Archive of Our Own

Heart In A Cloverleaf

He was clueless, Ochako decided.

He had to be, because for the life of her, Ochako couldn’t quite comprehend what sort of idiot would attempt to drive anything but a truck or lifted SUV down the Uraraka Ranch drive. Yet this particular man seemed determined to make it work, either for pride or for pure stubbornness she couldn’t tell yet.

She watched, leading her horse around the pasture slowly. Every once in a while she would swing a wide berth back out into the field to consider the cows and make sure they  were behaving. They were getting their hooves trimmed today, so Ochako and Tsuyu were in charge of making sure the herd didn’t get spooked and bolted, but at this point the majority were in the corral and any stragglers that had slipped out Tsuyu was catching. 

Which left her to lean against the neck of her horse, run her fingers through the mare’s mane and stare shamelessly at the man trying to drive a sedan with probably no clearance down a road that was more pothole and sand than it was gravel and hard packed dirt.

It didn’t take long for him to get stuck. Truly and properly stuck, nor did it take long for him to figure this out and get out of the car. He was dressed like a city boy, clean white button up shirt and the wrong brand of jeans. They weren’t the rough and durable kind, but the sharp dark wash that was more stretch than sturdy. He seemed to be working the situation out in his head, but Ochako had decided that sitting out in the heat and watching him fumble with a car that simply wasn’t designed for this terrain had been enough entertainment for the day, and she should probably be neighborly and help him. 

~*~*~*~

On one hand, Izuku had probably been overly ambitious in attempting to steer through all the potholes in the driveway. On the other hand, he hadn’t wanted to disappoint Mr. Uraraka by being late to his first day. He knew that he would have a cultural learning curve, coming from the city and moving out into the middle of the plains to balance the books of a cattle company. 

He stared at his car, tilted slightly as it was, trying to decide if he should push it out, or walk the rest of the way up the driveway and talk to Mr. Uraraka about it. On one hand, he could at least show the man he’d made an effort, and that had to count for something. On the other hand, that sounded an awful lot like admitting defeat, and Izuku Midoriya was nothing if not determined. 

“I could get the tire jack in the truck… level the car out and get the back wheels to have full traction, possibly rock it forward out of the hole, then repeat on future occasions…” He pursed his lips, puzzling through the situation.

“You look a bit stuck.” 

“And I do have my dumbbell set in the back, I could balance the jack on those if I need more height, or even set them in future potholes. I’m sure the tires won’t like that but I can manage a bad tire so long as I can get to work…” 

“Hello?” 

“And if I-”

Something warm and wet slathered across the back of his head, followed shortly by a pair of teeth chattering on his hair. Izuku yelped, jerking forward at the same time someone shouted.

“Hey! None of that! You don’t eat people’s hair!” 

Izuku twisted, stumbling into his car.

There was an angel riding a horse.

Her skin was sun-kissed, and even with her hand shading her face Izuku could see a splatter of freckles across her face. She was breathtaking, one hand knotted through the horse's mane, and the other set on her denim clad thigh.

His mouth was suddenly dry as he looked up at her.

“Hey, you hear me?” 

She turned her attention away from her horse, back to him. He fumbled, mouth opening and closing a moment before he pushed off the car, dumbly extending a hand towards her.

“H-hey I-I’m Izuku Midoriya, I’m supposed to be the new accountant for the Uraraka Ranch but I…”

“Decided it would be a good idea to drive a sedan down a dirt road that hasn’t been flattened and filled in since before I was born.” She clicked her tongue at the end of her sentence, and Izuku wondered if she knew that the rural twang in her words was as adorable as he thought it was.

Probably not.

“R-right.”

She stared at him for a moment, leaning back slightly in the saddle before she huffed and dismounted. She ferried the reins of her horse over the animals head, and then started walking up the road. A moment later, she looked back at him.

“Well, you said you were working for Papa right? Come on. I’ll introduce you to him, and we’ll see if we can’t get your car out. Ain’t the first time it’s happened, ain’t going to be the last I suspect.” 

“O-oh!” He stumbled after her, feeling the crunch of dirt under his running shoes. “Th-thank you Miss…”

“Uraraka.” She shot back, and Izuku felt his stomach drop. “Congrat. You met your boss’s daughter.”

And was crushing on her. 

Oh. 

Shit.

~*~*~*~

He’d at least learned his lesson.

The first day had been a fiasco for their new little accountant. Her father had laughed it all off, a sparkle in his eye as he seemed to step right into mentoring the young man. Ochako noticed he always seemed to do that, possibly because she never had a brother, possibly because her father was just always looking to pass on the wisdom he’d learned throughout his life. Regardless, Ochako called the rest of the day a loss. Her father helped Izuku get his car out, gave him the keys to one of their spare trucks (a clunker that usually ran on a good day, and could be coaxed to life on the bad ones with a good kick and some swearing), and walked him through the farm.

Ochako had stuck around for a little bit just to watch, and boy had she enjoyed it. Watching Izuku maneuver around the cows had been a laugh and a half. Bless the poor man’s heart, but he was about as awkward as they came. She was in stitches trying not to openly laugh at him. 

The second day was better. The old beat up truck came rumbling down the drive early, and Ochako hardly saw Izuku all day. It was peaceful and pleasant, if not hot. But that was to be expected out in the Texas sun. She and Tsuyu moved the cows to a different pasture, her father even rode out to join them. Izuku did not make an appearance, but Ochako noticed that when she came back in at the end of the day the extra stall in the barn had been cleared out, as if in anticipation for another horse. 

An accountant that could ride? That’d be rich.

