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The world is a vast place filled with incredibly complex and varied people, a fact that only became more accurate with the rise of quirks. Which makes it all the more amazing how close to universal some experiences are. A prime example, for those who feel romantic attraction, is how utterly and incredibly anxiety-inducing going on your first date with the first person you've ever really, really, liked can be.
An experience a young Izuku Midoriya was having at this very moment.
Now, Izuku was no stranger to anxiety. It ran fairly strongly in his family, after all, and growing up quirkless in such a quirk-focused society didn't exactly do him any favors either. But unfortunately being familiar didn't mean he was actually good at handling it. Maybe during heroics, where all personal worries evaporated away and his mind became laser-focused on saving people, but this wasn't anything like that.
No, this was a date. With Ochaco Uraraka. His first and best friend at UA. Who just so happened to be the prettiest, most talented, most amazing girl he'd ever met in his entire life.
Ok so he was only 15, but still!
So naturally he was absolutely panicking. He'd tried asking for advice, but that hadn't exactly been helpful. He'd asked Iida, Todoroki, even All Might(!), but they'd all told him what basically amounted to 'just be himself'. Which like, sure, but that didn't exactly help him figure out what to do for a date. At least they'd been more helpful than Kacchan, who'd yelled at him to "stop comin' to me every time that fucked up crosswired brain of yours freaks out over stupid shit!" (But he didn't slam the door in Izuku's face this time! So he'd consider that progress!)
His mom had thankfully been able to give him something, even if not much. (of course telling her he was going on a cdate had been an hour long process that involved a lot of freaking out and crying.) She'd told him about how his dad had apparently tried to sweep her off her feet with dinner at an incredibly fancy restaurant followed by going to her Favorite musical, but he'd been such a nervous wreck of a dork that he could barely talk and kept making clumsy accidents, which had somehow made her fall for him even more. That did somewhat reassure Izuku that things could be alright even if he messed up a bit.
But he still wanted to do his best, dammit!
Fortunately his mom's story had given him some idea of what to do. While he wasn't sure how receptive Ochaco would be to a fancy restaurant (he figured she could either love experiencing something she'd never really had the opportunity to before, or be overwhelmed, or be unable to not worry about the cost. Plus he thought it might be rude to assume she'd be comfortable with him paying for everything, as much as he'd like to, so best to just take that off the table for now), he could focus on things she liked! Which was good, because his only other idea had been going to the mall, and he doubted she'd want to spend an evening listening to him incoherently ramble about hero merch. That and he didn't exactly have a great track record with shopping centers.
So now that he had an idea, Izuku began to do what he did best: think, research, plan. And because he is who he is (a neurotic dork, hero student, and, more importantly, massive trouble magnet), he created not one, not two, not even three, but seven contingencies. At this point, even the League would be hard-pressed to ruin his 'Aim to Love: Uraraka's Best Day Ever' Plan!
Which, of course, naturally, meant that none of the plan would survive,
'Should we be holding hands? couples are supposed to hold hands, right? Especially on dates. But are we even a couple? This is just a first date. But how many dates do you have to go on to be considered a couple? Or do number of dates even factor into that at all? Besides, how would we even start handholding? I can't just grab her hand, that'd be rude! Do I just ask then? But how?! Or is it supposed to be up to her to initiate handholding? Crap, I should've done more research on date etique-' a nudge to the shoulder shook Izuku out of his spiraling thoughts.
"Here, Deku," Ochaco said, drawing his attention to her proffered hand (mitten- covered, of course, as it was a chilly November day).
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Izuku whisper-yelled in a panic, absolutely mortified that he'd been mumbling.
A light giggle from Ochaco cut off any further apologies. "Deku, really, it's ok! I don't mind your mumbling, honest. I, um, might even find it kinda... cute." The cute natural blush of her cheeks deepened and began to spread. "Just take my hand, ok? I- I'd like to hold hands with you."
Slowly, Izuku grasped her mitten-covered hand with his own gloved one, still able to feel her warmth through the layers of fabric. Faces steaming, the pair settled into a quiet that was somehow both comfortable and awkward at the same time.
Of course a few minutes later was when the universe decided to throw the first monkey-wrench of the day into their plans.
Out of nowhere the train began to quickly slow down, coming to a complete stop well before the next scheduled station. "Apologies for the delay, passengers," the engineer's voice said over the intercoms, "but apparently a villain fight has taken out the bridge a few hundred meters ahead. Please be patient while we wait for clearance to return to the previous station where you can disembark and find alternate routes to your destinations. Thank you."
"Oh gosh, that's terrible! I hope no one was hurt," Ochaco said, turning to Izuku, who was, naturally, already searching the news for the villain fight.
