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1
“Are you okay?”
Little shoulders stiffened.
“I-” Ochako stepped back, nervously tucking her fist beneath her chin as she gave the boy in front of her space. “I saw you fall from the sky,” she continued, cautiously leaning to the side as she tried to get a better glimpse of him in the moonlight.
The boy didn’t move. His body remained tense as he continued to face away from her.
Ochako held her breath, steadying herself as the breeze whistled through the woods. “You know-.” She paused, watching and waiting for him to move. The fur around his cloak feathered with the wind, catching the ends of his light yellow hair. “I thought you were falling star at first.”
He snorted.
Oh? Could he understand her? Maybe he spoke a different language.
“That’s dumb,” he drawled.
Ochako huffed, little fists cleaned down at her sides as she stomped her naked foot, “That’s rude!” She wobbled, losing her balance on the soft earth beneath her.
The boy turned, shrugging as he rubbed at his cheek. “Then don’t say stupid things.”
Ochako grunted as her fists went to her hips defiantly. “I was just trying to see if you were okay.”
“I didn’t ask for your help.”
“I know! I was being nice!”
“I didn’t ask for that either!”
“Why are you so mean?!” she shouted before settling back. “You’re bleeding.” Ochako pointed to the scratches against his chest.
“Huh?” the boy wondered, looking down at the three long starting from beneath his shoulder and ending slightly above his elbow.
Ochako rushed over him and pressed her little fingers against the wound.
“What are you doing?” he whispered.
Dropping to her knees before him, Ochako placed the end between her teeth as she pulled. The fabric ripped loudly as she grunted and tore away a long strip of cloth. “There!” she announced cheerfully. “This should be good enough for now!”
He watched in amazement as she gingerly wrapped the muslin around his arm, tying it in place.
“This should do for now,” Ochako nodded, dropping back on her knees away from him. “My house is back there.” She pointed behind her to the little cabin in the middle of the field before getting to her feet. “Wait right here, okay? I gotta get medicine so it doesn’t get infected.”
The boy nodded, his gaze lowered.
“I’ll be right back,” Ochako told him, dusting off her nightgown and turning around.
“Katsuki.”
She froze, turning back to face him. “What?”
“Katsuki,” he repeated, red eyes glowing like rubies in the moonlight, “that’s my name.”
“Katsuki,” Ochako whispered to herself, nodding. A smile curled on her face, and he locked eyes with her. “I’m Ochako.”
2
“Are you sure you’re not a falling star?”
Katsuki rolled his eyes.
Ochako giggled as she continued to tend to the scratches along his body. “It’s a valid question,” she hummed, rubbing the salve along his arms. “I saw you fall again from my window! And I could’ve sworn I saw sparks or fire or something.”
“Oh.” His eyes relaxed.
This was their third time finding each other beneath the moonlight, and Ochako quickly decided she liked his face a lot more when he wasn’t scowling. “What do you mean ‘oh’?” she questioned. Tilting her head, she quickly closed the lid on the little jar.
“This,” Katsuki said simply as he held out his palm to her. Sparks illuminated from his palm, creating a gentle glow.
“You have magic,” Ochako whispered with wonder. Her hands carefully cradled beneath his as the sparks danced.
He scowled, shutting his palms as he pulled away from her. “Doesn’t everyone?”
“No, well- Baachan used to tell me stories about how the gods would give people special gifts, but Papa said it was just a silly story,” Ochako frowned as she wiped her hands against her nightgown.
“It’s not make-believe,” Katsuki told her as he grabbed her hands.
“What are you doing?”
He studied her hands for a moment.
“What are you looking for?”
“Your quirk?”
“Quirk?” She’d heard that word before, but Ochako wasn’t sure what it meant. “You mean magic?”
“Yeah.” He carefully traced the tips of his fingers along her hands. “My best friend can turn into a dragon, and-”
“A dragon?” Ochako gasped, startling him a bit. “For real?”
Katsuki’s lips twitched.
Ochako would have been offended if she didn’t delight in the fact that she had almost made him smile.
“You don’t have dragons in your village?”
“No!” she squealed. “You really, really know a dragon?” she gasped.
Katsuki nodded, “Yeah.” He laced their fingers together. “I’ll bring him along someday.”