The third day went much the same as the second, and on through the week. Ochako wasn’t sure if she was expecting him to quit or not, but he kept at it. Once the first week was over she started seeing him more and more. At first it was in passing, when she came back to the ranch house to enjoy lunch with Tsuyu, her father and mom. Izuku would be working, sometimes popping out of the small study he’d been set up in to quickly grab a sandwich or heat up something he brought from home. 

She saw him in snapshots. 

It was sometime around the third week when she realized that he’d stopped wearing less durable clothing, and had instead donned a pair of proper boots and a flannel. Around the fifth week she noticed that her father was joining them on rides, and that when she went in for lunch Izuku was often out, talking with her parents about something, or letting her father know about something he’d just calculated. The seventh, or maybe eighth week Ochako stopped expecting him to quit. 

The twelfth week she just accepted that he would be there. Three months was a long time, and she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t see the benefit of having a good accountant. And good Izuku seemed to be. He had been hired initially in the middle of tax season, and yet when the season rolled around for it her father didn’t suffer from his usual long hours. There wasn’t the late night talks with all the ranchlands about tax refunds and the ranch probably having to pay. There wasn’t the annual talks about a short term lay off to try and recoup funds. There wasn’t any of that. 

Instead Ochako noticed that her father didn’t seem worried about it at all. He helped out as normal, riding with Ochako and Tsuyu and their other ranch hand, Denki. He helped handle the bulls and ear tag the incoming stock. He was out in the field, back doing the things that Ochako didn’t think he had time for. And when she walked in for lunch, her curiosity got the better of her, and she couldn’t help but peek into the study that had been set up for the new accountant. 

Izuku was always working, everytime that Ochako stopped in to check in on him. When he wasn’t stopping to eat, he was at his computer, fingers a constant moving mess as he jotted down figures and filled in spreadsheets. Ochako even stopped to watch him, and was startled to see him reach down and pick up a dumbbell, casually doing curls as his other hand filled in some expense.

She wasn’t sure what to think of him. 

And maybe that’s why she just decided to treat him like she did everyone else. He might not have had the best introduction with her, but he was helping. He seemed genuine, and he seemed to truly care. It was a refreshing change from all the other corporate tax people that came in for a month and left after getting paid.

So she invited him down to the river when the summer rolled in and the temperature started cranking up and the days got longer. Her father hadn’t seemed to mind, and Izuku… he probably deserved a break.

~*~*~*~

Izuku had somewhat figured out ranch life. Between Mr. Uraraka coaching him through the overall calendar on when things came in and how he’d previously done the books, Izuku had drafted himself a rough schedule for the year so he could prepare for some of the ranch’s bigger expenses. THe financial part of it he could manage easily, filing the small company’s taxes had been a nightmare, but he’d pulled it off and Uraraka Ranch ended up breaking even for the year in what was apparently the first time in the past four years. 

He was a little proud of himself, and he felt like he’d earned his spot. That feeling only continued to grow. He didn’t want to start slacking off, but he did take breaks to talk to some of the others that came in and out of the main house. He and Denki apparently shared some of the same interests in gaming. Denki had also promised to show him how to fish, though Izuku admittedly wasn’t that enthusiastic about the pursuit, but Mr. Uraraka kept bringing it up and he hated being unable to have a conversation about it. Miss Asui had found out his guilty pleasure of literature, and so she would talk classics with him. He was in the middle of ‘TO Kill A Mockingbird’ at the moment, and Asui had assured him that when he finished him she wanted to talk about his closing thoughts on the entire incident. At the moment he was just thinking that Atticus was an interesting name and that the writing was historically accurate and interesting. 

The only person that he didn’t feel that well connected to was Miss Uraraka herself, the beautiful woman that helped him out the first day. It wasn’t that she didn’t come in and that they didn’t talk, but they didn’t talk about each other. She would ask about the books and he would fill her in on the latest category he’d cleaned up and organized, and she would tell him about the cows or her horse or she’d hum and go back to eating her lunch.

So it came as a shock when she walked in and said, “You comin’ with me and the others to the river this afternoon?”

He blinked, swiveling around to face her. “I hadn’t heard anything about it, no? Why?” 

She stared at him for a moment, leaning against the doorway to the study as if she was considering telling him something or not. She hummed softly, then reached up and adjusted her hat and said, “Well you should. Denki should have a spare pair of trunks, and if not I know you run in the mornings around the farm. Just wear the shorts. I ain’t gonna mind, neither will Tsu.” 

“Are you sure?” Izuku stood, frowning as he considered her offer. 

She’d already slipped away though, offering an invitation and leaving before he could either confirm or deny. Izuku felt like he didn’t really have much of a choice. And he wasn’t going to turn down a chance to get out of the blistering August heat if it meant he could relax and go for a swim.

He’d made sure it was okay with Mr. Uraraka, who had readily dismissed him for the rest of the day. It wasn’t a long drive from the main farmhouse to the creek. He’d gone to it before on his own just to sit and read, or in one case to drink with Denki. The drive was just as bumpy if not more so than the main road, but he parked at the end of the dirt road, swapping his jeans for the pair of athletic shorts he’d worn that morning to go run in. It wasn’t until he got out that he noticed the three horses that were already tied up.

He walked down the bank of the creek, shaking his head at the combination of boots and shorts. There was a small trail through the skirting trees that led down to a small sandy area. The river wasn’t terribly wide here, nor fast. In fact it was a lazy trickle at best, though Izuku knew that with enough rain it could swell enough to take away cows. Apparently that had happened before, and Denki had told him some horror stories about riding out at two or three in the morning in the middle of a monsoon to try and save some cows that had gotten too close and been swept downstream.