"Apparently it was a failed robbery. And the villain had a... osmium quirk. That's a really dense metal, right? Does the quirk function like Tetsutetsu's? Anyway, they, uh apparently activated their quirk mid-air when a hero tried to fly them to a police station. They were 'hoping to make their escape in the subsequent confusion, but crashed through the bridge and got stuck, buried up to their chest in the street.' Oh! And it says the only injuries were minor scrapes and bruises."
"Whew, that's good at least. Thanks for finding that so quick, Deku," Ochaco said as she gave his hand a gentle squeeze, causing them to both blush once again. "Oh shoot, does this mean we're not gonna make it in time anymore?"
"Well, yes," Izuku nervously admitted, "but that's ok! I figured there was a chance for something like this to happen, so I planned some back-up places we could go, just in case."
"So the real reason you wanted to keep it a surprise was so that I wouldn't get too excited for something we'd have to miss, right?"
Izuku nervously rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. " Er, yeah, sorry for kinda making assumptions."
"It's ok, Deku." She gave his hand another reassuring squeeze. "For the record, you didn't have to do that. If there's one thing I've learned from Mr. Aizawa, it's to deal with a surprise change of plans. But thanks for trying to look out for me, I really do appreciate it." Now it was Izuku's turn to squeeze her hand, in sheepish acknowledgement. "So. Mr. Master Planner. Just how many backup plans did you make?"
"... seven," Izuku said with a whisper, his face heating up in embarrassment at the knowing look in her beautiful hazel eyes.
Ochaco giggled lightly as her eyes filled with soft warmth. "I knew I could count on you, Deku."
"What number was that?"
"Three."
"So we have five left?"
"Yep."
"Well," Ochaco said, clapping her mittens together, voice still holding the same level of cheeriness from the start of the day. Izuku always had loved how great she was at keeping up morale. "Where to next, oh benevolent guide?"
"Um," Izuku intelligently said, still reeling from how... correspondingly each plan so far had been thwarted. (Seriously, first a guy crashing into the earth, then a water main bursting, and now a fire? What was next, a tornado?) "Well, uh... Oh, good news! The next place on the list is National Museum of Nature and Science, which is just a few blocks from here!"
"Oh, cool! Let's get going before something else happens!" Ochaco cheered, grabbing Izuku's hand once again and starting to run. In the wrong direction.
"Uraraka, wait!"
"We can't wait, Deku! We're racing the universe now!"
"No, I mean. The museum's the other way!"
Ochaco skidded to a quick halt. "Oh, oops. probably should've asked that first. How 'bout you lead the way?"
With a determined nod, Izuku turned... and began running again, earning a delighted and infectious laugh from Ochaco.
Fortune seemed to finally turn their way, as the pair were able to pay for their tickets and enter without any trouble. Izuku breathed a sigh of relief, before blushing with a flustered-yet-happy smile on his face as Ochaco grabbed his hand again and made a beeline for the aerospace wing. From there things went well, Ochaco excitedly leading Izuku from one exhibit to the next, with Izuku loving the opportunity to dive into a subject he'd never studied much before, especially with someone he loved cared about so much.
But maybe things were going a little too well.
Naturally the pair went to the History of Heroics wing next, where it was Izuku's turn to drag Ochaco around and infodump. Which was why he was surprised when Ochaco gave him a firm tug on his jacket sleeve, motioning to a plain looking man in a trenchcoat. Thanks to Aizawa's training, it took him no time to notice what Ochaco already had.
Something was about to go down. And given the way the man was conspicuously glancing between the security cameras, the crowd, and the 'Current No. 1 Hero' (Endeavor) exhibit, Izuku doubted it was going to be a simple smash-and-grab robbery. No, this man wanted an audience. A spectacle.
They were about to be in the center of a villain attack.
Thank All Might he and Ochaco worked together so perfectly. With a mere glance and nod, the duo had a plan set.
The room they were in was relatively small, and decently crowded. And while it was full of precious exhibits, the people were obviously the highest priority. So the hero-student team would take advantage of One for All's incredible speed in combination with Zero Gravity to near-instantly get Ochaco into close-quarters with the villain while Izuku cleared out the civilians.
"Down with the false Heroes! Death to the Fakes!!" the man screamed, unleashing twin beams of white-hot fire from his chest at the statue of Endeavor. Though the Stain-sympathizer didn't have time to consider how Foolishly dumb his plan was (seriously, Endeavor's hero costume is made to stand up to his Prominence Burn super-move. Even the villain Dabi, who wields the currently hottest fire quirk in Japan, would be hard-pressed to damage it. Did this guy think it was just a cheap replica?) as within seconds he had taken a high-speed flying kick to the face, been whipped to the floor, and detained in a perfect armbar hold.
