Izuocha's Love Stories

41 - SNOWED IN (CHAPTERS 1-2)

By  TheMistake

SUMMARY: A blizzard leaves Ochako stuck at Izuku's home for the night, forcing them both to confront feelings they would have preferred to leave untouched.66

CHAPTER ONE

The lights went out. It was a slow, drawn-out affair, bulbs going dark before climbing weakly back to life, throwing flickering shadows across Ochako's face. Her expression was contorted into one of almost comic surprise as she sat cross-legged, eyebrows up, mouth slightly open. She slowly folded her hand of Uno cards onto the floor of Izuku's living room and rested her hands on her knees as they waited for the power to stabilize.

It took seven seconds of darkness – Izuku counted them in his head – before he realized that the lights weren't going to come back on.

"Oh no," he groaned, throwing his head back. He tossed his last remaining card down and stumbled to his feet, off-balance after rising from the floor, and started taking half-steps towards the end table by the couch he'd left his phone on. He got halfway there, arm sweeping out awkwardly at knee-level to make sure he didn't hit anything on the way, before Ochako flicked on her own phone's light.

"Ah! Warn me before you do that next time," he said, shoulders tensed in surprise, raising his hand against the glare.

"I couldn't bear to see you struggling!" she grinned, teasing. "You were gonna hurt yourself, and then I'd have to eat you when there's no mochi left."

A smile flashed across his face and promptly disappeared when the concern of running out of food registered. His eyebrows drew together as he focused into the middle distance and rested his chin on his hand, lips moving almost silently, as he started doing calculations. They were dead center in the middle of the worst blizzard in Japan this century. They'd been inside for three hours already, playing board games and alternately watching the news and the snow as it continued to fall. At this point, the soft powder was nearly touching the bottom of the windowsill, and it showed no sign of stopping. He only snapped out of his reverie when a small, calloused hand waved inches from his nose.

"Uh, earth to Deku," Ochako said cheerily. "I don't think we have to worry about running out of food. Between you and your mom, this place is stocked like a doomsday bunker."

Izuku flushed.

"We just like to be prepared is all! Especially in the winter, even if no one really knew it was going to get this bad, and since All Might and I finally persuaded her to go on a vacation you know she wanted to make sure that I had enough food while she was gone, because she would worry about me otherwise, and... well, I guess she's worried about me anyway now, huh?" he finished, stopping short guiltily. He thought back to the harried conversation he'd had, tinny on a long-distance call, reassuring his panic-stricken mom that he was okay and not dead in a car accident, or from a derailed train, and that no villains with weather-manipulation Quirks were assaulting the city.

I promise everything's okay, mom! Don't worry about me.

It's a mother's right to worry Izuku! Oh, I can't bear thinking about you alone with that storm covering the city. What if something happens?

It'll be fine. Everything's pretty snowed-over, but the weather isn't violent or anything. Besides – he hesitated, peering back into the living room, where his friend stood with her hip cocked to the side, one hand resting on it as the other rummaged through the closet for board games – I'm, uh, not alone. Uraraka was coming over to get notes from a day of school she missed and got stuck.