Chapter Text
Everybody loves somebody.
Midoriya, despite his lonely childhood, was full of love. It was in his nature, he was someone who liked giving even if there was nothing in return. He loved his mom deeply, he would always cherish her, he was her whole world that he knew. He loved Kacchan in a brotherly way, they were childhood friends even if their friendship was rocky for years following the diagnosis of his quirklessness. He never hated him. No, he admired him, he loved him from afar and hoped that one day, they would become heroes side by side. He loved All Might, at first as a hero, a model, then as a mentor, and eventually, as a father figure.
He was no stranger to the concept of love because he had so much love to give, to begin with.
Yet, on that fateful day when he took the entrance exams to UA, Midoriya Izuku fell in love.
At the time, he didn’t know. But that girl, she made his heart skip a beat with her genuinely friendly smile and her sparkling brown eyes. She might have been the first girl to talk to him with kindness for years, but he knows it wouldn’t have been the same if it was someone else.
There was no one else like Uraraka Ochako. She might have looked plain to some compared to the other girls from his class, but she never was for him. Under her tomboyish charms, she was graceful, beautiful and most importantly, kind. If someone deserved to become a hero, it was her. She always had his back, saving him physically and metaphorically. She was nice but she could still kick his butt if she wanted to.
Following his acceptance, he became quickly aware that he had, at least, a crush on her. His heart would go on a rollercoaster every time she smiled at him. He became all sweaty and red when she was close, and there were the dreams too. They spent five days a week together, studying, talking, training and eating together.
But then they started living together as the class moved into the newly built dorms. His feelings didn’t fade but he became so focused on everything else: All Might’s legacy, Shigaraki and the Leagues of Villains, that he pushed those new feelings aside for his destiny.
Two whole years passed in a flash. Battle after battle, between defeats and victories, she was always standing a few steps behind him. Smiling, supporting him, pushing him in just the right direction. With only a few kind words and an encouraging speech, she could manage to give him enough hope to stand up again and fight.
No matter the weather, he loved her.
It was simple as that. Izuku was a young man madly in love. He knew he was a goner when he let his eyes rest on her, as they were both sitting on the steps leading to the 3-A dorm. She was looking at his notebook, frowning as her brown eyes read each word of his analysis of her quirk, pouting her lips in concentration. The girl had yet to notice the autumn leaf stuck in her hair.
The view left him speechless. She was perfect, in every sense of the word. A lovesick sigh escaped him as he caught the brown leaf between his finger, contemplating her round face.
“When do you have time to write all of this?” She asked, bringing the notebook closer to her face.
“I don’t know, I just do it.” He smiled. “Stop squinting, you’re going to hurt your eyes.”
“Am fine.” She groaned, closing the book in her lap. “You wrote a lot of things about my quirk though. There are not so many pages about Tsu or Iida.”
“Uhm, well… It’s just that your quirk is really interesting, and it might help me with mines!” He explained, perhaps a bit too quickly.
“Right, you’re still getting used to Float.” She nodded, before handing him his notebook with a smile. “Thanks, it was very helpful!”
“You’re welcome!” Anything for you .
Not that he could say that. But he wished he could. As he let his gaze fall upon both of their hands resting side by side, he also wished he could cross the ten centimeters between them. Chasing the thoughts away, he looked at the path in front of him, enjoying the moment.
The air was a bit chilly which made sense as it was already October. The school was still peaceful, they had still a few days ahead of them before the start of the Festival activities. Midoriya was convinced that it was going to be the event of the year as the previous School Festival had been cancelled, following the League of Villains’ defeat. The class was very enthusiastic about their last School festival, they were going to make the most of it and he couldn’t wait.
Still, it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Uraraka must have felt the same, as she broke the silence.
“Can’t believe it’s our last year as high-school students.
“We grew up a lot in those two years and a half. You remember when All Might was all buff?”
At his comment, the girl giggled before looking at him and studying his face with a grin. He felt himself blush under her gaze but he tried to remain still and unbothered. Eventually, he heard her sigh as she brought up her knees to her face.
