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Ochaco loved her body.
She loved the things about her body that other people wanted to change.
She loved the way her thighs touched. She loved the way her navel pushed into a crescent shape, rather than the straight line that appeared on the girls around her. She loved the way her butt looked in certain clothes and the way her boyfriend would hold her hips when they laid together and looked at every curve with adoration.
God, she loved how her boyfriend looked at her.
She had always been a bigger girl, ever since she could remember. She was athletic, she had to be to become a hero, but her body simply looked that way.
But just because she loved her body didn’t mean she had to like it.
She did not like her body in elementary school when the other kids would pinch her cheeks until they were sore, commenting on how chubby they were. She didn’t like her body in middle school when the other girls in her class made snide comments about her weight:
“I don’t understand how she can go out looking like that.”
“She needs to cover up.”
“Are you sure you want to eat that? You don’t want to look like Uraraka, do you?”
These comments about her still-developing body make Ochaco feel horrible about herself, even leading her down the path of some disordered eating. It took a lot of strength and time, but she recovered, building up her confidence and self-love. Once she got into U.A., she was more confident than ever. There would be an occasional comment from a random student, but it never hurt her too much. She worked too hard on herself for it to come crashing down so easily.
Things changed when she became a pro hero.
The public was especially critical of female heroes, and even more so of those who didn’t have a “perfect body”. Ochaco had been photoshopped in many promotional materials to look slimmer, to the point where she didn’t fight against them anymore. She had seen multiple tabloid articles speculating if she was pregnant, and even more headlines commented if she had put on even a couple of pounds. Once, a paparazzi secretly took pictures of her eating and counted the calories in everything she was seen with. The number of insulting comments she had seen on the internet about her appearance was uncountable.
Today was a day where it had just gotten to a breaking point. She had spent a little too much of her day scrolling through social media and online articles, seeing too many criticisms about her appearance. She got up from her bed and looked in her mirror.
Ochaco began to question the things she had grown to love about herself, the things that so many people found disgusting. Maybe things would be easier if she did lose weight, maybe all those people, throughout her entire life, were right. Hell, did her boyfriend even actually like her? Did he truly find her attractive, or did he just feel sorry for her? Her lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears, thinking about how she let her young self down, thinking this way.
She suddenly heard a knock on the bedroom door. “Ochaco, are you in there? I got you something!” she heard her boyfriend call from outside their room. “Yes, come in!” she tried to sound cheerful as she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. Tenya turned the knob, beaming at her with a small bag in his hand. “I got you some strawberry mochi on my way home, your favorite!”
Ochaco smiled at her boyfriend, he was truly the loveliest man in the world. She appreciated his gift, but she felt a nauseating feeling in her stomach. “Thank you so much baby, you’re too sweet.” she walked over, embracing him, “You can set it on the table, I’ll save it for later.”
Tenya looked at her quizzically, he could tell she’d been crying. He grabbed her hands and led her to the edge of the bed to sit. “What's wrong, darling?” He inquired gently, tucking her hair behind her ear.
Ochaco sniffed pausing for a moment. Did she really want to ask him about her body? What if she didn’t like the answer. She ultimately decided to ask, “Do you think I'm pretty? I mean like, my body…”
Tenya widened his eyes, looking at his girlfriend in bewilderment. “You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid my eyes on.” he stated, staring into her brown eyes, “I love every single thing about you, what makes you think I wouldn't?”
She averted her gaze, “It’s just…the public. People who don’t even know me are constantly commenting about how I should be thinner. They photograph me eating, get me at bad angles and wonder if I’m pregnant, and they constantly tell me I’m not attractive enough. I’ve come so far to love myself but everyone makes me feel like I shouldn't!” her eyes became glossy once again.
Tenya put his finger under her girlfriend’s chin, turning her gaze back to make eye contact with him. “You are absolutely perfect, my love. Nothing about you that did or didn’t change would ever make you anything less than perfect. I will always think you’re beautiful, no matter how big or small you are.” He took her in his arms, rubbing his hands up and down her thighs and hips, whispering loving words into her ear. Ochaco smiled sweetly, tears freely rolling down her blushing cheeks.
After sitting that way for a while, Tenya lifted Ochaco off his lap and onto the bed, laying her on her back. He looked down at her face. Everything about her was so beautiful: her big brown eyes, her round, rosy cheeks, her slightly parted lips, the way her hair sat around her on the bed. Tenya leaned towards her face, pulling his girlfriend into a deep, loving kiss. Eventually pulling back, he moved his head down to her thighs, leaving small kisses all over them. Ochaco laughed lightly at the sensation. He then lifted her shirt and pressed more soft kisses onto her tummy, earning even more giggles from his girlfriend. Tenya pressed kisses on every part of Ochaco’s body that the public loved to criticize: her cheeks, her upper arms, her belly, her hips, her thighs, and everything else. Ochaco was like a goddess to him. Every curve, every freckle or blemish, every stretch mark was a simple stroke of a glorious painting, and he loved nothing more than to admire it. Tenya pressed a final sweet kiss to his girlfriend’s lips and pulled away to look into her eyes.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
They snuggled up to each other for a while until Tenya eventually sat up. “I guess I better go put that mochi away for now since you don’t want it…” he sighed teasingly, grabbing the bag off of his bedside table.
“On second thought, I think I’ll have it.”