"Uravity!" Izuku called from across the room. "Civilians have been evacuated. I'll go relay the situation to security!"
"Got it!" Ochaco yelled back, giving Izuku the affirmative to dash off. Thankfully the captured villain didn't seem keen on breaking his arm to escape. Though that didn't mean he was willing to wait patiently for the police.
No, instead he decided to run his mouth the entire time, switching between cursing out her, Izuku, Endeavor, the hero industry, and society in general and ranting about Stain's ideals. It was honestly a little impressive; the man could even rival Izuku on how long he could talk without breathing.
After the police showed up, took the villain into custody, and took her and Izuku's statements, the pair were left standing in front of a now-closed museum, adrenaline long-faded away.
"Well, at least it wasn't a tornado," Izuku said under his breath, trying to hold onto hope that he could still salvage this date. A slight nudge to his shoulder broke him out of his stupor, and he turned to a beautiful smiling Ochaco.
"So. Where to next, Deku?" She cheerily asked, offering her hand to him once again.
Izuku admired for the millionth time how Ochaco was so good at keeping a positive energy. A smile coming back to his face, he gladly took her hand and led them to the bus station.
One traffic accident, child quirk-manifestation accident, and restaurant closed from illness later, and Izuku was sure even Ochaco's near-unbeatable optimism was reaching it's limits. But thank All Might, the gods, and all the stars above they were able get through the first half of his last date contingency. stomachs and take-home box full of premium mochi from a wonderful family treats shop, they'd made it to their last destination - a beautiful park with a pond favored by swans - without incident.
Sure there was a villain fight just down the street, but the local heroes had already handled it and were just finishing helping the police load up the rival low-level gang members. With a few quick pictures of the heroes for Izuku to research and journal about later (and quick micro infodumps about them to Ochaco), he set his focus on trying not to embarass himself on their finally real and full date.
Of course that meant 30 seconds after dropping his guard someone -apparently an escapee from the villain fight- came crashing out of the bushes, knocking the box of out of Ochaco's hands and spilling mochi everywhere in his rush to flee.
Time seemed to freeze as Izuku could swear he could literally see Ochaco's eyes transform into twin roaring suns of fury, and he bore witness to the most stunning and beautiful rage-fueled combat efficiency he had ever seen. (Which was saying a lot since he goes to school with Kacchan!) The villain fought much harder than he expected, but it was to no avail. With absolutely devastating and precise kicks, punches, and throws Ochaco defeated the villain so soundly he was sure they'd see her in their nightmares for the rest of their life.
After yet another police debriefing, the pair meandered away in a fatigued and somewhat dejected stupor. After a barely remembered train ride and walk, Izuku came to and realized he'd absentmindedly led them to Dagobah Beach.
"I'm sorry for ruining our date," he said, his voice seeming to shake Ochaco back to the moment. "I uh, I understand if you don't want to go on another one."
Before he could blink the breath was knocked out of him as Ochaco wrapped him in a crushing hug.
"What are you talking about, you dummy? I'd love to go on another date with you." She said.
Izuku babbled a bit in confusion and fluster before getting his voice to work. "But- but today went terribly." He could feel Ochaco shake her head before pulling back to face him.
"Sure it may not have gone as planned. At all. But at the end of the day... I still had fun." A tender smile grew on her face as her natural blush deepened. "Because through it all... I was with you. And that's the most important part, isn't it? Couples face life together, the good and the bad. So if you'll still have me, I... I'd like to be a couple with you."
Unable to speak, Izuku vigorously nodded as he pulled her into his own crushing embrace; both out of joy and so as to not soak her in the chilly evening as the Midoriya Waterworks began in full.
"Besides," Ochaco said after a few minutes of their tearful hug," it wouldn't be a Class 1A date without crazy interruptions. Remember what happened on Bakugo and Tsuyu's first date?"
"Oh yeah!" Izuku said with a mirthful chuckle as he recalled how the duo had to save a kid who fell off a bridge because she hadn't fully learned how to control her wind-breath quirk while sneezing. "Kacchan's gotten really creative with his kid-friendly curses. Oh! What about Kaminari and Shinso?"
Ochaco burst out laughing at the memory of the story. "I still think Todoroki might be onto something and that they somehow did plan to get trapped in a game store for 10 hours."
"Right? What are the odds of getting trapped in one of your favorite places!"
Positive atmosphere refound, the pair spent the rest of the walk back to UA trading funny stories about family, friends, and themselves. And as they walked up the steps to Heights Alliance and the impatiently waiting clutches of their over-eager classmates, the pair decided that despite everything it had been a wonderful first date.
But maybe next time they'll just do a picnic at the beach.