“You were barely taller than me before, and now you’re like, this high! It’s unfair!”
How great it felt to finally hit that growth spurt after all those years. The downside was that all his All Might merch was too small for him, but he still kept them as mementoes.
“It’s kind of nice. Now, the guys cannot make fun of me, and I feel a bit more like All Might!”
“Yeah yeah, don’t forget to tell me what kind of weather you have up there.” She joked, punching his shoulder.
If he wanted to, he could probably kiss her if he leaned his head toward hers. He could press his lips against her in one go. He wasn’t brave enough.
That was the thing with him. Midoriya loved Uraraka. It was probably obvious at that point, except for her. He loved her so much, all he wanted was to be with her, to hold her, embrace her, kiss her. She was the reason he wanted to become a better person and a better hero.
Despite this, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her. It was so stupid, because what’s the worst she could say? As a matter of fact, she could say no but she would never disrespect his feelings. Uraraka was not that kind of girl. She would reject him kindly for sure.
And there was a high probability she could say yes. Izuku had thought about this probability a lot . Until now, he could have been misunderstanding her kindness and friendliness, but there were other signs. Like, how she was looking at him when he wasn’t, he had already caught her watching him. Or when their hands met sometimes, a familiar pink dusted her cheeks, something that never happened with other boys (he had checked). She would drop everything to talk with him when he came to her and she was always sitting next to him in the common room.
She must like him too, right?
So why was he a coward? He did way worse, he battled villains, saved people, saved Japan and he can’t bring himself to confess to a girl? She wasn’t any girl though. She was the girl of his dreams. But Uraraka deserved much more than a stupid guy who couldn’t be honest with her.
“Deku, is everything all right?” She asked, her brown eyes filled with concern.
“Yeah… I’m fine.” He sighed, his own eyes dropping at his red shoes.
It wasn’t very convincing as she scooted a few millimeters closer, still watching him carefully. Her head tilted to the side as she tried to meet his gaze and see his face.
“You know you can tell me anything, we already talked about it.”
They did. Uraraka wanted him to be open about his feelings. She wanted almost no secrets between them, and it applied to each of their close friends. Discovering about One For All had made her angry, she had told him so, and she felt rejected because she considered him her best friend and yet, he had never told her about her secret. That was one of the things that made him love her even more. Quirk or no quirk, she couldn’t care less, he was still the Deku who could do his best.
“Deku? You’re muttering too fast I can’t understand a single thing!”
He gasped, putting a hand on his mouth. A blush rose to his cheeks, she said she didn’t understand but did she really? If she heard him talk about his undying love for her, he would rather die! But he could tell by the pout on her face and the concern still filling her eyes that his secret was still safe.
“I told you I’m fine, it’s not important,” Midoriya said, with a genuine smile. “I swear.”
“But you’re thinking.” Seeing his confusion, she explained. “You have that faraway look in your eyes, like when you’re thinking really hard about something.”
She gestured at her face, frowning so hard that he worried about her getting wrinkles. She pursed her lips in a pout, putting a hand on her chin.
“Like this.”
Watching her trying to mimic him was really funny but sweet at the same time. Midoriya laughed a little, feeling a little bashful. She must be exaggerating. He didn’t look like that, did he? She was probably trying to humor him. Uraraka looked ridiculous (and cute), so there was no way he looked like that.
“I don’t do that.”
“Oh yes! You do!”
He shook his head, still smiling widely and he saw her do the same. The pink at the corner of her cheeks darkened and he saw stars sparkling in her eyes. She was probably making fun of him, she was looking way too smug about it!
“I don’t look like that, now you’re just making fun of me.”
She giggled again and it sent a hundred butterflies flying in his stomach.
“Yes, you do! I notice everything about you, you big goof!”
Thousands. Millions. Millions of butterflies in his stomach.