3
“Nothing happened.”
Ochako pouted, taking the rock from his hands, “Are you sure it doesn’t feel different?” She cradled the rock in her hands again, concentrating for a moment. “Try again,” she insisted, handing the rock back to Katsuki.
Katsuki sighed, dramatically as if she was asking him to complete some complicated chore. “It feels like a rock.”
“No it doesn’t!”
“Yeah it does! It’s a rock, Maru!”
“Ochako! My name is Ochako!”
He grinned.
“And it doesn’t feel lighter?” she questioned as she motioned motioned like she was gonna toss it.
“Why would it feel lighter?”
“Well,” Ochako started with a little shrug, “when we were talking about magic, I wondered if I have some too.” She looked over at his hands. “Like you were telling me about some of your friends. How their magic makes them look different?”
Katsuki had told her about the boy with the head like a black bird and also about the girl who looked like a frog.
“And, well, you’re pretty normal looking, but you can make sparks.”
“Explosions,” he corrected.
“Yes of course, Explosion Murder God of Dragons.”
“That’s stupid.”
Ochako giggled as his ears flushed. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she found herself enjoying his company. He wasn’t like the kids in her village that teased her.
Katsuki’s words were harsh, but they didn’t hurt.
“Anwyay.” she started, “I wondered if my hands could do things like your hands.” His words made her feel warm. “Not make sparks, but something else.”
Happy.
“I’ve been touching all sorts of things trying to make things happen,” Ochako explained as she presented the rock. “I touched a bucket full of water a day ago and well it didn’t feel heavy.”
“A bucket of water isn’t heavy.”
“This bucket was,” Ochako nodded, “but after I touched it wasn’t.” She held out the rock, tapping it, and snapping her hand away as they waited for something to happen.
“I think you need to concentrate.”
Ochako huffed, “I am.”
4
It took almost seven long moonrises for Ochako to see sparks streaking across the sky.
“There you are,” she whispered, biting her lip as she contained a squeal of excitement. Carefully, she crawled away from the window and her mattress as she made her way from the attic. Her father’s soft snores echoed through the modest cabin as she tip-toed toward the front door.
Ochako held her breath as she twisted the knob. The door creaked, the sound blending with the sound of the wind. She stilled, relaxing as the sound of her father’s snoring rang out.
Thank the gods.
She quickly stepped out of the house, gently shutting the door behind her before taking off toward the woods.
It had been too long since she’d seen him.
Ochako had even tried looking for Katsuki around town. When that had failed, she’d tried looking for his family. She chased around anyone she could find with bright, spikey blonde hair or red eyes to see if they would lead her to him.
But there was no one like him.
Neito had blonde hair, and so did his parents but it wasn’t like Katsuki’s.
Neither were their eyes.
Tenya had red eyes, but his hair was black.
Ochako had still asked them about Katsuki because she’d seen plenty of people who hadn’t looked exactly like their parents, but they were still related.
It hadn’t mattered, though.
Tenya and Neito hadn’t known what she was talking about. Neito had laughed at her when she told him about the dragon. Tenya hadn’t laughed, but his frown had communicated that he hadn’t believed her.
“Whoa,” Ochako gasped. Her little feet skidded and stumbled to a stop, dropping her back on her butt with an undignified thump. “It’s a dragon.” She looked up and down the red beast standing in front of her, Katsuki mounted on it’s head.
“Of course it is,” Katsuki commented, rolling his eyes as he shook his head, “I told you I had a dragon.”
Ochako could only stare in awe. “Can I-” She swallowed, suddenly feeling very small and very shy in front of the tall beast. “Can I pet him?” When her grandmother told her stories, Ochako had imagined a giant fire-breathing lizard, so the bright red scales weren’t a surprise. But who would have thought that dragons had feathers?
“Ask him yourself,” Katsuki grunted as he hopped down from the dragon. “His name is Ei.”
Ei snorted, producing a small puff of smoke as he bowed his head down toward her.
She tilted her head as she stared into the dragon’s glowing red eyes. If Ochako didn’t know any better, she’d say that the beast looked amused. “Hello, Ei. My name is Ochako,” she greeted politely as she nervously toyed with her fingers. “May I pet you? I’ve never met a dragon before.”
