Papa Meets Old Crush

Happy Fridays

About a month after the family camping trip, more exactly three weeks later from then, Pro Hero Uravity ─ Ochako was hurrying down the hallway of the agency where Pro Hero Deku worked late in the morning.

She had just met Creati at the Nighteye agency a little while ago.

「Oh, didn't you hear yet? Yeah, there was an incident with Eri during the family camping. I heard it from Camie, not Deku. Him? Thankfully, he looked normal during our patrol. I think he...」

Ochako couldn't listen to the rest, because she had almost jumped out right then and there before Creati could finish.

'Oh my god, I can't believe I've been so distant like this. I'm sorry, Izuku. I'm sorry, Eri!' she bit her lip in grief.

Why the hell didn't she realize that Izuku hadn't contacted her in about two months?!

Of course there was her own reason about this result. She had been too busy with the firearms trafficking issue. The heroes hadn't yet caught the crucial source of it, and while there hadn't been any major incidents in the city, some small-time villains had started acting like they had firearms, trying to play the role of serious criminals in some B-rate Hollywood movie. This meant that incidents related to firearms were on the rise, involving more civilians as unfortunate victims. Pro Hero Uravity, who was specialized not only for her combat abilities but also for her Quirk that aided in rescues, was receiving more emergency calls for support from all over the city. Not to mention the increasing paperwork that followed, including dealing with unfamiliar reports about firearms.

And that wasn't all. The increased workload caused her to forget her regular monthly blood supply to her girlfriend, Himiko Toga. Providing blood to Himiko-chan wasn't just for sustenance; it was also their intimate ritual of making love. And Ochako had forgotten it. It took a lot of time and effort for Ochako to soothe her lover and make amends with an extra session of lovemaking, even taking up her whole monthly holidays. Fortunately, they eventually reconciled and recovered a honeymoon phase, causing Ochako to drift away from thoughts of her precious friend, Izuku Midoriya.

'I should have cared more about him,' Ochako thought as she waited for the painfully slow elevator to arrive.

No contact from Izuku Midoriya ─ Normally, that would be bad news. The considerate green man tended to withdraw when things got tough, not wanting to burden others. It always made Ochako worry about him. She had witnessed the darkest days of his life just a few years ago. So since then, she had been trying to support him, even when he didn't ask for help.

The last time she had seen him at the school reunion, he had appeared relatively stable. But right after that, the firearms issue had erupted, and Ochako couldn't help but remember the time when Eri had been rescued. She'd regretted not talking to Izuku about it that day.

Furthermore, there was another issue that concerned her about Izuku's well-being; he came back—the explosive Pro Hero, Izuku Midoriya's childhood friend who had bullied him his whole life, the one who used to have driven the meek green hero to the brink of insanity. Whenever Izuku was unstable, there was always the blond man around him.

Ochko couldn't fathom how difficult these situations must be for Izuku—the firearms issue, Eri's incident during the camping trip, and the presence of Bakugo Katsuki. She felt a pang in her heart, recalling again how sad Izuku had looked in the past. But she tried to compose herself as she reached Pro Hero Deku's private office.

She took a deep breath and knocked the door as softly as she could. "Hello? Deku, you in there?"

There was a brief pause, but soon, "Yes, come in?" came a voice from inside, sounding almost like a hum somehow that she didn't notice yet.