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Izuku closes his eyes.
Cold air rushes past his cheeks as he swoops forward, and he worries for a moment he’ll get wind burn.
He pauses at the peak, and for a fleeting moment, he is floating.
Calming stillness.
A familiar feeling.
His eyes open to grey-white sky. Is it…fog? Or is that snow in the distance?
The pull backwards abruptly interrupts his pondering and nearly leaves his stomach behind.
“Gonna have to try harder than that if ya wanna swing higher than me!” Ochaco’s bubbly voice calls out between her giggles and the groan of rusty chains.
He can feel the goofy smile spreading over his face. Lately, nothing seems to bring him joy like seeing her full of joy again.
Izuku remembers when they first started coming here. He’d noticed this playground tucked behind a patch of trees on UA’s grounds, just off their route to and from class.
It looked sad.
Swings swaying in the wind, empty.
A playset with climbing features, a tunnel, a slide–lacking the sound of pattering footsteps and children’s laughter. It had been built for the families that had taken shelter at UA during the war, but was long since abandoned. Left longing for someone to come play again.
Ochaco had been sad then, too.
She carried grief on one shoulder and guilt on the other.
Izuku never liked seeing her like that–the zero-gravity girl weighed down by seemingly insurmountable anguish. Grounded, like a bird with clipped wings.
He felt helpless, in a lot of ways.
He’d hold her hand when she needed it. Let her cry on his shoulder. But most of her healing came in the form of visits to a school counselor. There was little he felt he could really do for her.
Until one day, on their way back from class.
Ochaco had been walking quietly beside him, biting her bottom lip. Her body right next to his, but her mind somewhere else.
“Hey, are you alright? Do you wanna go somewhere and talk?” He’d asked, offering her a hand in case she needed it.
“No, I don’t really feel up to talking,” she began, her voice low. “But going somewhere or doing something fun sounds nice…I just want to stop thinking for a while.”
That’s when he saw the sad playground peeking out from behind the trees. Beckoning them.
Just what she needed.
It’s been over a year since that day. Ochaco is a lot happier now, but they still stop by the playground on their way back from class some days. Izuku thinks the playground seems happier, too.
“Hey! You’ve slowed down! Never gonna beat me at this rate!” Ochaco taunts him, pulling him from his thoughts.
And she’s right–he’s barely swinging at this point.
“Oh yeah? Just you wait then!” Izuku teases back, pumping his legs harder to propel himself forward.
There is something cathartic about swinging. Something therapeutic about playing here. Like they are little kids again, taking back some of the childhood they were forced to give up far too soon. Maybe that’s why they grew to love this place so much.
And the thought crosses Izuku’s mind that maybe he had always needed this just as much as she did.
“Close, but still not higher. C’mon, I’m in the cloouuuds!” Ochaco sings as she flies above the trees.
Birds take off from the nearby branches, joining her in flight, and Izuku smiles.
She is back where she belongs.
“How can you even tell?” he questions, suspicious. “You’re backswinging while I’m reaching my peak!”
“Trust me, I can tell,” she quips. He can hear the smirk in her voice.
“Uh-huh,” he retorts flatly, stifling laughter as he soars past her–pendulums swinging in opposite directions.
The next time they pass each other, he twists in his seat to look at her.
Cheeks as pink as her scarf. A glimmer in her eye. The wind ruffles her skirt as she rises, and he can’t help but think that she’s always looked really good in her school uniform.
She notices him gawking and sticks her tongue out at him during the next pass.
And his heart flips.
He’s always been close with Ochaco, but they’ve grown even closer since the war.
Especially in the last couple months.
Their shoulders brush when they stand next to each other. They hold hands without hesitation when they notice the other needs support. Whenever they aren’t physically together, they are texting each other. Ending their messages with little hearts.
And lately, they tease each other in ways that toe the line between joking and flirting.
It gets his heart racing in a way that is both terrifying and intoxicating.
And although he doesn’t really know what all this means, he realizes he likes it.
A lot.
His eyes follow her as she swings, her feet pointed as she leans back. She’s always moved through the air so gracefully, like a ballerina perfecting a grande jeté.