Izuku stopped in the sand next to Miss Asui, who was laid out in the sun on a thick beach towel, a book in her hand. She glanced up at him, one eyebrow cocked as if she couldn’t believe he was here. Her flannel had been discarded, and currently she was in a black bikini sunning herself. Vaguely it made Izuku think of a reptile, mostly because he always caught Miss Asui basking in the sun. 

“Izuku, I didn’t know you knew about this.” She said with a smile. “It’s good to see you.” 

“Miss Uraraka invited me.” He explained, “But I… don’t see her?” 

“Wait a moment. And please, first names. You’ve been here long enough. Call her Ochako.” 

Izuku shrugged. “I-I guess. Sorry Asui.” 

“Tsuyu. Call me Tsuyu. Ya finish ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ yet?” 

“No, not yet. They just finished Tom Robinson’s trial.” 

Asu- Tsuyu hissed. “Oof. Yeah that’s a rough chapter.” 

Izuku smiled, taking a seat on the sand next to her. “It’s a well written book, and I think Atticus is a man to be admired, he’s ahead of his time. And I think it shows in how he treats Scout and-” 

“Wahoo!” 

Izuku jolted, eyes snapping up just as Ochako swung out from one of the trees on the other side of the river. He hadn’t noticed the rope swing before, barely did now because Ochako swung up and out on it. She jumped, sun streaming through her hair for a split second, her laughter a sweet note in the air as she splashed into the river. 

“There she is.” Tsuyu deadpanned, turning the page in her book. 

Izuku snorted. “So I see.”

He wouldn’t lie to himself and say Ochako wasn’t beautiful. She was. She was all sorts of things, and beautiful was the least of those. She was intelligent and well trained in her field, she was witty and snarky. She was a lot of things, even from his position and barely interacting with her, he knew that. 

She surfaced from the water a moment later, smiling and laughing as Denki came charging out of the woods after her. He mistimed his jump though, missing the swinging rope entirely. He flailed as he fell, smashing into the water with all the grace of a blind duck. Her laughter only got louder as she climbed out of the water.

And she was oblivious to Izuku’s lung seizing, and his heart thumping hard in his chest. 

He’d always seen her in riding clothes. She was always in a pair of jeans or overalls or anything else that fit the theme and a pair of boots. She wore rugged clothing, button ups and flannels that could handle the dirt and wear of leading cows or bulls or having to wrestle something to the ground. He’d seen her do it with some of the goats a few times. Point being he’d always seen her well clothed, in garments that didn’t hide her figure, but certainly did nothing to show it off.

The sharp red two piece she was wearing, on the other hand, definitely showed off her figure. 

“Close your mouth before you start drooling.” Tsuyu whispered beside him.

Izuku snapped his mouth closed. 

She was breathtaking. 

She was stunning.

She was looking right at him, one hand reaching up to comb her wet hair back behind her face. She cocked an eyebrow at him, and he swallowed hard when he realized that the soft freckles on her nose dotted her shoulders and chest as well. 

“What?” She asked, “Something wrong?” 

He fumbled for anything to say. Literally anything at all. 

“N-no no not at all.” He glanced at Tsuyu, who was shaking her head as she returned to her book. “H-how often d-do you guys come out here?” 

Ochako hummed, shrugging her shoulders as she looked out to the river. Denki pulled himself from the water, nodding his head toward Izuku in silent greeting before he clambered back up the bank to try the rope swing again.

“Often enough I guess. When it’s hot and clear, and we get a break from the cows and the rest of the farm, I sneak out for a swim. Tsuyu here usually reads though.” She rolls her eyes at her friend. “Takes the fun out of it.” 

“I get just as much fun from reading my book and basking in the sunlight as you do throwing yourself into a murky river bottom and trying not to find the rocks with your face.” 

Ochako laughed, and Izuku wasn’t sure if that last bit was a joke or reality. 

“Why do you ask anyway?” Ochako cut back to him. “Thinking of joining us out here?” 

He had two options at that moment. Shrug his shoulders and mumble some ridiculous excuse that would no doubt be a lie. Or. 

“I’d love to. Just let me know and I’d be happy to join you.” 

Try and spend more time with Ochako, and get to know the girl with freckles and a country smile that looks like a dream. 

~*~*~*~

Ochako usually prides herself on being observant. It’s a bit of a necessity in her line of work because she’s constantly dealing with animals. There isn’t exactly a verbal communication between her and them, so it pays to be attentive to them and know when they’re agitated or stressed or getting aggressive. She’s been herding cattle since she could ride a horse, maybe even longer, so being able to tell when a bull is getting aggressive is second nature. 

How this one slipped by her is unknown. 

One moment she’s checking out one of the other cow’s hooves, having noticed its limp and the tenderness of its back left hoof. 

Next she’s on the ground. Instinct has her curl up, hooves stamping around her head and threatening to crush her. It passed after a moment, and she rolled to her feet, head spinning and mind whirling to find the threat.

She nearly caught a horn to the gut, more tripping out of the way than actually dodging it, and she fell back to the ground once more as she realized one of the bulls was attacking her.

She froze for a moment.

A singular moment as she realized the situation she was in.

An animal that weighed more than a ton was trying to kill her. An animal that was ten times her own weight was trying to stamp her out of existence.

She heard her horse neigh, whining as it cantered out of the way. 

She heard Tsuyu yell, the thunder of hooves. 

The fence was a solid thirty yards away, a distance that she knew she could not make with a charging bull on her heels. If she was lucky she would be gored and passed over. If she wasn’t, then she would be killed instantly, or the horn would catch something and she would be flung around, trapt on the horn with death close to follow. 

She slid back, feeling the wet earth underneath her. She grabbed a clod of it, flinging it at the bull as she stumbled back up to her feet.

She needed to run. Every fiber of her being told her to run. Every muscle tensed and aching, a shiver running up and down her spine. She could hear her heart thundering in her ears, her lungs sucking in and heaving out each breath as if it may be her last. 

