TOP 100 IZUOCHA'S LOVE STORIES (BOOK 3)

11 - I SAID I LOVE YOU

By AmyNchan

NOTE: This story has been deleted in Archives Of Our Own and other Fan Fictions sites. Thank you, Gen for sending this story here in my Wattpad.

. . .

The two of them did this a lot.  It was part of their routine; kinda their thing.  It was something they'd chosen to do together, and they both relished and enjoyed it.
"Get back here!" laughed Ochako between breaths.  She kept herself light on her feet as she went forward with another jab.  "You can't run away from this forever!"

"Who says I'm running?" returned Deku-kun as he slipped past her fist and towards her exposed face.  He propelled his body towards hers and she jumped out of his space, careful of the headbutt he had been about to dish out.  His grin was competitive.  "I'm just getting warmed up!"

Ochako couldn't help her answering grin even as she darted just a hair's breadth out of his reach.  "Oh, so you were just playing before now?  I'm wounded.  Truly.  And here I thought you were gonna fight me seriously."

She couldn't tell if Deku-kun scoffed or laughed with what little breath he had.  Either way, he shook his head in disbelief while keeping his eyes on her.  She had to give him props for that; Aizawa-sensei always said to never take your eyes off your opponent.  "You didn't even try to hit me with your last jab!"

"Only because your kick was weak!"

"You're just used to me using my quirk all the time!  That's my normal kick without it!"
"What do you say we make things interesting, then?" asked Ochako, an idea slipping into her mind.  It was half-formed and reckless and if her guard were even halfway up against such thoughts, she would have shut it down immediately.

But he was giving her that look of his that lit a fire in her and told her anything was possible.  While they had their sparring sessions, just the two of them, it did always feel as though anything were possible.  As though this—just the two of them working together, pushing each other, helping each other forward in life—was just right.
Like they were always meant to be on this equal playing field.

Deku-kun raised an eyebrow, a grin on his face despite his earlier petulance.  As shy as she knew he could be, she also knew he couldn't really back down from a challenge.  Especially not one thrown in the middle of a sparring session.

"Interesting how?"

Bingo.

"We can use our quirks.  First one to throw the other halfway across the gym gets a prize."  She smiled and tilted her head innocently despite knowing that he wouldn't even try to back down from a challenge.  She knew he enjoyed it when they mixed up their hand-to-hand combat training sessions a little bit.  Sometimes they used quirks, sometimes they added time limits, sometimes they even tried to fight without a certain limb.  Those were interesting sessions.  However...

"What's the prize?" asked Deku-kun.  Ochako smiled, her almost fully-formed idea making her equal parts nervous and excited.  That was the new element.  The fun.  The surprise.

"I'll tell you my wish when I win, okay?"

A strange look passed over his face briefly before the far more familiar expression of a challenge accepted took hold.  He immediately held out his hand, his eyes set.  "I want to hear it even if you don't."

Ochako pursed her lips and looked down at his hand.  Would she tell him if she lost?  She didn't know.  She hadn't exactly thought that far...

Still, she thought as she turned her attention back to his face before her.  His eyes were tight and she could tell he was waiting on her answer.  She grinned and slapped her hand in his, being sure not to activate her quirk.