Dragon's Breath

You're my hero!

It took almost 30 minutes for Deku to calm down and start breathing at a reasonably normal pace.

„I'm sorry... your shoulder is all wet now...", Izuku mumbled. But Ochako just smiled sweetly at him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Izuku, believe me, this is the last thing that concerns me now."

Izuku gave a short laugh, but it was clear that there was no real humor behind it.

„Thanks Ochako, I appreciate it, but you should go back to class now... I'm fine..."

He was clearly NOT fine.

"Midoriya, you don't seriously believe that we will just leave you alone in such a situation.", Iida said and slowly came closer.

Izuku looked at them surprised and Ochako could clearly see in his face that he HAD quite expected that they would let him sit here. She had known several times before that he had not had a very nice childhood, but in that moment she realized a little more how bad his past must have been.

He looked back down and she got the strong urge to hold him in her arms again, but she didn't. After all, she didn't want to overwhelm him and risk that he would panic again.

"Hey, Deku. Want to tell us what's wrong? I know I sound like a therapist now, but everything that is said in this room stays in this room. ", she joked with a smile and tried to lighten the mood a little, but that didn't have a particularly big effect.

Izuku hesitated. He knew how dangerous it was to trust both of them. Or to trust anyone at all. Every time he trusted someone he ended up being disappointed, betrayed and hurt. He didn't want to trust anyone, but he also knew that he had trusted his two friends a long time ago.

"The only one who knows this is Kacchan... If ... If you find out... I... I'm scared that... that... you won't want to be... my friends anymore... Ochako... you were the... the first friend... I had in a very long time and... aside from Kacchan... I never really had... friends... and well... you know how he is..."

Ochako didn't know whether to be confused, shocked, sad, or angry.

She was confused because she couldn't imagine what would be so bad that she wouldn't want to be friends with him anymore. She knew that wasn't going to happen. Well, unless he was secretly a creepy mass murderer, but she dared to doubt that.

Shock came next because she couldn't understand how it was possible that such a dear, kind, sweet and handsome boy like Izuku had always been alone. Normally she would have blushed at such thoughts, but in this situation she felt no embarrassment.

She was sad because she finally understood why Izuku was always so nervous. He was just not used that other people were nice to him, let alone wanted to be friends with him. At the thought she had to pull herself together very hard not to cry. Nevertheless, tears came to her eyes until another thought occurred to her.

And above all she was angry. No, she wasn't angry with Izuku, by no means. She was angry at everyone in Izuku's past. At his techaer's, at his former classmates and especially she was mad at Katsuki. The two boys obviously did not have a very good relationship and she knew that Katsuki was often violent against Izuku. But now she knew, that the blonde had bullied Deku. She was going to strangle that fucking blond handgranate!

He had even told her once that his childhood was not easy, but she had obviously underestimated the matter!

She took a calming breath and forced herself to calm down. Izuku needed her and that was more important.

"My... my whole life... I was bullied... or beaten up... or just completely ignored..."

Now Ochako was getting even angrier. Bullied, beaten up or ignored ?! At that moment some memories came back to her. Moments when Izuku flinched when she'd touched him, or moments when he'd been frightened for no reason. She had even seen once, when he was walking alone through the hallway in the school, that he stopped walking on every corner, took cover and then looked around the corner, as if he was following someone.