And soon he’s lost in a trance, daydreaming of twirling her around on a dance floor, hearing her giggle as he pulls her close…
“Deku? Are you okay?”
“Wha-? Oh, sorry! Just getting dizzy from all the swinging. Maybe we should stop?”
“We have stopped.”
Izuku blinks, and the world comes into view again.
They are sitting motionless on the swings, Ochaco’s brow knit in concern.
“Oh, right,” he chuckles awkwardly, “I guess I spaced out for a second there, sorry!”
“Well space back in, because I wanna play a game!” Ochaco announces, hopping excitedly off her swing and placing her hands on her hips.
“Oh yeah? What do you have in mind?”
He catches the devious grin split across her face for just a second before–
“Catch me if you can!”
She darts off towards the playset in the distance, and his brain slowly processes that he needs to go after her.
“Hey!” Izuku wails, nearly tripping off the swing.
Ochaco’s already climbing up the ladder at the far end of the playset, her laughter ringing out across the park.
“What’s so funny?” he calls, kicking up the rubber mulch that pads the ground of the play area as he books it after her.
She reaches the top and scrambles into the tower of the playset, peering down at him as he approaches the ladder. He makes the mistake of pausing for a second, awaiting her response.
“The look on your face when you’re caught off guard! You’re really cute when you’re flustered, ya know?”
Izuku sputters, feeling blood rush to his cheeks. She’s never called him cute before!
“Just like that!” she giggles before running across the bridge to the next platform.
Dammit. She got him again.
Izuku hurries up the ladder, moving slower than he’d like due to his restrictive school uniform. Once he’s at the top, he tears across the bridge, but comes to a halt when Ochaco is nowhere in sight.
Suddenly, something drops onto his head. He struggles against the soft material for a moment before he realizes it’s her scarf and tosses it aside. She must’ve been floating it, which means… this is a distraction.
His eyes dart around, searching for a sign of movement, but he hears her snickering before he sees her.
He ducks down, looking through the orange plastic tunnel that connects this platform to the next, and catches a glimpse of Ochaco shuffling through on her hands and knees.
Izuku dives in after her, grabbing her by the ankles as she’s halfway out the tunnel. There’s a snap of static electricity, and he can see the pop of light that results from the contact.
“Gotcha!” He declares triumphantly, and she squeals as he drags her back into the tunnel.
He crawls over her to pin her to the rounded floor, but Ochaco tries to wiggle her way out of his grasp.
“I caught you, the game’s over!” Izuku cheers, and Ochaco cackles in return while kicking her legs in protest.
“Noooo! The scarf trick…was…supposed to buy me…more time!” She whines, breathless from her laughter or her fighting or perhaps both.
He finally lets go, bracing himself with his hands on each side of her shoulders while she composes herself.
Her body stills for a moment before she rolls onto her back to face him.
And then her eyes are locked on his, pupils blown but twinkling, like she’s awestruck.
She’s studying him, drinking him in, and he’d feel more self-conscious if he weren’t getting lost in that look of hers. Tugging at him, enticing him to come closer. Like a flame luring a moth to its fiery demise. He’d burn for her though, wouldn’t he?
It all sounds alluring in theory until he feels the puff of her breath against his chin and the reality of the situation pierces through the daydream, scaring him shitless.
He’s suddenly hyperaware that this space is way too cramped and he is creepily hovering over her and wow her face is really, really close.
“Sorry!” he gasps in a startle, shifting back onto his knees so rapidly he nearly bonks his head on the top of the tunnel in the process.
They are definitely too big to be in this thing.
Ochaco follows after him though, carefully tucking herself into the same seated position on her knees facing him. He notices briefly that her hair is starting to rise, static electricity pulling the topmost strands towards the surface of the plastic tunnel.
“No! I mean, it’s okay! You didn’t have to move!”
Izuku struggles to understand, and it must be written all over his face, because Ochaco explains–
“I kinda liked it.”
It’s hard to tell with the glow of the orange plastic reflecting on them, but Izuku is pretty sure her face is turning red. And then her words come crashing down on him like rubble from one of Uravity’s ultimate moves.
She… liked being that close to him?
“Y-you did?!” he stutters in disbelief.
“Yeah?” she admits mousily, shrugging her shoulders.
