be kinder (in his own way), towards her.
It wasn’t any special treatment though.
If anything, he pushed Ochako harder and expected more from her than her colleagues. He once called her bright with potential to make astounding discoveries. Ochako had the notion to make that a reality.
So, here she was, skipping out on girl's night, making sure the math was right.
.
Ochako swore she wasn’t stalking, or trying to be creepy, but he just continued to show up.
She pretended to ignore him, this Deku.
But it was so hard when his presence just made her feel light.
Today, he was running with another person.
It wasn’t the loud and boastful jerk from the last time. In unusual fashion, his hair was split down the middle, one side white, the other red. He was quieter, more reserved. From her angle, Ochako was able to distinguish one grey eye, and another blue. She wondered if his heterochromia extended to his hair because she couldn’t see why someone would do that to their hair.
Then again, she had no room to judge.
She watched them as secretly as she could, watching this Deku person take a drink from his water while the half white, half red-haired man spoke softly.
Well, she assumed softly because Ochako couldn’t hear him.
Deciding that creeping on a stranger’s conversation wasn’t okay, Ochako returned to her notebook. She had created a new layout for her rocket - since her previous one had quite literally blown up in their faces - and needed to figure out the new dimensions.
She ignored the way her lips curved into a smile when she heard Deku laugh.