The cow stamped, spinning back around to face her, pawing the dirt. 

The distance between her and those horns was laughably small. It could be covered in a moment, even with her furiously back pedaling, trying to establish some sort of aggressive posture to deter the bull while still fleeing.

Tsuyu was on the other side of the herd, she could see her out of the corner of her eye, horse galloping to the rescue but so far from being able to do anything. Denki was in the other field. Her father had just left town to grab a new grinder disc. 

She was helpless. 

What could she possibly do that would stop a charging bull?

The bull charged. Hooves tore up clods of dirt larger than her fist, casting them aside. It lowered its head, horns sweeping left and right to try and catch her. Ochako took a breath. Gorings weren’t usually lethal. But a hospital was a solid hour drive if not longer. 

And there was no telling what kind of damage she would sustain internally. She turned, giving the bull her back for the first time and breaking a rule that her father had drilled into her from the start to try and run full bore for the fences.

“Fuck.” She hissed. “Fuck fuck fu-”

Something slammed into her.

It shocked her so badly that she forgot how to breathe or even if her last breath had been an inhale or an exhale. She slammed into the ground, tumbling through dirt and over cow shit. Her head was ringing, vision spinning as she wedged a hand under her.

“Run!” Someone was yelling at her. “Ochako I said run!” 

She staggered, trying to fight off the way the world was shaking, up and down twisting as the ground seemed to want to be to the left and the sky wanted to be to the right despite her head still being on straight. She assumed.

A thundering of hooves. 

But this time a hand instead of a horn. A pair of hands that hoisted her up, deceptively strong despite their thin nature. She was staring up at Tsuyu, the girl’s face so pale she looked like a ghost. The horse neighed and whined as it got moving again, carrying Ochako and Tsuyu to the fence. 

There was nothing ceremonious about how Tsuyu threw Ochako off the horse. She shoved her, and Ochako half slid, half fell to the ground on the other side of the fence. She stumbled, having to catch the sturdy wooden boards to keep standing. She pressed a hand to her head, willing her eyes to focus, her mind to clear and her lungs to work.

She had to squeeze her eyes shut, had to press her head against the boards of the fence and focus on the hard grit of the wood to get herself to feel even remotely steady. She wasn’t sure how long it took, only that time had passed and probably too much because when she looked up she realized who had slammed into her. 

Izuku Midoriya.

He’d thrown her out of the way of the bull. 

And he had taken the hit. 

Tsuyu was lassoing the bull, rope spinning around above her as she slung it, tangling up the bull’s leg. Izuku, on the other end of the bull, struggled with the horn. The horn that had caught him in the side punched straight through him and poked out his back, staining the soft gray of his polo shirt crimson.

What was more incredible was that Izuku held on. His hands wrapped around the horn of the bull, even as his legs flailed and the bull threw him from one side to the other, he held on, keeping his body impaled. Keeping the horn from sliding out, and more blood from spilling to the ground. The bull tried to slam him against the ground, and Izuku caught himself, or twisted in what surely must be pure agony out of the way, moving his legs and feet out of the way. It stomped and scuffed it’s hooves, and Izuku held on.

Tsuyu landed the lasso.  

The rope snapped tight, secured around the saddlehorn as Tsuyu urged her horse back. The bull stumbled, first once and then twice before falling to the ground. Izuku caught himself, hands on his chest as the bull pawed at the ground and shook its head.

“A saw.” He shouted. “Get a saw!” 

There was a saw-zaw in the barn. Ochako took off, stumbling at first and then more steady as the world tried to right itself. She prayed the battery was charged as she picked it up off the tool hook it was on. She came charging back as Denki ran out of the house, a pump action shotgun in his hand.

He charged it, the heavy chu-chunk of a fresh shell loading into the chamber as he ran to the fence. 

Ochako was still so stunned she barely heard it go off. But she saw Izuku shout as the bull spasmed. Tsuyu came off the horse now, the lasso unneeded as she helped hold the bull’s head steady.

The horn was slick with blood. Ochako tried twice to get the saw blade to bite, only for it to slide free. She couldn’t tell if it was her shaking hands or not.

“I got it.” Denki was there, taking the tool from her hands. “Get the first aid kit.” 

“Ambulance will bottom out.” Izuku wheezed. “Someone will need to drive me.” 

His eyes were screwed tight, both hands focused on holding the horn impaling him through the gut steady as Denki sawed. He looked wretched. But that could have been the blood given he was covered in it.

His shirt was splattered with it, and it oozed readily from the gore wound. She couldn’t believe he was still conscious, still steady and focused after the injury. 

“I-I’ll get th-the kit.” Ochako muttered, rushing off to the house.

She couldn’t tell if she was developing a concussion or not. Everything was a blur of colours and sounds. It was hard to focus on any one thing. She didn’t remember vaulting or climbing under the cattle fence to get back into the house, but she remembered slamming open the door and seeing her mother on the phone, talking to medical personnel. She didn’t remember picking up the medical kit, or even going to the bathroom to get it, but she remembered tripping down the stairs and skinning her calf.  She didn’t remember getting back up, yet here she was, carefully helping Izuku pull away from the bull, the cut horn still in his gut. Denki cut his shirt off with a pair of scissors, staring at the wound uncertainty.

“We should pull it out.” 

“Not unless you have something to plug it up with.” Tsuyu warned, “pack it, make it stable, and let’s get him in the truck. Izuku’s right. An ambulance will bottom out before it ever gets back here.” 

They’re in the truck. Izuku was in the back seat, dark red blood staining an old horse blanket that Ochako used to use for picnics when she was little. The soft blue fabric will never hold memories of her childhood now. His face is slick with perspiration, and he keeps swallowing, like there's something caught in his throat.