Ei snorted again. His snout gently nudged at her shoulder as he rested his chin to the ground and looked up at her.
“Oh!” Ochako squealed, bouncing on her heels with a delighted giggle. She carefully petted the top of his nose. “You’re such a good dragon.”
“Tch,” Katsuki huffed as he folded his arms, “he’s dumb.”
“Don’t say that!” Ochako cried, wrapping her arms around his nose. “You’ll hurt his feelings! That’s no way to talk about your best friend!”
Katsuki smirked, shrugging a little, “Gotta have brains in order to get your feelings hurt.”
“Katsuki!”
The boy grinned, watching as she hugged the dragon's snout and assured him that he was perfect just the way he was.
+1
“What is it?” Ochako curiously cradled the red pouch.
Katsuki shrugged, keeping his gaze intently on the bundle. “Open it.”
Her fingers quickly unraveled the piece of twine from the top before digging into the little sack. “What-” Ochako carefully pulled out what looked to be a round lump of dough. “What is it?” she whispered, looking at the white powder coating her fingers.
“You’ve never had mochi before?”
Ochako looked at the ball again. “Mochi,” she repeated, bringing her fingers to her lips. Her tongue hesitantly licked over the pad of her thumb. “Oh!” Her shoulders straightened up, eyes widening brightly. “It’s sweet!” With a squeal, Ochako moved the ball to her mouth, taking a large bite.
Katsuki’s brows furrowed as he struggled not to laugh.
“Mmmmm!” Ochako hummed as she happily kicked her feet out in front of her. “It’s so good!” She held out the treat toward the fire pit Katsuki had built.
“You act like you’ve never had mochi before?” he commented, watching as she took another ravenous bite.
“I haven’t!” she cried. “I mean we have sweets-” But bread and fruit couldn’t compare to how delicious mochi was. “-but not like this. And-” Ochako took another bite. “-we only get it for festivals cause, well, mama says that resources are scarce because of the war.”
Katsuki frowned, “What does that mean?”
“I dunno.” Ochako shrugged. “Everyone just says that.” She pauses for a moment, holding out the half eaten treat. “You want some?”
He looked down at the treat before looking back at Ochako. “Naw, there’s plenty of that in my village.” Even if he did want some, he could always get more. “I can bring you more.”
Ochako paused. She turned toward him cheeks full and eyes wide.
“If you want,” Katsuki continued, turning away from her as his face burned. He leaned away from the fire pit as the heat rose to his ears. “It’s not a big deal.” He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling a foreign sense of vulnerability. Katsuki tensed, feeling her weight rest against his shoulder.
“Thanks,” she whispered happily.
Katsuki relaxed as his eyes slowly opened and body relaxed.
“Oh!” Ochako squealed, popping the last bite of mochi in her mouth before clapping her hands together to rid them of the last remnants of mochi. “I forgot to show you.” She jumped up from her spot next to him. Ochako dropped down picking up a pebble from the ground. “Watch.”
She carefully pressed all five fingers to the stone before releasing it.
“See!” she grinned as the stone floated above her palm. “I told you got lighter!”
“What did you do?” Katsuki questioned. He stood up and stepped in front of her.
Ochako tilted her head to the side. “Not sure.” She wasn’t. “It just happened.” She pressed the tops of her fingers together, causing the pebble to drop. “I can’t do anything to heavy cause it made my stomach hurt really bad, but-” Ochako ran her hand along the brush below them causing it to float up around them. “-lighter stuff isn’t so terrible.”
Katsuki brushed his knuckles against a leaf. “Not bad.”
She grinned at the praise.
“It’s not explosions, but-”
“Ochako! ”
Katsuki was barely a hair taller than Ochako, but he pulled her behind him to protect her. He snarled, chest out and arms spread wide as he readied himself to fight.
“Mama!?” Ochako gasped. She gently propped her hands on his shoulders to see what was going on. “Papa!”
The fear in her voice made Katsuki’s adrenaline spike. He shoved her behind him as he snarled.
“What-” Her mother started as her parents slowly approached the pair. “What are you doing out here, Ochako? Who is this child?”
