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Chapter 020 - Unexpected

Ochaco stirred from her sleep. When she finally woke up, she felt an incredible soreness in her back and neck as she sat in her chair while keeping her eyes closed. I fell asleep on the chair... "Oh, wow, that hurts..." she complained out loud. Arching her back while moving her arms above her head, she extended them upwards. Several loud pops and cracks were heard as she stretched. "Ah, that feels better..." she said to herself in a relieved tone.

"I bet it does."

"Yeah, you have no idea how gre..." Ochaco trailed off as her brain seemed to just register that someone was talking with her. Freezing while in mid stretch, she opened her eyes and slowly turned her gaze towards where the sound came from. She found a middle aged, somewhat plump, short woman with long green hair looking right at her.

A couple seconds later, a warm smile spread on the woman's face. "Good morning. My name is Inko Midoriya. I guess my son made quite the impression on you for you to hold his hand while you slept," said Inko with some slight teasing along with a knowing glint in her eye.

Ochaco could feel her face turning dark red as she blushed heavily. Oh my god, it's his mom! And she saw! She saw! And I'm still in my hero costume! Oh no, she's gonna think I'm some kind of slut with this skin tight suit! Why didn't I fix the costume?! Why didn't I change?! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

Doing her best to not portray her inner turmoil of being caught in a rather embarrassing situation, Ochaco brought her hands down. She then stood up from her chair and took a step closer to Inko before stopping. She gave a deep bow towards the Midoriya matriarch. "G-Good morning, Mrs. Midoriya! My name is Ochaco Uraraka! Please forgive me for entering and staying the night without asking your permission! I just wanted to see how your son was doing since he saved my life several times! Please let me know if you need me to do anything to help!" Ochaco finished saying all that rather quickly and hoped that she sounded sincere.

Inko was astonished over the girl's reaction but quickly recovered. She could tell that this girl, Ochaco Uraraka, truly meant every word. "Please, raise your head." When Ochaco finally did so, Inko looked her in the eye before she continued. "You have nothing to apologize for. Thank you for being so kind and staying by my son's side. It means a lot to me and I'm sure he'd appreciate it too."

Ochaco felt the tension within her evaporate, allowing her to relax after she heard those words and even smiled a little. "Thank you, Mrs. Midoriya."

"Oh come now, just call me Inko."

"Are you sure?" asked Ochaco and Inko nodded. "Alright, if you insist. And please, Ochaco for me."

Inko nodded and turned towards the bed. "See Eri? I told you she was a good person."

It was then that Ochaco realized that they weren't the only ones awake. She turned towards the bed and she became a little surprised over what she saw.

The little silver haired girl was sitting on the bed as she leaned against Izuku's side with her back while holding his casted arm over her lap. And she was giving a look of fear and confusion towards the brunette.

"I'm sorry Ochaco. Please don't take offense to it, but Eri is very shy and untrusting of strangers," informed Inko after she noticed the look Eri was giving the brunette.

"That's okay. I understand," replied Ochaco. Not wanting to stir up any trouble, Ochaco decided to play it safe with the little girl. She looked at Eri with a kind expression but the little girl didn't change hers. "Hi there. My name's Ochaco Uraraka. Inko said your name is Eri. Is that right?"

Eri didn't answer back. Instead, she looked to the side at Inko who gave her a reassuring smile. Eri then looked back at the new girl. A few seconds later, she slowly nodded but her expression didn't change.