“The ambulance should be on its way.” Denki said, and Ochako thinks it’s more for his own benefit than anyone else’s. His hands are shaky at the wheel, his face pale as he tries to navigate the Uraraka Ranch’s bumpy and uneven driveway. 

It was nerve wracking. Even when they finally ran into the ambulance and Izuku was transferred, Ochako didn’t quite feel connected to reality. It was all just too surreal, too improbable to ever happen. 

Izuku’s blood staining the blanket in the backseat of the truck said otherwise. It told her that something irrevocably wrong had happened, and that despite the slim chances he had been hurt.

It would likely be the last time he ever showed up at the Uraraka Ranch. If he filed for a lawsuit, he wouldn’t ever have to work again. Even if he didn’t, he would surely quit.

He wouldn’t ever be back. Which meant there would be no more river swims with him. She wouldn’t have the chance to enjoy his company, or listen to him and Tsuyu chat about books and concepts. She wouldn’t ever be able to ask him his thoughts on the business, or even just the world around them. She wouldn’t get the chance to listen to him talk about life and ethics or get him to tell her about how his mom makes the best cookies ever again. She wouldn’t get to know more about him.

And there was no use in daydreaming about what could have been if he never came back. Because that was the truth, Izuku Midoriya would never come back.

She knew he wouldn’t actually, because what kind of sane person would ever come back to the scene of such a horrible event?

Even with the efforts her father made to try and erase the incident and make sure it couldn’t happen again, it would no doubt be too much for anyone that had such a close encounter with the wrong end of a bull. The dirt driveway was filled in with gravel, smoothing out the ride. Ochako, Tsuyu and Denki now carried a gun at all times, not just when there were coyote sightings. The weight was unfamiliar at first, but two weeks later Ochako had grown used to it.

But even with all of that, with the reassurance that such an incident could be handled quickly, and anyone injured could at least be picked up by actual medical professionals instead of thrown into a truck with a hope and prayer they’d reach civilization before expiration, who would ever come back?

Izuku Midoriya apparently.

Ochako hadn’t expected it.

She couldn’t come to terms with it, and yet she could do nothing to refute the old banged up blue Chevrolet truck her father had loaned him rumble down the freshly graveled drive. She rode up next to the fence, easing her horse up to the wooden fence as he pulled up to the main house.

He got out carefully, most of his weight on one leg as he hopped back and closed the door. He glanced around the farm, emerald eyes observing the fields.

She thought he would grimace. She thought he would recoil or wince when his eyes landed on her, or the spot he’d been gored. Instead he smiled, light and easy as he caught sight of her and waved.

He waved like nothing had ever gone wrong, and the fact that he had to have three rounds of surgery, a cracked femur and a mild concussion for her slip up was nothing.

Her heart caught in her throat.

And she bowed her head and swallowed her feelings. 

What kind of man did that make him? To be strong enough to come back to a place he’d been hurt so badly, almost killed, and yet look at the person who he’d taken the place of and smile? 

She needed to talk to Tsuyu. Maybe she’d have some advice for the emotions Ochako was feeling. The reason her heart had climbed up into her throat like she was in the middle of running a cloverleaf in the finals of a rodeo instead of moseying along the fence on a quiet Wednesday morning.

Ochako watched him head up the steps, slowly and steadily gripping the handrail with his left hand as he made his way up. She watched, unable to look away and yet unable to move any closer to voice the plethora of thoughts running rampant through her mind. 

~*~*~*~

Ochako was distant again.

Izuku wasn’t exactly sure what he did, other than become a shishkebab, but for some reason every time he caught her eye her face flushed and she hurried out of the room or back to the field. It was strange, and it left his stomach feeling unsettled and his chest aching. 

He wanted to talk to her. He felt like he deserved to explain why he’d been so rash, why he’d just charged out there and thrown himself in between her and a two thousand pound angry animal. He wanted to tell her so badly, but every time he worked up the courage the words dove back down his throat or she ducked away.

Was it traumatic for her? Was that the reason that she didn’t want to spend time with him or talk with him? When he asked Tsuyu she just rolled her eyes and called him a blockhead.

“Is she mad at me?” He asked Mr. Uraraka one day when he stopped into the office to check on him.

Mr. Uraraka was an older man, probably in his late fifties with leathery skin and callous hands from constant work outside. He had a weathered feel to him, yet had a persistent smile on his lips anytime Izuku saw him. The man gave him a different smile now, as if he knew something Izuku didn’t. 

“I don’t think my daughter is anything close to mad at you.” He assured Izuku. “Far from it. I think you two should have a good sit down talkin’. How about you come out to the rodeo this Friday? ‘Chako’s running the cloverleaf, but she’ll stick around to watch Denki and I do some roping. Tsuyu,” He pronounced Tsuyu like ‘Tsu-yah’ and it always made Izuku smirk, “talked about doing some roping too. She’s been practicing as much as I can remember, been doing pretty good with some of them goats.” 

Izuku wasn’t sure, but he committed to the idea anyways. His Friday nights were usually spent catching up on his laundry, changing the sheets on his bed and cleaning out his fridge anyways, so driving out to a local ranch to witness a rodeo would at least be a nice change. 

He forgot he was in Texas though and that rodeo’s are debatably the state’s national sport in the rural areas. Even arriving a bit early, Izuku had a hard time finding a spot to pull in. The parking had even extended out into what he thought was a cow pasture, and yet it was so full of vehicles it was difficult to see the gates, much less the rodeo itself.