The air in the tunnel becomes thick, and he feels like he is overheating despite the frigid cold on the other side of the plastic.
“Oh,” he squeaks, mortified by the crack of his voice. He swallows stiffly as he gathers the courage to continue. “I…I kinda liked it, too.”
A smile creeps up on her face, but it’s different from her usual one. It’s sweet but mischievous, like she knows something he doesn’t and is absolutely loving it.
The base of his throat suddenly feels like a hearth that’s been set ablaze as she leans in slightly.
Guess he really will burn for her, after all.
“You’re sure this is okay?” she asks in a whisper, eyes half-lidded.
He can’t tell if it’s the static or his nerves that have his hair standing on end now too.
“Yes,” he eagerly replies, squeezing his eyes shut, and he can feel her move closer, closing the distance.
It happens so fast–the distinct snap sound and the zap of literal electricity that strikes as their lips barely brush.
They both pull away, and he hates that his first instinct is to say “ow” despite the shock not even hurting that much. Ochaco rattles off a string of apologies, her hand cupping over her mouth.
“You don’t need to apologize!” Izuku reassures her frantically. “It didn’t really hurt, and besides, I really wanted to–I mean, maybe we can do this another time? Somewhere less…staticky?”
Ochaco smiles sheepishly and nods. “Okay, yeah. That sounds good.”
They exit through opposite ends of the tunnel, and Izuku realizes as Ochaco goes to gather her scarf that his own had fallen off over by the swings.
He heads over to the yellow-red-blue striped fabric on the ground, his mind racing.
Ochaco really almost kissed him, right? He didn’t misinterpret that? And if so, what does this mean? He really likes her…does this mean she likes him, too? Where do they go from here?
The questions fire off internally as he picks up his scarf and shakes the bits of rubber mulch off of it before winding it back around his neck.
He feels his spirit sinking.
What if that was his chance to figure out what this thing is between them? And he blew it. What if that was it, and she changes her mind and never wants to attempt to kiss him again? Are they just going to go back to whatever it is that they’ve been doing? The text hearts and flirty remarks and reassuring touches? Or will she not even want to do that with him anymore?
“We should probably head to the dorms. It’s almost dinner time,” Ochaco informs him, standing next to the bench where they had discarded their backpacks and staring at her phone screen.
Izuku plops onto the bench and bends down to re-tie his shoe. Last thing he wants is to trip over himself in front of her while they walk back. Then she’ll realize he’s still an uncoordinated loser and she definitely won’t want anything to do with him anymore.
“You’re not a loser! And if it weren’t for you tripping over yourself, we might not have ever met!”
Izuku flinches, embarrassed that he’d said that out loud.
She has a point though.
He hastily finishes tying the loop and sits back up to see her determined expression.
“You have to know I think you’re– Oh, wow! ” Ochaco starts, but something distracts her, drawing her gaze upward.
It doesn’t take long for Izuku to discover what has caught her attention.
Fat, fluffy snowflakes are drifting down from the sky.
It’s magical, how softly they descend, like they are almost suspended in time.
Ochaco slowly takes a seat next to him, as if any sudden movement will cause the snow to disappear.
He watches as her eyes widen and her mouth hangs open in astonishment. She’s so adorable like this, lost in a state of childlike wonder.
“It’s snowing!” she proclaims, her eyes now fully sparkling. “Look how pretty it is!”
“I see,” he says, still fixated on her. The cold isn’t enough to keep his heart from melting at the sight of her.
He wonders what she was going to say. What does she really think of him? He supposes he knows, but he’s afraid he has it all wrong.
She doesn’t think he’s a loser, though. And of course she doesn’t. She’s always believed in him. Always cheered him on. Always made him feel like he can be a hero, too.
…Plus she’d called him cute earlier, didn’t she?!
Ochaco turns to him then and catches him admiring her, immediately raising her shoulders to hide her blush.
“Hi,” she chirps bashfully, snowflakes falling around them.
The way she looks at him makes his doubts fade away.
He needs to believe in himself now. She’s been giving him all the clues, hasn’t she? Has he really been so blind to them all along? There is definitely something going on here. Something she seems to want to explore as much as he does. Now isn’t the time to overthink–it’s time to act. Before the moment is gone again.