Green and brown eyes met. Izuku always loved Uraraka’s eyes. They were brown, it reminded him of chocolate. Chocolate makes people happy. That’s a very scientific fact. Chocolate produces endorphins, thus making people happy. Uraraka had that same effect on people. Wherever she went, she radiated happiness. She was a ray of sunshine, it was impossible to not like her.
She made people happy, she made him happy.
“Uraraka?”
“Hmm?”
“Is there someone you like?”
Now looking at his red shoes again, he heard her gasp beside him. What a coward he was. He wasn’t even asking directly. To be honest, Midoriya did not even know what kind of answer he was expecting. Perhaps, in her candid usual way, she would say something along the lines of “What are you talking about?! I like everyone!”, that would be a very Uraraka thing to say. She never showed any interest in romance, not that he knew of. At the same time, neither did he.
Eventually, after was felt like an eternity, she whispered, “I do.”
His heart skipped a beat. He rose his head, his green eyes gazing at her now very pink face. The girl was looking at her hands, fidgeting with the hem of her school blazer, her brown eyes shining with feelings he couldn’t decipher.
“You do?” He heard himself ask.
Shyly, she tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear. She smiled softly, oh so softly that he stopped breathing for a second.
“Yes. There is a boy I like.”
Whoever it was, he was lucky, because Izuku was certain that he had never seen her smile like this before. There was a new emotion twinkling in her eyes. Love, he decided. That must be love.
Deep down, he hoped she was talking about him. A part of him was screaming that of course , she was thinking of him.
“What about you Deku? Is there someone you like?”
Uraraka looked up at him but he quickly turned away. It wasn’t surprising of her to return the question. He was the one who started it after all. The boy could hear his heart beating so loudly in his ears, it was undoubtedly going to burst out of his chest.
You. I like you. I love you. I want you to stay by my side forever.
But the words were stuck in his throat. Instead, he opened his mouth and said, “Yeah, there’s someone I like.”
She hummed in answer.
Yet, it did nothing to calm the race his heart was now participating in. He needed to do something about it. About this. About these feelings that he had kept bottled for so long. He had opened the box and if he didn’t do anything about it now, he was going to miss his chance. He thought of the lingering gazes on Uraraka when they were walking around the school and it left him restless.
“Uraraka.”
Gripping the hem of his own blazer, he turned his head toward her. He took a big breath, trying to gather his confidence. He could do this, he could tell her. Slowly, Uraraka looked at him. He could see hope, expectation and he might dare say , love, glimmering in those eyes of hers.
“Uraraka… I…”
I love you. I love you so much it hurts. I want to stay by your side. I need you. I love you. I can’t be a hero without you. I love you.
“Yes, Deku?”
He didn’t notice, but he was leaning toward her. In response, she scooted a little closer, fluttering her eyelashes at him. The distance was slowly closing between them. If only he could reach her, claim her lips with his, then surely, it would—
“What the hell did you do to my hair?!” Katsuki’s loud scream could be heard from outside.
“Everybody, run!” Sero’s laugh echoed.
The doors slammed open and a flurry of high school students ran past the two teenagers, laughing and crying along the way, completely oblivious to the now-ruined mood. Izuku tried to grasp Uraraka’s hand but he wasn’t quick enough, Ashido had already snatched the girl away from him.
“Please everyone, stay calm!” Iida shouted, frantically cutting the air with his arms.
“Hurry Ochako! He’s going to kill us!”
The brown-haired girl tried to say something but she was already being taken away by her pink friend, her eyes met Izuku and she mouthed a question.
“Meet me later?”
The boy found himself nodding vigorously as Todoroki and Kirishima grabbed each of his arms, taking him to “safety” as well. At his gesture, she used the smile again, the smile she had when she talked about the boy she liked. What a lucky guy that boy was.
Although he had missed his chance, he had the feeling he would have another opportunity soon.
Midoriya Izuku was madly in love with Uraraka Ochako. And maybe, just maybe, she loved him too. Now, if only he could manage to close the gap between them, then, just maybe, she would finally be his.