It was even more dizzyingly crowded once he got through the gates. The rodeo this time had been set in a small clearing, either naturally or purposefully shaped like an amphitheater. Assorted stalls lined the rim of the area, selling anything from fair food, to leather chaps to cowboy hats and horse bits. Izuku had no idea how he was supposed to find a seat, much less anyone else from the Uraraka Ranch.

Turned out he didn’t have to worry too much about it.

They found him.

“Howdy there stranger.” Izuku startled, then smiled as Denki shoulder checked him. “Old man Uraraka mentioned that you’d be swinging through, can't help but think it might have something to do with Ochako barrel racing tonight, but I figured I’d try and keep ya’ some company.”

“Thanks for the escort. I’m… honestly a bit overwhelmed here. Where are the others?” 

Denki shrugged. “Ochako has this thing where she’ll talk with her horse before every event. Tsuyu’s practicing, she’s gonna rope goats for the first time this year, so she wants to make sure she can get the dismount right.”

“Dismount?” Izuku cocked an eyebrow.

Denki didn’t answer for a moment, and then seemed to realize Izuku genuinely didn’t know. “Oh. Right. Forget you’re new. Uh. Right.” He clicked his tongue, considering for a moment. 

They walked through the car, and Denki swung through a food vendor, picking up a salted pretzel. He pulled it apart, handing Izuku one half as he picked at the other.

“So like. Goat tying is basically you got a goat in the middle. And Tsu’s job is to ride in, dismount- usually riding fast as all hell- not eat shit, flip the goat and tie it.” 

Izuku blinked a few times. “This is a sport?”

“This is a sport. You do realize that Ochako’s event is her riding a cloverleaf right? Side note, it’s so fucking cool watching just how angled they can get goin’ around those barrels.” 

So cloverleaf had something to do with barrels. And goat tying was… tying up a goat. 

Made sense.

He took a bite of his pretzel, chewing thoughtfully as they found a seat. Denki pulled out his phone, and Izuku shamelessly read the contact name over his shoulder. He’d met a girl recently, and had been texting her almost incessantly.

“So you dating now or?” Izuku asked as he licked pretzel salt off his lip.

Denki scoffed. “You and Ochako dating now too?” Izuku gave him a flabbergasted look, and Denki snorted. “Thought so. Don’t ask me about my love life if yours ain’t straight neither.” 

“Ochako hasn’t talked to me since I came back.” 

Denki gave him a look like he was trying to tell if maybe Izuku had brain damage. “She talks about you all the time. It was her idea to invite you to the river, and she didn’t even invite me. Tsuyu did. If she didn’t like you she wouldn’t have bothered.”

Wouldn’t have bothered…? But she barely spoke to him the past week…

He took a bite of his pretzel, deciding to answer Denki with silence instead of with words. Denki shrugged, focusing on his phone and intermittently the rodeo in front of him. Every now and then Izuku would ask a question and Denki would explain.

What was the goal? Fastest time usually.

Was there a point system? Kinda sorta, but overall yes. Which was a totally clear answer.

What did you win? Usually a giftcard or a portion of the pot, but usually events like this donated the proceeds to a charity or farm in need.

Did anyone get hurt? Rarely, but paramedics were on standby.

When would Ochako compete? Soon enough loverboy.

“Loverboy?” 

Denki shrugged, typing out another text. “If the boot fits.” 

“She’s my boss’s daughter. Of course I’m concerned if she likes me or not. I like my job.” That and he… he enjoyed talking to her. He liked hearing about the work she did in the field and he couldn’t help but think there was a rustic sense of beauty about her. It was in the way she was a bit rough and rugged and yet she had this certain smile that made him smile back every time.

“Whatever yah say lover boy.” Denki shrugged his shoulders, his attention back in his phone. 

“I’m not the one that’s been texting the entire time.” 

Denki glanced up from his phone, one blonde eyebrow slowly rising. “I ain’t the one that’s spending a Friday night somewhere he ain’t never been before, watching something I don’t really care about, all just ta see a girl. Now am I?” 

Izuku didn’t really have much to say to that. So he turned his attention back to the fenced in area and shoved the rest of his pretzel into his mouth.

He watched a few events. Tsuyu did her bit first, coming in at an impressive (according to Denki) time of a bit over eight seconds. For a while he sat with just Denki, with Tsuyu joining them after her event. Then Denki left, and Tsuyu filled him in on the details of Denki and Mr. Uraraka’s event. Denki and Mr. Uraraka actually had a few runs, missing one or two of the attempts on the lasso. According to Tsuyu it wasn’t unusual since lassoing a moving target was difficult, and doing so at speed was even more so.

And then it was Ochako’s event.

Tearing out of the gate, mounted low on her horse as she charged in. There was a shift as she reached the first barrel, leaning slightly as her horse rounded it. For a moment Izuku thought she was going to fall out of the saddle, but then they came through the straight away, charged to the next barrel and looped around it. 

“She's doing well.” Tsuyu muttered.

Izuku glanced at her and she must have noticed because she pointed. “One of the things you can get points off for in a cloverleaf is knocking over the barrels. Truth is it takes a lot of training, because you’re movin at speed, trying to get a horse to take a sharp turn that most don’t want to, and then get back into as mucha full gallop as you can.” 

“Horses don’t like that?” 

Tsuyu glanced at him, cocking an eyebrow. “You ain’t ever been riding have you?” 

“Not even once.”

Though it hadn’t escaped his notice that Mr. Uraraka had asked if there were extra funds for a spare horse the other week. And that the additional stall in the barn had been cleaned out, but not used as storage. 

“Short answer is no.” Tsuyu supplied, leaning forward and setting her elbows on her knees.

Ochako finished her run. Izuku missed her exact time, but based on Tsuyus reaction it was good. And when she came running out the two embraced and Tsuyu congratulated her. They laughed and Tsuyu walked her back. It was only when they got there that Ochako seemed to realize he was there. 