“Hi,” he returns.
She’d said that she liked being close to him. He is dying to get as close as she’ll let him.
“D-do you think,” he pauses and looks around nervously to make sure no one is nearby to witness their private moment. “Do you think we could, um, try that kiss again now?”
The momentary confidence he built briefly collapses.
He worries–more out of instinct than of geniune fear–that he just ruined everything. That he is being too bold and assuming too much. But Ochaco laughs and reaches up to cup his face in her hand.
“Definitely!”
A sigh of relief.
His heart hammers in his ears, but he closes his eyes and tilts forward to meet her halfway.
This time, their lips actually touch. She’s soft and warm and he sighs against her mouth, lifting an awkward hand to place it timidly on her hip.
The kiss simultaneously feels like a lifetime and a millisecond. Tender and chaste. His ribcage struggling to contain the force of his affection.
And when they pull away, his eyes flutter open to reveal her beaming at him.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” he replies again, dumbly, already yearning to kiss her again but somehow resisting the urge.
They spend a full minute just regarding each other fondly in their bliss.
But he needs to break the silence of their afterglow.
Now that he has physical evidence this isn’t all in his head, he needs to know–
“Uraraka, um. What’s going on between us?”
Ochaco’s smile falls. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought it was kinda obvious now, but…”
Her gaze drops to her lap as she tries to find the words.
He waits patiently for her to continue.
“Deku, I really like you,” she confesses, glancing shyly up at him. “And I thought, since you wanted to do this , that maybe you feel the same?”
Izuku blinks, realizing his question may have given her the wrong idea. “Yes! I–yeah, I feel the same way! I really like you, too, Uraraka. You’re so kind and brave and you’re always making others smile and you’re really beautiful and I’d really like to kiss you again sometime–I mean! Sorry if that’s weird, what I meant was–”
“Deku!” she laughs, cutting off his rambling. “That’s really sweet. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page, which sounds like we are.”
The snow is falling faster now, white flakes dusting their clothes and clinging to their hair.
It doesn’t bother him though. Part of him wants to stay here forever.
“So, uh, what do we do now?” He wonders aloud.
There is an uneasy feeling stirring in his chest at the realization that he doesn’t really know how these things go.
Are they in a relationship now? Or does he need to formally ask her to be his girlfriend? Will they go on dates? Will they tell their friends they are together?
Ochaco puts her hand on his, and all the tension building in his shoulders dissolves.
“We can figure that out, but maybe let’s head back to the dorms first, yeah? Before we turn into snowmen.”
Izuku grins. Yeah, maybe they don’t need to figure it all out right this second. Besides, they both could use some warm supper at this point.
“Okay, yeah. Good idea.”
They slip on their backpacks and head off towards Heights Alliance, but Ochaco stops as soon as they pass through the sparse stand of trees that separates the playground from the path.
“Would you mind if we–?” she begins, reaching out to him, but he knows what she’s asking.
Izuku takes her hand in his, their fingers intertwining.
“I don’t mind. This is nice,” he admits. “You’re sure though? Our classmates might see when we get closer,” he warns her.
“Oh yeah, that’s okay. I think half of them suspect we are already secretly dating anyway.”
“What?!” Izuku squawks, unsure where they would ever get that idea.
“Deku, please. We’ve been kinda obviously flirty with each other lately,” Ochaco explains as she pulls on his hand, leading them to the pathway. “Mina has asked me like nine times if we’ve kissed yet. Which, now that I think about it, I won’t be able to truthfully deny anymore.”
He wasn’t sure he liked the idea of their classmates speculating about what was going on between him and Ochaco, but quickly shrugged it off as he figured there was likely no malice behind it.
He knows his classmates can be nosy, but they usually have good intentions. He thinks they’ll probably be happy for them.
But he doesn’t want to think about them right now. He just wants to take in this moment, strolling with Ochaco while the snow swirls around them.
Their hands clasped in a way they never have before.
Giddy and elated and excited for whatever is next.
As if everything they’ve been through, all the ways they’ve grown together, has culminated in this moment.
Like it was always meant to be.
His hand, in hers.