Jumping Hurdles ; Bakudeku

The Flower Garden

Izuku has always preferred plants over people. They didn't berate him for his odd behaviors or mind his habit of mumbling. They were kind to him and always listened to what he had to say. Not to mention the fact that he was practically born with a green thumb. Plants depended on him, and he enjoyed the less stressful responsibility. With that being said, it looked like he was the only one who felt this way. He was the only member of the Musutafu High Gardening Club. He didn't mind it though. Again, he'd always preferred plants over people anyway. That wasn't to say he was completely oblivious of what his peers were up to. He had friends! He just valued alone time, is all.

Ochako walked through the garden as Izuku replaced the pot of a poor plant that had been knocked over. Mumbling something about how sorry he was for hurting the plant and promising to give it a 'new home', he didn't notice the girl until she flopped down on a nearby bench with a deep exaggerated sigh.

"Remind me again why I joined the student council?" She sighed, slouching in the uncomfortable chipped metal bench. (Which was used mostly for display, by the way.)

"You wanted to be closer to Iida?" Izuku helpfully reminded while simultaneously cleaning up the spilled soil.

She groaned. "Which I'm starting to regret." She complained, somehow sinking deeper into the (display) garden bench. "He's as dense as that potted plant. Totally oblivious to all my advances!"

Izuku nodded his head. "Men are dumb."

"I asked him out for coffee and he invited the rest of the student council out as a bonding exercise!" She said, throwing her hands in the air obviously exasperated. "I didn't know what to do, so I just nodded. Now we're all going out next week."

Izuku cringed in sympathy. She was right. Tenya Iida may be top in his class, but the man was the most one-track-minded person he's ever met. His main focus was school and Izuku was starting to think that was the only thing their dear class president thought about.

"And planning the dance has been the most stressful thing I've ever had to do. It was Momo's idea to plan ahead of time. We have forever to plan, but she's having us run around as if we don't have six months until then." She paused, taking a deep breath.

Izuku laughed, "Let me guess, it's the same theme as last year?" He stood up with his freshly potted plant, being sure to be extra careful with it.

Ochako nodded her head. "The 80s," They both said in unison.

"I want to do something new but apparently it's a stupid school tradition." She sighed. "But enough about my problems. What's up with you?"

Izuku smiled, pulling off his pink gardening gloves. "Oh, you know. Same old, same old. I said senior year would be different but here I am, these plants as my only company."

Ochako clicked her tongue. "I'm literally sitting right here!"

Izuku backtracked quickly. "Of course! I know that! You're my best friend, I just meant that I wanted someone like-"

"Katsuki Bakugo?" She teased.

"Yes!" He paused. "No! No, no, no. I got over that crush freshman year."

"Are you sure?" She asked, playfully dragging out the syllable of her last word. "Because you stop by the track field every week to watch him." She wiggled her eyebrows. "And the rest of the track team are definitely not your type."

"Would you believe me if I said I was watching because I like the sport?" He tried.

Ochako gave him her signature unimpressed 'Are-you-fucking-kidding-me?' look, complete with the head tilt and all. "Really? You hate cardio. You're a weights guy! That's why you barely fit into your shirt."