Ochako looked at Katsuki before looking back at her parents. “It’s okay,” she whispered,placing her hands on his shoulders. “Mama, he-”
“Get away from my child!” her father yelled. His voice echoed through the forest as birds scattered from the trees. He rushed toward them, stopping as his daughter shielded the strange boy.
“He’s my friend!” Ochako cried, shielding the boy.
Her father stopped in his tracks. His stance was still tense as he shuffled toward them.
“He’s my friend,” she repeated softly. “He’s not from here. He, he-” She took a deep breath. “He’s from somewhere else. Somewhere far because he fell from the sky one night, and he hurt his shoulder. I helped him. Then he kept coming back to visit me.” She looked over at her mother before turning her gaze back to her father. “He can make explosions. And, and he let me meet his best friend, who can turn into a dragon! He’s really nice and, and-”
“Ochako,” her mother warned, “what are you-”
“Mama!” Ochako turned to her mother. “Mama, he showed me that I can- Look!” She reached down picking up a couple rocks. Ochako rolled them around her hands, making sure the tips of her fingers had touched each stone. “I can make stuff float!” The rocks lifted into the air.
Her mother shook her head. “Oh gods,” she whispered, panic filling her voice as she gasped.
Her father inhaled a shuttering breath. “I told you,” he muttered. “I told you, Ochako.”
A few crickets chirped as the fire crackled steadily.
Ochako hadn’t registered the strike to her face until she’d dropped into the dirt.
“Leave her alone!” Katsuki snarled, rushing toward her father.
“I told you not to listen to those tales!” the man raged, knocking the boy back with a strike.
Katsuki flew back into the ground, flat on his back next to Ochako.
“We- I tried so hard to protect you,” Her father twisted his hand in Ochako’s hair as he pulled her to her knees.
She cried out, frantically batting her hands as she tried to escape. “Papa! Please, please!”
“She’s a child!” her mother cried. “They’re children.”
“You think that will matter once Endeavor hears about this?!” he hissed, yanking on his daughter’s hair. “Anything, anything, I do to her will be nothing compared to that monster. I’m doing this because I love her.”
“Let her go!” Katsuki screamed, jumping to his feet.
Her father grabbed him by the neck.
“I’m begging you,” her mother sobbed. “ Please.” She placed a hand on her husband’s shoulder.
“No!!” Ochako screamed as her body twisted, little hand smacking her father. The sudden weightlessness lifted the man up for a brief second startled him, causing him to release the children and send him and his wife tumbling back.
Katsuki’s necklace snapped, sending bright red beads scattering around the the fire. He rolled to his side as he fought desperately for air.
“Katsuki! Run!” she coughed, panting. “Go! You have to go!”
“No!” Katsuki rasped. He reached a hand toward her. “Come with me!”
Ochako shook her head. “Go, go! I’m okay!” She smacked his hand, sending him floating to the sky. “Call Ei! Get out of here!” She whistled a few times and prayed to the heavens that Ei would someone understand that they needed help.
“Ochako!!” Katsuki screamed.
“It’s okay!” she shouted. “I’m okay! It’s okay!”
“I’ll come back for you!” He kicked and tussled, trying to fight the pull of gravity as he reached her. “I swear, I swear-”
Tears flooded her eyes as she nodded.
“I’ll come back for you!”
Ochako’s eyes drifted shut, smiling to herself as she heard the loud whoosh of dragon wings fading away in the distance. She took a few deep breaths, steadying herself as she opened her eyes and lifted herself into a sitting position. “I-” She gasped, looking at her parents' astonished faces.
Good.
“See,” she whispered, dizzy as her fingers pressed together, “I wasn’t lying.”
“No,” her father whispered brokenly as her mother could only stare helplessly up into the night sky, “you weren’t, but-” He walked over to her, kneeling down in front of her. “I’m going to make sure you understand just how dangerous the truth can be.”
Ochako stiffened as her father lifted her up and walked her toward the fire. “Papa?” she panted as he grabbed her little hands, moving them toward the flames.
“I tried talking to you,” he spoke, voice void of emotion as the flames licked at her fingertips.
Ochako screamed, pleading with him to stop.
Her mother turned away as tears streamed down her face.
“You think of that power as a gift,” he told her calmly. “I want you to remember this pain the next time you’re tempted to show off.”
To be Continued…