Viridescent

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Raid

The room was dark and its atmosphere dreary. The clock on a desk by her bed said it was only early afternoon, but she didn't really want to get up. She didn't feel like doing much of anything, actually.

Ochako lay in her bed on her side, silent and tired. She hadn't been sleeping well ever since the training camp disaster. When...when Izuku was taken from them.

She hadn't been able to do anything. From the very moment the villains attacked, she was relying on Izuku. He'd been the one who took out Dabi's clone and defeated Muscular. All she'd done was stay on the sidelines with Kota and then throw Izuku back into the fight. When Viper arrived, she'd been powerless. She couldn't fight him, even as he took Izuku and just walked away with him.

In her heart, Ochako knew that realistically...there was nothing she could've done. Viper would've beaten her even more easily than he had Katsuki and the others. She didn't have the range or power to really damage a villain like him. If she'd tried to stop him, chances are he would've just blown her away or killed her.

If anything, the knowledge that she'd had no chance of saving Izuku from being taken made things worse.

Her parents had come to see her at the hospital. They were worried sick, but relieved that Ochako hadn't been hurt. Well, not physically, anyways. It was obvious their daughter wasn't in a good emotional state at all. They comforted her as best they could, and Ochako was grateful for that.

But it still didn't change the fact that Izuku was gone. Her best friend and...

She moved her hand up to look at her fingers, recalling how it felt to playfully lace them with Izuku's when they were messing around the night before the attack. His skin had been warm and a little rough wherever a scar marred it. Their little game had made her excited and giddy in a different kind of way to what she normally felt.

Do you like him?

Ochako leaned her head further into her pillow and sighed. Did she? Did she like Izuku in a...romantic sense? She wasn't sure- this was all new to her, but...maybe. At least, she liked him in a way that was different from her other friends. She didn't think she'd go so far as to say it was love. No, that was too big of a word for what she felt. Admiration and affection, maybe?

Maybe it wasn't even that big of a deal, this...thing she had for him. When Ochako thought of it, she wasn't sure if she wanted to like...date him or something. She just liked him and their fun, goofy way of interacting. Thinking on it, they'd barely known each other for more than three months. Even then, though...he was still a little different from the rest of her friends. He was special to her, somehow.

She liked talking to him, and how he was sweet and helpful. She found it funny and cute that he was such a dork and a fanboy about heroes. She thought he was really smart and clever. She liked his freckles and his fluffy hair and his eyes.

She closed her eyes and mentally held up the white flag. Okay, she was...she was crushing on him. Izuku Midoriya was her first big crush. Admitting that to herself took a little weight off her chest, but not much.

It wasn't like her affection mattered since he was being held captive by the League of Villains.

Her phone started buzzing on the desk beside her bed and Ochako debated whether or not to answer it for several moments before sighing and reaching over to grab it. She blinked at the name on the screen. It was Momo.

She let the phone vibrate for a few more seconds before deciding to answer. "Hello?"

Ochako had to wince. Her voice sounded hoarse to her and she could only imagine what Momo thought when she heard that.