She hesitated, and in the dim light it almost looked like she blushed. But it could have been because she was hot or tired. Izuku could only imagine how stressful it had been running the cloverleaf.

She ran her hand through her hair, looking from him back to Tsuyu. Izuku shifted into uncertainty, frowning for a moment before she took a seat next to him. Tsuyu took the seat on the other side of Ochako.

He chanced a glance, running his own hand through his hair, trying to figure out what to say to break the tension. He bit his lips, worrying it for a moment. He wished he could talk to his mom about this, but she hadn’t had the time and he hadn’t really wanted to have the conversation on the phone with her. And he knew how it would end. He knew his mom would bawl and she’d cry and hug him and tease him about having a crush. 

And she’d be right. 

Because Ochako Uraraka was beautiful and talented and kind and sweet and Izuku liked to hear her thoughts and he liked to see how she problem-solved. And he wanted to… get to know her. He wanted to talk with her more and maybe… maybe…

Heat crept up the back of his neck and pooled in his cheeks. He glanced at her again, and found that the blush was still there, and that she was side-eyeing him as well. They both looked away, an excuse tumbling from his lips.

“Oh, I- I’m sorry, I didn’t I wasn’t-”

“No-no I… I was just.. I-”

“Bless your hearts,” Tsuyu grumbled, dropping her head in her hands. “Ya’ll both idiots.”

“Tsu!” Ochako swatted her friend. “You did this on purpose!”
“Oh no no no. This was all your pops.” Tsuyu replied. “And I’m getting a funnel cake. So figure this out by the time I’m back. Izuku?”

He perked up at his name.

“She doesn’t hate you, if that’s what you’re worried about.” 

Ochako yelped, glancing back at him. Tsuyu escaped in that moment, springing up and pushing through the crowd towards one of the food vendors, leaving them sitting side by side with no reasonable way to leave. But…

She didn’t hate him? 

“I…” Izuku started, then hesitated as she faced him, eyes wide in surprise. “I… I thought you were mad at me for the… the bull thing.”

She blinked, and then pursed her lips, looking down at her hands. Her fingers picked at the stitching of her pockets. “No. I… I couldn’t understand why you came back. Why you wanted to come back…” 

Izuku frowned, leaning in a little to hear her better. “Why wouldn’t I?”

She huffed, rolling her eyes at him. “Izuku, you were gored. You could have…” She swallowed, bottom lip pulling in as her teeth nibbled at it. The words caught in her throat, and even when they did slip free they were barely over a whisper. “You could have died because of my mistake.”

Was… was that what this was about? 

“But if I hadn’t.” She glanced up at him, “then you would have been the one hurt. And I couldn’t allow that.” 

“It’s not yer job to keep me safe. I should have been payin’ attention. I know when a bull is getting ornery.” 

“I wasn’t about to let you get hurt.” She shifted at that, hands bundling up in the fabric of her jeans. “Not when I could have done something.” 

“But you got hurt!” There were pinpricks of tears in her soft brown eyes, and Izuku wondered if maybe he wasn’t the only one that got hurt from that event. If the wound she sustained was more emotional. 

He could empathize, even if he couldn’t fully know what she felt. He could only imagine how shaken up she had been, having to watch someone get gored, and then trying to make sure they didn’t die in the backseat of a dusty well-worn truck. 

“And I would do it again if it kept you safe.” He felt braver than he should have in that moment. He wasn’t sure where the feeling came from, but he reached out, taking her hand in his and squeezing it. “If it meant keeping you safe, then I would do it again. And you don’t owe me anything for that. You don’t have to worry about me getting angry. I want to. Because I enjoy getting to hang around you, and I could never forgive myself if you were injured when I could have prevented it.”

She stared at him for a moment, eyes wide as they looked up into his. He could see the little fractals of deviation in her pupil, where the soft brown melded into star bursts of yellow or crisp flashes of amber in different lines and wisps. They were beautiful, captivating and striking just like she was.

“Oh fuck are you two gonna kiss?” 

They jolted apart, Izuku toppling out of his seat and hitting the dirt, Ochako nearly doing the same. Tsuyu stood behind them, one eyebrow cocked as she slowly tore off a piece of her funnel cake, popping the bite sized morsel into her mouth. 

“Damn. Was going to say it’s about time.” 

“Damn it Tsu! You scared the hell outta me!” Ochako snapped, dusting herself off as she settled back in her seat.

She was definitely blushing now, and as she glanced at him, he watched as the soft pink on her cheeks darkened slightly and she licked her lips and looked away.

Maybe she didn’t hate him. 

Maybe she felt the opposite way about him after all and his silly little crush wasn’t in vain. 

~*~*~*~*~

Tsuyu was relentless now. If Ochako thought that her best friend was obnoxious before the rodeo, then she was nauseating now. She did her work just fine, and herding cattle was a blessed respite from Tsuyu’s teasing and knowing looks. She would just smile and joke about him all the time, reminding Ochako that she almost kissed Izuku.

As if she wasn’t entirely aware herself just how close she had been to him. As if she wasn’t entirely aware of how green his eyes were. As if she had somehow managed to forget that he was a rather attractive man with a smile that blew her away. 

As if she could ever forget any of those things.

“You know what.” Ochako said, interrupting Tsuyu. 

Tsuyu cocked an eyebrow, adjusting her position in the saddle to better look at Ochako. The revolver on her hip slapped against her thigh, and her lasso clicked together with the motion. 

“You’re going to head in, grab the accountant and see if you two don’t add up?” 

Ochako took a breath. “I’m going to leave now. And I’m going in for an early lunch. And when I’m done, I’ll see if I can’t get Papa to give you some fencing to do. If I’m lucky maybe you’ll get eaten by a coyote.” 

“If that happens maybe you’ll be out here with Izuku, wouldn’t that be a treat?” 

Ochako took a deep breath, tilting her head up to the sky and closing her eyes.

“You know I’ll stop if you just do something about him instead of stare at him.” 

Ochako glared at her, and Tsuyu shrugged as she leaned over the saddlehorn, reaching up and running her hands through her horse's mane. 

She left, tapping her own horse with her heels and speeding up to a canter back towards the barn. It took a few minutes of riding, time which Ochako took to school her features back to a relaxed look and to attempt to banish thoughts of Izuku from her mind. She wasn’t totally successful by the time she reached the barn, but that was fine too because she didn’t have to see him. He normally worked until noon, keeping to the small study turned workstation until others came in. Since she took lunch early she could just… slide in and out without having to confront him. 

Easy peasy. 

She wouldn’t have to look him in the eye, wonder if his lips were soft or chapped. She wouldn’t have to wonder if she would be able to feel his muscles through his shirt if he pulled her close to his chest and kissed her. She wouldn’t have to wonder if he danced or knew how, and if his hands would fit on her hips should he chose to dance with her.

Nope.

She wouldn’t have to think about any of those things.

She dismounted outside the barn, taking her hat off fanning herself for a moment before ferrying the reigns over her horses head. She lead the horse up to the doors, but stopped when they cracked open and her father walked out. He smiled at her, and when he was close enough he stroked her horse’s neck.

“Got an extra horse in there right now.” He said cryptically. “Good thing yah came back early, I don’t have time to show Izuku the ropes on taking care of her yet.” 

Ochako blinked, opening her mouth and then closing it as her father gave the horse a final pat and headed back to the main house.

She glanced at her horse, who huffed in her face. She rolled her eyes at it, but decided she couldn’t avoid this. So she put her horse up, watered it and gave it an apple to enjoy. Izuku wasn’t hard to find, and she knew which stall had been cleared out. 

She found him standing in front of the new horse, a gelding most likely. Mares were good beginner horses as well, but they tended to be a bit moody when their heat rolled around. She walked around to the stall door, leaning against it as she watched Izuku.

He was calm and patient with the horse, talking in low tones. Most likely the gelding was already broken in, and would handle Izuku as a new rider just fine, but it was good that he was establishing some verbal relation with the horse. 

“Ya know it’s kinda nice talking to you.” Izuku said suddenly, startling her. For a moment she thought he was talking to her, but his attention remained on the horse as he fed it grain from his hand. “I could take you for some long walks? And you could laugh at me when I fall out of the saddle right?” 

The horse did not respond outright, but he did flick his ears and shake his head slightly. Izuku chuckled slightly, rubbing the horse’s neck. 

“I bet you’d enjoy that wouldn’t you? Tell you what, I’ll see if I can’t figure out riding if you promise not to kick me in the face. My mom always told me I had a pretty high pain tolerance, but I don’t think I could shrug off that. Deal?”

Ochako smiled, settling in slightly more against the stall door as she watched him talk to the horse. 

He patted the horse one more time, wiping his hand off on his jeans before turning. He jumped at the sight of her, cheeks flushing red.

“O-Ochako! I-I didn’t hear you th-there! I-I’m sorry. I…” He trailed off, glancing back at the horse. “Y-Your dad said I should talk to him like he’s a person s-so I…” 

Ochako chuckled and rolled her eyes, walking past him to rub the horse under his jaw and give him a soft pat on the neck. “No no. You should. They’re people too, kinda. You’re responsible for them, and you should take care of them. It’s the expectation, if anything you should treat them better than you treat yourself.” She clicked her tongue at the horse, and in response the gelding neighed and snorted at her. She chuckled, taking a step back.

A step back that caused her to bump into Izuku’s chest, her back thumping against his chest. He caught her, hands dropping ot her hips to steady her before he yelped and took a quick step back.

“S-Sorry I didn’t meant to be so close.” 

She put a hand to her chest, startled at how close he had been, but also at the sudden thundering of her heart. She shifted to look at him, his hands shoved in his pockets, head tilted down even as he glanced at her through his unruly green bangs. Her heart felt like it was running a cloverleaf, beats like hooves drumming on the dirt. Her eyes darted down to his lips, watched as he licked them before he looked back to her.

She took a breath.

She could do this.

The gelding neighed again, bumping her in the back, sending her forward a half-step.

She wasn’t going to be afraid. 

She could do this.

Izuku took a half step forward as well, hands out to catch her. 

Her heart fluttered at the sight.

He really was that kind wasn’t he?  

She grabbed his shirt instead, fingers curling around the soft brushed flannel as she yanked him closer. He stumbled, but caught himself as they were chest to chest. He was taller than her, but her boots made it easy for her to pop up on her tiptoes and press a kiss to his lips.

He hesitated for a moment, shocked and stunned as he looked down at her.

“Got a problem with that?” She asked with bravado she did not feel.

He shook his head.

“Good.” She smiled, reaching up and tugging him down by the collar to kiss him again a bit harder. “So, how do you feel about contra dancing?”

He blinked, glancing down at her for a moment before he swallowed. “I’d love to take you to it?” 

“Then it sounds like a date.” She winked. “You still have to ask Papa though.” 

“I think he already gave me permission if I’m being honest. He told me a bit ago that there’s this place down the road, and that I should take you dancing there soon.” He reached up, scratching the back of his head before he looked back down at her. “S-so… So do I… do I get… I am… we are…?” 

She winked, grabbing his hand. She could already hear Tsuyu in the back of her mind, crowing about how she was right. “Yes. Yes, we are.”